One Thing Today in Tech

Apple released software updates for iPhones, iPads and Macs on Wednesday that fix two security vulnerabilities known by Apple to be actively exploited by attackers, TechCrunch reports. Google also released a security update, to the Stable channel of its Chrome browser. And Flipkart Ventures has picked six startups for the second batch of its 16-week accelerator programme. Notes: Apple released sof...

Facial recognition tech, as part of India’s Digi Yatra Central ecosystem, has been rolled out at the airports in Delhi and Bengaluru that will allow passenger identities to be verified in a matter of seconds. A corresponding mobile app is now available on Google’s Play store and an iOS version is expected soon. And India’s semiconductor chip component market is projected to touch $300 billion in c...

Inflation in Asia has peaked compared with other major economies such as the US and Europe, according to the chief Asia economist at Morgan Stanley. China’s tech giants, in an unprecedented move, have revealed details of their algorithms to the country’s government. And Bhavish Aggarwal aims to bring an Ola Electric car to market in 2024. Notes: Inflation in Asia has peaked compared with other maj...

Xiaomi showcased its humanoid robot prototype, called CyberOne, at an event yesterday, ahead of Tesla’s AI day. CyberOne is 5.8 feet tall, weighs 52kg, and is nicknamed “Metal Bro.” It has also been given a zodiac sign, Leo. In a video shared by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, on Twitter, one can see the robot walk up to him onstage, introduce itself, offer him a flower, and strike a kung fu pose. Notes: Xiao...

India’s fintech startups, yesterday, welcomed the comprehensive rules on digital lending released by the Reserve Bank. The rules provide clarity that only regulated entities can offer loans and stipulate that a consumer must be told upfront what the total cost of a digitally sourced loan will be. Explicit consent must also be sought to collect data, with the option to delete it. Notes: India’s fin...

Working populations in the five largest economies in the Asia Pacific—India, China, South Korea, Australia, and Japan—are more at risk due to physical robot automation than in Europe and North America, according to a forecast by Forrester. India, which has a relatively young workforce, will add 160 million new workers over the next 20 years, reaching a working population of 1.1 billion by 2040, bu...

Cyberbullying among children in India is the highest and in multiple categories, double the rates reported by other countries, cybersecurity company McAfee said in a press release yesterday, as part of a global report, titled 'Cyberbullying in Plain Sight'. And racially motivated bullying online is on the rise worldwide, with India and the US topping the list, reporting the most such instances. No...

India’s Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 was introduced in the parliament on Aug 5 to give the competition regulator more power, including recruiting experts to help scrutinise tech mergers and acquisitions more closely. Intel achieved ‘net positive’ water status in India, meaning it returned more fresh water through recycling and conservation efforts than it consumed. Notes: India’s Competition...

Y Combinator has cut the number of startups within its accelerator for the Summer 2022 batch by 40 percent, citing the global economic slowdown, TechCrunch reports. The cohort, currently on, has nearly 250 companies, while there were 414 companies in the previous batch, according to TechCrunch. AWS has launched new subscriptions to its cloud tech learning at attractive rates. And MIT researchers h...

Google is launching a new initiative called “Simplicity Sprint” to improve efficiency and focus as the global economic slowdown grinds on, after reporting back-to-back quarters of weaker-than-expected earnings. Linus Torvalds, the Finnish software developer who created Linux, yesterday, used an Apple MacBook running on an M1 chip to release the latest version of the open-source software. Notes: Go...

Apple reported fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations for sales and profit, but a slowdown in growth was clear. In India, the company doubled its revenue and said enterprises like Wipro were buying Apple products to attract and retain talent. And Paytm is on track to break even by September 2023, founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma told shareholders. Notes: A...

CE Info Systems, better known as MapmyIndia, an advanced digital maps and location tech provider, yesterday announced the wider availability of its Mappls RealView, a made-in-India 360-degree panoramic street view and 3D metaverse maps service. This coincides with Google’s relaunch of Street View in India. Swiggy’s delivery agents are protesting pay-out cuts. And, in more Google news, the search g...

The auction for the 5G spectrum got underway yesterday in India and the government received bids worth $18 billion on the first day from conglomerates including the Reliance Group and Adani Group, TechCrunch reports. PhonePe, one of the largest fintech businesses in India, is seeking a massive valuation ahead of its separation from parent Flipkart, ET reports. And Google’s parent Alphabet missed e...

