CNBC - South China Morning Post

After Xi-Trump, China tech stocks retreat as market weighs substance of ‘fantastic’ deals

Ji Siqi,Zhang Shidong — Fri, 15 May 2026 04:51:59 +0000

While US President Donald Trump concluded his three-day state visit to Beijing by hailing “fantastic trade deals”, an immediate lack of specifics left some investors wondering if the high-stakes meeting delivered more theatre than substance. China’s benchmark CSI 300 Index dropped 1.1 per cent on Friday for a second straight day of declines, with investors taking profits from a record-setting rally in tech stocks after Trump wrapped up his tour. For the week, the gauge slipped 0.3 per cent. The...

US Pentagon signs AI deals with Google, Nvidia and SpaceX, focus on ‘lawful’ use

Tribune News Service — Sat, 02 May 2026 01:47:15 +0000

Eight technology companies, including Google, Nvidia and SpaceX, have struck deals with the Pentagon to help the US military gain an edge on the battlefield. “These agreements accelerate the transformation towards establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force and will strengthen our warfighters’ ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare,” the Department of Defence said on Friday. The companies will deploy their AI technology on the...

Singapore’s Balakrishnan warns Hormuz just a ‘dry run’ if US, China clash

Jean Iau — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 06:45:45 +0000

The geopolitical fallout from the Strait of Hormuz chokehold in the Middle East is just a “dry run”, with the Pacific being where the real action will occur if superpowers were to clash, Singapore’s top diplomat has warned. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also revealed on Wednesday that Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia shared an interest in keeping the Strait of Malacca open, even under the spectre of tolls being imposed on the strategic Southeast Asian waterway. His stance however...

Trump extends Iran ceasefire, claims interception of ‘gift from China’

Khushboo Razdan — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:54:30 +0000

US President Donald Trump announced a last-minute extension of the ceasefire with Iran following a request from Pakistan’s top leadership, even as he appeared to suggest that American forces had intercepted a potentially lethal “gift from China” to Tehran. Describing the Iranian government as “seriously fractured”, Trump said on social media that he agreed to hold off military operations against Iran at the behest of Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Trump added...

Iran’s new supreme leader defies Trump, says Hormuz must stay blocked

Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:05:21 +0000

Iran’s new supreme leader has vowed to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz, attack US bases and avenge the blood of its martyrs in his first statement since succeeding his father. US President Donald Trump responded with an insult and threat soon after. “The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” Mojtaba Khamenei said about the strategic waterway, which carries about a fifth of global oil shipments. Khamenei urged Iran’s Gulf neighbours to close US military bases in the...

Paramount counters Netflix with US$108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros

Reuters — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:07:02 +0000

Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a hostile bid worth US$108.4 billion for Warner Bros Discovery, in a last-ditch effort to outbid Netflix and create a media powerhouse that would challenge the dominance of the streaming giant. Netflix had emerged victorious on Friday from a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, securing a US$72 billion equity deal for Warner Bros Discovery’s TV, film studios and streaming assets. But Paramount’s latest attempt means the jockeying for Warner...

Nvidia can’t sell its most advanced AI chip to China, White House says

Agencies — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:00:15 +0000

The Trump administration is not planning to allow Nvidia to sell its most advanced AI chip, known as the Blackwell, to China right now, the White House said on Tuesday. “As for the most advanced chips, the Blackwell chip, that’s not something we’re interested in selling to China at this time,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference at the White House. The remarks echoed comments made by US President Donald Trump on Sunday, when he declared that the most advanced...

Snubbed by China: Trump team presses unlikely buyers to snap up US soybeans

Khushboo Razdan — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:03:42 +0000

Shut out of China’s massive soybean market, the United States is pressing countries across Africa and Asia to step up purchases of American soybeans, as President Donald Trump’s trade team seeks new markets, while tensions over tariffs ripple through global trade. “We’re calling up all our soybean customers around the world as part of our trade negotiations,” Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, said in a CNBC interview on Monday. He added the Trump...

Is Singapore seeing slowdown of Chinese wealth inflows and should it be worried?

