The $2.4 trillion set to be invested in energy this year includes record spending on renewables but falls short of plugging a supply gap and tackling climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. Rising 8 percent from the previous year when the pandemic was more severe, the investment includes big increases in […]
Reuters
Meta, Microsoft and other tech giants racing to build the emerging metaverse concept have formed a group to foster development of industry standards that would make the companies’ nascent digital worlds compatible with each other. Participants in the Metaverse Standards Forum include many of the biggest companies working in the space, from chip makers to […]
Supporters of a U.S. bill aimed at reining in Big Tech platforms like Amazon.com and Alphabet’s Google have flooded lawmakers with nearly 4,000 phone calls, while critics of the legislation sent a letter telling senators it would “harm consumers.” Versions of the bill have progressed further than any previous Big Tech antitrust legislation, with strong […]
Mobile operators in Belgium have bid 1.2 billion euros ($1.26 billion) for fifth-generation (5G) mobile licences, the telecoms regulator said on Tuesday. Proceeds from the auction, which attracted bids from five operators, were 468.5 million euros higher than the minimum price, the regulator said. The Belgian regulator cleared the five entrants to the auction in […]
Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson said on Tuesday it expects global 5G mobile subscriptions to surpass 1 billion in 2022, helped by higher adoption in China and North America. A weaker global economy and the uncertainties caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lowered its estimate for 2022 by around 100 million, the company said in […]
Babel Finance, the Hong Kong-based crypto lender which suspended withdrawals and redemption of crypto assets on Friday, said it has reached an agreement with counterparties on the repayment of some debts to ease short-term liquidity. Cryptocurrency valuations have plunged in recent weeks as investors dump risky assets in a rising interest rate environment. Bitcoin BTC=BTSP, […]
A small Chinese study detailed in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed neutralising antibodies against some Omicron sub-variants were largely undetectable after two doses of a Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, with a booster shot only partly restoring them. The study comes as China, which has approved only locally developed COVID shots including the Sinopharm vaccine, strives […]
China’s Tencent Holdings announced to its staff on Monday the official formation of an “extended reality” (XR) unit, three people familiar with the matter said, formally placing its bets on the metaverse concept of virtual worlds. The unit is tasked with building up the extended reality business for Tencent including both software and hardware, the […]
South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd said on Monday it planned to build a hydrogen plant in South Korea to produce 50,000 tonnes of hydrogen annually by the second quarter of 2024, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. The new plant is expected to employ technology, which converts methane to hydrogen by creating a chemical […]
Internet and gaming giant NetEase delayed the rollout of its video game Diablo Immortal in China three days ahead of its official launch, a move that comes just after the game’s official account on Weibo was banned from making new posts. China-based NetEase, which was set to release the game on Thursday, did not provide […]