Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant will only provide results from its Windows 10 browser Edge and search engine Bing based on a blog post on April 28, Thursday. It is limiting customers' options to guarantee a good browsing experience.
Apple's Q2 earnings report showed the company's worst year-over-year (YOY) growth during the past decade. However, the sales figures could have been worse based on forecasts from sources such as the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the California company was cutting iPhone production runs in the December quarter, and slashing them by 30 percent in the March quarter. Other tech giants including Samsung and Facebook also recently reported earnings figures for the March quarter.
Sony's new patent filing features a smart contact lens that takes photos like the device used in "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" but also records video. The Japanese conglomerate's patent application includes details of a pair of lenses with an organic display screen that allows the user to view information such as images and videos. Features of the mini camera that would upgrade vision-correcting laser surgery include autofocus, exposure/aperture adjustment, and video zoom.
Yahoo is up for sale and industry experts believe Verizon is the most likely buyer after it purchased AOL last year. However, a fake Craigslist listing on the classified ads website's San Francisco page was recently posted that shows the fall of the pioneering Internet company as tech giants such as Google and Facebook have become the next juggernauts. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is the company's eighth chief executive since 2001, and has been unable to get the company back on track.
Snapchat's daily video views have risen sharply to 10 billion within one year, based on a new report. Although it started as a messaging and photo-sharing app most Snapchat users now also use the mobile software to watch videos.
Google's new patent published on April 28, Thursday shows a computerized lens that would replace the original eye lens to cure short-sightedness. It builds on the Alphabet company's past research for developing smart contact lenses such as for measuring blood sugar levels in tears. The new device that could replace laser surgery would contain tiny parts including electronic lens, sensors, radio, storage, and battery.
Google and Fiat Chrysler are reportedly in advanced talks about a partnership for developing self-driving cars. It would be the first merging of the Alphabet company's autonomous vehicle (AV) project and an automaker. Details of the coalition have not been reported.
The founder and CEO of Tencent, Ma 'Pony' Huateng, plans to donate 100 million shares to charity. It is a new charitable fund that is going to be established by him.
Facebook skyrocketed past financial analysts' estimates when it released its first quarter (Q1) earnings reports on April 27, Wednesday. The world's largest social network earned 77 cents per share based on revenue of around $5.4 billion, which is about 2.3 percent higher than analysts' projections. In addition, mobile ad revenue made up around 82 percent of Q1, which showed a year-over-year increase of 9 percent.
Samsung Pay announced on April 19 that it is going to extend support to the US mobile payments market. It is online now in China and its launch in UK and Australia is expected to arrive soon.
