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In the AI wars, Microsoft now has the clearer vision A week ago, Microsoft held its  Build developer conference  in its backyard in Seattle. This week, Google  did the same  in an amphitheater right next to its Mountain View campus. While Microsoft’s event felt like it embodied the resurgence of the company under the leadership of Satya Nadella, Google I/O — and especially its various, somewhat scattershot keynotes — fell flat this year. The two companies have long been rivals, of course, but now — maybe more than ever — they are on a collision course that has them compete in cloud computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence, productivity applications and virtual and augmented reality. It’s fascinating to compare Pichai’s and Nadella’s keynote segments. Both opened their respective shows. But while Pichai used his time mostly to announce new stats and a new product or two, Nadella instead used his time on stage to talk about the opportunities an...

Report: Ford’s CEO will be replaced with the head of its autonomous vehicle subsidiary Ford Motors will replace CEO Mark Fields with the head of its subsidiary responsible for developing self-driving cars,  reports the New York Times . Ford is expected to announce the appointment of Jim Hackett, the chairman of Ford Smart Mobility, as its new CEO on Monday.  Founded last year , Ford Smart Mobility develops technology for connected and autonomous vehicles. During Ford’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month, Fields was  blamed for the 40 percent drop in Ford’s stock price  since he became CEO. Despite its investments in self-driving cars, which also include  $1 billion poured into a joint venture with Argo AI , Ford has  struggled to balance  the cost of creating new technology with declining auto sales. Ford not only has to compete with tech companies like Google, Waymo, and Tesla (whose  market cap ...

Apple Pay now supports higher value transactions at most UK contactless tills If the UK’s £30 contactless payment limit was holding back greater adoption of Apple’s biometric contactless payment tech, Apple Pay, the company should expect to see uplift in usage as it believes that a majority of UK contactless POS now supports limitless transactions. The Telegraph  quotes Jennifer Bailey, head of Apple’s payments business, asserting that half of contactless payment terminals in the UK are able to take Apple Pay transactions of any value. Previously most contactless card readers had been restricted to £30 — aka, the default upper limit for contactless card transactions. “We think the majority of the contactless terminals [in the UK] are now limitless,” she said yesterday. Retailers supporting the higher value payments are said to include supermarkets such as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s and restaurants such as Pizza Express and Nando’s. Apple sa...

Google’s new website explains Syrian refugee crisis with 360 degree photos, satellite imagery, video & more The charitable arm of Google and the UN have teamed up on a new website aimed at helping people better understand the Syrian refugee crisis through the combination of data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) along with satellite imagery, 360 degree photos and stills, videos, stories from refugees, and more. The new site, called “ Searching for Syria ,” presents this information to visitors in an accessible way – by providing simple but visually immersive answers to questions like “What is happening in Syria?” and even, “what is a refugee?” Google  explained  that it’s been able to gauge how much worldwide interest there is on the web from people using its search engine for answers to basic questions about the refugee situation in Syria. “What is happening in Syria?” was among the top trending searches in Germany, France an...

More Live Blockchains? IBM Launches New Enterprise Accelerator Effort After more than a year of working intensely on blockchain R&D, global tech giant IBM hasn't seen many of its projects go live. Of 400 clients enrolled since it first began its blockchain projects  last February , just a dozen active networks are operational, according to the company's VP of blockchain technologies, Jerry Cuomo. But, today, the company is hoping to change that with the launch of its IBM Blockchain Founder Accelerator. Described broadly, the founder accelerator is an outgrowth of a problem perhaps not unique to emerging technologies. As explained by Cuomo, there are simply too many companies casually interested in  blockchain technology , and only a limited number of somewhat veteran professionals who can help assist in the launch of real live networks. Cuomo told CoinDesk: "There's more interest than there's people to go around. The best thing we can do for...

Microsoft Unveils New Framework to Speed Up Blockchain PoCs Microsoft has unveiled a new framework aimed at streamlining the blockchain proof-of-concept process. In a new blog post, the company said it was appealing to firms that want to test the tech for possible applications in a more timely fashion, estimating that existing conditions could mean as much as $300k in expenses and development times as long as a year. According to Microsoft, the framework entails the prototype blockchain network, relevant APIs, as well as a Hashing Service and a Signing Service to support the testing. Microsoft's Azure cloud service – one of the central planks of the company's  blockchain strategy  – sits at the heart of the framework. Microsoft added that it intends to demo the new framework during CoinDesk's Consensus 2017 blockchain conference, which is being held next week in New York. "With the framework, customers and partners can focus on creating truly innovativ...

It's Happening? Blockstream Opens 'Liquid' Sidechain in Beta Bitcoin startup Blockstream's first sidechain, dubbed Liquid, is now launching in beta. The release marks the first time that the sidechain (first announced  in late 2015 ) will move out of the testing sphere and onto the real bitcoin network. Blockstream is demoing the sidechain at CoinDesk's  Consensus 2017  conference this week. Liquid is a private blockchain. This means that, similar to other private blockchains being built today (such as the Linux Foundation-led Hyperledger project, as well as projects by other consortia), there is some control over who can send transactions. This sets it apart from open systems, such as bitcoin or ethereum, that any user can join. However, instead of being a self-contained system like some other private blockchains, Liquid is designed as a layer that sits on top of the bitcoin blockchain. The movement...

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Adds 86 Members to Blockchain Consortium The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance has more than tripled in size, with the group announcing 86 new members today drawn from a wide range of industries. Among the new members are South Korean telecom Samsung, pharmaceuticals giant Merck, automaker Toyota, investor communications platform Broadridge, financial markets firm DTCC, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which oversees licensed businesses in the state. The EEA was  officially launched  in late February,  aimed  at developing enterprise-focused solutions with the open-source ethereum as a basis but that are, in some cases, more privacy-oriented. Conversely, the idea is to create a kind of positive feedback loop that leads to improvements of the public blockchain protocol as well. And the diversity of the new members, according to Andrew Keyes, head of global business development f...

Russia's Largest Exchange is Using Blockchain to Lure Global Investors As Russia slowly emerges from a lengthy recession in the wake of collapsing energy prices, the Moscow Stock Exchange may have discovered a secret weapon in recruiting international investors – blockchain. In spite of double-digit  returns  to investors between 2005 and 2010, and a current pump in Russian investment credited to US President Donald Trump’s " cheerleading " of the nation, relics of cold-war fears  persist  among many investors. Couple that with the Moscow Exchange Group's relatively young technology, and a blockchain solution using Hyperledger Fabric has the potential to catapult the service ahead of more mature infrastructures and create an increased trust in the international community. Moscow Exchange Group's head of decentralized solutions, Alex Yakovlev, explained the solution was designed in large part to give investors increased confidence by providing ...

Banks Offering Cryptocurrency Services? A New Reality Is Arriving Bitcoin might finally be overlapping the broader fintech industry's popularity. Norway's largest online-only bank, Skandiabanken recently announced it plans to offer clients the ability to link bank accounts to cryptocurrency holdings. While some might see this move as one of traditional banks embracing bitcoin, really, it heralds a new shift in the evolution of cryptocurrency into the greater fintech space. Skandiabanken  announced its intentions  this week to let users connect a bank account with a Coinbase account, allowing users to view their cryptocurrency balances within the banking app. The app allows users to view their holdings, just as they would other investments, and, for now, the functionality does not include the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. The bank has stressed it does not yet view bitcoin as a currency, but instead another asset class....