Business, Financial & Legal - Page 72

NVIDIA stock has just finished climbing a new mountain today, hitting a new all-time high of $322 on Monday after delving below $200 in March following the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The bump in stock price can be attributed to the completion of its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, which closed on April 27. The deal was worth $6.9 billion, and sees NVIDIA acquiring a bunch of technologies from Mellanox including its InfiniBand interconnect technology, which super-speeds Ethernet connections in supercomputers and huge datacenters.

NVIDIA has significant investment into supercomptuers and datacenters with its stock product stack -- powering countless supercomputers around the world with its technology. Until now, NVIDIA's previous record closing price was $314.70 -- but it now stands at $322.62.

It's been a while since Google's Gmail application introduced a feature that predicted the text a user might want to enter next when composing an email. Gmail calls its feature called Smart Compose and when you're in a hurry or trying to send an email from a smartphone or other mobile device, it's a welcome feature. A new roadmap has surfaced for Microsoft 365, and it shows that the software giant is ready to take a page out of Gmail's book with its version of the feature called "text predictions."

With text predictions, when a user sees a text suggestion, they like they can select it with the tab or arrow keys, according to Microsoft. Microsoft also notes that if the user doesn't want to use the text suggestion that turns up on the screen, they can simply keep typing, and the suggestion will disappear. The feature can also be turned off for those who don't want to use it.

Turning off text predictions requires users to go to settings, view all Outlook settings, mail, compose, and reply. Under that section will be a checkbox titled "Text predictions" that can be cleared to turn them off. Another interesting feature that Microsoft is working on is a scheduled email feature called "Send Later for Outlook.com" that would allow users to pick a time when an email will be sent.

A report is making the rounds that claims attackers could steal data from a PC or Linux computer even if the computer is locked and the data is encrypted. The report comes from a security researcher called Bjorn Ruytenberg, who says that the technique to steal the data is relatively simple, and it is called "Thunderspy." All the attacker needs is physical access to the computer, and they would be able to steal personal data in only five minutes using a screwdriver and easily portable hardware.

Thunderbolt offers very fast transfer speeds gives direct access to the PC memory, creating several vulnerabilities. Previously researchers believed that weaknesses in the Thunderbolt protocol could be mitigated by disabling access to untrusted devices or disabling Thunderbolt altogether. However, the attack method that Ruytenberg has discovered can get around those settings by changing the firmware that controls the Thunderbolt Port to allow any device access.

The security researcher also notes that the act leaves no trace and the user would never know their PC was altered. To perform the attack, which the researcher dubbed the "evil maid attack" the attacker would only need to unscrew the backplate, attach device momentarily, reprogram the firmware, reattach the backplate, and they would gain full access to the laptop.

Alphabet is the parent company to search giant Google and has announced when it will begin to reopen its offices. Google will slowly begin to reopen offices starting in June, according to CEO Sundar Pichai. The company CEO announced the June reopening date for offices in an email sent to employees that turned up online. However, workers won't have to go into the office until they feel it is safe to do so according to a Google spokesperson.

Pichai said about employees returning that the "ramp" back to the office will be slow. He said there would be no one-size-fits-all approach and guidance will vary from location to location. The leaked memo claims that Alphabet is aiming for between 10 and 15% capacity in the office at any time around the globe.

Pichai noted that currently, fewer than 5% of employees are working from offices. He also took time in the memo to thank the employees in the offices and data centers that were working in offices. The first employees to return to offices will be those who have jobs requiring them to be in the office. Those first workers to return will include those needing access to specialized equipment.

Elon Musk has had a pretty busy week, with his partner giving birth to their son -- named X Æ A-12, which you can learn on how to pronounce the name here -- but the real-life Tony Stark is also dealing with some drama.

Musk has threatened to move the Tesla HQ out of California and into Texas or Nevada, over the attempts of containing COVID-19 coronavirus. But now a Democratic state politician is getting fired up, with Lorena S Gonzalez from San Diego putting it pretty bluntly:

"F*ck Elon Musk".

