Author: Techie.lk

The average selling price of smartphones has hit a record $315, up 14.4% from a year earlier in the Indian smartphone market. Chinese smartphone companies dominate India’s $150-and-under market, but as cheaper chips become unavailable, costs are rising. While the market share of Chinese phone companies is falling in the world’s second-largest phone market, Samsung and Apple are gaining. The big story Rising memory chip costs are having a contrasting effect on the fortunes of budget Chinese brands and mid-market and premium American and South Korean smartphone companies in India, the world’s second-largest market by volume. It is the end…

Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab will change rules governing how app developers can use personal ​data for targeted advertising on iPhones and iPads, ‌Germany’s competition authority said, opens new tab on Monday, closing a years-long investigation. The Federal Cartel Office, or FCO, found that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework gave its own ​apps more favourable consent prompts than those of ​third-party developers, potentially breaching competition rules. Apple has four months ⁠to implement the changes after the decision is served. ​Commitments run for seven years and will be monitored by ​a trustee. Under the commitments, consent pop-ups for third-party apps must be redesigned to remove…

The government plans to replace all existing National Identity Cards (NICs) with digital identity cards within the next few years, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eranga Weerarathna has said. Speaking on the government’s digitalisation programme, the Deputy Minister said steps are being taken to issue the first digital ID within the coming months. He said the government is giving priority to the development of the digital economy and expects to move towards a fully digital identity system by around August next year. According to the Deputy Minister, the present government aims to transition the approximately 17 million people currently holding…

The $1 b phantom trade and Sri Lanka’s unfinished battle against trade-based money laundering The arrest of four managers from leading private commercial banks by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division marks a significant moment in Sri Lanka’s struggle against large-scale financial crime. For the first time, bank officers themselves have been taken into custody in connection with an alleged racket that channelled approximately $1 billion out of the country through purported import transactions where no goods ever arrived. The principal operator, a money changer operating from Colombo Fort, is reported to have made regular weekly payments to the managers, amounts…

As health-care providers face looming staff shortages, AI agents are automating complex administrative tasks and even clinical decisions so humans can focus more on patient care. Decades of chronic underinvestment and constraints in recruitment have coincided with a surge in demand for services for aging populations. Gaps in provision are already taking a toll, with fragmented access to care and high rates of stress and burnout among staff. And it’s getting worse. The World Health Organization has warned that current shortfalls will increase to 11 million workers by 2030. In their urgent hunt for a solution, many health-care providers are now pinning…

Women in Tech Sri Lanka expands its outreach to Trincomalee, connecting young talent with technology, career opportunities and industry exposure beyond Colombo. TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka: Women in Tech Sri Lanka is strengthening its commitment to expanding technology education, career guidance and professional opportunities beyond Colombo, with a recent visit to Trincomalee highlighting the growing potential of young people outside the country’s traditional technology hubs. Led by Sanali Kaushalya, Country Director of Women in Tech Sri Lanka, the Trincomalee visit included two key engagements with university students and young people preparing to enter the professional world. The sessions focused on emerging…

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SolarRay Energy (Pvt) Ltd. to promote the Bank’s Green Loans and Green Leases, enabling employed and self-employed customers to access affordable financing for solar energy solutions. The partnership was formalised at a signing ceremony attended by Chamil Suranga Silva and senior officials of SolarRay Energy (Pvt) Ltd., and W.D. Jayasuriya Chief Manager of the Retail Products Department of Commercial Bank, along with senior officials of the Bank. Under this partnership, customers of SolarRay Energy will be able to finance the purchase and installation of solar panels through Commercial…

The world’s biggest humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics made its stock market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, with its shares ending their first day of trading up by more than 460%. The Chinese firm’s shares, which were offered to investors for 150.80 yuan (£16.50; $22.36) each, closed at 845 yuan. The highly anticipated listing on the technology-focused Star Market – which is widely known as China’s Nasdaq – marks a milestone for Beijing’s ambitious plans for the country’s robotics industry. It comes as the US and China are battling to dominate the global market for robots and artificial intelligence (AI)…

New footage of Grand Theft Auto VI has leaked ahead of its big Netflix reveal, teasing minor but impactful gameplay tweaks. In nine days, Rockstar will premiere an “extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI via Netflix. But internet sleuths are never satisfied waiting, and so Tuesday afternoon, two clips purportedly showing off a leaked build of the game hit the web. Each video is a little over a minute long. To get an idea of how closely Rockstar appears to be monitoring things, between when I started to write this and publication, the original uploads were already taken down with a…

Google has told suppliers it plans to have all of its Pixel smartphones, watches and wireless earbuds produced outside of China starting next year amid ongoing Washington-Beijing tensions, Nikkei Asia has learned. Google has been aggressively expanding capacity in Vietnam and India to lower its dependency on China in recent years, though a significant portion of its production remains in the country. The successful development and production of high-end Pixel phones in Vietnam this year — which is more complicated than smartwatches and earbuds — gave Google the confidence to proceed with the 2027 timeline for moving all Pixel production…