New York, United States | AFP | Two large shareholders urged Apple to study whether iPhones are proving addictive for children and that intensive use of the smartphones may be bad for their mental health. “There is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent …
Read More »LG adds Google AI in ‘smart home’ push
Las Vegas, United States | AFP | Consumer electronics titan LG on Monday proclaimed this year a “tipping point” for smart homes, pushing hard into artificial intelligence and building Google Assistant into a smart speaker. LG Electronics is developing technology designed to enable its appliances, televisions and other devices adapt to …
Read More »2017 safety year for aviation-agencies
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | 2017 was the safest year for civil aviation since plane crash statistics were first compiled in 1946, according to two industry studies. A total of 10 crashes of civil passenger and cargo planes claimed 44 lives, said the Aviation Safety Network in a statement …
Read More »THIS WEEK: UCC’s Mutabazi starts 2018 in fighting mode
THIS WEEK: UCC’s Mutabazi starts 2018 in fighting mode Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Few were surprised when Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi (Pictured) issued a directive to all television and radio stations to air President Museveni’s End of Year address live. The directive received severe criticism …
Read More »Tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw
Paris, France | AFP | Amazon, Google and now Apple — as the list of digital giants hit by the “Spectre” and “Meltdown” computer security flaws grows longer, the race is on to limit the damage. “All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits …
Read More »Apple takes French tax activists to court over store protest
Paris, France | AFP | Apple has filed a lawsuit against the Attac activist group after about 100 of its supporters occupied the tech giant’s flagship store in Paris last month, protesting alleged “wide-scale tax evasion” by the firm. An Apple spokesman told AFP on Thursday that while it respected …
Read More »Volvo Cars races to record sales in 2017
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by the Chinese Geely, said Thursday that booming demand in China helped it notch up record sales for the fourth consecutive year in 2017. Volvo Cars said in a statement that it sold a total 571,577 cars worldwide last year, an …
Read More »Samsung overtakes Intel as world’s biggest chip maker: study
Paris, France | AFP | South Korea’s Samsung has overtaken US rival Intel as the world’s biggest maker of semi-conductors as sales in the sector boom, a study published by consultancy Gartner showed on Thursday. Samsung Electronics “gained the most market share and took the number one position from Intel …
Read More »Strong airline profitability expected to continue in 2018
Geneva, Switzerland | THE INDEPENDENT | The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts global industry net profit to rise to $38.4 billion in 2018, an improvement from the $34.5 billion expected net profit in 2017. Strong demand, efficiency and reduced interest payments will help airlines improve net profitability in …
Read More »More than half of Norway’s new cars electrified: data
Oslo, Norway | AFP | Electric or hybrid vehicles accounted for more than half of all new cars sold in Norway last year, official data showed on Wednesday, confirming the country’s pioneering role in carbon-free transport. Zero-emission, mainly all-electric as well as a few hydrogen-powered cars, accounted for 20.9 percent …
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