News Headlines - 22 March 2019
▽Zenrin Falls on Speculation That Google Maps Partnership Is Over - Bloomberg
Zenrin Co. plunged the most in three years in Tokyo amid speculation that Japan’s biggest mapmaker has ended its relationship with Alphabet Inc.’s Google... Japanese users took to social media to complain about the sudden deterioration in the quality of Google Maps in the country, and pointed out that a previous copyright attribution to Zenrin has vanished from the fine print at the bottom of the screen.
On March 6, Google announced on its Japanese blog it will roll out a new version of its maps for the country, but that post made no mention of Zenrin.
▽Hong Kong to build one of world’s largest artificial island projects | The Guardian
Hong Kong plans to spend HK$624bn (￡60bn) on one of the world’s largest artificial island projects, which the government promises will ease the territory’s housing crisis but critics say will cause environmental and financial problems.
The government says it will create 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of land off Hong Kong’s biggest island, Lantau... Work on the Lantau Vision Tomorrow scheme is scheduled to start in 2025, with the first residents moving in seven years later, in 2032.
Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda has sought to cancel a multibillion dollar order for 49 of the manufacturer's 737 Max 8 jets, citing a loss of passenger confidence in the model after two fatal crashes in the past six months.
It is the first announcement of a cancellation since Boeing's new model aircraft was grounded by airlines worldwide after the devastating crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
▽VW CEO Herbert Diess Still Under Fire for Nazi-Era Gaffe
Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess is under fire for a colossal verbal blunder, invoking a Nazi- era phrase in a management meeting. The transgression was so serious that one of his own managers leaked the blunder to the media, and some investors and the media are now calling for his ouster.
“Ebit macht frei,” was what Diess told his managers, or “Profits will set you free.” Diess was reportedly answering a query about why the company’s Porsche division seemed to get more freedom with capital investment and risk-taking than other VW brands. Diess was referencing Porsche’s attractive profit margins on everything it does.
But the retort was widely seen as a play on “Arbeit Macht Frei,” or “work will set you free, an infamous and well-known phrase that was forged into the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Every German schoolboy knows it is a notorious phrase that strikes at the heart of German guilt over the Holocaust.
▽Microsoft starts notifying Windows 7 users about end of support - The Verge
Microsoft has started rolling out an update to Windows 7 that will notify existing users about the end of the support. The software maker is stopping support of Windows 7 on January 14th, 2020, and it’s now starting to warn about this cutoff date. Microsoft is using a notification to warn Windows 7 users, similar to the prompts the company used to get people to upgrade to Windows 7.
