Facebook's Safety Check Feature Debuts In US

The American social network operator switched the safety tool on to help its users find whether their relatives are secure or not after the Orlando shoot out

After the heinous attack in the Pulse nightclub of Orlando, Facebook Inc.’s most popular social networking site, Facebook has enabled its “Safety Check” feature for the first time in the US. The feature helps the users to locate the safety of their friends and relatives when the latter check themselves as “safe” after any disastrous situation. The attack that took place during the early morning hours of Sunday left 53 injured and 49 people murdered.

The tool was launched two years ago and it works in the following manner: It thoroughly scrutinize the registered city of the users, disclosed in their profile, along with the locations from where the users have had maximum internet usage. If some unfortunate event happens in the vicinity of the places mentioned then the site will switch on the “security feature” for the user to enable him to mark his safety. Until now, this feature wasn’t operated in the US however since its launch, it has been used around 12 times to respond to natural calamities including, but not limited to last year’s Nepal earthquakes and the terror attacks in Brussels and Paris.

Back in March, the Menlo Park based organization turned it on for most of the world responding to the bombing in Lahore, Pakistan. The increasing pains of the feature were joined by criticism regarding when turning it on was appropriate, but previously in June 2016 the company began to test a version that lets users activate themselves “identify and elevate local crises”- which it implemented in the city of Orlando, revealed the organization’s Disaster Response Page.

As per reports by Adweek, CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg stated the following on his Facebook page, "Waking up this morning, I was deeply saddened to hear about the shooting in Orlando. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the LGBT community."

Daily Mail reports that the feature automatically sends a notice to Facebook users in an affected region questioning them if they are safe.  When any user taps on “yes let my friends know” the feature sends a notification to his or her Facebook friends.

Family members of the victims have been posting on the social platform to seek help in searching for their loved ones  as they are having trouble finding the whereabouts of their loved ones. By switching on the security feature, Facebook is playing its role to better serve the community.

Alibaba's Financial Affiliate Purchases a Crucial Stake in Shanghai Suntime

The Hangzhou based organization has acquired the stake to dominate the financial data industry

Alibaba’s Financial affiliate  has purchased a 20% share in the Chinese hedge fund data tracking company Shanghai Suntime Information Technology Company, revealed people aware of the issue.

Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group also known as Ant Financial paid cash worth $38 million (250 million yuan) for the share previously this week, stated the person, who asked to be kept anonymous. With the acquisition of the stake, the Chinese e-commerce company’s financial affiliate, turns into the biggest Shanghai Suntime owner after Liao Bing, who is the chairman of the data service provider, revealed a person.

Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Jack Ma controls Ant Financial. He has been developing his financial and media Information Empire. The financial partner, which is the controller of the organization that does management of the biggest money-market fund of China Yu’E Bao is negotiating to make an investment in the China based business magazine publisher Caixin Media Company.

The online retailer purchased Hong Kong based publication South China Morning Post(SCMP) and in 2015 also established a joint project with the Chinese media organization Shanghai Media Group to establish a financial information and data service. With the recent acquisition, the financial affiliate is exploiting the potential of the country’s rapidly-expanding hedge fund sector as more rich Chinese people become private managers.

In 2003, Shanghai Suntime was founded by Liao. It runs a very huge database that tracks Chinese hedge funds, offers profit forecasts for registered organizations and provides wealth management services. The figure of private securities funds, which are equivalent of hedge funds in China have increased by over 140% to 18,297 on 31^st May from 2015, and Assets under management( AUM) grew by two times to a sum of $340 billion during that time period, revealed Asset Management Association of China.

The web retailer’s financial affiliate, which is stated to have a valuation of around $60 billion after receiving $4.5 billion previously in 2015, has grown from an outside organization in a strictly controlled sector to an internet company currently collaborating with the biggest stated controlled entities sovereign wealth fund of China as well as with the country’s second biggest bank.

The organization also provides the Chinese largest online payment facility Alipay, with a user base of 450 million. In its emailed statement, Ant financial refused to comment. Phone calls to Bing’s office were not answered on a holiday in China.

