Category: Technology

At this week's three-day Energy Innovation Summit, organized annually by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA-e for short, experts, entrepreneurs, investors and government officials shared ideas, research results and experiences about challenges facing the generation, transformation, distribution and storage of all forms of energy. VOA's George Putic gives an overview. ...

Facebook Inc. on Friday said it was suspending political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked for President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, after finding data privacy policies had been violated. Facebook said in a statement that it suspended Cambridge Analytica and its parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) after receiving reports that they did not delete information about Facebook users that had been inappropriately shared. Cambridge Analytica was not immediately available for comment. Facebook did not mention the Trump campaign or any political campaigns in its statement, attributed to company Deputy General Counsel Paul Grewal. “We will take legal action if necessary to hold them responsible and accountable for any unlawful behavior,” Facebook said, adding that it was continuing to investigate the claims. Cruz, Trump campaigns Cambridge Analytica worked…

Fingerprints can unlock doors, phones and more, but are consumers ready to pay with them? Visa thinks so. More companies are exploring biometrics, the analysis of unique biological traits to verify identity, but how secure is the technology? Tina Trinh reports from New York ...

A one-page job application filled out by Steve Jobs more than four decades ago that reflected the Apple founder's technology aspirations sold for $174,000 at a U.S. auction, more than three times its presale estimate. An Internet entrepreneur from England was the winning bidder, Boston-based auction house RR Auction said on Friday, but the buyer wished to remain anonymous. The application dated 1973, complete with spelling and punctuation errors, had been expected to fetch about $50,000. The sale price reached on Thursday was $174,757, the auction house said. The form lists his name as "Steven jobs" and address as "reed college," the Portland, Oregon, college he attended briefly. Next to "Phone:" he wrote "none." Under a section titled “Special Abilities,” Jobs wrote “tech or design engineer. digital.—f rom Bay near…

South by Southwest is a pop-up marketplace of ideas. Held in Austin, Texas, it combines music and film festivals with a tech conference. Its nine days of events draw people from around the world, including Africa, as Tigist Geme of VOA's Horn of Africa Service reports. ...

Tossing swimmers and boaters a lifeline when they get into trouble on the water takes on a new meaning when that lifeline is attached to a robot. Faith Lapidus explains. ...

France added more kindling to a growing commercial dispute between Europe and the United States, announcing Wednesday it would sue American tech giants Google and Apple over allegedly abusive business practices. After peanut butter, cranberries and bourbon, Google and Apple are the latest American icons in Europe's crosshairs. Speaking to French radio Wednesday, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire accused the two U.S. companies of unilaterally imposing prices and other terms on French startups. Google and Apple may be powerful, Le Maire said, but they should not be able to treat French startups and developers the way they currently do. France has taken legal action against the companies before. But this latest dispute comes amid a potential trade war, as Washington prepares to slap tariffs against steel and aluminum imports.…

Only one of 118 gender discrimination complaints made by women at Microsoft was found to have merit, according to unsealed court documents. The Seattle Times reports the records made public Monday illustrate the scope of complaints from female employees in technical jobs in the U.S. between 2010 and 2016. And according to the court documents, Microsoft's internal investigations determined only one of those complaints was "founded." The documents were released as part of an ongoing lawsuit by three current or former Microsoft employees alleging gender discrimination. The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for the case, claiming more than 8,600 women collectively lost out on $238 million in pay and 500 promotions because of discrimination in the company's performance review process. Microsoft's case is one of several against giant companies in…

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei says it will continue to invest in the United States despite recent setbacks in its efforts to boost sales there. Xu Qingsong, also known as Jim Xu, Huawei's head of sales and marketing, told reporters in Shenzhen he was "confident" Huawei smartphone sales would triple this year in the U.S. from last year. News reports in January said Huawei appeared to be on the verge of cracking the lucrative American market when it signed a deal with AT&T, but the agreement fell through under U.S. government pressure. In the past, Huawei officials have rejected U.S. security complaints as politically motivated or possibly an attempt by competitors to keep it out of the market. "I don't know why they're so nervous," Xu said Tuesday, referring to the…

