The world’s largest iPhone factory, located in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, is raising its cash rewards for new workers to yet another record-high as Foxconn Technology Group ramps up production capacity amid extreme levels of rainfall that has led to the death of at least 56 people and displaced more than 7.5 million.The Taiwanese company’s integrated Digital Product Business Group (iDPBG) unit – a division of Foxconn that is responsible for iPhone assembly – is offering up to 10,000…

Tencent Holdings has been ordered to end its exclusive music licensing deals with global record labels within 30 days and has been fined 500,000 yuan (US$77,143) by China’s antitrust authorities, as the country’s most valuable technology company comes under scrutiny for its dominance in the country’s online music-streaming business.The music arm of the Shenzhen-based company must relinquish its exclusive music rights within the next 30 days, as well as its high prepayments and other copyright…

A United States safety regulator’s decision last week to sue Amazon.com could bring clarity to a question that has long befuddled the country’s courts and state legislatures: who is responsible when a product bought from the world’s largest online retailer hurts or kills someone?In recent years, dozens of people who say they were harmed by products — including exploding hoverboards, defective batteries and faulty dog collars — have sued Amazon for compensation.The company argues it is not…

Chinese technology platforms are turning into a powerful lifeline for people seeking help in flood-battered central Henan province, where at least 33 people are confirmed dead and 1.2 million people have been displaced as a result of the region’s torrential rainfall.One of the platforms gaining the most attention is Tencent Docs, the social media giant’s answer to Google Docs, which is blocked in China. A spreadsheet on the platform created by a user named Manto on Tuesday night had gone viral…

Chip makers from Taiwan to the United States are cranking up production to address semiconductor shortages that have hammered carmakers and other customers, as they try to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.Now that unprecedented surge in investment is fuelling fears the semiconductor industry will overshoot, adding so much capacity in the years ahead as demand subsides that profits will take a hit.In the latest sign of concern over demand, Texas Instruments (TI), one of the largest makers of…

Elon Musk’s love affair with bitcoin runs deeper than previously known.The billionaire head of Tesla Inc said his space exploration company also owns the digital token – and has no plans to sell it.Speaking at “The B Word” conference hosted by the Crypto Council for Innovation, Musk discussed the outlook for bitcoin with fellow backers Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, and Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Twitter Inc and Square Inc.Musk said that he personally owns bitcoin,…

Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding are among several tech companies on the receiving end of a lecture by the increasingly powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) for allowing “soft child porn” emoji stickers to spread on their platforms and using “sexually suggestive underage” short videos to lure clicks.Popular internet platforms, including Tencent’s messaging app QQ, e-commerce platform Taobao run by Alibaba, short video app Kuaishou, social media platform Weibo and social e…