Tech Digest: Stranger Things Daily Recap Causes Netflix Subscriber Loss

Stranger Things (above) helped prevent bigger Netflix subscriber losses

After a long reign as the king of streaming, Netflix faces an uphill battle to keep its crown. Between April and July, it lost nearly 1 million subscribers as the number of people leaving the service increased. But there weren’t as many as the streaming giant had feared. When asked what might have kept subscriptions from sliding further down, company president Reed Hastings said, “If there was one thing, maybe we’d say ‘Stranger Things’.” The new season of the hit drama has been a phenomenal success, helping to stem the exodus of Netflix customers. BBC

Microsoft brings Excel directly to Teams meetings. Excel Live is a new way for Teams meeting participants to edit Excel spreadsheets together in real time. It’s part of a trio of new features coming to Teams that continue Microsoft’s focus on hybrid work. Teams also gets video clips that can be shared in chats and collaborative annotations that allow colleagues to scribble on top of content during Teams meetings. Excel Live is part of Microsoft’s Live Share functionality in Microsoft Teams that the company described earlier this year. The edge

Canalys released a disturbing report on the smartphone market for the second quarter of 2022. Shipments between April and June fell 9% year-on-year after weaker demand due to “economic headwinds and regional uncertainty”. Samsung remained the largest maker in the second quarter, while Apple recaptured second place from Xiaomi after strong iPhone 13 sales, while Chinese makers struggled at home. According to Runar Bjørhovde, research analyst at Canalys, companies were experiencing sluggish demand, prompting a rethink of quarterly strategies. Rising inflation and stockpiling led makers to “reassess their portfolios” for the remainder of 2022. GSM arena

AR glasses are coming, and while meta, Apple and snap all continue to develop their new digitally supported devices, so is Google looking to further his AR efforts with the public testing of its AR glasses starting soon. As explained by google: “Starting next month, we plan to test AR prototypes in the real world. This will help us better understand how these devices can help people in their daily lives. And as we develop experiences like AR navigation, it will help us consider factors such as the weather and busy intersections – which can be difficult, sometimes impossible to fully recreate indoors.” Social media today

Cyber ​​spies suspected of working for Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) target NATO countries in a recent hacking campaign, according to a new industry report. The hackers are using online storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox to avoid being detected, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto said. The hacking attempts involved phishing emails containing an agenda for an upcoming meeting with an ambassador as bait, and were sent to various Western and NATO diplomatic missions between May and June this year. Sky News