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Mariella Moon Contributor Mariella Moon is an associate editor at Engadget . More posts by this contributor Old Amazon Kindle devices will soon lose 3G access The rumored satellite features for future iPhones are reserved for emergency uses only, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. A few days ago, a report by well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the next iPhones will come with support for Low Earth Orbit satellite calls and messages. Gurman’s sources said, however, that Apple isn’t turning its devices into actual satellite phones, at least for now. Instead, the tech giant is reportedly developing at least two emergency-related features relying on satellite networks. The first feature is called Emergency Message via Satellite and will be added as a third protocol, alongside iMessage and SMS, to the Messages app. It’s apparently codenamed Stewie inside the company and will allow users to text emergency services even when there’s no signal, which sounds especially usefu...

In the two years since Gatik AI came out of stealth, the autonomous vehicle startup has launched pilots with Walmart and Canadian retail giant Loblaw in its bid to prove that self-driving technology combined with box trucks is the secret economic sauce for hauling goods short distances. Now, the company is expanding into Texas — its fourth market — with a fresh bundle of capital. Gatik said Tuesday it has raised $85 million in a Series B round led by new investor Koch Disruptive Technologies, the venture arm of Koch Industries. Existing investors Innovation Endeavours, Wittington Ventures, FM Capital, Dynamo Ventures, Trucks VC, Intact Ventures and others also participated. Gatik has raised $114.5 million to date. “We are very much in expansion mode in growth mode and felt that Koch Industries would add the most value,” Gatik CEO and co-founder Gautam Narang said in a recent interview, adding that he views the company as a strategic investor. Gatik has been shuttling goods as part o...

In India, a country that is more densely populated and has lower rates of car ownership, auto rickshaws and other two- or three-wheeled vehicles play a central role. While many auto rickshaws on Indian roads are already electric, they tend to rely on lead-acid batteries that need to be replaced every six to 11 months. Power Global, a two-year-old startup, wants to disrupt the auto rickshaw market by offering a retrofit kit for diesel-powered vehicles and swappable battery pack to transition the more common lead-acid batteries to lithium-ion. Power Global was founded by Porter Harris, who had previously engineered the batteries for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. He also worked as the chief battery engineer at EV startup Faraday Future. Thus far, he estimates Power Global has been around 95% self-funded – thanks in part to the sale of his SpaceX stock. “I’ve been looking at the Indian market now for about five years,” he told TechCrunch in a recent interview. The oppo...

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg : As ad revenue surges, Alphabet shares are up 65% over 2021, and up more than 7% in August to reach a record high of $2,891.81, the longest rally since 2009   —  - Shares are poised for their eighth straight month of gains  — Yearly rise nearly twice as much as Facebook, Microsoft from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3zzFs73

MIT Technology Review : Sources and experts say US-funded Afghan government databases containing sensitive personal data could be used by the Taliban to identify millions of Afghans   —  By capturing 40 pieces of data per person—from iris scans and family links to their favorite fruit—a system meant to cut fraud … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3Broich

Sohee Kim / Bloomberg : At the behest of South Korean regulators, payments service Kakao lowers its IPO target to ~$1.3B at the top of the range, down from ~$1.4B   —  - Regulators asked the startup to revise its IPO prospectus  — Krafton's lukewarm debut has soured sentiment domestically from Techmeme https://ift.tt/38pwHAL

Artificial intelligence trained to spot the disease is tested at Nottingham University Hospital. from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/3BpiiAU

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/2YdWcDa

The scale of the tech industry’s spending to influence the European Union’s tech policy agenda has been laid out in a report published today by Corporate Europe Observatory and Lobbycontrol — which found hundreds of companies, groups and business associations shelling out a total of €97 million (~$115M) annually lobbying EU institutions. The level of spending makes tech the biggest lobby sector in the region — ahead of pharma, fossil fuels, finance, and chemicals — per the report by the two lobbying transparency campaign groups. The EU has a raft of digital legislation in train , including the Digital Markets Act, which is set to apply ex ante controls to the biggest ‘gatekeeper’ platforms to promote fair competition in the digital market by outlawing a range of abusive practices; and the Digital Services Act, which will increase requirements on a swathe of digital businesses — again with greater requirements for larger platforms — to try to bring online rules in line with offline r...

After a number of delays , South Korea’s National Assembly today voted to approve the passage of its “Anti-Google law.” Nicknamed after the search giant but more wide-ranging, the law will prevent Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app billing systems when building apps for their two market-dominating app stores . This is the first time globally that a government has intervened to prevent Google and Apple from imposing on their own payment rails on in-app purchases. Google and Apple have been increasingly under scrutiny over the restrictive aspects of their respective systems in other market, and so now many will be looking to see if the move in South Korea becomes a tipping point, where the two might be subjected to similiar measures in other countries. Most imminently, Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is also considering regulations for digital payments system of Apple, Google and WeChat, according to media reports. South Korea’s prelimi...

Jiyoung Sohn / Wall Street Journal : South Korea's National Assembly passes a bill that forces Apple and Google to allow alternative payment systems in their app stores   —  Seoul requires the companies to allow competing payment systems, threatening their 30% cut of most in-app digital sales  —  SEOUL—Google and Apple Inc … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3jv28zE

Bloomberg : Sources: Indian ride-hailing company Ola is seeking to raise about $1B at an $8B+ valuation in a Mumbai IPO; source says the filing could arrive by October   —  - Citigroup, Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley are on the listing  — Startup to seek valuation of more than $8 billion in the IPO from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3BwtnjL

Dave Lee / Financial Times : New York and San Francisco are moving to make commission caps for delivery platforms permanent; NYC voted to approve a 23% cap, below the 30% usually charged   —  Grubhub vows to fight legislation as shares in European parent Just Eat Takeaway fall  —  Shares in Just Eat Takeaway … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3t8qUcb

Kartikay Mehrotra / Bloomberg : A flaw in Go Ethereum, used to verify transactions, has been fixed after it caused about half of the Ethereum ecosystem to split into a separate chain   —  - Ethereum blockchain was divided by mistake in client software  — Network patch swiftly stabilized the blockchain system from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3mMHe0Z