Global Tech Roundup: World Richest Man Now Worth Over N77 Trillion, 7 Times the Nigerian Budget

Avatar

Hi Guys! Another working week has come to an end. Across the tech space, there was a whole lot of surprising news from Zooms global outage to the launch of new products by Amazon, fundraisings and expansions.

Here is a quick roundup of some of the major stories around the globe you might have missed.

Jeff Bezos Becomes the first Man to be worth $200 Billion

The world’s richest person, Jeff Bezos, is now worth over $200 billion. The Amazon Boss hit the milestone after the company’s stocks rose 2% on Wednesday. The rise added about $4.9 billion to his net worth making the Amazon billionaire the first man to amass a fortune of $200 billion.

The person to come closest is Gates, the world’s second-richest person, who’s currently worth $116.1 billion. 

Global Tech Roundup:

Since the beginning of the year, Amazon’s stock has risen by nearly 80%, fueled by the pandemic. The growth has boosted Bezos wealth from the roughly $115 billion recorded on January 1 to over $200 billion.

Bezos has 11% stake in Amazon. He also owns the Washington Post, aerospace company Blue Origin and other private investments.

Similarly, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk also saw his wealth rise after Tesla shares rallied on Wednesday. The tech CEO joined the centi-billionaires club after his wealth surpassed the $100 billion mark.

Firefox Launches Android Browser to Rival Chrome

Mozilla has launched a new android browser dubbed Firefox Daylight. The new Firefox app relies on its own infrastructure rather than Google’s, which is used in the majority of browsers.

Browser engines are core functions that help browsers navigate the internet. However, there are only three main ones; Blink, which belongs to Google, Apple’s WebKit, and Mozilla’s Geckoview.

Firefox Launches Android Browser to Rival Chrome

Of the three, Google’s Blink is dominant. On Android, Microsoft’s Edge, the Brave Browser, and Chrome all use Google’s Blink. However, Mozilla is stepping up to Chrome by using its Geckoview browser engine in its latest app. The vice president of Firefox, Dave Camp revealed that its browser is the only independent web engine browser available on Android.

TikTok sues the U.S government

Popular video app, TikTok is fighting back against the planned ban on its operation in the U.S. market by Trump’s Administration. This week, the company filed a lawsuit claiming that the president’s executive order was signed without evidence or due process.

Trump had earlier given a September 15 dealing for TikTok to sell its US operations to an American buyer or face a ban in the country. Following the directive, several tech companies like Microsoft and Oracle have already contacted TikTok parent company, Bytedance, for a potential sale.

TikTok sues the U.S. government

TikTok, however, doesn’t plan to sell its US business without a fight. The company, in the lawsuit, claimed it had already taken measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok’s U.S. user data. It added that there was no basis for a ban.

The executive order seeks to ban TikTok purportedly because of the speculative possibility that the application could be manipulated by the Chinese government. But, as the U.S. government is well aware, Plaintiffs have taken extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok’s U.S. user data including by having TikTok store such data outside of China (in the United States and Singapore) and by erecting software barriers that help ensure that TikTok stores its U.S. user data separately from the user data of other ByteDance products.

Extract from TikTok Lawsuit

World’s first floating Apple Store

Being one of the World’s richest companies has its benefits. In its latest retail location, Apple has launched its first floating retail store.

Located in Singapore on the city-state’s waterfront and known officially as Apple Marina Bay Sands, the only Apple retail shop on the planet that floats on the water looks majestic.

The floating store is Apple’s 512th retail shop globally

Microsoft brings Voice transcriptions to Word

You can now write documents by talking instead of typing on Word. Microsoft has launched Transcribe in Word, its new transcription service. The new feature lets you transcribe both live and prerecorded conversations and then edit those transcripts right inside of Word.

To use Transcribe, you simply click the Dictate button in the menu bar and click on “Transcribe.” From there, you can record a conversation as it happens or by uploading a recording file. The feature accepts .mp3, .wav, .m4a and .mp4 files.

Microsoft brings Voice transcriptions to Word, Global Tech Roundup: World's Richest Man Jeff Bezos now Worth Over N77 Trillion

The feature is now available on the online version of Word, with other platforms launching later. In addition, Word is also getting new dictation features, which now allows you to use your voice to format and edit your text.


Technext Newsletter

Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!

Register for Technext Coinference 2023, the Largest blockchain and DeFi Gathering in Africa.

Technext Newsletter

Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!