Jean Iau — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 11:20:00 +0000

The rate of Chinese wealth entering Singapore through family offices is reportedly slowing, but observers say the financial hub is not expected to lose out substantially as long as it can continue to attract the right kind of money. Last week, American business news outlet CNBC reported that Singapore’s attractiveness as a wealth hub was weakening, with applications from Chinese clients to set up family offices or relocate wealth to the city state currently dropping by 50 per cent compared with...

Will China’s first-half GDP data reveal need for more fiscal stimulus?

Sylvia Ma — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 02:22:47 +0000

Analysts awaiting details of China’s economic performance in the first half of the year, which are due to be released on Tuesday, will be looking to see whether more fiscal stimulus is needed to weather the tariff storms emanating from Washington. While the market largely expects second-quarter economic growth to reach 5 per cent, in line with the full-year target, concerns linger that the rosy headline figure could mask persistent weakness in domestic demand and employment. On top of these...

Taco trade? US leader challenges claim that ‘Trump always chickens out’ in talks

Mark Magnier — Wed, 28 May 2025 22:25:18 +0000

US President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday on a new acronym making the Wall Street rounds to describe a way to profit from his fitful negotiating style, Taco, short for “Trump always chickens out”. Trump, who was evidently not aware of the term when asked about it in the Oval Office by a reporter, responded with equal parts sarcasm and indignation. The Taco trade refers to an investment strategy that benefits from the rise in share prices after the US president relents. “Oh, isn’t that...

Bangkok among cities with higher rates of tourist fraud reported, report warns

SCMP’s Asia desk — Thu, 22 May 2025 10:00:27 +0000

A recent report has identified Bangkok as among the cities where tourists report relatively higher rates of travel-related fraud, primarily due to the prevalence of taxi and car rental scams, which make up nearly half of all incidents reported by visitors. In addition to the Thai capital, the Mastercard Economics Institute report also noted higher reported fraud exposure in cities such as Cancun in Mexico, Hanoi in Vietnam and Dhaka in Bangladesh. Published last Tuesday, the report – which did...

8 of the richest news anchors in the US – net worths, ranked: conservative commentators Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson made the list, alongside CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC’s Megyn Kelly

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:00:09 +0000

Turns out, delivering the news to millions via daily broadcasts can earn you millions – especially if you’re an on-air anchor for a major TV network. New anchors for companies such as CNN and CBS – and TV personalities who host nightly shows on the likes of channels Fox and MSNBC – are pulling in millions of dollars every year thanks to their hefty salaries. Here’s how their wealth stacks up at the time of writing. 8. Megyn Kelly, 54 Estimated net worth: US$45 million Known for her to-the-point...

Elon Musk sued in Pennsylvania over US$1 million US election giveaways

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 15:21:32 +0000

Elon Musk was sued by the Philadelphia district attorney over his political action committee’s US$1 million a day sweepstakes targeting swing state voters in the final days of the US presidential election. The DA, Larry Krasner, is asking a state court to stop Musk from engaging in an “unlawful lottery”, which lulls “Philadelphia citizens to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win US$1 million”. The civil lawsuit is the first...

Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban wants to take out Chinese knockoffs, says Kamala Harris agrees

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:51:13 +0000

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban says he is working with Vice-President Kamala Harris’ campaign to find ways to protect American companies from Chinese knockoffs. In an X post on Wednesday, Cuban said he had an “interesting conversation with the @KamalaHarris team about protecting American companies from Chinese Knockoffs”. “Knock-offs are a plague on small businesses, that costs them time, money and may put them out of business. Right now all marketplace platforms do is help them play...

Is Singapore really Asia’s happiest country? UN report sheds light on age divide

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 07:45:54 +0000

While the latest edition of an annual UN-sponsored report found Singapore to be Asia’s happiest country for the second year in a row, its survey data showed that the city state’s younger citizens rated their quality of life significantly worse than older generations. One sociologist attributed the report’s generational disparity to younger people feeling the so-called Singapore Dream was now “less easily accessible” to them than their parents’ generation. The 2024 edition of the World Happiness...

