Saturday, April 30, 2022

A look at the challenges Apple is facing as it develops its own wireless modem, expected to replace Qualcomm chips in 2023 iPhones (Christopher Mims/Wall Street Journal)

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
A look at the challenges Apple is facing as it develops its own wireless modem, expected to replace Qualcomm chips in 2023 iPhones  —  A series of moves by the tech giant, as well as signals from its suppliers, make clear that it aims to start designing the modems of the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.



India's Enforcement Directorate says it has seized $725M from Xiaomi's bank accounts over allegedly illegal royalty payments to its foreign subsidiaries (Aditya Kalra/Reuters)

Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
India's Enforcement Directorate says it has seized $725M from Xiaomi's bank accounts over allegedly illegal royalty payments to its foreign subsidiaries  —  India said on Saturday it had seized $725 million from the local bank accounts of China's Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) after a probe found …



New crypto mortgages in the US real estate market let property buyers pledge their digital holdings as collateral for a loan, with no down payments necessary (Heather Perlberg/Bloomberg)

Heather Perlberg / Bloomberg:
New crypto mortgages in the US real estate market let property buyers pledge their digital holdings as collateral for a loan, with no down payments necessary  —  It took Vincent Burniske months to get a seven-figure loan to buy two small apartment buildings in a coveted Miami neighborhood.



Smartphone app that could help screen neurological disease at home

A team of researchers has developed a smartphone app that could allow people to screen for Alzheimer's disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurological diseases and disorders, by recording closeups of their eyes. https://ift.tt/AWZzqyR

Apple explains why it is removing outdated apps

Tech giant Apple, which has been removing apps that no longer receive updates, has clarified that outdated apps are being removed from the App Store as nobody was downloading them. https://ift.tt/JEDnZ0v

Ex-Apple employee files labour complaint against Epic

Accusing Epic Games of refusing to hire her because of her labour advocacy and support of unions, a former Activision Blizzard and Apple employee has reportedly filed a labour complaint with the National Labour Relations Board (NLBR) against the game developer. https://ift.tt/rk0bwsv

Apple faces up to $8 billion revenue hit due to China lockdowns

The ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns in China are set to make a huge dent in Apple revenue for the April-June quarter as the company has indicated up to $8 billion loss in sales especially owing to the Shanghai lockdown. https://ift.tt/SP8ti74

Samsung 'Fab Grab Fest offers mega deals and cashbacks on smartphones, tablets, laptops, TVs and appliances; starts May 1

Samsung has announced its biggest summer fest of the year – Fab Grab Fest. The Fab Grab Fest sale has mega offers and cashbacks on a wide range of Samsung Digital Appliances as well as Galaxy smartphones, tablets, laptops, accessories and wearables. https://ift.tt/0BRIpGD

Friday, April 29, 2022

Report finds Amazon and third parties collect data from interactions with Alexa through Echo speakers and share it with as many as 41 advertising partners (Jennifer Pattison Tuohy/The Verge)

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Report finds Amazon and third parties collect data from interactions with Alexa through Echo speakers and share it with as many as 41 advertising partners  —  Amazon and third parties use data from smart speakers to sell you stuff, says report  —  A report released last week contends …



Twitter cancels earnings conference call

Though months away from Elon Musk's $44 billion buyout deal, Twitter on Thursday cancelled its customary earnings conference call. https://ift.tt/gNZstaV

Sources: China is preparing to end the regulatory crackdown over big tech and give the sector a bigger role to help boost the ailing economy (Tracy Qu/South China Morning Post)

Tracy Qu / South China Morning Post:
Sources: China is preparing to end the regulatory crackdown over big tech and give the sector a bigger role to help boost the ailing economy  —  A symposium involving Chinese Big Tech has been scheduled after the Labour Day holiday to assure business leaders on the new direction …



Apple sees bigger supply problems after strong start to year

Apple Inc on Thursday forecast bigger problems as COVID-19 lockdowns snarl production and demand in China, the war in Ukraine dents sales and growth slows in services, which the iPhone maker sees as its engine for expansion. https://ift.tt/JEkTo7n

China's lockdown outrage tests state propaganda limits in Shanghai, where internet-savvy residents overwhelmed censors' ability to keep up with critical posts (New York Times)

New York Times:
China's lockdown outrage tests state propaganda limits in Shanghai, where internet-savvy residents overwhelmed censors' ability to keep up with critical posts  —  Public anger and grief over the bungled lockdown in Shanghai is creating a credibility crisis for the country's leader, Xi Jinping, and his zero Covid policies.



Turtlemint, which helps financial advisors understand and distribute insurance to their customers, raises a $120M Series E at a $900M post-money valuation (Priyanka Iyer/Moneycontrol)

Priyanka Iyer / Moneycontrol:
Turtlemint, which helps financial advisors understand and distribute insurance to their customers, raises a $120M Series E at a $900M post-money valuation  —  The firm intends to use the fresh funds to expand in new geographies, scale leadership and strengthen product stack.



Thursday, April 28, 2022

Judge rules for Elon Musk in $13 billion lawsuit over Tesla-SolarCity deal

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk did not unjustly enrich himself when he guided the electric vehicle maker in 2016 to acquire SolarCity Corp, where Musk was chairman and the largest shareholder, a Delaware judge ruled on Wednesday. https://ift.tt/IX9RVyT

Weibo says it will publish the locations of users based on IP addresses on their account pages and posts to combat "bad behaviour"; users cannot opt-out (Reuters)

Reuters:
Weibo says it will publish the locations of users based on IP addresses on their account pages and posts to combat “bad behaviour”; users cannot opt-out  —  Weibo , China's equivalent of Twitter, told users on Thursday it would start to publish their IP locations on their account pages …



Ukraine’s 'horror': 10 things about Chernobylite

https://ift.tt/SbgIUNC

Driverless robotaxis: Beijing grants Baidu, Pony.ai new permits

Baidu and Pony.ai said on Thursday they had received permits to deploy robotaxis without humans in the driving seat on open Chinese roads for the first time, in another instance of Beijing city's support for the autonomous-driving sector. https://ift.tt/EPqenYB

Cuba approves cryptocurrency services

The Cuban central bank issued regulations on Tuesday for virtual asset service providers, after giving a nod last year to the personal use of cryptocurrencies, a move some experts said could help the Communist-run Caribbean island skirt stiff U.S. sanctions. https://ift.tt/RcGJxgZ

In an email to advertisers, Twitter insists it will remain a safe place for brands after Elon Musk's takeover, as campaign groups predict rising toxicity (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
In an email to advertisers, Twitter insists it will remain a safe place for brands after Elon Musk's takeover, as campaign groups predict rising toxicity  —  Campaigners and car manufacturers among groups to express concern over Tesla chief's $44bn takeover



iOS 15 guide: How to delete an app on Apple iPhone

https://ift.tt/Rafryxu

How to request Google to remove your phone number and other personal details from search results

Google has announced that it will remove personally identifiable information (PII) that has the potential to result in identity theft, financial fraud, harmful direct contact or other specific harms. https://ift.tt/6DcVWo1

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

70% jump in ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure in India: Report

Cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure by nation-state bad actors have increased significantly and India observed a 70 per cent increase in ransomware activity in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, a new report said on Wednesday. https://ift.tt/fiKbX1w

Spotify reports Q1 revenue rose 24% YoY to €2.66B, including €282M from ads, up 31% YoY; paid subscribers rose 15% YoY to 182M, despite losing 1.5M in Russia (Ashley Carman/Bloomberg)

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q1 revenue rose 24% YoY to €2.66B, including €282M from ads, up 31% YoY; paid subscribers rose 15% YoY to 182M, despite losing 1.5M in Russia  —  Spotify Technology SA's paid subscriber forecast for the current quarter fell just short of analyst estimates …



Alphabet misses on revenue as YouTube ad business suffers

Google parent Alphabet Inc on Tuesday reported its first quarterly revenue miss of the pandemic after the war in Ukraine hurt YouTube ad sales, leaving investors rattled as the global economy sputters. https://ift.tt/IKuakvq

Schneider Electric to sell Russian assets to local management

French blue chip Schneider Electric will sell its operations in Russia and Belarus to the local management, the electrical equipment maker said on Wednesday as it signed a letter of intent with the designated buyers. https://ift.tt/dwrHLfE

Sources: negotiations between Congressional lawmakers on online privacy policies include limits on tech giants' collection, storage, and use of personal info (John D. McKinnon/Wall Street Journal)

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: negotiations between Congressional lawmakers on online privacy policies include limits on tech giants' collection, storage, and use of personal info  —  Disclosures of social-media harms to young people put pressure on Congress, tech companies to safeguard personal information



How to backup WhatsApp chats on Google Drive

Android smartphone users can backup their WhatsApp data including chats, images, videos and more on Google Drive, while the WhatsApp chat backup in Apple iPhone is stored on iCloud. To know how to backup your WhatsApp chats on Google Drive, you can follow these steps. https://ift.tt/lFToEVa

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Analysis: Huawei spent $22.1B, or 22.4% of its revenue, on R&D in 2021, seeking to sidestep US sanctions; Meta invested 20.9% into R&D, far above its US peers (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Analysis: Huawei spent $22.1B, or 22.4% of its revenue, on R&D in 2021, seeking to sidestep US sanctions; Meta invested 20.9% into R&D, far above its US peers  —  Few companies devote more of their revenue to research than Huawei Technologies Co., for which developing new technologies …



Sources detail how Elon Musk's Twitter bid succeeded: Morgan Stanley gathering support for $25.5B in loans, overcoming initial shareholder doubts, and more (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Sources detail how Elon Musk's Twitter bid succeeded: Morgan Stanley gathering support for $25.5B in loans, overcoming initial shareholder doubts, and more  —  Tesla boss convinced Wall Street sceptics to back his $44bn takeover offer  —  Just 12 days ago, some of the most experienced operators …



Why Uber may be in legal trouble in Australia

Australia's competition watchdog is suing Uber Technologies Inc and seeking a A$26 million ($18.69 million) fine https://ift.tt/q8ROZgv

Fidelity will let retirement savers put bitcoin into their 401(k) accounts starting later in 2022, the first major retirement plan provider to do so (Anne Tergesen/Wall Street Journal)

Anne Tergesen / Wall Street Journal:
Fidelity will let retirement savers put bitcoin into their 401(k) accounts starting later in 2022, the first major retirement plan provider to do so  —  Investment giant's move could send cryptocurrency investing further into mainstream if employers decide to offer option



SonarSource, which helps companies detect reliability and vulnerability issues in code, raises $412M co-led by Advent and General Catalyst at a $4.7B valuation (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
SonarSource, which helps companies detect reliability and vulnerability issues in code, raises $412M co-led by Advent and General Catalyst at a $4.7B valuation  —  Maintaining source code is one of the toughest challenges that software developers face.  In a 2020 survey from Sourcegraph …



Twitter, Tesla and other companies owned by Elon Musk

https://ift.tt/opHDIw1

Facebook-owner Meta fights to overturn UK order to sell Giphy

Facebook owner Meta started its appeal on Monday against Britain's ruling that it must sell Giphy, arguing the fact that rival Snap offered far less to buy the animated-images provider undermined the rationale used to block the deal. https://ift.tt/jbleED0

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Apple, Amazon, and Google have turned to old union-busting tactics, like surveilling workers suspected of organizing, posting propaganda, and hiring consultants (Washington Post)

Washington Post:
Apple, Amazon, and Google have turned to old union-busting tactics, like surveilling workers suspected of organizing, posting propaganda, and hiring consultants  —  Tech companies are facing increasing momentum from workers trying to organize  —  At a Staten Island warehouse set to start …



Oracle patches a critical bug in Java 15 and above, which lets attackers forge TLS certificates and signatures, two-factor authentication messages, and more (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Oracle patches a critical bug in Java 15 and above, which lets attackers forge TLS certificates and signatures, two-factor authentication messages, and more  —  A failure to sanity check signatures for division-by-zero flaws makes forgeries easy.  —  Organizations using newer versions …



Sources: Twitter's board met Sunday to discuss Elon Musk's bid, which is being considered more seriously after Musk's filing detailed $46.5B in financing (New York Times)

New York Times:
Sources: Twitter's board met Sunday to discuss Elon Musk's bid, which is being considered more seriously after Musk's filing detailed $46.5B in financing  —  Twitter's 11-member board met on Sunday morning to discuss Mr. Musk's offer to buy the company and take it private.  — Give this article- - - Read in app



Reliance Industries calls off its $3.4B acquisition of core parts of Indian retail chain Future Group, following Amazon's legal fight against the deal (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Reliance Industries calls off its $3.4B acquisition of core parts of Indian retail chain Future Group, following Amazon's legal fight against the deal  —  Reliance Industries “cannot implement” its $3.4 billion deal to acquire core parts of retail chain Future Group after the latter's secured …



Robotaxi startup Pony.ai announces that it has received a license to operate 100 self-driving cars as traditional taxis in the Chinese city of Guangzhou (Evelyn Cheng/CNBC)

Evelyn Cheng / CNBC:
Robotaxi startup Pony.ai announces that it has received a license to operate 100 self-driving cars as traditional taxis in the Chinese city of Guangzhou  —  - Self-driving start-up Pony.ai announced Sunday it received a taxi license, the first of its kind in China.



What to expect for iPhone 14: 48MP wide-angle camera, pill-shaped and circular cutouts instead of a notch, and an A16 for Pro models, a larger 6.7" 14 Max (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
What to expect for iPhone 14: 48MP wide-angle camera, pill-shaped and circular cutouts instead of a notch, and an A16 for Pro models, a larger 6.7" 14 Max  —  Even though it may feel like the iPhone 13 just went on sale, the iPhone 14 launch is less than six months away.



How Telegram became the most prominent platform for the right-wing fringe, including by not having a recommendation algorithm, which helps groups stay hidden (Philip Bump/Washington Post)

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
How Telegram became the most prominent platform for the right-wing fringe, including by not having a recommendation algorithm, which helps groups stay hidden  —  Once conservative America decided that mainstream social media platforms were unfairly censoring them — a belief born of pressure …



Google says it plans to counter Japan's FTC over claims that it hobbles rivals in search; a source says Japan's FTC sent a cease-and-desist order to Google (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg : Google says it plans to counter Japan's FTC over claims that it hobbles rivals in search; a source says Japan's FTC s...