PewDiePie Hackers Take Over Smart TVs, SA’s Naspers Invests Big in India’s Swiggy, and Apple Ordered to Remove iPhones from German Stores

Africa

Naspers and Tencent invest in Indian food startup, Swiggy

South Africa’s Naspers and Tencent have invested nearly $700 million in a billion dollar funding round for a stake in India’s Swiggy. Naspers, which owns 31% of Tencent, has led several investment rounds in Swiggy since it first bought a stake in the company in 2017. Swiggy is an online food delivery startup. The startup works with more than 50,000 restaurants across 50 cities in India and is currently valued at about $3.3 billion.

South African students excel in Huawei programme

Ten South African students recently took part in a Huawei Seeds for the Future programme in China. The students studied Mandarin in Beijing before building a 4G network in Huawei’s labs in Shenzhen. The Seeds for Africa programme is a Huawei’s CSR project that sends students to Beijing and Shenzhen to learn cutting-edge technology inside Huawei’s most advanced labs. South Africa became a part of the programme in 2016. The programme is run in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, DTPS.

Europe

PewDiePie fans Hack Smart TVs to support YouTuber

Fans of Swedish YouTube star, PewDiePie, have hacked into over 60,000 Google Chromecast devices to support their favourite YouTube star, a BBC report says. The hackers forced their victims to watch a video on YouTube informing them that their devices were compromised. At the end of the video, users were told to subscribe to PewDiePie. PewDiePie has had the most YouTube subscribers since 2013. Recently, though, Indian music label, T-Series, came close to breaking the Swede’s 79 million subscriber list record. That hack is an attempt to show support to the Swede YouTuber.

Video games worth more than music and videos

UK’s video game sector is said to be worth more than both the music and video industries combined, according to reports. The industry has grown by more than 100% over a ten-year period since 2007, the Entertainment Retailers Association have said. In 2018, the industry was worth GBP 3.86 billion. The growth was driven mostly by Fifa 19, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Apple ordered to remove iPhone models from Germany over patent dispute

Apple has been ordered to remove some versions of its iPhones from German stores due to patent disputes with chip manufacturer, Qualcomm. The court ruling in Munich, Germany, found Apple guilty of infringing patents in its power-saving technology. As part of the legal process, Qualcomm has paid a €1.3 billion bond that would be given to Apple should the latter win an appeal on the injunction. The order will see Apple withdraw its iPhone 7 and 8 models from stores.

Asia

Weather app collecting personal information illegally

A popular weather app, Weather Forecast—World Weather Accurate Radar, has been illegally collecting user information and forcing them to subscribe to paid services, security experts say. The app, developed by TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited in Shenzhen, has been downloaded ten million times already. The same company manufactures Alcatel and Blackberry phones.

China lands spacecraft on ‘dark’ side of the moon

China has successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the far-side of the moon, the BBC reports. The un-manned Chang’e-4 will probe the moon’s unexplored geology and also conduct biological experiments. The landing is the first of its kind on the far-side of the moon. The moon’s far-side is also called its dark-side because it is not visible to us from earth. Landing on that side has technological and logistical challenges because it’s difficult to receive or send signals to that side of the moon.

Malaysian dropshipping business lands funding from Cradle Fund

Malaysian dropshipping startup, Kumoten, has received a pre-series A funding from government-backed Cradle Agency. The undisclosed amount will be used to expand Kumoten’s talent and also invest in research and development. The startup intends to expand into Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Kumoten prides itself as the largest automated dropshipping site in Southeast Asia.

The Americas

Apple stock has dropped 38% in 90 days

Apple stock has lost 38% in value since October, 2018, a Tech Crunch report says. The tech giant’s share price fell some 9% overnight between January 3rd and 4th, bringing the value to $143.82 from $157.92. The latest slide follows Apple CEO Tim Cook’s letter to investors that the company could miss Q1 targets by between $5b and $9b. Tim Cook said most of the shortfall was due to matters arising in China.

Tesla cuts prices on vehicles in the US

Electric vehicle maker, Tesla Inc., has cut prices on all vehicle models to offset lower green tax-cuts in America, a Reuters report says. Following the news, the car manufacturer’s share price fell 7% as investors worried over the company’s future profitability. The company has turned a profit only three times in its 15-year existence. The price cut means all Tesla vehicles are now $2,000 cheaper. Tesla has also failed to meet its quarterly deliveries of Model 3 sedans.