Sunday, January 1, 2023

What 2023 may bring for crypto regulation in the US and around the world, as bankruptcies stretch into the new year, attracting lawmakers and criminal probes (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
What 2023 may bring for crypto regulation in the US and around the world, as bankruptcies stretch into the new year, attracting lawmakers and criminal probes  —  CoinDesk's policy team predicts the issues and topics that may take center stage over the next 12 months.



Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai welcome New Year with message for peace, health

Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other tech honchos welcomed New Year with a message for peace and health for humanity, as Covid-19 infection cases surge again in several countries, especially in China. https://ift.tt/OS1VfRu

A profile of Matrix, an open-source, decentralized protocol for messaging interoperability that saw its network's users double in 2022 to at least 80.3M (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
A profile of Matrix, an open-source, decentralized protocol for messaging interoperability that saw its network's users double in 2022 to at least 80.3M  —  After years of walled gardens, cross-pollination could be in sight  —  Interoperability and decentralization have been major themes in tech this year …



A look at the use of AI to design and test games, such as to tune difficulty, find world geometry flaws, and sniff out situations that make it impossible to win (Matthew Smith/Wired)

Matthew Smith / Wired:
A look at the use of AI to design and test games, such as to tune difficulty, find world geometry flaws, and sniff out situations that make it impossible to win  —  The next generation of video game characters could be powered by AI, making them more engaging and challenging.



Hands-on with Pixel 7 Pro's Real Tone, which claims to render skin tones more accurately in photos, compared with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max (Chris Velazco/Washington Post)

Chris Velazco / Washington Post:
Hands-on with Pixel 7 Pro's Real Tone, which claims to render skin tones more accurately in photos, compared with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max  —  Google is trying to make its phone cameras more inclusive.  We put it to the test against its rivals.



A look at the impact of the funding crunch on India's tech startups, which raised $24.7B from January to November 2022, down 35% YoY, per data provider Tracxn (Chloe Cornish/Financial Times)

Chloe Cornish / Financial Times:
A look at the impact of the funding crunch on India's tech startups, which raised $24.7B from January to November 2022, down 35% YoY, per data provider Tracxn  —  Funding crunch has triggered mass job cuts of up to 25,000 at country's once-thriving tech companies



Saturday, December 31, 2022

A look at ABBA Voyage, the hit London concert performed by 3D digital avatars of the band created from motion capture, as its producers plan a global expansion (Jenni Reid/CNBC)

Jenni Reid / CNBC:
A look at ABBA Voyage, the hit London concert performed by 3D digital avatars of the band created from motion capture, as its producers plan a global expansion  —  - ABBA Voyage, which sees digital avatars of the four-piece Swedish band ‘perform’ a 90-minute concert created from motion capture …



Leaked screener copies of big movies tend to surface at year's end, but didn't in 2022, probably due to more security, streaming, and shorter release windows (Ernesto Van der Sar/TorrentFreak)

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
Leaked screener copies of big movies tend to surface at year's end, but didn't in 2022, probably due to more security, streaming, and shorter release windows  —  Screeners are advance copies of recent movies that are generally sent out to critics and awards voters for review.



A look at 2022's worst breaches, leaks, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored hacking campaigns, and digital takeovers, including at least two Twilio breaches (Lily Hay Newman/Wired)

Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
A look at 2022's worst breaches, leaks, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored hacking campaigns, and digital takeovers, including at least two Twilio breaches  —  The year was marked by sinister new twists on cybersecurity classics, including phishing, breaches, and ransomware attacks.



Meta buys Netherlands-based Luxexcel, which uses 3D printing to make prescription lenses for smart glasses; Meta reportedly worked with Luxexcel on Project Aria (Amanda Silberling/TechCrunch)

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Meta buys Netherlands-based Luxexcel, which uses 3D printing to make prescription lenses for smart glasses; Meta reportedly worked with Luxexcel on Project Aria  —  As Meta faces antitrust scrutiny over its acquisition of VR fitness developers Within, the tech giant is making another acquisition.



Report: AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and others are slashing their orders with TSMC, with the contract manufacturer's Q1 2023 sales projected to decrease by 15% QoQ (Anton Shilov/Tom's Hardware)

Anton Shilov / Tom's Hardware:
Report: AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and others are slashing their orders with TSMC, with the contract manufacturer's Q1 2023 sales projected to decrease by 15% QoQ  —  Large customers revise orders to TSMC due to the economy slowdown.  —  Being the world's No. 1 foundry, TSMC was almost immune …



Sources: Meta is still working on a wrist wearable device, wants to move its hardware manufacturing out of China, but is struggling to find necessary suppliers (Washington Post)

Washington Post:
Sources: Meta is still working on a wrist wearable device, wants to move its hardware manufacturing out of China, but is struggling to find necessary suppliers  —  The company needs China's factories as it pushes to become a hardware producer  —  SAN FRANCISCO — For more than a year …



Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide (New York Times)

New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...