Weekly news digest for tech fans: Trump's transition on Twitter not that smooth

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‍Dr. Watson to help treat cancer in China

IBM's artificial intelligence platform Watson will in February start to assist doctors at a general hospital in northern China's Tianjin by offering people diagnosed with cancer a tailored treatment, China Daily reports.

IBM showcases Watson at World Internet Conference in China's Wuzhen on November 16, 2016. /CFP Photo

Tianjin Third Central Hospital has invested 3 million yuan (about $434,693 US dollars) to set up the system, which will analyze both patients' records and worldwide medical literature, then create a list of potential treatments ranked according to practicability.

After trawling through "amounts of medical data from our patients, Watson will offer treatments that target Chinese patients' cancer-causing genetic mutations specifically in the future," the hospital's vice president, Wang Fengmei, said.

A free trial diagnosis for 50 patients has been scheduled at the hospital on February 4.

Alibaba sets up alliance against fake goods

Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. announced on Monday the establishment of an anti-counterfeit alliance that will use big data technologies, its latest drive to stamp out fake goods that bothered the company for years, according to Xinhua news agency. Twenty world-class brands, including Louis Vuitton, Shiseido and Huawei, are included in the alliance.

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, speaks at a Singles' Day event in Shenzhen on November 11, 2016. /CFP Photo

Big data technologies are being used to identify suspected fake merchandise sold online, by evaluating unit price and purchase frequency. They then acquire product samples from the storefront and have the brands verify the authenticity.

If the products are confirmed to be fake, Alibaba will provide information to police to locate the sellers.

Trump can tweet as @POTUS now, with a new phone

The "elect" part of Donald Trump's title was finally removed on Friday. His inauguration speech was passionate, and the much-watched ceremony went smoothly.

But things did not go quite as well for Trump's new Twitter account or his phone. As Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted early on Sunday, Trump's transition process on the micro blog service came with some problems, which led about 560,000 people to follow the wrong president.

Tweet posted by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explaining the mistakes on January 22, 2017. /Twitter screenshot

Since Barack Obama is out of office now, his @POTUS account has been changed to @POTUS44 (as he was the 44th US president), while a new @POTUS handle has been created for Trump. But some Obama followers found themselves mistakenly following Trump after the change. User complaints can be seen on Twitter's support account @Support.

The mistake had already been fixed when this article was written.

Just because Trump has an official new Twitter handle, doesn't mean he's getting rid of his private one, however. So both @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS handles are now active on Twitter.‍

US President Donald Trump speaks at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on January 21, 2017. /CFP Photo

There was also trouble related to Trump's preferred means of tweeting. Just like his predecessor, Trump's personal phone - a Samsung Galaxy smartphone - was considered a national security risk by the US Secret Service. The president has since had to switch to a more secure one.

Billion-dollar tech lawsuit: Apple vs. Qualcomm

Qualcomm's booth at an IT event in eastern China's Nanjing on July 3, 2015. /CFP Photo

Apple Inc. filed a US$1 billion lawsuit against its supplier Qualcomm Inc. on Friday, for overcharging and refusing to pay promised rebates. Apple told media that Qualcomm withheld the money "as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them," citing recent charges filed by US Federal Trade Commission against Qualcomm accusing it of attempts to gain monopoly.

Qualcomm sent its response to some tech media like TechCrunch, saying Apple's attack was "baseless," and claiming that Apple was "actively encouraging regulatory attacks" by "misrepresenting facts and withholding information."

Qualcomm is a major supplier to most smartphone makers, namely Apple and Samsung, for "modem" chips to give your phone signal bars. The company is also well known for its Snapdragon chip, which is the core of most flagship Android smartphones.

Last moon walker dies at 82

Former American astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last person to walk on the moon, died on Monday.

A file photo from NASA shows US Astronaut Eugene Cernan walking on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. /Xinhua Photo

Cernan was commander of NASA's Apollo 17 mission and on his third space flight when he set foot on the lunar surface. On December 14, 1972, he became the last of only a dozen men to walk on the moon – and he traced his only child's initials in the dust before climbing the ladder of the lunar module the last time. It was a moment that forever defined him in both the public eye and his own.

Cernan predicted that China would be the next country to send a human to the moon, and he looked forward to exploring the moon with Chinese astronauts, Xinhua news agency reported in December 2013.

China is currently planning a program to send men back to the moon, with no deadlines specified yet.