Whether you love them or hate them, we have a feeling that video calls are here to stay. With more and more people working from home, platforms such as Zoom and Google Hangouts are perfect for teams to keep up to date with each other and for employers to keep an eye on their remote staff. However, it seems as though the tech wizards of the world have been working hard recently to make these encounters more exciting.

Battling With The Mute Button

We’re gonna go ahead and assume that most of you don’t like these video meetings. They are sometimes unnecessary and seem to be ticking boxes rather than helping your work progress, but that doesn’t stop companies from embracing them with open arms. If you’re the kind of person who sits back and relaxes while these meetings play off in front of you, you probably mute your screen. After all, you just have nothing to say.

Speaking For You

However, you don’t want your boss to think that you’re not interested – and that’s where Cameron Hunter’s new trick comes in handy. This Netflix engineer has created a brand new video call lens that detects your gestures and turns them into comic-style text. For example, you could do a thumbs-up in front of this screen, and your fellow meeting colleagues will see a “yes” on their screens. The idea came to him when he realized that it’s often a hassle to unmute your mic to say one word when someone else is speaking. So, he created something that would do it for us. It’s also a pretty neat trick to show off to your colleagues.

If you use video call platforms on a regular basis, would you want to include a lens like this into your life? It could seriously spice up your work meetings and make them go a little faster than they do at the moment.

China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., a Chinese brand, managed to hit its sales target for the year. They bet that their new vehicle’s launch would offset the temporary problem caused by a shortage of a chip and the reappearance of coronavirus cases.

Impressive Sales Record

Due to the upbeat forecast and impressive revenue growth in the first half itself, the company’s shares have gone up by 4%. A Geely spokesperson said that the chip shortage and the rise in coronavirus cases are posing a serious threat to the company’s performance in the coming months. However, the pending launch of newer vehicles means that the brand should be able to perform well in the second half as well. Geely has maintained its yearly target of 1.53 million sales.

The Reason Behind the Success

Geely and Lynk & Co are a joint venture along with Volvo as well as the electric vehicle companies Geometry and Zeekr. Together, the annual sales are estimated to reach 3.65 million vehicles by 2025. Over 30% of these sales are said to come from electrified vehicles. The company posted that recorded a 22% increase in their revenue in six months to the tune of 45 billion yuan which is $6.94 billion. The reason behind this success was a good product mix.

Over 90% of the brand’s vehicles are bought in China. However, the brand has been trying to increase its exports recently and focusing on countries in Europe and Southeast Asia. Their net profit increased only by 4%, which is about 2.38 billion yuan. This was because of the share-based payments to the tune of 641 million yuan.

The Parent Company

Geely’s parent company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group created Zeekr in order to capture the EV market which is highly competitive at the moment. This company also has its stakes in the Daimler AG and Volvo Cars. Geely claimed that it aims to seek funding from external sources to introduce newer electric models under Zeekr.