Tech Talk

It’s not quite business as usual in the world of business, but in tech, there is still a significant amount of money being raised and invested, both to help sustain the most promising startups, and to help find those emerging despite (or because of) the wider economic and social crises arising from the coronavirus pandemic. Today, one of the biggest names in VC, Index Ventures, announced that it has closed another $2 billion in funds –$1.2 billion that it plans to use for growth rounds (larger, later stage investments) and $800 million that it will put into emerging startups (smaller, earlier rounds, likely for younger companies).At a time when it’s getting very tough for startups — which are often built not for immediate profit but growth, with big capital infusions to sustain themselves — Index will have its work cut out for it. To date, 70% of its initial investments are at Series A or earlier. Whether that will be a proportion it keeps remains to be seen.The total amount is larger…

Indian grocery startup BigBasket has raised $60 million as it scales its business in the country to meet growing demand from customers stuck at home.Alibaba and other existing investors including Mirae Asset and CDC Group participated in the bridge-round, Vipul Parekh, co-founder of BigBasket, told TechCrunch in an interview. Parekh said the startup intends to close a larger financing round in the next six to nine months.The eight-year-old startup, which attained the unicorn status last year, has raised about $720 million in venture capital and debt financing to date, according to CBInsights. Indian news outlet Entrackr first signaled the bridge-round. Parekh said the startup is aggressively trying to hire more delivery personnel to service the ever growing demand from customers. New Delhi ordered a nation-wide lockdown last month, which has disrupted several businesses.The volume of orders on BigBasket has surged by up to five times in recent weeks, said Parekh. But the startup is str…

Gaming PCs are some of the most powerful systems out there, but GPU horsepower and processor clock speeds won't matter at all if a virus infects your computer and prevents it from working properly. Therefore, dedicated antivirus software is something every PC gamer should opt to install, as it will effectively shield your PC from dangerous forms of malware and spyware. However, since you want most of your system's RAM to be used for gaming purposes, it's essential to choose an antivirus software that takes up as little memory as possible while active. Among these softwares, our favorite is BullGuard Antivirus 2020. Between its comprehensive security systems, small resource demands, and additional Game Booster feature, BullGuard is the best overall option for PC gamers.Best Overall: BullGuard Antivirus 2020The best overall gamer-friendly antivirus software on the market is BullGuard. Its next-gen security systems utilize machine learning to adapt to and protect against dang…

From today, iPhone users across China can set up their T-Union cards for Express Transit, Apple's contactless transit payment system. The new support is a result of a partnership between Apple and China T-Union, a contactless transit card currently used in 275 Chinese cities.


Express Transit is an Apple Pay feature that allows users to pay fares with a swipe of their ‌iPhone‌ or Apple Watch at the turnstile without having to unlock their device first with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode.
How to Set Up Express Transit With Apple Pay on iPhone and Apple Watch
Express Transit was already in use in Beijing and Shanghai thanks to integration with local transit cards, but the new partnership between Apple and China T-Union essentially extends Express Transit nationwide.

Apple has a web page that it updates with the countries and regions that support the feature. Other places currently include London with Transport for London (TfL), New York City with Metropolitan Transportation Authorit…

Apple CEO Tim Cook will hold a company-wide virtual meeting later this month for employees to ask questions about working-from-home arrangements that have been put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.


According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple sent a note to staff on Wednesday advising them of the plan.
It asked that questions be submitted by end of day on Saturday and also encouraged workers to share their experiences of working through the disruption to daily life that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about. The specific date of the meeting has not yet been disclosed. Apple last week informed employees that its retail stores in the United States will remain closed until early May, and Apple employees will continue to work from home until then.

In Santa Clara County, where Apple Park, Infinite Loop, and many other corporate offices and retail stores are located, there is a shelter in place order that will remain in effect until May 3.

The order prevents all nonessentia…

While this year’s crop of new emoji is set and ready to go, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the Unicode Consortium to delay version 14 by about six months. That means instead of debuting in March 2021, the new additions will be announced in Septe...

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