ByteDance, owner of the global hit short-video app TikTok, has shut down its artificial-intelligence-based news aggregator TopBuzz, one of the company’s earliest products aimed at the global stage. “We’re proud of the work that we accomplished with TopBuzz, but (we) have determined that other areas of the business should be our priority going forward,” ByteDance […]
Archives for June 2020
Slack revenue growth fails to impress
Picture: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Slack on Thursday posted slowing quarterly sales growth, disappointing investors who had expected a surge in demand for its workplace messaging app as companies rapidly adopt remote working tools and technology. Slack also withdrew its 2021 billing outlook citing uncertainty driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, and said it had seen sales from […]
Swiggy, Zomato redraw exclusivity contracts with restaurants
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Zomato and Swiggy have begun renegotiating exclusivity contracts with a slew of restaurants citing a downward impact on business due to the ongoing pandemic, said multiple people aware of the move. This could further exacerbate strained relations between the food delivery platforms and restaurants. Evoking the force majeure clause that frees both […]
Amwell confidentially files for IPO amid surging demand for telemedicine
An in-home health-care worker from Amwell coordinates a telehealth visit with a doctor on-screen. Amwell Less than a month after raising almost $200 million to meet skyrocketing demand for telehealth services, Amwell is gearing up to go public, according to people familiar with the matter. The company confidentially filed for an IPO earlier this week […]
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to invest $1.2 billion in Reliance’s Jio Platforms
(Reuters) – Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) said on Friday that Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Co will buy a 1.85% stake in its digital unit, Jio Platforms, for 90.93 billion rupees ($1.21 billion). Reliance has now sold a combined 19% interest in Jio Platforms, which houses movie, music apps and telecoms […]
Only 13% of the 2.7 billion deskless workers worldwide have paid sick time
Limited benefits, inflexible schedules, and exposure to the coronavirus are concerns for those working in industries such as agriculture, hospitality, healthcare, retail, and education. Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto Despite how instrumental in daily life, deskless workers are getting the shifts and, unfortunately, the shaft. A new report from Quinyx gauged how deskless workers contend with new […]
Understanding the filing relief for ‘time-sensitive acts’ in Notice 2020-23
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Treasury and the IRS initially provided individuals and businesses limited filing and payment relief in Notices 2020-17 and 2020-18. This relief generally applied only to federal income tax returns and payments (including self-employment tax payments) due April 15, 2020, for 2019 tax years and to estimated income tax payments […]
Unauthorized drone detection is getting easier with software from BlackBerry
A new partnership with Dedrone has led to a platform that can instantly detect and notify security personnel of drones in sensitive airspace. Drone detection company Dedrone has partnered with BlackBerry to build an instant notification system for unauthorized drone activity in sensitive airspace. More about cybersecurity Accidents involving drones have been commonplace in recent […]
Life Lessons: Rock star to resistors to robotics
A love of guitars led Tom Canning indirectly to the Internet of Things and his role as head of IoT and Devices at Canonical. Here, he tells IoT Now how his imagination was fired up lately by an enhanced computer vision use case, he shares about his worst boss, and the importance of listening to […]
ETtech Top 5: Amazon eyes Airtel stake, Google defends takedown of apps, edtech hirings & more
Happy Thursday! India’s private telecom operators are seeing a new dawn, years after the entry of Reliance Jio prompted consolidation in the industry. Jeff Bezos-led tech giant Amazon is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in Bhart Airtel, Reuters reported. This follows the $5.7-billion investment by Facebook in Jio […]