Tech Nuggets with the Technology

Monday, June 21, 2021

Facebook rolls out Live Audio Rooms, available to verified public figures and select Groups, and its podcast service, available to select partners, in the US (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook rolls out Live Audio Rooms, available to verified public figures and select Groups, and its podcast service, available to select partners, in the US — In April, Facebook announced a series of planned investments in new audio products, including a Clubhouse live audio competitor as well as new support for podcasts.

Germany's Federal Cartel Office announces an antitrust investigation into Apple's App Store, pre-installed apps, and more (Sami Fathi/MacRumors)

Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Germany's Federal Cartel Office announces an antitrust investigation into Apple's App Store, pre-installed apps, and more — Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, today initiated proceedings against Apple on the claims of anti-competitive behavior related to the App Store …

Real estate mogul Frank McCourt says he plans to invest $100M to build a blockchain-based database of social connections, sidestepping the dominant social apps (Sarah Frier/Bloomberg)

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Real estate mogul Frank McCourt says he plans to invest $100M to build a blockchain-based database of social connections, sidestepping the dominant social apps — Frank McCourt wants to build a blockchain-based alternative to Facebook — Frank McCourt, the billionaire real estate mogul …

Researcher finds iPhone bug that disables wireless functionality after joining a WiFi network called "%p%s%s%s%s%n"; resetting network settings fixes the issue (Ax Sharma/BleepingComputer)

Ax Sharma / BleepingComputer:
Researcher finds iPhone bug that disables wireless functionality after joining a WiFi network called “%p%s%s%s%s%n”; resetting network settings fixes the issue — A new iPhone bug has come to light that breaks your iPhone's wireless functionality by merely connecting to a specific WiFi hotspot.

German union calls for Amazon workers to strike on 'Prime Day'

Germany is Amazon's biggest market after the United States, and the Verdi union has been organising strikes at Amazon in the country since 2013 to protest low pay and poor conditions https://ift.tt/3wGkIJo

German antitrust watchdog launches proceedings against Apple

An Apple spokesperson said the company's App Store have given German developers of all sizes the same opportunity. https://ift.tt/3wM2B4H

Facebook, WhatsApp urge HC to stay CCI notice in privacy policy matter

A vacation bench of justices Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Jasmeet Singh said it will pass an order on the application filed by Facebook and WhatsApp against a CCI probe into WhatsApp's contentious privacy policy. https://ift.tt/2TSZ3yZ

HCL Tech appoints leadership team in South Korea, Vietnam & Taiwan

"HCL will lean in with its industry leading Engineering and R&D services into these markets. These regions will be led by Sanjay Gupta who is a corporate officer at HCL Technologies," he said in a statement. https://ift.tt/3dguXwz

Amazon, Apple most valuable brands but China's rising: Survey

Amazon, founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, remained the world's most valuable brand with an estimated value of $684 billion, followed by Apple, founded in 1976, at $612 billion and Google at $458 billion, Kantar said. https://ift.tt/3cXSr9c

Prosus reports earnings boost from Tencent stake

Prosus NV , the international investment arm of South Africa's Naspers, reported a better than expected net profit of $7.45 billion for 2021 on Monday, driven by strong returns from its big stake in Chinese software giant Tencent. https://ift.tt/35EJeP9

A look at Founders Forum, the annual UK event branded as the "Davos of tech" attended by Europe's top CEOs and investors from technology and media (Sam Shead/CNBC)

Sam Shead / CNBC:
A look at Founders Forum, the annual UK event branded as the “Davos of tech” attended by Europe's top CEOs and investors from technology and media — - Attendees of the annual Founders Forum event included the former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, ex-Finance Minister George Osborne …