Apple and Goldman Sachs have had a fraught Apple Card relationship, which has widely been reported to be ending soon. Now, Goldman’s CEO has confirmed the possibility of a premature conclusion to the Apple partnership during a recent earnings call.
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Microsoft will soon let you get in-person repairs for Xbox Series X / S consoles at uBreakiFix stores, the company announced today.
Microsoft already offers in-person Xbox repairs at Microsoft retail stores, but uBreakiFix will be the “the first Xbox Authorized Service Provider,” according to the announcement. You’ll be able to get Xbox repairs at uBreakiFix’s “nearly 700 participating store locations across the US” starting January 20th, Microsoft says. (The company notes that you should check with your local uBreakiFix store to make sure they are participating in the Xbox repairability program.)
In the announcement, Microsoft says that it’s expanding its repairability program for the white Xbox Series S, the white Xbox Series X digital edition, and special edition Xbox Series X “Galaxy Black” model. We’ve asked Microsoft if the black Xbox Series X with a disc drive and the black Xbox Series S qualify for uBreakiFix repairs as well.
If you’re looking to repair your Xbox yourself, sourcing parts for that recently got a bit easier after iFixit started offering genuine Xbox parts and step-by-step repair guides in December. iFixit offers parts and guides for repairing Surface devices, too.
In its announcement today, Microsoft also says that packaging for the white Xbox Series S, the white Xbox Series X digital edition, and Xbox Series X “Galaxy Black” model “are now fully paper and fiber-based, eliminating all single-use plastics.”
This week is quickly becoming a sea change moment for Sonos as the company looks to undo the damage done to its reputation since last May. It all began on Monday with the departure of CEO Patrick Spence, who was replaced by board member Tom Conrad. Then came news that chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin would also be leaving the company — another indication that Sonos is serious about correcting course and taking accountability for its new app woes.
In a third shakeup within the company’s leadership ranks, I can report that chief commercial officer Deirdre Findlay is also stepping down. Sonos’ not-yet-updated corporate governance page says Findlay “oversees all marketing, revenue, and customer experience organizations at Sonos. She is responsible for integrated brand strategy, geographic expansion strategies, and all go to market execution.”
By now, there’s no arguing that Sonos’ go-to-market strategy for its rebuilt mobile app was deeply flawed and rushed. Before he lost his job, Spence eventually conceded that the company should’ve taken a far more cautious approach and offered the new software as a beta release while keeping the previous, more stable version in place. Instead, Sonos pushed a buggy experience on all customers and has spent the months since dealing with the resulting fallout.
As it relates to marketing, some Sonos employees have expressed their dismay to me over just how much money the company dumped into advertising last year. The big spends included an expansive New York City subway campaign for the Sonos Ace headphones and a holiday elves campaign that cost a staggering amount. The Ace headphones, which I maintain are a very good product, were quickly forgotten when the gravity of Sonos’ app problems came into focus, so the marketing had little effect. None of that sat well internally — especially after layoffs in the summer.
But that was then. In the span of 48 hours, interim CEO Tom Conrad has demonstrated a clear objective to get Sonos back on the right path. I’m told that the moves have immediately boosted morale inside the company, with employees sensing that the new regime is serious about getting back to doing what Sonos does best.
Samsung has held the crown of the world’s largest smartphone maker for years, but Apple has been challenging that for a while and, in 2024, the iPhone seemingly dethroned the largest Android maker.
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Xbox has announced a few more sustainability efforts, including an expansion of its repairability program. You'll be able to buy official replacement parts for Xbox Series X/S systems from the Microsoft Store and iFixit so you can repair your console yourself, even if it's out of warranty. Until now, Microsoft had only offered controller parts through its own store, but now you can buy components for the Series S and both the all-digital and disc drive editions of the Series X. Along with various parts and step-by-step repair guides, iFixit also has an Xbox toolkit for sale.
Meanwhile, as of January 20, uBreakiFix by Asurion will be the first Xbox Authorized Service Provider. It will repair the consoles at nearly 700 participating locations in the US. Previously, authorized in-person Xbox repairs were only available at the Microsoft Store, so gamers will have many more places where they can go to get their console fixed without breaking the warranty.
These are positive steps forward for the right-to-repair movement. They should help reduce the number of games consoles that are consigned to the scrapheap.
"By expanding the number of ways players can get support and repair for their Xbox consoles, we also help extend the longevity of Xbox devices, reduce waste, promote re-use and ultimately reduce our environmental impact," Trista Patterson, director of gaming sustainability at Xbox, wrote in an Xbox Wire post. In addition, there are no longer any single-use plastics in Xbox Series X/S packaging following a switch to fully paper- and fiber-based materials.
Elsewhere on the sustainability front, Microsoft says that, through recent efficiencies in how the Xbox Series S handles video content, there's been an average power reduction of 10 percent while media apps are in use. As for the company's game studios, they've been using the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit to make more energy-efficient games, Microsoft says.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsoft-and-ifixit-now-sell-official-xbox-series-xs-replacement-parts-for-diy-repairs-173948884.html?src=rss
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Brian Tomasette, director of product, Amazon DSP
The amount of change and number of challenges that marketers faced in 2024 was head-spinning. From uncertainty about third-party identifiers to the chaos of ever-changing privacy rules, brands, agencies and technology partners like Amazon have had to rethink, adapt and innovate to reach audiences wherever they are — and now, they are everywhere. Not only has the consumer path-to-purchase expanded — most people use at least 20 touchpoints before making a decision — but their attention spans have shrunk. It’s a double whammy that has led marketers to find new ways to connect with their audience and increase relevancy across the marketing funnel.
Between the fast pace of business, constant technological advances and ongoing privacy changes, it’s becoming more difficult to understand the impact of advertising dollars across channels and devices.
To solve this challenge, marketers who leverage unique customer signals to reach their most relevant audiences at scale can significantly impact campaign outcomes. However, deploying a full-funnel strategy incorporating both has been a challenge.
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Charlie Swift, general manager, Adstra Services
The term performance marketing is hardly new, however, in the 2020s, the tactics and tools marketers use to achieve performance have evolved considerably, necessitating an update to how the industry understands the practice.
This practice is about getting the most out of marketing spend by doing more with each dollar, rather than restricting how much is spent — performance marketing needs some nuance.
Analyzing the seven stages of development reveals where many people practicing performance marketing typically stop and how they can move far beyond and become marketing masters.
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AI-focused infrastructure startup Aligned Data Centers announced on Wednesday it has raised over $12 billion in a new funding round. The capital includes $5 billion in primary equity from funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management and over $7 billion in […]
The post Aligned Data Centers raises $12 billion in funding to expand AI infrastructure amid rising demand first appeared on Tech Startups.
With Gemini now included in all business tiers, Google is increasing the price of Workspace plans in 2025.
more…Apple’s next generation of CarPlay, often referred to as CarPlay 2, is still nowhere to be found despite a 2024 deadline. Here’s why it’s time for Apple to take a radically new approach and reboot CarPlay 2.
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