ICT news

• iOS 18.5 Enables Carrier Satellite Service Like T-Mobile Starlink On Older iPhones

  06-05-2025 23:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  With iOS 18.5, Apple is bringing carrier-based satellite connectivity to the entire iPhone 13 lineup, allowing users with compatible carrier plans (like T-Mobile's Starlink-powered service) to access satellite features in areas without traditional coverage. The update is expected to launch next week. 9to5Mac reports: It's important to note that this update does not bring Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite to the iPhone 13 series. That feature relies on specialized hardware found only in iPhone
  
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• Google Debuts an Updated Gemini 2.5 Pro AI Model Ahead of I/O

  06-05-2025 22:37 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), an updated version of its flagship Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model that the company claims tops a number of widely used benchmarks. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition) is available via the Gemini API and Google's Vertex AI and AI Studio platforms, and is priced the same as the Gemini 2.5 Pro model it effectively replaces. It's also in Google's Gemini chatbot app for the w
  
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• CEO Departures Hit Record Levels

  06-05-2025 21:25 via slashdot.org
  
  Chief executives are exiting their posts at an unprecedented rate as economic volatility and emerging challenges reshape corporate leadership decisions, according to data from executive tracking firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
  Public-company CEO departures reached 373 last year, jumping 24% from 2023 levels. Among U.S. businesses with at least 25 employees, 2,221 chief executives left their positions in 2024, the highest number since Challenger began monitoring departures in 2002.
  Corpora
  
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• AI Law Firm Offering $2.7 Legal Letters Wins 'Landmark' Approval

  06-05-2025 20:45 via slashdot.org
  
  English regulators have approved a new law firm that uses AI instead of lawyers to offer services for as little as $2.67, as the technology continues to disrupt industries from finance to accounting. From a report: Garfield AI, which was founded by a former London litigator and a quantum physicist, is an online tool that allows businesses and individuals such as tradespeople to chase debts owed to them at a substantially lower cost than the average lawyer's fees. Its AI assistant guides claimant
  
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• Microsoft Unveils AI-Powered Overhaul for Windows 11

  06-05-2025 20:05 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has unveiled a substantial AI-focused update for Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs, introducing features that leverage neural processing units across the operating system. The update centers on AI-powered helpers across core Windows apps, with an intelligent agent in Settings that can locate and adjust options via natural voice commands. Key additions include expanded Click To Do functionality, allowing users to draft Word content based on screen context, engage Reading Coach, or send detail
  
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• Microsoft Makes Fedora an Official Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Distribution

  06-05-2025 19:25 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  BrianFagioli writes: Fedora Linux is now officially available as a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution! That's right, folks, following prior testing, you can now run Fedora 42 natively inside Windows using WSL. As someone who considers Fedora to be my favorite Linux distribution, this is a pretty exciting development.
  Installing it is simple enough. Just open up a terminal and type wsl --install FedoraLinux-42 to get started. After that, launch it with wsl -d FedoraLinux-42 and set yo
  
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• Reddit CEO Says 'Idealism' Masked Poor Work Ethic in Company's Early Days

  06-05-2025 18:46 via slashdot.org
  
  Reddit's Steve Huffman isn't mincing words about what he found when he came back as CEO in 2015: a company full of idealists who weren't exactly killing themselves with hard work.
  "We were really idealistic, and that's been good in many ways, but we were also idealistic about not being a business," Huffman said on the "Prof G Pod" podcast. "Wrapped up in some of that idealism was also not working very hard," he added.
  Huffman sees this as a Silicon Valley disease: "It's almost an entitlement of,
  
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• College Graduate Unemployment Hits 5.8%, Highest in Decades

  06-05-2025 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Recent college graduates face the worst job market in decades, with unemployment reaching 5.8%, according to recently released New York Federal Reserve data. The "recent-grad gap" - the difference between unemployment rates of young college graduates versus the overall labor force - has hit its lowest point in four decades, indicating college graduates are facing unusual difficulties securing employment. (The New York Federal Reserve said labor conditions for recent college graduates have "deter
  
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• Most Americans Use Federal Science Information On a Weekly Basis, a New Poll Finds

  06-05-2025 17:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Most people in the United States rely on federal science in their daily lives but don't realize it, a new nationwide poll of U.S. adults shows. NPR: The poll was conducted in early April by the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the association for science museums and other educational science centers in the U.S. The poll found that on a weekly basis more than 90% of people use weather forecasts, job market reports, food safety warnings and other information that is based on federal
  
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• Amazon Adds Purchase Button To iOS Kindle App Following App Store Rule Changes

  06-05-2025 16:40 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Amazon has updated its Kindle iOS app with a new "Get Book" button that redirects users to complete purchases through their mobile browser, taking advantage of recent App Store rule changes. The update follows Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' April 30th ruling in Epic Games v. Apple, which bars Apple from collecting a 27% commission on purchases made outside apps or restricting how developers direct users to alternative payment options.
  Previously, iOS users had to visit Amazon's website through a
  
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• Microsoft Labels Some Fired Staff as 'Good Attrition', Imposes Two-Year Rehiring Ban

  06-05-2025 16:03 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has instituted a stringent new performance management system that places ousted employees on a two-year rehiring block list and categorizes their departures as "good attrition," Business Insider reported Tuesday, citing internal documents. The company now tracks staff departures it considers beneficial, mirroring Amazon's "unregretted attrition" metric, though no specific targets have been established yet.
  Microsoft recently terminated 2,000 underperforming employees without severance
  
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• OpenAI Reaches Agreement To Buy Startup Windsurf For $3 Billion

  06-05-2025 15:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: OpenAI has agreed to buy artificial intelligence-assisted coding tool Windsurf for about $3 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal has not yet closed, the report added. Windsurf, formerly known as Codeium, had recently been in talks with investors including General Catalyst and Kleiner Perkins to raise funding at a $3 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg News. The report notes that the de
  
