Jan 6, 2017

Hot in Silicon Valley: CES, Bitcoin and a Samsung surprise

John Locher / AP

1) The big items from day 2 of CES

The CEOs of Qualcomm, Under Armor, and Intel are among the speakers scheduled for Friday. The biggest buzz so far has been about Amazon's voice-controlled assistant, Alexa, and Nvidia, the chip maker.

2) Bitcoin's price roller coaster continues

As of the early hours on Friday, Bitcoin continues to fall. The cryptocurrency hit $1153.02 on Wednesday, before crashing yesterday. Some speculate that it was caused by Chinese investors attempting to move their money out of the country.

3) Samsung's surprising Q4 profit guidance

Less than four months after the Note 7 smartphone's battery mess and recall, the Korean electronics giant predicts a consolidated operating profit of 9.2 trillion won (about $7.2 billion) for 2016's Q4 —almost twice its profit in the year-ago quarter. The company will report its quarterly earnings on Jan. 24.

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Dave Lawler, author of World

12 mins ago - World

Global coronavirus vaccine initiative launches without U.S. or China

Data: Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance; Map: Naema Ahmed/Axios

A global initiative to ensure equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines now includes most of the world — but not the U.S., China or Russia.

Why it matters: Assuming one or more vaccines ultimately gain approval, there will be a period of months or even years in which supply lags far behind global demand. The COVAX initiative is an attempt to ensure doses go where they're most needed, rather than simply to countries that can produce or buy them at scale.

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Axios

Updated 37 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 6:15 p.m. EST: 32,062,182 — Total deaths: 979,701 — Total recoveries: 22,057,268 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 6:15 p.m EST: 6,967,103 — Total deaths: 202,558 — Total recoveries: 2,670,256 — Total tests: 97,459,742 — Map.
Health: Cases are surging again in 22 states — New York will conduct its own review of coronavirus vaccine.
Business: America is closing out its strongest quarter of economic growth.
Technology: 2020 tech solutions may be sapping our resolve to beat the pandemic.
Sports: Here's what college basketball will look like this season.
Science: During COVID-19 shutdown, a common sparrow changed its song.

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Axios

2 hours ago - Podcasts

The child care tax on America's economy

Child care in the U.S. is in crisis, which makes it much harder for the American economy to recover — as providers struggle to stay in business and parents wrestle with work.

Axios Re:Cap digs into the problems and what can be done to solve them, with Vox senior reporter Anna North.

Axios gets you smarter, faster with news & information that matters.

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