Author: Jootech

The social media application, TikTok, is booming in popularity especially with kids who use it to share short, usually funny videos.  But TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is owned by China, and this is raising concerns by U.S. lawmakers worried about the security of the app’s American users. In Washington, Esha Sarai has more. …

Saudi Arabia, frustrated by growing criticism of its leaders and policies on social media, recruited two Twitter employees to spy on thousands of accounts that included prominent opponents, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.   The complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi government officials to recruit employees at the…

Russia is succeeding in imposing a highly effective internet censorship regime across thousands of disparate, privately owned providers in an effort also aimed at making government snooping pervasive, according to a study released Wednesday.The study by University of Michigan researchers says the model can be easily exported to other nations, and it challenges the notion…

Online data is at risk. Hackers are getting smarter and companies across the globe are facing a shortage of trained professionals who can help protect their data. To fill this gap, the U.S. government is beefing up its efforts to recruit the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. VOA’s Sahar Majid has more. …

Fourteen Russia-backed YouTube channels spreading disinformation have been generating billions of views and millions of dollars in advertising revenue, according to researchers, and had not been labeled as state-sponsored, contrary to the world’s most popular streaming service’s policy. The channels, including news outlets NTV and Russia-24, carried false reports ranging from a U.S. politician covering…

Facebook has stopped letting its apps come pre-installed on smartphones sold by Huawei in order to comply with U.S. restrictions, dealing a fresh blow to the Chinese tech giant. The social network said Friday that it has suspended providing software for Huawei to put on its devices while it reviews recently introduced U.S. sanctions. Owners…

Google on Thursday released new details about its video game streaming service Stadia, which will be available in 14 countries starting in November. For the launch, Google will sell its “founders edition bundle” hardware pack for $129, with a monthly subscription price of $9.99. In Europe, the price will be 129 euros and 9.99 euros…

Wearing a white blouse and her dark hair hanging loose, Ai-Da looks like any artist at work as she studies her subject and puts pencil to paper. But the beeping from her bionic arm gives her away – Ai-Da is a robot. Described as “the world’s first ultra-realistic AI humanoid robot artist,” Ai-Da opens her…

Canada on Wednesday said it was preparing for the arrival of ultra-fast 5G internet service as it outlined plans to make more 5G spectrum available starting next year. The federal Innovation Ministry released a paper outlining changes to an auction expected next year, a decision on a higher frequency millimeter wave spectrum in 2021, and…

Amazon said Wednesday that it plans to use self-driving drones to deliver packages to shoppers’ home in the coming months  The online shopping giant did not give exact timing or say where the drones will be making deliveries. Amazon said its new drones use computer vision and machine learning to detect and avoid people or…

China on Wednesday launched a rocket from a mobile platform at sea for the first time, sending a five commercial satellites and two others containing experimental technology into space. The Long March 11 rocket blasted off from a launch pad aboard a commercial ship in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Shandong province, marking…

Lawmakers in Washington DC met Tuesday to discuss facial recognition software. Law enforcement says the technology helps to identify and track suspected criminals. But privacy advocates say the technology intrudes on the privacy of average citizens who aren’t lawbreakers. Arash Arabasadi reports from Washington. …

At the Tribeca Film Fest in New York, filmmakers are mining current and historical events for inspiration. For tech-savvy youth, it’s one way to ensure the lessons of history won’t be forgotten. Tina Trinh reports. …

Apple will preview upcoming changes to its phone and computer software Monday as it undergoes a major transition intended to offset eroding sales of its bedrock iPhone. The company’s software showcase is an annual rite. But Apple is currently grappling with its biggest challenge since its visionary co-founder, Steve Jobs, died nearly eight years ago.…

Congested Google servers in the eastern United States caused problems for users of Snapchat and YouTube on Sunday, with complaints on social media that the popular apps weren’t accessible. Google acknowledged the issue, writing in a statement on its Cloud Platform status page that it was dealing with “high levels of network congestion in the…

While there’s no exact date set, an small cargo vessel called the Maxlimer is in final preparations for its first transatlantic voyage. But this ship is special because there won’t be anyone on board. It’s set to make the first ever transatlantic crossing by a U-S-V, an unmanned surface vehicle. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

U.S. antitrust regulators have divided oversight of Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, putting Amazon under the watch of the Federal Trade Commission and Google under the Justice Department, the Washington Post said Saturday. Amazon could face heightened antitrust scrutiny under a new agreement between U.S. regulators that puts the e-commerce giant under the watch…

Powerful magnets at a laboratory in Florida are allowing researchers to see the unseeable, understand the nature of things, and break the boundaries of scientific knowledge. Faith Lapidus has more on the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. …

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing an investigation of Alphabet Inc.’s Google to determine whether the tech giant broke antitrust law in operating its sprawling online businesses, two sources familiar with the matter said. Officials from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission, which both enforce antitrust law, met in recent weeks to…

Children who either played or watched a video game that included gun violence were more likely afterward to handle a gun and pull the trigger, a new study finds. More than 200 children were randomly assigned to play either a non-violent video game or a game with firearm violence. Soon after, more than 60% of…

British mobile phone operator EE on Thursday became the first in the country to launch a high-speed 5G service, but without smartphones from controversial Chinese technology giant Huawei. EE, which is a division of British telecoms giant BT, has launched 5G in six major cities comprising Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester — and more…

When a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — one altered to show the Democratic leader slurring her words — began making the rounds on Facebook last week, the social network didn’t take it down. Instead, it “downranked” the video, a behind-the-scenes move intended to limit its spread. That outraged some people who believe…