Weekly news round-up: UK pay gaps revealed & first blockchain smartphone

Sony, Warner Bros and Turner report large gender pay discrepancies  
The UK operations of Sony, Warner Bros and Turner have revealed the gap in pay between male and female employees, reported The Guardian. Sony’s median gender pay gap sits at 25.8% rising to 70.2% when including bonuses. Warner Bros Entertainment reported a discrepancy of 30.9% increased to 67.3% with bonuses and Turner reported a gender pay gap of 28.6% growing to 55.8% with bonuses.  

First blockchain smartphone announced   
Swiss-Israeli firm Sirin has tasked a subsidiary of Foxconn, the electronics manufacturer known for producing the iPhone, Kindle and PlayStation, with the manufacture of its blockchain smartphone. Reuters reported that the Finney smartphone is designed to securely store and use digital currencies like Bitcoin to automatically convert tokens for the use across applications. According to a Bloomberg report, Sirim aims to ship 100,000 up to a few million units this year. 

YouTube shooters motive revealed 
According to The Guardian, the suspect responsible for the YouTube shooting at the firm’s Silicon Valley headquarters appears to be a frustrated YouTuber. Nasim Najafi Aghdam is reported to be have claimed the social media site censored her content through its monetisation policies. 

Facebook revamps privacy policy
The changes to the social media giant’s privacy settings come in the wake of the high profile data scandals. The aim of the new policy is to explain more clearly what information it collects and where it is shared. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the changes aren’t a response to the recent events or the changes to EU data protection, reported The Hollywood Reporter. 

Murdoch offers Sky News as sweeter for acquisition 
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has offered to sell Sky News to Disney to counter the regulatory concerns over its proposed acquisition of Sky. Fox plans to buy the 61% of Sky it doesn’t currently own. According to the BBC, the Competition and Markets Authority found the £11.7 billion deal to not be in the public interest. 

Apple to use own chips by 2020
Apple has announced it is in the early stages of developing its own chips replacing Intel. According to Bloomberg, Apple using its own chips would enable the integration of new hardware and software but would impact Intel’s annual revenue by approximately 5%. 

Apple hires AI expert to improve Siri
Apple wants to bolster the reputation of its voice assistant, Siri, by hiring Google’s former artificial intelligence (AI) Chief John Giannandrea, reported the BBC. According to analysts Siri has fallen behind its competitors including Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. The appointment comes at the same time the company is looking to expand and develop Siri to become more personal and smarter. 

Nippon TV employs Android news anchor 
Erica Aoi is the first Android employee hired by Nippon Television Network Corporation, Japan’s leading commercial broadcaster. Aoi was created with the goal of a functioning robot which can live with humans, making her first appearance on the daily show PON!, reported Broadcasting Cable.