In the coming weeks, Ofcom will launch a market study under the Enterprise Act 2002 into the UK’s cloud sector…reports Asian Lite News
The UK’s communication regulator Ofcom on Thursday announced a probe into the Cloud market dominance of Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the country’s 15 billion pound Cloud services market and if the competition concerns are identified, it could lead to further action against the tech giants.
Ofcom also kicked off a probe to look at digital services such as WhatsApp, Zoom and smart speakers, as online and traditional networks converge.
“The way we live, work, play and do business has been transformed by digital services. But as the number of platforms, devices and networks that serve up content continues to grow, so do the technological and economic issues confronting regulators,” said Selina Chadha, Ofcom’s Director of Connectivity.
“That’s why we’re kick-starting a programme of work to scrutinise these digital markets, identify any competition concerns and make sure they’re working well for people and businesses who rely on them,” she added.
In the coming weeks, Ofcom will launch a market study under the Enterprise Act 2002 into the UK’s cloud sector.
The largest providers of cloud services — known as ‘hyperscalers’ — are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Google. Collectively, these three firms generate around 81% of revenues in the UK public cloud infrastructure services market.
“If we find a market is not working well, there can be negative impacts on businesses and ultimately consumers, through higher prices, lower service quality and reduced innovation. In these circumstances, Ofcom can make recommendations to the government to change regulations or policy and take competition or consumer enforcement action,” it emphasised.
Ofcom said it has engaged closely with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in planning the market study.
Over the next year, Ofcom will also start a broader programme of work to examine other digital markets, including online personal communication apps and devices for accessing audiovisual content.
“We are interested in how services such as WhatsApp, FaceTime and Zoom are affecting the role of traditional calling and messaging, and how competition and innovation in these markets may evolve over the coming years,” said Ofcom.
On Cloud, Jio has partnered Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure to ensure a vibrant ecosystem of cloud-enabled business applications and solutions for its millions of users…reports Asian Lite news
As Reliance Jio gets prepared to launch standalone ‘True 5G’ services by Diwali this year in key metro cities, the company has partnered some of the world’s leading technology giants as strong partners in the ‘made in India’ 5G collaboration.
While Jio partnered Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta (formering Facebook) for immersive technology, it has collaborated with Google to develop ultra-affordable 5G smartphones.
On Cloud, Jio has partnered Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure to ensure a vibrant ecosystem of cloud-enabled business applications and solutions for its millions of users.
The company has picked chip-maker Intel for cloud-scale data centres and 5G edge locations, while it has robust relationships with leading global network technology providers like Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and Cisco.
Jio also forged a collaboration with Qualcomm to develop 5G solutions for India, which can be taken to the rest of the world.
Using JioAirFiber, people can do away with all expenses related to buying computer hardware and periodically upgrading it, and opt to use a virtual PC hosted in the cloud — called Jio Cloud PC.
With no upfront investment or tension of periodical upgrading, a user needs to pay only to the extent used, resulting in a super-affordable way to bring the power of a PC, even multiple PCs, to every Indian home and business.
Meta and Jio Platforms also announced the launch of the first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp, where consumers can shop from JioMart right within their WhatsApp chat.
Jio will launch 5G services in four metro cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai — by Diwali.
These will be expanded to other cities and towns in phases rapidly to cover the entire country by December 2023.
In a big honour for the top India-origin tech prowess that has virtually taken over the Silicon Valley in the US, the Indian government on Tuesday awarded Padma Bhushan to Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet and Google's Sundar Pichai among the 17 awardees.
Big Tech platforms sign new EU disinformation code. The 34 signatories, such as platforms, tech companies and civil society followed the 2021 Commission Guidance and took into account the lessons learnt from the Covid-19 crisis and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
Big Tech platforms like Meta, Microsoft, Google, Twitter and others on Thursday signed up to a new “Code of Practice on disinformation” in the European Union (EU).
The 34 signatories, such as platforms, tech companies and civil society followed the 2021 Commission Guidance and took into account the lessons learnt from the Covid-19 crisis and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
The new Code sets out extensive and precise commitments by platforms and industry to fight disinformation and marks another important step for a more transparent, safe and trustworthy online environment, the European Commission said in a statement.
Notable, some Big Tech companies like Apple and Telegram are yet to sign the code.
“We now have very significant commitments to reduce the impact of disinformation online and much more robust tools to measure how these are implemented across the EU in all countries and in all its languages,” said Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values and Transparency.
“This new anti-disinformation Code comes at a time when Russia is weaponising disinformation as part of its military aggression against Ukraine, but also when we see attacks on democracy more broadly,” Jourova added.
