Global Tech Roundup: You Can Now Pay with Your Palm at Amazon Stores

Happy new month guys! It’s the end of another busy week across the global tech space. There were several interesting happenings during the week, from Google’s hardware event to the announcement of a new payment technology by Amazon.

Here is a quick roundup of some of the major stories around the globe you might have missed during the week.

Amazon Unveils Palm Payment Technology

This week, Amazon unveiled a new biometric device that allows customer pay for goods with their palm. Dubbed the Amazon One, the new payment device is for its Amazon Go stores. 

To use the device customers have to insert their credit card and scan their palms the first time they use the device. After that, customers can just hold their palms over the device when entering the store to pay for goods they want to buy.

Using the technology, Amazon can automatically charge users for the items they purchase. The technology is being tested in two Seattle-area Amazon Go stores. The company suggested that the technology could eventually be available to third parties.

Google set to pay $1 billion to partner publishers

Tech giants, Google have committed $1 billion to pay its news publishers. According to the CEO Sundar Pichai, the company will be paying news publishers to license their content for a new format called the Google News Showcase.

With the new development, Google will pay partner publishers to highlight their stories in Google News. The company has already signed deals with 200 publications in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

Before now there has been pressure on Google from regulators and publishers from several countries to pay for the contents it shows on its news platform.

Apple CEO Tim Cook close $100 million stock grant

Apple CEO, Tim Cook has received a net of $100 million Stock grant. According to Apple, the initial grant comes in the form of just over 333,000 shares, with the opportunity to earn 667,000 more. This would bring the total award to more than 1 million shares.

Tim’s first major stock grant was in 2011, after he took over from the late Steve Jobs. He earned about $38.1 million worth of shares plus an option to earn a total of $114 million at the stock’s price then.

“For the first time in nearly a decade, we are awarding Tim a new stock grant that will vest over time in recognition of his outstanding leadership and with great optimism for Apple’s future as he carries these efforts forward,”

The 2011 grant ends next year and the new units will finish vesting in 2025. Tim’s net worth passed the $1 billion mark earlier this year thanks to Apple’s stock growth which doubled the company’s net worth from $1 trillion to $2 trillion in just two years.

US Senate Summons Facebook, Apple and Twitter CEOs over antitrust issues

Following the antitrust congress hearing 2 months ago, Big telcos has again been summoned by a Senate committee. This week, the Senate Commerce Committee has summoned the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter as part of Congress’s ongoing efforts to reexamine the liability protections of Section 230.

Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey will now have to appear before the committee at a date still to be scheduled. The hearing comes as the committee considers a new bill from Sen. Lindsay Graham, intended to limit the scope of legal protections under Section 230.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act says an “interactive computer service” can’t be treated as the publisher or speaker of third-party content. This protects websites like Facebook and Twitter from lawsuits if a user posts something illegal.

However, the senators’ concerns reached far beyond section 230 as they have also raised questions about privacy protections and broader antitrust issues.

Google unveils Pixel 5, Nest Audio and Others

During its annual hardware event, Google unveiled its latest mobile flagship, the Pixel 5. The smartphone comes with 100% recycled aluminium body and offers reverse wireless charging.

It also has a 6-inch display and improved cameras, including a new ultrawide lens in the back. The device package costs $699 and will be available in nine countries on October 15.

Google also unveiled the 5G version of the Pixel 4a which costs $499. Google TV with Chromecast for $49 and the Nest Audio smart speaker which cost $99 and will be available starting October 5.

You can check out other news that happened during the week here. Have a nice weekend!!