ByteDance investors could win in TikTok sale says US lawmaker amid pressure to ban app over China espionage concerns

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 19:31:53 +0000

Investors in TikTok’s Chinese parent company stand to benefit if it sold the app because divestment would remove a source of uncertainty, a US Republican lawmaker said. “It would be in the financial interest of ByteDance’s investors to effectuate a forced sale,” congressman Mike Gallagher, who spearheaded a House-passed bill aimed at making the company divest TikTok to allow its continued operation in the United States, said on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. Efforts to remove Chinese corporate...

AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes doesn’t regret posting shirtless photo on LinkedIn: ‘got me a lot of publicity’

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 08:30:20 +0000

AirAsia‘s CEO Tony Fernandes said he doesn’t regret posting his shirtless photo on LinkedIn as the viral post garnered him a lot of publicity. Fernandes told CNBC in an article published on Sunday that he posted the controversial photo in October to illustrate the flexibility within the Malaysian airline’s work culture. “Initially I asked whether we could delay the meeting so that I could have a massage, I was in a lot of pain from a lot of flying. But the team said, we’re OK, you know, nothing...

China’s economic headwinds could hit region, US treasury deputy says

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 18:15:22 +0000

China’s economic problems are more likely to affect the region than the United States, US deputy treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Monday, a day after US President Joe Biden called China’s economic situation a “crisis”. Beijing has the resources to deal with its economy short-term but must face longer-term structural economic issues such as demographics and high debt, Adeyemo said in television interviews. “Those are going to be far harder for them to deal with over time,” he told...

Don’t ban tools like ChatGPT for students when they will have to work with AI

Wed, 24 May 2023 19:30:16 +0000

Students can now use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to complete their assignments, from essays and presentation slides to computing codes and maths problems. I cannot help but wonder if my days as an educator are numbered. I am shocked and awed by the ease of use and capability of these generative AI tools, which use large language models to understand and respond to questions, generating humanlike responses in natural language. ChatGPT took the world by storm with...

Central bankers can no longer dismiss inflation concerns – price rises are everywhere

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 17:30:07 +0000

Coca-Cola has said it will raise prices on its drinks in the United States. US consumers know that, broadly speaking, higher sticker prices are the real thing even if the Federal Reserve is still arguing that current inflationary pressures are transitory. The Fed needs to change tack or risk losing popular confidence. Other central banks will have to follow suit. Speaking to CNBC last week, James Quincy, CEO of Coca-Cola, cited rising commodity costs as a key driver of the firm’s decision to...

US-China trade war: Trump’s trade tariffs to remain ‘for the moment’ but Beijing expected to adhere to commitments

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 02:18:12 +0000

The United States will keep tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by the former Trump administration in place for now, but will evaluate how to proceed after a thorough review, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC on Thursday. “For the moment, we have kept the tariffs in place that were put in by the Trump administration … and we’ll evaluate going forward what we think is appropriate,” Yellen said, adding that Washington expected Beijing to adhere to its commitments on trade. Asked if tariffs...

Joe Biden goes to US heartland for support on US$1.9 trillion economic package

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 15:41:46 +0000

US President Joe Biden is sidestepping a divided Congress and going straight to the nation on Tuesday with a televised town hall in Wisconsin seeking support for his US$1.9 trillion economic rescue package. With lawmakers reeling from the aftermath of Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal, Biden is betting that he can escape the partisan stand-off by addressing ordinary voters at the prime time CNN event in Milwaukee – his first official trip away from Washington as president. The White House...

‘Wear a mask!’ Republicans break with Donald Trump as coronavirus cases soar

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 18:43:08 +0000

In a rare split with mask-averse US President Donald Trump, fellow Republican leaders are making a public push for face coverings as Covid-19 cases surge in some Republican-leaning states. The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said every American has a responsibility to follow the recommendations of health officials to wear masks and socially distance themselves to help slow the spread of infection. “They should wear a mask,” McCarthy told CNBC on Monday after his...

US presses on with reopening, but coronavirus first wave lingers

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 18:05:30 +0000

More than a dozen US states are reporting their highest daily tolls of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, but President Donald Trump and many local officials are showing no signs of worry and have ruled out new lockdown measures. The US chapter of the global health crisis has shifted from New York and the northeast to the south and west, with a particular focus now on hospitals in Arizona, Texas and Florida. The latter will host the most visible parts of the Republican presidential...

