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November 28, 2024
The smartphone market is experiencing a resurgence after two years of decline. Market researchers from IDC predict 1.24 billion smartphones shipped worldwide in 2024, representing a growth of 6.2 percent. The increased demand for Android devices is cited as the main reason for this positive development. Sales of Android smartphones increased by 7.6 percent, particularly outside of Europe, Japan, and North America. In contrast, iPhones are only showing marginal growth of 0.4 percent compared to the previous year.
Experts attribute the rise in smartphone sales to pent-up demand that accumulated in previous years. The longer lifespan of smartphones contributed to the decline in previous years, but now the renewal cycle seems to have restarted. Whether this growth continues remains to be seen. Market observers expect significantly lower growth rates in the coming years once the current pent-up demand is met.
European investigative authorities have dealt a blow to the illegal streaming scene. An internationally operating ring of streaming pirates was busted after a two-year investigation. The gang's IPTV platforms had over 22 million users and generated monthly revenues of over 250 million euros through illegal streams of well-known television channels and streaming services, according to police. During the operation, numerous websites and servers were seized, suspects were arrested in Croatia, and assets, including cryptocurrencies worth 1.65 million euros and 40,000 euros in cash, were secured.
In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is urging manufacturers of connected devices to disclose the duration of software updates for their products. A sample by the FTC found that 89 percent of 184 devices examined, including surveillance cameras, smart home devices, and hearing aids, lacked this information. The FTC points out that this omission could constitute a violation of US consumer protection law if the devices no longer function as advertised due to lack of updates.
The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court dismissed the appeal of the hosting provider Uberspace in the dispute concerning the website youtube-dl.org, thus confirming a ruling by the Hamburg Regional Court. The website had provided links to the software Youtube-DL, which allowed the downloading of music from platforms like YouTube, bypassing copy protection measures. The court ruled that Uberspace is liable for hosting the website because the linked software enabled copyright infringements.
In addition to the topics mentioned above, there were other important developments in the technology sector. Microsoft closed security gaps in several products, X (formerly Twitter) confirmed ownership of user accounts in court, and the Milky Way was classified as unusual compared to other galaxies. There were discussions about OpenAI's video AI Sora, which was initially only accessible to a limited number of users. Other reports concerned fatal accidents caused by faulty Google Maps routes, the invalidity of marriages concluded via video conference in Germany, restartless updates for Windows 11, new Raspberry Pi modules, and a data leak at brillen.de.
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