Hi Guys! It’s the end of another busy week. As usual, the week was packed with lots of news and surprises.
From the first flight of NASA’s Ingenuity on Mars to the unveiling of Apple’s latest products and the red day for cryptocurrencies, the global tech community was abuzz.
Here is a quick roundup of some of the major stories around the globe you might have missed.
Discord Rejects Microsoft’s $12 billion bid
Chat app, Discord is considering plans to stay independent after rejecting the Microsoft acquisition offer.
A few weeks ago, reports reveal that Discord and Microsoft were in talks of acquisition in a deal worth about $12 billion.
However, the update received this week shows that Discord has ended talks to sell itself. According to sources, the company is now looking at a potential IPO in the not-too-distant future.
Crypto Market goes all Red
The price of bitcoin has plummeted from its recent all-time high, falling below $50,000 for the first time since March. The price of the cryptocurrency reached as low as $48,500 on Friday morning but has since recovered slightly. It is currently trading at just over $50,000.
Other major cryptocurrencies like dogecoin have also experienced significant losses cumulating in a loss of more than half a trillion dollars from the market.
Ethereum (ether) initially hit a new record high on Thursday but has since fallen by more than 10 per cent in value.
Similarly, Dogecoin has surpassed 10 cents after surging more than 85% in 24 hours earlier this week. However, its price is now dropping for 2 days with the current price at $0.25.
UK considers digital currency
The UK government and the Bank of England are considering the introduction of digital currencies.
According to a release issued on the government’s website, the bank has created a body with the mandate to coordinate on the possibility of a Bank of England-issued digital money for use by households and businesses.
This announcement is a landmark step towards the creation of a central bank digital currency in the UK, joining other nations like China in the digital currency drive.
If approved, the digital currency would exist alongside other payment options rather than replace them.
NASA Ingenuity completes First-Ever flight on Mars
After missing last week flight timeline due to software upload, NASA Ingenuity finally took off this week. The Helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
The solar-powered helicopter first became airborne at 3:34 a.m. EDT – 12:33 Local Mean Solar Time (Mars time). Altimeter data indicate Ingenuity climbed to its prescribed maximum altitude of 10 feet (3 meters) and logged a total flight time of 39.1 seconds.
Google Earth gets a New Time capsule Update
In the biggest update to Google Earth since 2017, Google has created a 3D replica of the world that reflects the planet in magnificent detail.
But that’s not all as Google has also created a time capsule that lets you see the earth through time. With the new Timelapse in Google Earth, 24 million satellite photos from the past 37 years have been compiled into an interactive 4D experience.
Anyone can watch time unfold and witness nearly four decades of planetary change. However, it’s not all beautiful, the new experience shows just how much the earth has degraded over the years.
Google beats Oracle in biggest copyright case ever
The copyright battle between Google and Oracle has finally come to an end with Google emerging the Victor. The battle started about 10 years ago with Oracle’s lawsuit against Google for infringing on its copyright by copying the “structure, sequence, and organization” of 37 Java application programming interfaces (APIs) into Android.
However, Google replied that an API is like an alphabet or a grammar. They’re the fundamental elements used to create programs.
After years of back and forth, the Supreme Court ruled that “Google’s copying of the API to reimplement a user interface constituted fair use of that material.
This ruling overturned an earlier federal decision which found that Google’s Java API use had infringed Oracle’s copyright. Now, Google is free to use these Java APIs on Android.
Google Meet gets a refreshed UI, autozoom and more
Google’s video chat service, Meet, received a major update this week. The new update brings several user interface tweaks for desktop users as well as quite a bit of new functionality.
The is the new addition of multipinning so that users can highlight multiple feeds instead of just one. Another is the AI-driven video capabilities for light adjustments, autozoom and a new Data Saver feature that limits data usage on slower mobile networks.
Google says the new updates make meetings more immersive, inclusive and productive.
You can check out other news that happened during the week here. Have a nice weekend!!
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