LATEST TECH NEWS: 5 things you need to know today, March 25, 2020

These 5 latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. WhatsApp builds new feature to help fact-check messages

Social messaging App, WhatsApp has reportedly built, and now testing a new feature that will help its 1.5 billion users check online to see if message contents are verified information or otherwise. The social messaging App is doing via its new search function that will enable people to fact-check messages and obtain greater context about what is being shared from one user to another. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, fake news and misinformation have been something of a problem online for a while now.

In response to this, however, concerns have been raised from different quarters (government, health and technocrats) about the harmful effects of this practise. Public commentators have tagged the social media as a hotbed of maliciously false – as well as just misguided – information. Hence, as WhatsApp joins Facebook and Twitter to fact-check contents, the devastating effect is expected to drastically reduce with time. However, there are fears that this development might break privacy of end users.

2. Facebook enters romance to acquire stake in top Indian telco Reliance Jio

Three-year-old subsidiary of India’s Reliance Industries, Reliance Jio, has reportedly attracted the attention of an American social networking giant, Facebook. Recent industry report stated that the social conglomerate is in talks to acquire a 10% stake in the Indian telecom operator.

Equity analysts have described the size of the deal as a “multi-billion dollars” undertaking. On paper already, the company is valued over $60 billion. On recording such feat, the press has revealed that Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man who runs Reliance Industries, has poured over $25 billion into Reliance Jio over the years.

3. COVID-19 pandemic eventually delays SpaceX launch

After struggling to stay relatively independent of the effect of the pandemic, the ripple effect of COVID-19 has finally caught up with SpaceX, and will be causing it’s first official delay in launch. Before now, SpaceX has technologically managed to avoid much in the way of impact to its upcoming launch schedule despite the widespread global coronavirus pandemic. In fact, in the heat of the outbreak, the company reportedly launched 60 more of its Starlink satellites a couple of days ago.

According to an earlier plan of the company, efforts have been made to see it launch its first Commercial Crew mission with NASA in mid or late May, 2020. On Tuesday, March 24, however, the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing confirmed that the timing for SpaceX’s upcoming SAOCOM launch, which was set to take off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida] on March 30 using a Falcon 9 rocket, has been put on “indefinite” hold due to the impact of the current coronavirus crisis.

4. Apple rolls out iOS and iPadOS 13.4 software with added trackpad support

American multinational electronic gadget company, Apple, has rolled out its latest software 13.4 update, upgrading specifications on the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch, the Apple TV and the Mac. Product test reviewers have noted that the biggest changes are on the iPad. This update will equally make it possible for iPad users to pair a mouse or trackpad to their device, giving the PC experience of moving cursor to the iPad-sphere.

With a lot coming with the upgrade, Apple has added a trackpad support among a handful of other features. The development will further facilitate users sharing of iCloud Drive folder with another iCloud user. This, reviewers claimed to work like a shared Dropbox folder.

5. Africa Mobility Initiative opens call for startups to apply for accelerator

The Africa Mobility Initiative has announced its call for startups with solutions that seek to mitigate the continent’s mobility challenges to apply for an accelerator. For its 2020 cohort, the Africa Transformative Mobility Accelerator is looking out to absorb eight startups with special interest for startups from Kenya and Uganda.

According to the accelerator board, the eight will each receive grants of up to $25 000 during the Africa Transformative Mobility Summit, slated to take place in October. In a press release from the initiative on Wednesday, March 25, it stated thus: the increase in urban population in African cities has resulted in the diversification and upsurge in transport needs, hence, opening Africans to unique opportunities in the transport/travel space.