CEO | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 13 Mar 2024 09:21:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png CEO | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Payday 3 studio lets go of CEO following launch troubles https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/payday-3-studio-lets-go-of-ceo-following-launch-troubles/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/payday-3-studio-lets-go-of-ceo-following-launch-troubles/#respond Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:00:40 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=651302 It is no secret that Payday 3 has been struggling. The game launched to poor reception from fans, with many choosing to return to the older Payday 2. Now six months on, Starbreeze is ousting its CEO. Starbreeze CEO, Tobias Sjögren, took the reigns at the company three years ago, helping in the company's turnaround, …

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It is no secret that Payday 3 has been struggling. The game launched to poor reception from fans, with many choosing to return to the older Payday 2. Now six months on, Starbreeze is ousting its CEO.

Starbreeze CEO, Tobias Sjögren, took the reigns at the company three years ago, helping in the company's turnaround, with Payday 3 set to be their big ticket back to financial success. Unfortunately, things did not play out this way. With Sjögren now out, Starbreeze board member, Juergen Goeldner will act as interim CEO while the company begins looking for a long-term successor.

As pointed out by gamedeveloper, Goeldner has been in the games industry for 40 years now, and previously worked as the CEO of Focus Home Interactive. He first joined the board of directors at Starbreeze in 2023.

With leadership changes falling into place, we'll have to see if Starbreeze can turn things around for Payday 3.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do you think Payday 3 can have a redemption arc this year?

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Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger will host a keynote at CES 2024 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/event/joao-silva/intels-ceo-pat-gelsinger-will-host-a-keynote-at-ces-2024/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/event/joao-silva/intels-ceo-pat-gelsinger-will-host-a-keynote-at-ces-2024/#respond Mon, 11 Dec 2023 17:00:54 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=640261 Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger, is expected to deliver a keynote speech on January 9th as a part of Intel's participation at CES 2024. The discussion will focus on the intersection of silicon and software and improving the accessibility of artificial intelligence. CNBC journalist Kristina Partsinevelos will join Gelsinger in this conversation. Artificial intelligence appears to …

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Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger, is expected to deliver a keynote speech on January 9th as a part of Intel's participation at CES 2024. The discussion will focus on the intersection of silicon and software and improving the accessibility of artificial intelligence. CNBC journalist Kristina Partsinevelos will join Gelsinger in this conversation.

Artificial intelligence appears to be the main topic of interest at this event, as Intel is planning to unveil its first consumer line equipped with a dedicated VPU. Additionally, Intel is expected to announce new hardware, such as the 14th Gen Core HX for laptops and Core-S 65-35W desktop versions.

Michelle Johnston Holthaus, GM of Intel GCG, will hold an Open House where attendees can explore and access Intel Core Ultra showcase computers during the event. As for the keynote presented by Gelsinger, it's scheduled for January 9th at 5PM PT (January 10th at 1AM GMT).

While AMD has confirmed its attendance at CES, no information about a keynote has been released. However, earlier last week, the company announced its Ryzen 8040 “Hawk Point” series, which is also expected to be showcased at CES 2024.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Will you be watching Intel's CES 2024 keynote? 

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Unity CEO abandons ship after recent backlash to business model changes https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/unity-ceo-abandons-ship-after-recent-backlash-to-business-model-changes/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/unity-ceo-abandons-ship-after-recent-backlash-to-business-model-changes/#respond Wed, 11 Oct 2023 15:00:51 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=633841 In recent weeks, Unity has been in hot water with the developer community. Those who actively use and pay for the engine were shocked by new business model changes the company plans to implement, leading to many developers losing trust in the company and speaking out against the new business model. Now, Unity's controversial CEO …

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In recent weeks, Unity has been in hot water with the developer community. Those who actively use and pay for the engine were shocked by new business model changes the company plans to implement, leading to many developers losing trust in the company and speaking out against the new business model. Now, Unity's controversial CEO is officially stepping down. 

John Riccitiello is not a beloved figure amongst gamers. The former EA CEO notoriously pushed for microtransactions and increased costs to gamers, floating the idea of charging for weapon ammo in Battlefield back during his time at EA. Thankfully, the industry hasn't reached that point of price gouging yet, but his push for microtransactions can certainly be felt across the industry today, with the mobile gaming space relying almost entirely on microtransaction spending and many premium console and PC games also relying on microtransactions to support growing development costs.

Riccitiello joined Unity years ago as CEO. Last month, Unity announced plans to charge a Unity Runtime fee, charging developers for new installations of games and increasing costs for using the engine. After significant backlash from developers on this, as well as lingering questions over how accurate Unity's installation tracking is and the potential for this system to be weaponised against developers by groups mass-installing and re-installing games, Unity did make changes to its proposal.

Under the new guidelines, Unity will not charge a per-install runtime fee for developers using Unity Personal or Unity Plus. Additionally, the runtime fee only kicks in for Pro or Enterprise users after accruing $1 million in revenue and reaching 1 million engagements. This fee will also only apply to those shipping projects with Unity's upcoming Long Term Support version, which is due to arrive in 2024, rather than impacting all Unity users across all versions of the engine. Alternatively, developers can self-report installs and gross revenue to Unity and either pay the runtime fee, or 2.5% of gross sales, whichever fee ends up being smaller.

While these changes did help alleviate some of the backlash a bit, many developers are still understandably frustrated with the changes and are making plans to move away from Unity.

As a result, John Riccitiello is officially stepping down as CEO of Unity with immediate effect. While the recent controversy was not addressed in the announcement, the fact that the departure is immediate, with no successor lined up, indicates that this move was unplanned and fairly sudden. Now, Unity will begin its search for a new CEO.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Unity's recent business model changes caused quite the storm. While the company won't confirm if this directly led to Riccitiello leaving the company, from the outside, it seems highly likely. 

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Seasonic introduces new CEO Eric Lan https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/matthew-wilson/sea-sonic-introduces-new-ceo-eric-lan/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/matthew-wilson/sea-sonic-introduces-new-ceo-eric-lan/#respond Mon, 03 Oct 2022 14:30:35 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=576934 Sea Sonic is entering a new phase, as long-time CEO, Vincent Chang, is stepping down. He'll remain Chairman of the Board, but the CEO spot will now be filled by Eric Lan, who has previously held executive positions in Taiwan semiconductor and electronics companies.  According to the announcement, Lan brings “strong corporate and industrial management …

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Sea Sonic is entering a new phase, as long-time CEO, Vincent Chang, is stepping down. He'll remain Chairman of the Board, but the CEO spot will now be filled by Eric Lan, who has previously held executive positions in Taiwan semiconductor and electronics companies. 

According to the announcement, Lan brings “strong corporate and industrial management capabilities”, as well as extensive marketing experience, as well as experience in PSU research and development.

Previously Lan worked as the CEO of Leader Electronics, and acted as Vice President of Fairchild Semiconductor, also based in Taiwan.

