Technology
On-demand grocery app Gorillas lays off half its office workforce
Grocery app Gorillas, which guarantees to ship items in as shortly as 10 minutes, is shedding half of its workplace workers. In a press launch, the corporate stated it was letting go 300 workers from an estimated 600 “international workplace workforce.” (This workforce additionally contains roughly 14,400 workers working in warehouse and as supply drivers.)
The corporate can be planning to tighten its deal with 5 markets that account for 90 % of its income: the UK, US, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The corporate additionally operates in 4 different European markets — Spain, Denmark, Italy, and Belgium — the place it says it’s “taking a look at all attainable strategic choices for the Gorillas model.” That may imply pulling out of those markets, however Gorillas tells The Verge nothing has been determined but.
The information suggests bother for the fast-growing “prompt” grocery sector. Over the previous few years, an enormous variety of these companies have sprung up round Europe, fueled by enterprise capital funding and pandemic lock-down orders. These corporations all depend on the identical primary infrastructure: warehouses full of groceries scattered all through city facilities and armies of e-bike and scooter-riding supply drivers to ship the products.
Many consultants have warned that these companies are primarily unsustainable, although, with their progress predicated on discounted costs which have been underwritten by VC funds hoping to seize what stays of the market as soon as a couple of dominant gamers emerge. A report by The Data final August prompt that one upcoming participant, JOKR, was shedding as a lot as $159 on every order it delivered within the US.
Some nations have additionally objected to the influence these corporations have on city infrastructure. Within the Netherlands, for instance, grocery apps together with Flink, Getir, and Gorillas have been pressured to restrict the pace of supply drivers’ e-bikes and preserve their warehouses out of sure built-up areas — each measures a response to complaints from metropolis residents.
Mixed with the worldwide downturn affecting the tech sector extra broadly, it appears some supply apps which have struggled to develop could also be in bother. Sifted reviews that the corporate had bother elevating extra funding, and that in Could of this yr, the Gorillas app was downloaded simply 320,000 occasions — in comparison with 1.5 million downloads for Turkish rival Getir.
Technology
Razer’s Kishi Ultra gaming controller brings haptics to your USB-C phone, PC, or tablet
Razer’s latest mobile gaming controller just released today, the Kishi Ultra, is an all-rounder that can switch between multiple devices. The controller has a built-in USB-C port that can work with the iPhone 15 series as well as most Android smartphones (Razer says it’s compatible with the Galaxy 23 series, Pixel 6 and up, the Razer Edge, and “many other Android devices.”) It also seems to work perfectly fine with Galaxy Z Fold 5 and other foldables. The controller can expand to fit your iPad Mini and any 8-inch Android tablets, and you can also tether it to your PC.
One interesting feature in the Kishi Ultra is the inclusion of Razer’s Sensa HD immersive haptics, which the company claims can take any audio — whether that be a game, movie, or music — and convert it to haptics. We saw the same haptics in Razer’s Project Esther concept gaming chair that it unveiled at CES. The Kishi Ultra is the first commercially available Razer product to feature the Sensa haptics, so it’ll give the general public a chance to try them out. The Sensa haptics won’t support iOS — it currently only works with Android 12 or above and Windows 11. The controller is also outfitted with a small pair of Chroma RGB lights, right below the joysticks.
Note that you’ll need to download the Razer Nexus app (available for both iOS and Android) for the Kishi Ultra to work. The app can launch mobile games, and is integrated with Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, and the Google Play Store.
Razer also announced a new version of its less expensive Kishi V2 with a USB-C port for iPhone 15 and Android, one which similarly supports wired play on PC and the iPad.
Both the Razer Kishi Ultra and Kishi V2 USB-C are available in stores or online now, and are priced at $150 and $99, respectively.
Technology
Change this Apple Music setting ASAP to protect your privacy
In the age of oversharing, there’s something to be said for keeping a slice of your digital life to yourself, especially when it comes to your music.
Whether you’re headbanging to heavy metal or crooning to country, your Apple Music experience is yours alone.
Securing your Apple Music sessions
So, let’s talk about a little-known setting that might be overexposing your musical escapades: “Discoverable by Nearby Contacts.” It’s tucked away in your Apple Music settings, and it could be letting your contacts know what you’re listening to via SharePlay — whether you’re in the mood for sharing or not.
CLICK TO GET KURT’S FREE CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH SECURITY ALERTS, QUICK VIDEO TIPS, TECH REVIEWS AND EASY HOW-TO’S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER
Ready to reclaim your audio anonymity? We’ll show you how to switch off this feature and keep your playlists private. Because sometimes, the best soundtrack is the one only you know is playing.
MORE: HERE’S HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ON YOUR APPLE DEVICE
How to turn off ‘Discoverable by Nearby Contacts’
- Grab your iPhone and tap on Settings
- Now, scroll down until you spot Apple Music and click it.
- As you scroll, you’ll find the Discoverable by Nearby Contacts option.
- This feature lets your contacts find you when you’re blasting tunes in your car through Apple’s SharePlay feature. But hey, maybe you don’t want everyone to know you’re on a Taylor Swift binge, right? So, I recommend flipping this switch off to keep your musical tastes on the down-low.
MORE: GET YOUR KARAOKE ON WITH THIS NEW APPLE MUSIC SING FEATURE
Use Listening History? Think again
- Go to Settings and tap on it
- Now, scroll down until you spot Apple Music and click it
- Next, scroll up to see Use Listening History
- When this is on, everything you play will pop up in your Recently Played, affect your recommendations and, if you’ve got an Apple Music profile, be out there for all your followers to see. If you prefer your playlists to be your little secret, it’s best to turn this off, too.
MORE: IOS 17.4 INTRODUCES REVEALING APPLE PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION FEATURE
Kurt’s key takeaways
Your music, your rules. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure track or a new indie discovery, what you listen to should be your choice to share or not. So, take control of your Apple Music settings and keep your beats to yourself.
How important is it for you to keep your music listening activity private from friends, family or colleagues? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips & security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
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Technology
The Meta Quest 2 gets a permanent price cut to $199
The Quest 2 is currently being supplanted by the $500 Quest 3, of course, but it’s still an incredible entry point to VR, one that plays every Quest game except for a single Quest 3-exclusive title announced last month. It doesn’t have color passthrough vision or good mixed reality gaming, and I definitely prefer the Quest 3 for comfort and immersion, but I don’t know if I prefer it by $300.
I do have concerns about how long Meta will support the Quest 2 after seeing how much the company dissed the original Quest by retroactively shutting down fan-favorite games and pulling support. Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth told me we should expect first-party games to support Quest 2 for “quite a while” last June but didn’t answer my question about whether Meta might retroactively shut down games on Quest 2.
Still, there are millions more reasons to support Quest 2: it was the most popular headset the company’s ever produced and the lion’s share of the 20 million headsets Meta sold as of February 2023. It was in such high demand during the pandemic that Meta actually raised the price on a then-two-year-old gadget in 2022.
For now, the Quest 2 can even get some updates ahead of the Quest 3, like the lying down mode that arrived in March and took another month to hit Meta’s newer headset.
The Quest 2 still feels like a good deal today.
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