Saturday, May 13, 2023

A look at Forever Voices, which launched GPT-4-powered chatbot CarynAI, letting the fans of influencer Caryn Marjorie chat with her replica for $1 per minute (Taylor Lorenz/Washington Post)

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
A look at Forever Voices, which launched GPT-4-powered chatbot CarynAI, letting the fans of influencer Caryn Marjorie chat with her replica for $1 per minute  —  CarynAI is the first AI companion product from a new startup called Forever Voices, allowing users to chat with a digital version of the fastest growing Snapchat star



Ahead of Sunday's presidential election in Turkey, Twitter restricts some content "in response to legal process and to ensure Twitter remains available" (Matt Novak/Forbes)

Matt Novak / Forbes:
Ahead of Sunday's presidential election in Turkey, Twitter restricts some content “in response to legal process and to ensure Twitter remains available”  —  Twitter announced on Friday that it's blocking some content in Turkey ahead of Sunday's presidential election in the country.



Indian streaming service JioCinema adds a Premium subscription plan, offering content from HBO and more for ₹999 per year (Livemint)

Livemint:
Indian streaming service JioCinema adds a Premium subscription plan, offering content from HBO and more for ₹999 per year  —  JioCinema has introduced a new Premium subscription plan, providing its users with access to a broader range of content.  The streaming platform gained …



OpenAI says it is rolling out web browsing and 70+ third-party plugins in beta to all ChatGPT Plus users over the next week (Kristi Hines/Search Engine Journal)

Kristi Hines / Search Engine Journal:
OpenAI says it is rolling out web browsing and 70+ third-party plugins in beta to all ChatGPT Plus users over the next week  —  Uncover new possibilities with ChatGPT web browsing and plugins beta features.  Available to ChatGPT Plus users who opt-in for experimental features.



Doc: India launched a probe into Google after a complaint from Match Group and Indian startups that Google's new User Choice Billing system is anti-competitive (Aditya Kalra/Reuters)

Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
Doc: India launched a probe into Google after a complaint from Match Group and Indian startups that Google's new User Choice Billing system is anti-competitive  —  India's competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into Google after some companies alleged the service fee the U.S. firm charges …



Numerator: Amazon has a 3% US grocery market share including branded stores and Whole Foods; UBS: physical stores accounted for ~90% of US grocery sales in 2022 (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Numerator: Amazon has a 3% US grocery market share including branded stores and Whole Foods; UBS: physical stores accounted for ~90% of US grocery sales in 2022  —  Amazon is still barely scratching the surface of the grocery market despite years of efforts.



Netflix has become an avatar for the striking writers' complaints, as the streaming era eroded working conditions, stagnated wages, and disrupted residual pay (New York Times)

New York Times:
Netflix has become an avatar for the striking writers' complaints, as the streaming era eroded working conditions, stagnated wages, and disrupted residual pay  —  Fear of protests prompted the streaming giant to shift an anticipated presentation for advertisers to a virtual event and a top executive to skip an honorary gala.



Google Search changes could significantly decrease publishers' traffic and affiliate revenue, but the Perspectives section may highlight individual journalists (Laura Hazard Owen/Nieman Lab)

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Google Search changes could significantly decrease publishers' traffic and affiliate revenue, but the Perspectives section may highlight individual journalists  —  A shift to AI-generated search results will decrease the traffic that Google sends to publishers' sites, as more people …



Friday, May 12, 2023

How to install Android 14 beta on Nothing Phone (1)

After Google's Pixel phones, Nothing's first phone, the Phone (1), is getting support for the Android 14 beta program. Here’s how you can install Android 14 beta on your Nothing Phone (1). The Android 14 build is currently in the early stages of development and may be missing certain features or may not work properly. Updating to the Android 14 beta will format the phone's storage, erasing all the data. It is advised that you back up all your data beforehand. https://ift.tt/hX4C2wV

A cheque signed by Steve Jobs fetched over $100k at an auction

An Apple Computer Company cheque signed by Steve Jobs was sold for $106,985 via an auction organised by RR Auction. The auctioned cheque was signed and filled by Steve Jobs in 1976. The check was made for Crampton, Remke, & Miller, INC, which is a consulting firm that offers services to tech companies in Northern California. https://ift.tt/SKIZV8p

Toyota says the vehicle data of 2.15M users in Japan, or almost all of its cloud service customers, has been public since November 2013 due to a human error (Reuters)

Reuters:
Toyota says the vehicle data of 2.15M users in Japan, or almost all of its cloud service customers, has been public since November 2013 due to a human error  —  Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Friday the vehicle data of 2.15 million users in Japan, or almost the entire customer base …



Asus launches its first handheld gaming PC, ROG Ally

After teasing it for weeks now, Asus has launched its first-ever handheld gaming PC, the ROG Ally. The handheld gaming PC comes with AMD’s new Ryzen Z1 series processors, featuring a 120Hz 7-inch 1080P display, and Windows 11. Here’s everything you need to know about the Asus ROG Ally. https://ift.tt/RUkPywZ

The UK extradites Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch to the US to face fraud charges over HP's $11B acquisition of the software company in 2011 (Reuters)

Reuters:
The UK extradites Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch to the US to face fraud charges over HP's $11B acquisition of the software company in 2011  —  Mike Lynch, co-founder of UK software firm Autonomy, has been extradited to the United States to face criminal charges in a near decade-long legal battle …



Oppo closes its chip design unit Zeku due to global economic uncertainty; Zeku developed the MariSilicon X image-processing chip used in Oppo's flagship devices (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Oppo closes its chip design unit Zeku due to global economic uncertainty; Zeku developed the MariSilicon X image-processing chip used in Oppo's flagship devices  —  Oppo, China's biggest domestic smartphone maker, is closing its chip design business as the global smartphone market extends a prolonged decline.



Thursday, May 11, 2023

Disney+ lost four million subscribers ahead of third round of layoffs

Earlier this year, in February, Disney made an announcement that it would lay off 7,000 employees as part of a larger reorganization and cost-saving effort. The entertainment conglomerate recently initiated its second round of layoffs, which will reportedly result in a total reduction of 4,000 jobs. Now the company is gearing up for the third round of layoffs. However, ahead of the job cuts the online streaming service Disney+ lost about four million subscribers in the second quarter which ended on April 1. https://ift.tt/eOykc1j

Sources: amid the Iran war, Asian bankers say rising power prices and energy security are becoming a bigger consideration in data center financing decisions (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg : Sources: amid the Iran war, Asian bankers say rising power prices and energy security are becoming a bigger consideration in ...