Author: Nishita Gupta

For hours, players were not able to log in to the famous battle royale. The company was “investigating log-in, matchmaking, and other issues,” on Wednesday noon, according to Fortnite’s official Twitter account. Another tweet said that “game servers are currently offline while we investigate a solution to stability issues.” Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, also experienced difficulties with its larger gaming library. In a tweet posted on Wednesday by the Epic Games Store Twitter account, users were informed that Epic was “investigating issues with downloading, installing and launching games in your Library.” Fortnite asked players to restore the service…

An online marketplace for Crypto-based NFTs, OpenSea said in a statement, it is now worth $13.3bn (£9.8bn) after a new investment of $300m. The platform allows users to exchange non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are one-of-a-kind pieces of digital code that can be linked to a digital asset or work of digital art. Huge amounts of money have been paid for various NFTs. OpenSea said trades on the platform rose 600-times last year, but some skeptics state the valuation is too high. “In 2021, we saw the world wake up to the idea that NFTs represent the standard building blocks for…

Worries about the Omicron effects shattered Saudi company confidence in December, resulting in a sharp reduction in new orders. As optimism about future growth fell to an 18-month low, hiring activity in the Saudi private sector slowed. According to the latest PMI data from IHS Markit, the research organization that measures monthly private sector activity, Omicron wasn’t the only factor scaring business owners, with faster-than-expected inflation and competition adding to their fears. “The most recent statistics showed particularly steep slowdowns in new order growth across manufacturing and services, with panelists frequently mentioning canceled bookings and decreased client demand.” The…

Shares in crisis-hit Chinese property developer Evergrande rose on Tuesday after they resumed trading in Hong Kong. The heavily-indebted firm had suspended its shares on Monday pending the release of “inside information”. Evergrande’s shares shot up as much as 10% before trimming gains to close 1.3% higher. The company said its sales for 2021 dipped 39% from the year before to $69.5bn (£51.6bn). Evergrande also assured that it had been ordered to demolish 39 buildings on the island of Hainan. The firm said the buildings affected by the demolition order are at its Ocean Flower Island project and said the…

Alpha Dhabi Holding, already one of the largest shareholders in Abu Dhabi’s top-developer Aldar, has increased its stake to 29.8 percent. This acquisition comes in line with Alpha Dhabi Holding’s newly announced growth plan and future strategy, targeting Dh8 billion for investments in real estate, hospitality, healthcare, petrochemicals, and other promising sectors inside and outside the UAE. It was in the past year that Alpha Dhabi acquired a 12.8 percent “strategic stake”, which involved the movement of around 1 billion shares in a block trade measured at Dh3.7 billion. It was one of the biggest private share trades in a…

It’s OK to stare at your non-fungible tokens on your phone or laptop screen, but why not remind everyone who comes to your place of how much money you spent on digital art NFTs by displaying them on your TV screen? Somehow, we’re living in a world where it’s going to become a reality: Samsung has announced that its 2022 TV lineup would include comprehensive support for NFTs. “With demand for NFTs on the rise, the need for a solution to today’s fragmented viewing and purchasing landscape has never been greater,” the company said in a press statement. “In 2022,…

The Weston family has sold the posh retail group Selfridges to property company Signa Holding and retailer Central Group. A statement released on Friday by Central Group said the acquisition would “create one of the world’s leading Omni-channel luxury emporium groups”. The sale was made for £4 billion, according to a BBC report.  In 2003, the Weston family’s Canadian wing purchased Selfridges for about £600 million. The Selfridges portfolio includes 18 department shops across England, the Netherlands, and Ireland. They will become a part of the combined Central and Signa portfolio of department shops which incorporates Rinascente in Italy, Illum…

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), Micro-Star International Co (2377.TW), and Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) are the newest companies to withdraw from attending the consumer Electronics Show (CES) in person next month as Omicron cases surge. More than 2,100 exhibitors have signed up for 2022, according to the CTA.   However, the rapid spread of the new coronavirus variant has forced individuals and firms across the U.S. to rethink their travel plans as they appear to minimize the danger of contracting the virus.  Many flights have been canceled by airlines such as Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and Alaska Airlines (ALK.N), and a…

The number of USA citizens applying for unemployment benefits fell below 200,000, more evidence that the work market remains strong within the aftermath of last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims dropped by 8,000 to 198,000, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to only above 199,000, an all-time low level since October 1969. The numbers suggest that the fast-spreading omicron variant has yet to trigger a wave of layoffs. Altogether, 1.7 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment aid the week that ended Dec. 18. That was the lowest since March 2020, just…

Ministers in Scotland are accused of slashing the budget for digital infrastructure by £50 million and delaying the rollout of superfast broadband across the country. The Reaching 100% (R100) program guarantees thirty megabits per second to every house and company, but it comes with an insane number of deadlines. It was revealed in March that the northern portion of the program would not be completed until 2026, but it was revealed last month that this had been pushed back another twelve months. According to a written response obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, funding dropped from £66.2 million in 2017-18 to…