Technology

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday its first-quarter operating profit likely rose 3% from a year earlier, slightly beating analysts' forecasts as chip sales helped cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic on smartphones and TVs.

Streaming-device maker Roku Inc launched its Roku Channel in Britain on Tuesday, offering free access to more than 10,000 movies, TV episodes and documentaries at a time when the coronavirus is driving demand for stay-at-home entertainment.

Industry groups are pushing back on proposed changes to U.S. export controls that would impact the sale of certain semiconductors and other technology to China, while highlighting the role chips play in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peloton Interactive Inc said on Monday it would pause live production of its exercise videos at its New York and London studios through April 30 amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Investors have brought class action lawsuits in federal court against seven cryptocurrency issuers and four exchanges, claiming they sold billions of dollars in unregistered assets in violation of U.S. securities laws.

International Business Machines Corp on Monday named former Bank of America Corp top technology executive Howard Boville head of its cloud business, as Arvind Krishna takes over from long-time chief Ginni Rometty.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) called on Monday for a pan-European mobile app to track the spread of the new coronavirus instead of the current hodge-podge of apps used in various EU countries which could breach people's privacy rights.

Uber Technologies Inc said on Monday its app will list job openings in the delivery, food production and grocery industry that its U.S. drivers can access during a slump in ride-hailing demand due to the coronavirus.

Finland's largest tech event Slush, which was scheduled for November 2020, said on Monday it has decided to cancel the conference due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

Sales at Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, a key supplier of Apple Inc's products known by its trade name Foxconn, were down by 7.7% in March.

Engineers at Tesla Inc showed a prototype for a ventilator on Sunday evening in a video published on the company's YouTube channel, as hospitals around the country overwhelmed by coronavirus patients face device shortages.

The coronavirus-driven global shift to working from home is set to have boosted demand for Samsung Electronics' memory chips from laptop makers and data centres, but first-quarter profits are likely to remain flat as the outbreak weakened consumer electronics sales.

United Arab Emirates agriculture technology start-up Pure Harvest Smart Farms has raised $20.6 million in fresh funding and secured commitments for a further $100 million, it said on Monday.

Lockdowns and travel retrictions prompted by the new coronavirus have been a boon to JOOX, Chinese tech giant Tencent's international music streaming platform, driving traffic to its karaoke services up by as much as 50%, an executive said.

Amazon.com Inc has been in contact with the CEOs of two coronavirus test makers as it considers how to screen its staff and reduce the risk of infection at its warehouses, according to internal meeting notes seen by Reuters.

A conspiracy theory that links 5G mobile telecommunications masts to the spread of the novel coronavirus is dangerous fake news and completely false, Britain said on Saturday after masts in several parts of the country were torched.

Tesla Inc is cutting contractors from its U.S. car and battery plants, CNBC reported on Friday, citing workers and a contract staffing agency.

Amazon.com Inc is postponing its major summer shopping event, Prime Day, until at least August and expects a potential $100 million hit from excess devices it might now sell at a discount, according to internal meeting notes seen by Reuters.

Three voice over internet providers may lose access to the U.S. telecom network if they do not stop allowing their service to be used by robocallers touting coronavirus and other scams, the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission said on Friday.

At least two U.S. state attorneys have sought information from Zoom Video Communications Inc following multiple reports that questioned the privacy and security of the video-conferencing app.