Tech Digest daily roundup: Elon Musk completes $44bn Twitter takeover
Elon Musk has completed his $44bn (£38bn) takeover of Twitter after months of toing and froing over the deal. His first move was to fire the social media company’s top leadership, which he accused of misleading him over the number of spam accounts on the platform. Musk sacked Twitter’s chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to reports. It has also been claimed Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and was escorted out of the building. Musk later tweeted “the bird is freed” in a nod to the deal being completed. Sky News
Apple and Amazon sales are being hit by the weakening global economy, the tech giants have warned, adding to fears about their upcoming profits. Amazon shares tumbled more than 15% after the US stock market closed, as the firm forecast far weaker sales for the festive season than expected. Apple shares also slipped after warning of a slowing demand for gaming and advertising. Both cited the rising cost of living as a factor eroding consumer buying power. “We’re very optimistic about the holiday but we’re realistic that there are various factors weighing on people’s wallets”, Amazon’s chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky told analysts on a call to discuss the results. BBC
A crossover version of the popular Volkswagen ID 3 family hatchback is on the way as Volkswagen looks to capitalise on the still fast-growing small SUV market. CEO Thomas Schäfer has confirmed that the company is “working hard to develop an additional compact SUV based on the ID 3 so that we can also launch a Volkswagen product in this fast-growing vehicle segment”. He told Autocar that the model would look dramatically different to the ID 3 when it arrives before 2026, rather than being a Russian-doll approach to styling. Autocar
The Oculus Quest 3 has been confirmed for 2023 if comments from Meta’s CFO Dave Wehner are to be believed. According to Wehner in the Company’s Q3 earnings call, it’ll be released “next year” – which isn’t long for people who are looking to get their hands on Meta’s next consumer-focused VR headset. While Meta’s latest headset (the Meta Quest Pro) only launched on October 25, people are already chomping at the bit for news about its next headset: the Oculus Quest 3. The Quest Pro is a major improvement over Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 – with better specs and new features like face tracking and color passthrough – but it also comes at a price that most consumers won’t be able to afford ($1,500 / £1,500 / AU$2,450). Tech Radar
Last week Samsung announced its new collaboration with Maison Margiela, the Paris-based luxury fashion house. As expected, they are working on a special edition of the Galaxy Z Flip4 and just published the first teaser image of the phone. Note that this is clearly not the actual design – they won’t cover up the cameras – but it’s a preview of what is to come. It seems that the fashion house is going for a cloth texture and has included the brand’s trademark number designations.
These numbers are product categories, e.g. 3 is for fragrances, 8 is for eyewear and 11 is for accessories. Speaking of, these fashion editions don’t come alone, chances are that Samsung and Margiela will also unveil a watch and headphones so buyers can complete a whole look. GSM Arena
