Consumer Tech News (Nov 25-Nov 29): Sony Brings December PS Plus Games, Elon Musk Initiating Trial On Brain Implant Tech & More

Black Friday, known for its enticing discounts on the latest technology, may not always deliver the bargains shoppers expect. A recent study by KnownHost revealed that nearly a third of these "deals" aren't genuine savings at all.

Earnings

HP Inc. HPQ reported fourth-quarter earnings of 93 cents per share, in line with the analyst consensus estimate. Quarterly revenue came in $14.05 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $13.99 billion.

Dell Technologies Inc. DELL reported third-quarter earnings of $2.15 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.05. Quarterly revenue came in at $24.37 billion, which missed the consensus estimate of $24.65 billion.

Gaming

Sony Group Corporation SONY unveiled December PS Plus games, including It Takes Two, Aliens: Dark Descent, and TemTem, available from Dec. 3 to Jan. 6.

Sony is reportedly preparing to introduce black versions of its DualSense Edge controller, Pulse Elite wireless headphones and, Pulse Explore wireless earbuds.

Ubisoft Montreal is reportedly developing a social simulation game codenamed Alterra, blending elements inspired by Nintendo ADR‘s NTDOY Animal Crossing and Microsoft Corporation‘s MSFT Minecraft.

Nintendo settled one of the longest-running debates among The Legend of Zelda fans by confirming where Echoes of Wisdom fits in the franchise’s intricate timeline.

Activision says its Ricochet anti-cheat team has banned 19K accounts from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 ranked play since Nov. 21 launch.

CD Projekt SA OTGLY announced that Project Polaris, the first installment in a new Witcher trilogy, has transitioned from preproduction to full-scale production.

Technology

The U.S. government reportedly plans to reduce Intel Corporation‘s INTC $8.5 billion federal chips grant.

Russian-linked hacking group RomCom has exploited vulnerabilities in Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft‘s Windows to target users across Europe and North America.

Telegram has reported significant financial growth in the first half of 2024, with revenue reaching $525 million, driven by strong performance in cryptocurrency holdings. This is despite ongoing legal challenges facing its CEO, Pavel Durov.

Smartphone

Apple Inc. AAPL is reportedly changing its approach to software updates. The tech giant appears to be opting for staggered rollouts of new features instead of bundling everything into annual iOS releases.

Apple unveiled its Black Friday 2024 promotion, running from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, offering customers gift cards with the purchase of eligible products instead of direct discounts.

Xiaomi Corp. XIACF is set to launch its own mobile processor for future smartphones, aiming to lessen its dependency on foreign suppliers like Qualcomm Inc. QCOM and MediaTek Inc. MDTKF.

China’s Huawei Technologies will replace Google’s Android with its in-house developed operating system in smartphones and tablets starting next year.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has obtained a commercial license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its Starlink Direct-to-Cell service. This marks a pivotal step in expanding the reach of satellite-based mobile connectivity.

Elon Musk‘s company, Neuralink, is set to initiate a new feasibility trial involving its innovative brain implant technology and a robotic arm. This trial aims to explore the safety and effectiveness of Neuralink's wireless brain-computer interface and surgical robot.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced that his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, will start an AI-driven game studio. 

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI’s unreleased Sora text-to-video AI model has reportedly been leaked by a group of beta testers protesting its handling of artists.

Salesforce, Inc.‘s CRM CEO Marc Benioff has warned that the world is reaching the "upper limits" of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.