12 Big Tech News of 2022
2022 ends. Let’s take advantage of this New Year to take a quick month-by-month look at the 12 news stories that punctuated the year.
January: Announcement of Activision Blizzard’s acquisition by Microsoft
January 2022: an earthquake in the world of video games. Microsoft has announced that it has acquired Activision Blizzard King for $68.7 billion. The news is already historic in itself, but we still didn’t know the scale of this extremely live series.
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We’ve even put together a file to explain everything you need to know about Activision’s comprehensive takeover by Microsoft.
February: Samsung Galaxy S22
Samsung Mobile’s year really started in February. This is indeed the month when the South Korean giant launched the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra. Despite less than the usual critical reception, this product line is still crucial in the Android phone market.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which we have been using for months, has also established itself as the best smartphone for photography.
March: the tech world against Russia
At the end of February, Russia starts a war against Ukraine. It is clear that armed conflict has serious consequences for concerned populations on the front lines and on the international stage. On the technological side, this invasion has had several effects, starting with the threat of hidden shortages in March. Russia and Ukraine are indeed the main suppliers of materials used in the manufacture of semiconductors. The production of electric cars was also affected.
However, the technology sector is also political. It’s no surprise, then, that Apple has halted its sales in Russia before following Samsung and several other big brands, including Netflix, which has suspended its service there. We can also refer to Google Maps and Apple Maps, which no longer show traffic information in Ukraine in order not to compromise the population. In turn, Elon Musk decided to deploy Starlink satellites over Ukraine to compensate for possible internet outages.
April: EU tries to make USB-C a universal standard
One of the main technological themes of 2022 has led to the Old Continent. Indeed, by making this a mandatory standard for wired charging, the European Union is forcing iPhones to switch to USB-C for wired charging. However, Apple smartphones have always incorporated proprietary Lightning connectors.
For Apple, this political initiative stifles innovation. For the EU, it’s a way to reduce e-waste by allowing users to have just one charger for all their devices. However, the first agreement on the implementation of this measure was reached in April.
May: Google I/O 2022
In May, Google I/O 2022 took place with its share of new features. The opportunity to officially discover Google Pixel 6a, Pixel Watch, Pixel Buds Pro headphones. Mountain View even took the opportunity to introduce the Pixel Tablet and, even more surprisingly, connected glasses.
This massive crowd also gave us a first look at the Pixel 7 and some information on Android 13. Two topics we return to a little later in this article.
June: Apple WWDC 2022
After Google I/O, it’s time for Apple’s WWDC 2022! The developer conference was, among other things, an opportunity to introduce the Apple M2 chip and the MacBook Air M2. It was on this occasion that the list of smartphones compatible with iOS 16 was announced, as well as the welcome innovation of a customizable lock screen. Enough to prepare for the main speech in September.
July: Arrival of BYD in France
Among the top 3 electric car manufacturers, the Chinese brand is in second place. But the latter was not officially available with us until now. This was corrected in July 2022. This is indeed the moment BYD announced that it will sell its cars in Europe from the fourth quarter.
In this process, the manufacturer participated in the Paris Motor Show. And the group’s goal will obviously be to get into trouble with Tesla.
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August: Android 13 in stable version
After several months of Developer Preview and then beta in August, Android 13 became the stable version. Despite some notable new features, this version mainly consists of changing a few elements of Android 12. In particular, we hope that updates will be deployed quickly on eligible models to avoid excessive Android fragmentation.
Some brands are showing very encouraging signs, like Samsung and its One UI 5 interface.
September: Apple’s back-to-school keynote (iPhone 14)
Back to school is usually brought to life by announcements from Apple. 2022 was no exception. So Apple took advantage of its September keynote. In particular, we remember the clearance of several products: iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max for smartphones. In addition, three watches: Apple Watch Series 8, Watch SE (2022) and Watch Ultra. Not to mention AirPods 2 headphones.
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October: Google Pixel 7
October has been a busy month for new products, especially smartphones. The eyes of tech enthusiasts have obviously turned to the Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro.
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These two smartphones made a big splash after the iPhone 14 by bringing new features and exciting features while maintaining the same prices as their predecessors. The focus is always on photo capabilities and the easy-to-use Pixel Experience interface.
November: Elon Musk’s Twitter adventures
Twitter was bought by Elon Musk in 2022. However, mainly since November, after the purchase was completed, the influence of the billionaire, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, was felt on the network.social. Starting with an $8 subscription to Twitter Blue, which allows you to display a verified badge on your profile, among other things, the first steps are particularly complicated.
More generally, Elon Musk’s takeover as CEO of Twitter has been chaotic amid mass layoffs and impersonation of official accounts. The businessman has been known for his controversial stances on freedom of expression and some surprising actions. For example, he organized a survey to find out whether he should leave his position as CEO.
The said survey actually had no role. Elon Musk has already decided to find his successor, but will retain his main role at Twitter.
December: Twist in Activision x Microsoft case
In December… In January! Microsoft’s takeover of Activision, announced earlier in the year, caused a lot of ink to flow during the year. The key question is whether this maneuver is really a threat to healthy competition in the industry. For example, one of the concerns was seeing the license call of duty It disappears from Sony’s PlayStations, falling into the hands of Microsoft (and therefore Xbox).
But another blow in December. The United States decides to sue Microsoft to prevent a takeover. Not surprisingly, the Redmond firm was quick to react, bolstering its arguments to convince that the acquisition was healthy for the video game.
3 infinite bonuses
2022 was also marked by less obvious news to accurately place in the calendar. We chose three.
Rapid inflation
According to the latest INSEE report, consumer prices in France rose by a total of 6.2% over the course of a year. Therefore, the vast majority of sectors were affected and the technology market could not escape the inflation.
Whether it’s the price of new devices launched or the price of service subscriptions, inflation has been closely linked to many news stories. Among the main events of 2022, it would be difficult not to mention this phenomenon.
An eventful year for cryptocurrencies
2022 was not a good year for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have fallen significantly over the year. To make matters worse, towards the end of the year, FTX pleads guilty. However, it was one of the major cryptocurrency trading platforms and its bankruptcy caused a lot of concern for people who invested in it. Not to mention the FTX-sponsored sports and esports teams, who also have to deal with complications after this breakup.
Finally, another big event marked the year of cryptocurrencies in 2022: I named The Merge. This is the name of the radical change that took place in the Ethereum blockchain, which came from the principle proof of work for proof of stake. Without going into details, it is important to know that mining on Ethereum consumes less energy thanks to this pivot.
Fun Fact: #EthereumAfter combining with ‘s proof-of-stake, energy consumption decreased by 99.99%.
—Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) December 24, 2022
Thus, it will be possible to reduce the demand for graphics cards, since there is no need to invest astronomical energy in the mining of Ethereum. It’s enough to not relive the major flaws that hit GPUs.
Fears of an energy crisis
As we mentioned above, the war in Ukraine had several repercussions. Among them, the increase in the price of electricity in France is due to the shutdown of some nuclear reactors operated by EDF.
So everyone is encouraged to keep a close eye on their energy contract and be aware of what off-peak hours may or may not bring. On the telecommunications side, Orange has even warned: phone networks may experience outages this winter.
Electric cars are also worried: will it be possible to charge them quietly in winter? The French government has a plan to deal with this problem, but again, be prepared for price hikes.
At home, you can optionally connect your electric heaters to save money.
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