In other news, Alibaba has released the first Indian first free application-lock with a feature face lock permitting users to crack their secured applications by taking a 1 second selfie. Alibaba claims that blink detection and face lock setting ensures accuracy of 99.7% for face identification. With the huge increase in smartphone users, India has turned into the biggest consumer base for safety applications across the globe.

SoftBank to spin off its stake in Alibaba

The Japanese telecom will spin off its shares in Alibaba to pay back its huge debt

 When Alibaba Group Holding Limited was just 12 months old in 2000, the Chinese E-Commerce company got an early investor and believer in the outspoken Japan based telecom mogul Masayoshi Son, 16 years later, Mr Masayoshi and his telecom company SoftBank, are ultimately spinning off a part of that stake after its worth has grown to billions of dollars.  On 31^st May 2016, the Tokyo based organization stated it aimed to spin off its Alibaba shares worth approximately $8 billion .

The reason behind this decision is that the Japanese organization seeks to pay back its huge debt. SoftBank stated it would continue to be amongst the online retailer’s shareholders, with a share of around 28% after the stake sale. The measure comes as the telecom tried to cut down costs as well as concentrate on turning around its controlled American telecom company Sprint Corporation it controls. Though the residual part of SoftBank, which includes its extensive Japan based wireless network as well as its Yahoo Japan business, is well-performing, Sprint continues to remain behind its US rivals in terms of sales and customers.

That has prompted the company, presided by its President, Nikesh Arora, to concentrate on shedding debt and lowering costs in its strategy “SoftBank 2.0”. The organization recording holding a long –term debt of about less than $77 billion or $8.5 trillion yen as of 31^st March, revealed a research service provider Standard & Poor’s. The web retailer has turned into a very valuable asset in the company’s business portfolio. The online trading platform operator debuted as a public company on the NYSE 2 years ago and currently has a market valuation of around $209 billion.

The stake sale, which was expected for months, hasn’t been caused by concern regarding Jack Ma’s organization’s financial prospects, revealed people directly aware of the matter. In recent times, the Hangzhou based organization revealed that the US had been investigating its accounting methods, and the organization has stated it’s co-operating.

Under the conditions of the plans of SoftBank, almost sale of share worth $5 billion would be packed into a financial security, which would convert into Alibaba shares after 3 years. The online trading platform operator will purchase back shares worth around $2 billion from the telecommunications organization. The Chinese organization’s tie-up, a group that principally controls it through its capability to do nomination of most of the directors, aims to purchase extra shares worth $400 million.

“As SoftBank looks to strengthen its own balance sheet, Alibaba determined that it was the best use of our capital to reinvest in our own business through an efficient buyback of a large number of shares in our own company that is accretive to our stockholders,” Executive Chairman and founder of Alibaba Jack Ma stated.

SoftBank will spin off  shares worth half a billion dollar to an anonymous investment fund of the government. The two organizations stated even in the aftermath of the sale they would keep partnering with each other.

Uber Tests its Autonomous Driving Technology in Pittsburgh

The American app based taxi service is testing its self-driving technology  to establish its foothold in the automotive industry

Uber has begun to test autonomous vehicles in the city of Pittsburgh as the American application based cab service provider pursues upcoming time in which drivers will not be needed. The taxi company is using the hybrid version of Ford Fusion to gather mapping data and test self-driving abilities, the company posted in its blog on 19^th May 2016.

The Uber vehicle comes equipped with various sensors including laser scanners, high-resolution cameras as well as radars to map information regarding the environment, Uber states. It is not clear which organizations are providing the radar as well as other sensors. Spokesman of Ford stated the organization isn’t partnering with the transporter.

The announcement follows competitor Lyft’s own entrance into the self-driving vehicle sector. Initially in 2016, General Motors invested a sum of half a billion into Lyft and tied-up with the organization to finally deploy autonomous vehicles that can be requested through an application. GM and Lyft are reportedly about to pilot autonomous cabs within the upcoming year. GM said it would take over the autonomous automobile tech organization Cruise Automation for over a billion dollar.

