Thursday, December 30, 2021

Pramila Jayapal slams Elon Musk for bragging about paying tax

After Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian-American woman to serve in the US House of Representatives, took on Elon Musk for not paying enough taxes and bragging about it, while Republican Senator Ted Cruz has also criticised the Tesla CEO for "looting" the country. https://ift.tt/3eCIS04

Six women who work at Foxconn's Indian iPhone plant describe crowded dorms and food crawling with worms, which sickened 250+ workers, leading to protests (Reuters)

Reuters:
Six women who work at Foxconn's Indian iPhone plant describe crowded dorms and food crawling with worms, which sickened 250+ workers, leading to protests  —  For women who assembled iPhones at a Foxconn plant in southern India, crowded dorms without flush toilets and food sometimes crawling …



Fortnite servers back online after major outage

Popular mobile game Fortnite is finally back online after a major outage that lasted more than six hours. https://ift.tt/3sKPTE7

Apptopia: Amazon ranked #4 in global shopping app installs in 2021, down from first in 2020, as e-commerce apps Shopee and Shein rose to #1 and #2, respectively (Todd Bishop/GeekWire)

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Apptopia: Amazon ranked #4 in global shopping app installs in 2021, down from first in 2020, as e-commerce apps Shopee and Shein rose to #1 and #2, respectively  —  Amazon's leading position in U.S. e-commerce is well-documented, but the latest global rankings for app installs show the potential …



Wednesday, December 29, 2021

These ‘best-selling’ home appliances from Samsung, Bosch, Whirlpool and LG are selling at 40% off on Amazon

https://ift.tt/3sP9zXs

Top 10 most-played games on Steam this year

https://ift.tt/3mI1Pmy

Apple places Foxconn's southern India factory on probation following worker protests and an investigation that revealed substandard living conditions (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Apple places Foxconn's southern India factory on probation following worker protests and an investigation that revealed substandard living conditions  —  - Foxconn apologized for lapses in worker living conditions  — Apple has asked for corrective actions before factory reopens



Redmi K50 allegedly appears on TENAA listing, may launch soon

The smartphone is rumoured to come with MIUI 13 out-of-the box. Redmi K50 gaming phone is said to come powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor. For camera duties, the handset is said to feature four sensor camera setup on the rear. https://ift.tt/3FJWDWQ

Chinese AI company SenseTime raises ~$700M in a Hong Kong IPO, below its $2B goal after pricing shares at the low end, after delaying its IPO earlier this month (Jacky Wong/Wall Street Journal)

Jacky Wong / Wall Street Journal:
Chinese AI company SenseTime raises ~$700M in a Hong Kong IPO, below its $2B goal after pricing shares at the low end, after delaying its IPO earlier this month  —  SenseTime has developed strong AI technology.  Next, it needs to figure out how to make money from it.



OnePlus Nord 2 starts receiving OxygenOS A.1.5 update

OnePlus has started rolling out OxygenOS A.15 update for its mid-range OnePlus Nord 2 smartphone. The software update also brings along the security patch for the month of December. The Chinese smartphone maker launched the OnePlus Nord 2 in July this year and since then, the smartphone has been receiving monthly updates for the device. OnePlus mentioned that its an incremental rollout and will reach all OnePlus Nord 2 users soon https://ift.tt/3sEOKhB

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Xiaomi announces 6.28-inch 12 and 6.73-inch 12 Pro with Snapdragon 8, 50MP camera sensor, and up to 12GB RAM and 256GB SSD, coming in January starting at ~$580 (Michail/GSMArena.com)

Michail / GSMArena.com:
Xiaomi announces 6.28-inch 12 and 6.73-inch 12 Pro with Snapdragon 8, 50MP camera sensor, and up to 12GB RAM and 256GB SSD, coming in January starting at ~$580  —  After months of leaks and rumors, Xiaomi's 12 series is now official with two entries - Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro.



Amazon says it has updated Alexa after the assistant "challenged" a girl to touch a coin to the prongs of a half-inserted plug (BBC)

BBC:
Amazon says it has updated Alexa after the assistant “challenged” a girl to touch a coin to the prongs of a half-inserted plug  —  Amazon has updated its Alexa voice assistant after it “challenged” a 10-year-old girl to touch a coin to the prongs of a half-inserted plug.



Ant Group will close Xianghubao, a crowdfunding service for medical bills, on January 28, as China cracks down on fintech businesses (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Ant Group will close Xianghubao, a crowdfunding service for medical bills, on January 28, as China cracks down on fintech businesses  —  - Program to be shuttered Jan. 28 and cost sharing has stopped  — Move follows similar closures by peers earlier in the year



Overview of El Salvador's official yet controversial adoption of bitcoin in 2021, as many citizens have reportedly seen bitcoin vanish from their Chivo wallets (Scott Chipolina/Decrypt)

Scott Chipolina / Decrypt:
Overview of El Salvador's official yet controversial adoption of bitcoin in 2021, as many citizens have reportedly seen bitcoin vanish from their Chivo wallets  —  At this year's Bitcoin Conference in Miami in June, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced his country would soon accept Bitcoin as legal tender.



Walmart sued over 'improper' disposal of e-waste, hazardous items

Retail major Walmart has been sued by the California Attorney General and 12 state district attorneys in the US, over its alleged improper disposal of electronic and hazardous waste, compromising local landfills. https://ift.tt/3JnfTLI

Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture and will focus on existing products and distribution channels (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter : Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture...