ICT news

• The Pixel Watch 2 Adds New Sensors, Longer Battery Life, and Better Accuracy

  04-10-2023 23:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Alongside the Pixel 8 and Android 14, Google today launched the new Pixel Watch 2 -- a $350 second-gen smartwatch featuring a faster processor, overhauled sensor array, and longer battery life. The Verge reports: At a glance, the main difference is that the screen sits flush with the digital crown, where the original had a slight cutout. Another change imperceptible to the naked eye: the body is now made of 100 percent recycled aluminum instead of stainless steel. The result is a slightly lighte
  
  Read more

• UK Universities Take $50 Million in Fossil Fuel Funding Since 2022

  04-10-2023 22:41 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Major fossil fuel companies have committed tens of millions of pounds in funding to UK universities since 2022, it can be revealed, despite many of these institutions having actively pledged to divest from oil and gas. From a report: According to freedom of information requests submitted by the climate journalism site DeSmog, more than $50m in research agreements, tuition fees, scholarships, grants and consultancy fees have been pledged to 44 UK universities by 32 oil, coal and gas companies sin
  
  Read more

• Clorox Security Breach Linked to Group Behind Casino Hacks

  04-10-2023 22:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A notorious group of hackers blamed for recent breaches on major casino companies is also suspected of being behind a recent cyberattack against Clorox that has led to a nationwide shortage of its cleaning products. Bloomberg News: Officials suspect that "Scattered Spider" is responsible for a breach that Clorox first disclosed in August, according to four people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public. The same group, known for its so-cal
  
  Read more

• Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded To 3 Scientists for Exploring the Nanoworld

  04-10-2023 21:20 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov for being pioneers of the nanoworld. The new laureates discovered and developed quantum dots, semiconductors made of particles squeezed so small that their electrons barely have room to breathe. From a report: "For a long time, nobody thought you could ever actually make such small particles," Johan Aqvist, the chair of the Academy's Nobel committee for chemistry, said at the news confe
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Los Angeles is Using AI To Predict Who Might Become Homeless and Help Before They Do

  04-10-2023 20:47 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Los Angeles is housing more people than ever, and building lots more low-income housing, yet it can't keep pace with this ever-rising number of people who end up in cars, tents and shelters. "It's a bucket with a hole in it, so we've got to do something ... to fill that hole," says Dana Vanderford, who helps lead the department's Homelessness Prevention unit. With that goal, the pilot program is using artificial intelligence to predict who's most likely to land on the streets, so the county can
  
  Read more

• Apple Releases iPhone Software Update To Fix Overheating Issue

  04-10-2023 20:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple rolled out a software update Wednesday to address an overheating issue that plagued some early buyers of the iPhone 15 Pro line. From a report: The update, called iOS 17.0.3, is available as an over-the-air fix in the software update section of the iPhone settings app. The release notes say the update "provides important bug fixes, security updates, and addresses an issue that may cause iPhone to run warmer than expected." The update was also released for older iPhones as well as iPads. So
  
  Read more

• Android 14 Officially Releases for Pixel Phones

  04-10-2023 19:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Android 14 is out today, along with a new Pixel phone. The OS is shipping to supported Pixel devices now, which means the Pixel 4a (5G) and every variant of the Pixel 5, 6, and 7, plus the Fold and Tablet. From a report: The big feature this year is a somewhat customizable home screen. You can pick from several different lock screen clock styles and customize the two bottom app shortcuts. This feels like a response to iOS 16's lock screen widgets (a feature Android used to have back in the 4.2 d
  
  Read more

• Google's New Virtual Assistant To Include Bard AI Tools

  04-10-2023 18:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google will soon release a version of its virtual assistant that is powered by the company's Bard artificial intelligence technology, helping users handle more complex tasks. From a report: The new offering, called Assistant with Bard, will be available in a test phase shortly and then roll out to the general public in the coming months, the company said Wednesday. The release will equip the Assistant, which helps users of Android and Google devices complete tasks and find information, with some
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Nintendo Will Take 3DS and Wii U Services Offline in 'Early April 2024'

