Top Headlines in Tech: January 1 – 7, 2022
Bite-sized roundup covering the latest news from Trump’s new social media app, Silicon Valley’s high-profile Criminal Fraud trial to product launches from the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.
Trump’s new social media app, TRUTH SOCIAL, to launch on Presidents’ Day (Feb. 21)
Still suspended from Twitter and Facebook, Former President Trump will launch his own social media platform, TRUTH Social, on iOS this Presidents’ Day, Feb. 21. Currently on pre-order on the Apple App Store, it is still unclear if TRUTH Social will be available on web browsers and Android. The app is being developed by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), Trump’s new media company led by former US Rep. Devin Nunes. Screen shots from the App Store listing show that the app will largely resemble Twitter in format and features, and TMTG will be partnering with Rumble to provide video and streaming technology. The official website describes TRUTH Social as: “America’s “Big Tent” social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.”
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) happened in Vegas, though virtually mostly
Amidst global COVID surges due to the Omicron variant, the hybrid CES held on January 5-8, 2022 had an unsurprisingly low in-person attendance rate with most attendees and media outlets joining virtually. Major companies, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, General Motors, Intel, Mercedes Benz, and many more dropped out of CES in-person events. While the impact of COVID was evident, there was still plenty of interesting new products to discover. Some of the most talked about include: John Deere’s self-driving tractor, Engineered Arts’ Ameca humanoid robot, Intel’s new laptop processors, BMW’s iX Flow featuring E Ink, Chevrolet’s Silverado EV, ASUS Zenbook 17, Mercedes' EQXX Concept EV, and more…
Former Sillicon Valley Unicorn, Theranos Inc. Founder found guilty in fraud trial
For those unfamiliar with Elizabeth Holmes, she was named the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire by Forbes in 2015. She founded Theranos Inc, a biotech start-up that soared in valuation, an estimated $9 billion, after the company claimed to have revolutionized blood testing by developing methods that could use only a few drops of blood. Later in 2015, a series of journalistic and regulatory investigations into the validity of their technological claims, as well as whistleblower accounts, began Theranos’ meteoric downfall ultimately leading to Forbes bumping Holmes to their list of most disappointing leaders, and worse yet Holmes’ criminal charges for “massive fraud”. On January 3, 2022, Holmes was found guilty of 4 counts of defrauding investors, including 3 counts of wire fraud and 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes is awaiting sentencing and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution, for each count.
France fines Google and Facebook for Privacy Violations
French regulators from the National Commission for Information Technology and Freedom (CNIL) have hit Google and Facebook with record breaking fines totaling €210m (£175m) over their use of cookies which track users online. Google was handed a 150m euro fine, and Facebook a 60m euro fine. The companies have three months to comply or face penalties of 100,000 euros per each day of delay. CNIL has stated that “facebook.com, google.fr, and youtube.com do not allow users to refuse the use of cookies as simply as to accept them”. The companies rely on cookies as a means to personalize advertising which is their primary source of revenue.
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