Briefly informed: Stadtwerke, SAP, Mac Studio, Instagram

Municipal utilities expect prices to double

Germany’s municipal utilities expect a significant price increase for end customers: “In our estimation, gas and electricity tariffs will foreseeably double,” said the general manager of the association of municipal companies, Ingbert Liebing, to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. He added that due to the fall in wholesale prices for gas and electricity, “of course the public utilities also wanted to lower the tariffs” and would do so “as soon as there was room for maneuver”. Although the crisis is no longer quite as dramatic, it is not over yet. Liebing therefore appealed to the federal government to speed up approvals for wind turbines.

Job cuts at SAP

Europe’s largest software manufacturer SAP wants to focus more on profit and also cut thousands of jobs. The Walldorf-based company also put its US market research subsidiary Qualtrics in the shop window on Thursday – a sale could increase profitability and allow more focus on the core business, according to CEO Christian Klein. The manager also wants to cut 3,000 jobs. This affects around 2.5 percent of all employees, in Germany there are around 200 jobs. The job cuts should enable further investments in the core business.

Lock for Mac Studio

Apple has had an official lock developed for the Mac Studio by the peripheral supplier Kensington. The hardware can already be pre-ordered from the American Apple Online Store and uses an anchoring hole in the hardware of the small workstation. The Kensington lock has a locking plate that attaches right there on the Mac Studio. It also comes with a combination lock and nylon braided carbon steel cable. You can, for example, wrap it around a (hopefully also anchored) table leg and thus secure the expensive compact computer.

New modes for Instagram

Instagram is getting three new features that give users more control over the content of their accounts. In quiet mode, all platform notifications are disabled. The Hidden Words feature lets you create a list of words, phrases, and emojis you don’t want to receive posts about. In addition, parents get the opportunity to see their child’s Instagram settings and set time limits and breaks. These functions are currently only available in English-speaking countries, but are planned for other countries.

(igr)