LATEST TECH NEWS: Apple unveils cheap iPhone SE to sell at $399. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, April 16, 2020

These 5 latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Opendoor lays off about 35% of its employees

American property company, Opendoor on Thursday, April 16, announced a massive layoff of its employees, sending off about 600 of its staff strength in what is linked to the lingering effect of the pandemic. Going by the staff cumulative of Opendoor before the development, these 600 members spreads over a percentage to cover about 35% of its force.

Analysts and critics have, however, noted that this American company, which has been helping people buy and sell homes with the “push of a button”, might face criticism for this massive layoff. Although, it is understandable that like so many sectors of the economy, the residential real estate market has taken a hit and fallen as U.S. residents are asked to stay indoors and all but essential services are shut down in most of the country.

2. Egypt’s Eventtus raises funding to develop events platform

Egyptian tech company Eventtus on Thursday, April 16, grabbed news headlines to announce raising an undisclosed amount in funding to help it launch a digital events platform to continue operating amid the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the CEO Mai Medhat, who made the announcement, the investment was raised from Hala Ventures, Algebra Ventures and Daal VC.

The 8 year old Eventtus, founded by Medhat and Nihal Fares, has been into the event business, building a sustainable platform for events ticketing, event management and apps for events. With the new fund, Medhat said the startup will be invested into development and innovation in a bid to sustain the industry. According to the CEO, the company is looking at developing a new online event offering network service in the light of videoconferencing and live streams.

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Tech Trivia:

GPS, as a location finder technology, was created by?

A. Apple
B. Microsoft
C. The US government
D. George Peter Smith
E. Google

Answer: See end of post.

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3. American VC launches R20m Covid-19 fund to support post-pandemic solutions

US venture capital Enygma Ventures on Thursday, April 16, joined the line of VC firms pledging supports to fund post-pandemic solutions as it launches a R20-million fund to invest in startups with post-pandemic innovative solutions. According to the VC, the fund is open to entrepreneurs and innovators from the African continent.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: Turkey to track COVID-19 patients with smartphone. 4 other stories and a trivia you need to know today, April 10, 2020

Supporting this initiative as a partner is Startup Circles, an online platform that helps entrepreneurs quickly move from ideation to validation. Reports noted that the VC fund — which was launched in October last year by husband and wife duo Sarah and Jacob Dusek — is expected to provide seed capital for 20 to 40 startups.

4. GoPro announces plans to cut down 20% of its workforce

Camera company GoPro on Wednesday, April 15, revealed its intent to cut down more than 200 jobs, a development to shift the company’s sales operation to market its digital adventure cameras directly to consumers and withdraw its 2020 financial guidance. Quite unexpected, however, the company linked this decision to the persisting Covid-19 pandemic.

According to GoPro, the operational changes, staff reductions of more than 20% and cuts to office space will save US$100-million in 2020, and reduce expenses next year to $250-million. Speaking on its profitability as a business entity after disclosing most of its marketing will be digitised, the company said it will maintain the use of retail outlets for a small number of regions where such sales are preferred by consumers.

5. Apple unveils cheap iPhone SE to sell at $399

American phone and gadget manufacturer Apple on Wednesday, April 15, unveiled a new iPhone with a small 4.7-inch screen. Although, the new device is relatively cheaper than Apple’s iPhone 11 series but review reports have revealed that it is powered by the same processor used in these more expensive iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models.

Apple, during the unveiling, has noted that the new iPhone SE comes in 3 specs, starting at US$399 for a base model with 64GB of storage and goes up to $549 for a 256GB version. In the same line, there is a final category with a 128GB option selling at $449. Product analysts have speculated that Apple seemed against the use of wide screens for smartphones, insinuating that the latest device goes further to testify to the claim as it has been a constant feature in iPhone designs.

Tech Trivia Answer: The U.S. government

The United States government created the system, maintains it, and makes it freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver. The GPS project was started by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973, with the first prototype spacecraft launched in 1978 and the full constellation of 24 satellites operational in 1993. Civilian use was allowed from the 1980s. Roger L. Easton of the Naval Research Laboratory, Ivan A. Getting of The Aerospace Corporation, and Bradford Parkinson of the Applied Physics Laboratory are credited with inventing it.

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