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to piss someone like Elon Musk off. He's someone that you'd want on your side, and to keep happy and let him do what he does best -- 24/7. Right? Yeah, not if you're Alameda County.

Tesla Motors filed a new lawsuit over the weekend against Alameda County, which is stopping the EV maker from re-opening its factory based in Fremont, California. The new lawsuit is seeking injunctive and declaratory relief against Alameda County, with Musk firing off some heavy-worded tweets.

Musk tweeted: "Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant 'Interim Health Officer' of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!"

The news of shifting over some manufacturing from Asia to the US isn't new, with news that Trump wanted TSMC and Foxconn to consider moving to the US for manufacturing breaking in January 2017 -- right as Donald Trump was being inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States.

But now, there are renewed talks between the Trump administration and Intel and TSMC about moving production to the US for some of its chip factories. Intel might already have a big presence in the US, but the talks with Intel could see Team Blue opening up a foundry that other companies could use to make products.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a "new crop of cutting-edge chip factories in the US would reshape the industry and mark a U-turn after decades of expansion into Asia by many American companies eager to reap investment incentives and take part in a robust regional supply chain".

Facebook doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to privacy, safety, and security. Sometimes errors that Facebook makes impact apps from companies that aren't owned by Facebook. That is precisely what happened with popular iPhone apps like Spotify, Venmo, Tinder, TikTok, DoorDash, and Pinterest this week. All of those apps experienced persistent crashes due to a bug in the Facebook SDK earlier this week.

Reports of the crashes began pouring in around 6:30 PM Eastern on May 6. Facebook has since resolved the issue. A Facebook spokesperson issued a statement that said a new release of Facebook included a change that triggered crashes for some apps using the Facebook iOS SDK. According to the spokesperson, Facebook identified the issue quickly and resolved it.

The Facebook SDK is used by app developers for multiple reasons, including the ability for users to sign on using their Facebook account. The apps that experienced the persistent crash issues were attempting to communicate with Facebook servers and crashing as a result. The apps were reportedly crashing even if users were not logged in to Facebook and didn't have apps made by Facebook installed.

Tile is a company best known for creating small tags that allow users to find things they've lost, such as laptops, bags, and car keys. Tile has announced that it will be collaborating with Intel to bring the Tile "finding power" to PC OEMs. The collaboration means that coming Intel-powered laptop and notebook computers will be findable if misplaced or stolen.

Tile says that the updated Intel solutions are expected to be available later this year for OEM adoption. The technology will allow PC users to find their laptop or notebook even if the device is in sleep mode. Both the Tile and Intel teams are working closely with PC manufacturers to determine the best Tile experience for their customers.

"This collaboration with Tile is an exciting addition to our world-class wireless connectivity solutions. We are always looking for ways to further enhance PC platform experiences and in this case, we enable new capabilities including enhanced security by simplifying device tracking and recovery for both consumer and commercial PCs," said Eric McLaughlin, Vice President, Compute Client Group, General Manager Wireless Solutions Group, Intel.

One of the biggest challenges that people around the world face right now due to the coronavirus is helping kids to learn and stay occupied. People without children in the home don't understand how difficult it can be to get any work done with a rambunctious child wanting attention. Another challenge for parents is helping their kids to learn while at the same time trying to focus on their work so they can pay the bills.

Google has a new app that's available for Android users called Read Along by Google: A fun reading app. The app is designed to keep children entertained with short stories and other learning games. The key component of the app is that it has an in-app reading buddy that listens to the young reader as they read aloud and offers assistance when they struggle.

When the young reader does well, they are rewarded with stars. The app is aimed at kids who already have basic knowledge of the alphabet. Google has made the app for offline use without the need for an Internet connection after the initial download. Kids will be greeted with a fun game-like experience that features hundreds of stories and word games available in nine languages.