This news follows on from Sea Sonic's ATX 3.0 power supply launch. The new Vertex series of modular PSUs offer everything you need to get started with next-gen GPUs like the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080, which use 12VHPWR instead of standard PCIe power connectors.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Good luck to Sea Sonic as it enters this next phase. We should see more PSUs from the company in the year ahead, as the industry begins to shift over to ATX 3.0. 

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NYC lawsuit claims Kotick was ‘unfit’ to negotiate Activision Blizzard sale to Microsoft https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/nyc-lawsuit-claims-kotick-was-unfit-to-negotiate-activision-blizzard-sale-to-microsoft/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/nyc-lawsuit-claims-kotick-was-unfit-to-negotiate-activision-blizzard-sale-to-microsoft/#respond Thu, 05 May 2022 16:00:50 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=559402 Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, has come under fire over the last year, with thousands of employees campaigning to oust him from the company. Instead of stepping down, Kotick decided to negotiate a lifeline deal from Microsoft, something that New York City politicians aren't too happy about.  In a new lawsuit filed by New York …

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Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, has come under fire over the last year, with thousands of employees campaigning to oust him from the company. Instead of stepping down, Kotick decided to negotiate a lifeline deal from Microsoft, something that New York City politicians aren't too happy about. 

In a new lawsuit filed by New York City officials (via Axios), Kotick is accused of attempting to rush through a sale to Microsoft in order to avoid liability. This follows a report last year, in which sources claimed Kotick was aware of a number of sexual harassment allegations levied at executives, which he failed to address appropriately.

The lawsuit seeks to determine exactly how much Kotick knew when it comes to the misconduct that seemingly ran rampant throughout Activision Blizzard studios. Activision Blizzard is also being sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for failing to provide a safe and fair working environment for employees. It is believed that the pressure from the lawsuit, combined with a barrage of negative press, ultimately led Kotick to seek a buyer for the company.

The NYC lawsuit alleges that Kotick was unfit to negotiate a sale of the company and should not have had the power to do so. The lawsuit goes on to add: “Not only did the Merger offer Kotick and his fellow directors a means to escape liability for their egregious breaches of fiduciary duty, but it also offered Kotick the chance to realize substantial nonratable benefits.”.

Microsoft began negotiating the Activision Blizzard deal in late 2021 and by January, the deal was finalised and announced. Currently, the acquisition is going through regulatory checks, with the goal of clearing approvals and closing the deal by June 2023.

KitGuru Says: One of the biggest criticisms against the acquisition has been that it provides Kotick with a ‘golden parachute'. Activision Blizzard has not yet responded to this lawsuit, but a counter filing should pop up soon. 

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Intel CEO predicts chip shortage will continue until 2023 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/intel-ceo-predicts-chip-shortage-will-continue-until-2023/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/intel-ceo-predicts-chip-shortage-will-continue-until-2023/#respond Tue, 21 Dec 2021 16:39:50 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=544469 We've been hearing time and again that the ongoing chip shortage is likely going to continue into 2022 and it seems new strains and the continued spread of COVID-19 have assured that. This week, Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger reaffirmed that he expects the chip shortage to remain an issue until 2023.  Gelsinger has made similar …

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We've been hearing time and again that the ongoing chip shortage is likely going to continue into 2022 and it seems new strains and the continued spread of COVID-19 have assured that. This week, Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger reaffirmed that he expects the chip shortage to remain an issue until 2023. 

Gelsinger has made similar statements earlier in the year and nothing has swayed that prediction so far. Speaking with Nikkei, Gelsinger stated that COVID's impact on the supply chain caused it to “go negative”, and demand for chips also exploded at the same time, causing a huge imbalance. According to Gelsinger, “that exploding demand has persisted”.

“The overall semiconductor shortage is quite significant and the semiconductor industry was growing about 5% per year before COVID. COVID disrupted the supply chains, causing it to go negative [and] Demand exploded to 20% year-over-year and disrupted supply chains created a very large gap and that exploding demand has persisted.”

With the chip shortage expected to last until 2023, consumer pricing for tech is going to remain inflated in 2022, but in 2023, we should see things settle, particularly in the world of PC hardware, where CPUs and especially graphics cards have been more expensive than ever before.

KitGuru Says: We expect to see new launches from Nvidia and AMD in late 2022, which will be highly sought after by those who have been unable to upgrade their rigs in the past two years. 

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Activision Blizzard CEO will ‘consider leaving’ if on-going issues can’t be ‘quickly fixed’ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/activision-blizzard-ceo-will-consider-leaving-if-on-going-issues-cant-be-quickly-fixed/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/activision-blizzard-ceo-will-consider-leaving-if-on-going-issues-cant-be-quickly-fixed/#respond Mon, 22 Nov 2021 17:10:44 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=540481 Activision Blizzard continues to make headlines this week, as sources have claimed that CEO, Bobby Kotick, may be willing to resign if current on-going issues at the studio can't be quickly fixed.  Calls for Kotick to step down have grown louder in recent weeks, after a report from The Wall Street Journal claimed that Kotick …

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Activision Blizzard continues to make headlines this week, as sources have claimed that CEO, Bobby Kotick, may be willing to resign if current on-going issues at the studio can't be quickly fixed. 

Calls for Kotick to step down have grown louder in recent weeks, after a report from The Wall Street Journal claimed that Kotick had known about harassment issues at Activision's studios for years and in at least one instance, covered up complaints to avoid having to let go of an executive working on the Call of Duty franchise.

Following this, executives from PlayStation and Xbox voiced concerns over what's happening at Activision Blizzard. Xbox in particular is “re-evaluating” its relationship with the company in the wake of the news. A growing number of employees at Activision Blizzard have also voiced a lack of confidence in Kotick's leadership and have signed a petition for him to resign.

Following on from last week's bombshells, sources speaking with WSJ have claimed that Kotick will “consider leaving the company if he can't quickly fix the culture problems” present at Activision Blizzard. Online commenters were quick to point out that he appears to have been a core part of the problem in the first place.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Kotick has not been directly quoted as saying this, but it seems that him stepping down has come up in conversations amongst executives. Whether or not Kotick does leave Activision behind still remains to be seen. 

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Bob Swan to step down as Intel CEO https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/dominic-moass/bob-swan-to-step-down-as-intel-ceo/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/dominic-moass/bob-swan-to-step-down-as-intel-ceo/#respond Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:01:48 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=500988 Intel has announced that CEO Bob Swan is to step down on February 15. He will be replaced by Pat Gelsinger, current CEO of VMWare. The move comes almost exactly a year on from Bob Swan's appointment as CEO in January 2019, and Intel maintains the announcement is ‘unrelated' to the company's 2020 financial performance. …

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Intel has announced that CEO Bob Swan is to step down on February 15. He will be replaced by Pat Gelsinger, current CEO of VMWare.

The move comes almost exactly a year on from Bob Swan's appointment as CEO in January 2019, and Intel maintains the announcement is ‘unrelated' to the company's 2020 financial performance. Gelsinger has previous with Intel, having worked there for 30 years. He also became the company's first CTO.

Image credit: Intel.

