We bring you a selection of interesting news from around the world…
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The truth about VPNs: What you need to know
What’s a VPN—And How Does It Actually Work?
Global Payments agrees $24.25 billion Worldpay deal as industry heavyweights shift focus
As part of the deal announced on Thursday, Global Payments will sell its issuer solutions unit, which offers card processing and account services, to FIS for $13.5 billion.
Marketing: Brilliant examples that went viral
Dominos Pizza offered free pizza for life (100 pizzas yearly for 100 years) to anyone who tattooed their logo on their body. The marketing team expected maybe 3-4 people would actually do it.
The rise and wobble of India’s EV pioneer Ola: What went wrong?
It was once the Indian start-up world’s shining star, but Ola is now battling a multitude of crises.
AEO Is the new SEO
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other chat surfaces now use search to power answers. AI chat is converging with search.
Hertz customers’ personal data and driver’s licenses stolen in data breach, including UK
The rental company, which also owns the Dollar and Thrifty brands, said in notices on its website that the breach relates to a cyberattack on one of its vendors between October 2024 and December 2024.
Electricity grids creak as AI demands soar
It’s not your personal computer that uses all this energy, though. Or your smartphone. The computations we increasingly rely on happen in giant data centres that are, for most people, out of sight and out of mind.
Apple airlifts 600 tons of iPhones from India ‘to beat’ Trump tariffs
Tech giant Apple chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the United States from India, after it stepped up production there in an effort to beat President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The remarkable healing power of seabird poop for coral reefs
Scientists are just beginning to understand the important connections between the health of seabird nesting colonies above water and reef ecosystems below.
The enduring appeal of pens and paper in a digital era
Analog forms of communication are far from dead. US indie brands are capitalizing on a dedicated customer base that has had to look abroad for special stationery goods.
SoftBank and OpenAI make history with largest startup financing ever
In the history of startup funding, SoftBank’s announcement yesterday that it is backing an investment of up to $40 billion in OpenAI is in a league of its own. No other financing even comes close.
Microsoft is redesigning Windows BSOD, and it might change to black
…at least it can still be referred to as the ‘BSOD’…
Bad genes. The downfall of 23andMe’s billion-dollar bet
A few days ago, 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., bringing a dramatic end to one of the most iconic names in consumer biotech.
Apple files patent for foldable Apple Watch with two screens
Future versions of the Apple Watch could feature a foldable display to rival the functionality of a smartphone, according to a recent patent application by Apple.
Bitcoin in the bush – the crypto mine in remote Zambia
The roar of the Zambezi is deafening as millions of gallons of water crash over rocks and tumble-down rapids. But there’s another sound cutting through the trees of the Zambian bush – the unmistakable high-pitched whine of a bitcoin mine.
Switzerland’s stunning new passport
The European country might have the 5th strongest passport in the world, but they also have the most gorgeous passport now, with this new design unveiled by Geneva-based studio RETINAA.
Deep dive: Hosting a conference
78% of organizers say in-person events are their most effective marketing channel.
The people who still use typewriters
Computers and smartphones might be where most writing is done these days, but typewriters still have work to do in the US.
End of hedonism? Why Britain turned its back on clubbing
“A complex matrix of factors are all conspiring against and placing pressure on the sector, making for a perfect storm for nightclubs,”
Amazing new technology can ‘bend’ sounds into your ears only
What if you could listen to music or a podcast without headphones or earbuds and without disturbing anyone around you? Or have a private conversation in public without other people hearing you?
OpenAI’s o1-pro is the company’s most expensive AI model yet
OpenAI has launched a more powerful version of its o1 “reasoning” AI model, o1-pro, in its developer API.
Second biggest US bank hit by major data breach stealing personal data
Bank of America has informed clients that their names, account details, addresses, contact information, date of birth, social security numbers, and other government IDs were all exposed when documents were left outside in an unsealed container.
Apple is reportedly bringing live translation to AirPods
Apple is a little behind others in adding live translation to the AirPods, as Google brought the feature to its very first pair of Pixel Buds in 2017, and later expanded it to the Pixel Buds Pro in 2022. Other companies, like Meta and Humane, have attempted live translation with their wearables as well, though the results proved pretty inconsistent.
Chinese hackers breach Juniper Networks routers with custom backdoors and rootkits
“The backdoors had varying custom capabilities, including active and passive backdoor functions, as well as an embedded script that disables logging mechanisms on the target device,” Google-owned Mandiant said in a report.
Amazon forest felled to build road for climate summit
A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.
54% of people are creeped out by personalized advertising
US consumers were the least comfortable with personalized advertising among 17 markets surveyed, with British and French coming in next. Consumers in Hong Kong, India and the United Arab Emirates were the most comfortable with personalized ads.
Skype will close in May, announces Microsoft
Skype, the video-calling service that had hundreds of millions of users, is closing in May, its owner Microsoft has said.
Amazon joins quantum race with ‘cat qubit’ powered chip
The chip seeks to address one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the development of quantum computers – making them error free.
Apple’s 2026 foldable iPhone has no visible display crease
Apple’s apparent solution could hand the company a major competitive advantage.
Bank of America to launch USD-pegged crypto stablecoin
The landscape of the digital asset industry is changing rapidly. Moreover, those shifts have seen a growing likelihood that financial services entities will enter the evolving cryptocurrency market. That was confirmed this week by Bank of America CEO who recently said they are preparing to launch their own USD-pegged crypto stablecoin.
Alexa relaunched with ambition to be ‘your best digital friend’
Amazon has unveiled Alexa+, an overhauled version of its virtual assistant with which it hopes users will share “just about anything”.
From McDonald’s to Kellogg’s: Why are so many brands ditching their logo?
Kellogg’s recent See You in the Morning campaign has sparked a lively debate: is it a masterstroke or a brand mishap?
What Lush learned from three years of being mostly offline
“We were very early adopters in something that felt crazy [at the time], and now social media feels crazy,” Jack Constantine, the brand’s chief digital officer, said.
Cryptocurrency theft of £1.1bn could be biggest ever
Dubai-based cryptocurrency firm Bybit said hackers stole $1.5bn (£1.1bn) worth of digital currency in what could be the biggest crypto theft in history.
Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row
Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest-level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data.
European Central Bank explores using digital ledgers to settle transactions in central bank money
The two-track plan includes establishing a settlement platform using central bank money and creating a long-term solution for using central bank money in digital ledger-based transactions, involving foreign exchange settlement among other international financial use cases.
Apple gambles on new iPhone with AI features at lower cost
The iPhone 16e has the same processor as the larger iPhone 16, Apple said, with similar storage options, though a lower spec elsewhere, including fewer cameras.
Brands are confidently disguising their logos in outdoor ads but is it effective?
While brands experimenting with logo placement is nothing new, a growing number of companies are embracing this approach. In recent months, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Tesco and McDonald’s have all deleted or disguised their logos in outdoor advertising campaigns.
France announces $112B in AI investment over coming years
“This is new era of progress,” says French president ahead of third AI summit in Paris.
Google data centers used nearly 6B gallons of water in 2024
AI growth and competition push water and energy demand, with consumption set to double by 2026.
Apple is reportedly developing AirPods with cameras
Apple is working on a new version of the AirPods Pro that uses external cameras and artificial intelligence to understand the outside world and provide information to the user. This would essentially be the smart glasses path – but without actual glasses.
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