Monthly Archives: October 2018

Amazon can sell you stuff. But can it clean your house?

Posted by & filed under Amazon.

“They really didn’t listen to those of us who’ve been in the business for decades,” says Bobbie Moe. Customers would punch in their cleaning needs and the square footage of their house online, but the actual time and manpower required would vary wildly with the cleaning needs of the home.” Source: CNN Technology News Date: October 25th, 2018 Link… Read more »

How WhatsApp is being abused in Brazil’s elections

Posted by & filed under Civil Liberties, Data Analytics.

Political campaigners in Brazil have used software that scrapes Facebook for citizens’ phone numbers, and then automatically sends them WhatsApp messages and adds them to WhatsApp groups. Almost three weeks ago, 147 million voters in the country went to the polls for legislative elections and the first round of the presidential elections. This Sunday, they… Read more »

Tim Cook blasts ‘weaponisation’ of personal data and praises GDPR

Posted by & filed under Apple, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), Privacy.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has demanded a tough new US data protection law, in an unusual speech in Europe. Referring to the misuse of “deeply personal” data, he said it was being “weaponised against us with military efficiency”. “We shouldn’t sugar-coat the consequences,” he added. “This is surveillance.” The strongly-worded speech presented a striking… Read more »

Netflix and Amazon Leave Little Room for Streaming Video Latecomers

Posted by & filed under Amazon, Entrepreneurship, Innovator's Dilemma, Netflix.

  To keep his family of four entertained, Ben Emery pays about $180 a month for Spectrum TV and internet service, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. He gets Amazon mostly for free shipping and Hulu in part because his 5-year-old daughter likes “Teen Titans Go.” “Netflix and Hulu got in early, so that’s where I’m willing… Read more »

Facebook in fresh video metrics row

Posted by & filed under Facebook, IT Strategy.

Facebook was aware of inaccuracies in the way it measured how many people viewed video on its site for a year longer than it has previously admitted, court documents have claimed. Newly released papers that are part of a US legal action against the social network, claim that it knew about the problems in 2015…. Read more »

5 days, $1 billion: Flipkart and Amazon spur Indian smartphone bonanza

Posted by & filed under Apple, Emerging Economies.

The battle for India’s online shoppers has triggered a smartphone gold rush. Flipkart and Amazon are leading an online sales bonanza that will see Indians buy smartphones worth over $1 billion in just five days, according to tech consultancy Counterpoint Research. Bangalore-based Flipkart said it sold 1 million devices during the first hour of an online… Read more »

How the Dutch foiled Russian ‘cyber-attack’ on OPCW

Posted by & filed under Cyber Security, Cyberattack, Ethical issues.

Four Russians, a car full of electronic equipment, and a foiled plot to hack the world’s foremost chemical weapons watchdog. The Dutch security services say Russia planned a cyber-attack on the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague earlier this year. At a press conference on Thursday, Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld… Read more »

Google Ad Chief Ramaswamy Exits; Search, AI Veteran Replaces Him

Posted by & filed under AI/Artificial Intelligence, Google.

Google is replacing its top advertising executive, Sridhar Ramaswamy, the first major management shakeup at the company’s most important business in half a decade. Prabhakar Raghavan, head of Google’s business-applications unit, will step into the role on Friday, the company said. A veteran of search technology and artificial intelligence research, Raghavan will now oversee product… Read more »