Enterprise

Apple is now worth $2 trillion

The first American company to do so

Published

August 20, 2020

Shivam Vahia

Apple hit a market cap of US$ 2 trillion today after doubling in valuation in just over two years. The iPhone maker is the first American company to reach that milestone.

The most surprising part is, most of the momentum came in just a few months ago. Markets crashed globally in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but recovery has been extremely quick and the US’ NASDAQ 100 index is already hovering around an all-time high.

While a plethora of industries have taken a radical hit due to the pandemic, technology companies are leading the bullish wave. On July 31, Apple surpassed oil giant Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company.

Apple was an almost bankrupt company in 1997. In the last two decades, the company has grown rapidly thanks to cutting-edge innovation. The Cupertino giant went on to revolutionize the music industry with iPod and iTunes.

The portable music player became a cultural icon, making way for the iPhone. Apple’s iPhone is often credited for single-handedly dethroning leaders like BlackBerry and Nokia. Further evolving its lineup, the company went on to make the Apple Watch.

Today, it controls an ecosystem comprising of the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and more. While the company continues to rely on hardware sales as its primary revenue source, services like Apple Music and Apple Arcade have received positive feedback. This opens another door of secondary revenues for the company.

However, the timing of the milestone is intriguing because the company is being investigated for having too much control. Antitrust hearings are ongoing and many in the Senate want to split up big tech companies. However, Apple isn’t the only one who’s valuation is consistently rising amid the pandemic. The stock of Microsoft, Facebook, and Google has also witnessed a wave of bullish investments.

Enterprise

China starts banning AMD, Intel, and Windows

Only from government devices for now

Published

March 26, 2024

Luigi Leonardo

The ongoing trade war between the United States and China is putting a lot of companies out of business in one country. While all eyes are currently on America’s crusade against TikTok, China has launched a salvo of its own. The country has started banning AMD and Intel, starting with government devices.

Recently, as reported by the Financial Times, China has introduced a new rule that bans American chipsets and servers from government agencies. The new ban includes AMD, Intel, and Microsoft Windows.

In lieu of the now-banned brands, Chinese government agencies must use approved brands from a list of 18 Chinese manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, the list includes Huawei, another brand involved in the ongoing trade war. (Huawei is still banned on American soil.)

As with bans from America, China’s latest rules stem from a desire to implement national security. Both countries allege that using brands from the opposing side will open a potential avenue for transferring classified information.

Currently, the ban against the American chipsets are only affecting government devices. However, if it follows the same trajectory as Huawei and TikTok in the United States, a government-only ban might soon lead to an all-out ban on consumer devices. As TikTok is currently hanging in the balance, it’s unlikely that the trade wars will cool down anytime soon.

Enterprise

US sues Apple

For creating an illegal monopoly on smartphones

Published

March 22, 2024

Luigi Leonardo

So far, Apple’s greatest enemy has been the European Union. Months and months of claiming that the company engages in anti-competitive practices, the region has successfully caused Apple to drastically change a lot of things about the iPhone including the Lightning cable. Now, a new challenger wants Apple to answer for its supposed grip on the industry: the United States government.

Today, the Department of Justice is officially suing Apple for supposedly monopolizing the smartphone industry and stifling competition. The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s lineup of products prevent users from trying out other brands. For example, Apple limits how well a third-party smartwatch works on an iPhone, pushing users to go for an Apple Watch instead.

The lawsuit also includes an important pain point in Apple’s fight in Europe. It says that the company makes it difficult for iPhone users to communicate with Android users (and vice versa). Late last year, the company already committed to supporting RCS as a messaging standard, finally easing communication between the two systems. Their adoption has yet to arrive, though.

Though not as stringent as Europe, the American government is no slouch when it comes to questioning its own companies for pursuing anti-competitive practices. In the past, it went through Google and Spotify to protect the interests of its citizens. The lawsuit against Apple is no different, gathering signatures from sixteen states.

For Apple’s part, the company aims to get the case dismissed, alleging the lawsuit’s unfair scope of just the American people when it targets the entire world.

Enterprise

Google launches Gemini 1.5

Less than two months since Gemini 1.0

Published

February 16, 2024

Luigi Leonardo

With how technology is these days, it’s no surprise that the next big thing is always just over the horizon. However, these developments often happen year after year. Today, artificial intelligence is strapping a rocket to this already fast trend. Only a few months since the launch of Gemini, Google has already launched its successor, Gemini 1.5.

Launched only recently, Gemini is a marvel in itself. Prior to the model, Google was already a force in the AI world with Bard. Gemini takes the former model and improves an already impressive service. Currently, users — both in business and for personal use — can subscribe to the service.

Today, Google has confirmed that Gemini 1.5 is official. The company is touting how much more impressive the new version is, compared to its predecessor. For one, Gemini 1.5 Pro is just as powerful as the current Gemini Ultra, beating the latter on 87 percent of tests. The new version is reportedly more efficient in allocating only the necessary resources for queries, rather than the entire model.

Despite allocating resources, Gemini 1.5 can handle a million tokens at a time. For reference, Gemini Pro can only handle 32,000 tokens at a time. Basically, the new version can parse through a humungous chunk of data all at once without batting a digital eye. (Google is claiming that capabilities for 10 million tokens is nearing, too.)

If you want to see what a million tokens in the palm of your hand feels like, Gemini 1.5 is already available for developers and business users. However, a wider rollout is still coming soon.