It's no secret that Intel has struggled in recent years, with well-documented issues around moving to 10nm and 7nm process nodes, though the company has since reported ‘strong progress' has been made with 7nm and will share more details in an earnings call on January 21.

According to CNBC, Intel stock rose 10% after the announcement was made.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: This could be the shake-up Intel needed. Let's see what happens over the coming year.

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Activision investors argue that CEO is paid too much https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/activision-investors-argue-that-ceo-is-paid-too-much/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/activision-investors-argue-that-ceo-is-paid-too-much/#respond Sun, 07 Jun 2020 12:00:58 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=470980 Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick, has come under fire this week as some shareholders are beginning to argue that he is paid too much. Specifically, Activision's top brass are accused of “irresponsible and unethical corporate behaviour and excessive executive pay”. Activision Blizzard is a giant in the industry, pulling in billions of dollars a year. However, …

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Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick, has come under fire this week as some shareholders are beginning to argue that he is paid too much. Specifically, Activision's top brass are accused of “irresponsible and unethical corporate behaviour and excessive executive pay”.

Activision Blizzard is a giant in the industry, pulling in billions of dollars a year. However, the CTW Investment Group is unhappy with management at the company right now, filing a case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Despite repeated low approval votes from shareholders, Activision Blizzard maintains multiple, overlapping opportunities for its CEO to earn outsize equity awards, even when performance-related vesting thresholds have not been met”. The filing alleges that the average Activision Blizzard employee makes 0.3% of what Bobby Kotick earns and he consistently makes “larger than the total pay of CEO peers at similar companies”.

Another point of contention is the fact that Kotick has been receiving bonus pay, even while employees have faced layoffs, something that the CTW Investment Group says “needs to be addressed before it manifests in deeper operational problems”.

Activision argues that under Kotick's tenure, the company's market value has risen from “less than $10 million to over $53 billion”, adding that the company has also consistently outperformed the S&P 500 by a considerable margin.

KitGuru Says: Activision Blizzard has a general meeting with investors next week, at which point there will be a vote on a management pay proposal. We'll have to wait and see what happens from there.

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Sony Interactive Entertainment gets a new CEO and explains E3 absence https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/sony-interactive-entertainment-gets-a-new-ceo-and-explains-e3-absence/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/sony-interactive-entertainment-gets-a-new-ceo-and-explains-e3-absence/#respond Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:37:42 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=403941 Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is shaking things up, with former PlayStation Europe head Jim Ryan replacing the current president and CEO. It seems as though Ryan’s vision for the company is much more in line with other executives, as SIE chairman Shawn Layden tries to shed new light on why Sony has dropped out of …

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Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is shaking things up, with former PlayStation Europe head Jim Ryan replacing the current president and CEO. It seems as though Ryan’s vision for the company is much more in line with other executives, as SIE chairman Shawn Layden tries to shed new light on why Sony has dropped out of the video game industry’s biggest trade show of the year, E3.

Current SIE John Kodera has rarely been seen in the media since he assumed the role in late 2017, which could have contributed to the recent change-up. The announcement shows that Kodera will remain at the company, albeit demoted to deputy president as he is tasked with “creating innovative user experiences and further enhancing the network area.”

Throughout this time, Ryan has served as Kodera’s vice president but is set to switch places on April 1st. Ryan has a wealth of expertise to bring to the new role thanks to years’ worth of experience in the company.

“It's a huge honour to be asked to take on the role of President and CEO of SIE. I've seen the PlayStation business grow and change massively since the very early days, and I hope to be able to put that experience to good use in reinforcing the foundations of the Game & Network Service business, and in evolving the entertainment that PlayStation offers to its engaged and passionate community,” Ryan explained in a statement. “I am committed to strengthening relations with our business partners, and to continuing to provide the ultimate interactive entertainment experiences that make PlayStation the Best Place to Play.”

Fortunately, Ryan is receiving a helping hand from PlayStation boss Shawn Layden, who has tried to elaborate on Sony’s reason for dropping out of E3. “With the internet and the fact that 24/7 there is game news, it's lost its impact,” Layden explained in an interview with CNET.

With Sony’s very own Destination PlayStation event, the company can direct how and when trade shows are conducted. Sony has brought the event forward, conducting it in February because “June, now, is just too late to have a Christmas holiday discussion with retailers.” Layden also highlights that the dissemination of video game news has evolved, becoming more accessible with 24/7 coverage while “E3 hasn't necessarily changed with it.”

“With our decision to do fewer games — bigger games — over longer periods of time, we got to a point where June of 2019 was not a time for us to have a new thing to say,” continues Layden. “We are progressing the conversation about, how do we transform E3 to be more relevant? Can E3 transition more into a fan festival of gaming, where we don't gather there to drop the new bomb? Can't it just be a celebration of games and have panels where we bring game developers closer to fans?”

KitGuru Says: Considering how far The Game Awards has come in such a short amount of time, it's unsurprising that Sony thinks E3 isn't relevant any more. It's also understandable that the company would feel significant pressure from the reputation of the event to constantly drop triple-A titles, even when there isn't anything to announce. How do you feel about Sony dropping out of E3?

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Robert ‘Bob’ Swan has been named Intel’s seventh CEO https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/robert-bob-swan-has-been-named-intels-seventh-ceo/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/robert-bob-swan-has-been-named-intels-seventh-ceo/#respond Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:35:07 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=402583 Following seven months acting as Intel’s interim CEO, Robert ‘Bob’ Swan has announced that he will assume the role full time.

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Intel has been running without a fixed CEO for over seven months, with former chief financial officer (CFO) Bob Swan taking the reins in the interim. After much deliberation, Swan will be taking the position full-time, named Intel’s seventh CEO.

Swan is most prominently known for his nine-year tenure at eBay Inc, eventually assuming the role of CFO. Moving over to Intel in 2016, Swan held the same role until he was asked to fill in as acting CEO, replacing Brian Krzanich after his relationship with an employee was exposed. Although consensual, a contractual clause forbade this behaviour, seeing Krzanich ousted from the company.

“In my role as interim CEO, I’ve developed an even deeper understanding of Intel’s opportunities and challenges, our people and our customers,” Swan announced in a statement to the press.  “When the board approached me to take on the role permanently, I jumped at the chance to lead this special company. This is an exciting time for Intel: 2018 was an outstanding year and we are in the midst of transforming the company to pursue our biggest market opportunity ever. I’m honored to have the chance to continue working alongside our board, our leadership team, and our more than 107,000 superb employees as we take the company forward.

While 10nm chips are still trudging along a bumpy road, Intel hasn’t exactly been suffering under Swan’s leadership. Just yesterday, the company managed to launch its high-end 28-core Xeon W-3175X. Unfortunately, Intel still has another search on its hands as VP of finance and director of Intel’s corporate planning and reporting Todd Underwood will take over CFO duties in the interim, prompting the company to look for another replacement.

KitGuru Says: Swan is seemingly a lot more confident about the role than initial reports suggested, finding his feet. Hopefully strong management will direct the company through its recent rough patches and provide better competition against AMD moving forward.

