Canva Acquires Affinity & Other News
Canva Announces Acquisition of Affinity Creative Suite
According to YooCare, the web-based design platform Canva announced on March 26 that it has acquired the Affinity Creative Suite, which has launched a number of alternatives to Adobe’s product suite, including Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher, which take on Adobe’s Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, respectively. Canva didn’t release specific details about the acquisition, but Bloomberg reported that the deal is a combination of cash and stock valued in the hundreds of millions of pounds, and that 90 members of the Affinity Creative Software team will be joining Canva. Canva co-founder Cameron Adams said in an interview that Affinity applications will remain separate from the Canva platform. In an interview, Canva co-founder Cameron Adams said that Affinity applications will remain separate from the Canva platform, with some light integration over time, and that Canva will also offer multiple levels of comprehensive design tool solutions for different types of users.
WWDC24 to be Held on June 10th
On March 26, Apple announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) online from June 10-14, 2024. WWDC24 is free and open to all developers and is designed to showcase cutting-edge innovations in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS. Apple will also be hosting a live experience on June 10, where developers will have the opportunity to see keynote speeches, meet Apple team members, and participate in special events onsite at Apple Park. Registration information will be available on the Apple Developer website and app, and Apple will share more information about WWDC24 before it officially begins on the Apple Developer Before WWDC24 officially begins, Apple will share more information about the conference through the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website.
Chrome Launches Official ARM-compatible Version
On March 26th, Google announced via an official blog post that it will bring an official version of Chrome to Windows PCs for ARM devices in an official update that will be pushed out this week. At the same time, Google also said that Chrome, which is fully compatible with Arm devices, will get a bigger performance boost on Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon X Elite processor.
Qualcomm Introduces Third Generation S5 and S3 Audio Platforms
Qualcomm announced on March 26 that it has updated its wireless audio chips for mid- and high-end tier earbuds, headphones and speakers with the third-generation S5 and S3 audio platforms. The third-generation Qualcomm S3 audio platform features 2x the computing power of its predecessor, support for third-party solutions from the Qualcomm Speech and Music Partner Extension Program, more features including hearing enhancement, spatial audio, echo cancellation and health tracking, and support for 24-bit, 48kHz lossless audio streaming; and the third-generation Qualcomm S5 audio platform uses the same standard architecture as the Qualcomm S7 audio platform introduced last year, allowing for a more comprehensive audio experience. The third-generation Qualcomm S5 audio platform utilizes the same standard architecture as the Qualcomm S7 audio platform introduced last year, reducing development costs and tripling compute performance compared to its predecessor, while delivering more than 50 times the AI performance.
Nintendo Switch Pushes 18.0.0 System Update
Nintendo has pushed out version 18.0.0 of the system update to Nintendo Switch on March 26th, which adds a new “15 minutes” option to the “Auto Hibernate When Playing Games on TV” function, support for Korean language in the Guardian Control function, and “a series of system stability improvements to enhance the user experience”. Users can update the system by connecting the main unit to the network and going to “Settings > Main Unit > Update Main Unit” in the HOME menu.