Adobe Systems’ Flash service — which had long faced criticism for its cumbersome user experience and vulnerability to hacking — is finally set to fade into history.

At the end of 2020, the company will stop updating and distributing the online tool, a separate plug-in that improves graphically intensive activities for Web surfers like video and playing games, Adobe said in a blog post.

Once a key tool for accessing dynamic Internet content, Flash has come under growing scrutiny with many of its functions now folded into Web browsers through new open standards — eliminating the need to download the program separately.

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Apple’s Steve Jobs criticized the software in a 2010 open letter about its technical drawbacks, and in 2015, Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, called for its demise.

Earnings

PayPal raises

its forecast

PayPal Holdings’ strategy of turning one-time rivals into allies is paying off, leading the company to raise its forecast for full-year earnings.

Second-quarter earnings also beat analysts’ average estimate, validating the rationale for new agreements with Apple and JPMorgan Chase. PayPal CEO Dan Schulman is forging partnerships to increase the number of places shoppers can transact through the San Jose company, including a push into physical stores, not just websites. The company announced new deals Wednesday with Baidu in China and Bank of America.

Manufacturing

Foxconn plans

Wisconsin site

President Trump said Wednesday that Electronics giant Foxconn — possibly best known for assembling iPhones in China — will build a $10 billion factory in Wisconsin that’s expected to create 3,000 jobs.

The factory will produce LCD panels that are used in televisions and computer screens, according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the announcement.

Litigation

BetterWorks

CEO to quit

BetterWorks Systems Chief Executive Officer Kris Duggan is stepping down as head of the startup he founded following a lawsuit alleging he sexually harassed and physically assaulted a former employee.

Duggan will serve as interim CEO until the board of directors finds his replacement, the company said Wednesday. After that, he’ll become president. Board member Shona Brown will serve in the newly created position of executive chair.

Chronicle News Services