Global Technology News Updates

OnePlus launches ‘Snowbot’ robot to demonstrate 5G connectivity

OnePlus has introduced 'Snowbot' robot that can fire snowballs at 194 km/h as a part of its program to demonstrate the 5G connectivity. It has announced 5G-powered interactive snowball battle, which will take place starting March 9th in Finland. After online registration, one has to wait for their turn to throw snowballs against the robots of the other team.
read more at BGR

OnePlus 7T Pro declared Best Smartphone of 2019 by GSMA

Global telecom industry body GSM Association (GSMA) declared OnePlus 7T Pro the Best Smartphone of 2019 at Global Mobile Awards for 2020. "This is virtually unsurpassable from a technology perspective, with class-leading processor speed, rapid charge times & excellent software," said the jury who declared the award. OnePlus should be recognised for its "successful go to market strategy", they added.
read more at NewsBytes

Two Amazon employees test positive for coronavirus in Italy

Amazon on Sunday said that two of its employees in Milan, Italy, have contracted coronavirus and are under quarantine. "We're supporting the affected employees," company spokesman Dan Perlet said. The company also confirmed on Sunday that it is moving some recruiting interviews to video rather than in person.
read more at Reuters

Chinese coronavirus detection app sharing citizens' data with police: Report

The Chinese coronavirus detection app which assigns a colour code to users is sharing citizens' data with the police, The New York Times reported. The Alipay Health Code allows people to scan a QR code to get their colour tag. A green tag means the user is healthy and can roam around unrestricted whereas a red tag means 14-day quarantine.
read more at The Next Web

Apple Co-founder claims to be 1st coronavirus patient in US; wife clarifies

Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak tweeted on Monday "We (Wozniak and wife Janet) had just returned from China and may have both been patient zero in US" after his wife had a "bad cough". They returned from China in early January and the first US case was reported on January 21. However, Janet clarified that it was just a sinus infection.
read more at The Next Web

Alibaba claims new AI system detects coronavirus in 20 secs with 96% accuracy

A new AI-powered diagnosis system created by Alibaba's research institute Damo Academy claims to detect new coronavirus cases with an accuracy rate of up to 96% via computerised tomography scans in 20 seconds. Alibaba claims it can detect coronavirus in CT scans of patients' chests. Researchers said they trained the AI model with sample data from over 5,000 confirmed cases.
read more at The Next Web

Google, Twitter ask employees to work from home amid coronavirus fears

Tech companies like Google and Twitter have asked their employees to work from home amid coronavirus fears. Google's Dublin employees were told to work from home on Tuesday after a staff reported flu-like symptoms. While Twitter "strongly" encouraged its employees globally to work from home, it made it mandatory for its staff in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
read more at Hindustan Times

BGR India's website hacked, employee data released on dark web

Mobile and technology news website BGR India was hacked and its employee details were released on the dark web, reported Under the Breach. Hackers had accessed the data through an unsecured Amazon Web Services (AWS) bucket and one archive that belongs to BGR India. The data included names, usernames, email ID and passwords of the employees.
read more at Inc42

Apple to pay $25 to users whose iPhones had slowed down

Apple has agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of slowing down older iPhones. It calls for Apple to pay consumers $25 per iPhone. It covers US owners of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus and SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later and some other iPhones.
read more at The Quint

UK man hacks into Gurugram call centre, exposes scammers cheating foreigners

A UK man known as 'Jim Browning' online, gained access to a Gurugram scam call centre's CCTV and 70,000 phone calls to show how scammers cheat foreigners of money, as per a BBC report. The scammers were acting as Microsoft support staff. They put fake virus warning on computers with scam call centre's number and asked people to call 'Microsoft'.
read more at Daily Mail

Trump administration helped Apple enter Indian market: CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the Trump administration helped the tech company enter the Indian market and amend laws that restricted it from doing so. Apple had to partner with a third-party retailer if it wanted to sell devices in India. "The (Trump) administration worked on this with the Indian government and that change has been made," Cook said.
read more at The Next Web

Amazon to deliver some same-day orders in just a few hours in US

Amazon announced its Prime users in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando and Dallas can now expect their orders to arrive in just few hours. Around three million items, across dozens of categories, marked "Today by" can be ordered for delivery throughout the day. Members can also place orders late midnight and have them delivered next morning by selecting "overnight by 8am" option.
read more at Engadget

SpaceX's Starship prototype collapses, Musk says 'we'll just buff it out'

SpaceX's Starship SN1 prototype imploded at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas, during a late-night test. Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, acknowledged the failure and said, "It's fine, We'll just buff it out." Musk also said the company will hopefully test a new version of Starship in the next few days.
read more at Engadget