  04-10-2023 18:01 via games.slashdot.org
  
  After closing its 3DS and Wii U eShops earlier this year, Nintendo will shut down online services for those consoles in "early April 2024," it announced. From a report: That will put a halt to multiplayer features, along with "online co-operative play, internet rankings and data distribution," Nintendo wrote. Nintendo's Badge Arcade that allowed users to decorate their Nintendo 3DS home menu will also disappear. The date isn't fixed in stone yet, and Nintendo said it may even discontinue service
  
  Read more

• The Google Pixel 8 is Official With 7 Years of Updates

  04-10-2023 17:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google's newest flagship phone is finally official. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro were both unveiled today, with the headline changes being a whopping seven years of updates, flat screens across the board, new CPUs, and a $100 price increase. The Pixel 8 Pro is officially $999, while the Pixel 8 is $699. ArsTechnica: As for specs, the Pro display is a 6.7-inch, 120 Hz, 2992Ã--1344 OLED. Google is branding this display "Super Actua" because it's one of the brightest phone displays on the mar
  
  Read more

• FBI Most-Wanted Russian Hacker Reveals Why He Burned His Passport

  04-10-2023 16:43 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as "Wazawaka" and "Boriselcin," is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn't changed much since he was outed as an alleged cybercriminal and put on the FBI's most wanted list. "We are Russian people, we are not afraid of the American government," Matveev
  
  Read more

• SoftBank CEO Says AGI Will Come Within 10 Years

  04-10-2023 16:04 via slashdot.org
  
  SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said he believes artificial general intelligence, artificial intelligence that surpasses human intelligence in almost all areas, will be realised within 10 years. From a report: Speaking at the SoftBank World corporate conference, Son said he believes AGI will be ten times more intelligent than the sum total of all human intelligence. He noted the rapid progress in generative AI that he said has already exceeded human intelligence in certain areas. "It is wrong to say
  
  Read more

• Intel Plans To IPO Programmable Chip Unit Within Three Years

  04-10-2023 15:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Intel said it will treat its programmable chip unit as as a standalone business, with an aim to spin it out through an IPO in the next two to three years. Intel's Programmable Solutions Group will have its own balance sheet as it heads toward independence. The company will continue to support the business and retain a majority stake, and could also seek private investment. Sandra Rivera, who leads Intel's broader Data Center and AI group, will becom
  
  Read more

• CISA and NSA Release New Guidance on Identity and Access Management

  04-10-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA and the National Security Agency (NSA) published Identity and Access Management: Developer and Vendor Challenges, authored by the Enduring Security Framework (ESF), a CISA- and NSA-led working panel that includes a public-private cross-sector partnership. ESF aims to address risks that threaten critical infrastructure and national security systems.
  This publication, which follows ESF's Identity and Access Management Recommended Best Practices Guide for Administrators, assesses and ad
  
  Read more

• CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog, Removes Five KEVs

  04-10-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  CISA has added two new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation:
  CVE-2023-42793 Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Use-After-Free Vulnerability
  CVE-2023-28229 Microsoft Windows CNG Key Isolation Service Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
  These types of vulnerabilities are frequent attack vectors for malicious cyber actors and pose significant risks to the federal enterprise. Note: To view other newly added vulnerabilitie
  
  Read more

• India's Early Electronic Music From the '70s Is Finally Being Released

  04-10-2023 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Hugh Morris writes via the New York Times: When the musician and artist Paul Purgas was invited in 2017 by the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, to play some of the music he'd found in its archives that year, he was initially very keen. These were tapes that had been hidden from the public for decades; they proved the existence of a fertile avenue for electronic music in 1960s and '70s India, and he was determined for people to hear them. But as he went to use the institute's agi
  