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Intel narrows down list of potential CEOs, may hire from outside for the first time https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/intel-narrows-down-list-of-potential-ceos-may-hire-from-outside-for-the-first-time/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/intel-narrows-down-list-of-potential-ceos-may-hire-from-outside-for-the-first-time/#respond Wed, 05 Sep 2018 16:58:56 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=385928 Intel has been without a long-term CEO since June, when Brian Krzanich stepped down after violating policy. Over the last 50 years, Intel has exclusively hired its CEOs from in-house but that could change this year as the company is reportedly taking meetings with a few outside of the company. Currently Intel's CFO, Robert Swan, …

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Intel has been without a long-term CEO since June, when Brian Krzanich stepped down after violating policy. Over the last 50 years, Intel has exclusively hired its CEOs from in-house but that could change this year as the company is reportedly taking meetings with a few outside of the company.

Currently Intel's CFO, Robert Swan, is taking the reigns as interim CEO but the company is narrowing down its choices for a permanent leader. According to Bloomberg, the company is considering taking on an outsider for the CEO position for the first time, breaking away from tradition. Currently, Sanjay Jha and Anand Chandrasekher are on the list of candidates, both of which have experience at Qualcomm. Jha also previously headed up Globalfoundries before leaving in March this year. Meanwhile Chandrasekher previously worked on Intel's Centrino program but currently does not work at the company.

There are some current Intel executives also being considered for the CEO role. Navin Shenoy, who currently runs Intel's data center group and Murthy Renduchintala, who acts as the company's Chief Engineering Officer, have also reportedly had meetings about the role.

Whoever does end up in the role will require strong leadership abilities as Intel has some tough years ahead of it. AMD is back on the upswing and Intel's dominance is being challenged. With that said, Intel is far from hurting financially, as the company continues to rake in plenty of cash quarter after quarter.

KitGuru Says: Krzanich had a fairly swift exit from Intel earlier this year in a move that not many saw coming. It will certainly be interesting to see who will lead Intel next, whether its an in-house hire or someone coming in from the outside. 

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Crytek’s CEO and president has stepped down https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/cryteks-ceo-and-president-has-stepped-down/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/cryteks-ceo-and-president-has-stepped-down/#respond Thu, 01 Mar 2018 09:30:27 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=365497 The last couple of years have been rough for Crytek, with staff leaving and wages going unpaid as financial issues set in. However, the studio appears to be back on its feet for the time being and going forward, Crytek will have new leadership as Cevat Yerli has stepped down as CEO and president of …

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The last couple of years have been rough for Crytek, with staff leaving and wages going unpaid as financial issues set in. However, the studio appears to be back on its feet for the time being and going forward, Crytek will have new leadership as Cevat Yerli has stepped down as CEO and president of the company.

Back when Crytek was in the middle of its last financial meltdown, we heard from a source that Cevat Yerli wasn't all that involved with Crytek for several months. With that in mind, this is a move that has been foreshadowed for quite some time. In Yerli's place, Avni and Faruk Yerli will be taking up the mantle of CEO in a joint capacity.

This change in leadership comes directly after Crytek launched its first new game in several years– Hunt: Showdown. Crytek will continue to work on this game at its Frankfurt-based office, meanwhile Crytek Kiev will continue to work on Warface.

Cevat Yerli issued the following statement after stepping down: “with the company in a strong position, now is the ideal time to recognize the existing leadership's excellent achievements over these past two years and formally transition executive leadership to Avni and Faruk. I have every confidence that the company will continue to shine under the guidance of Avni, Faruk, and the rest of the leadership team.”

KitGuru Says: Crytek was in rough waters for a few years, but the studio seems to be back on track for the time being. What would you guys like to see Crytek do next?

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Oculus VR is looking for a new CEO following business split https://www.kitguru.net/components/vr/jon-martindale/oculus-vr-is-looking-for-a-new-ceo-following-business-split/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/vr/jon-martindale/oculus-vr-is-looking-for-a-new-ceo-following-business-split/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2016 11:26:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=314605 Oculus VR has completed a major restructuring of its business, splitting its venture into two distinct divisions. One will focus entirely on improving the PC virtual reality experience and will be headed by now ex-CEO, Brendan Iribe, who wanted a more hands-on role with the company. Oculus is now on the look out for a …

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Oculus VR has completed a major restructuring of its business, splitting its venture into two distinct divisions. One will focus entirely on improving the PC virtual reality experience and will be headed by now ex-CEO, Brendan Iribe, who wanted a more hands-on role with the company. Oculus is now on the look out for a new CEO, with no one tipped for the job just yet.

According to Iribe's address on the matter, the split comes at a time of growth at Oculus. Following the launch of the Touch controllers, Oculus is looking to create a new product strategy and that involves having separate divisions which focus on specific hardware and software platforms.

With Iribe heading up the PC division, Oculus has appointed recently hired, ex-Microsoft technologist, Jon Thomason as head of the new mobile division. Together he, Iribe and Facebook's CTO, Mike Schroepfer are on the hunt for a new CEO for Oculus. It's not clear if they are looking to promote someone internally, or if Oculus will look outside its current executives and managers for the role.

iribe

As for Iribe himself, he wanted to take on the role as head of the PC division because even though the CEO position gave him plenty of scope to exercise his vision for the company, he claims to have wanted something more hands on.

“As we’ve grown, I really missed the deep, day-to-day involvement in building a brand new product on the leading edge of technology,” he said.

“You do your best work when you love what you’re working on. If that’s not the case, you need to make a change. With this new role, I can dive back into engineering and product development. That’s what gets me up every day, inspired to run to work.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This seems like a positive move for Oculus. This way the PC Rift users can feel like it is putting real effort into their platform, rather than focusing more on the likely more profitable-long term mobile business.

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Oculus CEO hacked using four year-old MySpace password https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/oculus-ceo-hacked-using-four-year-old-myspace-password/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/oculus-ceo-hacked-using-four-year-old-myspace-password/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2016 10:27:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=297871 Brendan Iribe, the CEO of Oculus VR, has become the latest technology executive to have his social media accounts hacked, with a particular individual claiming responsibility for it on Twitter, announcing themselves as the new head of Oculus. Purportedly, they were able to crack his accounts by discovering his four-year old MySpace password. “We here …

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Brendan Iribe, the CEO of Oculus VR, has become the latest technology executive to have his social media accounts hacked, with a particular individual claiming responsibility for it on Twitter, announcing themselves as the new head of Oculus. Purportedly, they were able to crack his accounts by discovering his four-year old MySpace password.

“We here at @Oculus are very excited to announce our new CEO,” read the tweet following the account breach. When interviewed by TechCrunch, the individual claimed that they had acquired Iribe's Twitter login credentials through the recent MySpace breach, which saw many millions of accounts exposed.

iribe

‘So you're telling me, your password isn't supposed to be ‘password'?' Source: TechCrunch/Flickr

It turns out that Iribe was guilty of one of the most common offences in password security: he re-used the same one for both his MySpace and Twitter accounts. He also hadn't changed either in many years, making it even more likely that someone would be able to take advantage.

