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LATEST TECH NEWS: WHO to launch COVID-19 symptom-checking app. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, May 11, 2020

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4 years ago

May 11, 2020

Ripples Nigeria

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

1. WHO to launch coronavirus symptom-checking app

International health authority, World Health Organization has announced intent to launch its own app for people to check their coronavirus symptoms. Reports noted that the purpose is to provide information to people in countries that do not have the resources to create their own apps.

The WHO’s app would ask users about their symptoms and offer an assessment of whether or not they may have coronavirus. According to the health authority, the app will also offer information on how to get tested which reflects local information for the user’s location. This development is expected to be useful in countries in Africa, where coronavirus cases are rising and not all governments have the capacity to create their own apps.

2. Singapore deploys robot dog to enforce distancing during pandemic

In Singapore, the government has deployed a robot dog to patrol one of its parks, reminding people to keep their distance from one another during the coronavirus pandemic. Press revealed that the creation is a product by a group of tech wizards at Boston Dynamics, and his called Spot.

Witnesses noted that the robot steers round the park remotely as a watchdog. By design, the high-tech contraption includes a built-in speaker that broadcasts a recorded message asking people to “keep Singapore safe” by observing social distancing rules. According to the tech team, an attached camera enables Spot to determine crowd levels at any given moment.

Tech Trivia:

If 1 GB is the same 1024 MB, what is byte equivalent of 1 petabyte (PB)?

Answer: See end of post.

3. Belarus-based video editing and effects app raises $1.5M as seed

Vochi, a startup operating out of Belarus has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. The startup which has created a “computer vision”-based video editing and effects app for mobile phones, disclosed this recently as it reveals plans on the new investment.

According to tech investment reports, the round was led by Ukraine-based Genesis Investments (backer of BetterMe and Jiji). This new fund follows pre-seed funding in April 2019 from Bulba Ventures. Recognising that video content is booming, especially on short video platforms like TikTok, Lesun sort to build a mobile video app that would help creators stand out, while making creative video editing simple.

4. India’s Shiprocket secures $13M to expand overseas

New Delhi-based logistics aggregator, Shiprocket has secured $13 million in a new financing round as it looks to expand its platform overseas. This firm, that works with direct-to-consumer sellers including several social media influencers, has been operating in New Delhi as a leading logistics company with a decent operational records.

According to reports, Silicon Valley-based investment firm Tribe Capital led Shiprocket’s Series C financing round. Innoven Capital and existing investor Bertelsmann India Investments also participated in the round, which brings the three year-old startup’s to-date funding to $26 million.

5. JobHopin raises $2.45 million Series A

JobHopin, a Southeast Asia startup, has announced closing a $2.45 million Series A. This, according to reports, brings JobHopin’s total raiser so far to more than $3 million, from investors including SEMA Translink, KK Fund, Mynavi Corporation, Edulab Capital Partners, NKC Asia and Canaan Capital.

The 3 year old startup, founded by CEO Kevin Tung Nguyen, JobHopin’s matching platform, called Bunny, uses machine learning to pair candidates with jobs. The company says there are about 60 million knowledge economy workers in Southeast Asia, and about 108 million job placements a year, but that many positions take more than a month to fill on average, because many companies still do pre-screening work manually.

Tech Trivia Answer: 1024 terabytes (TB).

1 petabyte (PB) is equivalent to 1024 terabytes (TB). To give an example of how big this is, a 1 PB hard drive could hold 13.3 years of HD-TV video. A petabyte is 10¹⁵ bytes of digital information. The unit symbol for the petabyte is PB. The name is composed of the SI prefix peta- composed with the non-SI unit of a byte.

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