Apple, Epic Games face off in court over app store
Apple’s lucrative app store was alternately portrayed as a price-gouging monopoly and a hub of world-changing innovation during the preamble to a trial that may reshape the technological landscape.
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Rental companies buy up used cars as chip crisis deepens
The demand is sending used-car costs soaring. The Manheim Index, which measures prices at wholesale auctions, shows that they’re 52% higher than they were a year ago.
Google signs deal with WNBA to help champion women’s sports
Twenty-five WNBA games will be televised on ABC and ESPN in celebration of the league’s 25th season, with Google as the presenting sponsor.
Employers, insurers push to make virtual visits regular care
Make telemedicine your first choice for most doctor visits. That’s the message some U.S. employers and insurers are sending with a new wave of care options.
Apple’s app store goes on trial in threat to ‘walled garden’
On Monday, Apple faces one of its most serious legal threats in recent years: A trial that threatens to upend its iron control over its app store, which brings in billions of dollars each year while feeding more than 1.6 billion iPhones, iPads and other devices.
Purdue set to take data science program statewide using Lilly Endowment grant
The Indiana Digital Crossroads program will create regional data science hubs throughout the state that are meant to bring undergraduate college students, faculty, business leaders and high school students together to help prepare workers for future jobs.
Chip shortage spreads beyond automakers, hurting sales at Apple, Samsung
The scarcity of chips could cloud some of the pandemic recovery if it continues to hamper manufacturing in the coming months.
Fishers-based software firm Emplify acquired for $50 million
San Francisco-based human resources software company 15Five Inc. said the acquisition of Emplify further boosts its employee-engagement and manager-enablement software platform.
Indy-based Jobvite combined with two other recruiting software firms to form new company
The new firm will maintain the brands of the three companies—Jobvite, JazzHR and NXTThing RPO—as well as operations in their respective communities, the company said.
Apple’s iPhone privacy clampdown arrives after 7-month delay
The new privacy feature, dubbed “App Tracking Transparency,” rolled out Monday as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad.
Apple plans $100M distribution center, 500 jobs near Indianapolis
The “state-of-the-art” distribution center in Hendricks County is expected to accelerate delivery times for Apple customers in Indiana and the rest of country.
Global podcast database Podchaser gets boost from Indiana investors
Podchaser, which was co-founded by Indiana University alum Cole Raven, recently closed a $4 million funding round with participation from Bloomington-based IU Angel Network and Indianapolis-based High Alpha.
KAR Global, OneCause, Socio, Malomo and Lilly among winners at Mira Awards
TechPoint’s 22nd Mira Awards event was held virtually for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Event organizers expected 6,000 people to tune in to the live webcast.
Marketing tech firm ActiveCampaign lands $240M in investment capital
Chicago-based ActiveCampaign hasn’t realized the type of employment growth it projected in Indianapolis when it opened its local office two years ago. Company officials, however, emphasized this week that they still have big plans for the Indy office.
Rolls-Royce forms research partnership with Purdue, Carnegie Mellon
The partnership, which is expected to tackle several research projects per year, is aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity of Rolls-Royce’s products, which are used in civilian and military aircraft, nuclear power plants and other applications.
U.S. takes new aim at ransomware after costly year for attacks
Last year was the worst to date in terms of the economic toll from ransomware, with demands to victims averaging more than $100,000 and in some cases totaling tens of millions of dollars.
Wisconsin’s new deal with Foxconn lowers tax breaks by billions
Foxconn originally proposed a 20 million-square-foot manufacturing campus that would have been the largest investment in U.S. history for a new location by a foreign-based company, but those plans have been downsized significantly.
Fast-growing local software firm Encamp raises $12M in capital
Encamp, which makes and markets software that helps customers manage environmental data and the forms required for local and federal compliance, has now raised a total of $17.2 million. The most recent funding round was led by Boston-based OpenView with participation from High Alpha Capital and Allos Ventures—both of Indianapolis—and Bloomington-based IU Ventures.
Microsoft buying speech recognition firm Nuance in $16B deal
The acquisition will get Microsoft deeper into hospitals and the health care industry through Nuance’s widely used medical dictation and transcription tools.
Cummins among companies at White House chips-shortage summit
President Joe Biden’s top economic and national security advisers are hosting more than a dozen CEOs on Monday to discuss the administration’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan and the global semiconductor shortage, according to a White House official.