Technology

Bloomberg Alphabet Inc’s Google acquired smartwatch maker Fitbit Inc for $2.1 billion in cash, a move that could shore up the internet giant’s hardware business while also potentially increasing antitrust scrutiny. Fitbit shares jumped 16%. Google will pay $7.35 a share for San Francisco-based Fitbit, according to a statement. That represents a 71% premium to Fitbit’s stock price before Reuters …

Bloomberg Apple Inc lost ground to Samsung and Huawei in the third quarter when global smartphone sales rose on a quarterly basis only for the first time in two years, according to Canalys. Apple shipments fell 7% to 43.5 million units in the July to September period, just before the well-received iPhone 11 hit global store shelves, the researcher estimated. …

Bloomberg Nintendo Co can finally claim a mega-hit smartphone game with its new Mario Kart Tour, which has been downloaded 123.9 million times in its first month and comfortably eclipsed the company’s previous mobile game debuts, Sensor Tower data showed. “The racing app is Nintendo’s most successful mobile game launch by downloads so far, eclipsing Super Mario Run’s 21.8 million …

Bloomberg Google lured billions of consumers to its digital services by offering copious free cloud storage. That’s beginning to change. The Alphabet Inc unit has whittled down some free storage offers in recent months, while prodding more users towards a new paid cloud subscription called Google One. That’s happening as the amount of data people stash online continues to soar. …

Bloomberg Following fits and starts, Apple Pay has become the top mobile payment method at brick-and-mortar stores in the US, according to research firm EMarketer. Apple Inc’s payment service will have 30.3 million users in the US this year, compared with 25.2 million for the Starbucks payment app, EMarketer estimated. Starbucks Corp had been the leader, with innovative features that …

Bloomberg Flying taxis, once the purview of science-fiction films such as The Fifth Element, might soon be a staple of urban transport, as better batteries and innovative designs make it cheaper, cleaner, and quieter to travel short distances by air. Citigroup thinks sales of air taxis could reach $5 billion a year by the end of the next decade. Two …

Bloomberg Amazon.com said it has acquired Health Navigator, a medical technology startup, in an effort to bolster its healthcare offerings for employees. The startup will be wrapped into a clinic for workers that launched last month at the company’s Seattle-based headquarters. Called Amazon Care, the programme offers virtual and in-person consultations, and delivery of prescriptions to employees’ offices and homes. …

Bloomberg Google’s latest smartphone demonstrates how artificial intelligence (AI) and software can enhance a camera’s capabilities, one of the most important selling points of any mobile device. The Pixel 4, the latest entrant in a phone line defined by its cameras, touts an upgraded ability to zoom in when shooting photos as its biggest upgrade. But the Alphabet Inc company …

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co said it will issue a software update early next week to address a major security vulnerability that’s emerged on the company’s flagship Galaxy smartphones, the latest technological mishap for the world’s largest smartphone maker. Consumers noticed in recent days that Samsung’s in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint scanner — used to unlock the company’s latest Galaxy S10 and Note …

Bloomberg Adobe Inc is nearing the consumer launch of Photoshop for Apple Inc’s iPads a year after it was officially announced, however the company and early testers have said that the application will lack some key features from the desktop version. The San Jose, California-based company will hold its annual creative software conference, Max, in early November in Los Angeles …