Here are the top trending stories from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Byju’s clocks whopping Rs 4,500 Crore loss in FY21
Amid Surging controversy, Byjus finally released its FY21 results but the numbers are not that pleasant. The Edtech giant announced a net loss of whopping Rs 4,500 Crore for FY21, which is a massive 17 fold increase as compared to its Rs 262 Crore clocked in Fy20. The company said that the losses have sharply increased on account of slew of acquisitions it made during last one and half year. The company’s unhealthy spike in net loss may cast a bad spell on its soon to be lunched IPO, which may hit the market either this year or next year.
2)
Twitter Whistleblower claims Chinese agent working on Company’s Payroll
Twitter’s former security chief turned whistleblower Peiter Zatko has made some sensational revelation during the congress hearing. He has claimed that a Chinese intelligence agent is working in Twitter and is part of the company’s payroll. Zatko further said that FBI had informed Twitter about this matter but the company choose to ignore the matter. By the way, It is not known whether this Chinese agent still works in Twitter or not. In his previous congress hearing, Zatko had accused that Twitter had agreed to place an Indian government agent in its India office and give complete access to data.
3)
Google loses Android Antitrust Case in EU Court
In a huge setback for Google, European General Court on Tuesday upheld the EU Commission’s ruling that had accused Google of abusing its market dominance. However, the court did agree to reduce the tech giant’s fine by 5%. With this marginal reduction, Google is now liable to pay nearly $ 4.1 Bn to the EU. The EU court said that Google had overstepped by making its mandatory for Android phone and tablet manufacturer in pre-installing its app and search engine. According to a rough estimate, nearly 80% of smartphones and tablets currently operating in EU run on Android Software.
4)
Elon Musk’s Tesla Sued over Self Driving claims
A person in the U.S. has filed a class lawsuit in the San Francisco Court against Tesla for making false and exaggerated claims over auto-pilot and self-driving feature. In the lawsuit, the person has accused Elon Musk’s company of deceptively advertising its cars as fully-functional cars when it is actually not. Tesla did this to generate excitement among the customers and to increase its sales numbers. Tesla is yet to reply to the class lawsuit. As things stand today, Tesla and no other auto company are probably even remotely close in making a self-driving car. Currently, the technology is very much in nascent mode.
5)
After initial Spike, WhatsApp UPI Payment continues to struggle
WhatsApp is struggling to popularize its UPI Payment feature among Indian consumers. As per the NPCI data, the Meta owned platform has registered a sharp decline in its transaction volumes for two consecutive months, i.e. July and August. While WhatsApp made a good start in June with 23 Mn total transactions, its transaction volumes fell to roughly 6 Mn respectively in the month of July and August. Despite its huge userbase in India, experts claimed WhatsApp Payment is most likely to struggle due to its late entry. Even before WhatsApp Payment’s official launch earlier this year, Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm had already captured India’s UPI payment market.