He was of course mocked for such inaction by the hacker claiming responsibility for taking over his account. Much like other recently targeted executives like Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pinchai, Travis Kalanick and Dick Costolo.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This just goes to show that being part of some of the world's biggest tech companies doesn't mean that you automatically have good password sense. Use complicated passwords, don't re-use them and change them every few months guys. It's important. 

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Yahoo investor goes rogue, wants to take over the company https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/yahoo-investor-goes-rogue-wants-to-take-over-the-company/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/yahoo-investor-goes-rogue-wants-to-take-over-the-company/#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2016 14:56:19 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=287995 A major investor of search and advertising giant Yahoo, has announced its intention to take control of the company through dominating the board of directors. To make that happen, it's put forward nine candidates and has asked fellow investment firms to join with it and help those members get elected, effectively giving it a much larger …

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A major investor of search and advertising giant Yahoo, has announced its intention to take control of the company through dominating the board of directors. To make that happen, it's put forward nine candidates and has asked fellow investment firms to join with it and help those members get elected, effectively giving it a much larger seat at the table.

Currently the investor, Starboard Value LP, owns just 1.7 per cent of Yahoo, worth around $570 (£400) million. The company as a whole is worth much closer to $33 billion, so if Starboard was able to take control in any meaningful way, this would be quite unprecedented.

However perhaps the sentiment it has is shared among other investors. It has cited repeatedly its disappointment at the way in which Yahoo is being run and its “dismal financial performance, poor management execution” over the past few years.

starboard

One thing we know for certain, Starboard knows how to take care of its employees dental needs

If it was able to gain control of the company – or some measure of it – Starboard claims that it would be open to new ideas, one being a large scale turnaround, selling off assets and splitting up different parts of the company. In essence, it wants to shake things up a bit (via TechCrunch).

Arguably that's what Marissa Mayer has attempted to do since becoming CEO of Yahoo back in 2012, but clearly not everyone has been fans of her acquisition strategy which has seen the firm buy up various startups and shift its focus to mobile advertising. Starboard would rather she focused her attention on selling off parts of the business – trimming the fat, as it were.

In-fact if it had its way, Starboard might see the entire company sold off. In its declaration of intent, it highlighted how Verizon has shown some interest in acquiring core components of Yahoos business, but that Mayer and the other executives haven't facilitated a furthering of that interest.

It remains to be seen if Starboard can generate much momentum behind its plans for a takeover, or whether if successful it can forge any of its speculative futures into reality, but it does suggest that the future for Yahoo could be a bit more exciting.

KitGuru Says: Although I don't think any consumers are particularly bothered about Yahoo's day to day operation, it is still a major player in the tech and online world. It's going to be interesting to see what happens next.

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Apple joins firms calling for block of Snooper’s Charter https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/apple-joins-firms-calling-for-block-of-snoopers-charter/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/apple-joins-firms-calling-for-block-of-snoopers-charter/#respond Fri, 25 Mar 2016 10:45:29 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=287981 It didn't take long for politicians to jump on the recent attacks in Brussels, as further evidence that the Theresa May driven Investigatory Powers Bill, more colloquially known as the Snooper's Charter, is needed. This despite many of the world's major tech firms claiming otherwise and now Apple has joined the likes of Google, Microsoft and Facebook …

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It didn't take long for politicians to jump on the recent attacks in Brussels, as further evidence that the Theresa May driven Investigatory Powers Bill, more colloquially known as the Snooper's Charter, is needed. This despite many of the world's major tech firms claiming otherwise and now Apple has joined the likes of Google, Microsoft and Facebook in calling for major changes to the bill.

May has been trying to push the Snooper's Charter through parliament for years and only recently had some measure of success when the British government used the attacks in Paris last year, as reason enough to rush it through parliament. However it's faced setbacks in recent months, as a trio of parliamentary committees have highlighted more than 123 problems with the bill.

Those calls have been echoed by privacy proponents and many of the major tech firms too, with Google and Apple now standing alongside the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo to voice their concerns. They warn that the bill in its current form invades the privacy of users, and should not make it possible for the government to force companies to weaken their own encryption.

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Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has repeatedly stood by consumer privacy and against any weakening of digital security. Source: Wikimedia

They also highlight how international agreements between intelligence agencies is often far more effective in bringing about meaningful tracking of terrorists and other criminals, than forcing through powers that give governments unregulated reach beyond their borders. They argue that the UK should not be able to strong arm international companies in this manner (via the Guardian).

This evidence, along with other highlighted issues, were submitted to the public bill committee, which will look at the piece of legislation before it is brought to a vote in the House of Commons.

It remains to be seen whether this will have much effect however. Despite more than 100 complaints made by the parliamentary committees leading up to the current evidence gathering session earlier this year and late 2015, the government's revisions have been cosmetic at best. In one instance, it claimed that the bill protected privacy because it added the word “privacy,” to one of its headings. 

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's disgraceful how much the terror attacks in recent months have been leveraged by May to push this legislation through. It treats everyone like a criminal and will do absolutely nothing to help catch terrorists. 

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Mark Zuckerberg wants to build AI to run his home https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/mark-zuckerberg-wants-to-build-ai-to-run-his-home/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/mark-zuckerberg-wants-to-build-ai-to-run-his-home/#respond Tue, 05 Jan 2016 14:35:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=279785 It looks like Mark Zuckerberg wants to try his hand at being Tony Stark as the Facebook CEO has set himself a goal of building artificial intelligence system to help run and control his home this year- Arnold Schwarzenegger even offered to be the voice of it. Zuckerberg set himself this challenge in a Facebook …

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It looks like Mark Zuckerberg wants to try his hand at being Tony Stark as the Facebook CEO has set himself a goal of building artificial intelligence system to help run and control his home this year- Arnold Schwarzenegger even offered to be the voice of it.

Zuckerberg set himself this challenge in a Facebook post, saying: “My personal challenge for 2016 is to build a simple AI to run my home and help me with my work. You can think of it kind of like Jarvis in Iron Man.”

JARVIS-Initializing-690x262-1378484031

The Facebook CEO won't be starting from scratch, though, he intends to leverage technology that is already available: “I'm going to start by exploring what technology is already out there. Then I'll start teaching it to understand my voice to control everything in our home — music, lights, temperature and so on. I'll teach it to let friends in by looking at their faces when they ring the doorbell. I'll teach it to let me know if anything is going on in Max's room that I need to check on when I'm not with her. On the work side, it'll help me visualize data in VR to help me build better services and lead my organizations more effectively.”

Obviously, this is a personal project rather than anything directly related to Facebook but it would still be pretty cool to see how it turns out.

KitGuru Says: We've been hearing more and more about artificial intelligence over the last couple of years so I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to think that several functions of the home could be controlled by a personal AI. 