Coronavirus: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo switches disease name to ‘Wuhan virus’ as it spreads in the US

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 20:58:58 +0000

The US and China appeared headed towards a fresh row on Friday after Washington’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo for the second day running referred to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan virus” – ignoring pleas from Beijing and world health officials for the public to avoid using names for the Covid-19 disease that could incite racial discrimination. Pompeo's new nomenclature for the virus coincided with a rising tide of criticism that President Donald Trump’s administration is facing over its response to...

Goldman Sachs lining up Prince Harry for its interview series, says US report

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 17:18:23 +0000

Goldman Sachs is in discussions to feature Prince Harry as a guest speaker for its online interview series Talks at GS, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter. He is likely to want to speak about two issues of personal interest: mental health and the needs of military veterans, the report added. The “Talks at GS” events are a series of interviews Goldman hosts regularly which feature prominent personalities from business and other walks of life. Previous guests...

US and China to sign phase one trade pact in early January, Steven Mnuchin says

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:56:44 +0000

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the United States and China would sign their so-called phase one trade pact early next month, adding that it was completely finished and just undergoing a technical “scrub”. Mnuchin, speaking on CNBC, said that the trade deal had already been put down on paper and translated and that it would not be subject to any renegotiation. “We are going through a technical issue now where again the agreement is translated,” Mnuchin said. “I don’t...

Do the numbers in Donald Trump’s ‘phase one’ trade deal work? US critics worry they don’t

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 23:16:26 +0000

After a quick sigh of relief at the apparent easing in US-China tensions, American critics noted several shortcomings in the trade deal that was announced between the world’s two largest economies on Friday. Top among them were a lack of specifics on farm purchase commitments and enforcement mechanisms, a shortage of trust on both sides and US President Donald Trump’s mercurial negotiating style. “We don’t have anything in writing, and even if we have something in writing, it doesn’t matter with...

Chinese appliance maker braves Trump tariffs with plan to raise US$381.8 million in Hong Kong IPO revival

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 05:13:10 +0000

JS Global Lifestyle Company, the Chinese appliance maker which gets almost half of its revenue from North America, is pushing ahead with its initial public offering in Hong Kong amid the looming threat of more US tariffs in the coming days. The Hangzhou-based company plans raise about US$332 million by selling 499.8 million shares at a fixed price of HK$5.20 each, according to a term sheet seen by the South China Morning Post. The proceeds could rise to US$381.8 million if an overallotment of...

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin seemingly defuses Donald Trump’s ‘treason’ probe threat to Google over China work

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 20:29:24 +0000

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by John Hendel on politico.com on July 24, 2019. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Wednesday appeared to defuse a threat from President Donald Trump to have multiple agencies probe Google for potential treason over the company’s work in China. “The president and I did diligence on this issue and we’re not aware of any areas where Google is working with the Chinese government that in any way raises...

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross rules out ‘definitive’ trade deal at Xi-Trump G20 parley

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 15:47:25 +0000

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will not strike a “definitive deal” to end the trade war between the US and China at an anticipated meeting late this month during the G20 summit in Japan, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday. The face-to-face conference between the leaders, yet to be officially confirmed, would at most result in “some sort of agreement on a path forward”, Ross said in an interview televised by business outlet CNBC. A meeting between Trump and Xi on December...

Americans disapprove of Donald Trump’s use of tariffs in trade war, CNBC All-America Economic Survey finds

Fri, 31 May 2019 23:04:27 +0000

US President Donald Trump’s handling of the relationship with China and heavy-handed use of tariffs is failing to win the support of the American general public, according to a CNBC All-America Economic Survey released on Friday. The poll, conducted quarterly, found that 45 per cent of those questioned disapproved of the way Trump has handled relations with Beijing, with whom his administration is engaged in a costly trade war soon to reach the one-year mark. Thirty-two per cent of people...

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to unpaid federal workers: let them get loans during government shutdown

Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:35:21 +0000

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday said he did not understand why federal workers were visiting food banks during the government shutdown, saying they should instead seek low-interest loans from banks and credit unions to supplement their lost wages. “I know they are, and I don’t really quite understand why,” Ross said on CNBC when asked about federal workers going to food banks. Ross is a billionaire and long-time friend of US President Donald Trump. “The idea that it’s paycheck or...

