Technology

Bloomberg Best Buy Co. is going after Grandma. The electronics retailer agreed to pay $800 million to acquire GreatCall Inc., a provider of smartphones and emergency-response systems for seniors, broadening its push into the burgeoning market for connected-home products and services. The deal, which should close by the end of the third quarter, will boost adjusted earnings by 2020, Best …

Bloomberg Trekking through a crowded, cavernous Walmart supercenter isn’t much fun. But what if you could do it from the comfort of your own home through virtual reality? The world’s biggest retailer wants to find out, according to filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The company has applied for two patents that detail a “virtual show room” and …

Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has begun offering its own battery-powered ship engines in a move that signals the gathering momentum behind a push towards hybrid and ultimately all-electric vessels. While maritime demand for lithium-ion batteries is focused on providing top-up power for traditional diesel and gas-turbine ships, the technology could propel fully electric craft over a limited range, according to …

Bloomberg The autonomous-vehicle gap between Ford Motor Co. and its rivals from Detroit and Silicon Valley can be measured in years. Yet even a company playing catch-up in the race to turn self-driving technology into high-margin businesses is drawing interest from outside investors, an indicator of just how much money is pouring in. “I’m really excited about what I’m hearing …

DUBAI / Emirates Business Don’t miss your chance to be among the first in the UAE to own the super powerful Galaxy Note9, that is available for pre-order until August 24 from major retailers, operators and Samsung brand stores, as well as online on Shop.Samsung.com/ae. Customers who pre-order the device will be the first to experience the powerful S-Pen, the …

Bloomberg New York’s city council dealt a political blow to Uber Technologies Inc. and other app-based car-for-hire companies by approving a one-year industry wide cap on new licenses and giving the city Taxi & Limousine Commission authority to set minimum pay standards for drivers. The passage of sweeping industry regulations signalled politicians’ changed attitudes towards the so-called gig economy and …

Bloomberg Few corners of the tech industry are as tantalising or complex as quantum computing. For years evangelists have promised machines capable of breaking the most impenetrable coded messages, unlocking the secret properties of the physical world and putting supercomputers to shame. But Rigetti Computing, one of the most prominent and well-funded startups in the field, would just like to …

Bloomberg Facebook Inc, during all its years of expansion, has been focussed on one thing above all else: getting people to spend more time on its social network. Now, as tech giants face increasing criticism over the addictive nature of their products, the company is releasing features that do the opposite. Facebook and Instagram, its photo-sharing app, will add controls …

DUBAI / Emirates Business Global innovator LG Electronics Inc (LG) is poised to define the future of artificial intelligence (AI) for consumers and businesses in the years ahead with the establishment of a major new AI research presence in North America in collaboration with leaders in academia and start-ups. The company is launching the new LG Electronics AI Research Lab …

DUBAI / Emirates Business Immensa Technology Labs, the UAE’s leading Additive Manufacturing (AM or 3D printing) company, in collaboration with global leader in construction industry, Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), released result of a world-first joint effort to recover a series of concrete casting techniques with the aid of large-format 3D printing. The ‘Sensorial Adaptive Concrete Screen’ was developed with NOWlab, …