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Ninjas in Pyjamas eSports team fires CEO over non-payment https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/ninjas-in-pyjamas-esports-team-fires-ceo-over-non-payment/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/ninjas-in-pyjamas-esports-team-fires-ceo-over-non-payment/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2015 08:57:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=274810 There's trouble in the eSports scene once again, proving that even the paradise-sounding world of professional video game playing, there are pitfalls. One of them is your CEO just not paying you, as appears to have happened in the case of Swedish gaming outfit, Ninjas in Pyjamas. While no concrete admissions have been made, after an …

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There's trouble in the eSports scene once again, proving that even the paradise-sounding world of professional video game playing, there are pitfalls. One of them is your CEO just not paying you, as appears to have happened in the case of Swedish gaming outfit, Ninjas in Pyjamas. While no concrete admissions have been made, after an investigative report unearthed that the players had been missing out on thousands of dollars of their winnings, the CEO has stepped down.

The initial report appeared on Brietbart earlier this month, accusing the then-CEO of Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) Per Lilliefelth, of owing the team upwards of $340,000 (£225,000) from past tournament wins and in-game CS-GO sticker sales. According to its sources, excuses for non-payment ran the gamut from tournament admins not paying up on time, to players not meeting their streaming contractual hours.

However when questioned, tournament organisers denied that they had delayed payment and in cases where that had happened, it was often because NiP had refused to file tax information. This delay seemingly caused by Lilliefelth led NiP in some cases not to compete as they thought they wouldn't be paid by the organisers.

nip

Following the report's publication, NiP's official line was one of denial. However while it has not confirmed the statements made as part of the report, it has now announced that Lilliefelth will be moving on and that he accepts “responsibility for the mistakes that have been made.”

“It is time to bring in new people with more suitable properties, skills and experience to lead Ninjas in Pyjamas in the future. The business and industry has changed, it is time to take it to the next level,” the official NiP statement reads (via PCGamer).

Moving forward, Patric Jönsson, the former CEO of subsidiary Xtrfy Gaming, will act as an interim CEO while another is sort out to run the organisation.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's a shame these unscrupulous individuals can have such an impact on young players' careers. They don't have long in this ‘game' to earn what they can before hitting that dreaded late-20s retirement age, so making it hard for them to get ahold of the money they earned is a scummy move.

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Mt Gox CEO charged with embezzling bitcoins https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/mt-gox-ceo-charged-with-embezzling-bitcoins/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/mt-gox-ceo-charged-with-embezzling-bitcoins/#respond Mon, 14 Sep 2015 14:59:39 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=267698 The former CEO of Mt Gox, Mark Karpelès has been officially charged with embezzlement by Japanese prosecutors. The former head of the Mt Gox Bitcoin exchange is said to have embezzled ¥321 million or £1.7 million. The exchange itself fell apart in 2014 after hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins disappeared from user wallets. Karpelès allegedly …

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The former CEO of Mt Gox, Mark Karpelès has been officially charged with embezzlement by Japanese prosecutors. The former head of the Mt Gox Bitcoin exchange is said to have embezzled ¥321 million or £1.7 million. The exchange itself fell apart in 2014 after hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins disappeared from user wallets.

Karpelès allegedly transferred money from the Mt Gox bank account to other accounts back in 2013, some of that money was used for 3D rendering software, while some of it was used on personal items, according to the Jiji Press. 

Mt-Gox-Logo1

Karpelès was arrested back in August. At the time, it was believed that he went in to the Mt Gox Exchange system back in February 2013 in order to inflate his own funds by around $1 million. So far, the former CEO has denied charges, apparently, he also planned to pay back any money he took.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The Mt Gox crash was a pretty big story last year and it looks like there is still more to it. Did any of you ever mine Bitcoins or use Mt Gox?

Via: The Guardian

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John Smedley steps down from Daybreak to head new company https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/john-smedley-steps-down-from-daybreak-to-head-new-company/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/john-smedley-steps-down-from-daybreak-to-head-new-company/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2015 17:29:16 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=264814 Its official, John Smedley has left Daybreak Studios for good, after stepping down as President in order to take some time away following a series of personal attacks alongside some high-profile DDOS attacks on the company's game servers. It was initially thought that Smedley would return to the former SOE studio in a new role …

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Its official, John Smedley has left Daybreak Studios for good, after stepping down as President in order to take some time away following a series of personal attacks alongside some high-profile DDOS attacks on the company's game servers. It was initially thought that Smedley would return to the former SOE studio in a new role but it seems that instead he is set to spearhead a new company.

According to Smedley's Facebook page he is now the CEO of a new company entirely. Daybreak has confirmed Smedley's departure in an email sent to Game Informer, which said: “On behalf of Daybreak, we wish Smed well in his new endeavors. Any questions regarding his new business should be directed to him”

Smedley-610

In a separate comment of his own, John Smedley confirmed that he is not quite ready to reveal the new company he is involved with just yet, though that information may only be a few weeks away from going public. Hopefully by moving on, Smedley won't be the target of attacks anymore, like the bomb threat that was called in against a flight he was on last year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Smedley's exit from Daybreak Studios isn't too surprising after the events of the past year or so. It will be interesting to see what his new venture is later on in the year. 

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Spotify swiftly apologises following privacy concerns https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/spotify-swiftly-apologises-following-privacy-concerns/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/spotify-swiftly-apologises-following-privacy-concerns/#respond Fri, 21 Aug 2015 15:04:11 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=264476 Earlier today, Spotify updated its terms and conditions and thanks to the wording, it sounded like the streaming service wasn't taking user privacy very seriously at all. Fortunately, the company's CEO, Daniel Ek, is eager to clear things up a bit and try to stop people from freaking out. In a blog post bluntly titled …

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Earlier today, Spotify updated its terms and conditions and thanks to the wording, it sounded like the streaming service wasn't taking user privacy very seriously at all. Fortunately, the company's CEO, Daniel Ek, is eager to clear things up a bit and try to stop people from freaking out.

In a blog post bluntly titled ‘SORRY.' Spotify's CEO explained that he understands that the new terms and conditions have caused some confusion but maintains that the company is “100 percent committed”, to protecting user privacy and ensuring that users have control over the information they share.

Spotify-Logo-600x350 (1)

“In our new privacy policy, we indicated that we may ask your permission to access new types of information, including photos, mobile device location, voice controls, and your contacts. Let me be crystal clear here: If you don’t want to share this kind of information, you don’t have to. We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data – and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow you to customize your Spotify experience.”

So Spotify does want to access more information about you as part of new features heading to the mobile apps. However, sharing this information is not necessary to simply stream music, these are more social network oriented features so if you aren't interested in that, you can safely ignore anything Spotify asks you for, like your location, access to photos, voice or your contacts.

Spotify will not be updating its policies further with better wording in hope that it can avoid any more misunderstandings. If you do still have concerns over Spotify and the information it is accessing or asking to access, you can email privacy@spotify.com, apparently the company will be monitoring email feedback over the next few days following today's events.

You can read the full blog post clearing things up, HERE. 

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: A lot of what Spotify was trying to access is the same stuff something like Facebook or Twitter would ask for as well. It seems Spotify is going to be gaining some new social networking features but if you just want to stream music, you don't have to give Spotify access to anything personal, like your contacts or location data. 

