Your Tech Story

Athulya

Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.

apple

Apple Files New Patent On Software That Allows Socially-Distant Group Selfies

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As the novel coronavirus continues its aggressive march around the world, it has had a massive impact on all spheres of our lives. Most experts believe that we will look at the time, in two periods, before and after corona. The global pandemic will have massive and long-lasting changes in the way we interact and communicate with people. With social distancing still being active in many zones, people socialise differently now. Another change that will be put in place will be how people meet and greet others. These changes seem to be verified by Apple’s new patent. Let us look at what the new patent is on and how this software will impact the world of technology.

software
Image source: theverge.com

New Software

Apple’s new patent is for a software that will allow users to take synthetic group selfies. This could be the future for group selfies as more people become aware of the need for social distancing. Also, this generated group selfie might become a viable alternative when you post pictures on social media during such times. Discovered by Patently Apple, the new patent application allows users to invite others to be a part of their selfies. The software will then generate a single image that captures all the participants and arrange them into a memorable group photo. The selfie can have in it photos, video images, and even live-streamed images. Also, users get to keep both the original and group selfie, and the recipients can modify it, and even put themselves in different positions within the group.

Not So New A Concept

While the idea of a socially-distant selfie seems bizarre right now, it is definitely a need of the hour. However, while it seems relevant now, due to the pandemic, it was not something born out of coronavirus. Instead, Apple first filed for such a patent long before, way back in 2018. It gained popularity now as the patent was granted only a few days back, on June 2. However, like with all patents, there is no guarantee that Apple will use this software or materialise it into a real product.

Product For the Future

The patent is essentially a way for Apple to envision and explore the possibility of such a product. However, it is in no way a roadmap for a specific product, which we may or may not see. Also, the pandemic makes the likelihood of such a product hitting the market higher. People are looking for innovative ways to reach out and stay connected with their loved ones. Such remote group selfies will serve as a perfect way to get people together safely and healthily. The app would allow people to invite friends, and friends can arrange their position in the selfie. Once all the invited people are in the frame, the software generates a group photo with everyone in place.

It looks like Apple is looking at a new avenue. With people having to spend time away from each other due to different reasons, such software might become a hit with the crowd. While there is no clarity regarding whether Apple will soon roll out such an app, the idea looks very promising indeed. It sure looks like Apple wants to be at the forefront when it comes to changes in the post-pandemic world.

Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Finds a New Investor in the Mubadala Group

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Abu Dhabi-based firm Mubadala has just become the newest investor in India’s telecom giant, Reliance Jio. The firm joins five other American companies, including the likes of Facebook and Silver Lake, as partners to Reliance Jio. It is interesting to note that such high-stake deals are happening at the height of a global health pandemic. Read on to find out more about the agreement and what it means for India’s largest telecom operator.

New Player On the Block

Mubadala will invest almost $1.2 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms in exchange for a 1.85% equity stake in the firm. The deal sees the Indian giant gaining a valuation of close to $65 billion, which is huge as it launched only in 2016. Reliance Jio is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, which is India’s most valued firm. Reliance has its heart in the petrochemical and oil refining business. Its telecom counterpart, Reliance Jio, has raised close to $11.5 billion by giving away a 19% stake within the last seven weeks.

What Mukesh Ambani Has to Say

Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, released a statement saying he is happy to have Mubadala on board. He explains that through his ties with Abu Dhabi, he has had the fortune of seeing the impact the company has had on the UAE economy. Mubadala, he claims work for diversifying and connecting UAE’s knowledge-driven economy to a global workforce. He goes further to say that the company is looking forward to making use of Mubadala’s experience and insights.

What the Investment Shows

This announcement, when coupled with the similar ones that came out in the last few weeks, shows just how eager foreign investors are to fund Jio. Most of these large corporations are looking to gain a slice of what is the world’s second-largest market for internet services. Furthermore, media reports have claimed that Amazon is looking to invest over $2 billion in Bharti Airtel, the country’s third-largest telecom operator. Meanwhile, Google is vying for a similar deal with Vodafone Idea, India’s second-largest telecom operator. India has a massive population of over 1.3 billion people and a huge market for internet and telecom service providers. Therefore, the country has grown to become a global battleground for both Silicon Valley and Chinese firms.

What Mubadala Has to Say

Managing Director and Chief Executive of Mubadala, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, said that watching Jio transform the communication sector in India inspired them to go for this deal. He also said that the company is committed to helping India move further along its digital journey. By partnering with Jio, Mubadala hopes to help the country further its digital economy development. Mubadala is a famous investor, with over $229 billion in assets. The company also has stakes in AMD, Alphabet’s Waymo, and SoftBank.

