🖨️🖥️💽Technology & Gadgets : News and Updates Thread 📺🎥📸

[sillan]

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[BangaloreaN]

Sony is bringing an end to consumer use of writable Blu-ray, DVD, and CD media



It looks like writable optical disk media (CD, DVD, BD) just aren’t selling like they used to. This especially makes for sad news for writeable Blu-ray discs. For quite some time, Blu-ray has provided a more affordable means of storing data when compared to storing it on physical hard drives.

A single 50-pack of basic BD-R discs gains a user over a terabyte of writable (or re-writable, if using BD-RW/BD-RE) storage. This was a major win when it came to the price of hard drives when BD-R media was in its heyday. Of course, this only lasted until the capacity of drives started overshadowing these discs and prices started coming down.
Due to a lack of sales, Sony has decided to start shutting things down on the consumer side. As it just isn’t profitable enough to continue manufacturing the media. Sony will continue providing inventory to business partners, including the movie and video game industries, so that related products will continue to be available for now.

In the future, the company will move further to end all distribution of optical discs when it has determined that even business to business relationships are no longer profitable enough to sustain production. When this happens, things like movies and video games will likely all be in the cloud since the related companies have been pushing for that for quite some time now. Which, for them, would greatly increase profit margins while having complete control over ownership of the media (vs consumers physically owning anything).

This means that the price of CD, DVD, and BDR media will likely begin to rise soon as availability begins to thin out and stores realize they can make a little extra profit for any left-over demand for it all. So if you are a fan of writable discs, this would be the time to invest into a little more inventory while it is still reasonable (or move on to something new).

[BangaloreaN]

Sony kills off recordable Blu-ray and optical disks for consumer market — business-to-business production to continue until unprofitable



A recent report indicated that Sony plans to cut up to 250 jobs at its optical media plant, offering workers early retirement in preparation for phasing out its recordable disc production. The company has now confirmed this when it said in an interview with AV Watch that it would cease the development and production of recordable optical media discs, including Blu-ray. Furthermore, the Sony representative said, "We are not considering moving overseas," signaling the beginning of the end of recordable Blu-ray discs for consumers.

If you use Blu-ray to archive your data, you need to start purchasing recordable BD while supplies last. However, business clients and cinema buffs need not panic yet. "We will continue to sell B2B products by making them in advance, and for consumer products, we will decide on the specific end date in the future through discussions with distribution partners such as mass retailers, but we will continue to sell them for the time being."

The end of recordable Blu-ray production will reduce the number of options users have for reliable long-term storage of their data. Hard drives and SSDs last an average of five years, while Blu-ray discs could last decades, with some newer optical discs capable of lasting a hundred years.
Despite their longevity, Blu-ray discs are limited by capacity, with the largest limited to 125GB. While some Chinese researchers were able to create an optical disc format that can store up to 125TB of data, it's still in the research phase and not yet available commercially. This limitation is probably why consumers prefer the convenience of cloud storage for backups.

"The growth of the cold storage market has not reached our expectations, and the performance of the storage media business as a whole continues to be in the red," a Sony Group spokesperson said. "And we have determined that it is necessary to review the business structure to improve profitability."
Even though Sony still retains Blu-ray production for corporate customers and the film industry, the future of optical media is bleak, at least for Sony. The spokesperson added, "We aim to continue our business at an appropriate scale in line with the market environment and return to profitability through three measures: (1) the gradual termination of development and production and the reduction of the size of our workforce in the recordable optical disc media business, (2) the reduction of the size of our personnel in the tape media business, and (3) the transition to a single-company structure from April 2025 and the change to efficient operations in line with the scale of our business."

[BangaloreaN]

എന്വിഡിയയ്ക്ക് മുന്നില്* പതറി, വിപണിയില്* നഷ്ടം, 18000 പേരെ പിരിച്ചുവിടാനൊരുങ്ങി ഇൻ്റൽ



സാന്*ഫ്രാന്*സിസ്*കോ: യുഎസ് ചിപ്പ് നിര്*മാണ കമ്പനിയായ ഇന്റല്* 15 ശതമാനം ജീവനക്കാരെ പിരിച്ചുവിടുന്നു. സാമ്പത്തിക വര്*ഷം രണ്ടാം പാദത്തില്* 160 കോടിയുടെ നഷ്ടം രേഖപ്പെടുത്തിയിരുന്നു. ഇതേ തുടര്*ന്ന് വാര്*ഷിക ചെലവില്* 2000 കോടി ലാഭിക്കുക എന്ന ലക്ഷ്യത്തോടെയാണ് കമ്പനിയുടെ പിരിച്ചുവിടല്* നീക്കം. കഴിഞ്ഞ വര്*ഷം അവസാനം വരെ ഇന്റലില്* 1,24,800 ജീവനക്കാരുണ്ട്. ഇതില്* 18000 പേര്*ക്ക് ജോലി നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടേക്കും.

ജൂണില്* ഇസ്രായേലിലെ ഫാക്ടറി പ്രൊജക്ടിന്റെ വികസന പ്രവര്*ത്തനങ്ങള്* നിര്*ത്തിവെക്കുകയാണെന്ന് ഇന്റല്* പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചിരുന്നു. പകരം 1500 കോടി ഡോളര്* ഒരു ചിപ്പ് പ്ലാന്റില്* നിക്ഷേപിക്കാനാണ് ശ്രമം.

