NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok plans to sue Trump administration, and more
Over the weekend, TikTok was reported to be planning legal action against Trump administration. While the move is not confirmed, multiple outlets have suggested that the video-sharing service will file a lawsuit against the White House on August 11, alleging that the ban imposed against its parent company is unconstitutional and the 'national security' reasoning behind it is baseless. Here are other major updates.
Toshiba exits laptop business
Toshiba has officially left the laptop business for good. The company had sold over 80% stake of its PC division to Sharp, which sells Dynabooks, two years ago, and now, the remaining has also been taken over by the Foxconn-owned MNC. Toshiba, to recall, was among the top PC manufacturers during the early 2000s but its domination faded as other players flooded the market.
Computing pioneer Frances Allen passes away
In another news, IBM has reported the demise of Frances Allen, the company's first female fellow and the computer scientist whose pioneering work made compilers much more efficient and formed the backbone of modern-day computer programming, She passed away due to Alzheimer's on her birthday, August 4, at the age of 88, her great-nephew Ryan McKee confirmed to The New York Times.
Huawei is running out of chips supply
Huawei said that the restrictions imposed by the US are drying its chip supply out. Richard Yu, the CEO of the company's consumer business uint, said they will no longer be able to produce new chips from September 15 as the suppliers will stop production from that date, in compliance with America's sanctions. Separately, Qualcomm is lobbying to get the restrictions against Huawei removed.
Other important updates to note
Among other things, Twitter began testing showing tweet quote counts along with retweets, comments, and likes. Facebook, meanwhile, joined Microsoft in slamming Apple's App Store policies. The social network's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said that the company's policies have forced them to launch the Facebook Gaming app on iOS without the feature that allowed users to play instant mini-games.
Some COVID-19-related updates
On Sunday, India reported over 61,000 new COVID-19 infections, taking the nationwide tally to 22.14 lakh. The death toll rose to 44,466. As for vaccine development, Russia is set to register its fast-tracked shot on August 12, while Bharat Biotech's CMD Krishna Ella has said that they cannot rush with their COVAXIN candidate as safety and quality are of paramount importance.