The new Code will also reduce financial incentives for disseminating disinformation and allow researchers to access to platforms’ data more easily.”
“To be credible, the new Code of Practice will be backed up by the DSA (Digital Services Act), including for heavy dissuasive sanctions. Very large platforms that repeatedly break the Code and do not carry out risk mitigation measures properly risk fines of up to 6 per cent of their global turnover,” said Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market.
The 34 signatories include major online platforms, notably Meta, Google, Twitter, TikTok and Microsoft, as well as a variety of other players like smaller or specialised platforms, the online ad industry, ad-tech companies, fact-checkers, civil society or that offer specific expertise and solutions to fight disinformation.
The strengthened Code aims to address the shortcomings of the previous Code, with stronger and more granular commitments and measures, which build on the operational lessons learnt in the past years.
Signatories will have six months to implement the commitments and measures to which they have signed up.
 At the beginning of 2023, they will provide the Commission with their first implementation reports.
Connecting cultures
Microsoft and the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), here on Friday announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform for connecting artworks and cultures around the world.
The platform called INTERWOVEN is rooted in MAP’s vast collection of South Asian textiles and was developed as part of Microsoft’s AI for Cultural Heritage initiative, which leverages technology to empower people and organisations dedicated to the preservation and enrichment of art and culture.
INTERWOVEN brings together collections from key institutions and partners across the world alongside MAP’s (including the V&A in London, MET in New York, Rietberg in Zurich and the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada) to reveal connections between artworks from different cultures, mediums and time periods.
INTERWOVEN represents these visually and intuitively, encouraging further exploration, discovery and cross-cultural exchange.
After the pandemic, a primary aspect of our mission is to use the digital realm to connect with people across the country, and the world. Wea¿re rethinking the idea of museums. They cannot be mere repositories of objects,” said Kamini Sawhney, Director, MAP, in a statement.
“MAP will not just be a collection of objects, but a space for ideas and conversations that are initiated through our collections. INTERWOVEN fits securely within this vision.”
The platform works by providing users two options. The first allows the user to view predefined journeys, created primarily by MAP’s educational and research arm, the MAP Academy.
These combine relationships between global artefacts suggested by the AI, which are then researched and expanded further by individual curators. It is an explorative model for how AI might be used in museology and art historical research.
The second option invites general users to explore the platform to stumble upon meaningful and sometimes even surprising visual connections. It provides a new way to engage with culture and learn more about the history of textiles and fashion and their relationship to global exchange.
Previous projects under Microsoft’s AI for Cultural Heritage initiative have involved improving accessibility through the Open Access collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the digital restoration of ‘Ancient Olympia’, in collaboration with the government of Greece.
In India, the MAP in Bengaluru is the first project under this initiative.
“INTERWOVEN is a project that is deeply impactful to society, culture, and heritage. The project interweaves technology with art, using AI to find shared histories in artistic traditions from different corners of the globe, particularly pertaining to something as rich and complex as textiles,” said Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer at Microsoft India.
 “Our approach to AI centres around meaningful innovation and this project beautifully allows art to be more accessible and inclusive for people around the world. We stay committed to using technology to help celebrate and preserve culture as part of our AI for Cultural Heritage initiative,” she added.
Microsoft disables hackers working with Iranian intelligence
Microsoft has detected and disabled a previously undocumented Lebanon-based activity group that is working with other actors affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) to attack organisations in Israel…reports Asian Lite News
Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) named the group ‘Polonium’.
The tech giant suspended more than 20 malicious OneDrive applications created by Polonium actors, notified affected organisations, and deployed a series of security intelligence updates that will quarantine tools developed by Polonium operators.
“Our goal is to help deter future activity by exposing and sharing the Polonium tactics with the community at large,” the company said in a statement.
The group is linked with Iranian government and such collaboration or direction from Tehran would align with a string of revelations since late 2020 that the “Government of Iran is using third parties to carry out cyber operations on their behalf, likely to enhance Iran’s plausible deniability”.
Polonium has targeted or compromised more than 20 organisations based in Israel and one intergovernmental organisation with operations in Lebanon over the past three months.
“This actor has deployed unique tools that abuse legitimate cloud services for command and control (C2) across most of their victims. Polonium was observed creating and using legitimate OneDrive accounts, then utilising those accounts as C2 to execute part of their attack operation,” explained Microsoft.
This activity does not represent any security issues or vulnerabilities on the OneDrive platform.
“As with any observed nation-state actor activity, Microsoft directly notifies customers that have been targeted or compromised, providing them with the information they need to secure their accounts,” said the company.
