ICT news

• Nvidia Is Still Making Billions In Q4 2023 Despite a Giant Drop In PC Demand

  23-02-2023 23:50 via slashdot.org
  
  In its fourth quarter and full-year earnings report yesterday, Nvidia reported $6.05 billion in revenue for Q4 of its fiscal 2023 and $26.92 billion for the full year. That's "almost identical to last year, though profit was down 55 percent," notes The Verge."Remember: in 2021, $5 billion in revenue a quarter was a new Nvidia record. Now it's the status quo: the company says it's expecting to see $6.5 billion next quarter, too." From the report: Nvidia's data center and automotive businesses wer
  
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• EU Officials Ban TikTok From Employees' Phones

  23-02-2023 23:10 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Staff working at the European Commission have been ordered to remove the TikTok app from their phones and corporate devices. The BBC reports: The commission said it was implementing the measure to "protect data and increase cybersecurity." EU spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova said the corporate management board of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, had made the decision for security reasons. "The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may
  
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• FDA Rules Soy and Nut Milks Can Still Be Called 'Milk'

  23-02-2023 22:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Back in the simpler times of 2018 -- before the US Food and Drug Administration had to grapple with emergency authorizations in a deadly pandemic, before it scrambled to address a scandalous baby formula shortage, and before it largely bungled oversight of vaping products -- the regulator dove into a sour struggle over dairy labeling. [...] With the issue simmering in 2018, the FDA stepped in to extract some truths and skim the fat. In a par
  
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• Google's Bringing Magic Eraser To All Google One Subscribers - Including iPhone Users

  23-02-2023 21:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google has announced that the Magic Eraser feature, which tried to automatically remove unwanted parts of a picture and debuted with the Pixel 6, will no longer be exclusive to phones with its custom chips. From a report: Starting on Thursday, it's going to be rolling out to Google One subscribers who use the Google Photos app on Android or iOS as well as "all Pixel users." Magic Eraser, as well as the "Camouflage" function that lets you desaturate potentially distracting background objects rath
  
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• EU Eyes Big Tech as it Seeks Feedback on Who Should Pay Network Costs

  23-02-2023 21:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The European Commission on Thursday launched a consultation on the future of Europe's telecoms sector, starting a process that could lead to requiring Alphabet's Google, Apple, Meta and Netflix to pay some network costs. From a report: For more than two decades Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, Telecom Italia and other operators have lobbied for leading technology companies to contribute to 5G and broadband roll-out. They argue companies including Amazon and Microsoft account for more than h
  
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• Alibaba Reduced Workforce by 19,000 in Covid-Challenged 2022

  23-02-2023 20:20 via slashdot.org
  
  Alibaba reduced its workforce by about 19,000 employees last year as it adapted to a global economic chill and shifted focus to cost efficiency. From a report: The Hangzhou-based online retailer let go of more than 4,000 workers in the final quarter of the year, according to data in its earnings report Thursday. The largest reductions this year came in the summer when it reported its first ever contraction in revenue. The company's growth has been stunted by global macroeconomic factors and Chin
  
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• Linux Foundation Europe Launches OpenWallet Foundation To Power Interoperable Digital Wallets

  23-02-2023 19:40 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  The Linux Foundation's European off-shoot has formally launched the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF), a new collaborative effort designed to support interoperability between digital wallets through open source software. From a report: The launch comes some five months after the Linux Foundation first revealed plans to set up the OWF, shortly before it spun out a region-specific entity called the Linux Foundation Europe which is where the OWF will now officially reside. While the likes of PayPal, Goog
  
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• Data Privacy Labels for Most Top Apps in Google Play Store are False or Misleading, Mozilla Study Finds

  23-02-2023 19:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Mozilla researchers find discrepancies between Google Play Store's Data Safety labels and privacy policies of nearly 80 percent of the reviewed apps. From the report: Google Play Store's Data Safety labels would have you believe that neither TikTok nor Twitter share your personal data with third parties. The apps' privacy policies, however, both explicitly state that they share user information with advertisers, Internet service providers, platforms, and numerous other types of companies. These
  
