Technology

European scientists and technologists will launch a joint initiative on Wednesday to support the use of digital applications in the fight against coronavirus while complying with the region's tough privacy laws.

China is considering temporarily easing quotas designed to boost production of electric cars to help automakers badly bruised by the coronavirus pandemic to revive slumping sales, people familiar with the matter said.

Authorities in Moscow unveiled a smartphone app designed to keep tabs on people who have been ordered to stay at home because of the coronavirus and Russia on Wednesday expanded its lockdown to cover more of its sprawling territory.

As the coronavirus outbreak forced classes online, Boston Public Schools ordered 20,000 laptops and had them in hand in four days - an unusually fast turnaround made possible by a build-up of inventory prompted by the U.S.-China trade war.

Chinese electric vehicle battery maker Farasis Energy has received regulatory approval to raise around 3.4 billion yuan ($479 million) in an initial public offering on China's Nasdaq-like STAR board, according to a statement by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Driving to work at his factory to the west of London last week, designer Steve Brooks had coronavirus on his mind. What could he make that would let him open a door without touching the handle?

UK online car marketplace Auto Trader said on Wednesday it would sell up to 46.5 million new shares, worth 5% of its share capital, to institutional investors in a bid to shore up cash during the coronavirus crisis.

French supermarket retailer Carrefour and Uber Eats announced a new delivery service on Wednesday, aimed at helping Parisians buy essential goods and food during the nationwide lockdown triggered by the coronavirus crisis.

Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo Inc said on Tuesday that it had raised $1.1 billion in a private share placement, bolstering its ability to finance growth, despite recent market volatility.

Apple more than doubled its donation to China's efforts to fight COVID-19 to over 50 million yuan ($7 million), CEO Tim Cook posted on Weibo on Wednesday, weeks after the iPhone maker said it had opened all its 42 stores in one of its largest markets.

SoftBank Group Corp said on Wednesday it has appointed former Goldman Sachs banker Taiichi Hoshino as head of a new investment planning department, as the group increases oversight of its tech bets battered by volatile markets.

U.S. printer maker Xerox Holdings Corp walked away from its $35 billion hostile cash-and-stock bid for HP Inc on Tuesday, after the coronavirus outbreak weighed on its campaign to take over the PC and printing equipment manufacturer.

Zoom Video Communications Inc's average user numbers in March were nearly three times that of its nearest rival Microsoft Corp's Teams, according to research firm Apptopia, as the cornonavirus-driven stay-at-home lifted demand for video conferencing platforms.

Xerox Holdings Corp decided on Tuesday to abandon its $35 billion hostile cash-and-stock bid for HP Inc after the coronavirus outbreak put the brakes on its takeover campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

Global companies whose revenues have taken a hit during the coronavirus pandemic plan to cut technology spending this year by as much as 4.1%, according to the latest survey from U.S.-based Enterprise Technology Research (ETR).

President Donald Trump spoke with the biggest U.S. internet and mobile phone providers on Tuesday to talk about how the networks are holding up as tens of millions of Americans work from home.

Group video chat app Houseparty offered a reward of $1 million for evidence of what it said was a smear campaign against the company as it fought to quash claims that the app was stealing data from others installed on the same smartphone.

Walt Disney Co will launch its Disney+ service in India on April 3, the company said on Tuesday, intensifying rivalry with Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc's Prime Video in a country where demand for online streaming is surging.

Huawei warned on Tuesday that 2020 would be its most difficult year yet due to American trade restrictions which dealt a blow to its overseas sales in 2019, and predicted the Chinese government would retaliate against the United States.

The city of Helsinki had the right to scrap its contract with Siemens over the failed automation of the Finnish capital's metro, but both sides broke agreements, a Helsinki district court ruled on Tuesday in a long-running legal dispute.