Author Archives: souvik

Aston Martin to develop electric car with China’s LeEco

Aston Martin set up a venture with Chinese consumer electronics group LeEco to jointly develop the British luxury car brand’s first electric vehicle, an example of the deepening ties between the technology and automotive industries. Companies like Alphabet and LeEco are developing automotive expertise because they want to broaden their reach beyond computers and cellphones into cars, while automakers want ... Read More »

Twitter not reliable predictor of election outcomes: study

In politics, it is said that all press is good press. But that does not necessarily apply to tweets, according to a study released this week. In fact, it is difficult to predict the outcome of an election based on the amount of Twitter buzz a candidate gets, according to the study from the Social Science Computer Review. The study, ... Read More »

U.S. planned major cyber attack on Iran if diplomacy failed – NYT

The United States had a plan for an extensive cyber attack on Iran in case diplomatic attempts to curtail its nuclear programme failed, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing a forthcoming documentary and military and intelligence officials. Code-named Nitro Zeus, the plan was aimed at crippling Iran’s air defences, communications systems and key parts of its electrical power ... Read More »

U.S. appeals court upholds Apple e-book settlement

A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld Apple Inc’s $450 million settlement of claims that it harmed consumers by conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected a challenge by e-books purchaser John Bradley to the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of Apple’s class-action antitrust settlement with consumers and 33 state ... Read More »

Amity University plans 40 offshore campuses

“Amity University already has global campuses in London, Dubai, Singapore, New York, California, Abu Dhabi, China, etc. We have decided to open a campus in Australia. This will be followed by campuses in Japan, Canada, Spain, Germany, France and some South African countries,” he said on the sidelines of a three-day International Business Horizon conference (INBUSH ERA – 2016) at ... Read More »

High IQ does not make you a rocket scientist

School students who score high on IQ tests have always been celebrated as academic heroes in India. Recently, two 11-year-old British students of Indian origin, Kashmea Wahi and Ansuhka Binoy, scored 162/162 in the Mensa IQ test, winning a place in the exclusive Mensa Society. Ecstatic media reports, in both India and the UK, compared them Albert Einstein and Stephen ... Read More »

CBSE books to be made available online for free

All CBSE books and learning material will be made available online for free as part of the Centre’s good governance efforts, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said here today. At a function organised at a Kendriya Vidyalaya in east Delhi, she also said that initiatives would be undertaken to ensure holistic nurturing and improve learning outcomes at these schools. “We made ... Read More »

Alphabet to give first peek at cost of ‘moonshot’ bets

How much is Google-parent Alphabet Inc spending on “moonshots” – self-driving cars, glucose-monitoring contact lenses, Internet balloons and other ambitious projects? Investors will get their long-awaited answer when Alphabet reports fourth-quarter results after markets close on Monday. The report will be the first time Alphabet will break out results for what it calls “Other Bets,” which includes Google Fiber; smart home ... Read More »

Nokia patent sales forecast from Samsung deal hits shares

Nokia said it had settled a lengthy patent dispute with South Korea’s Samsung on Monday, but investors were disappointed by the financial terms of the deal. Nokia’s shares fell more than 10 percent after the Finnish firm said the Samsung deal would lift patent unit Nokia Technologies’ sales to around 1.02 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in 2015, from 578 million ... Read More »

White House welcomes Facebook move to block private gun sales

The Obama administration on Monday welcomed Facebook Inc’s move last week to prohibit users from using its services to coordinate person-to-person private sales of firearms. “Obviously, we welcome steps from private entities like Facebook,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a press briefing, following Facebook’s announcement on Friday. Earnest would not comment on whether anyone in the administration ... Read More »