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Although it is a business not many are aware of, autonomous delivery robots on the sidewalk are set to become an industry with annual sales of $1bn within a decade, reckons IDTechEx, a British firm of analysts. These four-or six-wheeled autonomous machines, usually the size of a suitcase, are already delivering groceries and other goods in America, China and Europe. That puts them ahead of many driverless cars, vans and lorries being developed.
Those bigger vehicles are held back not by technology but regulation, says Zehao Li of IDTechEx. This means having a “safety driver” on board ready to take over if there is a problem, which is hardly labour-saving. For these larger contraptions regulators want to see safety systems thoroughly proved. But there are legal hurdles, too. In January Britain's Law Commission, which reviews legislation, recommended that it should not be the person in the driver's seat who faces prosecution if a vehicle in autonomous mode crashes, but the manufacturer or body that sought approval for its use.
Meanwhile, sidewalk robots are getting on with the job. Among them, Starship Technologies, based in San Francisco, reckons it has already clocked up more than 2.5m deliveries with bots in a number of cities, university campuses and business parks in Europe and America. Amazon is carrying out trials with a similar sort of machine it calls Scout. Kiwibot, a Colombian startup, is making sidewalk deliveries in California.
Typically, these robots carry a few bags of groceries using a variety of sensors, including cameras, radar and GPS to navigate and avoid obstacles and people. Their progress can be monitored on a phone app, which also unlocks them for goods to be retrieved. As they are small, move slowly (Starship's bots might reach a heady 6kph) and are “telemonitored” by people in a control room who can take over, authorities seem more willing to give them a green light.
Such robots are also becoming more autonomous. In January Serve Robotics, another San Franciscan firm whose backers include Uber, a ride-hailing giant, said it had deployed a new sidewalk bot with “level 4” autonomy, which means it can operate without telemonitoring in some predesignated areas.
Robotic versions which operate on roads but have no driver's cab are also appearing. Nuro, a Silicon Valley firm, makes one about the size of a small car that can carry 24 bags of groceries. It has chilled and heated compartments for food and drinks. Udelv, also a Californian firm, is developing a larger type called Transporter to operate at highway speeds. Being much further along the road in earning their keep, these delivery bots are helping to pave the way for the time when bigger autonomous vehicles can join them.
[A] are unpopular with people
[B] have giant market potential
[C] look like ordinary suitcases
[D] technically surpass driverless vehicles
[A] Large transport vehicles should be strictly supervised.
[B] The safety of driverless vehicles can't be guaranteed.
[C] Legal regulations limit the development of driverless vehicles.
[D] The advice of Britain's Law Commission is unreasonable.
[A] They seem safer.
[B] They are more diverse.
[C] They cover a wider range.
[D] They are more autonomous.
[A] legal regulation cannot limit industry innovation
[B] more and more people tend to choose delivery robots
[C] these robots will not only be used to transport goods
[D] the technology of this industry is constantly upgrading
[A] the profit of delivery robots will remain stable
[B] the size of delivery robots will become larger
[C] driverless vehicles may have a chance to get on the road
[D] driverless vehicles will be replaced by delivery robots
The European Commission has charged Apple with distorting competition in the music streaming market in a case that could force the technology group to cut commission rates in its lucrative app store. The charges mark the first time that the commission has taken antitrust action against the world's most valuable company after its high-profile cases against Google for breaking the bloc's competition laws.
The commission has responded to a complaint two years ago from Spotify, a rival service that alleged Apple had given an unfair advantage to its music streaming service through its strict app store rules. If the commission finds Apple guilty of antitrust violations, it can fine the company a maximum of 10 per cent of its global turnover-as much as $27 billion-and force it to overhaul its app store policies.
