Eric David
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Microsoft pledges $50M more to its ‘AI for Earth’ climate change program
Microsoft Corp. announced today that it will invest an additional $50 million into its AI for Earth program, which provides artificial intelligence and cloud services to organizations working to fight climate change with AI. The funding, which will be spread out over the next five years, is a major step up from the $2 million Microsoft invested ...
Apple reportedly may buy music identifying app Shazam for $400M
Apple Inc. is reportedly close to completing a $400 million acquisition of Shazam Entertainment Ltd., the London-based developer behind music identification app Shazam. According to a report by TechCrunch, sources say the deal could be signed as early as this week, with an official announcement planned for Monday. Founded in 1999 before officially launching in 2002, Shazam was one of ...
Google delays crackdown on Android accessibility apps
Google LLC wanted to crack down on apps that take advantage of Android’s accessibility features for unintended purposes, but a backlash from both developers and users has made the company reconsider its stance. The accessibility application programming interfaces allow developers to implement features that make their apps easier to use for people with disabilities, but they also give developers access to parts of the ...
Hilton’s IoT-filled ‘Connected Room’ will be a treasure trove of guest data
Hotel giant Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is jumping on the “internet of things” bandwagon in 2018 with Connected Room, new hotel rooms that will come fully stocked with smart home devices that guests will control from their mobile phones. Hilton hotels have already offered guests a few smart features, such as mobile check-in and keyless room access, but Connected Room will add ...
Deja vu: Facebook might split Instagram messaging into a separate app
Facebook Inc. drew a lot of flak a few years ago when it moved all of its messaging features to Facebook Messenger. Now there’s a chance that the social media giant could do the same with Instagram. Instagram is now testing Direct, a standalone messaging app for Instagram’s private chat features. The new app suggests that Facebook sees more potential in ...
DeepMind’s AlphaGo mastered chess in its spare time
AlphaGo has come a long way since it became the first artificial intelligence to conquer the game of Go nearly two years ago, but creator DeepMind Technologies, Google LLC’s AI company, does not want AlphaGo to remain a one-trick pony. It looks like it won’t be. DeepMind revealed in a newly published research paper Tuesday that the latest ...
Feuding with Amazon, Google pulls YouTube from Fire TV and Echo Show
Bad news for cord cutters: In a move that echoes contract spats between television networks and cable providers, Google LLC has announced that it will drop YouTube support for Amazon.com Inc.’s Fire TV and Echo Show media devices starting Jan. 1. Google had already pulled YouTube from Echo Show in September, saying in a statement that “Amazon’s ...
Kespry raises $33M to build smarter industrial drones for the enterprise
Drones are becoming a hot commodity in the enterprise thanks to advancements in technology and reduced costs, and dozens of new companies are rushing to fill the demand for smarter drones that are tailored to meet business needs. Silicon Valley-based startup Kespry Inc. is one such company, and today it announced that it has raised $33 million in a ...
One year later, Apple agrees to pay Ireland $15B in back taxes
Apple Inc. signed an agreement today to pay $15.38 billion (13 billion euros) in back taxes to the Republic of Ireland, complying with an order made by the European Union more than a year ago. Ireland has allowed Apple to pay lower tax rates than other EU nations since the early 1990s, but the European ...
Code.org raises $12M to help more kids learn computer science
Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to improving computer science education, announced today that it has raised $12 million in new funding. The money comes from previous donors The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Infosys Foundation USA, as well as from new donor PricewaterhouseCoopers. The organization announced its funding today during the kickoff for the annual Computer Science Education Week, which takes ...