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• Google, Complying With Regulatory Order, Supports Third-Party Billing in India

  23-02-2023 18:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google has started to support a third-party billing system for Google Play Store purchases in India as the Android-maker begins complying with the local regulatory directions in the key overseas market. From a report: Google said in a support page Thursday that it is offering "all developers" serving users in India the option to use an alternative billing system and outlined the steps developers need to follow to avail the option. The change is in "response to recent regulatory developments" in
  
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• VMware Releases Security Updates for Carbon Black App Control

  23-02-2023 17:51 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: February 23, 2023
  VMware has released security updates to address a vulnerability in Carbon Black App Control. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system. For updates addressing lower severity vulnerabilities, see the VMware Security Advisories page.CISA encourages users and administrators to review VMware Security Advisory VMSA-2023-0004and apply the necessary updates. This product is provided subject to this Notification and
  
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• Microsoft Bing AI Ends Chat When Prompted About 'Feelings'

  23-02-2023 17:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft appeared to have implemented new, more severe restrictions on user interactions with its "reimagined" Bing internet search engine, with the system going mum after prompts mentioning "feelings" or "Sydney," the internal alias used by the Bing team in developing the artificial-intelligence powered chatbot. From a report: "Thanks for being so cheerful!" this reporter wrote in a message to the chatbot, which Microsoft has opened for testing on a limited basis. "I'm glad I can talk to a sea
  
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• Chip Makers Turn Cutthroat in Fight for Share of Federal Money

  23-02-2023 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Semiconductor companies, which united to get the CHIPS Act approved, have set off a lobbying frenzy as they argue for more cash than their competitors. From a report: In early January, a New York public relations firm sent an email warning about what it characterized as a threat to the federal government's program to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry. The message, received by The New York Times, accused Intel, the Silicon Valley chip titan, of angling to win subsidies under the CHIPS an
  
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• Samsung Readying Its Own Smartphone-to-Satellite Communication Platform

  23-02-2023 16:21 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: There was speculation that Samsung could use smartphone-to-satellite technology in its Galaxy S23 much like Apple has for the iPhone 14, but that didn't happen in the end. Now, the company has unveiled a new standardized 5G NTN (non-terrestrial network) modem that will enable two-way communication between smartphones and satellites. The technology will allow users to send and receive calls, text messages and data without the need for a cellular network, and w
  
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• Coinbase Launches Blockchain Base To Help Developers Build dApps On-chain

  23-02-2023 15:40 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Coinbase, the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has launched Base, an Ethereum-focused layer-2 (L2) blockchain, said Jesse Pollak, lead for Base and head of protocols at Coinbase. From a report: In the past, Coinbase has homed in on the trading and exchange side of its business, but from the utility perspective, it's still too hard for developers to build useful decentralized applications (dApps) and for users to actually use those things on-chain, Pollak said. In an effort to ex
  
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• Netflix Cuts Subscription Prices in Over 30 Countries

  23-02-2023 14:17 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Netflix has reduced the cost of its service in more than three dozen countries in recent weeks, as it tries to appeal to customers around the world who have an ever-growing list of streaming options. From a report: The streaming company's recent price cuts span Middle Eastern countries including Yemen, Jordan, Libya and Iran; sub-Saharan African markets including Kenya; and European countries such as Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. In Latin America, nations including Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Vene
  
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• Vast Acquires Launcher In Quest To Build Artificial Gravity Space Stations

  23-02-2023 14:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Vast Space, a company that emerged from stealth last September with the aim of building artificial gravity space stations in low Earth orbit, has acquired space tug startup Launcher, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The acquisition, a first for Vast, will give the company access to Launcher's Orbiter space tug and payload platform and its liquid rocket engine, E-2. Under the terms of the deal, Vast will also absorb all of Launcher's talent,
  
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• Custom, 3D-Printed Heart Replicas Look and Pump Just Like the Real Thing

  23-02-2023 11:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  MIT engineers are hoping to help doctors tailor treatments to patients' specific heart form and function, with a custom robotic heart. MIT News reports: The team has developed a procedure to 3D print a soft and flexible replica of a patient's heart. They can then control the replica's action to mimic that patient's blood-pumping ability. The procedure involves first converting medical images of a patient's heart into a three-dimensional computer model, which the researchers can then 3D print usi
  
