|By Lawrence Williams| With an increase of 21.8 tonnes in its gold reserves in December, Russia continues to build its central bank bullion holdings – largely through buying in its most of its own domestic production. Russia was the world’s third largest gold producer (after China and Australia) in 2014 in producing 266.2 tonnes – only 6 tonnes less than Australia. It will be interesting to see […]
Saudi Arabia is considering its own Big Bang. The world biggest crude exporter is considering selling a stake in its state-owned company, which controls more than a tenth of the global oil market. A potential initial public offering is under review for Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Aramco, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s deputy crown prince, said in an interview with The Economist. A decision […]
It’s almost 2016, which must mean another iPhone is on the way. Not only will we be getting a new iPhone, but one with significant changes over previous models, if we are to believe the rumors. The release date may still be nine months away, but that shouldn’t stop us from parsing through the rumor mill. Reports are leaking out from Cupertino that Apple is considering a […]
A North Korean operating system is seen in this screen shot taken in Seoul December 23, 2015. Reuters/James Pearson SINGAPORE/SEOUL North Korea’s homegrown computer operating system mirrors its political one, according to two German researchers who have delved into the code: a go-it-alone approach, a high degree of paranoia and invasive snooping on users. Their research, the deepest yet into the secretive state’s Red Star OS, illustrates the […]
A Samsung logo is seen at Samsung Electronics’ headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, December 18, 2015. Picture taken on December 18, 2015. Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will start making new chips for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc next year, South Korea’s Electronic Times reported on Tuesday citing unnamed sources. The paper said Samsung’s foundry business and Globalfoundries will jointly start producing a […]
STOCKHOLM Swedish mobile telecom gear maker Ericsson announced it had signed a patent licence deal with Apple Inc, ending a year-long dispute and sending its shares up 7 percent on Monday. Ericsson did not specify how much it would earn from the deal but estimated overall revenue from intellectual property rights in 2015 would hit 13 to 14 billion crowns ($1.52-$1.64 billion), including positive effects from the […]
The sign outside the Target store is seen in Arvada, Colorado in this January 10, 2014 file photo. Reuters/Rick Wilking/Files Target Corp (TGT.N) is in the early stages of developing its own mobile wallet, three people familiar with the matter said, joining Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) in posing a threat to recent entrants like Apple Pay. The fourth-largest U.S. retailer has not committed to launch the product, […]
The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation of a May 2014 data breach at ride service, including an examination of whether any employees at competitor Lyft were involved in the episode, sources familiar with the situation said. Full Article This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read […]
Engineers at a “secret” Apple lab in Taiwan are reportedly working to develop innovative new screen technologies for iPhones and iPads, according to unnamed sources “with knowledge of the facility.” A Bloomberg report today said the lab, which began operating sometime this year, is focused on new ways to make device displays thinner and better. The lab is located in the Longtan District in northern Taiwan and […]
Recording artist Taylor Swift arrives at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. Reuters/Danny Moloshok/Files NEW YORK Apple Inc won a deal with pop star Taylor Swift to exclusively release a concert video of her recent world tour through its music streaming service, Apple Music, the company and singer said on Sunday. Swift, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Sunday, tweeted […]
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks about new Autopilot features during a Tesla event in Palo Alto, California October 14, 2015. Reuters/Beck Diefenbach SAN FRANCISCO Tesla Motors Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and other prominent tech executives are pouring $1 billion into a non-profit aimed at creating artificial intelligence that augments humans’ capabilities, rather than making them obsolete. The effort announced on Friday, called OpenAI, joins significant […]
It’s been only two months since Google rolled out Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but some Googlers are already hinting at some new features that might arrive with Android N, the next update to the operating system. One of those features might be support for a split-screen to enable easier multi-tasking on tablets. That’s according to a couple of comments made during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on […]
This has never happened before. The global smartphone market is posting its first single-digital growth year on record. That’s according to the latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker from market research firm IDC. The firm predicts worldwide shipments will grow 9.8% to hit 1.43 billion units this year, thanks in part to slowing growth in Latin America, Western Europe and the Asia Pacific. The slower-than-expected growth actually […]
The release of Apple’s iPhone 7 might still be nearly a year away, but rumors are already circulating that the company might ditch the standard headphone jack in favor of a thinner, proprietary Lightning connector. Switching from a standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack to a Lightning connector would enable Apple to make the iPhone 7 even thinner than the iPhone 6, which came out in September. The iPhone […]
Building on a connected-car technology it first introduced in 2007, Ford today launched an app that will let users remotely lock, unlock, start or locate their vehicles using their smartphones (pictured). The new Sync Connect feature will even allow car owners to, for example, schedule their vehicles to start up at 7:50 a.m. so the interiors are warm and comfortable when they get in to drive to […]
Redmond is doubling down on its OneNote note-taking app. Yesterday Microsoft announced a major new upgrade for the app. The latest versions contain a number of new features for a variety of devices, including iOS and Android updates, that will begin rolling out in the next couple weeks. Among the new features is the ability to add audio and attach files to your notes (pictured). The increased […]
Unlike Apple, which exerts start-to-finish control over the chips and software that go into its iPhones, Google must deal with a far more diverse hardware/software environment for Android smartphones. But the tech giant might be looking to increase its influence over the systems-on-chip (SoCs) that go into Android devices. An article published yesterday in The Information noted that Google has recently talked with different chip-makers to give […]
A Microsoft logo is seen at a pop-up site for the new Windows 10 operating system at Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York July 29, 2015. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/Files Microsoft Corp unveiled on Tuesday its first laptop, a line of Lumia smartphones, a new Surface Pro tablet and an updated version of its wearable fitness tracker, Microsoft Band, all running on Windows 10, its latest operating system. […]
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar/Files NEW YORK Apple Inc’s antitrust compliance program has improved, but the company continues to impede a court-appointed monitor overseeing the program, acting as “its own worst enemy,” the monitor told a federal judge in a report made public on Tuesday. […]
An old tank sits on the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Golan Heights. The 400-plus square miles of the Israeli-controlled Golan, on the northeast border with Syria, is both strategic plateau and lush agricultural terrain yielding prize apples, cherries and beef. It also serves as a vast playground that drew three million tourist visits last year. Uriel Sinai for The New York Times […]
People wait in line as the Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus go on sale at an Apple Store in Los Angeles, California September 25, 2015. Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn REUTERS – Apple Inc said on Thursday it appointed James Bell, Boeing Co’s former chief financial officer, to its board. Bell, who was Boeing’s CFO from 2003 to 2012, is on the board of several other companies, including JPMorgan […]
Google Inc (GOOGL.O) unveiled its new Nexus phones on Tuesday in its latest attempt to take a bite out of Apple’s dominant share of the smartphone market. The launch of the phones, the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X, comes a day after Apple Inc (AAPL.O) reported record first-weekend sales of its new iPhones. The Nexus 5X 16 GB model will be priced at $379, while the […]
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, September 25, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not only speak to Silicon Valley’s biggest executives during his two-day visit to the U.S. tech hub but will also take questions from some of Facebook Inc’s 1.5 billion […]
