In Other News

Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 | Last Update : 09:58 PM IST

Technology In Other news

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Sogou’s announcement comes a day after Chinese internet giant Sina Corp—which owns the country’s massive Twitter-like Weibo—said it would go private as well. (Photo | Weibo and Sogou icons)

As tech war heats up, China's Twitter-like Weibo and search engine Sogou delist from US

Sogou confirmed it would be taken private by tech giant Tencent, in a deal that values the firm around $3.5 billion.

29 Sep 2020 9:48 PM

The company chose palm recognition, according to Dilip Kumar, vice president of Physical Retail & Technology, because it’s more private than other biometric technology, and a person would be required to purposefully flash a palm at the Amazon One device to engage.

Amazon will soon allow users entry to Seattle stadiums, offices with a wave of their palm

The company expects to roll out Amazon One as an option in other Amazon stores in the coming months.

29 Sep 2020 6:05 PM

Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC) approached the Competition Commission of India, claiming that Amazon had been indulging in anti-competitive practices.

Tech This Week | The need for anti-trust reform

Earlier this month, CCI dismissed an anti-trust case against Amazon.

29 Sep 2020 4:57 PM

The Trump administration order had sought to ban new downloads of TikTok (owned by ByteDance) from midnight (0400 GMT Monday) but would allow use of TikTok until November 12, when all usage would be blocked. The judge denied TikTok’s request to suspend the November 12 ban. (Photo | AFP)

Temporary relief for TikTok as judge halts Trump’s download ban till November 12

District Judge Carl Nichols has issued a temporary injunction at the request of TikTok.

28 Sep 2020 5:14 PM

Shaming people who get sick or don’t follow the rules in a public health crisis has been a thing since well before coronavirus, researchers say. But the warp speed and reach of social media in the pandemic era gives the practice an aggressive new dimension.

Boy do they like to come after you! Social media won't let you live down your mistakes

Several people who did not wear masks and subsequently got infected with COVID-19 have been hounded on social media.

26 Sep 2020 7:21 PM

Thousands of Google employees walked out of work in protest in 2018 after The New York Times revealed Android creator Andy Rubin received $90 million in severance even though several employees had filed misconduct allegations against him. Shareholder lawsuits followed, and in 2019 Google launched a board investigation over how it handles sexual misconduct allegations. (Photo | AFP)

Google parent settles sexual misconduct lawsuit with $310M pledge toward diversity, equity programmes

Alphabet Inc. said Friday that it will prohibit severance packages for anyone fired or under investigation for misconduct.

26 Sep 2020 6:16 PM

Chinese authorities have not indicated whether they will agree to a transfer of TikTok’s technology to Oracle. But official newspapers criticised the proposed deal this week as bullying and extortion.

ByteDance applies for Chinese licence to sell TikTok stake to Oracle

Beijing tightened control over technology exports last month to gain leverage over Washington’s bid to force a sale of TikTok to US owners.

25 Sep 2020 12:03 AM

TikTok’s petition speculated that the president was retaliating because of reports the app was used by his critics to snatch up tickets to a Trump rally in Tulsa to which they had no intention of going—an event which belly flopped with significantly fewer people in attendance.

Trump’s order banning TikTok could be blocked by judge

Until July 1, when rumours of a ban first began to circulate, TikTok was adding some 424,000 new US users each day.

24 Sep 2020 11:31 PM

The app relies on software developed by US technology giants Apple and Google, and in a bid to assuage privacy concerns, holds all the data generated on people’s phones and allows the information to be deleted easily. (Photo | AFP)

Britain's delayed virus app launched in England and Wales, after switching to Google-Apple API

The app uses Bluetooth to alert users if they spend 15 minutes or more within two metres of a user who subsequently tests COVID-19 positive.

24 Sep 2020 10:41 PM

Sberbank’s offerings include SmartMarket platform, on the lines of Apple’s AppStore and Google Play; virtual assistant Salute; TV streaming device SberBox; and SberPortal, Russia’s first multimedia smart display device that will go on sale in late 2020, and SberPrime subscriptions for films, TV series and songs in addition to grocery delivery service, like Amazon. (Wikimedia Commons - Владислав Фальшивомонетчик)

Russian bank Sberbank enters tech space in major move to rival Google, Facebook, Amazon

The bank-turned-tech-firm is set to launch a host of digital products and services first in Russia and later abroad, including India.

