The US government is pouring money into the Internet of Things

The U.S government spent $8.8 billion in the fiscual year of 2015, up from $7.7 billion in the fiscal year 2014, according to a report from Govini, which collects and analyzes data about government contracts. Overall, the federal government spent almost $35 billion on IoT solutions from the fiscal year 2011 through the fiscal year 2015.

The report split the government's IoT investments into three categories. First is infrastructure

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Xiaomi Buys 1,500 Patents From Microsoft To Aid Global Expansion

Xiaomi has signed a deal with Microsoft to acquire 1,500 patents in exchange for bundling Skype and Office apps on its smartphones and tablets, as the Chinese company seeks a way to expand its products into Western markets. The deal, which also includes a cross-licensing agreement, could hasten the launch of Xiaomi smartphones in markets such as Western Europe and North America where it is believed that a lack of a robust mobile patent portfolio is the major factor in preventing a more global launch.

The patents Xiaomi has acquired cover wireless communications, video, cloud and multimedia technologies, and come six months after the Chinese company signed a patent-licensing deal with U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm covering 3G and 4G technologies. Xiaomi has acquired 1,500 patents from Microsoft, in a deal that will

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StanChart launches mobile banking push in Africa as rivals retreat

Standard Chartered is to launch its mobile and online banking platform in eight African countries, its consumer banking chief for the region told Reuters, as the lender seeks to grow in Africa at a time when some European banks are retreating. StanChart will launch the service for its 1 million customers in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the first half of 2016, the bank's regional head for retail banking

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Here's Facebook's next major app: Moments

Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) mobile app is one of the most popular in the world. More than 1 billion people use Facebook on their mobile devices each and every day. But there's more to Facebook than its core social network. The company has an increasingly impressive array of other apps, each boasting hundreds of millions of additional users in their own right. Collectively, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram reach 2.3 billion people each month, mostly through mobile devices. WhatsApp and Messenger lead the way with 1 billion and 900 million monthly actives, respectively; Instagram adds 400 million. The company has tried many times to add a fifth to that lineup, but most of its initiatives have been outright failures. Last year, Facebook discontinued Slingshot, Riff, and Rooms after they failed to gain sufficient traction. But Facebook has one up-and-coming app that may hold considerably more promise: Moments, a photo-centric app Facebook launched

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Samsung braces for patent war

The total number of patents that tech giant Samsung Electronics holds in the U.S. increased by more than fifteen times over the past nine years, according to the company on Thursday. Samsung’s patents registered at the U.S. patent office stood at 38,809 last year, up from 2,457 in 2007

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South Africa: How the State Capture Controversy Has Influenced South Africa's Nuclear Build

South Africa is facing a critical decision that could see it investing about R1 trillion - or US$60 billion to $70 billion - in a fleet of new nuclear power stations. Proponents argue that it will greatly increase electrical base-load capacity and generate industrial growth. But opponents believe the high cost would cripple the country economically. What should be an economic decision has now been clouded by controversy, with political pressure to push through the nuclear build and the increasingly apparent rewards it would bring to politically linked individuals. The nuclear expansion programme needs to be considered exceptionally carefully given that the required financial commitment is roughly equal to the total South African annual tax revenue. Loan repayments could place a devastating long-term burden on

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You Won't Be Able to Use PayPal's App on These Phones Anymore

Shares of PayPal Holdings  (PYPL) are down by 1.68% to $38.11 late Thursday afternoon, as the San Jose, CA-based technology platform company announces it is discontinuing its apps on the Windows Phone (MSFT), BlackBerry (BBRY) and Amazon's(AMZN) Fire OS.

As of June 30, the only two of PayPal's money transaction apps remaining will be on Google's Android (GOOGL) and Apple's(AAPL) iOS.

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