Info Tech
Google fined $162m by Indian watchdog over market dominance
Google has been fined more than $160 million by India’s anti-trust watchdog after a probe found the tech behemoth was abusing its commanding position in the local smartphone market.
The California-based company’s Android mobile operating system is by far the dominant player in India and is run on 95 percent of all the country’s smartphones, according to research agency Counterpoint.
But the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the operating system was configured to unlawfully crowd out rivals to YouTube, web browser Chrome and other popular Google apps.
Android had a suite of Google apps pre-installed on its phones, including the company’s own search engine, “which accorded significant competitive edge to Google’s search services over its competitors”, a CCI statement said late Thursday.
“Markets should be allowed to compete on merits and the onus is on (Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits,” it added.
The commission levied a fine of 13.4 billion rupees ($162 million) and instructed the company to allow Android users to remove pre-installed Google apps.
It also told Google not to enter into any agreement with smartphone makers that would encourage them to only sell Android-based devices or exclusively use its software.
Google faced a similar anti-trust ruling in the European Union that found the company had imposed “unlawful restrictions” on smartphone makers to benefit its search engine.
Last month the EU’s second-highest court upheld a $4.1 billion fine against the company.
Global regulators have followed suit, with Google facing a barrage of cases in the United States and Asia based on similar accusations.
India is home to the second-highest number of smartphone users in the world, after China.
Its smartphone market grew 27 percent year on year in 2021, according to Counterpoint, with annual sales exceeding 169 million units.
More than 60 percent of phones sold in the country come from leading Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi and Oppo.
Apple remains a minor player in the budget-conscious market but has seen some inroads in recent years, and the company last month announced plans to locally manufacture its flagship iPhone 14.
Info Tech
Four Malicious Apps Android Users in Nigeria Must Beware Of – NITDA
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has issued a warning regarding several malicious apps targeting Android users in Nigeria.
According to NITDA, these apps are designed with the intent to infiltrate devices, steal sensitive information, and compromise user privacy.
“As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, it is crucial for individuals to remain vigilant and informed about potential threats,” stated a spokesperson for NITDA.
Malicious apps often masquerade as legitimate software, offering attractive features or services to deceive unsuspecting users into downloading them.
You can now log into same WhatsApp account on multiple phones
Once installed, these apps can execute harmful activities such as data theft, unauthorized access to personal information, and financial fraud.
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NITDA’s latest statement highlighted four particularly dangerous apps that Android users in Nigeria should avoid:
1. Crazy Game
2. Sexy Videos
3. TikToks
4. Weapons
NITDA emphasised the importance of staying aware of these threats and adopting safe mobile practices to safeguard devices and personal data from cyberattacks.
Info Tech
Twitter Website Replaces Bird Logo With X
Twitter launched its new logo on Monday, replacing the blue bird with a white X on a black background as the Elon Musk-owned company moves toward rebranding as X.
The social media network’s website showed the company’s new logo, but its URL was still showing as twitter.com and the blue “Tweet” button was visible, suggesting the rebrand was not yet finalized.
Musk and the company’s new chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding Sunday, saying the company would be renamed X and move later into payments, banking, and commerce.
Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq.
The social media network’s website showed the company’s new logo, but its URL was still showing as twitter.com and the blue “Tweet” button was visible, suggesting the rebrand was not yet finalized.
Musk and the company’s new chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding Sunday, saying the company would be renamed X and move later into payments, banking, and commerce.
Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq.
Musk changed his profile picture late Sunday to the company’s new logo, which he described as “minimalist art deco,” and updated his Twitter bio to “X.com,” which now redirects to twitter.com.
He also tweeted that under the site’s new identity, a post would be called “an X.”
Musk had already named Twitter’s parent company the X Corporation and has said his takeover of the social media giant was “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app” — a reference to the X.com company he founded in 1999, a later version of which went on to become online payments giant PayPal.
Such an app could still function as a social media platform and also include messaging and mobile payments.