Zomato’s shares fell as much as 14 percent yesterday, after a post-IPO lock-in period ended for the loss-making food delivery service and tech platform company. Walmart issued an earnings warning, lowering its projections for the current quarter and the full year, signalling the deepening slowdown. Atlassian names Rajeev Rajan CTO. And the Kardashians don’t like where Instagram is headed. Notes: Z...

Infosys reported its highest fiscal first-quarter revenue growth in more than 10 years, and its lowest Q1 operating margins of this century, so far, as the company joins rivals in prioritising growth amid another global economic slowdown. Revenue for the three months ended June 30 was $4.44 billion, a 21.4 percent increase over the year-earlier period, the highest since Q1 of FY12. Operating margi...

Wipro says its order pipeline is at an “all-time high” and expects to grow as much as 5 percent sequentially in the current quarter. Mojang Studios, the makers of the hugely popular online game and platform Minecraft, has banned any NFT implementation within the game, they said in a scathing post yesterday, criticising the culture of exclusion that NFTs promote. OnePlus fans in New York can buy ti...

Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker in Bengaluru, has released the next iteration of its popular 450X high-performance scooter. The Ather 450X-Gen3 has a bigger battery and more RAM. It will set you back by about Rs. 1,50,000. Shiprocket is expanding via Rs 200 crore stock-and-cash acquisition. And IIT Kanpur engineers have innovated a memory-muscle-based actuator that could improve India’s sp...

Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace company that is part of the multinational defence conglomerate Raytheon Technologies, announced the establishment of a state-of-the-art India Engineering Center (IEC) in Bengaluru, which is planned to open in January 2023. Bharti Airtel tested a private 5G network at German automotive company Bosch’s centre in Bengaluru. And the RBI wants cryptos banned, Finance M...

India is working on a ‘Right to Repair’ framework aimed at serving the dual purpose of making it hassle-free for consumers to get their products repaired at a reasonable cost, and boosting the country’s circular economy, the central government said in a statement last week. IAMAI, one of the country’s biggest tech lobbies, is walking away from crypto. And Microsoft has emerged as Netflix’s exclusi...

Infosys announced a definitive agreement to acquire BASE life science, a technology and consulting firm in the life sciences industry, in Europe, adding 200 multidisciplinary consultants. Agnikul Cosmos opened its first rocket factory in Chennai with the capacity to make two fully 3D-printed engines every week. And Truecaller gets into the audio social app space with Open Doors – think latest Club...

Google’s parent Alphabet will slow the pace of hiring and investments through 2023, responding to the global economic slowdown, CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees on Tuesday, CNBC reports. HCL Technologies reported its services business grew strongly in its fiscal first quarter, joining TCS in signalling customers continue to invest in the move to the cloud. And Lightspeed announced a...

MFine, a mobile health app and digital healthcare platform provider facing a money crunch in the slowdown, is merging with the diagnostics business of LifeCell International, a stem cell bank and reproductive genetic testing services company, to form a new entity called LifeWell. Vegrow, a fruits marketplace, has raised more money. And Apple slipped in Q2CY22 worldwide PC shipment rankings, IDC sa...

Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services, said on Friday the company continues to see strong deal prospects ahead, amid a global economic slowdown, as customers continue to invest in technology. Elon Musk wants to walk away from his proposed $44 billion Twitter deal. And Bengaluru biotech startup String Bio has raised more money, including from an Australian oil and gas company....

India’s information technology services sector will sustain double-digit revenue growth this fiscal, at 12-13 percent, driven by digitalisation, strong demand for new-age technologies, and depreciation in the rupee, rating agency Crisil said in a note yesterday. Rajeev Misra, head of SoftBank Group’s giant venture-investing arm, will step back from Vision Fund 2, And you can now search for spatial...

Apple has introduced a ‘lockdown mode’ to help those small number of users who may be under threat of the most sophisticated mercenary cyberattacks, the company said in a press release yesterday. Amazon faces a new probe by UK regulators, even as it announces its Prime Day sales this month. And Axilor is raising $100 million for its second fund after backing more than 50 companies from its first f...