24 Sep 2020 9:50 PM

The anticipated lawsuit against Google by the Justice Department could be the government’s biggest legal offensive to protect competition since the ground-breaking case against Microsoft almost 20 years ago.

Antitrust case against Google gets ready as Trump administration seeks support for it from states

Lawmakers and consumer advocates say Google abuses its dominance in online search and advertising to kill competition and boost its profits.

24 Sep 2020 8:20 PM

County governments in the Seattle, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Nashville areas have used the Tyler Technologies software Socrata to share election data in the past, although it was not immediately clear whether they still do or how central the platform is to their election operations. (Photo | Flickr - Lewis Ogden)

Cyber criminals hack tech company whose software is used by US state and local governments

The extent of the breach is unclear, but the company Tyler Technologies told customers that it affected only internal files.

24 Sep 2020 7:53 PM

A “YouChoose 2020” interactive voting special will also walk people through the voting process using “memes” such as a tutorial comparing voting to following a recipe and an auto repair video that breaks down the “nuts and bolts” of voting. (Photo | AFP)

YouTube adds information panels to videos to give voters reliable info ahead of US election

As most voters take to voting by post amid the pandemic, YouTube has put out videos on Mail-in Voting to combat posts spreading falsehoods.

24 Sep 2020 5:04 PM

Amazon customers can now read detailed product information, manage account settings, track orders, view account history, pay bills, and recharge their phone or DTH services in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam in addition to English and Hindi. This photo shows Amazon workers checking packages moving down a conveyor system that leads to a shipping area at an Amazon 'fulfilment' centre. (Photo | AP)

Now you can shop on Amazon using Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam interfaces

In just five months, Amazon shoppers using Hindi grew 3 times, prompting the move to add four more languages ahead of the festive season.

22 Sep 2020 9:28 PM

TikTok’s interim CEO Vanessa Pappas proposed a meeting of safety officers from each company to work out details of a collective approach, “which we believe will help us all improve safety for our users”. (Photo | Pixabay - iXimus)

Come together to stop spread of suicide content, TikTok urges Facebook, Google, Snapchat, others

It is proposed that nine social media firms speedily identify violent, graphic content, including suicide, and swiftly notify the others.

22 Sep 2020 7:33 PM

Health officials initially targeted a 60% adoption rate for tracing apps, an optimistic goal based on an Oxford University study from April although researchers noted a lower uptake still helps if other measures, such as social distancing, are enforced. (Photo | AFP)

It's not even privacy that's the issue, yet Europe is cold to Covid apps

A few countries have scrapped their tracing apps and others have found so few users that the technology is not very effective.

22 Sep 2020 5:32 PM

Since most major video games are playable on personal computers powered by Windows software, that would be unlikely to change once Microsoft owns ZeniMax and its studios. Consoles, however, are another matter. PlayStation fans devoted to franchises such as Elder Scrolls or shooter Wolfenstein could find them unavailable on the consoles going forward. (Photo | Elder Scrolls Online)

Microsoft adds gaming firm ZeniMax Media to XBox kitty

ZeniMax is the parent of Bethesda Softworks, publisher of popular game franchises including Dishonored, Doom, Fallout and Elder Scrolls.

22 Sep 2020 4:11 PM

The deal would make Silicon Valley giant Oracle the data partner for TikTok with retail giant Walmart also taking a stake in a new entity to be called TikTok Global. ByteDance, under pressure in China not to give in to US demands, said it would hold an 80 percent stake in TikTok Global after a public share offering. (Photo | AFP)

Oracle-Walmart deal on shaky ground as Trump vows to block TikTok Deal if Chinese are involved

A day earlier, he said he had given his blessing to Oracle and Walmart to make a deal with ByteDance for TikTok, but the terms were unclear.

21 Sep 2020 8:40 PM

A California court ruling said it granted a “motion for a nationwide injunction against the implementation” of the government order on WeChat, with the judge citing concerns over free speech. (Photo | AFP)

Judge in the US halts Trump administration's ban on downloading WeChat

The order would have slowed WeChat down and made it unusable in the United States for video chats with family and friends.

21 Sep 2020 7:05 PM

A total of about 39 million people have already visited the virtual voting information centres on Facebook and Instagram. (Representative Image | AP)

Facebook launches information centres to get people to vote to make up for its role in 2016

Facebook is seeking to show that it is no longer a means of massive disinformation as it was ahead of major votes in 2016.

21 Sep 2020 5:55 PM

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Syed Ata Hasnain