Technology

Bloomberg Apple Inc. is refusing to participate in an upcoming Senate hearing about anti-competitive practices at online app stores, according to a letter addressed to CEO Tim Cook from Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, a Republican. The letter says the Cupertino, California-based company declined to send a witness for an upcoming hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co.’s profit for the first quarter rises 44% from the prior year as the early release of a new flagship smartphone and strong gadget sales softened the blow from a Texas power failure that took one of its factories offline. South Korea’s biggest company posted operating income of 9.3 trillion won ($8.3 billion) for the three months ...

Bloomberg Google promised not to silence workers who talk about their pay, part of a settlement resolving one of the first legal complaints filed by a new union representing hundreds of employees and contract workers at the internet giant. “We will not tell you that you cannot discuss policies with other employees,” states the notice to staff, signed by an ...

Bloomberg John Krafcik stepped down as chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo self-driving vehicle division, making way for two tech industry veterans to jointly take over the business, the company said in a memo. Krafcik, 59, will be replaced by Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s chief operating officer, and Dmitri Dolgov, chief technical officer, who will serve as co-CEOs. Mawakana was ...

Bloomberg Intel Corp. unveiled an ambitious bid to regain its manufacturing lead by spending billions of dollars on new factories and creating a foundry business that will make chips for other companies. The plan, launched by new Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, is an aggressive move that puts Intel into direct competition with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s most-advanced ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc. will start to reopen its Silicon Valley offices beginning in May, a signal the technology industry may return — at least in part — to the office after more than a year of working from home during the global pandemic. Facebook will begin by opening Bay Area offices at just 10% capacity, and expects that its largest ...

Bloomberg Google asked the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to test drones to research how the technology can help monitor and control fires, before abandoning the effort. The Alphabet Inc. company’s climate and energy research group said it planned to use the drone at a private property in Firebaugh, California, according to a filing with FAA. Those plans have ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. is considering launching an Apple Watch with a rugged casing aimed at athletes, hikers and others who use the device in more extreme environments, reports said. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has internally discussed introducing such a Watch variation later in 2021 or 2022 at the earliest, said the people. This is at least the second time ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is expanding digital medical consultations to its employees across the US and says it will start offering the service to other companies. Together with the launch of an online pharmacy in December, the initiative marks Amazon’s entry into the gargantuan US health care industry. Medical services have long been seen as a target for Amazon, both to ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. warned it’s grappling with the fallout from a “serious imbalance” in semiconductors globally, becoming the largest tech giant to voice concerns about chip shortages spreading beyond the automaking industry. Samsung, one of the world’s largest makers of chips and consumer electronics, expects the crunch to pose a problem to its business next quarter, co-Chief Executive Officer ...