YouTube will begin displaying text from Wikipedia articles and other websites alongside some videos in a couple of weeks as the unit of Alphabet Inc's Google attempts to combat hoaxes and conspiracy theories on the service, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Susan Wojcicki, speaking on stage at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, displayed a mock-up of the new feature, which are called information cues. YouTube intends to present an alternative viewpoint to videos questioning science or describing conspiracies about events such as the U.S. moon landing. She said information cues would first roll out to topics for which there are a significant number of YouTube videos. “People can still watch the videos but then they actually have access to additional information, can click off and go…

Alphabet’s Google said on Tuesday that it will launch a network of free Wi-Fi hotspots across Mexico, part of the search giant’s effort to improve connectivity in emerging markets and put its products in the hands of more users. Google Station, an ad-supported network of Wi-Fi hotspots in high-traffic locations, is launching in Mexico with 56 hotspots and others planned, the company said. Mexico will be Google Station’s third market following India and Indonesia, and the first in Latin America. Mexico has made great strides in connectivity since a 2013-14 telecom reform intended to loosen the grip of billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil, which has long dominated the market. From 2013 to 2016, the number of people accessing the Internet in Mexico rose by 20 million, according to a report…

Scientists are always on the lookout for affordable and efficient methods for capturing carbon dioxide, responsible for global warming and the rising acidity of seawater. A new procedure, developed at the University of York in Britain, promises to extract large amounts of CO2 from seawater and store it safely, and recycle millions of tons of aluminum waste at the same time. VOA’s George Putic has more. ...

U.N. human rights experts investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar said Monday that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech there. Facebook had no immediate comment on the criticism Monday, although in the past the company has said that it was working to remove hate speech in Myanmar and kick off people who shared such content consistently. More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state into Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown last August. Many have provided harrowing testimonies of executions and rapes by Myanmar security forces. The U.N. human rights chief said last week he strongly suspected acts of genocide had taken place. Myanmar's national security adviser demanded "clear evidence." Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, told…

The inventor of the worldwide web, Tim Berners-Lee, called on Monday for powerful internet platforms and social media companies to be regulated to prevent the internet from being "weaponized at scale." The British computer scientist, in an open letter published on the 29th anniversary of the creation of the web, said a "new set of gatekeepers" was now dominant, controlling the spread of ideas and opinions. "The fact that power is concentrated among so few companies has made it possible to weaponize the web at scale," he wrote. "In recent years, we've seen conspiracy theories trend on social media platforms, fake Twitter and Facebook accounts stoke social tensions, external actors interfere in elections and criminals steal troves of personal data." The intervention by the 62-year-old MIT professor comes as some…

What originally started as a music festival in the 1980s has evolved into an event that is much bigger and harder to define. Imagine networking and partying for more than a week. That is what is happening in Austin, Texas. Musicians, film promoters and tech companies from around the world are gathering for the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and festival. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details from Austin. ...

Space scientists say the satellites and other spacecraft orbiting the Earth, including the International Space Station, are in increasing danger of collision with pieces of junk. Engineers are working hard to solve the problem of removing the trash that threatens functioning satellites worth millions of dollars. VOA’s George Putic reports. ...

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged over $850 million for solar projects in emerging economies, as both India and France called for affordable solar technology for emerging nations at the first conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in New Delhi.   The alliance was co-founded by both countries two years ago on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit to boost the use of solar power, countering the impact of climate change.   Dozens of country leaders, including many from Africa, attended the meeting in the Indian capital and emphasized the need for access to solar technology and concessional financing to address massive energy shortages in many of their sun-drenched nations.   Promising more loans and donations for solar projects by 2022, Macron stressed the need to remove obstacles…

A quick and reliable way of detecting carbon monoxide gas in the bloodstream could act as an early warning system for doctors trying to diagnose diseases. Faith Lapidus reports. ...

Technology increasingly relies on rechargeable batteries as a source of energy. Today's batteries are better and last longer, but when their capacity drops under a certain level they have to be replaced. Some experts say that, even with a half of their capacity, batteries can be used for less critical purposes. VOA's George Putic has more. ...

