The Seattle suburb of Bellevue may soon be Amazon’s unofficial “HQ3.”

The Seattle-based tech giant announced Friday that it was expanding its workforce footprint in Bellevue, with new office space plans that will host a total of 25,000 employees in the next several years, the Seattle Times reports.

That’s the same number of employees promised for Arlington, Virginia, by 2030. The Washington DC-area city won Amazon’s closely-watched HQ2 sweepstakes in 2018 by offering $573 million in cash grants and tax incentives. Amazon in exchange pledged to bring 25,000 new jobs that will pay on average $150,000 a year.

Bellevue, meanwhile, hasn’t provided tax breaks or financial incentives to lure Amazon.

Since 2016, the company has been leasing space in the tony Eastside suburb about 10 miles east of downtown Seattle, just across Lake Washington. Amazon now hosts about 3,000 workers there and has been growing its presence steadily in Bellevue’s robust downtown corridor, which will soon be connected with a Link light-rail station.

The latest announcement details Amazon’s plan for the tony Eastside suburb, which will include leasing 2 million square feet at two towers that are both under construction. The company is also seeking a permit for the second skyscraper of its own, the Seattle Times reports.

John Schoettler, Amazon vice president of global real estate and facilities, called Bellevue a “business-friendly community with great amenities, high quality of life, and a fantastic talent pool.”

Amazon’s main presence will still be near downtown Seattle, where it hosts about 55,000 employees in a mix of buildings it leases and owns. The company said it has no new projects planned for Seattle and wouldn’t comment on its future hiring in the city.

Amazon has yet to comment publicly on Seattle’s recently approved 1.4% payroll tax on the salaries of employees earning $150,000 or more, but the Downtown Seattle Association -- of which Amazon is a member -- has opposed the city’s new tax, saying it will prompt employers to leave Seattle.

The tax, which goes into effect next year, is expected to raise more than $200 million per year for homelessness services and the city’s coronavirus pandemic response, among other issues.

Since moving and rapidly transforming Seattle, the company has proudly touted its urban location as a unique model that appeals to a young, city-loving workforce. That was in contrast to the usual suburban tech company headquarter build-out.

The latest expansion to downtown Bellevue is a blend of the two campus models and puts Amazon closer to rival Microsoft’s Redmond location. It’s also a homecoming for Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who started his books-by-mail business 26 years ago in a Bellevue garage.

Amazon’s workers aren’t expected back into the office until January 2021.

Source: AP

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Oppo has launched its new smartphone Oppo A31. This smartphone is a mid-range smartphone and is currently launched in the Indonesian market.

Oppo has launched the new smartphone Oppo A31 in its mid-range A-series lineup. It is worth noting that the new A31 is different from the Oppo A31 launched in 2015. Currently, this smartphone has been launched only in Indonesia. The MediaTek Helio P35 processor has been given in the Oppo A31 2020 smartphone.

Oppo A31 2020 Price in Nepal

The price of this smartphone with attractive features is Rs 26,590 in the Nepali market.

Oppo A31 2020 Price in Indonesia

The price of Oppo A31 2020 has been kept at IDR 25,99,000  and it is currently available in the Indonesian market.

Oppo A31 2020 Color variants

This smartphone will be available to customers in Mystery Black and Fantasy White color options.

Oppo A31 2020 Specifications

This smartphone is a mid-range smartphone and has a MediaTek Helio P35 processor with dual-SIM (Nano) support. This phone comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. Talking about some other specifications, it has a 6.5-inch HD + (720x1,600 pixels) display, 4230mAh battery, and rear fingerprint sensor.

Talking about the section of photography, there is a triple camera setup in the rear of Oppo A31 (2020). The primary camera of this setup is 12MP. Also, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor are also provided here. Its front camera is 8MP. This camera is placed in the waterdrop style notch.

In terms of connectivity, 4G / LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 have been supported here. Apart from this, micro USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack are also supported here.

Oppo A31 2020 Price in Nepal

Oppo A31 2020 launch in Nepal. The phone has a fingerprint unlock as well as facial unlock feature. The price of this smartphone with attractive features is Rs 26,590 in the Nepali market.

