Technology

Bloomberg Some test models of Samsung Electronics Co’s new foldable phone suffered defects after only days of use, casting a shadow over next week’s introduction of a $1,980 device meant to rejuvenate a flagging market and showcase the Asian company’s technology expertise. Several publications, including Bloomberg News, outlined a bevy of problems with test versions of the device, which folds ...

Bloomberg Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software to play games, find music or trawl for trivia. Millions more are reluctant to invite the devices and their powerful microphones into their homes out of concern that someone might be listening. Sometimes, someone is. Amazon.com Inc employs thousands of people around the world to help improve ...

Bloomberg Vista Global Holding, which competes with Warren Buffett’s NetJets in the pay-by-the-hour private plane market, agreed to buy US-based JetSmarter, adding a service that sells empty seats on chartered aircraft. While the Uber-style model will extend the group’s product offering in the $11 billion on-demand corporate flights sector, JetSmarter is mainly attractive for industry-leading digital technology and an app ...

Bloomberg A team of scientists, some of whom have worked for Elon Musk, outlined a way to rapidly implant electrical wiring into the brains of rats. The process, described in an unpublished academic paper, is an important step towards a potential system to plug human brains directly into computers. The paper’s five authors have been employed by or loosely associated ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is trying a new way to take its Alexa digital assistant mobile: wireless earbuds that mirror Apple Inc’s popular AirPods. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is readying earbuds with built-in Alexa access for as early as the second half of this year, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The headphones will look and act similar to ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc showed it can open up its software and services to devices that compete with its own — but only when absolutely necessary. The company’s updated TV app, including a new subscription for original movies and TV shows, will launch on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. But it will also be available via gadgets from Amazon.com Inc and Roku ...

Bloomberg Daimler AG’s truck unit agreed to buy a majority stake in US autonomous technology company Torc Robotics as the world’s biggest commercial-vehicle maker prepares to spend more than $561 million on self-driving vehicles in the next few years. The deal is part of a plan to start running highly automated vehicles on US roads, starting with routes between logistics ...

Bloomberg Mynt, the Philippine mobile payments operator backed by billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial, plans to roll out insurance products en route to becoming a sprawling financial services platform in its Chinese ally’s image. The operator of the GCash app is now trying to become a conduit for insurance policies with the help of strategic partners that can help it ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc’s Oculus division unveiled a new version of the Rift virtual-reality headset, the Rift S, adding a higher-resolution display and a new design. The new model, which goes on sale for $399 sometime in the spring, plays the same games as the original Rift, but adds embedded sensors instead of external cameras for tracking. The previous model, which ...

Bloomberg Sony Corp and Nintendo Co shares slid after Alphabet Inc’s Google outlined a major push into video games with a streaming service called Stadia. Nintendo dropped as much as 4.6 percent and Sony declined 4.5 percent, the biggest intraday drop in six weeks. Stadia lets developers put games on a streaming platform that will allow players to access the ...