Technology

  Relaxnews Smartphones and smartwatches should once again be the talk of the IFA tech show in Berlin, Germany, with new devices expected from Samsung, Huawei and Sony, just six months after the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Chinese manufacturers will be heading to IFA en masse, where Lenovo is lined up to announce pricing and availability for its ...

  Relaxnews Most teenagers these days already own smartphones, which are often viewed as essential not only for communicating with family and friends, but also for entertainment and work. However, smartphones vary considerably from model to model and young smartphone users do not all have the same needs. FOR TIGHT BUDGETS With the Sunny, Wiko offers an entry-level smartphone at ...

  AFP A US software firm which chose Singapore for the world’s first public trial of driverless taxis hopes to be operating in 10 Asian and US cities by 2020, an executive said Monday. Doug Parker, nuTonomy’s chief operating officer, said the firm is eyeing tests by early next year in three other Asian countries which he declined to name. ...

  Eden Prairie / AFP New 3D printing technology unveiled this week sharply increases the size of objects that can be produced, offering new possibilities to remake manufacturing in the auto, aerospace and other major industries. One application demonstrated by 3D printing machinery maker Stratasys would allow airlines to pick made-to-order airplane interiors that could be tweaked with the click ...

  Bloomberg Line Corp. plans to use part of the $1.3 billion it garnered from last month’s initial public offering to bankroll acquisitions of content and technology, transforming its messaging service into a one-stop shop for Asian social media users. Japan’s most popular messaging service is gunning for companies in areas ranging from artificial intelligence chatbots and advertising to video ...

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. is laying the groundwork for its free messaging service WhatsApp to begin making money, easing its privacy rules so data can be used for Facebook advertising and allowing businesses to message its more than one billion users. It’s the first step toward monetizing the platform since the social network’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg paid $22 ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is planning a new iPhone feature for Japan that will enable users to pay for mass-transit rides with their smartphones instead of physical payment cards. A future iPhone will include technology called FeliCa, a mobile tap-to-pay standard in Japan developed by Sony Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. The FeliCa chip will let customers ...

  AFP Facebook said it is further automating its “trending” stories feature, a move that will scale back human input to prevent personal bias from influencing which stories get highlighted. The social media giant will rely more heavily on an algorithm to operate the feature — which lists what news or events are hot topics — no longer requiring people ...

  Bloomberg An escalating battle between Apple Inc. and Spotify Ltd. is leaving some musicians caught in the crossfire. Spotify has been retaliating against musicians who introduce new material exclusively on rival Apple Music by making their songs harder to find, according to people familiar with the strategy. Artists who have given Apple exclusive access to new music have been ...

  Bloomberg Best Buy Co. Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly was sold on virtual reality after he was almost eaten by a shark in an experience he called “mind- boggling.” Now he’s betting the masses will be enthralled with the technology too. In what’s seen as the first mainstream test of VR products, Best Buy began rolling out demonstrations for ...