Facebook is getting deeper into the professional sports streaming game, partnering with Major League Baseball to air 25 weekday afternoon games in an exclusive deal. The games will be available to Facebook users in the U.S. on Facebook Watch, the company's video feature announced last August, via the MLB Live show page. Facebook said Friday that recorded broadcasts will also be available globally, excluding select international markets. The package, MLB's first digital-only national broadcast agreement, precludes teams from televising those games on their regional sports networks. The concept is similar to the exclusive package of Sunday night games on ESPN. Facebook, Twitter and Amazon and other tech companies are in a race to acquire sports streaming rights, which can be lucrative and potentially boost user loyalty. The deal comes at…

Researchers in Sweden have embarked on a four-year project whose aim is to understand one of the most complex animal "languages" — the one dolphins use to communicate with each other. VOA's George Putic has details. ...

A Canadian company’s hardware is being used to hack internet users along Turkey’s border with Syria, researchers said Friday, adding that there were signs that Kurdish forces aligned with the United States might have been targeted. The revelation comes as Turkey presses its offensive against the Kurds dug in along the country’s frontier with northwestern Syria, a conflict that threatens to disrupt the American-led effort to extinguish the Islamic State group. The apparent use of Canadian technology to target a U.S. ally was an irony underlined by Ron Deibert, the director of the internet watchdog group Citizen Lab, which published a report on the spying. “These companies are not closely regulated, and that can lead to a lot of unintended consequences, including consequences that harm our foreign policy interests and…

Students around the United States are creating virtual businesses that produce simulated products, which are marketed and sold for virtual money. Mike O'Sullivan reports that hundreds of student entrepreneurs came to Pasadena, California, to promote the virtual companies they have created. ...

A federal judge is expected to hear arguments on Thursday about whether President Donald Trump violated Twitter users' free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution by blocking them from his account. The arguments before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan are part of a lawsuit brought last July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and several individual Twitter users. Trump and the plaintiffs are seeking summary judgment, asking Buchwald to decide the case in their favor without a trial. Twitter lets users post short snippets of text, called tweets. Other users may respond to those tweets. When one user blocks another, the blocked user cannot respond to the blocker's tweets. The plaintiffs have accused Trump of blocking a number of accounts whose owners criticized, mocked or disagreed with him in replies to his tweets. They argued that Trump's…

Nine teams with members from 25 countries entered the final phase of the $7 million Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition for technologies that could cheaply and efficiently map the floors of the world’s oceans.  Using current technology this feat would take up to 600 years. VOA’s George Putic reports. ...

The FBI views companies hit by cyberattacks as victims and will not rush to share their information with other agencies investigating whether they failed to protect customer data, its chief said Wednesday. Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, encouraged companies to promptly report when they are hacked to help the FBI investigate and prevent future data breaches. He contrasted the FBI's approach to that of other regulators and state authorities. Without naming other agencies, Wray referred to "less-enlightened enforcement agencies," some of which he said take a more adversarial approach. "We don't view it as our responsibility when companies share information with us to turn around and share that information with some of those other agencies," Wray said in response to an audience question at a cybersecurity…

The South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, starts Friday. It's grown from a grassroots event to a phenomenon that attracts 400,000 people. For attendees, it can feel overwhelming. What's worth your time? Where's the buzz?   The latest AP Travel "Get Outta Here" podcast offers strategies for conquering FOMO (fear of missing out) at SXSW.   One approach is to let the nostalgia acts go - the former big-name bands promoting comebacks. Instead, pack your schedule with artists that have their best years ahead of them.   And you need a plan. You can't just wing it. Be ready for long lines. But have some backups. Consider less-crowded venues outside downtown. Film screenings take place at theaters all over, and up-and-coming bands play a lot of shows. ...

Classic children’s books are getting a 21st century upgrade, as British researchers have begun testing a project that would bring 3D versions of children’s stories to life on gaming platforms. VOA's Elizabeth Cherneff reports. ...