Internet

Researchers from the University of Utah’s departments of electrical and computer engineering and physics and astronomy have discovered that a special kind of perovskite, a combination of an organic and inorganic compound that has the same structure as the original mineral, can be layered on a silicon wafer to create a vital component for the communications system of the future. Scientists are investigating how to apply these light frequencies to convey data because of its remarkable potential for increasing the speeds of devices such as cellphones and internet modems.

The online search phrase “buy bitcoin” is now more popular than “buy gold,” according to the latest data from Google Trends. The tide began to change in favor of bitcoin only in the spring of this year, with “buy gold” search phrase completely dominating the field prior to that. On average, gold still wins out in 2017, but this might not be for long, as shown on the Google Trends chart.

IKEA plans to test “open-source” design and full-range town-centre showrooms as part of the furniture retailer’s efforts to adapt to rapidly changing consumer shopping habits. The budget furniture retailer’s strategy will still be based on its out-of-town warehouse stores, where shoppers pick up their purchases, but it also wants to become more accessible, physically and digitally. It has launched trial store formats such as smaller city centre stores, order and pickup-points and – the latest test format – a kitchen showroom in Stockholm’s financial district.

Three months after it was fined €2.4 billion by the European Commission for abusing its position on its online shopping service, Google is changing its website to comply with the Commission’s demands and avoid a new penalty.
On Thursday morning (28 September), the US company’s shopping service will treat its own ads the same way as ads from external services.

Internet giant Google is appealing against a record 2.4 billion euro fine the European Commission handed down in June, 2017.

The world’s most popular Internet search engine, a unit of the U.S. firm Alphabet, launched its appeal two months after it was fined by the European Commission for abusing its dominance in Europe by giving prominent placement in searches to its comparison shopping service and demoting rival offerings.

The finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Spain have written a joint letter to the European Union’s presidency and Commission calling for taxes on tech giants’ revenues, not just their profits. The four nations want the Commission to produce an "equalization tax" that would make companies pay the equivalent of the corporate tax in the countries where they earn revenue.

France is leading a push to clamp down on the taxation of such companies, but has found support from other countries also frustrated at the low tax they receive under current international rules.

Facebook announced “Watch,” the long-awaited update to its video section where people can go watch short, episodic video shows. You’ll also be able to watch some live video here, including live sports that the social network has the rights to stream, like Major League Baseball games.

Facebook already had a video tab. But now that tab has been redesigned, and will include short episodic “shows” that Facebook didn’t have before. Facebook is paying publishers like BuzzFeed, ATTN and Group Nine Media to make these shows, and will retain the rights to some of them. The majority of the shows, though, will be posted on Facebook free of charge. Some publishers plan to run mid-roll video ads, à la commercials, during the shows to make money.

France is Airbnb’s second largest market and yet in 2016, the internet giant paid the country just €92,944 in taxes – equivalent to the amount paid by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
With 350,000 listings, France is Airbnb’s second-largest market after the United States, and Paris, the most visited city in the world, is its biggest single market, with 65,000 homes.