The case has cast a light on Apple's role as a gatekeeper to more than a billion consumers around the world that use its devices. Spotify and Epic Games, the owner of Fortnite, have accused the American group of abusing its powerful position through the app store's high tolls and restrictive terms and conditions. Apple charges a standard commission of 30 per cent on digital purchases, falling to 15 per cent for smaller developers. The app store is a fast-growing corner of Apple's $2.2 trillion empire, which spans desktop computers, smartphones, film and television streaming and cloud storage. In the first quarter, revenues from its services division, which includes commissions from app developers, rose by 27 per cent to $16.9 billion.
In its statement of objections setting out the charges, the commission accused Apple of forcing developers to use its in-app payment system and of preventing them from informing users of other purchasing options. Margrethe Vestager, the competition commissioner, said there were clear signs that Apple's App Store rules were affecting music streaming rivals' business development and were harming other developers. “They depend on Apple App Store as a gatekeeper to access users of Apple's iPhones and iPads. This significant market power cannot go unchecked as the conditions of access to the Apple App Store are key for the success of app developers,” she said.
Apple vowed to fight the charges. A spokesman said: “Spotify want all the benefits of the App Store but don't think they should have to pay anything for that. The commission's argument on Spotify's behalf is the opposite of fair competition.”
Spotify called the commission's move “a critical step toward holding Apple accountable for its anticompetitive behaviour, ensuring meaningful choice for all consumers and a level playing field for app developers”. Spotify, one of Europe's few global successes in consumer technology, is the market leader in music streaming, with 356 million active users and 158 million paid subscribers. Apple Music is estimated to have more than 70 million subscribers.
[A] ruled on the allegation against Apple
[B] decided to impose a fine on Apple
[C] approved Google's antitrust action
[D] accused Apple of unfair competition
[A] sets strict regulations for its app store
[B] is the biggest streaming media operator
[C] controls a huge amount of user resource
[D] charges much more than its competitors
[A] users
[B] developers
[C] subscribers
[D] gatekeepers
[A] dominator
[B] freeloader
[C] monopolist
[D] troublemaker
[A] Apple May Face Punishment over “Unfair” Streaming App Costs
[B] Competitors Sue Apple for Violations of Consumer Rights
[C] European Commission Declares War Against Monopoly
[D] Time to Modify Apple's App Store Terms for Music Streaming
“It's like tasering an elderly person who's already on a pacemaker,” says a British newspaper boss of the newsprint market, where prices have risen by over 50% in a matter of months. The cost of paper that feeds into presses around the world is rising to record highs, pushing up expenses for newspapers from Mumbai to Sydney.
When times were good, before ads shifted online, newspapers had a supportive partnership with paper mills. Paper mills had the worst of it for years as newspapers reduced page numbers, went wholly digital or shut for good. The papers were able to hammer down the cost of newsprint from firms fighting for business as demand declined. Price-taking paper mills suffered in silence. Many hesitated to shut massive machines costing hundreds of millions of dollars. That hesitance has disappeared; mills are taking out newsprint capacity and diversifying.
Many mills are converting machines to make packaging for e-commerce. The mills “moved from being price-takers to being capable co-participants in a declining market,” says Tim Woods of IndustryEdge, a research firm for Australia and New Zealand's forestry and paper industries. The pandemic, with people working from home, meant even fewer newspaper purchases, which depressed demand for newsprint again and increased the pain for paper suppliers. In the past 24 months European mills have responded by shutting almost a fifth of their newsprint capacity, says a buyer for a large British newspaper group.
Then economies reopened. Newsprint demand shot up. That, combined with much reduced capacity and coupled with soaring energy prices, has resulted in a price shock. Particularly controversial are energy surcharges that some paper suppliers are seeking to pass on. Newspaper firms reckon this amounts to breaking contracts. European newspapers will have to pay newsprint prices that are 50-70% higher in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the year before. Germany's print and media industry association has warned that mills are going to force newspapers to dump paper editions, hurting each other in the process. “It's about the famous branch that both of them are sitting on,” it said recently.
But mills can sell packaging instead. “We're not going to save the publishing industry by being unprofitable ourselves,” says a mill executive in North America. For some publishers, price rises will wipe out profits. They will need to do further restructuring involving axing titles and layoffs. Iwan Le Moine of EMGE, a British paper-industry consultancy, expects a big increase in 2022 of the number of papers that shut compared with a typical year. That will lower demand and push the market back towards equilibrium.
