FileHippo News

The latest software and tech news

Microsoft To Cut Thousands of Jobs Worldwide
Decision comes as company increases focus on cloud computing. Microsoft has confirmed speculation in the industry that it will to lay off thousands of workers as the tech giant moves further into its cloud computing operations, namely Azure. Microsoft plans to cut “thousands” of jobs, with a majority of... Read more
Google Facing Second Record EU Fine: This Time Over Android.
Another week, another antitrust case. Google has found itself facing a second record fine from European regulators in another antitrust case, in as many weeks, according to a report by Reuters. As the dust still settles over the EU’s 2.4 billion Euro fine against Google’s comparison search practices, last... Read more
John McAfee Settles With Intel Over Use Of McAfee Name
Eponymous antivirus pioneer agrees deal. One of the original Cybersecurity pioneers, John McAfee, has agreed a deal with Intel not to use his own name in any company, or in any connection with other cybersecurity products, as part of a deal to end the lawsuit he brought against the... Read more
Apple Defends Claims That It Violated Consumer Law
Case brought against Apple in Australia by ACCC. Consumer protection laws are tricky, and as such they can vary widely from one international market to another. Apple is learning that the hard way after investigators in Australia claim the company violated the protections already in place for the public.... Read more
Amazon Files Patent To Block Comparison Shopping In Its Stores
Applies to its physical bricks and mortar stores. Amazon filed a patent on May 30 to block shoppers in its physical bricks and mortar stores from comparison shopping when they shop there. Considering that comparison shopping is what Amazon have been helping consumers do just that since the day... Read more
Google Hit With Record $2.7bn EU Fine Over Shopping Search Results
Company found to have promoted its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results. Alphabet subsidiary, Google, has been fined a record $2.7bn (£2.1bn; 2.42bn euro) by European Union regulators after they ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top... Read more
Uber CEO Kalanick Resigns
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick makes his temporary leave of absence permanent and resigns as chief executive. The decision follows six months of almost uninterrupted scandals at the ride-sharing company. Kalanick said in a statement to the New York Times (NYT), “I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult... Read more
Firm Pays Record-Setting $1M Hacker Ransom
Web-hosting firm Nayana pays to unlock frozen computers. The cybersecurity industry has tracked a sizeable increase in the number of ransomware attacks in the past year, ones that have hit both private consumers and businesses alike. Part of the reason for the increase has been attributed to their effectiveness; depending... Read more
Virtual Reality Pioneer Founds Tech Startup To Patrol Borders
Palmer Luckey’s new venture uses technology to police borders and large events. Considered as ‘disgraced’ by many in Silicon Valley, for his political leanings, Luckey is still the founder of Oculus, the VR firm bought out by Facebook in 2014 for $3 billion. Leaving Facebook earlier this year in... Read more
Uber CEO Takes Indefinite Leave Of Absence
Travis Kalanick to take time out following bereavement and release of a damning report. Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick has announced that he is to take an indefinite leave of absence, to grieve for his recently deceased mother and, to take time away from the company following the release of... Read more
Bitcoin Mining Scheme Results In $12M Fine
Homero Joshua Garza is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, following fraud allegation.  GAW Miners and ZenMiner’s founder Homero Joshua Garza is being sued by the SEC, following a civil complaint alleging that the Bitcoin mining companies run by Garza and his brother, Carlos Garza, committed $19 million worth... Read more
Uber Exec Fired For Allegedly Obtaining Rape Victim’s Medical Records
Incident said to relate to Uber driver in India. In early December 2014, an Uber driver took a woman to an isolated area and raped her, a Delhi court found. Shiv Kumar Yadav, the Uber driver, was convicted in October 2015 for rape and kidnapping, and was sentenced to... Read more
Lack Of Software Talent Costing US Businesses
Report by Trilogy Education points to high price for talent drain.  The need for quality software engineers has plagued US tech companies for some time. The issue has even become highly politicized due to the recent attempts at banning travel by individuals from certain regions, regardless of their legal... Read more
Yahoo and Verizon Agree $350,000,000 Price Cut
US telecoms giant Verizon has reached a deal with Yahoo to buy the company’s core internet business for $350m less than originally agreed. Verizon announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy Yahoo’s core internet business for a final figure of $4.48 billion. This is lower than the... Read more
Ford Pledges $1bn For AI Start-Up
Investment in Argo hopes to see autonomous vehicles on the road by 2021. The Ford motor company has  announced that it’s to invest $1 billion in the next five years to artificial intelligence (A.I.) startup Argo. The company was created by former Google and Uber employees. Ford is hoping to... Read more
Elon Musk: PayPal Then SpaceX, Now A Tunnel Under LA
Is the tech entrepreneur serious about his solution to traffic congestion? While necessity is the mother of invention, sometimes the greatest inventions are borne out of pure irritation and access to Twitter. Famed game-changer Elon Musk, frustrated at sitting in dead standstill Los Angeles traffic, tweeted an innocuous and humorous... Read more
US Judge Rules Google Must Hand Over Foreign Emails
A top U.S. judge has ruled that Google, unlike Microsoft, must comply with FBI search warrants for emails held on its servers outside the United States. The decision diverges from a federal appeals court that came to an opposite conclusion in a similar case involving Microsoft. The law that... Read more
Uber CEO Quits Trump Advisory Board After Public Pressure
Travis Kalanick leaves advisory economic council after intense criticism and viral online boycott of Uber. In an email to staff that was subsequently leaked to several news agencies, Kalanick said: “Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it... Read more