The infusion of this new capital will help Ambani, cut Reliance’s debt to zero. Reliance’s net debt runs to about $21 billion, and Ambani aims to cut this down to zero by 2021. Also, Reliance Industries has been hit by the global pandemic as its core business has suffered a 37% decrease in net profit. Both the oil refining and petrochemicals are seeing a slump due to the novel coronavirus, and this investment will be a breath of fresh air for the company.

Mark Zuckerberg

Early Facebook Employees Slam the Company On Its Stance On Inflammatory Posts

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Facebook recently sent shockwaves by refusing to take action against inflammatory posts put up by President Trump. As the US continues to burn following the shameful murder of a black man by a police officer, the government has taken a very strong-handed tactic. While other social media platforms have cornered and called out Trump for his callous statements, Facebook has remained mum. Trump’s tweet, which stated, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” was met with rage from almost everyone. After a walk-out protest by existing employees, Facebook now comes under fire from old employees. Read on to find out more about what happened, and how it can affect the company’s policy guidelines.

Employees Slam Facebook

The pressure seems to be mounting from all sides on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. His refusal to take stringent action against inflammatory posts put up by President Donald Trump has been met with much criticism. The latest backlash came from 33 previous early-stage employees, including those who drafted the company’s original community guidelines. Their open letter was published by The New York Times, as the group slammed Facebook for its current stance.

Call For Action

Several arguments that the letter makes have been made before by various fringe groups, media houses, and activists. However, the letter is a strong case against Zuckerberg’s stand on the issue. The group argues that Facebook’s position concerning moderating the President is inconsistent. The letter also calls out the company for exposing the dangers of free speech, while also having a double-standard when it comes to freedom of speech. 

Zuckerberg has stated that the company will not be an “arbiter of truth” and that this stand comes after many conversations, introspection, and research. While he reprimands the President for his racist language, he stated that the post does not serve as a “dog whistle for vigilantes.” However, after mounting dissent from both employees and the online community, he has promised to re-examine company policy regarding posts that mention the use of force.

Zuckerberg’s Stance

However, the authors of the letter argue that President Trump’s post threatens violence and sends a signal to take cues from him. As we now live in the age of live-streaming atrocities like mass shootings, they believe that Facebook should take a better stand on the issue. Trump’s post has a history stemmed in racism and targets people who are easily persuaded. The group believes Facebook should not allow his words to have such a far-reaching influence, which could prove fatal and dangerous.

Demands in the Letter

The letter also asks the company’s leadership to reconsider their policies and fact-check politicians. They also believe that like Twitter, Facebook, too, should start explicitly labeling posts that violate their policies on political speech. The group consists of people who had drafted Facebook’s first Community Standards and helped create its connection to free speech. The authors state that the Facebook they joined and worked for tried to empower and protect people. It aimed to allow freedom of expression, up to an extent where it did not explicitly harm anyone. While there were disagreements, all the employees agreed that keeping people safe was the most important thing. However, the letter states that they fear those guidelines have now changed. 

Though they no longer work at Facebook, they remain proud of what they built together and feel sad not being able to recognize it anymore. The group also believes that they have a responsibility to raise their voice, as they helped build the company, and gave it the power it enjoys now. As it checks the speech of non-politicians, the group believes that this brings out a double-standard in the company. The letter blasts the company for not taking a noble stand against hate speech and for freedom. The group even calls the company’s stand “cowardly” for it should hold the opinions of politicians to a higher standard than the ordinary people.

It will be interesting to see how the company retaliates. For now, Facebook and its CEO have remained mum and have not commented on this letter. With pressure mounting, Facebook might have to rethink its policies and adopt something that is more acceptable to the public.

Donald Trump

Facebook Employees Protest Over Company’s Handling of Trump’s Inflammatory Posts

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The U.S. has been set ablaze by protests concerning the brutal killing of African American George Floyd. The country has been burning due to these protests for almost a week now, and several celebrities and companies have come out in support of the movement. The protests stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, calling for more action against systemic racism. Amidst all this, President Trump has been admonished for posting inflammatory tweets and comments. AS per a New York Times report, dozens of Facebook employees are protesting to challenge the company’s response to these posts by the President. Read on to know more about what’s happening and why it is important.