Delhi Police warns those who plan to buy second-hand smartphones via apps

The Delhi Police has asked people to be careful before buying a second-hand smartphone through apps and tweeted three points to consider before purchasing one. The police said people shouldn't hurry into buying a phone from strangers as it "could be a stolen one and may land you in trouble". It also warned against using cash payment as a method.
read more at Hindustan Times

Musk wants Jack Dorsey to remain as Twitter CEO, says 'he has a good heart'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has tweeted in support of Jack Dorsey remaining as Twitter CEO after reports said investor Elliott Management Corporation has pushed for his removal. "Just want (to) say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a good (heart)," tweeted Musk. Earlier this year, Dorsey had asked Musk for advice on how to make Twitter better.
read more at Hindustan Times

Around 50% Swiggy's Gurugram delivery fleet boycotts work: Report

Protesting against Swiggy slashing incentive amount for night deliveries by 50% from ₹20 to ₹10, almost 50% of Swiggy's delivery fleet in Gurugram boycotted work, Entrackr reported. Swiggy has been unserviceable since yesterday in several parts of Gurugram and other areas in the NCR region. The firm attempted to pacify the delivery workers by extending revised payouts.
read more at Entrackr

Foxconn expects to resume normal production in China by March end: Report

Taiwanese iPhone maker Foxconn has said that it expects to resume normal production in China by the end of March, a report said. "Prevention of outbreak, resumption of work and production are our top priority," Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-Way said. Earlier, Foxconn had said that the coronavirus spread will have "a negative impact" on its full-year revenues.
read more at Reuters

Chinese billionaire & owner of Volvo Cars starts building satellites

Volvo Cars parent company Geely, announced it will become China's first private company to produce satellites for autonomous driving solutions. Geely plans to begin launch of commercial low-orbit satellites by end of the year. Chinese billionaire and Geely's Chairman Li Shufu said, "Geely must take initiative to embrace change, develop through innovation...to become a global technology leader."
read more at Bloomberg Quint

More women should propose marriage to men: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, while talking to NBC News, said more women should propose to men for marriage, citing "equality" as her reasoning. "There's also this tradition that's still alive and well of men [asking] a father for a hand. That's still happening. Like, really?" she said. Sandberg got engaged to Tom Bernthal, founder of marketing agency Kelton, in February.
read more at The Independent

SoftBank Founder tells US investors he will be more careful: Reports

SoftBank Founder Masayoshi Son reportedly promised US investors he will become more careful and listen, after questions were raised on his investments. "My view doesn't change, but my behaviour becomes a little more careful," sources quoted Son. In a meeting held by Goldman Sachs, Son said he had not given enough weight to investors' opinions and company's independent board members.
read more at Inc42

iPhone prices hiked in India due to increase in import duties

Prices of some iPhones in India are set to increase after the government introduced changes in import duties during Budget 2020. The iPhone 11 Pro Max will now cost between ₹1,11,200-₹1,25,200 while iPhone 11 Pro will cost between ₹1,01,200-₹1,15,200. Prices of iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 7, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac laptops have not been raised.
read more at Livemint

Gujarat police ties-up with Clearview AI, days after firm's data got stolen

The Vadodara police is planning to install facial recognition systems in railway stations, markets, and parks to increase surveillance in the city. Clearview AI, which scans images of users from public platforms like Facebook and Instagram, is going to provide the service. Recently, Clearview's entire client data was stolen, which reportedly may have included Vadodara police, by hackers.
read more at Inc42

Google's Cloud Next event to now be online-only over coronavirus fears

Google has announced that it is cancelling the physical part of Cloud Next, its cloud-focused event in San Francisco and its largest annual conference by far with around 30,000 attendees, over coronavirus fears. Cloud Next event is scheduled to run from April 6 to 8. Google will host an online event under the name 'Google Cloud Next '20: Digital Connect'.
read more at TechCrunch

TikTok removes Australian account for luring alleged paedophiles, filming them

TikTok has removed an Australian account appearing to lure alleged paedophiles from a dating app and then filming them. The account, Pervert Productions, confronted alleged paedophiles who came to "meet underage kids" and filmed six videos that got thousands of views. The meetings took place in public parks and in the target's cars and saw the vigilantes interrogate the men.
read more at The Guardian

Rajasthan students develop cooler that runs via Wi-Fi, bluetooth

Students of the Bhartiya Skill Development University (BSDU) in Rajasthan have reportedly developed a cooler that runs via Wi-Fi and bluetooth. The cooler can be linked to a smartphone or tablet via an Android application and can be operated from anywhere. The cooler has fans that can automatically turn off if the temperature is too low.
read more at The New Indian Express