Today’s Tech Sightings: Internet Trends Report: India Is Definitely World’s Next Major Tech Market Thanks to cheaper smartphones and data plans, India now has 355 million internet users. That’s about 27 percent of its population of 1.3 billion – up from 277 million in 2015. That means mobile internet use is also on the rise, […]
Twitter Account Verification Now Open; Indian Teen Wins Google Award
Posted July 20th, 2016 at 1:45 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Twitter Opens Up Account Verification Twitter used to award its “verified account” blue badge to celebrities who might contend with fake accounts using their names. Now, any public Twitter account can apply to get the verification, provided users fill up a form with information about their influence level and various personal data. […]
Computer AI Trounces Go Champ; UN Slams UK Web Snooping
Posted March 9th, 2016 at 12:40 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Computer 1, Human 0 as Google’s AI Wins First Game in Go Challenge And the battle is on. Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) program has soundly beaten professional South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol in their first face-off. Google’s DeepMind’s AlphaGo made a clean 5-0 sweep in the first round of the complicated […]
LA Hospital Pays Bitcoin Ransom; Empowering Indian Women in Tech
Posted February 18th, 2016 at 11:59 am (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Hollywood Hospital Pays Bitcoin Ransom Demand The Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, whose computer systems were hijacked and locked down by hackers demanding payment on February 5, has succumbed and paid around $17,000 in digital bitcoin currency. Chief Allen Stefanek said paying the ransom was the most efficient way to restore normal hospital […]
Americans Choose Privacy Over Savings; Here Comes Your New AI Doctor
Posted January 14th, 2016 at 11:19 am (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: When Is It Worth Giving Up Your Data? Americans Aren’t Quite Sure A new report from the Pew Research Center found more than half of the 461 Americans surveyed would rather give up discounts than be tracked by gadgets wherever they go. Forty-five percent of respondents rejected energy savings and car insurance […]
Facebook, India Battle Over Free Internet; China’s Tech Transformation
Posted December 29th, 2015 at 11:03 am (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Battle Over Facebook’s Free Basics Internet Service Intensifies in India India’s net neutrality activists are on the war path as Facebook launches a new app that offers free internet service to users of the Reliance network in six Indian states. Save the Internet (STI) members argue that there are many ways to […]
Retailers Lights Have Eyes; Google Launches ‘About Me’
Posted November 12th, 2015 at 2:01 pm (UTC-4)
Tech Sightings: Editors Note: Techtonics is taking November 13 off. Will return next week. We’re Watching You: Carrefour Lights Have Eyes Almost three-quarters of British retailers are using new technologies, including facial recognition software, to track customers in stores. French retailer, Carrefour, started using a marketing tool that tracks your movements and beams data to […]
Thailands’ Internet; Freevolt; Skype; Android Blues
Posted October 1st, 2015 at 2:12 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Thai Government Faces Opposition in Bid to Build Single Internet Gateway Thailand’s plan to route all Internet traffic through one gateway is under fire. Former minister of information and communication technology, Anudith Nakornthap, a member of Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party, said the plan would slow down online services and could bring down […]
Oculus VR for Therapy; Cyberinsecurity; iCloud Bug; Foxconn Eyes India
Posted June 11th, 2015 at 3:16 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Oculus Virtual Reality Headset Finds Medical Uses Virtual Reality (VR) is great for gaming, but Jennifer Patterson, a University of Pittsburgh engineering student, used the Oculus prototype software to help treat soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. And she hopes her effort might show doctors and therapists the benefits of technology for […]
Rise of Smartphones; Global Wi-Fi; Bitcoin; Apple; PayPal User Policy
Posted June 3rd, 2015 at 2:26 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: The Unstoppable Rise of the Smartphone A new mobility report from Ericsson said about 70 percent of the world’s population will be using smartphones by 2020. That means that 6.1 billion smartphones will be sold globally within five years. Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa accounted for the highest number of […]