People Against Trump

Several Facebook employees decided to do a virtual walkout to show their disagreement with how the company is handling Trump’s posts. These employees asked for time-offs and even signed out with out-of-office responses to work emails as a sign of protest. They also notified senders that they were protesting against the company’s stand toward the President’s posts. Facebook acknowledged the walkout and said that it will not ask employees to apply their paid time off.

Trump’s Inflammatory Posts

The issue began to build when after last week’s killing of an unarmed black man, Floyd, Trump stated, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” He posted the same on both Twitter and Facebook, through his official handles. The statement has a very racially prominent history, as in the 1960s, it was used by white policemen during the civil unrest in Miami. The President later stated that he did not know about the history of the phrase. Twitter was quick in reporting the tweet by stating that it went against the platform’s guidelines. As the tweet glorified violence, it was tagged as being offensive and then reported.

Donald Trump
Image Source – Techcrunch.com

Facebook’s Stand

Unlike Twitter, however, Facebook took a different stand by doing nothing! CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that their policy allowed discussion regarding the use of force. He went on to state that the situation calls for a questioning of the limits of such discussions. He justified not taking action against the Donald J. Trump post by stating that people had to know that the government would use force. Just last week, the White House announced that it would try to punish social media platforms for curtailing the right to freedom of expression. This came as a direct result of Twitter fact-checking the President’s tweets. Soon after, Zuckerberg contrasted and compared the policies of Twitter and Facebook. On a Fox News interview, Zuckerberg spoke out against platforms that acted as the “arbiter of truth” for things individuals said online.

Trump
Image Source – Techcrunch.com

Further Moves

Employees have also created and shared petitions that request Facebook to add more diversity to their positions. Some have even gone far enough to threaten the CEO with their resignation unless he rethinks his stance. A handful even spoke out against Facebook on Twitter, including Head of Portal Design Andrew Crow. He stated that allowing the platform to incite violence is unacceptable, whoever the individual who posts is. Surprisingly, the company has permitted internal unrest to spew into the open, something that has rarely happened in the past. While other tech platforms have faced the ire of employees for their political opinions, Facebook seemed to keep grievances within their walls. However, with this move, the company has alienated even top brass, such as Director of Product Management, Jason Toff. He, too, took to Twitter to say that he was “not proud” of how the company was behaving. An Instagram employee, Katie Zhu, said that she was “ashamed” at how the company is acting. 

Zuckerberg responded by declaring that the company would donate $10 million for fighting racial injustice in the U.S. The post regarding the same said that the company allowed employees to show their dissent. It also claimed that Facebook would always seek their feedback and try to grow in the process. It will be interesting to see whether the company now rethink their stands and make amends, or continue with the same principles.

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Government Denies Flipkart Permission to Enter the Food Retail Space

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The world knew that something big was in motion when Walmart bought a majority stake in Flipkart. The major e-commerce platform had become extremely popular in India in recent years. Since India has a large population in need of household supplies and other goods, Flipkart was booming. Walmart, a major wholesale and retail player in the US with thousands of stores, wanted to become a part of this massive industry. However, a recent landmark decision by the Indian government has made things difficult for them. Here’s a look at what the decision and what it means for the retail giant. 

India Says No

The Indian government dismissed Flipkart’s plan to make its entry into the retail food business. This move will serve as a considerable setback for Walmart, which was planning on expanding into this space in India. The American retain giant owns the majority of the e-commerce firm and was hoping to use this plan to get back on its feet. Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the e-commerce platform was facing a massive downturn. The company recently released a statement that Asia, which was the world’s third-largest market, had been one of the worst-hit by the pandemic. 

Laying Down the Law

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through its wing, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade rejected Flipkart’s proposal. Flipkart competes directly with Amazon India and wanted to enter the retail food space to make up for their losses and gain a better foothold in the Indian market. The government body turned down this proposal by stating that it violated regulatory guidelines. The proposed new business, titled Flipkart FarmerMart, cannot be accepted as it is structured on 100% FDI funding. The Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Flipkart, Rajneesh Kumar, said they would re-evaluate their proposal and reapply soon.

Flipkart’s Response

Rajneesh also said that Flipkart focuses on building an innovation-driven platform and marketplace. He also said that the company believes it can significantly help India’s farmers and even its food processing sector through this initiative. The proposed plan would help boost the retail food chain supply and make the entire process more transparent and credible. Furthermore, Flipkart also believes that the scheme would help Indian farmers improve their income, and therefore, support the Indian agricultural sector. 

