Category: News and Views

This Week in Apps: Google bans call-recording apps, Snap’s Q1 and BeReal hype | TechCrunch

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Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.

The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports. Global spending across iOS, Google Play and third-party Android app stores in China grew 19% in 2021 to reach $170 billion. Downloads of apps also grew by 5%, reaching 230 billion in 2021, and mobile ad spend grew 23% year over year to reach $295 billion.

Today’s consumers now spend more time in apps than ever before — even topping the time they spend watching TV, in some cases. The average American watches 3.1 hours of TV per day, for example, but in 2021, they spent 4.1 hours on their mobile device. And they’re not even the world’s heaviest mobile users. In markets like Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea, users surpassed five hours per day in mobile apps in 2021.

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Buckle up: The Fed is about to get tough on inflation | CNN

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Last month, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since December 2018. Now there are growing expectations that the central bank is about to dramatically step up the size and pace of its rate hikes in order to put a brake on surging consumer prices.

St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard, one of the more hawkish members among the Fed’s regional bank chiefs, reiterated at an event Monday that the Fed needs to “expeditiously” raise rates in order to tamp down inflation. (Inflation hawks typically push for higher rates while so-called doves favor lower rates to stimulate growth.) Bullard suggested the Fed could raise rates by as much as 75 basis points.

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Workers are Seeking or Planning to Seek New Jobs | business.com

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Higher pay, better benefits, or improved work environment could entice 88 percent of these job seekers to stay with their current company

Public health crises past and present have caused labor shortages that ripped out and reworked the fabric of society. The Great Plague liberated serfs, the Spanish Flu brought women to the workplace, and COVID-19 is empowering modern employees to redefine work-life balance and find roles that fit their lifestyles.

In upending the economy, the coronavirus also reshaped views of the workforce. Hourly earners were finally seen as essential and many office workers logged in from home, while government assistance allowed millions to reconsider their employment status. Many workers delayed their returns to the office or quit their jobs to seek more favorable terms as part of The Great Resignation.

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A self-driving car stopped by San Francisco police | BBC News

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San Francisco police officers were faced with a new challenge after stopping an autonomous vehicle with no-one inside.

Officers approached the car, operated by Cruise, because it had been driving without headlights.

In the incident, captured on film, an officer remarks that there “ain’t nobody in it” before the car moves to what Cruise said was a safer location.

The company said the headlights issue was a result of human error.

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Inflation Hits a 40-Year High–And Businesses Ponder the R-Word | Inc.com

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While the cost of capital remains relatively inexpensive and consumers keep their foot on the pedal of the economy, the recent inflationary surge will likely drive the Federal Reserve to act to cool the economy. The big question: Can the Fed apply the brakes without slowing the economy into a recession.

In March, inflation rose 8.5 percent, a 40-year high, according to the latest reading of the Labor Department’s consumer price index, or CPI. Meanwhile, groceries surged 10 percent in March from a year ago, while food overall rose 8.8 percent. Used car prices are more than 35 percent higher than they were a year ago, dropping slightly since January, and nationally a gallon of gas is currently hovering at around $4, up 18.3 percent in March and nearing a record set in 2008.

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YouTube services worldwide are experiencing issues, the company confirms | TechCrunch

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YouTube today confirmed the site is experiencing a variety of issues that are impacting users worldwide. The company acknowledged the service’s problems after numerous users reported error messages when trying to watch videos or noted various site elements weren’t available — like the sidebar navigation or the Setting menus, for example — among other things.

Some users also found they couldn’t sign in to their YouTube account or switch between profiles. Others said they were unable to cast YouTube to their TV or use the app on their gaming console.

When trying to play videos, some would see an error that said “No Internet Connection” even though they weren’t otherwise having connectivity issues.

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Etsy sellers explain why they’re going on strike | Mashable

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Etsy’s reputation as the feel-good home of whimsical goods and small businesses is being put on blast — by Etsy sellers themselves.

On April 11, thousands of Etsy sellers, many of whom work full-time selling their merchandise on the site, plan to go on strike by putting their shops in “vacation mode” and not selling their goods for a week.

The shop owners are protesting a number of business changes Etsy has made over the past few years that sellers say have degraded the platform and made it harder for them to run their businesses and earn a profit. Most directly, the strike is in response to a bump in the fee Etsy charges sellers: On April 11, it goes from 5 percent to 6.5 percent — a 30 percent increase — as announced in February.

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US consumer debt jumped by $40 billion in February | CNN

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Americans got into a lot more debt in February as rampant inflation kept up the pressure, the Federal Reserve’s consumer credit report showed Thursday.

Debt levels jumped by nearly $42 billion to a total of almost $4.5 trillion. That’s an annual increase of 11.3%, seasonally adjusted, far outperforming economists’ expectations and setting a new high. In January, total credit had grown only 2.4%.

The Fed’s historical consumer credit data goes back to the early 1940s.

Revolving credit, which includes credit cards, jumped by 20.7% to about $1.1 trillion. The category increased by only 4% in the prior month.

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New fashion, beauty, and food collaborations for spring 2022 | Fast Company

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This spring, if your face smells like donuts and your outfit comes from a farmers market stand? Congratulations, you’re bang on-trend. As fashion and beauty brands seek to engage new customers in a social media-driven, post-pandemic economy, partnerships and collaborations teams are increasingly turning to food—including iconic restaurant brands and flavorful experiences—to lure shoppers back to brick-and-mortar retail.

Last month, when British bakery chain Greggs debuted a collaboration with fast fashion retailer Primark in the UK, fans of pasties queued up for hours to score the logo-emblazoned loungewear. Not long after Coach announced its Zabar’s capsule collection—comprising bagel-printed luxury tees, sweaters, and totes—nearly every single item sold out online. And this week, two megabrands in the beauty and fashion space enter the fray with retail concepts and in-store activations themed around food.

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