Technology

Bloomberg Electric flying taxis may be cleared for takeoff in European skies by 2024 or 2025, according to the region’s top air-safety regulator. Piloted craft that take off vertically could see commercial use carrying packages before passengers, Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), said in an online event. Autonomous drones will take at least ...

Bloomberg Shortages in the semiconductor industry, which have already slammed automakers and consumer electronics companies, are getting even worse, complicating the global economy’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Chip lead times, the gap between ordering a chip and taking delivery, increased to 17 weeks in April, indicating users are getting more desperate to secure supply, according to research by Susquehanna ...

Bloomberg Sony Group Corp warned a group of analysts the PlayStation 5 (PS5) will remain in short supply through 2022, suggesting the company will be constrained in its ability to boost sales targets for its latest games console. While reporting financial results in late April, the Japanese conglomerate said it had sold 7.8 million units of the console through March ...

Bloomberg After building the world’s biggest clothing empire without using TV and billboard ads, the owner of fashion brand Zara is trying another way to market its dresses, jeans and jackets — video games. Spain’s Inditex SA is responding to the shift from physical stores to online sales by teaming up with Facebook and Instagram to develop “Pacific Game” to ...

Bloomberg Samantha Proyrungtong, co-owner of an artisan food shop in downtown Bangkok, keeps three phones and a laptop glued to Facebook and Softbank Group-backed Line Corp.’s social-media app throughout the workday. She needs them not to hear from friends and relatives but to get orders from customers since her shop, Vivin Grocery, relies on chat applications for a big part ...

Bloomberg A company that’s barely known in the US and Europe is the most successful online music platform in Africa — making it target number one in Spotify’s campaign to dominate the continent’s streaming market. Audiomack Inc. won the hearts of many Africans by allowing those without a premium subscription to download songs and listen offline. The feature lets customers ...

Bloomberg The next-generation display destined to be a highlight of Apple Inc.’s upcoming top-tier iPad Pro is facing production issues that could lead to short initial supplies of the new device, according to people familiar with the matter. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant plans to showcase a new MiniLED display technology in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro set to be announced ...

Bloomberg Google’s results, showing a surge in ad sales related to travel and retail, offered a glimpse of online spending in a post-pandemic world: Businesses are boosting digital marketing to capture a public eager to resume something resembling normal life again. Google parent Alphabet Inc. said first-quarter revenue, excluding payments to distribution partners, came in at $45.6 billion, pummeling Wall ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp reported quarterly sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates for a ninth straight quarter, lifted by booming cloud-computing demand. This time, investors weren’t satisfied. Sales in the period ended March 31 rise to $41.7 billion, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker said in a statement. That compared with the $41.1 billion average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg. ...

Bloomberg Twitter Inc tumbled 13% after the social media company posted a sluggish start to the year in its advertising business and gave a disappointing revenue forecast, a sign the social media service hasn’t fully capitalized on the digital advertising boom amid the pandemic like companies such as Facebook Inc. and Google. Sales were slow during the first months of ...