Tado, the German smart home energy startup, plans to go public via a SPAC at a €450M valuation

Tado, the German smart home startup that specializes in thermostats and more recently moved into flexible “time of use” energy tariffs based on loadshifting technology, is today announcing the next step in its life as a business. It’s going public by way of a SPAC deal. GFJ ESG Acquisition, a German SPAC entity focused specifically […]

Russia’s FSB ‘shuts down’ notorious REvil ransomware gang

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Friday that it has raided and shut down the operations of the notorious REvil ransomware gang. The unprecedented move — which will undoubtedly send a message to other ransomware groups operating out of the country — saw the Russian authorities conduct raids at 25 addresses across the […]

Nigeria lifts ban on Twitter, says the social media giant has met conditions

The Nigerian government has lifted the suspension of Twitter operations more than six months after it first declared a crackdown on the social media giant in the country. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the director-general of Nigeria’s tech agency, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), made this announcement via a statement today. He was put in charge, […]

Google reorg moves AR, VR, Starline and Area 120 into new ‘Labs’ team

Google Labs is back, but this time around, it’s not a consumer-facing brand delivering a range of experimental products. Instead, it’s the internal name given to a new team at Google created under a reorganization that aims to gather the company’s many innovative projects and long-term bets under one roof. The new group will be […]

Tencent shares its metaverse vision for the first time

How could Tencent not jump on the metaverse bandwagon when Facebook is hinging its future on the new buzzword? At this stage, Tencent’s approach seems more measured than Facebook’s $10 billion investment into its metaverse division. But any early hint from the Chinese social media and gaming giant will provide enough fodder for investor speculation. During […]

Vistaprint acquires Crello and Depositphotos, rebrands as Vista, to better take on Canva and others in online creative design for businesses

Vistaprint, has built a name for itself in providing printing and marketing services for consumers, sole traders and small businesses, is making a pair of acquisitions as it looks for better ways to square up to the opportunity to serve SMBs with digital services. The company is acquiring online graphic design editor Crello, and an […]

Twitter ban in Nigeria to be lifted if platform sets up a local office and pays taxes, president says

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Friday that the ban on Twitter would be lifted, but only if the social media giant met certain conditions. The president disclosed this during his televised broadcast to Nigerians on the country’s 61st Independence Day anniversary. He acknowledged the fact that Twitter is used to disseminate information. Still, he […]

YouTube will now ban content with vaccine misinformation

YouTube expanded its medical misinformation policies today to include new guidelines that ban vaccine misinformation. The Google-owned video platform had previously banned over 1 million videos spreading dangerous COVID-19 misinformation. Now, YouTube says it will also remove content that spreads misinformation about vaccine safety, the efficacy of vaccines and ingredients in vaccines. The platform previously […]