Things changed significantly for iPad Pro users when Apple announced it's very expensive Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 11-inch iPad Pro. The cool thing about those keyboards is that the iPad Pro attaches magnetically and makes it more like a laptop complete with a trackpad. Microsoft has announced that it will be updating Office for iPad with support for the latest iPadOS that brings trackpad and mouse use to the tablet.

Work is reportedly underway right now to update Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office applications that support trackpad functionality. The updated functionality is expected to ship for the iPad by this fall. With Microsoft saying "by" the fall, it could turn up earlier. No specific date or timing has been announced.

Microsoft has a history of supporting new features on iOS and iPadOS. It was quick in rolling out support for iPad Split View for Outlook on iOS last year. Microsoft also rolled out a new unified Office app for Apple devices earlier this year. That unified app rolled in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other office mobile features into a single app.

Google has announced my updates to its Google Lens app that allows people to be more productive and improve work and learning at home. One of the new features allows users to use Lens for more information on items and objects they see every day in their yard or home. One example Google gives is the ability to use Lens to take a photo of a flower seen on a daily walk to get more information.

One of the coolest new features is that Lens can now allow users to copy handwritten pages directly onto their laptops. When text is selected using Lens, there is an option that can be tapped titled "copy to computer" that allows the text to be pasted onto another signed-in device with Chrome. This is a way to copy handwritten notes for work or school and get them in digital form directly on a computer.

Google does say you have to write neatly, which rules out people with messy handwriting like myself. Both the smartphone used to photograph the text and the computer it's pasted to have to be signed into the same Google account. Lens updates also include the ability to allow Lens to translate words in Spanish, Chinese, and over 100 other languages by simply pointing the camera at the text.

Apple announced its Apple Card in 2019, and now its main competitor Samsung has announced its new Samsung Pay debit card.

The new Samsung Pay debit card was announced in a blog post by Sang Ahn, the vice president and general manager of Samsung Pay in North America. Samsung Pay will be backed by a cash management account, with Samsung teaming with personal finance company SoFi.

Ahn explained that Samsung is making a "mobile-first money management platform". The blog doesn't go into much detail about the money management platform, or what features Samsung Pay will have. Ahn did say that Samsung will unveil more details "in the coming weeks".

TiVo has announced a new TV dongle that supports the streaming of content from various applications and services. The device has debuted at $69.99, but TiVo is offering it with a $20 discount for a limited time, bringing the purchase price as of writing down to $49.99. It supports live TV from Sling along with streaming movies and shows from the biggest apps on the market, including Netflix, Prime Video, and more.

It features integrated Google Assistant and a built-in Chromecast. The TV dongle supports 4K UHD, Dolby Vision HDR, and Dolby Atmos. The TiVo Stream 4K ships with a voice control remote and requires no additional monthly TiVo fees.

Under the hood, the TiVo Stream 4K has an Amlogic S905Y2 chipset, 2 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of internal storage. It supports 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi on both 2.45 and 5 GHz networks along with Bluetooth 4.2. Video outputs include an HDMI 2.0a port, and most major video formats are supported. Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus sound are supported along with Atmos, DTS, WMA, and WMA Pro.

One of the major selling points of the latest generation of Apple Watch wearable is the ability of the device to detect irregular heartbeats. Fitbit wants it's wearables to be able to detect irregular heartbeats as well and has launched a virtual study to investigate if Fitbit devices can detect an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. The irregular heart rate detection feature has been in development since last October.

The study is open individuals who are 22 years old and over in the United States and own Fitbit devices including the Ionic and Versa. Fitbit hopes to enroll hundreds of thousands of people for the study. Detecting atrial fibrillation is a big deal and a big selling point, as it is the most common form of heart rhythm irregularity.

Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke and is most common among people 65 years old or older. The study launched Wednesday and is called the Fitbit Heart Study. Fitbit's devices can gather heart rate information using technology that measures blood flow rate in the user's wrist. Fitbit believes those measurements can be used to identify an irregular heart rhythm in combination with a specialized algorithm.

