Latest news with #Stockholm-based
San Francisco Chronicle
15 hours ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Neonode: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
STOCKHOLM (AP) — STOCKHOLM (AP) — Neonode Inc. (NEON) on Wednesday reported a loss of $1.9 million in its second quarter. On a per-share basis, the Stockholm-based company said it had a loss of 11 cents. Losses, adjusted to account for discontinued operations, came to 12 cents per share. The developer of touch-based technologies posted revenue of $599,000 in the period. _____
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Science
- Irish Independent
Record-breaking indoor solar cells pave way for battery-free future
A team led by scientists at University College London (UCL) said the breakthrough could lead to a battery-free future where devices such as remote controls and headphones are powered solely by ambient light. Perovskite has been hailed for its potential to revolutionise renewable energy due to its remarkable properties, which allow it to convert light into electricity far more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells. Perovskite solar cells are also low-cost and can be produced easily. However, the presence of high-density traps can disrupt the flow of charge and cause energy to be lost as heat. By introducing the chemical rubidium chloride, the UCL researchers were able to reduce the density of these traps and break the world record for harvesting indoor light. Tests of the new solar cells found that they could convert 37.6pc of indoor light into electricity, while also retaining more than 90pc of their performance after 100 days. 'Currently, solar cells capturing energy from indoor light are expensive and inefficient,' Dr Mojtaba Abdi Jalebi, an associate professor at the UCL Institute for Materials Discovery, said. Indoor solar cells have existed for decades, with calculators featuring the tech since the 1970s 'Our specially engineered perovskite indoor solar cells can harvest much more energy than commercial cells and is more durable than other prototypes.' Indoor solar cells have existed for decades, with calculators featuring the tech since as early as the 1970s. Nowadays, companies use dye-sensitised solar cells to power electronics from light sources ranging from sunlight to candlelight. One of the world's largest producers is Stockholm-based Exeger, whose Powerfoyle solar cells are flexible and durable enough to be embedded in bike helmets, leather bags and Bluetooth speakers. The skin-like material is waterproof, dustproof and shockproof. However, it does not offer the same efficiency levels that UCL produced with perovskite in the lab. The UCL researchers are currently exploring ways to commercialise the technology with various industry partners. The breakthrough was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, in a study titled 'Enhancing indoor photovoltaic efficiency to 37.6pc through triple passivation reassembly and n-type to p-type modulation in wide bandgap perovskites'.
Local Sweden
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Local Sweden
How joining a chess club deepened my roots in Sweden
Here at The Local we're always recommending that people join Swedish clubs as a way of becoming more integrated. Paul O'Mahony decided it was finally time to practise what he preached – and met some inspiring fellow chess-lovers along the way. Advertisement For the past year and a half or so I've been accompanying my children to training sessions at Kristallen, a Stockholm-based chess club. Sitting on the sidelines with other parents I found that my ears would prick up whenever their coach, Olov Hamilton, would talk through a master game on the big screen. I've always enjoyed playing chess but had never taken my interest beyond playing online or occasional over-the-board games with friends and family. But Olov's enthusiasm was infectious and I found I couldn't take my eyes off Bobby Fischer's devastating combination play, or a mating pattern delivered with delicious precision by the Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgar. And sitting there, listening to the story of the three Polgar sisters and their meteoric rise, a frightening thought struck me: my children would quickly become stronger players than me. They would grow bored of playing against an old-timer drifting further and further below their level. So in April I signed the forms and paid the fees and suddenly a whole new world opened itself up to me. Advertisement Riding the Queen's Gambit chess boom Before joining the club it hadn't really clicked with me just how popular chess had become. It turns out that the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit had coincided with the start of the Covid pandemic. Millions of people with time on their hands quickly developed a voracious appetite for the game. A whole ecosystem now exists, made up of countless chess YouTube accounts, online learning tools, and podcasts. Sweden very much got swept up in this rising tide. When recently published statistics for every country in the world, Sweden came fourth in terms of per capita users, with an incredible 1.9 million accounts registered here. And while the boom is most evident online, over-the-board play is also on the rise. The Swedish Chess Federation hit an all-time high last year, with more than 45,000 members playing in the country's many chess clubs. Just this week the enduring chess icon Pia Cramling became the first ever Swede to be inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame. The Stockholm native was just the fifth ever woman to achieve the title of grandmaster and was at one point the highest ranked woman in the world. Funnily enough, a lot of people these days get to know Pia Cramling through her daughter Anna. A strong player in her own right, Anna Cramling's YouTube channel boasts more than 1.5 million followers as she attracts new players to the game with entertaining and instructive videos from the world of chess. Advertisement Checkmates: Getting to know new people through chess As we've written about previously on The Local, clubs – or föreningar – are Sweden's social lifeblood. Getting involved gives you fresh insights into the centrality of shared interests as a social lubricant. As a club member I was now eligible to play in tournaments and so in May I headed out to a competition in Tyresö just outside Stockholm. As I sat and played out a four-hour marathon game, I could see my 12-year-old son deep in thought at a nearby table as he faced off against an 87-year-old woman who was the tournament's oldest competitor. This meeting of minds across the generational divide is one of the most appealing things about chess. To my surprise I managed to win one of my first games and the rush of adrenaline that accompanied that first victory will live with me for a long time. The thrill of an online checkmate pales into insignificance compared to what now felt like the real deal. There were losses too of course but there's nothing like a shared interest to kickstart conversations, and in the few brief months since joining the club I've already met a host of interesting people. Advertisement These include Ahmad Sa'dah, a Jordanian coach and the chief organiser of the Jönköping Chess Festival. Ahmad and his team from the Jordanian Swedish Chess Academy managed to attract some of the best players in Sweden and beyond for a tournament that just celebrated its second anniversary. Last week my family and I spent our days on the beach at Lake Vättern and our evenings competing with players young and old from Sweden, Jordan, Nigeria, UAE and Iraq, to name just a few of the participating nationalities. A wonderful experience Another name that springs to mind is David Ajena, a local chess enthusiast who recently launched Stockholm Chess, a hugely welcoming weekly meetup for players of all levels that takes place at Kulturhuset in Stockholm every Sunday afternoon. Autumn holds the promise of many new encounters. As is often the case in Sweden, once you're in you're really in. And so, starting later this month I'll be standing side-by-side with Olov as an assistant coach, welcoming kids and their parents for the new term. After a quarter of a century in Sweden, the roots I've put down here just got deeper. And I couldn't be happier.
Express Tribune
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Velvet Sundown finally confesses to being AI
An indie rock band with more than a million monthly listeners on Spotify has owned up to being an AI-generated music project following days of speculation about whether the group was real, reported AFP. Named Velvet Sundown — seemingly a nod to Lou Reed's band The Velvet Underground — the digital group has become a viral hit, generating ferocious online discussion after racking up hundreds of thousands of listens. An updated Spotify profile, consulted on Tuesday by AFP, admitted that the group was an "ongoing artistic provocation". "All characters, stories, music, voices and lyrics are original creations generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools employed as creative instruments," Velvet Sundown's profile added. Recently created social media profiles, featuring photos of the group that look suspiciously fake, have teased readers about the group's origins, offering often contradictory information. As per the Guardian, the episode has triggered a debate about authenticity, with music industry insiders saying streaming sites should be legally obliged to tag music created by AI-generated acts so consumers can make informed decisions about what they are listening to. A major study in December by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which represents more than five million creators worldwide, also warned about the danger of AI-generated music. It forecast that artists could see their incomes shrink by more than 20 per cent in the next four years as the market for AI-composed music grows. Stockholm-based streamer Spotify declined to comment directly about Velvet Sundown when contacted by AFP. Spokeswoman Geraldine Igou wrote that the platform does not "prioritise or benefit financially from music created using AI tools". "All tracks are created, owned, and uploaded by licensed third parties," Igou insisted. Rival music streaming service Deezer displayed a warning for "AI-generated content" for Velvet Sundown. "Some tracks on this album may have been created using artificial intelligence," it said. The Spotify rival has an AI-music detection tool that is able to identify songs generated using popular software models such as Suno and Udio. Deezer said in April that it was receiving more than 20,000 fully AI-generated tracks on a daily basis, comprising 18 per cent of all uploaded content, an increase from the previously reported 10 per cent in January. Reports on Tuesday said an imposter posing as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been using AI-generated voice and text messages to high-level officials and foreign ministers.
Bloomberg
29-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Spotify Swings to a Second-Quarter Loss
- Spotify Technology SA swung to a loss in the second quarter, missing analysts' estimates after the music-streaming service recorded higher-than-expected expenses related to employee compensation. Earnings dropped to a loss of 42 euro cents per share, the company said in a statement Tuesday, missing analysts projections for a profit of €1.97. Revenue increased about 10% to €4.19 billion ($4.8 billion), compared with Wall Street estimates of €4.27 billion. The Stockholm-based company also gave a forecast for the current quarter that was weaker than analysts had expected. Spotify's shares tumbled as much as 11% to on Tuesday in New York to $626, the biggest intraday decline since April 4. The stock had gained 57% this year through Monday, boosted by efforts to reduce costs, which led the company to its first full year of profit in 2024. Bloomberg Geetha Ranganathan reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