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• Researchers Discover Why Zebras Have Stripes

  23-02-2023 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  According to research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, zebra fur is thinly striped and sharply outlined to thwart horsefly attacks. "These characteristics specifically eliminate the outline of large monochrome dark patches that are attractive to horseflies at close distances," adds Phys.Org. "The team theorizes that the thin back stripes serve to minimize the size of local features on a zebra that are appealing to the biting flies." From the report: The team found that tabanid h
  
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• Nearly 30 Percent of Work Remains Remote

  23-02-2023 04:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Nearly 30 percent of all work happened at home in January, six times the rate in 2019, according to WFH Research, a data-collection project. In Washington and other large urban centers, the share of remote work is closer to half. The Hill reports: The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the American workplace. The share of all work performed at home rose from 4.7 percent in January 2019 to 61 percent in May 2020. Some economists consider the remote-work boom the greatest change to the labor market sin
  
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• Amazon Closes $3.9 Billion Deal To Acquire One Medical

  23-02-2023 03:02 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Amazon on Wednesday said it had closed its $3.9 billion deal for primary care provider One Medical. Amazon agreed last July to acquire One Medical to deepen its presence in health care, and "dramatically improve" the experience of getting medical care. Amazon has long had ambitions to expand into health care, buying online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 for $750 million, then launching its own virtual clinic for chronic conditions, and prescription perks
  
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• AI-Created Images Lose US Copyrights In Test For New Technology

  23-02-2023 02:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Images in a graphic novel that were created using the artificial-intelligence system Midjourney should not have been granted copyright protection, the U.S. Copyright Office said in a letter seen by Reuters. From the report: "Zarya of the Dawn" author Kristina Kashtanova is entitled to a copyright for the parts of the book she wrote and arranged, but not for images she made using Midjourney, the office said in its letter, dated Tuesday. The decision is one of the first by a U.S. court or agency o
  
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• Instagram Co-Founders Launch Personalized News App 'Artifact'

  23-02-2023 02:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Artifact, the personalized news reader built by Instagram's co-founders, is now open to the public, no sign-up required. TechCrunch reports: With today's launch, Artifact is dropping its waitlist and phone number requirements, introducing the app's first social feature and adding feedback controls to better personalize the news reading experience, among other changes. [...] With today's launch, Artifact will now give users more visibility into their news reading habits with a newly added stats f
  
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• Supreme Court Rejects Ohio Man's Bid To Sue Police Over Arrest of Facebook Parody

  23-02-2023 01:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away an Ohio man's claim that his constitutional rights were violated when he was arrested and prosecuted for making satirical posts about his local police department on Facebook. The justices' rejection of Anthony Novak's appeal means his civil rights lawsuit against the Parma Police Department cannot move forward. With its decision, the court again declined to consider revisiting "qualified immunity," the co
  
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• Titanic Mass Grave Site To Be Pillaged For NFTs

  23-02-2023 01:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  RMS Titanic Inc (RMST), which has been collecting artifacts associated with the ship since the 1980s, has hooked up with NFT flinger Artifact Labs and Venture Smart Financial Holdings to "bring the RMS Titanic and its physical artifacts into Web3." The Register reports: Aiming to "place the legacy of the Titanic in the hands of the global public," at least those dumb enough to dabble in NFTs, the name of the game is to preserve "assets from the ocean liner as immutable NFTs" and allow "inclusive
  
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• Apple Is Reportedly Closer To Bringing No-Prick Glucose Monitoring To the Watch

  23-02-2023 00:20 via science.slashdot.org
  
  According to Bloomberg, Apple's quest to bring blood glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch is now at a "proof-of-concept stage." The last remaining hurdle is for it to be made smaller. Engadget reports: The technology, which uses lasers to gauge glucose concentration under the skin, was previously tabletop sized but has reportedly advanced to the point where an iPhone-sized wearable prototype is in the works. The system would not only help people with diabetes monitor their conditions, but would
  
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