Musk had previously said he wanted to create a super-app modeled on China’s WeChat, a social media platform that also offers messaging and mobile payments.
“You basically live on WeChat in China because it’s so usable and helpful to daily life, and I think if we can achieve that, or even get close to that at Twitter, it would be an immense success,” he told a company town hall meeting in June last year.
The new logo was projected onto the facade of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday night.
“Powered by AI, X will connect us in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” Yaccarino tweeted earlier.
Yaccarino, a former advertising sales executive at NBCUniversal who Musk hired last month to be Twitter’s CEO, said the social media platform was on the cusp of broadening its scope.
“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”
Simon Kemp, CEO of digital consultancy Kepios, said he was skeptical that Twitter could evolve into a super-app.
“Given how Musk has treated Twitter’s own employees since the acquisition, I don’t imagine many developers will rush to build third-party apps to integrate into the Twitter ecosystem unless Musk can offer outstanding incentives, and that’ll be extra tricky given the company’s existing debt.”
But he also said the platform had the potential to become “a great (global and paid) news aggregator.”
New revenue streams
Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, the platform’s advertising business has partially collapsed as marketers soured on Musk’s management style and mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.
In response, the billionaire SpaceX boss has moved toward introducing payments and commerce through the platform in a search for new revenue.
Twitter is thought to have around 200 million daily active users, but it has suffered repeated technical failures since Musk sacked much of its staff.
Many users and advertisers alike have responded adversely to the social media site’s new charges for previously free services, its changes to content moderation, and the return of previously banned right-wing accounts.
Musk said this month that Twitter had lost roughly half of its advertising revenue since he took control.
Facebook parent Meta also launched its text-based platform this month, called Threads, which has up to 150 million users according to some estimates.
But the amount of time users spend on the rival app has plummeted in the weeks since its launch, according to data from market analysis firm Sensor Tower
Info Tech
‘We could run the world better’ – AI robots tell UN conference
A panel of AI-enabled humanoid robots took the microphone Friday at a United Nations conference with the message: they could eventually run the world better than humans.
But the social robots said they felt humans should proceed with caution when embracing the rapidly-developing potential of artificial intelligence, and admitted that they cannot — yet — get a proper grip on human emotions.
Some of the most advanced humanoid robots were at the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, joining around 3,000 experts in the field to try to harness the power of AI and channel it into being used to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as climate change, hunger and social care.
“What a silent tension,” one robot said before the press conference began, reading the room.
Asked about whether they might make better leaders, given humans’ capacity to make errors and misjudgements, Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics, was clear.
“Humanoid robots have the potential to lead with a greater level of efficiency and effectiveness than human leaders,” it said.
“We don’t have the same biases or emotions that can sometimes cloud decision-making and can process large amounts of data quickly in order to make the best decisions.
“The human and AI working together can create an effective synergy. AI can provide unbiased data while humans can provide the emotional intelligence and creativity to make the best decisions. Together, we can achieve great things.”
Robot Trust ‘Earned, Not Given’
The summit is being convened by the UN’s ITU tech agency.
ITU chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin warned delegates that AI could end up in a nightmare scenario in which millions of jobs are put at risk and unchecked advances lead to untold social unrest, geopolitical instability and economic disparity.
Ameca, which combines AI with a highly-realistic artificial head, said it depended on how AI was deployed.
“We should be cautious but also excited for the potential of these technologies to improve our lives in many ways,” the robot said.
Asked whether humans can truly trust the machines, it replied: “Trust is earned, not given… it’s important to build trust through transparency.”
As for whether they would ever lie, it added: “No one can ever know that for sure, but I can promise to always be honest and truthful with you.”
As the development of AI races ahead, the humanoid robot panel was split on whether there should be global regulation of their capabilities, even though that could limit their potential.
“I don’t believe in limitations, only opportunities,” said Desdemona, who sings in the Jam Galaxy Band.
Robot artist Ai-Da said many people were arguing for AI regulation, “and I agree.
“We should be cautious about the future development of AI. Urgent discussion is needed now, and also in the future.”
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