In recent times, GM went public by testing its driverless technology on its Chevrolet Bolt EV in the Californian city of San Francisco. The Kalanick’s organization is trialing its driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh as its Advanced Technologies Center is also located there. The transporter states to opt to locate its ATC in the city due to its nearness to local engineering talent as well as research facilities. It is also an ideal setting to test and develop technology across various road types, weather conditions and traffic patterns, Uber states.

In February last year, Uber announced its partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, which included the development of a tech center. At the moment, Uber stated it was interested in closely working with the faculty, students and staff of CMU to carry out R&D. The relations become strained in some months after the company poached 40 of the university’s technicians, researchers and faculty away by providing lucrative salaries as well as benefits to workers of the new technology center.

In 2015, the transporter also collaborated with the College of Optical Science of University of Arizona to concentrate on R&D in the optics sector for safety and mapping. The test automobiles of the company, Ford Fusion vehicles equipped with self-driving and mapping technology will be trialed in Tuscon, which is the University of Arizona’s home.

Earlier, the transporter stated the mapping test automobiles aren’t autonomous cars. While in Pittsburgh, the organization has combined 2 technologies. As per reports by Detroit news, a number of other organizations are also testing autonomous cars. Some of those are Ford and Google. 

Alibaba to Increase its Stake in Postal Organization

The Chinese E-commerce company has agreed to add to its share in Singpost to dominate the competitive market

A momentous joint project agreement signed in July last year between Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Singapore Post is yet being finalized, Singpost stated on 10^th May 2016. The Chinese E-commerce company had agreed to increase its equity share in the logistics and postal service provider by purchasing shares that equal to 5% share in the Singaporean organization.

Both organizations have since then stretched  the long-stop date on the contract from 31^st May to 31^st October as  "longer time is required to fulfil the conditions precedent", Singpost stated on 10^th May 2016 when it issued its final quarter results. With the extension, the timeframe has been stretched. The timeframe was previously extended 2 times one in February and other in November.

In 2015,the online retailer had also agreed to purchase a 34% share in the logistics division of the organization Quantium Solutions International. The finalization of the contract will be done by 31^st October, in the wake of new commercial opportunities emerging from related investments, the postal company stated.

It recorded a final quarter net profit of $105.4 million, up by 196.% from the earlier year due to one-off divestment gains. In the March quarter underlying profit declined by 20.1% to a figure of $31.8 million, mainly due to a decrease in rental income as the Singapore Post Centre mall re-development started in the year’s third quarter and higher financial expenditures.

In the last quarter of 2015, Earnings per share increased from a revised 1.49 cents to 4.36 cents, whereas the price of net asset value per share has increased from 68.37 cents to 72.26 cents in the end of the first quarter in 2015.

The postal organization recorded a net profit of $248.9 million for the entire year, an increase by 57.9% from the earlier year, as yearly revenue grew by 25.2% to a figure of $1.15 billion. Now overseas revenue contributes to 43.9% of the turnover of the group, up from a contribution of 32.5% in 2015.

After the closure of trading, the announcement of earnings was done. On 10^th May 2016, The group ended 0.5% lower at $1.585. As per reports by Nikkei, Singpost has hired Simon Israel as heir of leaving chairman Lim Ho Kee, who had provided his services to the organization for a decade and 3 years, as questions are being raised regarding the corporate governance practices of the company.

Since 2003, Lim has worked as the chairman. He was initially hired as the director of Singpost in 1998. The long tenancies of the board members of Singpost faced criticism by experts of corporate governance, after CEO  Wolfgang Baier abruptly announced his resignation in Dec 2015. Clarity lacks regarding the reasons for the resignation of Baier led to a rumor that battle with Lim was behind an abrupt move. The resignation caused the shares of the postal group to tumble.

Uber's Rival Raising Billions in China

Billions of dollars are being raised by Didi Kuaidi to give tough time to Uber and lead the Chinese cab industry

 Uber’s rival is about to raise around $2 billion in its recent fundraising round, as the biggest ride sharing company of China wars with the American application based cab service provider to dominate the Chinese market for ride sharing, aware people of the matter. The biggest rival of Uber aims to close the funding round in the upcoming few weeks with around $25 billion valuation, stated the people, who asked to be kept anonymous because the issue is private.

