Maria Deutscher
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Microsoft to close most its stores as focus shifts online
Microsoft Corp. today announced that it will wind down its retail operation, closing almost all of its 80-plus physical stores worldwide. The exceptions are the facilities that currently house Microsoft’s flagship stores in London, New York City, Sydney and the company’s hometown of Redmond, Washington. Those locations will be turned into “Experience Centers” with a ...
Amazon acquires autonomous vehicle startup Zoox in reported $1.2B deal
Amazon.com Inc. today said that it’s buying Zoox Inc., an autonomous vehicle startup backed by about $1 billion in venture capital. Zoox received a $3.2 billion valuation after its most recent round of funding. Amazon, according to Axios, is paying about $1.2 billion for the startup. Despite the valuation discount, The Information reported that most of Zoox’s investors ...
Microsoft and Docker launch first release of Docker Desktop integrations
Microsoft Corp. and Docker Inc. today launched the first release of a landmark integration between their products that’s aimed at easing the development of cloud-based container applications. Last month, the two long-time partners announced an expanded alliance at Docker’s recent virtual DockerCon event. The collaboration’s main focus is easing application development for joint customers. To ...
Google launches ARCore Depth API to enable more powerful AR apps on Android
Google LLC has released a new application programming interface for Android that will enable developers to create more realistic-looking and functional augmented reality applications. The ARCore Depth API, launched today, will be available on hundreds of millions of Android devices worldwide. A number of Google partners including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Snap Inc., have ...
Google will start paying some publishers for content under new program
Google LLC today detailed an upcoming program in which it will pay select publishers for content and, in some cases, potentially make paywalled articles freely available to its users. The initiative comes amid mounting regulatory scrutiny of how tech firms use content created by media outlets. Last year, the European Union passed legislation allowing member ...
UJet raises $55M round backed by GV for its cloud contact center platform
San Francisco-based startup UJet Inc. today announced that it has raised $55 million to grow the adoption of its cloud-based contact center platform, which is used by the likes of Google LLC’s Nest subsidiary to deliver customer support. Sapphire Ventures led the round. The venture firm was joined by several existing UJet backers, including Google’s ...
Senate Republicans propose to limit encryption used by tech firms
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn have introduced a bill that would require tech firms to help law enforcement officials access their users’ encrypted data if a court issues a warrant for doing so. If passed, the bill may force companies such as Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. to weaken some privacy features in ...
GPU data warehouse startup SQream lands $39.4M funding round
SQream Technologies Ltd., the maker of a data warehouse that uses graphics cards to speed up large-sale analytics, today said it has secured $39.4 million in fresh funding. Mangrove Capital Partners and Schusterman Family Investments jointly led the round. SQream has raised more than $50 million from investors since its founding in 2010. The company’s SQream ...
Amazon launches $2B fund to back sustainable technologies
Amazon.com Inc. today said it’s setting up a $2 billion venture capital fund to support companies developing sustainable technologies and services. The investment vehicle, called the Climate Pledge Fund, will advance Amazon’s previously announced effort to become net carbon-neutral by 2040. Amazon said it will back companies whose solutions can help it and other organizations reach their ...
Red Hat upgrades Ansible Automation Platform to streamline IT tasks
Red Hat today released a new version of the Ansible Automation Platform, its suite of software products for automating information technology management tasks. The suite is based on Ansible, a popular open-source tool maintained by Red Hat that lets administrators create scripts called playbooks to handle repetitive IT chores automatically. The Ansible Automation Platform also ...