LATEST TECH NEWS: Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves Twitter. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, June 2, 2020

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

1. Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves Twitter

Elon Musk has shocked his 35 million Twitter followers on Monday night when he announced he was taking a break from the platform, a development the tech billionaire did not give an explanation for. The unknown underlying reason why Musk decided to take the break, has called for speculations among tech reviewers.

Many have gone forward to suggest that perhaps, Musk only needed some moment offline to review his company’s recent achievement and tractions. However, some are of the view that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has, after all, courted controversy in the past with some of his Twitter posts. So it’s possible he’s taken advice — or decided for himself — to steer clear of the site during a particularly turbulent time as protests and social unrest continue in multiple states following the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.

2. Sony holds back PS5 event following U.S. unrest

Following the growing social unrest in different parts of the U.S., game manufacturer Sony has canceled the PlayStation 5 event earlier set for Thursday, June 4. After acknowledging the excitement of gamers worldwide to see the PS5 games, Sony noted that its decision to hold back on the public event stemmed from its understanding that the current time wasn’t a time for celebration.

According to the game manufacturing company, it is important that it shelves its plans in order to allow, what it considers a “more important” voice to be heard. While this initiative has been commendable amidst social justice activist, should plans for the event had continued, the online event would have focus on some of the games that will be released alongside the PlayStation 5 later in the year.

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Tech Trivia:

What was the world’s first digital, programmable robot?

A. The Johns Hopkins Beast
B. The General Electric Walking Truck
C. The Stanford Arm
D. Unimate

Answer: See end of post.

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3. Ugandan fintech startup Eversend raises $706k

Eversend, the Ugandan digital-only finance platform, has secured EUR634,000 (US$706,000) in investment through a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign. The three year old company provides multi-currency wallets and currency exchange for client companies and customers.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: Zuckerberg offers $10 million in fight for racial justice. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, June 1, 2020

Corporate reviews further reveals that the company also intend to offer personal loans, savings, group savings, merchant payments and investments in the future. With its service reach available on Android and iOS, the startup has over 40,000 registered users and has been growing at about 30 per cent month-on-month.

4. S. Africa’s e-health startup BusyMed raises growth capital

Although sum undisclosed, South African e-health startup BusyMed has announced raising fresh growth funding from local venture capital firm LionPride. According to the startup, the fund was raised to help it commercialise its solutions, which is chiefly aimed at disrupting the country’s pharmaceutical sector.

Going by the company’s blueprint, the Mphati Jezile-founded startup is on a mission to connect consumers directly to pharmacies via a digital platform. In doing this, it is building its idea to give the public access to online consultations, product and medication purchases with fast home delivery. This way, pharmacies can provide real-time stock information, access performance data on best-selling items, manage inventory more effectively, and leverage off existing pharmacy and third party delivery solutions.

5. Appway closes $37M as its first-ever funding

Switzerland company Appway has today, Tuesday, June 2, announced a round of funding to expand its operations. The company, which builds tools for financial services companies to interact better with their customers via the web disclosed this raiser as it expressed excitement over the multi-million dollar fund.

According to some industry reviews, the company also provides software to help banks and others that transact with customers to build banking, mortgage, regulatory compliance and other service management tools. Contrary to expectations, the raised $37 million in equity funding came from a single investor, Summit Partners. Hans Peter Wolf, Appway’s CEO, who confirmed the investment noted that the money will go into the continued expansion of its business.

Tech Trivia Answer: Unimate

Filed for patenting by George Devol in 1954, the first digital/programmable robot was called Unimate and was sold for a $35,000 loss to General Motors the same year its patent was approved. Stationed at its Ewing Township, New Jersey plant, GM used the 2,700lb Unimate to extract die-castings and weld them onto auto bodies.

It wasn’t long before Chrysler, Ford and other manufacturers sought Unimates of their own and in short time, hundreds of the robotic arm were employed.

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