Tech Digest daily roundup: Apple strikes chip deal with US firm Broadcom
Apple says it has struck a multi-billion dollar deal with chipmaker Broadcom to use more US-made parts. Under the multi-year agreement, the two US companies will develop components for 5G devices that will be designed and manufactured in America. Apple says the deal is part of a plan it announced in 2021 to invest $430bn (£346bn) in the US economy. The move comes as a trade row centred on the technology industry intensifies between Washington and Beijing. BBC
Netflix has begun its crackdown on password sharing in the UK as it sends out emails to customers who are sharing their accounts with those “outside their household”. On Tuesday, the company said it was sending emails about account sharing to customers in 103 countries and territories, including the UK, France, Germany, the US, Australia, Singapore, Mexico and Brazil. The emails remind sharers that their Netflix account should just be used in one household. Sky News
Software giant Adobe has announced it will integrate generative AI into its widely used Photoshop program, while downplaying fears the move will lead to job losses and mass fakes. The brand most associated with image editing will incorporate the generative AI product Adobe Firefly, which launched as a beta six weeks ago, creating a tool the company says will become a “co-pilot” to graphic design rather than a replacement for humans. The Guardian
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is to cease operations months after a mission failure in the UK. The company, which was already in bankruptcy in the US, said it was being broken up and sold for parts after failing to find a full buyer for the business. As a result, operations will not continue. Virgin Orbit’s assets are being sold to space startups Stratolaunch, Rocket Lab, Vast and one others for just $36m (£29m). It represents less than 1pc of the $3.7bn the company was worth when it went public in August 2021. Telegraph
Amazon has unveiled its most ambitious budget tablet, seeking to offer features typically associated with high-end device, but at a price point that’s as accessible as you’d expect from an Amazon Fire tablet. It’s called the Amazon Fire Max 11 and – as you might have guessed from the naming – it’s got an 11-inch display – with a higher resolution panel than any previous Fire tablet. Specifically, that’s 2000 x 1200 pixels, and means it’s comfortably more pixel-rich than the Fire HD 8, but is quite similar to the Fire HD 10 Plus display (at least in terms of pixel count). Pocket Lint
Ford has signalled that it will back away from competing with EV giants such as BYD and Tesla for its second generation of EVs, due from 2025, as it targets more profitable niches in response to an increasingly crowded field. Ford CEO Jim Farley told analysts at the American giant’s recent capital markets day that it saw in advance how tough the five-seat electric SUV market was going to be. “If your EV strategy depends on a two-row crossover right now, you better have the [low] cost of BYD to compete,” he said. Autocar
