Technology

New Zealand will launch a contact-tracing app on Wednesday to help people track their movements as the country eases one of the world's most rigid lockdowns designed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Top technology services firms are offering payment deferrals, discounts of up to 20% and other sweeteners to some U.S. banks to keep their business as the pandemic forces Wall Street to cut tech budgets, according to executives involved in the talks.

Panasonic Corp's finance chief said the company is seeing strong demand for battery cells from U.S. partner Tesla and they are in talks to expand their joint plant in Nevada, which is now profitable.

The Hang Seng Index made rule changes on Monday to allow it to incorporate Chinese internet giants Alibaba, Xiaomi and Meituan Dianping, a move set to shake up the composition of the 50-year-old index.

Japan's SoftBank Group Corp reported a stunning $18 billion loss at its giant Vision Fund, pushing Masayoshi Son's conglomerate to a record loss and highlighting the deepening crisis at its portfolio companies from the global downturn.

Huawei Technologies said on Monday that its business will be inevitably impacted by the latest U.S. move to restrict chip sales to the Chinese technology company, but it is confident of finding solutions soon.

Indian food delivery startup Swiggy said on Monday it would lay off 1,100 employees, or nearly 14% of its workforce, to cut costs, as a weeks-long nationwide lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak hits demand for online food ordering.

Japan's Panasonic Corp posted on Monday a 29% drop in annual operating profit amid the coronavirus outbreak but said its battery cells joint venture with major customer Tesla Inc logged a second straight quarterly profit.

SoftBank Group Corp on Monday reported a record 1.4 trillion yen ($13 billion) operating loss in the April-March financial year as the value of its tech bets via the $100 billion Vision Fund crumbled.

SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to sell "a significant portion" of its T-Mobile US stake to controlling shareholder Deutsche Telekom AG, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources.

SoftBank Group Corp said on Monday that Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma will resign from its board, in the latest departure by a high-profile ally of CEO Masayoshi Son.

Apple Inc will this week reopen more than 25 of its branded stores in the United States, the company said on Sunday, continuing a gradual process that has unlocked doors at nearly a fifth of its worldwide retail outlets.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd has stopped new orders from Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] in response to Washington's move aimed at further limiting chip supplies to the Chinese company, the Nikkei reported on Monday, citing multiple sources.

SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to sell "a significant portion" of its T-Mobile US stake to controlling shareholder Deutsche Telekom AG, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday citing unidentified sources.

Shares of South Korea's SK Hynix , the world's No.2 memory chip maker and supplier to Huawei [HWT.UL], fell as much as 3.3% early on Monday after a U.S. move to curb semiconductor supplies to the Chinese company stoked fears about a demand hit.

SoftBank Group Corp said on Monday that Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma will resign from its board, in the latest departure by a high-profile ally of CEO Masayoshi Son.

Shares of SK Hynix , the world's No.2 memory chip maker after Samsung Electronics , fell 3.2% on Monday after the United States on Friday moved to curb shipments of semiconductors to Huawei from global chipmakers.

Lovers of Frederic Chopin's music who usually flock to a central Warsaw park on Sundays for open-air concerts will have to go online this season to hear the weekly performances because of restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar on Sunday blasted merger talks between ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc and online food delivery company Grubhub Inc , calling any deal bad for competition and consumers.

India's Reliance Industries on Sunday announced U.S. fund General Atlantic will invest 65.98 billion rupees ($870 million) in Jio Platforms, a fourth deal that takes investment in its digital unit to over $8 billion in less than a month.