Tag: Field

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World News

Ford poaches high tech govt Doug Subject who helped lead Apple’s top-secret automobile mission

Ford poaches top tech executive Doug Field who helped lead Apple's top-secret car project

Ford Motor Co. displays a new 2021 Ford F-150 pickup truck at the Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan, September 17, 2020.

Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT – Ford Motor has hired former Tesla and Apple executive Doug Field to lead its emerging technology efforts, a key focus for the automaker under its new Ford+ turnaround plan.

Field, who led development of Tesla’s Model 3, most recently served as vice president of special projects at Apple, which reportedly included the tech giant’s Titan car project.

The hire is a major new addition for Ford, while a big hit to Apple and its secret car project, which the company has yet to confirm exists.

“I think any time you lose a well-respected, experienced executive who, as best we can tell, was really directing the automotive efforts at Apple, it’s a blow to any company,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, who covers the iPhone maker, said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” 

Ford on Tuesday said Field will serve in the new position of chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer. He will lead Ford’s vehicle controls, enterprise connectivity, features, integration and validation, architecture and platform, driver assistance technology and digital engineering tools.

“His talent and commitment to innovation that improves customers’ lives will be invaluable as we build out our Ford+ plan to deliver awesome products, always-on customer relationships and ever-improving user experiences,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “We are thrilled Doug chose to join Ford and help write the next amazing chapter of this great company.” 

Field, who will report to Farley, actually began his professional career at Ford in 1987, according to his LinkedIn profile. He then held positions at Johnson & Johnson, Deka Research & Development and Segway before starting at Apple in 2008. After more than five years with the tech giant, he moved to Tesla before returning to Apple in 2018.

– CNBC’s Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this report

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Business

HBO Max Positive factors Traction in a Crowded Area

HBO Max Gains Traction in a Crowded Field

AT&T added 2.7 million new customers to HBO and HBO Max in the first quarter. This is a boost for the company’s new streaming endeavors in an increasingly crowded area.

The company’s WarnerMedia division, which also includes HBO, had sales of $ 8.5 billion for the period. This is a 9.8 percent increase over the previous year, when theater and advertising revenues fell during the pandemic. Under the direction of Jason Kilar, WarnerMedia also owns the cable networks CNN and Turner and the film studios Warner Bros.

HBO is the cornerstone of AT & T’s media strategy, and the company sees HBO Max as a way to deter its cellular customers from fleeing and is offering the streaming platform to its phone customers at a discount.

In its report for the first quarter of the year, AT&T stopped disclosing the number of active HBO Max users, thereby masking how many people are actually tuned to the new streaming service.

AT & T had a total of 44.1 million subscribers to HBO and HBO Max in the USA at the end of March, an increase of 2.7 million compared to the previous quarter. Before it stopped breaking out of HBO Max subscriptions in December, there were 41.5 million subscribers as of December: 17.1 million for the streaming service, 20 million for HBO over cable and the rest of hotels or other offerings.

HBO Max most likely made the profit for the quarter, which is remarkable given the competitiveness of the streaming universe. HBO Max is also the most expensive of the major streaming platforms at $ 15 a month. Netflix, which posted profits on Tuesday, continues to lead the way with 67 million customers in the US and nearly 208 million total.

Netflix’s dominance has declined, also due to new entrants in the market like HBO Max and Disney +. Netflix added four million new subscribers in the quarter, a little over 400,000 in the US.

Netflix has attributed the comparatively slow growth to the slowdown in production when Hollywood studios largely stopped producing shows and films during the pandemic. The company anticipated a more successful second half of the year as recurring favorites and highly anticipated films become available.

HBO Max most likely received a boost from an unorthodox strategy championed by Mr. Kilar: sibling Warner Bros. plans to release their entire line of 2021 films on HBO Max the same day they are due to hit theaters. The announcement rumbled across Hollywood, disgruntled agents and filmmakers who had lost important bonuses and commissions by shorting out the old theatrical release schedule.

Mr Kilar said the company will likely return to a more traditional sales plan next year. For the remainder of 2021, he’s betting on the film, which includes the recent releases of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” as well as the Friday premiere of “Mortal Kombat” to drive people to HBO max.

The company is also planning a global expansion of HBO Max starting June, as well as a lower-cost version of the service that will include commercials. The company has approximately 19.7 million overseas HBO customers whom it plans to convert into HBO Max subscribers.

Categories
Health

New York to show Citi Subject into ‘mega’ Covid vaccination web site: Mayor

New York to turn Citi Field into 'mega' Covid vaccination site: Mayor

Citi Field Ballpark, home of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team on September 7, 2019 in Flushing, Queens, New York City.

Tim Clayton | Corbis Sport | Getty Images

New York will turn Citi Field into a 24/7 mega coronavirus vaccination site by the end of January to vaccinate thousands of residents every day, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday.

NYC Health and Hospitals will operate the New York Mets site with the goal of taking between 5,000 and 7,000 admissions daily, de Blasio said in a joint announcement with Mets owner Steve Cohen.

The announcement comes a day after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that his city will set up a vaccination site at Dodger Stadium by the end of this week. This facility can fire up to 12,000 shots a day, according to a statement from Garcetti’s office on Monday.

“This will help so many people get vaccinated,” de Blasio said during a press conference. “We welcome all New Yorkers. We even welcome Yankees fans. There is no discrimination.”

New York City Mayor has urged Governor Andrew Cuomo to increase the number of people who would be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, beyond the priority healthcare workers. Cuomo granted the city’s request last week, saying that people age 75 and older, as well as key workers such as first responders, teachers, school staff and others across the state could be vaccinated against the disease starting this week.

A person wearing a protective mask stands in front of a vaccination center for Covid-19 in Bathgate Industrial Park in the Bronx, New York on Monday, January 11, 2021.

David Delgado | Bloomberg | Getty Images

As of Tuesday, the state will open Covid-19 vaccinations to all over 65s as well as to younger people with compromised immune systems, the Democratic governor said during a conversation with reporters on Tuesday morning.

However, it seems that so far the problem has not found a place for people to be vaccinated – it has ensured the supply of the doses. According to Cuomo, the newly expanded federal guidelines apply to about 7 million people, but the state only receives about 300,000 doses per week.

“I ask for your patience, as there are unfortunately far more eligible New Yorkers than vaccines from the federal government,” Cuomo said in a tweet on Tuesday.

De Blasio said the city had 26,000 vaccinations on Monday. At that rate, the city will run out of vaccines in less than two weeks, he said.

“We’re going to need the doses to keep this kind of effort going,” he said.