Hi Guys! It’s the end of another busy week in the global tech space. Stories of fundraising, business pivoting, acquisitions, product launch among others made the round across the space today.
Here is a quick roundup of some of the major stories around the globe you might have missed.
Trump Vs Twitter
After Twitter flagged a pair of President Trump’s tweets with a fact-checking label earlier in the week, tensions ran high as the president accused Twitter of censorship.
After initially threatening to run social media platforms out of town, Trump took aim and fired back at twitter by signing an executive order that could strip them of the legal protection from the liability of user-created content.
Although Jack Dorsey explained that the tweet was labelled because it conflicted with the companies Civic integrity policy, Mr Trump is clearly on the warpath with a message that social media platforms forfeit their rights to legal protection when they started moderating content.
HBO Max Finally Launches
After months of waiting, WarnerMedia has finally launched its latest streaming service, HBO Max. It unveiled a host of originals and exclusives that are mouthwatering enough get people opting for the service.
HBO Max is not the same as its predecessors HBO Now and HBO Go. For instance, Max has an extensive content library that offers everything HBO has, plus enough movies and shows to keep you busy and streaming for a long time. Max also boasts exclusive originals plus a selection of non-HBO shows and movies.
If you don’t currently have HBO in any form, you can subscribe to HBO Max through the service’s website. It costs $14.99 per month after a seven-day free trial period. HBO Max is only available in the US for now.
Zoom Kicks out Giphy
After the acquisition of Giphy by Facebook, popular video conferencing platform, Zoom has temporarily disabled the integration of the GIF platform from its chat feature.
Although Zoom did not say if there was a privacy or security breach with the integration, the need to take extra precaution to prevent the possibility of Facebook having access to its data through Giphy may have been the reason.
However, Zoom has said it will bring the GIF company back after unspecified technical and security improvements are made.
Fords Covid-19 heat sanitisation for Cars
Worried about how to totally disinfect your car of COVID-19? Ford has developed a new way to sanitise cars by roasting them. Using a software that cranks the heat in vehicles until the temperature inside reaches 133 degrees Fahrenheit (56 degrees Celsius) for 15 minutes, Ford has discovered that a car is effectively disinfected. This was tested using Police Interceptor Utility vehicles
Ford revealed it worked with The Ohio State University to determine the temperature range and time needed to reduce the viral load of COVID-19. The company believes the method can reduce the viral concentration by over 99% on interior surfaces and materials.
The company also points out that heat has the ability to seep into crevices and hard-to-reach areas that humans and chemical disinfectants may not be able to reach. However, the process is meant to supplement other cleaning and safety measures, not replace them.
Apple acquires AI startup, Inductiv
Apple has acquired AI startup, Inductive to improve the performance of Siri, its Voice Assistant. Inductiv uses AI to correct data which, in turn, improves machine learning.
Although the company didn’t clarify that Siri was the focus of the acquisition, the earlier purchase of Voysis, a company which boosts natural language comprehension, shows apple is keen on improving the voice assistant.
The addition of Cleaner data would go a long way toward helping Apple achieve its goal of improving Siri by reducing the possibility of confusion caused by garbage information.
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
