Technology

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. joined the growing ranks of tech giants allowing some of its employees to work from home permanently if they wish. The software maker has instituted a “hybrid workplace” to give employees greater flexibility once its offices in the US reopen, the company said in a blog post. Microsoft said it’s letting any of its employees work from ...

Bloomberg Google said it’s within reach of negotiating a compromise on legislation that would force it to pay for Australian news, as the US giant continues a public campaign to get the proposed law watered down. The Australian government has drafted a world-first code to make Google and Facebook Inc. compensate publishers for the value their stories generate for the ...

Bloomberg Netflix Inc. became the world’s largest subscription-streaming service by flooding the market with popular content that’s cheaper than the competition. Yet five years after it arrived in Africa, the US company is struggling to grow beyond the wealthiest segment of the population, held back by poverty, piracy and limited access to broadband. In a continent of more than a ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. unveiled the cheapest-ever model of its Surface laptop, aiming to take a larger share of the lucrative notebook computer market by targeting students and budget shoppers. The Surface Laptop Go, starting at $549, is smaller and lighter than the company’s other notebooks and has a fingerprint scanner to log in. The device comes in three metallic finishes ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. ended development of its first big-budget video game Crucible, highlighting the online retailer’s continued struggle to make headway in the industry. “We didn’t see a healthy, sustainable future ahead of Crucible,” the company said in a blog post. The team working on the project will be moved to other upcoming games and customers will get refunds, it ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s victory over a record back-tax order faces a challenge at the European Union’s top court as Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager seeks to rescue her crackdown on allegedly unfair fiscal deals doled out to multinational companies. The EU’s General Court “made a number of errors of law” when it sided with Apple in its ruling in July, the ...

Bloomberg Google’s search engine, one of the most-profitable businesses in history, is about to face its biggest challenge as the US government readies an antitrust lawsuit accusing the company of crushing competition to protect and extend its monopoly. After a 14-month investigation, the Justice Department is homing in on whether Google skews search results to favor its own products and ...

Bloomberg Wondery Inc., the company behind hit podcasts has hired financial advisers to explore strategic options, including a potential sale, hoping to cash in on growing interest from technology and media firms. Wondery is expected to garner at least $200 million if it pursues a sale and could fetch as much as double that, which would represent the biggest podcasting ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc. will require employees to use either their own picture or an image of their initials as their internal profile photo as part of a broader effort to encourage more respectful discourse internally. The policy will prohibit using profile images with political content. The company will also create dedicated groups on its internal employee network for people to ...

Bloomberg By the start of the next decade Google wants to make sure all the electricity it uses for its data centers and offices will be truly 100% carbon free. Under its previous pledge the tech giant has been offsetting its consumption with direct renewable electricity purchases and the associated certificates. On paper, that allowed it to claim it used ...