Disney+ might have only launched in November 2019, but it is quickly becoming a streaming service juggernaut -- and a rival to the unstoppable Netflix.

In its recent earnings report Disney announced that Disney+ had 54.5 million subscribers, with over 20 million of those added in the last couple of months -- right as people are forced to stay at home over coronavirus lockdowns and quarantines.

Disney+ is so successful it has passed its own Hulu service, and is now the streaming industry's second largest service. Netflix has a huge 183 million subscribers, but if Disney+ was at 25-30 million just a few months ago and is now passed 50 million. We could be looking at a gigantic fight in the streaming market -- which will be known as the Streaming Wars -- going into 2021 and beyond.

Ring today announced that it has improved its original Ring Video Doorbell with a new version. The name is the Video Doorbell 2nd Generation and sells for $99.99. Ring says that the new doorbell has 1080p HD video along with better image quality in day and night modes.

Another key feature for the second generation of the Ring Video Doorbell is updated motion zones. Ring says the new doorbell adds significantly to home security capabilities and brings the updates for the same price as the first generation device. The second generation also has enhanced audio quality.

The updated video doorbell will continue to take snapshots at intervals throughout the day. That feature is meant to allow users to review a timeline of what happened in front of the doorbell between recorded events. Adjustable motion zones now include an additional near zone that allows users to receive alerts they care about the most.

Tinder has announced that it will make an update to its very popular dating app to help people connect during the coronavirus pandemic around the world. The update will add a video chat feature that opens the door for video dating. The video chat feature was confirmed by the Match Group, which is the parent company to Tinder.

The company said in its Q1 earnings statement, "As daters demonstrated strong willingness to video-date, our product and engineering teams around the world mobilized quickly to deploy one-to-one video chat capabilities on many of our platforms."

Also noted in the earnings report is that Tinder will launch a one-to-one live video service in late Q2 2020. That's not very far away, so those wanting to do some video chatting on the dating app will be able to very soon. Research the company performed for the earnings report also showed that many people using its dating services plan to continue virtual dating in the future.

Apple and Google are working on a contact tracing system to help people know if they've been near anyone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus/COVID-19. The duo has announced that they will not allow location tracking in the new app. Combined, Apple and Google's operating system's power 99% of all smartphones. The duo surprised many when they announced that they would work together to create a system to notify people who have been near others that have tested positive for COVID-19.

Apple and Google have said of their app that the contact tracing technology would only be made available to public health authorities and that Bluetooth will be used to carry out the contact tracing. Both Apple and Google say that they will not allow GPS location data to be stored to protect citizen privacy and to avoid profiling.

The companies issued a joint statement that said the Bluetooth identifiers they are using rotate every 10 to 20 minutes to help prevent tracking. Companies also say that users would have to enable the technology specifically and that it could be turned off by the user at any time. One potential issue is that for users with devices who don't want to be tracked, yet may be infected, can turn off Bluetooth. Those who have low battery power resulting in Bluetooth being turned off automatically could result in some potentially infectious encounters not being tracked.

Zoom has grown significantly during the coronavirus pandemic around the world. Large numbers of users have turned to Zoom and similar services to conduct business and go to school. One of the challenges that Zoom has had is keeping users safe from harassment from so-called Zoom-bombing. Zoom-bombing occurs when someone joins a meeting who isn't supposed to be there and disrupts the meeting for the actual attendees.

Zoom says that it recently gave users more control over the use of personal meeting IDs (PMIs) within their organization. The latest release allows Zoom account owners and administrators to disable the use of a PMI for scheduling or starting an instant meeting. The PMI is always accessible using the same ID or meeting link, allowing anyone to join unless the meeting is properly secured.

Disabling the use of PMIs reduces the risk of unauthorized users gaining access to the meeting and doesn't leave the security of the PMI up to individual users. Zoom says the option to disable PMIs can be locked at the account or group level. Zoom warns that when PMIs are turned off, existing PMIs and personal links will become invalid and can't be used to host a meeting.