NewsBytes Briefing: Chip shortages will continue until 2023, and more
Want a new graphics card, gaming rig, or a next-generation console? Well, you might as well pay the atrocious scalper prices because the world's largest chipmaker TSMC has painted a rather grim picture. The Taiwanese company doesn't see the silicon shortage abate until 2023. That is, provided China doesn't invade Taiwan by then. Unfortunately, the Chinese invasion seems more likely with each passing day.
Google Earth's Timelapse feature is nothing short of phenomenal
Speaking of invasion, Google Earth's brand new Timelapse feature is a nifty tool to see how humanity is encroaching upon the planet Earth. Google basically crunched two million hours' worth of satellite imagery spanning 24 million images snapped over 37 years to generate detailed 3D timelapses of the Earth. Want to see how much of the rainforests we have destroyed? Go right ahead.
Amazon makes the best of the pandemic, comes out stronger
Amazon is also having a phenomenal year thanks to the pandemic of all things. Amazon Prime surpassed 200 million subscribers after adding 50 million during the pandemic alone. Call it pure greed or business acumen, but Jeff Bezos has distilled the stoic virtue of not only surviving adversity but also harnessing it to thrive. And thrived it definitely has with a $21.3 billion profit.
Microsoft catches 'em young before they can download Chrome
Microsoft seems to have found a viable strategy to ensure people use its Edge browser for anything except downloading other browsers. The solution is catching them young and before they know better with the Edge browser's Kids Mode. Let's hope, for Microsoft's sake, the kids that have grown up in the walled garden of the Edge browser's Kids Mode don't chance upon other browsers.
Segway's Tron-inspired hydrogen-powered motorcycle is green tech we approve of
Let's move onto something diametrically opposite to the Edge browser—something infinitely cooler like Segway's hydrogen-powered motorcycle Apex H2. The concept motorcycle is a rare example of green technology actually looking exciting. Its 60-kilowatt power should put it in the league of really fast bikes. The Apex H2 is coming in 2023 at a hefty price-tag of CNY 69,999 (Rs. 7.98 lakh).
