Find out the week’s top mobile stories from around the world.
This week.. Big Tech’s day on the Hill, Twitter says ‘phone spear phishing attack’ used to gain network access in crypto scam, coronavirus tracing apps: is privacy protection to blame for low downloads, and much more…
“This is a very dangerous situation”: Big Tech’s day on the Hill
Ars Technica
A bevy of tech’s biggest titans—Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg—all took to their remote offices Wednesday to dial into a hotly anticipated Congressional hearing, the latest part of an in-depth investigation into their firms’ behavior that began more than a year ago.
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Twitter says ‘phone spear phishing attack’ used to gain network access in crypto scam breach
TechCrunch
Twitter has revealed a little more detail about the security breach it suffered earlier this month when a number of high profile accounts were hacked to spread a cryptocurrency scam — writing in a blog post that a “phone spear phishing attack” was used to target a small number of its employees.
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Coronavirus tracing apps: is privacy protection to blame for few downloads in the EU?
Euronews
Track and trace apps once promised to be the technological solution to slow the spread of coronavirus. Yet the software is complicated, and privacy issues have held up rollouts.
These apps harness Bluetooth technology or geolocation data to detect and notify users if they were exposed to another user who has tested positive for COVID-19.
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TikTok stars could leave the app over privacy fears
Dexerto
Some of TikTok’s top stars are apparently planning to leave the viral video app in wake of concerns surrounding users’ privacy and personal data, and are now set to join rival app Triller, instead.
TikTok has become Gen Z’s mobile application of choice, birthing a slew of influencers who have skyrocketed to stardom due to their insanely popular dance videos and lipsyncing trends.
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Africa’s mobile banking will be redefined by social media
The Africa Report
The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a race among African Banks to become fully digital as consumers increasingly demand more personalised service across multiple channels.
The rise in mobile and digital banking is likely to surpass the banking sector’s revenue predictions on a continental scale which were expected to increase from $86 billion in 2017 to $129 billion in 2022 according to a study conducted by McKinsey and published in February 2018.
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AI & Chatbot Apps: How Are the Two Transforming The Mobile Technology?
My Story
Today, technology continues to make breakthroughs every day and enhance user experience. Ventures around the world have started embracing innovative technologies and are searching for ways to make them more accessible to the end-users. From small enterprises to some of the giants in the market today, AI and chatbots are being integrated on a large scale and these enhancements are making lives easier in many ways.
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15,000 games removed from Apple’s App Store in China ahead of registration deadline
Venturebeat
Unlicensed mobile games are dropping like flies from the Apple App Store as China’s deadline for registration approaches on Friday.
At the request of the Chinese government, Apple has removed nearly 15,000 games since July 1, with more likely to disappear when the August 1 requirement for registration arrives, said Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad over email. “We expect thousands of games to be removed from the China App Store this year,” he said. For years, China has been the No. 1 mobile game market in the world, and it generated the highest revenue of any country on Apple’s App Store, with 2019 revenues of $12.6 billion, according to measurement firm Sensor Tower.
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PayPal says 86% profit jump flags shift from cash payments in stores
Reuters
Payments processor PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O) said on Wednesday that a surge in e-commerce transactions and new accounts that drove quarterly profits 86% higher was continuing and would support additional investments in mobile-payment tools.
The news lifted the stock as much as 6% in after-hours trading. The stock, seen as an e-commerce investment play, was already up 44% since PayPal last reported results on May 6. The company said it expected the trends to continue and that it now expected earnings per share for the full year to increase about 25% on 22% revenue growth.
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Google Stadia can now play games over 4G and 5G mobile data
XDA Developers
Google Stadia launched last year as the company’s ambitious entry into the growing market of cloud game streaming services. Understandably, Stadia was limited to Wi-Fi networks at launch. After all, streaming games from the cloud racks up data usage very quickly. If that doesn’t matter to you, though, it’s now possible to play games over 4G and 5G mobile data.
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