ICT news

• Uber To Introduce Fixed-Route Shuttles In Major US Cities

  14-05-2025 23:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Uber is launching a fixed-route shuttle service in major U.S. cities that offers commuters up to 50% off UberX fares during weekday peak hours. Called "Route Share," the service aims to provide a more affordable, predictable alternative to standard ride-hailing. TechCrunch reports: The commuter shuttles will drive between pre-set stops every 20 minutes, according to Sachin Kansal, Uber's chief product officer. He noted that there will be dozens of routes in each launch city -- like between Willi
  
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• Valve Takes Another Step Toward Making SteamOS a True Windows Competitor

  14-05-2025 22:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: We've known for months now that Valve is expanding its Linux-based SteamOS operating system beyond the Steam Deck to other handheld PCs, starting with some versions of the Asus ROG Ally. This week, Valve began making some changes to its Steam storefront to prepare for a future when the Deck isn't the only hardware running SteamOS. A new "SteamOS Compatible" label will begin rolling out "over the next few weeks" to denote "whether a game and
  
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• Palantir CEO Slams Europe's AI Ambitions

  14-05-2025 20:30 via slashdot.org
  
  Palantir CEO Alex Karp criticized Europe's AI adoption while praising Saudi Arabia's engineering talent at Tuesday's Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh. "It's like people have given up," Karp said of Europe, while commending Saudi engineers for their "meritocracy and patriotism" and "deep tradition in engineering excellence."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Judge Slams Lawyers For 'Bogus AI-Generated Research'

  14-05-2025 19:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  A California judge slammed a pair of law firms for the undisclosed use of AI after he received a supplemental brief with "numerous false, inaccurate, and misleading legal citations and quotations." From a report: In a ruling submitted last week, Judge Michael Wilner imposed $31,000 in sanctions against the law firms involved, saying "no reasonably competent attorney should out-source research and writing" to AI, as pointed out by law professors Eric Goldman and Blake Reid on Bluesky.
  "I read the
  
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• Rogue Communication Devices Found in Chinese Solar Power Inverters

  14-05-2025 18:55 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Gilmoure shares a report: U.S. energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them, two people familiar with the matter said. Power inverters, which are predominantly produced in China, are used throughout the world to connect solar panels and wind turbines to electricity grids. They are also found in batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicle c
  
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• HBO Maxes Out on Rebranding

  14-05-2025 18:18 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Warner Bros. Discovery said Wednesday it will revert its streaming service name from Max back to HBO Max this summer, just two years after dropping the HBO branding.
  The decision, revealed at the company's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York, represents an admission that HBO's premium brand equity remains valuable in the streaming landscape. "Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect," WBD stated
  
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• Sony Considers PS5 Price Hikes

  14-05-2025 17:21 via games.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Sony just announced its financial forecast for the next year, and it's expecting to be impacted by tariffs to the tune of 100 billion yen (about $680 million). To compensate, the company says it's considering options including moving manufacturing to the US and increasing prices for consumers.
  Speaking to investors during the company's earnings call, Sony CFO Lin Tao confirmed that the company is considering "passing on" the price of tariffs to consumers in o
  
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• Inflated Salaries Put Targets on Workers' Backs as Market Cools

  14-05-2025 16:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Workers who secured substantial salary increases during the pandemic hiring frenzy are now confronting a stark reality: they're likely overpaid in today's cooling job market. According to new Korn Ferry data, two-thirds of U.S. workers believe they're compensated at or above their market value.
  The tech sector has experienced significant wage deflation, with expanding pay transparency laws making market corrections impossible to ignore. Only 60% of recent job switchers received raises in Q1 2025
  
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• US Warns Against Using Huawei Chips 'Anywhere in the World'

  14-05-2025 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  President Donald Trump's administration has taken a tougher stance on Chinese technology advances, warning companies around the world that using AI chips made by Huawei could trigger criminal penalties for violating US export controls. From a report: The commerce department issued guidance to clarify that Huawei's Ascend processors were subject to export controls because they almost certainly contained, or were made with, US technology.
  Its Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export
  
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• Marks and Spencer Confirms Hackers Stole Customers' Personal Data; Cyber Insurance Payout To Be Worth Up To $133 Million

  14-05-2025 15:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: U.K. retail giant Marks & Spencer has confirmed hackers stole its customers' personal information during a cyberattack last month. In a brief statement with London's stock exchange on Tuesday, the retailer said an unspecified amount of customer information was taken in the data breach.
  The BBC, which first reported the company's filing, cited a Marks & Spencer online letter as saying that the stolen data includes customer names, dates of birth, home a
  
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• InventWood Is About To Mass-Produce Wood That's Stronger Than Steel

