ICT news

• Amazon and Google Make Peace Over Smart TV Competition

  27-10-2022 23:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Last week, the Competition Commission of India published a damning report, alleging that Google was preventing major TV manufacturers from adopting Amazon's Fire TV operating system. This Thursday, Amazon announced that TCL, one of the manufacturers at the center of the dispute, is releasing two TV sets running its Fire TV software in Europe this fall. The unveiling of the two TV models is the direct result of a deal Google and Amazon struck in recent months,
  
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• Google Filing Says EU's Antitrust Division is Investigating Play Store Practices

  27-10-2022 22:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  A Google regulatory filing appears to have confirmed rumors in recent months that the European Union's competition division is looking into how it operates its smartphone app store, the Play Store. From a report: However TechCrunch understands that no formal EU investigation into the Play Store has been opened at this stage. The SEC Form 10-Q, filed by Google's parent Alphabet, does make mention of "formal" investigations being opened into Google Play's "business practices" back in May 2022 -- b
  
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• Smartphone Storage Space Is the New Turf War for Game Makers

  27-10-2022 22:01 via hardware.slashdot.org
  From Tokyo to San Francisco, mobile game studios have sparred for years to captivate a fickle audience, fostering an overlooked problem -- the average title has become so huge that players can no longer fit more than a few on their phones. From a report: Japanese games publisher Gree expects an impending reckoning over escalating costs and ballooning file sizes, as developers pack their games with increasingly intricate graphics, voice acting and larger storylines, all to get players spending. T
  
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• 'Old/Weird Laptops' Sought To Help Test Linux Kernel Backlight Drivers

  27-10-2022 21:22 via linux.slashdot.org
  Do you have a laptop that's either "pretty old" or "weird in some other way"? Did it ship without Windows from the factory, or did you flash its firmware with coreboot? You could help the Linux kernel move its backlight code forward without abandoning quirky gear like yours. ArsTechnica: Hans de Goede, a longtime Linux developer and principal engineer at Red Hat, writes on his Livejournal about the need to test "a special group of laptops" to prevent their backlight controls from disappearing in
  
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• Google Acquires Twitter-backed AI Avatar Startup for $100 Million

  27-10-2022 20:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  TechCrunch: Google has acquired Alter, an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar startup that helps creators and brands express their virtual identity, for about $100 million, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, in a push to boost its content game and better compete with TikTok.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Europe Now Has So Much Natural Gas That Prices Just Dipped Below Zero

  27-10-2022 20:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Europe has more natural gas than it knows what to do with. So much, in fact, that spot prices briefly went negative earlier this week. From a report: For months, officials have warned of an energy crisis this winter as Russia -- once the region's biggest supplier of natural gas -- slashed supplies in retaliation for sanctions Europe imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. Now, EU gas storage facilities are close to full, tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) are lining up at ports, unable t
  
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• Spotify Pulls Audiobook Purchases From iOS App After Apple Blocks Updates

  27-10-2022 19:21 via apple.slashdot.org
  An update for Spotify's iOS app released Thursday had a big change for its audiobooks vertical -- and not for the better. The app no longer indicates how you can buy any of the audiobooks in its store, posing a major roadblock for its new business. Now when you go to make a purchase, the app displays a mostly empty screen saying, "Want to listen? You can't buy audiobooks in the app. We know, it's not ideal." There's no indication of where you might be able to buy the book. From a report: The upd
  
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• Surface Duo Continues Its Worst-in-Class Update Record, Ships Android 12L

  27-10-2022 18:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft is still struggling to learn what exactly it takes to be a successful Android manufactuer. The company's first self-branded Android phones, the dual-screened Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2, have tried to resurrect Microsoft's mobile ambitions after the death of Windows Phone. They leave a lot to be desired, though, and the first version went through some embarrassing fire sales. An ongoing knock against the devices has also been Microsoft's very slow
  
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• UN Warns Key Warming Threshold Slipping From Sight

  27-10-2022 18:01 via news.slashdot.org
  There is "no credible pathway" to keep the rise in global temperatures below the key threshold of 1.5C, according to a bleak new UN assessment. From a report: Scientists believe that going beyond 1.5C would see dangerous impacts for people all over the world. The report says that since COP26 last year, governments carbon cutting plans have been "woefully inadequate." Only an urgent transformation of society will avoid disaster, the study says. There's just over a week until the next major climat
  
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• Apple Pauses App Store Gambling Ads After Developer Outcry

  27-10-2022 17:22 via apple.slashdot.org
  Apple has "paused ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages" after developers and commentators criticized the types of advertisements showing up in the iPhone's App Store, according to a statement from spokesperson Trevor Kincaid. From a report: On Tuesday, Apple announced that companies could advertise their apps on the store pages for other apps, putting their icon in the "you might also like" section. Almost immediately, developers started showing examples
  
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• Thomson Reuters Collected and Leaked at Least 3TB of Sensitive Data

  27-10-2022 16:42 via it.slashdot.org
  Thomson Reuters, a multinational media conglomerate, left an open database with sensitive customer and corporate data, including third-party server passwords in plaintext format. Attackers could use the details for a supply-chain attack. Cybernews: The Cybernews research team found that Thomson Reuters left at least three of its databases accessible for anyone to look at. One of the open instances, the 3TB public-facing ElasticSearch database, contains a trove of sensitive, up-to-date informatio
  
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• Meta Shares Plunge 24% To the Lowest Price Since 2016