Since February, Polonium has been observed primarily targeting organisations in Israel with a focus on critical manufacturing, IT, and Israel’s defense industry.
In at least one case, Polonium’s compromise of an IT company was used to target a downstream aviation company and law firm in a supply chain attack that relied on service provider credentials to gain access to the targeted networks, according to the researchers.
The company mentioned that voting is open to all Microsoft Store on Windows customers on Windows 10 and 11 around the world…reports Asian Lite News
With an aim to look for the best Windows apps available through the Microsoft Store, the tech giant has recently opened voting for its Microsoft Store App Awards 2022.
The company said there are three categories of apps to vote for, which are, file management, utility and open platform. “We would like to recognise apps which are amazing, beautiful, and useful — the apps which make your day better, more productive, or more enjoyable. This vote is about you and the apps you love to use,” Microsoft said on the voting form.
The company mentioned that voting is open to all Microsoft Store on Windows customers on Windows 10 and 11 around the world.
Users have no obligation to vote and may cancel at any time without submitting a vote. “There is no compensation for voting, and casting your vote does not enter you into any agreement with Microsoft,” the company said.
Users may vote in one, two, or all three categories based on users’ own personal experience with the apps. “One vote per person. We may disqualify additional votes, bot votes, etc. at our discretion. We may remove an app if we detect unfair or unusual voting patterns,” Microsoft said.
The update is available for Chrome via version 99.0.4844.84 on Windows, Mac, and Linux…reports Asian Lite News
Google has started asking users on Windows, macOS, and Linux to update Chrome builds to version 99.0.4844.84, after finding a new vulnerability.
The company has highlighted that the exploit is being utilised in the wild and Google is aware of it.
“We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third-party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed,” the firm said in a statement.
The update is available for Chrome via version 99.0.4844.84 on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
One can head over to the three-dot button on the top-right of Chrome and navigate to Help > About Google Chrome to trigger the update.
“We would also like to thank all security researchers that worked with us during the development cycle to prevent security bugs from ever reaching the stable channel,” the company noted.
Meanwhile, Microsoft issued its own notice saying the issue was fixed in Edge version 99.0.1150.55 released the same day.
In its first big security update for the new year, Google rolled out 37 fixes for Windows, Mac and Linux and one of which was rated critical.
According to Google, 22 types of security fixes have been given in the latest Chrome browser, which works to increase user privacy.
It also recently updated the Chrome stable channel to 96.0.4664.93 for Windows, Mac and Linux, which is available for all users.
Microsoft will make the investment over a period of 15 years into the new data centre region spread across three sites – Chandanvelly, Ellikatta, and Kottur….reports Asian Lite News
Software giant Microsoft will set up its largest data centre in India at Hyderabad with an investment of Rs 15,000 crore.
The Telangana government and Microsoft on Monday jointly announced the data centre investment which will be Microsoft’s largest data centre region in India.
Microsoft will make the investment over a period of 15 years into the new data centre region spread across three sites – Chandanvelly, Ellikatta, and Kottur.
The software giant already has its India development centre in Hyderabad, which is its largest in the world outside its headquarters in the US.
We announced our intent to launch our 4th datacenter. Thank you to the Govt of India, Govt of Telangana, customers, partners, and our employees for their partnership in enabling inclusive growth and making India #FutureReady. @Rajeev_GoI@KTRTRShttps://t.co/XAJpp3AwAP
The new data centre in Hyderabad will deliver advanced data security and cloud solutions that will help enterprises, start-ups, developers, education, and government institutions.
The announcement was made in the presence of Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Telangana’s Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao and Principal Secretary, ITE&C, Jayesh Ranjan. The event was also attended by Microsoft’s Executive Vice President, Jean-Philippe Courtois and Microsoft India President, Anant Maheshwari.
The Hyderabad data centre region is another addition to the existing network of 3 regions in India across Pune, Mumbai, and Chennai, which have been operational for more than five years.
K.T. Rama Rao called it an iconic moment in the development story of Telangana.
“This will be one of the largest FDIs that Telangana has attracted; Will indirectly support local business growth and facilitate job creation across IT operations, facilities management, data and network security, network engineering and much more,” he tweeted.
Through the data centre region, Microsoft will enable opportunities for local businesses to innovate with Microsoft Cloud services in Hyderabad and across Telangana.
Telangana and Microsoft have earlier entered an MoU that will positively reinforce the state government’s capabilities to enhance its citizen service capabilities. Given the state’s technology driven growth agenda around key sectors like agriculture, healthcare, education, law enforcement and mobility, the Microsoft data centre in the region will push up the local growth.
