Facebook is rolling out a tool that lets users in the US and Canada transfer photos and videos from its platform to Google Photos, Amazon says it plans to spend all of its profit for the second quarter, an estimated $4 billion, on its response to the coronavirus pandemic, and NVIDIA’s chief scientist rolls out designs for a low-cost open-source ventilator.
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Facebook may have given many Canadian users a very good reason to ditch the platform recently by rolling out a tool that will allow them to export their Facebook photos and videos to Google Photos. First introduced in Ireland last December, the tool is based on code developed through the Data Transfer Project, a collaborative effort started last year that’s currently backed by Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter. All five of them have committed to building a “common framework with open-source code that can connect any two online service providers, enabling a seamless, direct, user-initiated portability of data between the two platforms”. The transfer tool is not the only way to get your data out of Facebook. The company has offered Download Your Information since 2010, but there’s not a whole lot you can do with it.
Amazon says it’s likely to spend all of its profit, roughly $4 billion, from the second quarter on expenses tied to COVID-19, including virus tests for workers and improving deliveries. Amazon’s first-quarter revenue rose 26% from a year earlier, but the company’s profits declined 29%. According to a story from CNBC, some of the $4 billion will also fund higher wages for workers, personal protective equipment (PPE), better cleaning protocols at facilities and “less efficient process paths” that will allow for social distancing.
And lastly, NVIDIA Chief Scientist Bill Dally’s open-source design for a low-cost, easy-to-assemble ventilator is making some noise on Reddit. Dally developed the ventilator in just a few weeks with readily available parts, including a solenoid valve and a microcontroller. Dally wrote in a blog post that it can be made for just a few hundred dollars.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing.