Tech Nuggets with the Technology

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

App-based food delivery firms under Bengaluru police lens

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has warned food delivery firms of serious action if he were to ever find their delivery men involved in road accidents. https://ift.tt/2ulFq6d https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Stillfront Group, a Sweden-based group of gaming studios, is acquiring mobile gaming studio Storm8 for $300M, of which $75M will be in Stillfront shares (Mike Minotti/VentureBeat)

Mike Minotti / VentureBeat:
Stillfront Group, a Sweden-based group of gaming studios, is acquiring mobile gaming studio Storm8 for $300M, of which $75M will be in Stillfront shares — Stillfront Group announced today that it is acquiring 100% of Califonia mobile gaming studio Storm8.

737 Max fix slips to summer—and that’s just one of Boeing’s problems

Enlarge / The 737 Max is just the most high-profile of Boeing's crises. (credit: Boeing)

The past 10 months have not been good for Boeing for all sorts of reasons—capped off by the failure of the company's Starliner commercial crew vehicle to achieve the right orbit in its uncrewed premier in December. But the biggest of the company's problems remains the 737 Max, grounded since last spring after two crashes that killed 346 people between them. Combined, the crashes are the worst air disaster since September 11, 2001.

Both were at least partially caused by a sensor failure with no redundancy and a problem with MCAS (the new software controlling the handling of the aircraft) that the air crews had not been trained to overcome.

Boeing executives are now telling the company's 737 Max customers that the software fix required to make the airliner airworthy will not be approved in the near future, and that it will likely be June or July before the Federal Aviation Administration certifies the aircraft for flight again—meaning that the aircraft will have been grounded for at least 16 months.

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https://arstechnica.com

Source: the new low-cost iPhone, which looks like iPhone 8 and has a 4.7" screen, will enter production in February and may be announced as early as March (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Source: the new low-cost iPhone, which looks like iPhone 8 and has a 4.7" screen, will enter production in February and may be announced as early as March — - New model will look similar to 2017's iPhone 8 with Touch ID — Apple expected to launch the 4.7-inch phone as early as March

Mastercard in talks to invest in Pine Labs

The transaction is likely a part of a $300 million round that could value Pine Labs at $1.2-1.5 billion. Sequoia may make a partial exit https://ift.tt/37sknNG https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

DGCA picks five consortiums to take its drone plan airborne

Civil aviation authority's shortlist includes Nandan Nilekani-backed ShopX and SpiceJet's cargo unit SpiceXpress to conduct experiments of long-range commercial drone flights https://ift.tt/2RghZEo https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

How social networks cite the Stored Communications Act, a privacy law from the '80s, to withhold information that might exonerate defendants in criminal cases (Megan Cassidy/San Francisco Chronicle)

Megan Cassidy / San Francisco Chronicle:
How social networks cite the Stored Communications Act, a privacy law from the '80s, to withhold information that might exonerate defendants in criminal cases — By the time the FBI raided Omar Ameen's Sacramento apartment in August 2018, his extradition back to Iraq seemed all but inevitable.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Foldable Phone Tipped to Feature 12-Megapixel Main Camera

Samsung's upcoming foldable phone is rumoured to be called the Galaxy Z Flip, and it is expected to launch on February 11. The phone's key specifications have been leaked, and the phone is tipped... https://ift.tt/369tTUB

Netflix's Jamtara Sparks Row Over Use of Casteist Slur

Netflix's most recent original series from India - Jamtara - has been called out for use of a casteist slur aimed at the Dalit community, sparking debate over the use of pejorative terms in the... https://ift.tt/30FkcvV

Fiio M5 High-Resolution Audio Player Review

Fiio's new M5 high-resolution audio player is an inexpensive and compact device that promises to bring out the best in your budget and mid-range headphones. Here's our review. https://ift.tt/2G9WcYy

Challenger business bank Qonto raises $115 million round led by Tencent and DST Global

French startup Qonto has raised a $115 million Series C funding round led by Tencent and DST Global. Today’s news comes a few days after another French fintech startup Lydia raised some money from Tencent.

Existing investors Valar and Alven are also participating in today’s funding round. TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Adyen CFO Ingo Uytdehaage are also joining the round. Qonto says that it represents the largest funding round for a French fintech company.

Qonto is a challenger bank, or a neobank, but for B2B use cases. Instead of attracting millions of customers like N26 or Monzo, Qonto is serving small and medium companies as well as freelancers in Europe.

According to the startup, business banking in Europe is broken. The company thinks it can provide a much better user experience with an online- and mobile-first product.

The company has managed to attract 65,000 companies over the past two years and a half. The product is currently live in France, Italy, Spain and Germany. In 2019 alone, Qonto has managed €10 billion in transaction volume.

With today’s funding round, the company plans to double down on its existing markets, develop new features that make the platform works better in each country based on local needs and hire more people. The team should grow from 200 to 300 employees within a year.

Qonto obtained a payment institution license in June 2018 and has developed its own core banking infrastructure. Around 50% of the company’s user base is currently using Qonto’s own core banking system. Others are still relying on a third-party partner.

Moving from one back end to another requires some input from customers, which explains why there are still some customers using the legacy infrastructure. Over the coming months, Qonto plans to launch new payment features that should convince more users to switch to Qonto’s back end.

Even more important, Qonto plans to obtain a credit institution license, which could open up a ton of possibilities when it comes to features and revenue streams. The company says that it should have its new license by the end of the year.

For instance, you could imagine being able to get a credit card, apply for an overdraft and get a small loan with Qonto.

Compared to traditional banks, Qonto lets you open a bank account more easily. After signing up, Qonto offers a modern interface with your activity. You can export your transactions in no time, manage your expenses and get real-time notifications. Qonto also integrates with popular accounting tools.

When it comes to payment methods, Qonto gives you a French IBAN as well as debit cards. You can order physical or virtual cards whenever you want, customize limits and freeze a card. Qonto also supports direct debit and checks. Like many software-as-a-service products, you can also manage multiple user accounts and customize permission levels.