“Today’s commitment to the people and businesses of India will position the country among the world’s digital leaders. A Microsoft data centre region provides a competitive advantage to our digital economy and is a long-term investment in our country’s potential. The cloud is transforming every industry and sector. The investment in skilling will empower India’s workforce today and into the future,” said Chandrasekhar.
“Microsoft and Telangana go a long way back with Hyderabad hosting one of the largest Microsoft offices in the world and I am happy to see the relationship grow,” said Rama Rao.
Maheshwari noted that cloud services are poised to play a critical role in reimagining the future of business and governance and enabling overall inclusion in the country. “The new data centre will augment Microsoft’s cloud capabilities and capacity to support those working across the country. It will also support new entrepreneurial opportunities while meeting critical security and compliance needs. The new data centre region is a testament to our mission to empower the people and organisations of India to achieve more,” he said.
Apple shut down sales of its products in Russia and Google and Meta have put a pause on selling ads in the country…reports Asian Lite News
Horrified, angered and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine, Microsoft has announced to suspend all new sales of its products and services in Russia.
Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair of Microsoft, said that the company condemns the unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion by Russia.
“We are coordinating closely and working in lockstep with the governments of the US, the European Union and the UK, and we are stopping many aspects of our business in Russia in compliance with governmental sanctions decisions,” Smith said in a statement late on Friday.
“We believe we are most effective in aiding Ukraine when we take concrete steps in coordination with the decisions being made by these governments and we will take additional steps as this situation continues to evolve,” he added.
Microsoft joins the growing list of Big Tech companies like Google, Meta, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, YouTube and others in pausing or curtailing their business/presence in Russia.
Apple shut down sales of its products in Russia and Google and Meta have put a pause on selling ads in the country.
Smith said that they continue to work proactively to help cybersecurity officials in Ukraine defend against Russian attacks, including most recently a cyberattack against a major Ukrainian broadcaster.
“Since the war began, we have acted against Russian positioning, destructive or disruptive measures against more than 20 Ukrainian government, IT and financial sector organisations,” Smith informed.
Microsoft has also acted against cyberattacks targeting several additional civilian sites.
“We are also continuing to mobilise our resources to help the people in Ukraine,” Smith added.
The software maker told its executive staff in an email that Zain had passed away…reports Asian Lite News
Tech giant Microsoft Corporation said that Zain Nadella, son of CEO Satya Nadella and his wife Anu Nadella, has died, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The software maker told its executive staff in an email that Zain, who was 26 years old and had been born with cerebral palsy, passed away on Monday morning.
The message asked executives to hold the family in their thoughts and prayers while giving them space to grieve privately, the report said.
In October 2017, the CEO talked about the birth of his son in a blogpost.
“One night, during the thirty-sixth week of her pregnancy, Anu noticed that the baby was not moving as much as she was accustomed to. So we went to the emergency room of a local hospital in Bellevue,” Nadella had said in the post.
“We thought it would be just a routine checkup, little more than new parent anxiety. In fact, I distinctly remember feeling annoyed by the wait times we experienced in the emergency room. But upon examination, the doctors were alarmed enough to order an emergency cesarean section,” he added.
The CEO mentioned that Zain was born at 11:29 p.m. on August 13, 1996, all of three pounds and he did not cry.
“Zain was transported from the hospital in Bellevue across Lake Washington to Seattle Children’s Hospital with its state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Anu began her recovery from the difficult birth. I spent the night with her in the hospital and immediately went to see Zain the next morning. Little did I know then how profoundly our lives would change,” Nadella said.
“Over the course of the next couple of years, we learned more about the damage caused by in utero asphyxiation, and how Zain would require a wheelchair and be reliant on us because of severe cerebral palsy. I was devastated. But mostly I was sad for how things turned out for me and Anu,” he added.
The top 10 of the Brand Finance ranking is dominated by CEOs (referred to repeatedly as brand guardians) from the tech and media sectors…reports Nikhila Natarajan
The Brand Finance Brand Guardianship Index just in has ranked Microsoft boss, Satya Nadella, as the top CEO in the world.
Nadella, a first-generation Indian immigrant to the US, “has been credited with overhauling Microsoft’s fortunes by changing its culture towards one of teamwork, innovation, and inclusivity, and instilling a growth mindset throughout the business”.
Three other Indian-origin expat CEOs rank high: Sundar Pichai of Google is at 5, Shantanu Narayan of Adobe at 6, and Puneet Renjen of Deloitte at 14.
N. Chandrasekhar of the Tatas is at 25 in the list and Anand Mahindra of M&M and Mukesh Ambani of Reliance are at 41 and 42, respectively. State Bank of India’s Dinesh Kumar Khara is at 46.