That would turn it into the fourth highly valued startup across the world after Travis’ company, Xiaomi Corporation and the online rent lodging service provider Airbnb, revealed a research organization CB Insights. Uber and Didi are battling for supremacy in China as the ride-sharing market grows. Didi, which is backed by leading internet companies Tencent Holdings Limited and Alibaba, jumped out to dominate the market. But the transporter is heavily spending to catch up and has stated China could finally turn into its biggest market.

Both need money to pay for subsidizing consumer fares and hiring drivers. Spokesperson of the Beijing based company refused to share views regarding the financing through an e-mailed statement. Tencent shares grew to 1.1% in Hong Kong. Didi had been trying to receive $1 billion in Feb 2016 and grew the target to a sum of $1.5 billion in April 2016, people aware of the issue had stated. The recent increase in financing was partly due to a higher level of demand, the people stated.

If the Chinese organization completes the financing, it will indicate resilience in the Chinese start-up industry, even as their American competitors battle. The finance affiliate of Alibaba, Ant financial, received a sum of $4.5 billion in April 2016, a record made by a private tech organization. In January, the previous record was set when Meituan Dianping, which is the Chinese group-buying service received $3.3 billion.

Both Didi and Uber have received money rapidly to fight an expensive battle. On-demand vehicle service providers have succeeded across the world as the expansion of mobile usage takes place and passengers seek quicker or simpler alternates to public transportation as well as cabs. Yet the US transporter and its competitors can lose funds on rides as they depend on subsidies to lure customers, particularly as they make entrance into new markets.

Didi received $3 billion in 2015, which took its valuation to $16.5 billion, a person aware of the matter stated at the time. It established a global alliance with Lyft in the United States, Southeast Asian taxi service provider Grab and Indian cab company Ola to battle an internationally growing Uber.

Apple Inc. Has Been Around for Forty Year – What Next?

The technology has officially turned 40; we are yet to see what the future holds for it.

It has been 40 years today ever since Apple Inc. has come into existence. However, instead of sitting back and reminiscing over the achievement of the technology company, the real matter we should be concerned about is the fact that the technology world is at such an intersection where all the gold that the iPhone maker has released during this time span has started to lose its glitter. This basically means that everything that tech giant has launched in the past forty years has started to lose its charm in the market now.

Despite the fact that the company comes up with constant updates in its product line as well as its operating system, it seems quite evident that all those updates have simply become bland for the customers; seems as though the 40 year old company is facing its mid-life crisis. At the time that Steve Jobs was around, the tech giant seemed fearless and a company that was poised to reach a valuation of almost $1 trillion.

Furthermore, Jobs has managed to leave a legacy behind and to ensure that after he’s gone the company manages to maintain that legacy; the late CEO had streamlined the entire product line that had to be released till 2020. Nonetheless, Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple, is working really hard to make sure that every living human being has an iPhone in their hands; he’s working on creativity as well as panache however it should be noted that he is nowhere near to what Steve Jobs achieved in his time.

At this point, we believe that even Apple itself is not quite sure of what it stands for; in between being a market leader and a market follower, (given that it was once a market leader) the tech organization has landed at being yet another follower in the technology industry. Amid battles with the government over encryption and working on conserving the environment, the iPhone manufacturer has forgotten what it started to do – making state of the art products and emancipating stellar products for its consumers.

The real question now is whether Apple will be able to maintain its current position, go back to being a market leader or perish in the next forty years? It’s safe to say that companies that produce such technology products, mostly, do not last for long given the rate at which technology is changing in the world – quite similar to how Apple’s iPhone stole Blackberry Ltd.’s market (who was once the market leader in the smartphone industry). At this point, we are left wondering with which new technology or device will dethrone Apple.

Silicon Valley is quite a tough place to start a company at; it’s where either you’ll make it, or you’ll get crushed (in tech terms) – however customers are nonetheless the ultimate judge who make or break a company. Recently, the Silicon Valley giant released its iPhone SE; it’s easy to say that the business manages well to wrap up (repackage) its gifts (products –iPhone SE) nicely; it did feel more as if we went back to 2010 when a similar device was launched. 

Customers want something new to play with every time and in every gadget – it’s a given. If a technology company fails to wow the customer, it has already failed.