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Amazon to expand tech hub in Boston with 3,000 new jobs
Washington (AFP) - Amazon announced plans Tuesday to expand its technology hub in the Boston area, creating some 3,000 jobs in the next few years. The Boston hub will add teams working on the Alexa digital assistant, robotics, Amazon Pharmacy and the giant's web services unit. The company, which already employs some 3,700 people in the Boston area, has leased a new 17-story office tower which is part of the Boston Seaport project. Set for completion in 2024, the complex will include a community dog park, retail space and a new performing arts center. Rohit Prasad, vice president and head scie...
AFP
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Listen-in social network Clubhouse readies for the masses
San Francisco (AFP) - Invite-only audio social network Clubhouse is readying to let in the masses with the help of a fresh funding round reported to value it at nearly a billion dollars. Clubhouse has gained allure since its release early last year in a private testing format, putting a podcast spin on social networking by letting members listen in on conversations taking place in online "rooms" and chime in with comments if they wish. "Our focus now is on opening up Clubhouse to the whole world," Clubhouse founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth said in an online post Sunday. "With that goal in ...
AFP
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GameStop extends wild ride on Wall Street
New York (AFP) - GameStop continued its wild Wall Street ride on Monday with dizzying ups and downs seemingly powered by online chatter about the struggling video game retailer with a devoted fan base. GameStop shares were up 70 percent at one point in morning trades, after ending last week with a surge in price and rocketing some 800 percent in the past three months. Shares that were trading at $2.80 in April of last year topped $100 during morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange, despite analysts warning that GameStop's retail model is out of touch with market trends. In highly volatile...
AFP
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Twitter unveils 'community-driven' effort to fight misinformation
San Francisco (AFP) - Twitter announced a new initiative Monday to enlist users to flag misinformation on its platform through a project known as Birdwatch. Birdwatch will be operated separately from Twitter while allowing users to identify tweets which may be false or misleading, the platform said of its new effort to stem false and harmful content. The project comes with Twitter and other social networks under fire for failing to stem manipulation and misinformation about elections, the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues. The move aims "to broaden the range of voices that are part of tacklin...
AFP
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GameStop extends wild ride on Wall Street
New York (AFP) - GameStop continued its wild Wall Street ride on Monday with a dizzying climb seemingly powered by online chatter about the struggling video game retailer with a devoted fan base. GameStop shares were up 70 percent at one point in morning trades, after ending last week with a surge in price and rocketing some 800 percent in the past three months. Shares that were trading at $2.80 in April of last year topped $100 during a high-volume morning session on the New York Stock Exchange, despite analysts warning that GameStop's retail model is out of touch with market trends. Investor...
AFP
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Embattled Intel says earnings better than expected
San Francisco (AFP) - Intel said Thursday that earnings topped prior expectations, as the computer chip giant faces pressure to come up with bold ways to fend off fierce competition and an activist shareholder. Intel said it took in $20 billion in revenue during the final quarter of last year, little changed from a year earlier, amid robust sales of personal computers. The Silicon Valley company reported net income of $5.9 billion in the quarter, down a billion dollars from the same period a year earlier. Intel said that its board approved an increased cash dividend of $1.39 per share in what ...
AFP
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Embattled Intel says earnings better than expected
San Francisco (AFP) - Intel said Thursday earnings topped prior expectations as the computer chip giant faces pressure to come up with bold ways to fend of fierce competition and an activist shareholder. Intel said it took in $20 billion in revenue during the final quarter of last year, little changed from a year earlier, amid robust sales of personal computers. The Silicon Valley company reported net income of $5.9 billion in the quarter, down a billion dollars from the same period a year earlier. Intel said that its board approved an increased cash dividend of $1.39 per share in what may hav...
AFP
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BlackRock opens door to bitcoin in boost for cryptocurrency
New York (AFP) - BlackRock, Wall Street's biggest money manager, is opening the door to investing in bitcoin futures in a potential boost for the controversial cryptocurrency. Securities filings from the investment giant show at least two BlackRock funds may buy bitcoin, a digital currency which has seen wild swings since being introduced over a decade ago. BlackRock said it may buy bitcoin contracts which have been approved by regulators while acknowledging the risks of these investments. The company confirmed this was the first time it has indicated it may invest in the cryptocurrency. "Bitc...
AFP
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Netflix keeps growing in pandemic, tops 200 mn subscribers
San Francisco (AFP) - Netflix on Tuesday topped subscriber growth expectations in the past quarter, keeping ahead of new streaming rivals competing for viewers stuck in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The streaming television leader added some 8.5 million paid subscribers in the quarter to reach 203 million, topping 200 million despite recent price hikes, its quarterly earning update showed. "Covid-19 has accelerated that big shift from linear to streaming entertainment," Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann said on an earnings call. "So, the underlying long-term looks ...
AFP
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Super fast 5G in the US still a work in progress
San Francisco (AFP) - Marketing pitches in the US are bullish on superfast 5G telecom networks, but they remain more of a promise than reality. Promoters of the technology say it will bring such innovations as fast-thinking self-driving cars and rapid-fire video downloads. And nationwide coverage with 5G could add $1.5 trillion to GDP in the next five years. But actually deploying it here is "very fragmented" given the maze of local regulations and agencies that telecom companies have to navigate across 50 states, said Jefferson Wang, head of 5G strategy at Accenture. Approvals need to be soug...
AFP
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