  14-05-2025 12:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader ndsurvivor shares a report from TechCrunch: In 2018, Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, devised a way to turn ordinary wood into a material stronger than steel. It seemed like yet another headline-grabbing discovery that wouldn't make it out of the lab. "All these people came to him," said Alex Lau, CEO of InventWood, "He's like, OK, this is amazing, but I'm a university professor. I don't know quite what to do about it."Rather than give u
  
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• GM Says New Battery Chemistry Will Enable 400-Mile Range EVs

  14-05-2025 09:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  General Motors is partnering with LG to develop lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries, which are safer, denser, and cheaper than current EV battery tech. The automaker aims to begin U.S. production by 2028 and become the first to deploy LMR cells in electric vehicles. Ford also announced it would start adopting LMR batteries for its EVs, but not until 2030. The Verge reports: GM's current crop of electric Chevys and Cadillacs use high-nickel batteries, which supply enough energy for around 300-
  
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• A Ripe Target For Identity Thieves: Prisoners on Death Row

  14-05-2025 07:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Identity thieves have found an insidious target: death row inmates. A SentiLink report published this week reveals scammers are stealing identities of Texas prisoners awaiting execution to orchestrate "bust-out" fraud schemes -- patiently building credit before disappearing with up to $100,000.
  Nearly 10% of Texas' 172 death row inmates have fallen victim. The operation, active since March 2023, exploits inmates' isolation from financial communications. "They wouldn't receive text or email alert
  
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• FCC Threatens EchoStar Licenses For Spectrum That's 'Ripe For Sharing'

  14-05-2025 05:30 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum. "I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar's compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses," Carr wrote in a M
  
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• Google Tests AI Search on Its Homepage

  14-05-2025 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google's stalwart search button has a new neighbor: AI Mode. From a report: The artificial intelligence feature is being tested directly beneath the Google search bar beside a "Google Search" button, replacing the "I'm Feeling Lucky" widget. The new feature, though not widely available yet, is being tested in a location where Google rarely makes changes.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• 'Qatar's $400 Million Jet For Trump Is a Gold-Plated Security Nightmare'

  14-05-2025 02:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Qatar is gifting Trump a $400 million luxury 747 to serve as a temporary Air Force One, but experts warn that retrofitting it to meet presidential security standards could take years, cost hundreds of millions more, and risk national security due to potential embedded surveillance. The Register's Iain Thomson reports: The current VC-25s aren't just repainted 747s. They're a pair of flying fortresses that must be capable of allowing the president to run the country, survive wartime conditions (ev
  
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• Meta Threatens To Pull Facebook And Instagram Out Of Nigeria Over $290 Million Fine

  14-05-2025 02:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  According to Rest of the World, a major confrontation between Meta and the local authorities in Nigeria is currently taking place: "Local authorities have fined Meta $290 million for regulatory breaches, prompting the social media giant to threaten pulling Facebook and Instagram from the country." Techdirt reports: As with earlier EU fines imposed on the company, the sticking point is Meta's refusal to comply with local privacy laws [...]. The fine itself is small change for Meta, which had a ne
  
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• Audible Is Giving Publishers AI Tools To Quickly Make More Audiobooks

  14-05-2025 01:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Amazon's Audible is expanding its audiobook offerings by giving select publishers access to its AI-powered production tools that will let them more easily convert books into audiobooks with over 100 customizable AI voices to choose from. It will also launch an AI translation tool in beta later this year to help publishers translate and localize audiobooks into multiple languages, with both automated and human-assisted options. The Verge reports: Audible says its new AI narration technology lever
  
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• Student's Robot Obliterates 4x4 Rubik's Cube World Record

  14-05-2025 00:40 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A student's robot has beaten the world record for solving a four-by-four Rubik's cube -- by 33 seconds. Matthew Pidden, a 22-year-old University of Bristol student, built and trained the "Revenger" over 15 weeks for his computer science bachelor's degree. The robot solved the cube in 45.305 seconds, obliterating the world record of 1 minute 18 seconds. However, the human record for solving the cube is 15.71 seconds.Mr Pidden's robot uses dual web
  
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• Google Wants To Make Stolen Android Phones Basically Unsellable

  14-05-2025 00:02 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  Google is enhancing Android's Factory Reset Protection (FRP) to make stolen phones virtually unusable by detecting setup wizard bypasses and requiring a second factory reset until ownership is verified. Android Authority reports: You can factory reset an Android phone in several ways. However, triggering a reset through the Android recovery menu or Google's Find My Device service activates Factory Reset Protection (FRP). During setup after such a reset, the wizard requires you to verify ownershi
  
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