Global smartwatch sales fall, Trump labels Tesla showroom violence ‘domestic terrorism’
Global sales of smartwatches have fallen for the first time, new figures indicate, in large part due to a sharp decline in the popularity of market leader, Apple. Market research firm Counterpoint says 7% fewer of the devices were shipped in 2024 compared to the year before. Shipments of Apple Watches fell by 19% in that period, Counterpoint says. It blames the slump on a lack of new features in Apple’s latest devices, and the fact a rumoured high-end Ultra 3 model never materialised. BBC
Donald Trump said he is buying a “brand new Tesla” and blamed “Radical Left Lunatics” for “illegally” boycotting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company. The announcement came a day after Tesla suffered its worst share price fall in nearly five years. Later, the president also said he would label violence against Tesla showrooms as domestic terrorism. Trump spoke on the White House driveway, alongside Musk and Musk’s young son. Several Tesla vehicles were parked in the driveway for Trump to pick which vehicle to buy. The Guardian
Spotify on Tuesday released its annual Loud & Clear report, detailing information about the music streaming service’s royalty payments. While Spotify revealed earlier this year that it paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024, the new report offers more in-depth numbers about its payments in an effort to dispel reports that the company doesn’t reward artists properly for their work. For the first time ever, an artist who received one in every million streams on Spotify generated over $10,000 on average in 2024, the report says. Tech Crunch
The latest AI assistant to stir excitement is Manus, Latin for hand. An apropos choice since Manus is pitched as the helpful hand for any sort of complex research or content creation. Manus allegedly outpaces any rivals in sophistication. The most obvious comparison is to DeepSeek, but, while that matchup would be interesting (and one I will probably perform), I think it’s worth ranking Manus against the far more widely used ChatGPT. Manus is invite-only and requires the company to approve your reasons for wanting to test it out. Tech Radar
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A video released by British car brand Jaguar shows its Type 00 concept car slowly driving through the city’s streets to a Paris Fashion Week event. Finished in a previously unreleased colour called French Ultramarine, the video shows the opinion-dividing car driving in public for the first time. Unveiled last December at Miami art week, the car drew global attention with some commenters calling it a “design triumph”, while others described it as an “ugly, clunky behemoth”. Dezeen
It looks as though Huawei will soon be returning to its Watch smartwatch series after an extended absence. To recap, the company introduced the Watch 4 and Watch 4 Pro in June 2023 with Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipsets. Since then, it has focused on other smartwatch series, such as the Watch GT series with last year’s Watch GT 5 and Watch GT 5 Pro (curr. $372.97 on Amazon). Now, the likes of Huawei Central have discovered an early reference to the Watch 5. Notebook Check