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Daybreak boss steps down as CEO, takes extended break https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/daybreak-boss-steps-down-as-ceo-takes-extended-break/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/daybreak-boss-steps-down-as-ceo-takes-extended-break/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2015 09:30:15 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=260369 John Smedley has stepped down from his role as CEO of Daybreak, the company behind H1Z1, with plans to take a break before returning to a lower profile role, following an extended campaign of personal and professional attacks against him by hackers. A Daybreak spokesperson wished him all the best and said that current COO Russell Shanks …

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John Smedley has stepped down from his role as CEO of Daybreak, the company behind H1Z1, with plans to take a break before returning to a lower profile role, following an extended campaign of personal and professional attacks against him by hackers. A Daybreak spokesperson wished him all the best and said that current COO Russell Shanks will take on the role going forward.

“I can confirm that John Smedley will be taking some time off from the company for the near-term and transitioning to a different role to be determined,” a Daybreak spokesperson said in a statement (via Venturebeat). “Upon finalisation of his plans, further communication will be provided.”

Originally targeted earlier this year when his plane was diverted due to a phony bomb threat, Smedley eventually opened up in a comment thread on our original piece, that explained the harassment he and his family had faced on an ongoing basis. His credit score was affected by repetitive applications being made in his name, his house and family members had been swatted and even the personal details of his relatives had been posted online.

smedley

He was adamant however that those responsible would see justice served and said he would continue to work with various international authorities to help bring them to justice.

One 17 year old Finnish boy was convicted of many hacking offences, some of which were related to Smedley, but he faced no jail time for them. According to his colleagues, he has now left the country so it's not known if he will face any further ramifications for his actions.

However with Smedley out of the limelight to some extent, it's been suggested that the hackers which targeted him and the servers of his company's games, may tone down their assault, potentially making them a more stable playing experience for everyone involved.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: As much as it's sad to see Smedley having to step down, hopefully it gives him the chance to recuperate. 

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Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata passes away at 55 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/nintendos-satoru-iwata-passes-away-at-55/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/nintendos-satoru-iwata-passes-away-at-55/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2015 07:36:58 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=258716 30 year Nintendo career man and eventual CEO of the much lauded game maker, Satoru Iwata, has died, passing away at 55 from bile duct growth. Seen as the man behind many of Nintendo's successes in the past decade,  Iwata once claimed that while his head was that of a developer, in his heart he …

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30 year Nintendo career man and eventual CEO of the much lauded game maker, Satoru Iwata, has died, passing away at 55 from bile duct growth. Seen as the man behind many of Nintendo's successes in the past decade,  Iwata once claimed that while his head was that of a developer, in his heart he was always a gamer.

iwata
Source: Wikimedia

Iwata originally worked as a programmer for one of Nintendo's subsidiaries, HAL Laboratories, in the '80s. There he had a hand in the  creation of games like Earthbound and Balloon Fight, before eventually being offered a directorship at Nintendo in 2000, making him the first person outside of the Yamauchi family to be offered such a role (thanks EG).

From there he progressed to president of Nintendo in 2002 and oversaw the development of the DS, which became the most popular handheld device in history, and the Wii, which brought in more non-gamers to the home console experience than any device to date.

sadmario
Source: AGB

While the eventual release of the Wii U would prove less successful, Iwata and other executives took giant pay cuts to show their solidarity with the company. Although somewhat more characteristic of Japanese business practices, it was a stark reminder that Nintendo is not in the business of firing people to save costs.

Iwata was eventually appointed as CEO of Nintendo America in 2013, a position he would hold until his death on 11th July. Existing representative directors and senior managing directors, Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto will take over some of Iwata's responsibilities while a new CEO is found.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is a sad day for Nintendo fans. RIP Iwata. He was one of the better ones.

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Former Nokia CEO is leaving Microsoft https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/former-nokia-ceo-is-leaving-microsoft/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/former-nokia-ceo-is-leaving-microsoft/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:38:46 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=255047 Last year, Microsoft officially acquired Nokia, the company's mobile division swiftly merged with Microsoft and quite a few key employees stayed on. However, now around a year later, Nokia's former CEO, Stephen Elop, is leaving Microsoft, alongside a few other key members of the Nokia mobile team as Microsoft re-organizes its mobile team. The announcement came …

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Last year, Microsoft officially acquired Nokia, the company's mobile division swiftly merged with Microsoft and quite a few key employees stayed on. However, now around a year later, Nokia's former CEO, Stephen Elop, is leaving Microsoft, alongside a few other key members of the Nokia mobile team as Microsoft re-organizes its mobile team.

The announcement came today from Microsoft, with the company saying that it was “aligning engineering teams to strategy”. Kirill Tatarinov, Mark Penn and Eric Rudder will also be parting ways with Microsoft.

new-microsoft-logo

This news isn't too surprising, after all immediately following the Nokia merger, Microsoft let go of around 20,000 employees, most of which were former Nokia employees, although some of the Windows team were also out of a job.

In a statement on Elop's departure, Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella said that “This change will enable us to deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace”. Now the Windows and mobile teams will be working closer together in a new Windows and Devices Group, headed by Microsoft's head of operating systems, Terry Myserson.

Once again, this is all part of Microsoft's new device and services strategy, which came in to place when Satya Nadella took over the company. This also comes ahead of the official launch of Windows 10, which takes place on the 29th of July.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Microsoft let go  a lot of Nokia employees following the acquisition. Additionally, the company is taking a whole new approach to mobile and Elop likely didn't fit in to that vision. 

Via: TechRadar

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Zynga to cull another 350+ staff https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/zynga-to-cull-another-350-staff/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/zynga-to-cull-another-350-staff/#comments Thu, 07 May 2015 08:08:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=248394 Zynga has fallen far from its peak when share prices were good and tens of millions of people played its games every day via Facebook. It still makes a reasonable living from its various freemium titles, but things aren't what they once were. Which is perhaps why the higher ups are looking to slash staff …

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Zynga has fallen far from its peak when share prices were good and tens of millions of people played its games every day via Facebook. It still makes a reasonable living from its various freemium titles, but things aren't what they once were. Which is perhaps why the higher ups are looking to slash staff once again in an effort to return to the glory days. In the latest batch of cuts, a further 18 per cent of the remaining employees are being given the axe, which works out to 364 people.

This announcement came as part of the first quarter earnings call (via EG), which tried to hype up the fact that the company ‘only' lost $6.7 million throughout the quarter. It also highlighted that mobile income and player numbers were up, before divulging details of its “cost reduction plan,” which likely has current employees shaking in their boots.

“As part of the plan, Zynga expects to complete a reduction of approximately 18% of our current workforce across its studios, including contractors, and implement additional cost reduction measures, including lowering costs and eliminating spend on outside and centralized services,” the report reads.

zynga

While this process may take upwards of a year or more, Zynga expects the cuts to save it around $55 million annually, and when combined with other cost cutting procedures, like handing over server management to Amazon, it can increase that to $100 million a year.

