April 29, 2025

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author_name|Karissa Bell 0 comments on Report: A quarter of X advertisers plan to cut spending next year

Report: A quarter of X advertisers plan to cut spending next year

by Karissa Bell

X’s advertising woes are about to get a whole lot worse, according to a new report from Kantar, details of which were published by Advanced Television. The market research firm found that 26 percent of marketers plan to cut their spending on X in the coming year, and that advertisers’ trust in X is “historically low.”

Kantar’s report, which is based on interviews with 18,000 consumers and 1,000 marketers from around the world, underscores just how far X’s advertising business has declined since Elon Musk took over the company. Over the last year and a half, the platform has seen numerous high-profile advertisers halt or slow down their spending amid concerns about hate speech and other toxic content.

Musk has also antagonized major advertisers, saying that brands worried about hate speech should “go fuck yourself.” he’s also accused advertisers of “blackmail,” and recently sued an industry group and several global companies for conducting an “illegal boycott” of the platform. Of note, Kantar found that only 4 percent of marketers believe X is safe for brands.

X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company told the Financial Times that “advertisers know that X now offers stronger brand safety, performance and analytics capabilities than ever before, while seeing all-time-high levels of usage.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/report-a-quarter-of-x-advertisers-plan-to-cut-spending-next-year-235447747.html?src=rss
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author_name|Kris Holt 0 comments on The FCC has a plan to boost rural broadband download speeds to 100 Mbps

The FCC has a plan to boost rural broadband download speeds to 100 Mbps

by Kris Holt

The Federal Communications Commission is aiming to boost rural broadband internet speeds through proposed changes to the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) program. The target is to improve minimum download and upload speeds to 100/20 Mbps in areas served by carriers that receive A-CAM support. The current baseline is 25/3 Mbps.

The A-CAM Broadband Coalition proposed the creation of an Enhanced A-CAM program. The goal is to improve broadband speeds to the levels specified in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) while avoiding the duplication of efforts across various federal programs.

The notice of proposed rulemaking, which commissioners approved, seeks comment on how the FCC could bolster A-CAM support under an enhanced program and whether the current A-CAM framework even still makes sense. It’s also seeking comment on how to align the Enhanced A-CAM program with Congressional goals and programs at other agencies.

“With additional funding and an expansion of the length of time under which electing carriers would receive support, these carriers would increase deployment speeds up to 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload in some of the most challenging and expensive areas to serve in the country,” Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a statement. “[Some] consumers served by A-CAM carriers could see a four-fold, 10-fold or even 20-fold increase in their speeds.”

Last week, using funding allocated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden administration launched a $45 billion project to bring all Americans online by 2030 and eliminate the digital divide. Officials have also teamed up with internet providers to subsidize the cost of broadband for low-income households.

author_name|Steve Dent 0 comments on Scientists ‘knit’ soft robotic wearables for easier design and fabrication

Scientists ‘knit’ soft robotic wearables for easier design and fabrication

by Steve Dent

Scientists have made considerable progress with soft robots used for assistive wearables, rehabilitative technologies and more. Powered by compressed air, they offer advantages over regular robots like sensing capabilities, soft touch, and high power-to-input ratios. 

Designing and building them has been a challenge, however, due to the need for a manual design and fabrication pipeline that requires a lot of trial and error. Now, scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have come up with a new pipeline called “PneuAct” that uses computers and a special knitting process to design and digitally fabricate the soft pneumatic actuators. Their work could eventually lead to new assistive and rehabilitative devices. 

“PneuAct uses a machine knitting process — not dissimilar to your grandma’s plastic needle knitting — but this machine operates autonomously,” according to CSAIL researchers. The designer simply needs to specify the stitch and sensor design patterns in software to program actuator movements, which can be simulated before printing. The textile piece is then fabricated by the knitting machine, which is fixed to a rubber silicone tube to complete the actuator. 

The actuators use conductive yarn for sensing so they can essentially “feel” or respond to what they grab. As proof of concept, the team developed several prototypes including an assistive glove, soft hand, interactive robot and a pneumatic walking quadruped, as shown in the video above. 

The new devices are considerably improved over older designs, incorporating programmed bending when inflated and the ability to incorporate feedback. “For example, the team used the actuators to build a robot that sensed when it was touched specifically by human hands, and reacted to that touch,” the team wrote. The glove could be worn to supplement finger muscle movement, adding extra force for grasping to help people with finger or hand injuries. 

The team plans to explore actuators with different shapes, and incorporate task-driven designs with target poses and optimal stitch patterns. “Our software tool is fast, easy to use, and it accurately previews users’ designs, allowing them to quickly iterate virtually while only needing to fabricate once,” said Harvard University’s Andrew Spielberg, an author on the paper. 

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