Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Vivo S6 With 5G Support, Quad Rear Cameras, 4,500mAh Battery Launched

Vivo S6 is official in China, and the phone comes with Exynos processor and a quad camera setup at the back. The phone has a waterdrop-style notch display, and it packs a large 4,500mAh battery... https://ift.tt/347III4

Musk Offers FDA-Approved Ventilators Free of Cost to Hospitals

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday the company has extra FDA-approved ventilators that can be shipped free of cost to hospitals within regions where the electric carmaker delivers. https://ift.tt/2UQjHgj

Ventilators, sanitisers and 10 other ways IITs are helping India fight against coronavirus

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Amazon's retail business has struggled to find its footing during the pandemic, as surging order volume has resulted in shortages, delays, and worker unrest (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Amazon's retail business has struggled to find its footing during the pandemic, as surging order volume has resulted in shortages, delays, and worker unrest  —  Tech giant faces overwhelming demand, mass absences and a restive workforce  —  On a mid-March midnight shift …



SSA Punjab Recruitment 2020 – Apply Online for 2182 Master Cadre Posts

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Punjab recruits 2182 Master Cadre Posts. Candidates with Any Degree, B.Ed (Relevant Discipline) can apply online from 02-03-2020 to 15-04-2020.

Political parties rely on technology in times of social distancing

As the 'most-tech savvy party', BJP has been tapping technology for long. Its usage, however, increased manifold during the lockdown. https://ift.tt/2X01QGq https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Microsoft President Brad Smith calls Washington state's facial recognition law that regulates how public agencies use the tech a "significant breakthrough" (Monica Nickelsburg/GeekWire)

Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire:
Microsoft President Brad Smith calls Washington state's facial recognition law that regulates how public agencies use the tech a “significant breakthrough”  —  Microsoft President Brad Smith took a break from responding to the COVID-19 outbreak Tuesday to praise Washington state's landmark facial recognition regulations.



General Catalyst says it's raised $2.3B for a $600M early-stage fund, a $1B growth fund for companies with $10M+ in annual revenue, and a $700M "endurance fund" (Steven Bertoni/Forbes)

Steven Bertoni / Forbes:
General Catalyst says it's raised $2.3B for a $600M early-stage fund, a $1B growth fund for companies with $10M+ in annual revenue, and a $700M “endurance fund”  —  Despite rollercoaster markets, historic unemployment claims, and an expanding national shutdown …



Sources: Microsoft plans to make most public and some internal events digital-only through first half of 2021, including Ignite, Build, and Inspire conferences (Mary Jo Foley/ZDNet)

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Sources: Microsoft plans to make most public and some internal events digital-only through first half of 2021, including Ignite, Build, and Inspire conferences  —  Microsoft is moving to make most of its external (and some internal) events digital-only for its FY'21 in light of impacts of the coronavirus.



Facebook expands its Community Help hub globally to allow people to request or offer help during the pandemic, first in US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook expands its Community Help hub globally to allow people to request or offer help during the pandemic, first in US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia  —  Facebook first launched its Community Help feature in 2017, to give users a way to offer assistance, search for and receive help in the wake of a crisis.



Vericool raises $19.1 million for its plant-based packaging replacement for plastic coolers

Vericool, a Livermore, Calif.-based startup that’s replacing plastic coolers and packaging with plant-based products, has raised $19.1 million in a new round of financing.

The company’s stated goal is to replace traditional packaging materials like polystyrene with plant-based insulating packaging materials.

Its technology uses 100% recycled paper fibers and other plant-based materials, according to the company, and are curbside recyclable and compostable.

Investors in the round include Radicle Impact PartnersThe Ecosystem Integrity FundID8 Investments and AiiM Partners, according to a statement.

“We’re pleased to support Vericool because of the company’s track record of innovation, high-performance products, well-established patent portfolio and focus on environmental resilience. We are inspired by the company’s social justice commitment to address recidivism and provide workplace opportunity to formerly incarcerated individuals,” said Dan Skaff, managing partner of Radicle Impact Partners and Vericool’s new lead director. 

A teardown reveals that Huawei's P40 phone contains several critical US parts, primarily RF chips; the US parts were made by Qualcomm, Skyworks and Qorvo (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
A teardown reveals that Huawei's P40 phone contains several critical US parts, primarily RF chips; the US parts were made by Qualcomm, Skyworks and Qorvo  —  FT teardown of new smartphone identified US parts makers including Qualcomm and Skyworks  —  Huawei is still using components …



Sources: Palantir is providing a tool for the CDC to check the readiness of hospitals and healthcare agencies amid the pandemic; the tool uses anonymized data (Thomas Brewster/Forbes)

Thomas Brewster / Forbes:
Sources: Palantir is providing a tool for the CDC to check the readiness of hospitals and healthcare agencies amid the pandemic; the tool uses anonymized data  —  In the last week, staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started logging into a new web app.



Monday, March 30, 2020

Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid western sanctions after its Ukraine invasion (Financial Times)

Financial Times : Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid weste...