Global Technology News Updates

Supreme Court allows trading in cryptocurrency, cancels ban imposed by RBI

The Supreme Court has set aside RBI's 2018 circular, which had barred banks from dealing in virtual currencies such as cryptocurrencies, including bitcoins. The petition by the Internet and Mobile Association of India had questioned the RBI's powers to impose the ban since cryptocurrencies weren't a "currency" in the legal sense. IAMAI insisted that cryptocurrencies were more like a commodity.
read more at Bloomberg Quint

Google cancels its biggest event of the year I/O 2020 over coronavirus concerns

Google has cancelled its biggest event of the year, the I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, due to concerns around coronavirus. The company has sent an email to attendees informing them of the cancellation. The event was originally scheduled to run from May 12 to 14.
read more at TechCrunch

Coronavirus can survive on phone screens for up to a week, warn scientists

Coronavirus can survive on phone screens for up to a week, scientists have warned. They said alcohol wipes should be used twice a day to disinfect phones. Professor Keevil from the University of Southampton said, "You could be washing hands, but if you start touching your smartphone screen and then touch your face, that is a potential route of infection."
read more at Daily Mail

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

China censored coronavirus news in early stages of outbreak: Researchers

Researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab have said that China had censored news related to coronavirus in the early stages of the outbreak. Citizen Lab found over 500 blocked keywords and phrases and some factual information on WeChat and live-streaming platform YY. WeChat censored words including "pneumonia", "disease control and prevention", "virus" and "medical journal".
read more at Livemint

Amazon employee in Seattle tests positive for coronavirus

An Amazon employee in Seattle, US has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an internal message by the company on Tuesday. The employee went home after feeling sick on February 25 and has stayed out of Amazon's offices ever since. The employee is currently in quarantine and all other employees who came in contact with the individual were notified.
read more at The Guardian

WhatsApp announces dark mode for Android, iOS users worldwide

Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp on Tuesday announced it's rolling out 'dark mode' for Android and iOS users worldwide in the coming days. Android 10 and iOS 13 users can use dark mode by enabling it in system settings. Users on Android 9 and below can get the mode by going to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Theme > select 'Dark'.
read more at Hindustan Times

Internet users share memes, jokes after Whatsapp launches dark mode

Internet users have taken to Twitter and shared tweets after WhatsApp announced the launch of Dark Mode. Users pointed out the difference in colour of Dark Mode available in iOS versus Android, with one saying, "We want dark mode on WhatsApp not grey mode!!!!!". Another user said, "Kindly learn from twitter the meaning of dark mode".

YouTube accused of being 'organ of radicalisation'

Yvette Cooper, a British Labour Party MP, said YouTube has "become an organ of radicalisation instead of taking responsibility". She said that when she set up an account to look for a far-right group named in a report, YouTube automatically suggested neo-Nazi videos to watch. "Look up one thing...and YouTube is ever willing to offer... far more extreme," she said.
read more at The Guardian

US charges Chinese nationals with laundering cryptocurrency for North Korea

The US justice department charged two Chinese nationals with laundering over $100 million in cryptocurrency on North Korea's behalf, filings revealed. The duo allegedly laundered stolen currency to "obscure transactions for the benefit of actors based in North Korea", a justice department official said. A related civil forfeiture complaint detailed over $250 million stolen by North Korean actors.
read more at Reuters

Zuckerberg details the ways Facebook is responding to coronavirus

Mark Zuckerberg has detailed the steps being taken by Facebook to respond to coronavirus and the viral misinformation about it. Any search related to the virus on the platform would direct users to the WHO or local health authority through an automatic pop-up, Zuckerberg mentioned. He added Facebook is giving WHO free ads for its coronavirus response needs.
read more at TechCrunch

Coronavirus-related apps lead to no results in Google Play Store

Apps related to coronavirus are leading to no search results in Play Store, 9to5 Google reported. Any search related to 'coronavirus' or 'COVID-19' on the Play Store app leads to "no results found" message. Similarly, searches like 'coronavirus tracker' and 'coronavirus games' also find no results. However, 9to5 Google acknowledged that a bug could be causing it.
read more at Hindustan Times

Apple restricts employees from travelling to Italy, South Korea

Apple has restricted employee travel to Italy and South Korea, two of the worst coronavirus-hit countries. Employees will only be allowed to travel to these regions for business-critical reasons and after getting an approval from a company VP, Bloomberg reported. "There are many ways to continue to manage our ongoing meetings and activities through calls and video," Apple told staff.
read more at Hindustan Times

Which major tech events have been cancelled due to coronavirus?

Major tech events that were cancelled due to coronavirus include Mobile World Congress, Google I/O, Facebook F8, Google News Initiative Summit and Facebook Global Marketing Summit. Coronavirus also led to events like Google Cloud Next conference, Microsoft MVP Summit and Adobe Summit to be virtual-only. The Game Developers Conference got postponed after firms like Sony and Microsoft pulled out.
read more at Hindustan Times

Chandrayaan-3 to be launched in first half of 2021, says govt

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that Chandrayaan-3 will tentatively be launched in the first half of 2021. Singh also said, "Chandrayaan-3 mission has been configured based on the lessons learnt from Chandrayaan-2." He added that four biological and two physical science experiments related to microgravity will be conducted during the Gaganyaan project, India's manned mission to space.
read more at The Financial Express

Deliveries will be delayed due to coronavirus, AliExpress warns customers

Global e-commerce platform AliExpress has warned customers that its deliveries will be delayed due to coronavirus. "Some shipping and logistics are experiencing longer waiting times for processing orders," AliExpress said in a post. AliExpress' customers had complained that apart from the delay in delivery, their orders were getting automatically renewed instead of being cancelled and refunded.
read more at Reuters

Apple readying to launch six new products: Report

Apple is working on six mini-LED products set to debut in 2020 and 2021, a report said. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is developing a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 27-inch iMac Pro, a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, a 10.2-inch iPad and a 7.9-inch ‌iPad‌ mini. The iMac Pro‌ would launch in fourth quarter of 2020.
read more at Livemint

Govt gives streaming platforms 100 days to finalise self-regulation code

The Indian government has given 100 days to streaming platforms to set up an adjudicatory body and finalise a code of conduct. During its interaction with platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, government cited examples of China, France and Singapore where video streaming platforms are now regulated by government norms. Amazon Prime has expressed its displeasure over the idea.
read more at Inc42

Cisco denies reports claiming it's helping J&K govt block social media apps

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has reportedly contacted Cisco to help it block social media, where people are using 2G network to access apps including Facebook and Twitter. Reports claimed that Cisco would help government block sites even after internet ban is lifted. However, Cisco has denied involvement, saying it "strongly supports free expression and open communication on the internet".
read more at The Next Web

High bar for talent was a key factor for Flipkart's success: Binny Bansal

Talking about Flipkart's journey, Co-founder Binny Bansal said that one of the key factors for Flipkart's success was "setting a very high bar for talent". He added that Flipkart optimised hiring people with the "right fit and right intrinsics" rather than just for speed. Apart from talent, Bansal also discussed three other factors that contributed to Flipkart's journey.
read more at Twitter

Facebook rethinking plans to launch its cryptocurrency Libra: Report

Facebook is rethinking its plans to launch its own cryptocurrency Libra amid pressure and scrutiny from regulators, reports said. Facebook is still looking to launch its digital wallet Calibra which would let users send and receive money, but it will be delayed by a few months to October. Facebook had announced last year that it would launch Libra in 2020.
read more at Deccan Herald