നിലവിലെ വാണിജ്യ സാഹചര്യങ്ങളും, വിപണിയിലെ മാറ്റങ്ങളും, മൂലധനം ഉത്തരവാദിത്വത്തോടെ കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യേണ്ട ആവശ്യകതയും കാരണമാണ് ഇത്തരം ഒരു തീരുമാനമെടുത്തതെന്നും കമ്പനി പറഞ്ഞു.

ആര്*ട്ടിഫിഷ്യല്* ഇന്റലിജന്*സ് രംഗത്ത് എതിരാളികളായ എന്*വിഡിയ, എംഎംഡി, ക്വാല്*കോം തുടങ്ങിയ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളില്* നിന്ന് ഇന്റല്* കനത്ത വെല്ലുവിളിയാണ് നേരിടുന്നത്. ദശാബ്ദങ്ങളായി ലാപ്*ടോപ്പുകള്* മുതല്* ഡാറ്റാ സെന്ററുകള്* വരെ പ്രവര്*ത്തിച്ചിരുന്നത് പ്രധാനമായും ഇന്റലിന്റെ ചിപ്പുകള്* ഉപയോഗിച്ചായിരുന്നു. ചിപ്പ് വിപണിയിലെ മേധാവിത്വവും ഇന്റലിനായിരുന്നു. എന്നാല്* എഐ പ്രൊസസറുകളില്* ശ്രദ്ധ കേന്ദ്രീകരിച്ച എന്*വിഡിയ ഉള്*പ്പടെയുള്ള കമ്പനികള്* ആ ആധിപത്യം തകര്*ത്തു.

ഇന്റലും എഐ മേഖലയിലേക്ക് ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുകയാണ് തായ്വാനിലെ കമ്പ്യൂട്ട്ക്സ് എക്സ്പോയില്* വെച്ച് സെര്*വറുകള്*ക്ക് വേണ്ടിയുള്ള ഇന്റലിന്റെ ഏറ്റവും പുതിയ ക്*സിയോണ്* 6 (Xeon 6) പ്രോസസറുകള്* ഇന്റല്* മേധാവി പാറ്റ് ജെല്*സിങര്* അവതരിപ്പിച്ചിരുന്നു. കൂടാതെ എഐ പിസികള്*ക്ക് വേണ്ടിയുള്ള അടുത്ത തലമുറ ലൂണാര്* ലേക്ക് ചിപ്പുകളെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള കൂടുതല്* വിശദാംശങ്ങളും പങ്കുവെച്ചിരുന്നു.

[BangaloreaN]

Musk's X banned in Brazil after disinformation row



X, formerly Twitter, has been banned in Brazil after failing to meet a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to name a new legal representative in the country.
Alexandre de Moraes ordered the "immediate and complete suspension" of the social media platform until it complies with all court orders and pays existing fines.
The row began in April, with the judge ordering the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.
Reacting to the decision, X owner Elon Musk said: "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes."

The social media network is said to be used by at least a 10th of the nation's 200 million inhabitants.
By Saturday morning some users had reported access to the platform was no longer possible.
It closed its office in Brazil earlier this month, saying its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with orders it described as "censorship" - as well as illegal under Brazilian law.
Justice Moraes had ordered that X accounts accused of spreading disinformation - many supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro - must be blocked while they are under investigation.
He said the company's legal representatives would be held liable if any accounts were reactivated.
X has been threatened with fines for refusing to comply with this order, with the company and Mr Musk joining critics in Brazil in accusing the judge as being left-wing.
It is the latest in a series of rows involving the tech billionaire - who has clashed with the EU over the regulation of X and earlier this month became embroiled in a war of words with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The head of Brazil's telecommunications agency, which has been tasked with suspending the platform, said he is "proceeding with the compliance" to do so, according to Reuters news agency.
Justice Moraes has given companies such as Apple and Google a five-day deadline to remove X from its application stores and block its use on iOS and Android systems.
He added that people or businesses using means such as VPNs (virtual private network) to access the platform could be fined R$50,000 (£6,700).
According to the judge's order, a ban will be in effect until X names a new legal representative in the country and pays fines for violating Brazilian law.
In a previous post from one of its official accounts, X had said it would not comply with the demands.

"Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents," the post said.
"The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that."



Justice Moraes is involved in a long-running row with X
Meanwhile, the bank accounts of Mr Musk's satellite internet firm Starlink have been frozen in Brazil following an earlier order by the country's Supreme Court.
Starlink responded with a post on X which said the "order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied - unconstitutionally - against X."
Justice Moraes gained prominence after his decisions to restrict social media platforms in the country.

He is also investigating Mr Bolsonaro and his supporters for their roles in an alleged attempted coup on 8 January last year.
X is not the first social media company to come under pressure from authorities in Brazil.
Last year, Telegram was temporarily banned over its failure to cooperate with requests to block certain profiles.
Meta's messaging service Whatsapp also faced temporary bans in 2015 and 2016 for refusing to comply with police requests for user data.