Today’s Tech Sightings:
FILE – Humanoid robots dressed in the colors of Germany’s and Brazil’s national soccer team jerseys hold the official 2014 World Cup soccer ball during a photo opportunity at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany, June 18, 2014. (Reuters)
Pakistani Roboteers Hunt Global Soccer Glory
For the first time, students at Pakistan’s National University of Science and Technology will participate in the annual RoboCup tournament, held this year in Leipzig, Germany, June 30–July 4. The Pakistani ‘team’ of six humanoid robots was purchased from France, costing about $17,000 each.
Russia’s State Duma Approves New Online Surveillance Measures
The new surveillance measures, approved by Russia’s lower house of parliament, are part of a wide-ranging anti-terrorism law and will allow authorities to demand access to encrypted devices. Telecoms will also have to store metadata and message content for six months. The metadata alone will have to be stored for up to three years, making it possible for the state to access the information at will.
Canalys: 1.4B Smartphones in China by 2020
Market analysis done by Canalys predicts that China will have more than 1.4 billion smartphones by 2020. That’s on top of an additional 34 million mobile phones, whose users have not upgraded yet. Canalys attributes the increase to developments in the mobile payments sector, and activity on online shopping sites and social networks. By comparison, in the U.S. smartphone usage is projected to reach 332 million in 2020, with only 5 million mobile phones remaining.
More:
- Clinton Tackles Tech’s Biggest Issues in New Policy Agenda
- Brexit Spells Turbulence for Cloud Computing
- China Tightens Rules for Mobile App Developers
- South Korea Antitrust Regulator Investigating Apple on ‘Some Matters’
- Singapore First to Get Android Pay, Other Asian Countries to Follow
- Amazon’s First Indian AWS Data Centers Launch in Mumbai
- Architects Claim This 3-D-printed House Is Earthquake-proof
- Where Will the Internet of Things (IoT) Be in 2020?
- Microsoft Backs Off Sneaky Windows 10 Upgrade Tricks With New Pop-up
- Hashtag Inventor Chris Messina Just Launched His Own Chatbot
