Marketplace suspends most NFT sales, citing 'rampant' fakes and plagiarism

Sales of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, soared to around $25 billion in 2021, leaving many baffled as to why so much money is being spent on items that do not physically exist and which anyone can view online for free. https://ift.tt/IDMzv5S

Q&A with Cory Hrncirik, Microsoft's Modern Finance project lead, on flattening the company's finance head count with AI and data lakes, using Excel, and more (Nina Trentmann/Wall Street Journal)

Nina Trentmann / Wall Street Journal:
Q&A with Cory Hrncirik, Microsoft's Modern Finance project lead, on flattening the company's finance head count with AI and data lakes, using Excel, and more  —  The new tools help automate tasks.  But ‘we love Excel,’ says Cory Hrncirik, who leads Microsoft's Modern Finance project.

India, Australia reaffirm commitment to open secure, stable and interoperable cyberspace and technologies

A joint statement issued after the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne here said that the two ministers recognised cooperation in the areas of cyber governance, cyber security, capacity building, innovation, digital economy, and cyber and critical technologies as an essential pillar of the India-Australia relationship. https://ift.tt/1bdSxyZ

Bitcoin stages stealth rally with third-straight weekly gain

Bitcoin is on pace to post its third consecutive weekly increase, climbing almost 19 per cent during the stretch, to trade around $43,500 as of 1:06 p.m. in New York. It dropped below $33,000 on Jan. 24, a decline of more than 50 per cent from its all-time high of almost $69,000 reached in early November. https://ift.tt/9P5R1CZ

China's SMIC reports record $5.4B revenue in 2021, up 39% YoY, and $1.7B profit, up 138% YoY, as it looks to add more chip production capacity amid US sanctions (Arjun Kharpal/CNBC)

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
China's SMIC reports record $5.4B revenue in 2021, up 39% YoY, and $1.7B profit, up 138% YoY, as it looks to add more chip production capacity amid US sanctions  —  - China's largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation reported record revenue and a surge in profit last year.

UK's CMA accepts Google's plan to phase out third-party cookies and replace them with Privacy Sandbox and will closely monitor the development of the product (Jon Porter/The Verge)

Jon Porter / The Verge:
UK's CMA accepts Google's plan to phase out third-party cookies and replace them with Privacy Sandbox and will closely monitor the development of the product  —  The UK's competition regulator will keep a ‘close eye’ on development  —  Google's plan to phase out third-party cookies and replace …

PUBG developer Krafton 2021 net profit down 6.5%

PUBG developer Krafton has reported its 2021 net income of $434.5 million, which is 6.5 per cent down from the previous year. https://ift.tt/WVcS0Jq

How to backup WhatsApp chats, photos and videos on iOS

https://ift.tt/jONcIXS

Report: Amazon has received $4.7B in tax breaks globally over the past decade; $4.1B was from the US and weak disclosure laws could put the rest well over $600M (Lauren Kaori Gurley/VICE)

Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Report: Amazon has received $4.7B in tax breaks globally over the past decade; $4.1B was from the US and weak disclosure laws could put the rest well over $600M  —  The report highlights how little is known about the cost of Amazon's expansion to taxpayers around the planet.  —  Lauren Kaori Gurley

Realme C35 launched with 50MP camera and 5,000mAh battery

Realme C35 is equipped with a 6.6-inch full-HD+ display with 1,080x2,400 pixel resolution and 90.7 screen-to-body ratio. The handset runs on Realme UI R Edition based on Android 11 operating system. Under the hood, the smartphone comes powered by Unisoc T616 octa-core processor. https://ift.tt/REZHcPr

Foxconn says there will be a major improvement in component shortages in Q1; TSMC and others have indicated shortages will continue through 2022 (Debby Wu/Bloomberg)

Debby Wu / Bloomberg:
Foxconn says there will be a major improvement in component shortages in Q1; TSMC and others have indicated shortages will continue through 2022  —  The biggest assembler of iPhones said component shortages that have plagued electronics production for more than a year are showing signs of easing …

PlayStation 5 beta update brings voice commands, other features

Sony has released a new beta update for the Playstation 5, which introduces new features such as improved settings menu UI along with a new voice assistant. https://ift.tt/oLCYVeA

Sources: KoBold Metals, which uses AI to find earth metals needed in EVs, raises a $192.5M Series B from Apollo Projects, Bond Capital, and others (Rhiannon Hoyle/Wall Street Journal)

Rhiannon Hoyle / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: KoBold Metals, which uses AI to find earth metals needed in EVs, raises a $192.5M Series B from Apollo Projects, Bond Capital, and others  —  Investors participating in Series B funding round include Apollo Projects, BHP, and Canada's largest pension fund

LG preparing production of OLED panels for future iPads: Report

LG Display is reportedly preparing production lines in which it would produce OLED panels designed specifically for future iPads. https://ift.tt/gHRh1XQ

How The Sims, which lets Sims eat or cook 300+ different dishes, has evolved into a world where players can learn about the many ways people experience food (Nikita Richardson/New York Times)

Nikita Richardson / New York Times:
How The Sims, which lets Sims eat or cook 300+ different dishes, has evolved into a world where players can learn about the many ways people experience food  —  The 22-year-old life-simulation video game has evolved into a world where players can farm, forage, cook and learn about the many ways people experience food.