Tech in Latin America: Update, News & What to Expect

Latin America has seen changes and trends in technology over the past years and it has learned to adapt since then, but exciting developments continue to pile up in the region.

Many heard and got worried about the shutting down of Yahoo in Buenos Aires and Mexico but a lot remained hopeful of the things to come for tech lovers in Latin America.

TNW News noted one of the most anticipated events is the coming of the Sao Paulo Google Campus.

It noted that the Google campus in Brazil has been established in the community of Paraiso and is now the sixth learning institution of the company in various places around the globe. The school will be supervised by entrepreneur Andre Barrence.

According to IT Forum 365, the inauguration of the campus is expected to happen by the middle of February.

In another development, Google Street View has also made rounds in Puerto Rico to improve on the Google Maps searches in the country.

Metro said Google vehicles started capturing images in the Latin American country early in January and integrated the photos into the Google Street View database.

It also mentioned that residents in Puerto Rico will be able to benefit greatly from this development since they can easily and accurately get directions to their destinations.

Along with this, TNW News claimed that tech giant Apple has also added traffic information on its Maps for users in Mexico and Hong Kong to better predict their travel time.

Earlier, Apple confirmed that it will open retail stores in Mexico and Argentina and then head to other countries in South America.

Sopitas revealed that Apple started hiring a team for the Mexico store last month.

Stores in other countries are expected to work closely with the Mexico store, which will be followed by another one in Argentina, MacRumors claimed.

Apple already has two existing stores in Brazil -- one in Sao Paulo and the other in Rio de Janeiro.

Apple Insider detailed that despite the absence of Apple Stores in the region in the past years, it has maintained online sales and various "country-specific" stores.

As for Samsung, TNW News added that it is planning to expand in Brazil, Singapore and Australia to beat the marketing strategies of Apple Pay.

Starbucks, on the other hand, has also started a mobile application in Brazil last January, allowing customers to purchase items using their mobile phones, the company's website said.