  Read more

• NASA Plans To Build Houses On the Moon By 2040

  04-10-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Several scientists from NASA told the New York Times that the agency is planning to build houses on the moon by 2040. Forbes reports: The agency is set to return to the moon and is hoping its astronauts can stay long-term -- in a house built on the moon via a 3D printer. The idea is to build the house structure out of a special lunar concrete from the moon's surface, and NASA has found just the company to do it: Austin-based 3D printing company, ICON. In what's been dubbed Project Olympus, ICONI
  
  Read more

• Predictive Policing Software Terrible At Predicting Crimes

  04-10-2023 05:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Crime predictions generated for the police department in Plainfield, New Jersey, rarely lined up with reported crimes, an analysis by The Markup has found, adding new context to the debate over the efficacy of crime prediction software. Geolitica, known as PredPol until a 2021 rebrand, produces software that ingests data from crime incident reports and produces daily predictions on where and when crimes are most likely to occur. We examined 23,631
  
  Read more

• Japan Startup Develops 'Gundam'-Like Robot With $3 Million Price Tag

  04-10-2023 03:25 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  A Tokyo startup has developed a 4.5-meter-tall, four-wheeled robot modeled after the "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the Japanese animation series. It has a price tag of $3 million. Reuters reports: Called ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, the robot has cockpit monitors that receive images from cameras hooked up to the exterior so that the pilot can maneuver the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso. The 3.5-ton robot, which will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later
  
  Read more

• Japan To Provide $1.3 Billion In Extra Aid To US Chipmaker Micron

  04-10-2023 02:45 via slashdot.org
  
  In a move to strengthen its chip supply chain, Japan announced it will provide up to $1.3 billion in additional subsidies for U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology's plant in Hiroshima Prefecture. The Japan Times reports: The move, which comes on top of the up to 46.5 billion yen aid announced earlier, adds to Japan's efforts to ensure a stable supply of chips at a time when rising tensions between the United States and China are increasingly posing a threat to its economic security. Micron has said
  
  Read more

• Microsoft Overhauls OneDrive With a Big New Design, AI Copilot Integration

  04-10-2023 02:02 via slashdot.org
  
  Tom Warren writes via The Verge: Microsoft is announcing the third generation of its OneDrive cloud storage today, complete with the company's AI-powered Copilot system, a Fluent design refresh, and big improvements to the way businesses share and use cloud documents. [...] Microsoft is overhauling the main OneDrive web app with a new Fluent design. It more closely matches the Windows 11 interface and recent changes to Office apps, and it also fits in with the latest File Explorer design updates
  
  Read more

• HMD Global Starts Manufacturing In Europe With the 'Made In Hungary' Nokia Phone

  04-10-2023 01:20 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: HMD Global, the phone maker and marketer behind the Nokia mobile phone brand, has launched its very first smartphone manufactured in Europe. The news comes some six months after the Finnish company first revealed it was transitioning some of its manufacturing to Europe to meet a growing demand from enterprises for locally produced hardware to address security and sustainability concerns. HMD Global hadn't revealed where, exactly, it was manufa
  
  Read more

• Meta To Lay Off Employees in Metaverse Silicon Unit Tomorrow

  04-10-2023 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Meta is planning to lay off employees on Wednesday in the unit of its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division focused on creating custom silicon, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. From the report: Employees were informed of the layoffs in a post on Meta's internal discussion forum Workplace on Tuesday. The post said they would be notified about their status with the company by early Wednesday morning, one of the sources said. Reuters was not able to determine th
  
  Read more

• Amazon Used Secret 'Project Nessie' Algorithm To Raise Prices

  04-10-2023 00:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon used an algorithm code-named "Project Nessie" to test how much it could raise prices in a way that competitors would follow, according to redacted portions of the Federal Trade Commission's monopoly lawsuit against the company. From a report: The algorithm helped Amazon improve its profit on items across shopping categories, and because of the power the company has in e-commerce, led competitors to raise their prices and charge customers more, according to people familiar with the allegat
  
  Read more

Follow @newslocke_ict on Twitter!