Technology

Bloomberg As major events were getting cancelled across the US, and New York was banning gatherings of 500 or more on March 12, the Swiss luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer hosted a final shindig in honour of its new Connected Watch. At the Caldwell Factory in New York’s trendy West Chelsea district, guests played with the new smart timepiece, which comes ...

Bloomberg As Chinese factories hit by the coronavirus look to restart production, the pain is only beginning for carriers that rely on steady shipments of Asian smartphones. AT&T Inc is bracing for handset shortages across the US. A carrier in the UK and one in France are already dealing with supply disruption and could run out of some popular models, ...

Bloomberg Tech giants continue to drop out of this month’s South by Southwest festival over coronavirus concerns, threatening an event that typically serves as one of the industry’s most influential gatherings. Apple Inc said that it wouldn’t be attending the conference, which kicks off on March 13 in Austin, Texas. The iPhone maker and streaming-video provider had planned to debut ...

Bloomberg The chief executive of Lego A/S says the novel coronavirus only represents a short-term blow to China’s economy that won’t change the toymaker’s expansion plans in its fastest growing market. Lego reported record sales and said growth in 2020 will once again be led by China. It’s targeting almost 60% more stores there this year, bringing the number to ...

Bloomberg Spin, the scooter-sharing service owned by Ford Motor Co, is expanding to new markets outside of the US. The company will launch its first international fleet of electric scooters in Cologne, Germany, as soon as the spring, according to a statement. It will start with several hundred scooters and plans to increase the number quickly, though pricing hasn’t been ...

Bloomberg iDreamSky Technology Holdings Ltd is in advanced talks with buyout firm CVC Capital Partners to jointly acquire gaming firm Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd, according to people familiar with the matter. iDreamSky, which counts Tencent Holdings Ltd among its investors, has been in exclusive talks with Leyou’s controlling shareholder since late last year, Bloomberg News previously reported. Leyou later confirmed ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc cancelled its annual F8 Developer Conference over concerns about Covid-19, commonly referred to as the coronavirus, according to a blog post. The conference, scheduled for May in San Jose, California, has become a flagship event in the technology community in recent years, and Facebook uses F8 to provide updates on the company’s product lines. In the past, ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc is considering giving rival apps more prominence on iPhones and iPads and opening its HomePod speaker to third-party music services after criticism the company provides an unfair advantage to its in-house products. The technology giant is discussing whether to let users choose third-party web browser and mail applications as their default options on Apple’s mobile devices, replacing ...

Bloomberg Air travel and glitch-free internet access are often considered mutually exclusive, thanks to the technical difficulties associated with making Wi-Fi work at 40,000 feet. For the airlines, a satisfying online experience is even more elusive. The hardware, software, maintenance and inability to easily switch service providers combine for a very expensive headache. But there may be some good news ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co is starting a new decade with a new chief in charge of its mobile business, but it’s doing it in the same old fashion: by leaning into its semiconductor advantage to overwhelm consumers with unmatched specs on its latest Galaxy devices. Announced at simultaneous events in San Francisco and London, Samsung’s Galaxy S20 family of Android ...