Flipkart’s Plan

The e-commerce giant had come out with such a plan last October. Flipkart’s CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, had said that the company would invest over $258 million in this new venture. The investment would majorly go into supporting and improving the local agriculture-ecosystem. The company would also help develop the supply chain by working with thousands of farmers, farmers’ associations, and the food processing industry. The plan was to help improve the agricultural sector while also making high-quality food available to millions of Indians across the nation. 

Indian Government’s Stand

Other e-commerce platforms, such as Zomato, Grofers, and Amazon, had entered this space and gotten approval for the same. Up until recently, the government had permitted 100% foreign direct investment in this sector. However, it has since reevaluated those guidelines and made changes. As per the new decision, food retail functions as any other marketplace that bridges the gap between third-party sellers and buyers. Therefore, such agencies can only provide a platform for business to occur. They cannot offer their own products or have equity in any firm that sells on its platform. 

Most of these e-commerce platforms want to enter the food and grocery sector as it enables them to engage with customers frequently. As per studies, this sector remains relatively untouched, as it accounts for only 1% of total online sales. Walmart recently stated that the government’s strict lockdown measures and the overall effect of the pandemic had affected global growth. Most states in India had restricted e-commerce platforms from delivering in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. It will be interesting to see how the international retail giant will bounce back from this setback.

AI model - Detecting impurities in Plastics PET line

Greyparrot Raises Funding Against the Tide to Grow Their Recycling Technology

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Greyparrot team
Image Source: greyparrot.ai

Startups around the world trying to raise money have been finding things to be difficult in the last few months. The massive drop in venture capital funding, due to the coronavirus pandemic is threatening a whole generation of entrepreneurs. Studies show that funding for startups in the UK has fallen by over 83% between March and May. Therefore, a large number of early-stage companies have been negatively affected. However, amidst such glim news, one UK-based company seems to be going against the tide. AI-based startup Greyparrot was able to raise £1.825m in seed funding round recently. Here’s a look at what that means for the company and its future.

Funding Woes

Greyparrot aims to revolutionise recycling by utilising waste recognition software. Their most recent round of funding was led by Speedinvest, and the extra cash will fuel Greyparrot’s expansion. Speedinvest is a prominent early-stage tech investor, and the seed round also saw the participation of Force Over Mass. Their AI technology will help bring a lot more transparency and automation into the world of recycling. The company, based in the UK, has been growing from strength to strength in recent years, working in tandem with waste management companies across Europe and Asia. Their ultimate aim is to help digitise waste flow systems to ensure maximum efficiency. There has been a growing demand for such technology due to inefficiencies in the current system of recycling, increasing environmental regulation, and pressures from consumers.

Founder Mikela Druckman Headshot - Colour
Image Source – greyparrot.ai

Digitising Recycling

The company raised £1.825m and will use this money to tackle the growing waste crisis. They plan on automating the process of waste management and recycling. The additional funding will help develop, scale, and optimise Greyparrot’s technology, helping them revolutionise the work of recycling through the use of artificial intelligence. Greyparrot’s software helps monitor and sort waste at large scales. Their initial product, an Automated Waste Monitoring System, is now helping recycling stations go through large amounts of scrap. The technology is deployed on conveyor belts helps measure large waste flows and automatically identify various types of waste. The system provides composition information and other analytics to increase recycling rates.

Need for Efficient Waste Management

Studies show that over 60% of the 2 billion tonnes of solid waste produced does not get recycled. Instead, it ends up in large dumps, landfills, and open spaces, causing environmental impact. As companies chase economic viability rather than economic prosperity, globally, the recycling rate is as low as 14%. Such a flat rate is mostly due to inefficient handling, high labour costs, and stringent quality requirements of recycled substances.

Greyparrot, which launched in 2019, has helped transform the waste management industry. In the UK, the year they were formed saw regulations such as the banning of waste exports to China come into play. This, coupled with the introduction of strict recycling goals and objectives, led to the transformation within the industry. Such laws brought forth an urgent need to recycle efficiently and locally. Furthermore, BBC’s TV series named ‘Blue Planet’ gave consumers concerns regarding climate change, which led to producers aiming for zero-waste-to-landfill goals. This made the environment conducive for a company like Greyparrot, which focuses on improving existing waste and recycling systems.

The company helps solve issues related to the lack of data by providing better insights that aid in transitioning to a more circular economy. The company has partnered with ACI, one of the world’s largest firms working in the recycling space. Greyparrot provides intelligent software that is highly-customisable and easily integrable with hardware available across the globe. Greyparrot will use the new funds to develop its product and scale globally to become the world’s most accurate waste management software.