Sunday, 17 Nov, 2024

Tech

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos adds $24bn to fortune

The founder and boss of Amazon has seen his wealth swell by $24bn (£19bn) after soaring demand for online shopping sent the firm's share price to a new high. Jeff Bezos now has a fortune of $138bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, cementing his position as the

Huawei urges UK not to make 5G U-turn after pandemic

Chinese telecoms company Huawei has said that disrupting its involvement in the rollout of 5G would do Britain "a disservice". In January, the UK government approved a limited role for Huawei in building the country's new data networks. But in March, a backbench rebellion within

Apple and Google team up to contact trace Covid-19

Apple and Google are jointly developing technology to alert people if they have recently come into contact with others found to be infected with coronavirus. They hope to initially help third-party contact-tracing apps run efficiently. But ultimately, they aim to do away with the

Coronavirus: Twitter boss pledges $1bn for relief effort

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter and payment app Square, has said he will donate $1bn (£810m) towards efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. According to Mr Dorsey, the donation represented approximately 28% of his wealth. He made the announcement on Twitter, writing that

No, 5G does not spread coronavirus

Conspiracy theories claiming 5G technology helps transmit coronavirus have been condemned by the scientific community. Videos have been shared on social media showing mobile phone masts on fire in Birmingham and Merseyside - along with the claims. The posts have been shared on

Facebook announces $100m for coronavirus-hit small businesses 

Facebook on Tuesday announced a $100 million program to help small businesses as governments throughout the country urge gyms and restaurants to close their doors to slow the coronavirus pandemic. In a blog post announcing the grants, Facebook said, “We know that your business may be

Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is stepping down from the company's board to spend more time on philanthropic activities. He says he wants to focus on global health and development, education and tackling climate change. One of the world's richest men, Mr Gates, 65, has also

Chinese app censored virus content since 1 Jan

China's most popular messaging app has been censoring key words about the coronavirus outbreak from as early as 1 January, a report has found. Toronto-based research group Citizen Lab found that WeChat blocked combinations of keywords and criticism of President Xi Jinping. The

Coronavirus: Twitter tells staff to work from home

Twitter has told its employees to work from home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. In a blog post, the social media giant said it was mandatory for staff in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea to work remotely. The company also said it was "strongly encouraging" all of its

Google celebrates leap day with doodle

DHAKA: Search engine giant Google is celebrating the leap year date with an animated doodle. This is further illustrated with Google Doodle's home page saying: Notice anything different about today? Let’s jump right into it! Today’s Doodle is jumping for joy on Leap Day,

Samsung explains mystery alert sent overnight

Samsung has apologised after it accidentally sent an alert to thousands of devices overnight. Affected devices received a notification from Find My Mobile in the early hours of Thursday morning. Some customers complained on social media that it had woken them up, while others

Coronavirus to hurt iPhone supplies: Apple

Apple has warned that disruption in China from the coronavirus will mean revenues falling short of forecasts. The tech giant said production and sales were affected, and that "worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained". The iPhone maker is the first major US company to

Radiations of mobile phone towers not harmful: BTRC

DHAKA: Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) dispelled fears of harmful radiations of mobile phone towers of the country on public health and environment. BTRC rather termed such speculations “completely baseless”. BTRC made the claim at a discussion titled

Mark Zuckerberg urges tighter regulation

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has called for more regulation of harmful online content, saying it was not for companies like his to decide what counts as legitimate free speech. Citing China, Mr Zuckerberg also warned excessive control risked stifling individual expression. He was

Apple Fined $27m in France over slowed iPhones

France just fined Apple $27 million for intentionally slowing down iPhones — the amount of profit the company makes in under 3 hours. Apple has been fined €25 million (approximately $27.4 million) by a French regulator for intentionally capping the performance on older iPhone

Bangabandhu Satellite-2 to be launched by 2023

SANGSAD BHABAN: Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Mostafa Jabbar said the government planned to set a target for launching a second satellite, known as Bangabandhu Satellite-2, to the orbit by 2023. The minister said this while responding to a starred question

Blasphemy in France over teen’s post on Islam

A teenager has sparked a national debate about blasphemy in France after an Instagram post calling Islam a "religion of hate". Mila, 16, posted her comments online after receiving homophobic abuse from a Muslim commenter. She received death threats and has not attended school since.

Half of UK 10-year-olds own a smartphone

Fifty per cent of the UK's 10-year-olds owned a smartphone in 2019, according to a report by media regulator Ofcom. The amount of young phone owners doubled between the ages of nine and 10, which Ofcom dubbed "the age of digital independence". In addition, 24% of 3 and

'Space Brick' for future Moon habitats developed

This won’t be just another brick in the wall. In what holds potential of aiding construction of future settlements on Moon, a team of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Isro researchers has developed “space bricks” using Lunar Soil Simulant (LSS). The team led by Aloke Kumar,

Tesla overtakes Volkswagen as value hits $100bn

Tesla has displaced Volkswagen as the world's second most valuable carmaker, after a dramatic rise in share price pushed its market value to more than $100bn (£76.1bn). The milestone sets the stage for chief Elon Musk to collect billions in pay tied to hitting that target.