MediaTek has unveiled its next-generation Dimensity 9400 flagship chipset, designed to enhance AI experiences on smartphones by improving both performance and efficiency. JC Hsu, Senior Vice President of MediaTek, explained that the Dimensity 9400 uses a second-generation big-core architecture, combining an Arm v9.2 CPU, GPU, and NPU. The chipset is purpose-built for Edge AI, immersive gaming, and superior imaging, positioning it as a 5G Agentic AI flagship product. Built on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, the Dimensity 9400 delivers 40% lower power consumption compared to its predecessor. Hsu detailed that the second-generation big-core CPU architecture integrates one Arm Cortex-X925 core running at up to 3.62GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores, and four Cortex-A720 cores. This results in a 35% increase in single-core performance and a 28% increase in multi-core performance over the Dimensity 9300. Additionally, the chipset includes MediaTek’s 8th-generation AI processor (NPU 890) and the Dimensity Agentic AI engine. The NPU supports device-side LoRA training and the generation of high-quality images, enabling the Dimensity 9300 to enhance generative AI performance and provide developers with Agentic AI capabilities. This allows AI applications to evolve into autonomous, reasoning-driven, and action-oriented experiences. These advanced features enable users to train AI models directly on their smartphones. Agentic AI applications learn from user habits, proactively suggesting responses and improving overall user experiences. To further develop a rich AI ecosystem, Hsu emphasized MediaTek’s collaboration with developers to create a unified interface for connecting AI agents, third-party apps, and models. This initiative streamlines AI operations between edge devices and cloud services, while reducing product development cycles. Beyond enhancing Edge AI, the Dimensity 9400 also offers significant upgrades in gaming, photography, and wireless connectivity. Hsu highlighted the integration of a 12-core Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU and a PC-grade Dimensity OMM ray-tracing engine, delivering an immersive gaming experience with realistic lighting effects.
Firms with deposit relationships at competing banks are eight percentage points more likely to switch lenders – a 50% increase over the baseline switching rate
While much attention has focused on direct measures to increase lending market competition, our research suggests that deposit market dynamics play a crucial and often overlooked role. As policymakers continue to develop frameworks for open banking and data sharing, understanding these linkages between deposit and lending relationships becomes increasingly important. Using comprehensive data on deposit and loan relationships between firms and banks in Norway, we find that deposit relationships significantly reduce incumbent banks’ information advantage. This stems from the fact that when firms maintain deposit accounts with multiple banks, competing lenders can observe valuable information about the firm’s financial health through their transaction history. This information helps level the playing field between incumbent and competing banks. The impact is substantial. Our analysis shows that firms with deposit relationships at competing banks are eight percentage points more likely to switch lenders – a 50% increase over the baseline switching rate. A bout 20% of firms maintain more deposit relationships than lending relationships, creating opportunities for increased competition. Furthermore, our data reveal that approximately 40% of firms that successfully switch lenders had a pre-existing deposit relationship with their new bank. Firms that switch to banks where they had deposit relationships also benefit from better loan conditions, as we find that competing banks offer much better loan terms to firms that maintained a deposit account compared to firms that did not. Consistent with the idea that these results are driven by the information value of deposit relationships, we show that (1) our results are strongest for transaction accounts, which provide detailed payment data, (2) our results are stronger if competing banks’ information disadvantage is more pronounced, for example for young (informationally opaque) firms, and (3) deposit relationships improve banks’ ability to screen potential borrowers. This suggests that observing firms’ deposit account activity helps banks overcome the ‘winner’s curse’ that typically prevents them from competing aggressively for firms that have lending relationships with other banks.
Retailer John Lewis unveils a Tamagotchi-style pet that helps young children learn about pocket money
UK department store John Lewis has unveiled Nestlums, a Tamagotchi-style pet that helps young children learn about money. Nestlums is a pocket money pet for kids between four- and eight- years old. There is no real money or connected app, instead parents use a secret-mode directly on the toy to update the balance and help their children understand the impact of their spending. While there are apps on the market – such as GoHenry, and Starling’s Kite – targeting slightly older children, Nestlums is designed to help shape positive attitudes towards money management at an impressionable age in an era where physical pocket money is increasingly a thing of the past. The toy has been created by London-based studio Those Beyond, which was spun out from UK core banking provider Thought Machine in 2021. The firm cites research from the Money Advice Service that suggests some of our core habits and attitudes toward money are shaped by the age of seven, making it harder to change these behaviours later in life.
Viewers will be able to shop for Walmart products displayed in regular and streaming TV ads using a new NBCUniversal text-to-shop feature called “Shop the Pod”
Walmart is expanding its shoppable advertising partnership with NBCUniversal to linear (traditional )TV, starting with NBC’s Thanksgiving night football broadcast. Viewers of the NBC broadcast of the Miami Dolphins-Green Bay Packers NFL pro football game on linear TV as well as the Peacock streaming network will be able to shop for exclusive holiday deals and other items directly from the Walmart e-commerce site via an on-screen QR code. In addition, for the first time ever, viewers will be able to shop for Walmart products displayed in regular and streaming TV ads using a new NBCUniversal text-to-shop feature called “Shop the Pod,” sponsored by Walmart. Rich Lehrfeld, GM and senior VP, Walmart Connect. “The new advertising opportunities we’re introducing, powered by Walmart’s scale and reach, will be a game-changer in helping to solve the linear equation by tying our in-store purchase data to linear audiences.” The broadcast will also feature a two-minute segment from the discounter’s new holiday “advertainment” campaign known as “Deals of Desire.” The Thanksgiving NFL broadcast will mark the first time that the Walmart Connect retail media network will reach consumers via linear TV. Walmart and NBCUniversal plan to continue offering shoppable ads via linear TV programming beyond the Nov. 28 NFL broadcast.
NTU Singapore discovers a method that could scale down the size of devices for quantum applications by 1,000x
Researchers have made a discovery that could make quantum computing more compact, potentially shrinking essential components 1,000 times while also requiring less equipment. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have found a way to produce linked pairs of photons using much thinner materials that are just 1.2 micrometers thick, or about 80 times thinner than a strand of hair. And they did so without needing additional optical gear to maintain the link between the photon pairs, making the overall setup simpler. “Our novel method to create entangled photon pairs paves the way for making quantum optical entanglement sources much smaller, which will be critical for applications in quantum information and photonic quantum computing,” said NTU’s Prof Gao Weibo who led the researchers. He added that the method could scale down the size of devices for quantum applications because many of these devices currently need large and bulky optical equipment, which are cumbersome to align, before they can work. One advantage of using photons as qubits is that they can be produced and entangled at room temperature. Relying on photons can thus be easier, cheaper, and more practical than using other particles like electrons that need ultra-low temperatures close to the coldness of outer space before they can be used for quantum computing.
Bleap provides a self-custodial wallet linked to a Mastercard debit card, letting users spend stablecoins directly in the real world without conversion fees
Two ex-Revolut employees have raised $2.3 million in pre-Seed funding to build Bleap, a self-custodial stablecoin app with an accompanying debit card. Bleap provides a self-custodial wallet linked to a Mastercard debit card, letting users spend stablecoins directly in the real world without conversion fees. The app also supports multi-currency accounts with savings rates nearly 5x higher than traditional banks. Users can add stablecoins from external wallets or purchase them with fiat. Bleap also supports fee-free crypto on- and off-ramping via external wallet connections. Because Bleap doesn’t hold user funds, customers retain 24/7 access to their assets directly on the blockchain. Bleap is founded by former Revolut employees Joao Alves and software engineering lead Guilherme Gomes.