TECH NEWS

Sydney, Australia | AFP | Australia will expand the roll-out of cashless welfare cards after a pilot scheme showed a sharp drop in problem alcohol, drug and gambling abuse, the country’s prime minister said Friday. The government introduced the debit card — touted as a world-first — last year to two …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | With just a few months to go until the high-tech spending bonanza of the Christmas season, Berlin’s IFA trade fair is the place to spot the trends that will mark high streets this year. Here are a few of them: – Ultra-HD TVs – IFA’s aisles …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Ordering pizza from the sofa without lifting a finger has joined the list of modern-day conveniences thanks to a hot trend in voice-commanded smart speakers. Amazon, Apple and Google are duking it out with devices designed to sit out of sight in homes, awaiting …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | No-one wants to watch Game of Thrones’ bloody fantasy battles on a tiny tablet screen, which is just one reason why cheaper, bigger, higher-definition televisions are the stars of this year’s IFA electronics fair in Berlin. Rather than just fantasise when they gather in front of …

In smartphone age, the hajj is for sharing Mecca, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Arm outstretched, Abdul Rahman sweeps his mobile phone across the vista of Mecca, the Great Mosque dazzling in the sun, so his son in Tanzania can experience the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites. He may be thousands …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | The gadgets on display at Berlin’s mega consumer electronics fair this week may not look radically different, but they are smarter than ever before and designed to meet our every need — often before we’ve even thought of it ourselves. As smartphones and other electronic devices …

Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese authorities have approved a mega-merger between the country’s largest coal producer and a top electricity firm, the government said Monday, reportedly creating the world’s biggest power company in terms of capacity. The tie-up between the two state-owned companies — coal producer Shenhua Group Corp. and …

  Seoul, South Korea | AFP |  Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday in a major escalation that triggered global alarm and a furious response from the government in Tokyo. A visibly unsettled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was an “unprecedented, serious and …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | As Japan takes on the mammoth task of upgrading its capital’s outdated roads and infrastructure, a local “highway doctor” is betting that its 3-D technology can led a hand. Tokyo’s sprawling maze of ageing expressways, measuring 320 kilometres (or 200 miles) in length, have long been …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP |  Israel has finalised a deal to purchase 17 more F-35 stealth fighters in addition to 33 of the ultra-high-tech jets already ordered, the defence ministry said Sunday. Israel has already taken delivery of five of the jets, made by US-based Lockheed Martin and the most …