Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Twitter to remove Inactive Accounts, Archive them
Microblogging platform Twitter is overwhelmed with accounts that have remained idle and inactive for several years. But such accounts will be now removed from the platform, CEO Elon Musk announced in a Tweet on Monday, claiming that this move is important to “free up abandoned handles.” In a separate tweet, Musk added that the inactive accounts will be moved to archives but did not specify how Twitter users will be able to access the archived accounts. The tech billionaire also specified that some users may see a drastic fall in their follower counts due to removal of the inactive accounts.
2)
LinkedIn announces Job Cuts, shuts down China app
LinkedIn, the professional social media network owned by Microsoft, announced on Monday that it is cutting over 700 jobs. LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky said in a letter that job cuts will happen in sales, operations and support teams that will help in streamlining the company and making faster decisions. The Microsoft owned social media network has nearly 20,000 employees world over. Separately, LinkedIn announced that it will be shutting down its China focused app, citing a ‘challenging environment in the country.’ Its another China focused app called ‘inCareers’ will also be phased out by August 9th, the company further added.
3)
Qualcomm is buying Israeli auto-chip maker AutoTalks
American chip making giant Qualcomm announced that it is all set to acquire Israeli chip manufacturing company called ‘AutoTalks’ that specializes in producing fabless semiconductors. According to TechCrunch, the entire deal has costed Qualcomm nearly $350-400 Mn. AutoTalks creates chips and vehicle-to-everything communication technology that is dedicated towards increasing road safety for both normal and driverless vehicles. With this acquisition, Qualcomm is hopping that it will be in a better position to leverage the automotive industry, which it believes will be one of the major source of revenues in the coming year.
4)
Apple’s co-founder warns AI will make it harder to spot Scams
While speaking to BBC Apple’s legendry co-founder Steve Wozniak has reiterated what has already been said countless times. Wozniak said that he fears that AI could be harnessed by bad actors, making it difficult for us in detecting scams and misinformation. The 72-year-old veteran, who founded Apple along with Steve Jobs, stressed that the AI sector certainly needs to be regulated. Wozniak was among the many tech leaders who signed a open letter in March that called on all leading companies to temporarily shut down all the R&D work in AI projects.
5)
TrueCaller and WhatsApp announce a global partnership
Sweden based TrueCaller and instant messaging giant WhatsApp have announced a global partnership. Thanks to this global partnership, TrueCaller’s caller identification feature will now be available on WhatsApp, which will help WhatsApp users to spot spam calls both on audio and video calls. Spam and scam calls has been one of the biggest problems facing WhatsApp users and the instant messaging giant is hopping to address this problem through this partnership. However, it is still not clear exactly when will the caller identification feature come to WhatsApp.