“This post continues our reliability series kicked off by my July blog post highlighting several initiatives underway to keep improving platform availability, as part of our commitment to provide a trusted set of cloud services. Today I wanted to double-click on the investments we’ve made in no-impact and low-impact update technologies including hot patching, memory-preserving […]
Archives for 2020
XpressBees secures $10M funding from Alibaba
Logistics startup XpressBees has raised Rs 71.2 crore ($10 million) in fresh funding from existing investor Alibaba, regulatory documents filed by the company showed. This is the latest investment by the Chinese e-commerce firm, whose funding activity in India has slowed sharply in the past one year. Busybees Logistics Solutions, which runs XpressBees, issued 9,317 […]
Other people’s money was the tech innovation of the decade
By Shira Ovide Technology changed every molecule of life in the 2010s. Airbnb, Uber and other young companies morphed the physical complexion of cities and how they work. The growing prevalence of e-commerce, fast internet connections and smartphones in everyone’s pockets shifted how we shop, behave and are entertained — with both good and bad […]
At SoftBank’s jewel, Oyo, a ‘toxic’ culture and troubling incidents
By Vindu Goel and Karan Deep Singh Oyo, a startup that offers budget hotel rooms, has grown into one of India’s most valuable private companies and aims to be the world’s largest hotel chain by 2023. But at least part of Oyo’s rise in India was built on practices that raise questions about the health […]
Amazon finds a way around a West African muddle
In a building on West 147th Street in Upper Manhattan, the mail carriers know apartment 1A. Boxes arrive at all hours, ordered from websites around the world. Throw pillows, diapers, car parts, cellphones, high heels and AirPods pile up in the foyer, but none of the items were bought by the person to whom they […]
Internet suspension takes a toll on online transactions
(Representative Image) Ajay Pandey, a Lucknow-based photographer who runs a micro ATM within the premises of his small studio in the city, is a distraught man. Almost six days of internet suspension in the state capital from December 19 has left a huge dent in his monthly commissions from falling financial transactions. “It so happened […]
Alexa, tell the kids to ‘eat right’: FSSAI
In a first, the national food regulator has tied up with e-commerce giant Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa and is setting up ‘eat right’ labs in schools, looking to include children in the dialogue on healthy and safe eating. “A key constituent of the ‘eat right’ campaign is towards children and to address this audience, there […]
Trai seeks views on traffic management under net neutrality
The telecom regulator on Thursday sought public views on the contours of reasonable Internettraffic management practices that don’t infringe on rules around the free Web or hurt the consumer. It has also sought suggestions for the governance structure of a proposed multi-stakeholder body that would advise the telecom department on issues related to monitoring and […]
Swiggy seeks higher commissions from restaurants in certain regions
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Swiggy is progressively raising its commissions from restaurants in regions where its service is nearing maturity, while aggressively pushing partners to advertise on its platform, as the company shifts focus to monetising its core food ordering business, restaurateurs and others with knowledge of the matter said. The Bengaluru-based company has also increased […]
SEC proposes updating auditor independence rules
Auditor independence rules would change under a new SEC proposal designed to permit relationships in situations when independence is not substantially threatened. If adopted, the proposed amendments to the independence rule (Rule 2-01) would: Amend the definitions of affiliate of the audit client, in Rule 2-01(f)(4), and Investment Company Complex, in Rule 2-01(f)(14), to address […]