“This was a hard but necessary decision and I believe this plan puts us in the best long term position for success,” said recently reinstated CEO, Mark Pincus. He replaced ex-Xbox head Don Mattrick, who on top of his multi-million-dollar salary, was given a further five million dollars as part of his leaving the position.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: You have to imagine that smarts for Zynga employees. Their job is at risk, but the failing CEO gets to take several people's annual salaries as a leaving present.

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CCP Games head thinks we might be overestimating VR https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/ccp-games-head-thinks-we-might-be-overestimating-vr/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/ccp-games-head-thinks-we-might-be-overestimating-vr/#comments Mon, 04 May 2015 14:00:15 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=247942 We might be overestimating virtual reality, according to CCP Games CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson. Those are big words coming from the head of the studio making one of the most promising virtual reality projects so far, Eve Valkyrie. According to Pétursson, right now “people tend to overestimate what we will accomplish in five years”, however, …

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We might be overestimating virtual reality, according to CCP Games CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson. Those are big words coming from the head of the studio making one of the most promising virtual reality projects so far, Eve Valkyrie.

According to Pétursson, right now “people tend to overestimate what we will accomplish in five years”, however, on the other end of it, they also “tend to underestimate where we'll be in ten years”. These comments were made at a panel (Via: Venture Beat) at SlushPlay in Iceland recently.

eve-valkyrie

“3D cards took six years to catch on, and phones took 10 years. I used to go to GDC, and they would say that mobile phones are the future, and it was nothing. Ringtones were a bigger business than games back then. And we sit here and say VR is going to be big next year, and it’s not going to be big.”

After kicking up a storm of hype with the Oculus Rift with the original dev kit, those working on virtual reality have also made various attempts to manage expectations. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg seems to be under the impression that the Oculus Rift won't be available for consumers this year as there are no large shipments planned for the device at all.

That said, we will apparently see the launch of the HTC Vive, a SteamVR headset at the end of this year.

KitGuru Says: The CCP Games CEO has a grounded view on VR. Given that his studio is working on one of the first big titles for the Oculus Rift, he is probably in the right position to know where VR is heading and how far along the technology really is. How long do you guys think it will take for virtual reality to catch on? 

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eBay CEO defends Google in EU anti-trust case https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/ebay-ceo-defends-google-in-eu-anti-trust-case/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/ebay-ceo-defends-google-in-eu-anti-trust-case/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:00:44 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=246908 You have probably heard by now that the European Commission really has it out for Google and recently escalated its case against the company, which could result in a massive fine. However, it looks like at least eBay has Google's back, as CEO, John Donahoe has debunked the EU's monopoly claims. The European Commission is …

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You have probably heard by now that the European Commission really has it out for Google and recently escalated its case against the company, which could result in a massive fine. However, it looks like at least eBay has Google's back, as CEO, John Donahoe has debunked the EU's monopoly claims.

The European Commission is claiming that Google's shopping service has a monopoly on the online retail market. However, Donahoe pointed out to The Financial Times that eBay is a “strong commerce competitor” to Google, adding weight to Google's own claim that Amazon and eBay pretty much dominate the online shopping.

google1-e1424524503913

In the European Commission's statement of objections, it said that it was concerned that Google has “given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules.”

Google's own statement, made in a blog post, says otherwise: “If you look at shopping, an area where we have seen a lot of complaints and where the EC has focused in its Statement of Objections, it's clear that (a) there’s a ton of competition (including from Amazon and eBay, two of the biggest shopping sites in the world) and (b) Google’s shopping results have not harmed the competition.”

Google still has around two months to change the EU's mind and convince the commission that it is not breaching anti-trust law. If it fails to do so, the company could be slapped with a huge fine.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The EU Commission's case against Google is widely seen as unfair but it doesn't look like it is being dropped any time soon. Google probably hopes that more companies will speak out in its defense in order to help prove its innocence in this case.

Via: The Inquirer 

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Lenovo CEO may have shown off the next Moto 360 https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/matthew-wilson/lenovo-ceo-may-have-shown-off-the-next-moto-360/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/matthew-wilson/lenovo-ceo-may-have-shown-off-the-next-moto-360/#respond Fri, 20 Mar 2015 20:00:44 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=241243 Lenovo's CEO may have inadvertently shown off the successor to Motorola's smartwatch, the Moto 360. Yang Yuanqing posted in image to social network, Weibo, showing off a briefcase of Motorola smartwatches, although the units differed from the Moto 360 we all currently know. The aim was to show off the good looks of the Moto …

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Lenovo's CEO may have inadvertently shown off the successor to Motorola's smartwatch, the Moto 360. Yang Yuanqing posted in image to social network, Weibo, showing off a briefcase of Motorola smartwatches, although the units differed from the Moto 360 we all currently know.

The aim was to show off the good looks of the Moto 360, although the units in the image turned out to be slightly different to the currently available smartwatch. For those who don't know, Lenovo bought Motorola from Google last year for just over $2.9 billion.

moto-360-2-one

The main different in the image appears to be that the timepieces carry lugs on the side of the frame in order to attach wrist bands. The current Moto 360 on the other hand, had no lugs, with the wrist band attaching from under the device.

The addition of lugs makes the Moto 360 look just a bit more watch-like, there are also varying colors, including black, gold, dark grey, silver and champagne. These could just be test units from the original production of the Moto 360 but it could also be our first look at an updated model.

KitGuru Says: Honestly, the differences between the watches in the picture and the one that is currently available are minimal. If Motorola were to launch an updated Moto 360 this year, it would probably mostly consist of design changes, rather than significant hardware improvements.

Source: Trusted Reviews

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Amazon CEO says Fire Phone was a ‘smart failure’ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/amazon-ceo-says-fire-phone-was-a-smart-failure/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/amazon-ceo-says-fire-phone-was-a-smart-failure/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2014 10:45:01 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=224588 It is safe to say that the Amazon Fire phone hasn't lived up to the company's hopes or expectations, failing to appeal to both critics and consumers but at least Amazon isn't under any delusions as CEO, Jeff Bezos categorizes the device as a “smart failure”. Speaking with NBC, Bezos said: “People love to focus …

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It is safe to say that the Amazon Fire phone hasn't lived up to the company's hopes or expectations, failing to appeal to both critics and consumers but at least Amazon isn't under any delusions as CEO, Jeff Bezos categorizes the device as a “smart failure”.

Speaking with NBC, Bezos said: “People love to focus on things that aren't working. That's fine, but it's incredibly hard to get people to take bold bets. And if you push people to take bold bets, there will be experiments … that don't work”. He went on to note that Amazon's other services and devices, such as Prime and the Kindle, were bets that did pay off.

Amazon-Fire-Phone-3D-maps-600x350

Since the Fire phone fell flat on its face, Amazon doesn't have any immediate plans for a new device but we may see one in “some number of years”. Jeff Bezos admits that it is going to take many iterations to get this one right.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The Amazon Fire phone wasn't a particularly great device and the demand for a phone from the company was evidently non existent. What do you guys think of the Fire phone? Was it a bad idea? 

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