Friday, May 26, 2023

Nothing Phone (2) to launch in July: 2 specs the company has confirmed about the upcoming phone

Nothing is set to launch its new premium smartphone, Nothing Phone (2) in July, that will be equipped with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset for better optimisation and a 4700mAh battery. The upcoming smartphone is placed above the mid-range, Nothing Phone (1) which was released in 2022 and has a Snapdragon 778G+ chipset with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. https://ift.tt/6VmGaKi

Google lists three ways generative AI can make search better and more interactive

Google is expanding access to Search Labs, a new program providing access to experimental search features, to a waitlist of users. Three generative AI features have been listed, comprising improved understanding of complicated topics, quick tips for specific queries, and an enhanced shopping experience. Search has been designed to break down complex topics into more digestible parts, generate top-level pointers for key information and provide a range of options to explore. The features represent Google's initial foray into applying generative AI to Search. https://ift.tt/yQSRxFw

Krafton announce Road To Valor: Empires Open Championship: Details inside

The South Korean video game developer Krafton has announced the first Road To Valor: Empires Open Championship with a total prize pool of Rs 10 lakhs. The company claims that strategy gaming in India has witnessed a surge and this tournament aims to provide a platform for players to refine their skills and make a mark in the world of Esports. https://ift.tt/2urAoqv

Sources: the record $279M whistleblower award issued by the SEC earlier this month stemmed from a 2019 bribery case in which Ericsson paid a $1.1B settlement (Mengqi Sun/Wall Street Journal)

Mengqi Sun / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: the record $279M whistleblower award issued by the SEC earlier this month stemmed from a 2019 bribery case in which Ericsson paid a $1.1B settlement  —  The largest-ever award in the SEC's cash-for-tips program was related to Ericsson's bribery case



Russia-linked malware can cause electric power disruption in multiple countries: Report

Cybersecurity company Mandiant said that it identified novel operational technology (OT) / industrial control system (ICS)-oriented malware, which it tracks as COSMICENERGY. It said that the malware was uploaded to a public malware scanning utility in December 2021 by a submitter in Russia. The malware can cause electric power disruption by interacting with devices such as RTUs. https://ift.tt/n5DmFiH

The UK CMA says Meta has offered to limit use of other businesses' ad data for Facebook Marketplace to address the regulator's competition concerns (Reuters)

Reuters:
The UK CMA says Meta has offered to limit use of other businesses' ad data for Facebook Marketplace to address the regulator's competition concerns  —  UK's competition watchdog on Friday said social media giant Meta Platforms Inc had offered to limit the use of other businesses' advertising data in order to address its concerns.



Thursday, May 25, 2023

Interviews with 30+ sources detail issues at billionaire Tom Siebel's AI startup C3.ai, leading to product delays; the company is on its third name since 2009 (Brody Ford/Bloomberg)

Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Interviews with 30+ sources detail issues at billionaire Tom Siebel's AI startup C3.ai, leading to product delays; the company is on its third name since 2009  —  The AI hype cycle has birthed innumerable boosters.  An unlikely member of this group is Silicon Valley billionaire Tom Siebel.



Xiaomi Civi 3 with dual 32MP front cameras launched in China: All the details

Xiaomi has announced a new smartphone in the Civi series, the Civi 3. The smartphone focuses highly on the cameras, featuring a 32MP dual camera setup on the front and a 50MP led camera setup on the back. Here’s everything you need to know about the Xiaomi Civi 3. The Xiaomi Civi 3 starts at 2,499 yuan (around Rs 29,200). https://ift.tt/iOUZdGB

Pegasus was used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict to target a government worker, a UN official, and others in 2021 and 2022, the first known use in a war (Access Now)

Access Now:
Pegasus was used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict to target a government worker, a UN official, and others in 2021 and 2022, the first known use in a war  —  The Armenia spyware victims include a former Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia (the Ombudsperson) …



Google DeepMind shows how its visual language model Flamingo is generating descriptions for YouTube Shorts based on metadata, helping improve discoverability (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google DeepMind shows how its visual language model Flamingo is generating descriptions for YouTube Shorts based on metadata, helping improve discoverability  —  Google just combined DeepMind and Google Brain into one big AI team, and on Wednesday, the new Google DeepMind shared details …



You may soon be able to set a unique username on WhatsApp

WhatsApp has been working on numerous useful features which promise to enhance the user experience. Now a new report has surfaced online suggesting that WhatsApp is working on other interesting features. The Meta-owned platform will soon enable users to add a unique username to their WhatsApp account. https://ift.tt/pUorV0W

Vivo S17, Vivo S17 Pro confirmed to launch in China on May 31

Vivo is to expand its product portfolio in the Chinese market. The company has announced the launch dates of the Vivo S17 and Vivo S17 Pro models. The series succeeds the Vivo S16 series launched in China in December 2022. Recently, Vivo introduced the Vivo S17e in its home market. The Chinese smartphone maker has scheduled the launch date of the Vivo S17 series in China on May 31. https://ift.tt/EHGNwpP

A look at AI-generated podcasts, like "The Joe Rogan AI Experience" and "Myself, I Am and That", created using AI voice tools from ElevenLabs and other startups (Kate Knibbs/Wired)

Kate Knibbs / Wired:
A look at AI-generated podcasts, like “The Joe Rogan AI Experience” and “Myself, I Am and That”, created using AI voice tools from ElevenLabs and other startups  —  Inside the strange world of podcasts made by artificial intelligence, where even creators aren't sure who wants to hear robot chit-chat.



Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Oppo Reno 10 series announced in China: All the details

Oppo has announced the Reno 10 series in China, including three models – Reno 10, Reno 10 Pro, and Reno 10 Pro+. The Reno 10 Pro models bring back the periscope camera after the Reno 10x Zoom. Here’s everything you need to know about Oppo’s Reno 10 series. https://ift.tt/Z7t8o2I

Arizona's Maricopa County is set to have the second largest concentration of US data centers by 2028, as the state races to increase electricity production (Pranshu Verma/Washington Post)

Pranshu Verma / Washington Post : Arizona's Maricopa County is set to have the second largest concentration of US data centers by 202...