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Blink, that other smart home camera company that Amazon scooped up, today announced a pair of new cameras that move its business deeper into a subscription model. And they can also last for a long time — up to four years of “normal use” — on a single set of batteries if that’s what you need.

The new Blink Outdoor ($99.99) and Indoor ($79.99) cameras include a free trial to Blink’s cloud storage plan that’s good through the end of this year. But after that, you’ll have to pay $3 monthly to keep the cloud storage going; an unlimited-cameras plan is slightly more expensive at $10 per month. Blink is still giving customers the option of saving their recordings locally with the included Sync Module 2 and any USB flash drive they might have on hand.

Both cameras check off most of the features you’d want out of a basic home camera: you get 1080p video, night vision, motion detection, and two-way audio in “sleek new hardware design.”

By default, the Blink Outdoor and Indoor can keep going for up to two years of recording on a pair of AA lithium batteries. But later this year, Blink says it’ll release a battery expansion back that ups the number of AAs to four, thus doubling that total stamina to up to four years “with normal use.” Blink says it can achieve this efficiency because of its “proprietary chip technology.” You can see how this would be convenient if you want to stick a camera in a high-traffic area or a hard-to-reach spot where frequent battery swaps would prove annoying. The expansion pack costs another $30, so the added expense might not be worth it for some.

And of course, both new Blink cams are Alexa compatible.

source: theverge

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U.S. wireless carrier Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) may invest more than $4 billion for a stake in India’s Vodafone Idea Ltd (VODA.NS), the Mint newspaper reported on Thursday, sending shares in the struggling Indian telecom firm up 10%.

Vodafone Idea’s stake-sale talks had been paused pending the outcome of a court hearing in India, which created uncertainty and could have threatened Vodafone Idea’s survival, Mint reported, citing two unnamed people aware of the negotiations.

But Amazon and Verizon are set to resume discussions following a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday which gave mobile carriers 10 years to settle government dues.

Vodafone Idea did not immediately respond to Reuter's request for comment. Amazon and Verizon did not return emails seeking comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

Heavily indebted Vodafone Idea - a joint venture between Britain’s Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) and India’s Idea Cellular - had previously said its ability to continue as a going concern rested on a positive outcome of the hearing.

It has paid the Indian government 78.5 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in telecoms dues, according to regulatory filings, but still owes roughly 500 billion rupees ($6.8 billion) more.

Shares in Vodafone Idea, which ended 13% lower after Tuesday's court ruling, were up 8% at 10.70 rupees on the NSE index. NSEI by 0405 GMT.

Source: Reuters

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Apple is delaying a new privacy feature in the next version of its iPhone operating system that will make it more difficult for app makers to track people online to help sell digital ads.

The decision outlined Thursday affects iOS 14, which is expected to be released as a free software upgrade to roughly a billion iPhone users later this month. Apple intended iOS 14 to automatically block tracking as soon as it came out, but the company now says it will hold back the tool until early next year.

The same safeguard was supposed be in the next operating systems for iPads and Apple TVs, too.

The feature would require apps to explicitly ask users to permission to collect and share data about their online behavior through a unique code that identifies every iPhone. That requirement raised fears that most people would block the tracking, making it more difficult for free apps to sell the ads that generate most of their revenue.

Currently, apps are automatically given a tracking code unless users of iPhones and other Apple devices go to the extra trouble of changing their privacy controls on their own.

Facebook, which runs the largest digital ad network behind Google, last week warned that the new privacy feature in iOS 14 threatened to deliver a major blow to many apps at a time they are already struggling amid a coronavirus-triggered recession.

Although Apple is postponing the new anti-tracking tool, the Cupertino, California, company emphasized that it shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign it is backing down from its outspoken commitment to protect the privacy of its customers as a “fundamental right.”

“We want to give developers the time they need to make the necessary changes” to apps and advertising models, the company said in a statement.

Apple’s postponement disappointed those trying to combat the digital surveillance that’s inherent in online tracking, said Craig Danuloff, CEO of The Privacy Co., which recently introduced its own privacy app to help protect iPhone users from prying eyes.

“One can only see this delay as harming millions of users who do not at all understand the level of tracking that’s going on,” Danuloff said.

source: AP

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