Technology

A rift has opened up over the design of smartphone apps to trace people in Europe at risk of coronavirus infection, potentially hindering efforts to curb the pandemic and ease crippling travel restrictions.

Three Indonesian digital fintech firms are working with Facebook Inc to apply for regulatory approval to launch mobile payments in the country, an official at the financial regulator said.

S Capital, an Israel-based venture capital investment firm, said on Monday it closed a second direct investment fund of $120 million that will focus on early-stage tech startups.

Shares in Polish gaming company Games Operators rose further on Monday, after doubling on their debut late last week as investors bet on increased interest in gaming during lockdowns due to the coronavirus.

Australia will force Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to share advertising revenue with local media firms, the country's treasurer said on Monday, becoming one of the first countries to require digital platforms to pay for content they use.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it will invest 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) in its cloud infrastructure over three years - a plan that follows a boom in demand for business software as the coronavirus outbreak peaked in China.

Facebook Inc is planning to launch a gaming mobile app on Monday focused mainly on live game streaming in a bid to take on Amazon.com Inc's Twitch, Google's YouTube and Microsoft Corp's Mixer services, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

Amazon will keep its six warehouses in France closed until at least April 22 after a stand-off with unions over sanitary conditions amid the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Sunday.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp on Saturday said it was hit by a "Maze" ransomware cyber attack, resulting in service disruptions for some of its clients.

Amazon.com Inc has started to use thermal cameras at its warehouses to speed up screening for feverish workers who could be infected with the coronavirus, employees told Reuters.

Twitter Inc will not be able to reveal surveillance requests it received from the U.S. government after a federal judge accepted government arguments that this was likely to harm national security after a near six-year long legal battle.

Prague Airport and a regional Czech hospital said on Saturday they had thwarted cyber attacks on their IT networks, reinforcing warnings by the national cyber security watchdog of likely attempts to harm the country's infrastructure.

A European technology platform to support smartphone apps that can help trace people at risk of infection by the new coronavirus is gaining support from governments, one of its prime movers said on Friday.

A U.S. judge on Friday put on hold a suit by Amazon.com Inc challenging the Pentagon's decision to award a $10 billion contract to Microsoft Corp .

Netflix Inc has increased the amount of money in its coronavirus emergency relief fund by $50 million, bringing the total for displaced production workers to $150 million, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.

A majority of the five-member Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to approve an order to allow Ligado Networks' to deploy a low-power nationwide 5G network despite objections from the Defense Department and major U.S. airlines, two government officials told Reuters.

The United States is concerned by the threat of a cyber attack against the Czech Republic's healthcare sector, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, adding that anybody engaged in such activity should "expect consequences."

Amazon's purchase of a stake in Deliveroo has been provisionally cleared by Britain's competition regulator in view of a potentially fatal deterioration in the online food delivery group's finances because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Colombian startup Rappi is piloting deliveries by robots as a safe way of getting food to people forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday it will waive for the next five months the small fee it charges news publishers to decide which ads to show on their online properties.