One Thing Today in Tech
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US, India talk about making J&J vaccines; Elon Musk won't take Bitcoins for Tesla cars anymore; and a chat with Rajat Verma, founder of Lohum, on India's plans to encourage cell manufacturing
Today's tech headlines include Indo-US talks to find a way to manufacture Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine in India. The US is also working on a list of raw materials India needs urgently to boost vaccine production. Also on the programme, VMware gets an Indian-born CEO, and later, we talk to Rajat Verma, an entrepreneur who is keen on making lithium-ion cells in India, not just the batteries that he already manufactures. He explained why making the cells locally is very important, and how a $2.5 billion incentive plan that India approved yesterday, will help
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Google Pay enables US-India money transfers; Paytm's vaccine finder; an interview with Arvind Parthiban on his new SaaS startup
Leading today's tech briefing is the news that Google Pay has started allowing its users to send money across borders in partnership with two international money transfer services. To begin with, Google Pay users in the US can send money to India and Singapore, thanks to a new integration with Western Union and Wise, Google said in a blogpost Tuesday. Also in the briefing, we talk to software entrepreneur Arvind Parthiban about his new startup, backed by Matrix Partners India and Elevation Capital
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Facebook's Instagram-for-children plan causes alarm; Google provides a Covid-19 update; suppliers to big tech linked to forced labour; Flipkart raising money and more
Leading today's tech briefing is an open letter from US's state attorneys general to Facebook to abandon its plan to build a version of Instagram targeting children below the age of 13. Also in the briefing, Google provides an update on Covid-19 information on search and maps in India; Apple suppliers linked to forced labour; Flipkart may raise as much as $2 billion ahead of its IPO
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WhatsApp's policy update deadline looms; Netflix thinks of N-Plus; Clubhouse comes to Android, and more
Top of the news in today's tech briefing starts with a reminder that WhatsApp's updated privacy policy is set to become effective this weekend. Users who are yet to accept the policy will not have their accounts deleted come May 15, however, over a period of several weeks, users will get persistent prompts, lose app functionality and eventually won't be able to use it anymore. Also in today's briefing, Netflix is considering an online portal called N-Plus to boost audience engagement; Apple's 14.5 iOS update which allows users to bar apps from tracking them is very pop
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Google's new safety section for Play store; IBM's two-nanometre breakthrough; PUBG to return to India, and more
Leading today's tech briefing is news from Google that the search giant will add a new safety section in its Play app store to make developers provide more information on the data collected and shared by their apps. Users will start seeing this section early next year, Google said Thursday. Also in this briefing, IBM's chip design breakthrough with a two-nanometre process, Brave, a cool browser alternative to Chrome gets a playlist feature, and India's Apna platform for blue collar workers opens up to businesses looking for frontline staff
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.jpg?impolicy=website&width=360&height=270 "US backs vaccine patents waiver; Trump remains banned on Facebook; Wipro's tech moves, and more")
US backs vaccine patents waiver; Trump remains banned on Facebook; Wipro's tech moves, and more
Leading today's tech briefing is news that the US has reversed its stance on intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines. It will now back negotiations proposed by India and South Africa to waive the protections in an effort to boost production of the vaccines worldwide. Also in the briefing, former US President Donald Trump remains banned on Facebook, a look at Wipro's tech moves, India's 5G approvals exclude China, and a Silicon Valley startup increases R&D in India