The top 10 of the Brand Finance ranking is dominated by CEOs (referred to repeatedly as brand guardians) from the tech and media sectors.
Tech boasts six of the top ten – Tim Cook is in second place, having overseen Apple become the first to hit a $3 trillion market valuation.
Cook is followed by CEOs of household tech names: Tencent’s Huateng Ma at 4, Pichai at 5, and Netflix’s Reed Hastings at 7.
AMD CEO Lisa Su is a new entrant at 10. This makes her the highest-ranked female.
She newly qualifies for the ranking as AMD has propelled into the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 after a 122 per cent brand value growth over the past year.
Su steered AMD through a global chip shortage during the pandemic and came out the other side boasting record revenues.
Her leadership of a tech company is unfortunately a rarity, with most being run by males.
This is reflected in the ranking, as the rise in the number of tech brands has come hand in hand with a decrease in the number of female CEOs in the top 100 – from eight in 2021 to five this year.
At a country level, the index mirrors the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking, with the US and China leading the way. There are 101 CEOs from the US, which represents 40 per cent of the index, and 47 from China, which represents 19 per cent.
Brand guardians from these two countries head up a number of key sectors: Jianjun Wei of Great Wall in Automobiles at 3, Patricia Griffith of Progressive Insurance at 11, Xiongjun Ding of Moutai Spirits at 12, and Baoan Xin of State Grid Utilities at 13.
Among the Americans, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America is at 16, Ramon Laguarta of Pepsi at 17, Andy Jassy of Amazon is at 23.
The highest-ranked CEO outside of the US and China monopoly is ADNOC brand guardian Sultan Al Jaber at 15. He is also the top-scoring leader in the oil and gas sector. Aside from ADNOC, Sultan holds senior positions in the UAE government, and in promoting the diversification and growth of the UAE economy.
CEOs of the three UAE brands from the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking all feature and record higher scores than last year, with Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Emirates at 34th and Etisalat’s Hatem Dowidar at 79.
Apple has retained the title of the world’s most valuable brand following a 35 per cent increase to $355.1 billion – the highest brand value ever recorded in the Brand Finance Global 500 ranking.
Apple used 2022 to be effective to a much broader range of services.
The iPhone still accounts for around half of the brand’s sales. However, this year saw Apple give more attention to its other suite of products with a new generation of iPads, an overhaul to the iMac, and introduction of AirTags. Its range of services, from Apple Pay to Apple TV, has had increasing importance to the brand’s success, the report noted.
“Privacy and the environment are salient topics, and Apple bolstered its credentials on both fronts. This is evidenced by a greater transparency of the App Store’s privacy policy, reinforcing the trust customers have in the brand, and the announcement that more of Apple’s manufacturing partners will be moving to 100 percent renewable energy, as the company aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.”
Tripling in brand value over the past year, TikTok is the world’s fastest-growing brand. With 215 per cent growth, the app’s brand value has increased from $18.7 billion in 2021 to $59.0 billion. Claiming 18th spot among the world’s top 500 most valuable brands, TikTok is the highest new entrant to the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking.
Overall, media brands accounted for the top 3 fastest-growing brands in the ranking – with another social media app, Snapchat, brand value up 184 per cent to $6.6 billion and South Korean internet brand Kakao, brand value up 161% to $4.7 billion, following closely behind TikTok.
Snapchat saw increased daily usage and revenues grow by 77 per cent in the first 9 months of 2021, with the popularity of its short-form video feature, Spotlight, being a key driver.
Other notable performers from the media sector include those that offer streaming services, with Disney (brand value up 11 per cent to $57.0 billion), Netflix (brand value up 18 per cent $29.4 billion), YouTube (brand value up 38 per cent to $23.9 billion), and Spotify (brand value up 13 per cent to $6.3 billion).
Traditional media brands have seen a continued decline, with people favouring social media platforms and on-demand streaming in their place.
The tech sector remained the most valuable in the Brand Finance Global 500 ranking, with a cumulative brand value of close to $1.3 trillion. In total, 50 tech brands feature in the ranking, however, the brand value is largely attributable to three big players, with Apple, Microsoft (brand value $184.2 billion), and Samsung Group (brand value $107.3 billion) together accounting for more than 50 per cent of the total brand value in the sector.
Closely behind them, Huawei managed to reclaim its place among the top 10 most valuable brands in the world, following 29 per cent growth to $71.2 billion. Huawei’s smartphone business was hit by US sanctions, but it reacted positively by heavily stepping up investment in both domestic technology companies and R&D, as well as turning its focus to cloud services.
Brand Finance is an independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy headquartered in London.
