10 things in tech you need to know today

Reuters/Pilar Olivares

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday.

1. Google says data is more like sunlight than oil, one day after being fined $57 million over its privacy and consent practices. Google's CFO Ruth Porat seemed to be trying to move away from comparisons with greedy oil barons in comments made at the World Economic Forum.
2. Apple is reportedly planning to change a key component of every iPhone lineup by 2020, and now one of its major suppliers is scrambling. Apple is likely to cut LCD screens from its new iPhone lineup, forcing supplier Japan Display to seek a sale to Chinese and Taiwanese buyers.
3. IBM's stock rose as high as 7% on Tuesday after announcing earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines. IBM also posted positive revenue growth in 2018 — the first time it's done so since 2017.
4. Huawei's chairman brazened it out among world leaders at Davos, talking up 5G while the company faces a criminal probe. Huawei chairman and rotating CEO Ken Hu appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, as did other Huawei executives.
5. Oracle underpaid women and minority workers by $400 million between 2013 and 2016 due to what the US Labor Deparment described as systematic discrimination, the agency said Tuesday. The company showed "extreme preference" for hiring Asian workers with visas that it could underpay, the department charged.
6. Companies secretly boost their ratings on jobs site Glassdoor by asking enthusiastic employees to flood the site with positive reviews, the Wall Street Journal found. Glassdoor can be a deciding factor in employees deciding whether to work somewhere, but it's easily manipulated, the report found.
7. Amazon has expanded beyond selling books and digital items in Brazil for the first time, now directly selling products in categories like baby, toys, beauty, and personal care, from recognized brands like Lego, Johnson & Johnson, and Pampers. Brazil offers good prospects for foreign investment, as it is one of the largest developing economies in the world and the largest in Latin America.
8. The founder of Blippar, which collapsed dramatically after a shareholder dispute, has a new augmented reality company. Ambarish Mitra, CEO and cofounder of Blippar, registered a new entity in the UK called Augmented Reality Labs on Monday.  
9. Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, says he learns about a foiled terrorist attack in Europe almost every week. He said: "I find out about a stopped terror attack in Europe about once a week - and not just the caricature that we all see in the media of radical Muslim attacks - also far right people attacking Muslims."
10. Apple predicts more climate change disasters could increase iPhone demand. One possible effect named by Apple in a new report is that its safety features, including a flashlight, could increase the demand for iPhones.

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from Business Insider https://read.bi/2FT06Ge