Are internet data caps heading out the door with coronavirus? [TechCrunch]
Have you been relegated to working from home yet? No? Well it’s probably going to happen soon, and when it does there are a few things (besides the virus) that you might need to be concerned about. One is the data cap on your internet usage. Netflix, emails, video calls – it’s all going to eat up your monthly data allowance. In the US and elsewhere providers are lifting data caps and putting provisions in place to keep the internet on – which begs the obvious question: why do they have these data caps in the first place? Obviously, the answer is money, but fingers crossed that loosing data caps are a silver lining that doesn’t come back once the pandemic is over.
A second life for the virtual conference [Wired]
Now that conferences are also being cancelled, are you missing them? What is your favorite part of events? The hors-d’oeuvres? Playing hooky from work? Or even the content? For most people, the biggest value comes from networking. Hence the general lack of enthusiasm around online conferences where chance encounters are drastically reduced. With the disruption caused by the coronavirus, start-ups are coming up with smart ways to solve this problem. On the event platform Run the World, participants’ profiled interests are used to virtually match them up with others while a cocktail party feature allows them to video call each other. Hopin has a ChatRoulette style networking option. While these features might sound nice for those eager to network, we wonder whether this would appeal to the higher powers that be – those who would most likely want to escape the unsolicited attention…
Shop your favourite celebrity from your couch [The Atlantic]
When you are stuck at home and tired of Netflix, we have something for you! No more scrolling through Instagram, Twitter or TikTok, check out Cameo. A platform that is growing rapidly in the US and recently opened their UK website too. It is as close as some of us might get to our favourite celebrity by offering short personalised videos. Want Wesley Snipes to wish you a personal happy birthday? Snoop Dogg to congratulate your office for great earnings in Q1? If you have the money to spend, you got it! Or maybe these celebrity platforms are just bursting the bubble and making you realise your idol is just like the rest of us?
Silicon Valley, globalised supply chains & coronavirus [Bloomberg]
Okay we know you’re potentially very sick of hearing about the coronavirus – and we know this edition of TechAways isn’t helping 😉 – but it’s worth hearing out Liam Casey, founder of PCH International, a firm with operations in San Francisco and China. Casey, with his 24 years’ experience as an electronics manufacturing guru and back-and-forth travel to Shenzhen is somewhat the expert on the complexity of Chinese supply chains. When it comes to the current situation, he argues that nobody could have truly been prepared for the events of the last two months.
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In case you haven’t had enough…
The brave new world of betting on athletes’ data (The Wall Street Journal)
Remote learning comes to America as coronavirus shuts schools (The New York Times)
Digital banks, payments startups face first major test in virus (Bloomberg)
The world’s first augmented reality surgical operation (EurActiv)