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Coinbase ordered to give the IRS data on users trading more than $20,000

November 30, 2017November 30, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Most digital currencies exist in a sort of twilight state just beyond the grasp of federal regulators, but the U.S. tax authority is starting to get savvy to this whole bitcoin thing. On Wednesday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Coinbase must supply the IRS with identifying information on users who had more than $20,000 in annual transactions on its platform between 2013 and 2015. After noticing that the number of tax returns claiming gains from virtual currency didn’t line up with the emerging popularity of digital currencies like…

Toshiba stock drops on $5 billion share sale plan

November 20, 2017November 30, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Toshiba’s stock plummeted Monday, after the company announced plans to raise $ 5 billion to avoid being booted off the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Shares in the Japanese firm fell more than 6% in Tokyo, before paring some of those losses to close down 5.8%. The drop comes a day after the troubled conglomerate announced it would sell new shares worth 600 billion yen ($5.4 billion). Toshiba (TOSBF) will issue about 2.3 billion new shares priced at 262.8 yen ($2.35) per share, it said Sunday — about 10% cheaper than Friday’s…

Qualcomm beats revenue expectations despite Apple lawsuits

November 2, 2017November 30, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Qualcomm has beat analysts’ revenue and earnings estimates in its fourth fiscal quarter despite a year-long legal battle with Apple. Qualcomm booked $5.96 billion in sales, or 92 cents per share, versus expectations of $5.8 billion and 81 cents per-share as the overall economics of the chip business continue to improve. The numbers were good enough to bump shares of the stock up 54 cents (or 1 percent) in after-hours trading, to $54.00. Qualcomm’s ongoing legal battle with Apple was not enough to completely overtake strength elsewhere in its business…

Microsoft displeased with Google over approach to security patches

October 19, 2017November 30, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft’s Windows security team have been unhappy with Google for the past year. While the pair are bitter rivals for a number of different reasons, Google disclosed a major Windows bug before Microsoft was ready to patch it last year. This irritated the company so much that Windows chief Terry Myerson authored a blog post criticizing Google for not disclosing security vulnerabilities responsibly. That resentment still remains today. Microsoft discovered a remote Chrome vulnerability last month and is now demonstrating what it feels is responsible disclosure. In a new blog…

Making the digital economy more inclusive

September 4, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Across the world, there is a strong belief that machines are quickly approaching and they will take over human jobs. This fear is not new. From the cotton gin, to the tractor, to the assembly line and beyond, jobs have faced and will continue to face threats from technological advances. But throughout these disruptions, large-scale unemployment has typically been avoided: either machines could not do many of the innately human things people could do, or technology so drastically brought down costs that new markets were unlocked, in turn requiring more…

One on One with Sendy Ltd: Using Technology to bring efficiency in business

August 14, 2017August 30, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Think back to how business was done a few decades ago. There was no email, Internet, mobile marketing, telecommuting or smartphones. Innovations in technology have improved operations at companies of all sizes. ITBusinessDirect spoke with Sendy Ltd, a tech platform in Kenya that connects businesses to Drivers to make delivery simple and transparent, on the tech ecosystem in Kenya. The session is majorly on the digital innovation trends and the set backs faced by Tech start ups in the industry. Question: Its true that Technology brings businesses closer to customers. How can…

Microsoft to include in-built eye tracking support Windows 10

August 2, 2017September 1, 2017

Microsoft is planning to add native eye tracking support into Windows 10. The new support is primarily designed to help those suffering from neuro-muscular diseases like ALS and other disabilities to control the various interface elements in Windows 10 without a traditional mouse and keyboard. This ranges from gazing at apps to launch them, or using an onscreen keyboard to glance at characters and type out words. Dubbed Eye Control in Windows 10, the new feature will require hardware like Tobii’s Eye Tracker 4C. Microsoft has worked closely with Tobii…

Killing the immortal: Why scientists are debating the life span of robots

February 1, 2017March 3, 2017

Artificial intelligence and smart robots are on a course to transform industries and replace human contact. However, what happens when they fail? Smart robots may malfunction, or a self-driving car could lock its passenger inside. Hollywood has already made predictions for robot relationships with Her — but what if we developed an emotional attachment to an AI and then it went rogue? Philosophers, engineers and computer scientists wrestle with similar questions. Since robots can, by design, live forever, what are the ethics involved in designing a kill switch? For this…

Data Could Be the Next Tech Hot Button for Regulators

January 10, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Wealth and influence in the technology business have always been about gaining the upper hand in software or the machines that software ran on. As government regulators dig into this new era of data competition, they may find that standard antitrust arguments are not so easy to make. Using more and more data to improve a service for users and more accurately target ads for merchants is a clear benefit, for example. And higher prices for consumers are not present with free internet services. According to the New York Times,…