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• Unsophisticated Cyber Actor(s) Targeting Operational Technology

  06-05-2025 14:00 via cisa.gov
  CISA is increasingly aware of unsophisticated cyber actor(s) targeting ICS/SCADA systems within U.S. critical Infrastructure sectors (Oil and Natural Gas), specifically in Energy and Transportation Systems. Although these activities often include basic and elementary intrusion techniques, the presence of poor cyber hygiene and exposed assets can escalate these threats, leading to significant consequences such as defacement, configuration changes, operational disruptions and, in severe cases, phy
  
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• Hugo Administrators Resign in Wake of ChatGPT Controversy

  06-05-2025 12:00 via slashdot.org
  
  "Another year, yet another Hugo Awards-adjacent controversy?" writes Gizmodo's Cheryl Eddy, reporting that three key organizers of the 2025 Seattle Worldcon resigned after backlash over the use of ChatGPT to vet program participants. From the report: In a post on Bluesky co-signed by Hugo administrator Nicholas Whyte, deputy Hugo administrator Esther MacCallum-Stewart, and World Science Fiction Society division head Cassidy, the trio announced they were resigning from their roles ahead of the Se
  
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• Half-Life 3 Is Reportedly Playable In Its Entirety

  06-05-2025 10:00 via games.slashdot.org
  
  According to Valve insider Tyler McVicker, Half-Life 3 is finally playable from start to finish and could be announced this summer, with a release as soon as winter 2025. Engadget reports: Besides McVicker's hours-long livestream, there have been other recent hints about Valve's progress on its highly anticipated title. In March, Valve concept artist Evgeniy Evstratiy claimed that he was in the room where Valve made Half-Life 3 on CG Voices Podcast. In the same month, another Valve leaker, Gabe
  
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• Open Document Format Turns 20

  06-05-2025 08:30 via it.slashdot.org
  
  The Open Document Format reached its 20th anniversary on May 1, marking two decades since OASIS approved the XML-based standard originally developed by Sun Microsystems from StarOffice code. Even as the format has seen adoption by several governments including the UK, India, and Brazil, plus organizations like NATO, Microsoft Office's proprietary formats remain the de facto standard.
  Microsoft countered ODF by developing Office Open XML, eventually getting it standardized through Ecma Internatio
  
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• How Riot Games is Fighting the War Against Video Game Hackers

  06-05-2025 07:30 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Riot Games has reduced cheating in Valorant to under 1% of ranked games through its controversial kernel-level anti-cheat system Vanguard, according to the company's anti-cheat director Phillip Koskinas. The system enforces Windows security features like Trusted Platform Module and Secure Boot while preventing code execution in kernel memory.
  Beyond technical measures, Riot deploys undercover operatives who have infiltrated cheat development communities for years. "We've even gone as far as givi
  
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• Europe Pledges Half a Billion Euros To Attract Scientists and Researchers

  06-05-2025 05:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: The European Union launched a drive on Monday to attract scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans, after the Trump administration froze U.S. government funding linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. "A few years ago, no one would have imagined that one of the biggest democracies in the world would cancel research programs under the pretext that the word diversity was in this prog
  
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• Hyundai Unleashes Atlas Robots In Georgia Plant

  06-05-2025 02:50 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Hyundai Motor Group is accelerating its factory automation efforts by deploying Atlas humanoid robots from Boston Dynamics at its Metaplant America facility in Georgia, as part of a broader $21 billion U.S. investment strategy to boost efficiency and local production amid rising tariffs. InterestingEngineering reports: At Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, Hyundai already uses Spot robots -- four-legged machines -- for industrial inspections. In addition, the plant features a dedicated robot
  
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• Trump Threatens 100% Tariff On Foreign-Made Films

  06-05-2025 02:10 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films, citing national security concerns and accusing other countries of luring U.S. film production abroad with incentives. PBS reports: "The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death," he wrote [on his Truth Social platform], complaining that other countries "are offering all sorts of incentives to draw" filmmakers and studios away from the U.S. "This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a
  
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• Waymo Plans To Double Robotaxi Production At Arizona Plant By End of 2026

  06-05-2025 01:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Waymo and Magna International plan to double production of Waymo's robotaxis at their Mesa, Arizona facility by the end of 2026, aiming to assemble over 2,000 Jaguar I-PACE vehicles and eventually tens of thousands annually, including next-gen models. CNBC reports: The "Waymo Driver Integration Plant," a 239,000 square foot facility outside of Phoenix, will assemble more than 2,000 Jaguar I-PACE robotaxis, the Alphabet company said in a statement. Waymo will add those self-driving vehicles to it
  
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• Software Update Makes HDR Content 'Unwatchable' On Roku TVs

  06-05-2025 00:50 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: An update to Roku OS has resulted in colors looking washed out in HDR content viewed on Roku apps, like Disney+. Complaints started surfacing on Roku's community forum a week ago. On May 1, a company representative posted that Roku was "investigating the Disney Plus HDR content that was washed out after the recent update." However, based on user feedback, it seems that HDR on additional Roku apps, including Apple TV+ and Netflix, are also af
  
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• UnitedHealth Now Has 1,000 AI Applications In Production

  06-05-2025 00:10 via science.slashdot.org
  
  According to the Wall Street Journal, UnitedHealth Group has 1,000 AI applications in production for use in its insurance, health delivery and pharmacy divisions. From a report: UnitedHealth's AI transcribes conversations from clinician visits, summarizes data, processes claims and controls customer-facing chatbots. In addition, roughly 20,000 of the company's engineers use AI to write software, according to the report. Half of these applications use generative AI and the other half employ a mor
  
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