  27-10-2022 16:01 via slashdot.org
  Shares of Meta plunged 24% Thursday morning as investors and analysts digested the company's third-quarter earnings miss and a weak fourth-quarter outlook. Shares were trading under $100 at market open, the lowest price since 2016. From a report: The parent company of Facebook reported quarterly revenue of $27.7 billion Wednesday, a decline of more than 4% year over year and its second straight quarterly decline. Its profit plummeted 52% to $4.4 billion. Meta warned the fourth quarter would be m
  
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• Scientists Discover Material That Can Be Made Like a Plastic But Conducts Like a Metal

  27-10-2022 15:00 via science.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Scientists with the University of Chicago have discovered a way to create a material that can be made like a plastic, but conducts electricity more like a metal. The research, published Oct. 26 in Nature, shows how to make a kind of material in which the molecular fragments are jumbled and disordered, but can still conduct electricity extremely well. "In principle, this opens up the design of a whole new class of materials that conduct electrici
  
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• Preview App On macOS Ventura Drops Support For PostScript Files

  27-10-2022 12:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  Starting with macOS Ventura, released this week, the built-in Preview app on Mac no longer supports PostScript (.ps) and Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) files, according to a new Apple support document. MacRumors reports: Preview can still be used to open these files on macOS Monterey and earlier. Apple did not provide a reason for the change. Apple recommends using other third-party Mac apps that can view or convert PostScript files. It also remains possible to print .ps and .eps files by draggi
  
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• Extremophiles On Mars Could Survive For Hundreds of Millions of Years

  27-10-2022 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  One of Earth's toughest microbes could survive on Mars, lying dormant beneath the surface, for 280 million years, new research has shown. The findings increase the probability that microbial life could still exist on the Red Planet. Space.com reports: Deinococcus radiodurans, nicknamed "Conan the Bacterium," is one of the world's toughest microbes, capable of surviving in radiation strong enough to kill any other known life-form. Experiments have now shown that if Conan the Bacterium or a simila
  
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• Low-Code and No-Code Are Making Developers' Jobs Better

  27-10-2022 05:30 via developers.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Low-code and no-code development is often seen as the realm of citizen developers, but the segment of the enterprise where low-code and no-code has gained significant traction is among professional developers themselves. And, importantly, it's making their jobs better in two ways: providing tools for faster software development and deployment, as well as elevating their roles in enterprises to that of teachers and facilitators for potential citizen
  
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• Swarming Bees May Potentially Change the Weather

  27-10-2022 04:02 via news.slashdot.org
  fahrbot-bot shares a report from Live Science: Swarming bees produce so much electricity that they may affect local weather, new research suggests. The finding, which researchers made by measuring the electrical fields around honeybee (apis mellifera) hives, reveals that bees can produce as much atmospheric electricity as a thunderstorm. This can play an important role in steering dust to shape unpredictable weather patterns; and their impact may even need to be included in future climate models
  
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• Meta's Profit Slides by More Than 50 Percent as Challenges Mount

  27-10-2022 03:25 via meta.slashdot.org
  The social networking company, which is trying to shift into the so-called metaverse, posted falling sales and said it was "making significant changes" to operate more efficiently. The New York Times reports: This year, Meta's earnings have been hit hard by its spending on the metaverse and its slowing growth in social networking and digital advertising. In July, the Silicon Valley company posted its first sales decline as a public company. Its stock has plunged more than 60 percent this year. O
  
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• First Bitcoin ETF Loses Record Amount In Its Initial Year

  27-10-2022 02:45 via slashdot.org
  One year after its record-breaking launch, the world's first exchange traded fund tracking the price of bitcoin has lost more of investors' dollars than any other ETF debut. The Financial Times reports: Asset manager ProShares launched its Bitcoin Strategy fund in October 2021, and it immediately became the most successful new ETF in history, amassing more than $1bn in its first week of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Bitcoin enthusiasts proclaimed the launch as the moment when crypto jo
  
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• Google Profits Plummet 27% In Q3

  27-10-2022 02:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google's parent company Alphabet released its Q3 2022 earnings yesterday and "they show a 27 percent drop in profits compared to last year, with weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Revenue was up 6 percent year over year to $69.1 billion, a sharp growth decline from 2021 Q3, which saw 41 percent growth. Profits were at $13.9 billion, down from $18.9 billion in Q3 2021. As usual, Alphabet earnings are mostly about Google ad revenue and click-through
  
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• Samsung Privacy-Protecting Maintenance Mode Is Coming To Galaxy S22s Worldwide

  27-10-2022 01:20 via mobile.slashdot.org
  Samsung is starting to roll out a "Maintenance Mode" feature for its phones that's designed to keep your messages, photos, info, and accounts safe when you're getting your phone repaired. The Verge reports: According to Samsung's press release, Maintenance Mode basically creates a separate user account that will let someone access "core functions" of the phone without being able to see any of your data. That means a repair tech will still be able to test your phone, but you won't have to worry a
  
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• Ford, VW-Backed Argo AI Is Shutting Down

  27-10-2022 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle startup that burst on the scene in 2017 stacked with a $1 billion investment, is shutting down -- its parts being absorbed into its two main backers: Ford and VW, according to people familiar with the matter. TechCrunch reports: During an all-hands meeting Wednesday, Argo AI employees were told that some people would receive offers from the two automakers, according to multiple sources who asked to not be named. It was unclear how many would be hired into Ford or V
  
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• Google Can Now Remove Your Identifying Search Results, If They're the Right Kind

  27-10-2022 00:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google has been pushing out a tool for removing personally identifiable information -- or doxxing content -- from its search results. It's a notable step for a firm that has long resisted individual moderation of search content, outside of broadly harmful or copyright-violating material. But whether it works for you or not depends on many factors. As with almost all Google features and products, you may not immediately have access to Google'
  
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