NewsBytes Briefing: Trump may ban Alibaba, other Chinese companies
Over the weekend, a lot happened in the world of technology. Firstly, US President Donald Trump indicated to reporters that the White House is considering a ban on more Chinese firms, along with ByteDance's TikTok and WeChat. "Well, we're looking at other things, yes," Trump said when questioned if he could ban other Chinese firms like Alibaba. Here are other major updates.
TikTok given 90-day ultimatum
Trump also spelled more trouble for ByteDance by signing another executive order giving the Chinese company a 90-day-period (until November 12) to divest all US assets in TikTok or close. The attack came as TikTok is in talks with Microsoft for a potential sale of its US, Canada, and Australia businesses. The discussions, Microsoft had said earlier, will be completed by September 15.
Facebook tries another TikTok rival; begins mega app merger
As TikTok continues to struggle globally, Facebook is doing everything to position itself as its replacement. The company recently launched Reels, a TikTok-style service, within the Instagram app, and now, it is testing a similar feature called Short Videos within its main app in India. Notably, Facebook has also begun the merger of Instagram and Messenger chats for its broader cross-platform message project.
National Digital Health Mission for India
On India's 74th Independence Day, PM Modi announced the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) for the country. As part of this project, every Indian citizen would be allotted a health ID card that would store all their medical data, starting from health conditions to regularly-updated prescriptions, on a common database, and let health workers provide the right treatment.
Other major developments to note
Among other things, Telegram launched video calling for its apps on Android and iOS, Google was said to be planning to replace Duo with its Meet app for good, and Elon Musk confirmed the long-overdue 2FA for the Tesla app. Chinese giant Huawei also made headlines, due to the expiration of the license that allowed it to deliver Google's updates to its older phones.
Finally, some COVID-19 updates
On Sunday, India reported 57,000+ new coronavirus infections, bringing the tally of positive cases to 26.47 lakh. The death toll crossed 51,000, with over 960 new fatalities. In the vaccine efforts, Russia reportedly began the mass-production of Sputnik V, while China approved the patent request for the shot developed by CanSino Biologics. This is the first patent granted by China to a COVID-19 vaccine.
