Chinese Usher in Lunar New Year on WeChat With a Billion Virtual Red Envelopes
The annual tradition of gifting red envelopes with token money went online yesterday as the Chinese celebrated the new lunar year on the popular messaging app WeChat, also known as Weixin in China. Weixin users, said to number more than 400 million, exchanged 1.01 billion red envelopes, although it is not clear how much money was transferred.
Lenovo to Stop Pre-installing Controversial Software
China’s Lenovo Group, the world’s largest PC maker, announced Thursday it will stop pre-installing software that security experts describe as malicious. The decision followed reports that the company pre-installed software called Superfish on its laptops that makes them more vulnerable by opening encrypted connections and basically letting hackers take control or eavesdrop.
Google: Proposed Government-Sanctioned Hacking is a Threat to Us All
Google has filed formal opposition to a proposed change in federal criminal procedure that would allow judges to approve warrants for remote hacking and surveillance both in the U.S. and in foreign countries.
US Marshals Will Auction off Over $11 Million in Bitcoin
On March 5, 2015, the U.S. government will auction 50,000 Bitcoins in blocks of 2,000 and 3,000 bitcoins. A Bitcoin is currently valued at about $235. So a block would be worth around $11.8 million, give or take market fluctuation.
Sony Is No Longer an Electronics Company
Is Sony coming apart? The Japanese company, one of the pioneers of consumer electronics, announced last night that it is spinning off its audio and video divisions. The company spun off its TV division last year. More recently, CEO Kaz Hirai told investors he has to consider spinning off the smartphone business as well.
Microsoft Joins With Mozilla in Bid for Fast Web Apps
A new partnership between Microsoft and Mozilla will allow Microsoft to bring Firefox technology — asm.js — to Windows 10 and its own browsers to accelerate some Web-based applications, such as games.
