Technology

Bloomberg Facebook Inc is trying to broaden its virtual horizons. The company’s virtual reality unit Oculus announced Facebook Horizon, described as “an ever-expanding VR world” where people can interact with others as digital avatars. Users will be able to add features and elements to the world, which Facebook said will be “constantly growing with extraordinary creations made by Horizon citizens.” ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc’s Alexa has mastered Hindi in just a few years. The voice assistant introduced to India in 2017 gets a major local makeover for one of the largest retail markets. Amazon launched a version that now speaks Hindi and Hinglish — a unique blend with English. It can also switch automatically between all three. The new, improved Alexa ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc upgraded its Portal video chat devices, with a new model for TVs and lower prices. It also said users can opt out of the company accessing voice recordings collected by the hardware. With the new products, called Portal TV, Portal, and Portal Mini, Facebook is trying to break into the crowded smart speaker and connected living room ...

Bloomberg Glencore’s agriculture unit has become the latest trading house to join an initiative to modernise the way grain and oilseed transactions are handled. The group, which includes Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, Bunge Ltd, Cargill Inc, Louis Dreyfus Co and Cofco International, is working on a new platform in an effort to make global trading faster and more efficient. The platform, which ...

Bloomberg The owners of software maker TeamViewer are seeking to raise as much as $2.54 billion in Germany’s biggest technology initial public offering in almost two decades. Private-equity firm Permira plans to sell as many as 84 million shares for 23.50 euros to 27.50 euros apiece via holding firm TigerLuxOne, the company said in a statement. TeamViewer stock is expected ...

Bloomberg A startup hoping to challenge more established drone delivery giants such as Amazon.com Inc is unveiling a pod-like craft that it predicts could someday be used by stores to get products to customers within minutes. The company, Flirtey Inc, also envisions entering the public health sphere, with plans to fly defibrillators directly to emergency scenes, the company said in ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy Fold was on sale in its home market of South Korea, following a months-long delay caused by the discovery of a severe defect in the original design. The Galaxy Fold, a $1,980 luxury Android device that opens like a book, was originally scheduled to go on sale in April, but it was delayed after multiple ...

Bloomberg Momo Inc’s shares slid by their most in a month after China’s technology industry overseer began an inquiry into how its Zao face-swapping app handles user data. The stock slid 6.6 percent after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology responded to an online outcry about privacy terms involving the app, which went viral in the world’s biggest smartphone ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc announced a new lineup of televisions running its smart Fire TV operating system, including the first sets it has sold in Europe. The retail and technology giant says it’s working with manufacturers and retail partners to bring more than 15 Fire TV devices to market over the next year. They include JVC-branded TVs bound for Currys PC ...

Bloomberg Consumers are worried machines by Amazon and Google are eavesdropping on them at home, but that’s not stopping purchases. Despite increasing concerns about “passive listening” and privacy risks, more people are buying smart speakers like Amazon.com Inc’s Echo and the Google Home, according to a Capgemini Research Institute report. Almost half of the survey’s 12,000 respondents who live in ...