One Thing Today in Tech
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Facebook urged to release India impact report; US Senate panel backs bill curbing Big Tech; Stader valued at $450 mln
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and other activists have urged the social networking giant to release a long-awaited report on its impact in India, alleging the company is purposely obscuring human rights concerns, The Guardian reports. Meanwhile, a US Senate panel backed a bill that proposes some curbs on Big Tech. And in startup news, blockchain venture Stader has raised more money, at a hefty valuation
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Former SpaceX engineers announce electric train startup; GM expands H2 tech; SaaS Labs, Rocketlane raise funding
Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers to reimagine the railroad system, has raised $49.55 million in Series A funds to build autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles that move freight, the company said in a press release yesterday; Meanwhile GM said it is expanding its hydrogen fuel cells beyond vehicles to power homes, offices and malls
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Microsoft to buy Activision in $68.7 bln deal; US airlines warn of 'catastrophe' from 5G; and Scripbox, Kula raise funds
Microsoft is acquiring Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal valued at $68.7 billion, to become the "third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony," the maker of Windows and Azure software said in an investor release; US airlines warn of disruptions from 5G; and Scripbox, Kula raise funds
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UGC, AICTE warn edtech startups, institutes; Walmart has metaverse plans; Sony enters Tamil cinema with Kamal Haasan
The Universities Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education, which govern higher education in India, have warned that outsourcing of various programmes to edtech startups is not permitted, and said that action could be taken against the startups and the institutes. Walmart has big metaverse plans, CNBC reports; and Sony's debut Tamil film will be in partnership with Kamal Haasan
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PM Modi designates Jan 16 National Startup Day; Facebook faces $3 bln UK lawsuit; Wordle's unexpected consequence
India has its own National Startup Day now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in online interaction with several startups over the weekend, designated January 16 as the country's startup day. He called on entrepreneurs to "innovate for India and innovate from India." The government is focused on institutionalising innovation, reducing silos, and assisting innovators, he tweeted later
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Facebook to now face US antitrust lawsuit; Japan's Covid-19 mask that glows to show virus; China sets a nuclear fusion record
After a revised filing by the US FTC, Facebook, now Meta Platforms, must face the US government's monopoly lawsuit alleging that the company abused its dominance and should be broken up, a judge ruled, Bloomberg reports. Japanese scientists have made a mask that glows if the coronavirus is detected. China's experimental nuclear fusion reactor sets a new record
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.jpg?impolicy=website&width=360&height=270 "Google's RCS versus Apple's iMessage; Starlink's cat warmers; and a startup that wants to defeat menopause")
Google's RCS versus Apple's iMessage; Starlink's cat warmers; and a startup that wants to defeat menopause
A recent Wall Street Journal feature, on how teens in the US are using Apple's iMessage as a status symbol, spotlighted another front on which the iPhone maker is at loggerheads with Google—messaging. Starlink's home satellite dishes are excellent cat warmers, the felines have found. And a Serbian doctor's New York startup aims to make menopause optional
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CCI seeks feedback on Google's payments policies; TCS, Infosys Q3 results in this week; and BMW's chameleon cars
India's Competition Commission is seeking feedback from developers on in-app payments policies enforced by Google and Apple, Economic Times reports. Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, India's top two IT services companies, will report their fiscal third-quarter earnings results on Jan. 12. And BWM says it's working on a digital ink technology that will allow drivers to change the colour of their cars at the touch of a button
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5 predictions for 2022: Covid-19 will likely go endemic; more focus on epigenetics; digital and AI will advance R&D
At the start of 2022, we bring you a series of episodes pulling together the five most interesting predictions we found in multiple areas of tech. Today, we look at life sciences tech, where Covid 19 has changed everything. Pushed by the pandemic, the application of digital technologies and AI to life sciences research has accelerated big time, and that will continue into 2022 and more broadly as well
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5 predictions for 2022: High-performance computing will break into the clouds, but quantum will continue baby steps
At the start of 2022, we bring you a series of episodes that pull together the five most interesting predictions we found in multiple areas in tech. Today we look at high-performance computing, in which the processing power of a billion-billion calculations per second is close to reality. As to quantum computing, real-world problem solving is still far away, experts say
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5 predictions for 2022—autonomous mobile robots will step out and drones will go everywhere
At the start of 2022, we bring you a series of episodes that pull together the five most interesting predictions we found in multiple areas in tech. Today we look at robotics, where vital technologies, such as simulation, are advancing and investments in others, such as tactile sensors, are set to increase. Most commentary suggests adoption will continue to be driven by industrial use cases, but robots will move well beyond factory floors