Xiaomi Unveils the Most Powerful Android Phone as J&J Vaccine Paused in the US after Reactions
Xiaomi has made the best Android phone. Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccine paused after reactions. Microsoft buys speech recognition company Nuance for $20 billion. Coinbase debuts on Nasdaq and reaches $100 billion valuation. China and the US pledge to new climate change commitment. Here are this week’s stories.
1. The Mi 11 Ultra — The Most Powerful Smartphone
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra was the best Android phone available, until now. Xiaomi, a Chinese multinational electronics company, has revealed the Mi 11 Ultra, the most powerful android phone available. It has all the top-level flagship specs including the brightest AMOLED display with 120Hz, the extremely fast Snapdragon 888 chipset, a massive 5,000 mAh battery, and one of the best camera systems on a smartphone. It has an extremely massive camera bump with three large camera lenses and a small secondary AMOLED display. This phone only has three cameras but all of them are very specialized. The main camera has a very large sensor which makes the photos look “cleaner” and brighter. The ultrawide can shoot the widest pictures on a smartphone and all three of the cameras can shoot 8K video.
Additionally, there is a small customizable display in the back that can be used to display images, time, and notifications. The display may seem useless, but it provides one extremely valuable feature. It can be used to take selfies and record videos from the main camera. This will produce extremely high-quality selfies and videos which is currently not possible to do on most smartphones. Xiaomi is trying to gain market share and become a global competitor. In 2019, Huawei, also a Chinese multinational technology company, was on track to have the largest market share but then it was banned in the US because of a national security risk. The ban forced Huawei phones to stop using Google services which caused the phones to basically be unusable in markets outside of China. Huawei has left behind a large chunk of the global market for any smartphone company to capture and Xiaomi is trying to take advantage of this opportunity.
2. Johnson & Johnson Vaccine put on Hold after Reactions
The J&J vaccine has been paused in the US after a rare reaction. 6 women have developed a rare blood clotting disorder that left one dead. The woman were all between the ages of 18 to 48 and they had this unusual reaction within two weeks of receiving the one dose vaccine. The FDA and CDC have asked for the J&J vaccine to paused “out of an abundance of caution” following the reports of blood clots. Out of the 120 million Americans who have received at least one vaccine dose, 7 million have received the J&J vaccine. Less than 1 out of a million people have suffered from blood clots and they are all women. It was a good idea to pause the vaccine temporarily, but authorities need to quickly find the cause of these clots. 800 Americans are still dying every day from this deadly disease and we need to continue vaccinating Americans. The J&J vaccine is crucial because it is the only one-dose vaccine for Coronavirus. The J&J vaccine was also being used to immunize hard-to-reach populations such as prisoners or homeless people. In my opinion, the negatives outweigh the positives of pausing the vaccinations. This pause is most likely going to last a couple of weeks which is just too long. They should at least continue vaccinating males as all the reactions were in women.
3. Microsoft Buys Speech Recognition Company Nuance for $20 billion
Microsoft has bought Nuance, a speech recognition company, for $19.7 billion, making it their second-largest acquisition behind Linkedin. They have paid $56 per share, a 23% premium over the closing price of Nuance. Nuance is an American multinational computer software technology corporation that provides speech recognition, and artificial intelligence. They provide AI expertise and customer engagement solutions across interactive voice response, virtual assistants, and biometric solutions to companies. The company had helped launch Siri, Apple’s virtual assistance. Its services are very popular in the health care sector and 55% of physicians, 75% of radiologists in the US, and 77% of US hospitals use them. Nuance and Microsoft had been working closely before and it makes sense for Microsoft to acquire the company. Their main priority currently is to provide AI solutions in healthcare. Digital transformation of the healthcare sector has picked up speed during the pandemic and Microsoft is trying the emerge as a leader in this industry.
4. Cryptocurrency Exchange Platform Coinbase goes Public on Nasdaq
Coinbase, the biggest US cryptocurrency exchange platform, has gone public as cryptocurrencies gain wider acceptance. The company has more than 35 million customers in over 100 countries, with more than $25 billion in assets on the platform and more than $320 billion in total volume traded. It is the first major cryptocurrency start-up to go public on a US stock market. Coinbase shares began trading at $381 each and initially jumping above $400, but eventually closing at $328.28. The company had a valuation of almost $100 billion. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO, instantly become one of the richest people in the world. His 40 million shares become worth $16 billion. After tons of excitement for cryptocurrencies over the last week, the prices of Bitcoin and many other digital currencies fell. Bitcoin is around $57,000 but has peaked at around $63,000 when Coinbase went public. Other cryptocurrencies, like Ethereum and Dogecoin, also fell dramatically but rebounded quickly.
5. China and US Pledge Climate Change Commitment
China and the US say they are committed to working together and with other countries on tackling climate change. It comes after several meetings between climate envoys Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry in Shanghai last week. The US and China are the largest contributors to carbon emissions and they account for 43% of global emissions. They are also the two global superpowers and they have the power to reduce emissions globally. In addition to countries, companies need to cut emissions or develop new technologies that can help combat climate change. In the US, vehicles account for 30% of total emissions. Thankfully, most car companies are going electric by the next decade. Many tech companies have committed to ambitious green energy goals and some like Apple and Facebook have already accomplished their 100% renewable energy goal. The whole world needs to work together and cut emissions. Hopefully, the US and China can lead and tackle climate change.
Above were my top stories for the week of April 18, 2021. I hope you enjoyed them. Thank you and see you next week.
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