Here are the top trending stories from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
It’s official: Elon Musk has ordered Mass Layoff at Twitter
Now that Elon Musk finally owns Twitter, he seems to have taken the first big decision. And the decision seems to be a pretty unpleasant one, at least, for the Twitter employees. Musk has reportedly asked managers to prepare a list of possible employees who ought to be laid off in the coming months. According to reports, the tech billionaire is planning to lay off nearly 25% of the workforce in first round of the job cuts. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO has refuted the charges that he is planning to layoff Twitter employees before November 1 to avoid stock grants to the employees. Musk has termed these charges utter ‘rubbish’ and ‘baseless.’
2)
iPhone 14’s Production in China’s biggest factory may drop by 30%
Apple’s production target set for its newly launched iPhone 14 is most likely to miss the target. That’s because Foxconn’s iPhone manufacturing facility in China’s Zhengzhou region is reportedly facing massive labour unrest. The labour unrest is believed to have been caused due to the strict COVID protocol followed at the plant. Zhengzhou region manufactures almost 60 – 70% of the iPhone sold in the global market. In the wake of the latest development, Apple may put pressure on its manufacturing facility based in Southern China and India to increase its production targets.
3)
Visa files Trademark Application for Crypto Wallets & Metaverse
Payment giant Visa has filed two trademark applications in the Unites States related to digital assets, non-fungible tokens and the metaverse. According to media reports, these applications were filed on October 22. The news of Visa application should not come as a major surprise considering one its competitors including American Express has filed similar applications. However, the payment giants move to foray into NFT arena has come at a time when demand for NFT has mellowed down.
4)
To take on TikTok, Google acquires AI Avatar Startup
Nearly Two months back, Google quietly acquired a little known American startup called Alter. Alter helps in generating online social media avatars with the help of artificial intelligence. Google confirmed the news of acquisition to TechCrunch, which claimed that the tech giant bought the startup for nearly $100 Mn. However, Google has refused to shed light on the financial terms of the deal. TechCrunch claimed in its report that Google has bought Alter to better compete with TikTok, whose meteoric rise is giving a major headache to all the social media companies especially Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. However, it is still unclear how acquisition of Alter will help Google in competing with TikTok.
5)
Electronics company BoAt drops IPO plan
Popular Indian Electronic consumer brand company BoAt has withdrawn its IPO plan. This after the Delhi based company had filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in January this year. SEBI had also approved BoAt’s IPO proposal. Meanwhile, BoAt has also simultaneously announced a fresh funding round, raising almost $60 Mn or Rs 500 crore from its existing investors Warburg Pincus and Malabar Investments. However, there is still no clarity about the market valuation that the company commanded in the latest round.