Paresh Dave / Wired: Google veteran Luiz André Barroso, who overturned many computing design conventions and conceived “the data center as a computer”, died on September 16 at 59  —  Brazilian engineer Luiz André Barroso, who ripped up the rulebook at Google, has died. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Katharine Gemmell / Bloomberg: The UK CMA says Microsoft’s revised offer to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69B, which includes selling some gaming rights to Ubisoft, addresses its concerns  —  – CMA says revised offer opens the door to deal approval  —  Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. looks set … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg: EU antitrust regulators fine Intel €376.36M for “a previously established abuse of dominant position” after an EU court overturned a €1.06B fine in January 2022  —  – Fine follows ruling by court upholding part of EU’s case  — EU initially fined Intel a then-record penalty in 2009 Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bloomberg: Amazon plans to run limited ads on Prime Video in the US, the UK, Germany, and Canada starting in early 2024, charging $2.99/month extra in the US to avoid ads  —  – Prime Video will offer a more expensive ad-free option  — Streamers want to increase revenue as production costs soar Lees verder op Tech Meme

Counterpoint Research: The number of smartphone brands fell from 720+ in 2017 to almost 250 in 2023, as local brands lose market share due to a maturing userbase, 5G shift, and more  —  – The number of active brands is down to almost 250 in 2023 so far from over 700 in 2017.  — The decline in the number … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Brian Heater / TechCrunch: Austin-based Diligent, which makes “socially intelligent” service robots for hospitals, raised $25M and plans to have 100+ robots in 22 US hospitals by year end  —  The pandemic had a profound impact on countless careers, but few jobs were hit quite like nursing. Lees verder op Tech Meme