Technology

Bloomberg The $410 DeliSofter pot looks much like the rice cookers ubiquitous in Japanese households and it does prepare rice in 24 minutes. But this invention of two Panasonic Corp engineers is designed to do more and help people with swallowing difficulties. The two women led the creation of a spin-off company, Gifmo Co, to sell the specialised steam cooker, ...

Bloomberg Alphabet Inc’s Google is once again pushing back date it will require employees to return to US offices on renewed concern after cases of Covid-19 omicron variant have been confirmed, executives told employees. Google had set January 10 as its return date, asking a bulk of its workforce to come in three days a week. Chris Rackow, a Google ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co has decided to build an advanced US chip plant in Texas, a win for the Biden administration as it prioritises supply chain security and greater semiconductor capacity on American soil. South Korea’s largest company has decided on the city of Taylor, roughly 30 miles from its existing giant manufacturing hub in Austin, a person familiar with ...

Bloomberg Xiaomi Corp. recorded its slowest pace of quarterly sales growth since early 2020 after supply chain mayhem choked off the flow of vital components and rivals like Apple Inc eroded its market share. Shares in China’s largest smartphone maker slid more than 5% in Hong Kong to their lowest since September 2020, reflecting lingering concern about a global chip ...

Bloomberg Dell Technologies Inc posted revenue that beat Wall Street estimates, powered by corporate and consumer spending on personal computers, which both reached company records in the fiscal third quarter. Sales in the period ended October 29 rise 21% to $28.4 billion, the Round Rock, Texas-based company said in a statement. That compares with analysts’ average estimate of $26.8 billion, ...

Bloomberg While many other technology giants embrace the metaverse as the next frontier of growth, Sundar Pichai sees Google’s future in its oldest offering: internet search. “I feel fortunate our mission is timeless,” Pichai, who is chief executive officer of Google and its parent, Alphabet Inc, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Emily Chang for the Bloomberg New Economy ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp has turned on a series of data centers at three sites in Sweden that run entirely on green energy through a partnership with state-owned utility Vattenfall AB. The Swedish computer halls, covering a total area of nearly 900 acres, are the latest in the company’s expansion to meet the huge appetite from businesses for secure cloud services. ...

Bloomberg American workers are hoping that the tight pandemic labour market will translate into better pay. It might just mean robots take their jobs instead. Labour shortages and rising wages are pushing US business to invest in automation. A recent Federal Reserve survey of chief financial officers found that at firms with difficulty hiring, one-third are implementing or exploring automation ...

Bloomberg Southeast Asia’s booming internet economy is set to double to $363 billion by 2025, eclipsing the previous forecast of $300 billion, research from Google, Temasek Holdings Pte and Bain & Co. shows. E-commerce, travel, media, transport and food are driving the region’s digital growth, with online spending rising 49% in 2021 to $174 billion, the companies said in their ...

Bloomberg Spotify Technology SA agreed to acquire Findaway, an audiobook company that gives the Swedish streaming giant additional products to market alongside music and podcasts. Findaway is a distributor for many audiobook services, publishers and authors, and will continue to serve them after the deal closes, the companies said. The purchase marks Spotify’s most significant investment in audiobooks, and is ...