This week in all things tech, electronics giant Sony posted record losses while Volkswagen China gave us a glimpse at the future of motoring.
The bigger they are the harder they fall…
We can all agree that Sony is one of the biggest brands we know. They’re everywhere. TV’s, fridges, phones, MP3 players – you name it, they pretty much make it. So you might be a tad surprised to hear that Sony managed to rack up a record annual loss of 457 billion yen (€4.4 billion) making this its fourth straight year in the red.
The company has now seen its worst trading year in it’s 66-year corporate history, according to AP. Sony is now hoping for a comeback under Kazuo Hirai who was appointed president last month. Will they conquer their uphill battle? Only time – and a new PlayStation – will tell.
The latest iPhone rumours… if you’ll believe them
According to the guys in the know over at WIRED.com, the new iPhone will apparently launch in September, and a 7-inch iPad mini will land sometime around August (in the US that is).
So what can we expect from the new iPhone (possibly called the iPhone 5)? Well, apparently it is expected to have a larger display, possibly 4 inches, and a slimmer profile. It may also feature more noticeable use of Liquidmetal technology. As for the iPad mini, it’s expected to have a seven inch screen, making it too small to be a tablet and too big to be a phone. Way to carve a niche there Apple…
Bragging on Facebook feels better than… sex?
Do you brag on Facebook a lot? If so, chances are you won’t be able to relate to the next comparison, but apparently, bragging on Facebook feels better than sex. A study found that bragging on the social network triggered the same sensation of pleasure as food, money and even sex.
‘Self-disclosure is extra rewarding,’ according to Harvard neuroscientist Diana Tamir, who conducted the experiments with her colleague Jason Mitchell.
‘People were even willing to forgo money in order to talk about themselves. This helps to explain why people so obsessively engage in this behaviour. It’s because it provides them with some sort of subjective value’.
Volkswagen shows us the future of motoring
Were will we be in 20 years time? Driving around in gas guzzling, greenhouse gas emitting monsters that are children will be afraid of. Or will we be in the latest futuristic technology that’s both harmless to the environment and uber cool? Well, VW thinks the latter.
The VW hover car is one of three concepts that resulted from the People’s Car Project launched by VW in China in June 2011. The project asked for the public’s help in creating the next ‘people’s car’ and this was one of the winning entries. Check out the video to see what we’ll all be driving in 20 years time.
Zynga feeling the pain after EA CEO bitch-slap criticism
Shares of Zynga Inc, the popular mobile game maker, fell to their lowest point to date on Tuesday after the CEO of rival Electronic Arts Inc. suggested that Zynga paid too much for their recent acquisition of OMGPop.
Since buying OMGPop, who make the somewhat popular doodle app ‘Draw Something’, analysts have noticed a sharp decline in the number of people playing who use the app on a daily basis and this has also caused the share numbers to slip.
In total Zynga shares fell by 5 per cent this week, which doesn’t look good as they move towards the future.
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