Canadian companies are hiring at record breaking rates, Amazon’s Echo Dot keeps data longer than initially thought – but are we really surprised? – and the U.K.’s largest semiconductor manufacturer has been sold.
It’s all the biz/tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Wednesday, July 7 and I’m your host Alex Coop.
After over a year of low job rates, recent data from the Bank of Canada shows hiring intentions are at an all time high among businesses. The survey reveals that businesses across the country plan to hire over the next 12 months as more sales come in. With pandemic restrictions loosening and the economy opening up again, a consumer expectations survey showed that respondents are planning to spend over one-third of their excess savings in the next year. If you are looking for a job, specifically in the tech sector places like Bell, Shopify, Microsoft, Softchoice, Telematics and Cloud solutions provider Sherweb are all looking for talent. [CTV]
Amazon Echo Dots Store a Wealth of Data—Even After a Reset from technology
Planning to dispose or sell an Amazon Echo Dot? You might want to reconsider that after this latest news. Privacy researchers say that even after removing personal data from an Echo Dot, digital bits can remain on reset devices and can be reassembled to retrieve passwords, location, authentication tokens and other sensitive information. The study involved 86 second hand echo devices. Each one was examined closely to see if data could be retrieved. It turned out that 61 per cent of devices had not even been reset and had previous information on owner’s Wi-Fi passwords and Amazon account credentials. After further research and experimentation they were able to find previous owner’s rough locations through voice command. Amazon commented on the issue saying that it is not possible to access Amazon account information because, “that data is not stored on the device.” [Wired]
Chinese-owned firm acquires UK’s largest semiconductor manufacturer | Technology sector from technology
And lastly, The U.K.’s largest producer of semiconductors Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), has been bought by Nexperia. Nexperia, a Dutch firm owned by China’s Wingtech, acquired NWF which is a large producer of silicon chips. This latest move has prompted the government to review the sale to a foreign owner during a chip shortage crisis. A Conservative MP told CNBC that it would be surprising if the deal was not already being reviewed under the National Security and Investment Act, which is a new legislation created to protect national assets from foreign takeover. The value of the deal is estimated at 63 million pounds. For more semiconductor news, follow IT World Canada’s coverage on the ventureLAB awards which just announced its three winners for its hardware semiconductor competition. The three winners are largely based in Markham, Ontario. [The Guardian]
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. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Friday at 3 pm. Thanks for listening, I’m Alex Coop.