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump may meet next month at G20 amid rising China-US tensions

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 16:45:45 +0000

President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump plan to meet in Buenos Aires during the Group of 20 leaders’ summit at the end of November, amid rising tensions between the countries over trade, South China Sea and Taiwan issues. The Trump administration has informed Beijing of its decision to go ahead with the meeting in recent days, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. China has been hoping such a meeting could provide an opportunity for both sides to try to ease the escalating...

US vs. Japan: Giant robots are about to face off, fighting for their countries

Mon, 16 Oct 2017 09:00:30 +0000

By Saheli Roy Choudhury The United States and Japan will put their reputations on the line on Tuesday, as they prepare for an expensive showdown in technological superiority. What’s the test? Giant battling robots. IT'S TIME FOR THE GIANT ROBOT DUEL! #GiantRobotDuel @Twitch pic.twitter.com/yULclspKOi — MegaBots Inc. (@MegaBots) October 11, 2017 Two years ago, U.S. robotics company MegaBots challenged its Japanese rival, Suidobashi Heavy Industries, to a...

Wikileaks made a 50,000 per cent return on bitcoin thanks to the US government, Julian Assange claims

Mon, 16 Oct 2017 09:00:30 +0000

By Arjun Kharpal Wikileaks founder Julian Assange claims his organisation has made a 50,000 per cent return on bitcoin after investing in the cryptocurrency in 2010 — and it’s all thanks to the U.S. government. In a tweet over the weekend, Assange posted a screenshot of bitcoin prices on July 18, 2010 and October 14, 2017 on industry website CoinDesk. In this period, the price of bitcoin went from US$0.06 to around US$5,814. This represents a 9,689,900 per cent increase. Assange, however, said...

Amazon isn’t playing in ‘our sandbox,’ says Lululemon CEO

Mon, 16 Oct 2017 08:30:00 +0000

By Stacey Yuen Canadian athletic apparel retailer Lululemon , hungry to expand, could lean further on Alibaba to drive growth, according to CEO Laurent Potdevin. And while the relationship with China’s e-commerce giant pays dividends, Lululemon isn’t worrying about threats from its main U.S. rival: Some reports have said Amazon is planning to create its own sports apparel line, but Potdevin told CNBC the U.S.-based tech giant is unlikely to pose a direct threat to his company. “I think Amazon is...

A family-run pub in the English countryside has just been named the ‘best restaurant in the world’

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 07:45:45 +0000

By Sam Meredith A family-owned pub in the north east of England has been named the “best restaurant in the world” based on an international poll of customer reviews. The Black Swan in Oldstead, North Yorkshire, fended off rival restaurants owned by celebrity TV chefs in Britain like Heston Blumenthal and Raymond Blanc. TripAdvisor awarded the prize to the British country pub after collecting millions of reviews and opinions from customers over the past year. ‘Truly a box of delights’ The Black...

AI innovation is unlikely to come from a big bank, former Barclays CEO says

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 05:00:45 +0000

By Ryan Browne Big banks have no advantage over financial technology start-ups when it comes to artificial intelligence, a former Barclays chief executive has said. Antony Jenkins, who led the bank between 2012 and 2015, said that banks have a tendency to focus on mainframe data storage rather than seeking solutions on the cloud. “I think the biggest myth of all… is that banks and other financial services providers are advantaged in this new world because the logic is that they have a lot of...

Internet giants like Facebook and Google may have to pay a levy in the UK to tackle online abuse

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 04:00:45 +0000

By Arjun Kharpal The British government could ask internet giants like Facebook and Google to pay money towards measures to tackle cyber bullying and online abuse, proposals released Wednesday showed. The move is part of a broader package of measures proposed by the U.K. government in a green paper aimed at making the internet safer. While the green paper acknowledges that social media companies are taking action to combat bad behaviour online, Downing Street believes a levy could help the...

Start-up Ripple has over 100 clients as mainstream finance warms to blockchain

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 08:15:45 +0000

Ripple has signed up several new financial institutions to its blockchain network, bringing its clientele to more than 100. The financial technology start-up is the owner of XRP, the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency behind rivals bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash. Its distributed ledger network, RippleNet, has been joined by the likes of United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based lender RAKBANK and U.K.-based currency exchange firm IFX. It has also cleared a payments path into South America...

Google’s Home Mini needed software patch to stop some from recording everything

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 05:30:00 +0000

By Dieter Bohn Categorise this under “one of the worst possible PR nightmares for a Google smart speaker.” According to Artem Russakovskii at Android Police, the Google Home Mini he was reviewing was randomly and near-constantly recording sounds in his home and transmitting them to Google. The company acknowledged the problem and is issuing a software update to resolve the issue, which appears to boil down to a failure of the touch sensor on the top. Smart speakers like the Google Home Mini are...

Russia launches its own version of Amazon Alexa with ‘near-human levels’ of speech recognition

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 03:15:15 +0000

By David Reid The Russian technology company Yandex has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant called “Alice”. Yandex, Russia’s largest search engine, says that Alice is the first conversational online assistant, possessing “near-human levels of speech.” “We wanted Alice to interact with users more like a human, so that users don’t need to adapt their requests,” said Denis Filippov, head of speech technologies at Yandex. “In developing Alice, we leveraged our speech technologies,...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg slammed as ‘heartless billionaire’ after Puerto Rico VR live-stream

Tue, 10 Oct 2017 09:15:15 +0000

By Arjun Kharpal Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was called a “heartless billionaire” and accused of “exploiting disaster” by online users after live-streaming a virtual reality (VR) cartoon avatar of himself in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico. Last month, Puerto Rico was badly hit by Hurricane Maria. Electricity is not up and running yet and millions of citizens are struggling without basic necessities . Zuckerberg demonstrated Facebook Spaces, a product that allows users to create a 3-D...

Microsoft admits its smartphone efforts are dead and even tried to pay developers to write apps

Tue, 10 Oct 2017 09:00:30 +0000

By Arjun Kharpal Microsoft is no longer developing new hardware or features for Windows 10 Mobile, the smartphone version of its flagship operating system, effectively killing off its presence in the handset market. In a series of Tweets, Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Windows, said the U.S. technology giant will continue to release bug fixes and security updates, but not any new hardware. Belfiore said Microsoft has tried “very hard” to incentivise app developers, even by...

Amazon is considering a more serious bid against YouTube, ad industry sources say

Tue, 10 Oct 2017 08:30:30 +0000

By Michelle Castillo Amazon is taking meetings about launching programmes to bring more advertisers to its video platforms and make it a stronger competitor against YouTube . The company has had multiple meetings where it suggested it would be launching more advertiser-friendly initiatives. Several people said Amazon suggested it would be more open to giving advertisers more data on what viewers were watching and what they were doing online. Another potential programme would pair companies with...

Someone dressed like the Monopoly guy is photobombing the US Senate’s Equifax hearing

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 05:45:00 +0000

By Liz Moyer The Monopoly guy has gone to Washington. A person dressed in a black top hat and bushy white moustache, occasionally putting on a monocle or dabbing forehead sweat with giant paper money, sat in the audience of the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Equifax data breach. Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith didn’t seem to notice. The person was dressed to resemble the character Rich Uncle Pennybags from the classic board game. Smith was there to testify about a data breach that...

A dating app with a racist ad and an income filter is now on Apple’s App Store

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 05:30:45 +0000

By Xin En Lee A Facebook post promoting a dating app was so explicit about its racism and discriminatory stance on foreign workers that many around the world thought it may have been fake. It’s now available for some users on Apple’s App Store. Herbert Eng, the founder of Singapore-based dating app HighBlood, first made waves in March when he posted on Facebook an advertisement that read: “no banglas, no maids, no uglies...Just. Pure. Quality. Like You.” The first category of allegedly desirable...

Facebook probably won’t send Zuckerberg or Sandberg to testify before US Congress, says source

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 05:00:30 +0000

By John Shinal Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg are unlikely to testify before Congress early next month, when Facebook will face a grilling on how Russia-based groups used the company’s ad-buying technology to influence the 2016 U.S. election, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC. While the company hasn’t finalised who will represent Facebook at a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on that date, it probably won’t be either of its top two executives, said...