Tech Digest daily roundup: China tells banks to stop supporting cryptocurrency
China has expanded its clampdown on cryptocurrencies, telling banks and payments platforms to stop supporting digital currency transactions. That follows an order on Friday to shut down Bitcoin mining operations in Sichuan province. The price of Bitcoin slumped by more 10% on Monday but stabilised in Asian trading on Tuesday. The value of the cryptocurrency has fallen by around 50% since hitting a record high above $63,000 in April. On Monday, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said it had recently summoned several major banks and payments companies to call on them to take tougher action over the trading of cryptocurrencies. BBC
Phones across the country are to issue “emergency alerts” as part of a nationwide test, the government has said. The test could lead devices to make a “loud siren-like sound”, the government has warned. The tests are part of a government system that allows it to issue warnings about potential dangers or issues by sending them out to people’s phones. The system is set to launch in summer 2021, according to the UK’s website. “Emergency alerts will warn you if there’s a danger to life nearby,” its website says. “In an emergency, your phone or tablet will receive an alert with advice about how to stay safe.” Independent
Elon Musk’s Starlink is targeting global coverage from its satellite broadband network by September as it attempts to overtake rivals including Amazon and Britain’s OneWeb. Gwynne Shotwel, president of SpaceX, said its 1,800 satellites should be able to provide continuous coverage. It is targeting a total of 12,000 satellites at a cost of $10bn (£7.2bn), which orbit at a height of 340 miles above the earth. Starlink’s beta version of its broadband service is available in 11 countries. The satellite company will still need regulatory approval for its system as it enters new markets. Telegraph
Facebook’s first partner for advertising in its virtual reality headset has pulled out of the initiative less than a week after it was announced after a backlash from the gaming community. The world’s largest social media platform said last Wednesday that it planned to start testing advertising in Oculus, its popular virtual reality gaming headset, with commercials running in the shooting game Blaston and “a couple other developers”. But Blaston, a title from Resolution Games, ditched the plan on Monday, following a deluge of complaints from users. “After listening to player feedback, we realize that Blaston isn’t the best fit for this type of advertising test. Therefore, we no longer plan to implement the test,” it said on Twitter. FT
European Union regulators have launched a fresh antitrust investigation of Google, this time over whether the U.S. tech giant is stifling competition in digital advertising technology. The European Commission said Tuesday that it has opened a formal investigation into whether Google violated the bloc’s competition rules by favoring its own online display advertising technology services at the expense of rival publishers, advertisers and advertising technology services. The commission, the EU’s executive arm and the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, is looking in particular at whether Google is restricting access by third parties to user data for ad purposes on websites and apps. AP News
