Square To Buy Jay-Z’s Music Service Tidal

Square has agreed to buy a majority stake in Tidal, the streaming music service led by rapper Jay-Z, as part of an effort to expand the company’s suite of financial tools to musicians and emerging artists. From a report: Square will pay $297 million in a mix of cash and stock to become Tidal’s “significant majority” owner, though Jay-Z and Tidal’s…

Beyond Meat Signs Global Supply Deals With McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

U.S. plant-based protein company Beyond Meat has signed global supply deals with fast food firms McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, which includes KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and others. AgFunderNews reports: The three-year strategic agreement with McDonald’s will see Beyond Meat become the ‘preferred supplier’ of patties for the fast food chain’s new McPlant plant-based burger. Under their separate strategic partnership, Beyond…

NASA selects 16 futuristic space technology concepts

NASA has selected 16 cool new futuristic space technology concepts for further study. Four of them are from NASA’s own Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), including a railway system on the moon to move cargo. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/futuristic-space-technology-concepts-nasa-jpl-niac…

Google’s Stadia Problem? A Video Game Unit That’s Not Googley Enough

The tech giant likes to test and tweak. Stadia promised to change the industry and failed to deliver. From a report: Google’s streaming video game service Stadia had ambitious plans to disrupt the gaming industry, which is dominated by consoles. The tech giant had planned to pack Stadia with original content, announcing two years ago that it was hiring hundreds of…

Motor industry lobbied for a loophole in UK fossil fuel car ban

The UK government plan announced in 2020 is to ban new petrol and diesel model cars by 2030, but some fossil-fuelled cars are to be exempt. Now it has emerged that the concession came after lobbying by the UK car-makers’ trade body Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269011-motor-industry-lobbied-for-a-loophole-in-uk-fossil-fuel-car-ban/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Toshiba Unveils World’s First FC-MAMR HDD: 18 TB, Helium Filled

Toshiba this week announced the industry’s first hard drive featuring flux-control microwave-assisted magnetic recording (FC-MAMR) technology. The new MG09-series HDDs are designed primarily for nearline and enterprise applications, they offer an 18 TB capacity along with an ultra-low idle power consumption. From a report: The Toshiba MG09-series 3.5-inch 18 TB HDD are based on the company’s 3rd generation nine-platter helium sealed…

Biden Signs Executive Order To Address Chip Shortage Through a Review To Strengthen Supply Chains

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday meant to address a global chip shortage impacting industries ranging from medical supplies to electric vehicles. From a report: The order includes a 100-day review of key products including semiconductors and advanced batteries used in electric vehicles, followed by a broader, long-term review of six sectors of the economy. The long-term review will…

Apache Software Foundation Ousts TinkerPop Creator

Frosty P writes: The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has removed Marko Rodriguez from the TinkerPop project he co-founded because his provocative Twitter posts were said to have violated the ASF Code of Conduct. “I was removed from the project I started 11 years ago for ‘publishing offensive humor that borders on hate speech,'” Rodriguez explained in an email to The Register….

Huawei Turns To Pig Farming as Smartphone Sales Fall

Huawei is turning to technology for pig farmers as it deals with tough sanctions on its smartphones. From a report: The Chinese telecoms giant was stopped from accessing vital components after the Trump administration labelled it a threat to US national security. In response to struggling smartphone sales, Huawei is looking at other sources of revenue for its technology. Along with…

Spotify Expands To 80 New Markets, Targeting 1 Billion Customers

Spotify is introducing its audio service in 80 markets across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean in coming days, expanding the company’s potential market by some 1 billion people. From a report: The steps announced Monday will nearly double Spotify’s geographic footprint and add regions where streaming music is in its infancy. The company already operates in 93 countries or territories. Spotify…