But newspapers will have more hard conversations about paper, full stop, says Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis, a research firm. More digital adrenaline is one possible riposte to the paper mills' tasers.
[A] pushing up its production expenses
[B] considering to raise newspaper prices
[C] in the critical period of transformation
[D] in a more difficult position than before
[A] They still remain to be the passive price-takers.
[B] They have adjusted product lines to reality.
[C] They have drastically reduced production capacity.
[D] They ended cooperation with the newspaper firms.
[A] strained
[B] dependent
[C] supportive
[D] ambiguous
[A] newspapers need more dialogue with paper mills
[B] rising costs may lead to the collapse of papers
[C] the newsprint market will return to normal
[D] paper mills may tend to be unprofitable
[A] get more digitalized
[B] prosecute paper mills
[C] stop their paper editions
[D] conduct more discussions
Later this week, a solar array on Colorado's southern High Plains will officially launch, and proponents of a global energy transition will have a new beacon for their cause. The $285m Bighorn Solar array, developed by Lightsource BP outside Pueblo, a city that made much of the railway that crosses America's west, will be one of the largest solar facilities east of the Rockies. The electricity it generates will help Pueblo make the “cleanest steel and engineered steel products in the world”, according to Evraz, the Russian group that owns the 140-year-old steelworks in Pueblo.
Bighorn launches just as the global energy shortage sparks debate about how quickly the world should replace fossil fuels with renewables. For its developers, including oil major BP, the project is an example of the energy transition. For Pueblo it may be simpler: Bighorn will sustain jobs. While the site will only employ four or five to monitor the 750,000 panels, the cheap electricity will support Evraz's $500m plan to expand the mill. It already employs 1,000 and will need another 300 as it adds facilities to make longer rail tracks. Without the cheap solar power, the company would have moved the operation elsewhere.
“These are good, union-paying jobs,” said Pueblo's mayor, Nick Gradisar. His father and grandfather worked at the mill, whose closure loomed over the city a few years ago. “The workers have got a guaranteed price of energy,” he said. “They don't need to worry about the price of coal going up or down.”
Lightsource BP can generate the electricity for less than $0.03 per kilowatthour, well beneath the price of electricity from fossil fuel sources. The company will sell its power to Xcel under a 20-year contract and Xcel will then sell the power “behind the meter” to Evraz. The project tallies with Xcel's strategy to supply only emissions-free electricity by 2050. The plan included an accelerated schedule for shutting generation at the Comanche coal-fired power station, whose smoke stacks loom over Bighorn. Two of the three units will close by 2025 and the third phased out after 2030, decades earlier than planned.
For BP, which owns half of Lightsource BP, Bighorn underlines the company's strategic shift into clean energy, said David Lawler, head of the UK oil company's operations in the US. Better known in the US for its petrol stations, offshore drilling and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP last year pledged to begin reducing crude output, cutting emissions, including flaring, and providing renewable electricity.
“For those who are wondering what BP is doing, we think this is the best example of the transition that we're going through,” said Lawler, adding the project would generate the 8-10 per cent returns BP seeks; lower than oil and gas projects returns, but less volatile.
[A] belongs to a steelworks
[B] will provide clean energy
[C] is jointly developed by many countries
[D] has triggered discussions on energy issues
[A] to stabilize the coal price
[B] to support labor unions
[C] to ensure employment
[D] to increase salaries
[A] varies with
[B] emerges from
[C] contrasts with
[D] corresponds to
[A] represents BP's new development direction
[B] has improved BP's corporate image
[C] will soon replace fossil fuel energy
[D] will bring high profits to BP
[A] Why BP Invests in the Bighorn Project?
[B] Cheap Electricity and Steelworks' Revival
[C] Solar-powered Steelworks Opens a Green Path
[D] Bighorn Project: A New Development Model