ICT news

• Google's New Nano Banana Pro Uses Gemini 3 Power To Generate More Realistic AI Images

  20-11-2025 23:17 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google's meme-friendly Nano Banana image-generation model is getting an upgrade. The new Nano Banana Pro is rolling out with improved reasoning and instruction following, giving users the ability to create more accurate images with legible text and make precise edits to existing images. It's available to everyone in the Gemini app, but free users will find themselves up against the usage limits pretty quickly. Nano Banana Pro is part of the
  
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• Future Google TV Devices Might Come With a Solar-powered Remote

  20-11-2025 22:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Epishine, a company that makes solar cells optimized for indoor lighting, has announced its technology is being used in a new remote control for Google TV devices, as spotted by 9to5Google. The remote will rely on rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones, and thanks to the use of solar cells on both sides it may only run out of power when it gets buried and forgotten in the dark abyss of your couch cushions.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Microsoft Open-Sources Classic Text Adventure Zork Trilogy

  20-11-2025 21:51 via news.slashdot.org
  Microsoft has released the source code for Zork I, II, and III under the MIT License through a collaboration with Team Xbox and Activision that involved submitting pull requests to historical source repositories maintained by digital archivist Jason Scott. Each repository now includes the original source code and accompanying documentation.
  The games arrived on early home computers in the 1980s as text-based adventures built on the Z-Machine, a virtual machine that allowed the same story files t
  
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• Nvidia Brings Ad-free Cloud Gaming To New Chromebooks

  20-11-2025 21:10 via games.slashdot.org
  Nvidia and Google announced today a new cloud gaming plan called GeForce Now Fast Pass that is exclusive to Chromebooks. Anyone who purchases a new Chromebook will receive a year of the service included with their device at no additional charge. Fast Pass allows Chromebook owners to stream more than 2,000 games from their existing Steam, Epic or Xbox libraries.
  The service removes ads and lets users skip the queue that typically adds two minutes or more of wait time on GeForce Now's free tier. U
  
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• CDC Changes Webpage To Say Vaccines May Cause Autism, Revising Prior Language

  20-11-2025 20:30 via science.slashdot.org
  A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage that previously made the case that vaccines don't cause autism now says they might. WSJ: The contents of the webpage came up during Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Senate confirmation process. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) in February said Kennedy had assured him that, if he was confirmed, the CDC would "not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism."
  The revised webpage says: "The claim 'vaccines d
  
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• As Windows Turns 40, Microsoft Faces an AI Backlash

  20-11-2025 19:52 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft's push to transform Windows into an "agentic OS" that allows AI agents to control PCs is drawing user backlash similar to the Windows 8 controversy, as the company marks the operating system's 40th anniversary this week, writes Tom Warren, a reporter at The Verge who has been covering Microsoft for nearly two decades. Windows chief Pavan Davuluri announced the agentic OS plans in a post on X last week and faced immediate criticism in hundreds of replies before they were locked days lat
  
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• Monarch Tractor Preps For Layoffs and Warns Employees It May 'Shut Down'

  20-11-2025 19:05 via tech.slashdot.org
  Autonomous electric tractor startup Monarch Tractor -- which we covered in 2022 -- warned staff Thursday it may need to lay off more than 100 employees, or possibly even "shut down," according to a company-wide memo obtained by TechCrunch. The report adds: The memo comes after Monarch Tractor was already cutting some positions over the last few weeks at its California corporate facilities and remote teams in India and Singapore, according to multiple former employees who spoke with TechCrunch on
  
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• You Can Finally AirDrop Files Between Android and iPhone, Starting with Pixel 10

  20-11-2025 18:32 via it.slashdot.org
  Android's Quick Share file transfer service can now work with Apple's AirDrop, allowing users to send files between iPhones and Android devices. Google has started rolling out the feature to its Pixel 10 family of smartphones. The cross-platform compatibility includes security protections that the company says independent security experts tested. Google said it built the feature in response to user requests for simpler file sharing between devices regardless of manufacturer. The company plans to
  
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• Disney Loses Bid To Block Sling TV's One-Day Cable Passes

  20-11-2025 17:46 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  A federal judge in New York denied Disney's request to block Sling TV's short-term passes, which give viewers the ability to stream live content for as little as one day. From a report: In a ruling on Tuesday, US District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that Disney didn't prove that Sling TV's passes caused "irreparable harm" to the entertainment giant, as reported earlier by Cord Cutters.
  Disney sued Sling shortly after the live TV streaming service started allowing viewers to purchase temporary a
  
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• American Kids Can't Do Math Anymore

  20-11-2025 17:03 via science.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: For the past several years, America has been using its young people as lab rats in a sweeping, if not exactly thought-out, education experiment. Schools across the country have been lowering standards and removing penalties for failure. The results are coming into focus.
  Five years ago, about 30 incoming freshmen at UC San Diego arrived with math skills below high-school level. Now, according to a recent report from UC San Diego faculty and administrators, th
  
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• Verizon Cutting More Than 13,000 Jobs As It Restructures

  20-11-2025 16:20 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader writes: U.S. wireless carrier Verizon said Thursday it will cut more than 13,000 jobs in its largest single layoff as it works to shrink costs and restructure operations. Verizon also said it plans to convert 179 corporate-owned retail stores into franchised operations and close one store.
  Verizon's new CEO, Dan Schulman, said in a note to employees the company would reduce its workforce by more than 13,000 employees across the organization, and significantly reduce outsource
  
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• Microsoft Exec Asks: Why Aren't More People Impressed With AI?

  20-11-2025 15:40 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: A Microsoft executive is questioning why more people aren't impressed with AI, a week after the company touted the evolution of Windows into an "agentic OS," which immediately triggered backlash.
  "Jeez there so many cynics! It cracks me up when I hear people call AI underwhelming," tweeted Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO for Microsoft's AI group. Suleyman added that he grew up playing the old-school 2D Snake game on a Nokia phone. "The fact that people are unimpres
  
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• Who is OpenAI's Auditor?

  20-11-2025 15:01 via slashdot.org
  OpenAI won't say who audits its books. The company, which projects to hit an ARR of $20 billion this year and is valued at $500 billion, has committed to spending about $1.4 trillion on data centers over the next decade. It accounts for roughly two-thirds of unfulfilled contracts at Oracle and two-fifths at CoreWeave. Microsoft alone holds around $375 billion in unfulfilled contracts with OpenAI.
  Reuters reported the company may target a $1 trillion valuation for a potential IPO in coming years.
  
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• White House Prepares Executive Order To Block State AI Laws

  20-11-2025 14:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Politico: The White House is preparing to issue an executive order as soon as Friday that tells the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence, according to four people familiar with the matter and a leaked draft of the order obtained by POLITICO. The draft document, confirmed as authentic by three people familiar with the matter, would create an "AI Litigation Task Force" at the DOJ whose "s
  
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• Proctorio Settles Curious Lawsuit With Librarian Who Shared Public YouTube Videos

  20-11-2025 11:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  Canadian librarian Ian Linkletter has ended a five-year legal battle with ed-tech firm Proctorio after being sued for sharing public YouTube help videos that exposed how the company's remote-proctoring AI works. Ars Technica reports: ... Together, the videos, the help center screenshot, and another screenshot showing course material describing how Proctorio works were enough for Proctorio to take Linkletter to court. The ed tech company promptly filed a lawsuit and obtained a temporary injunctio
  
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• Quantum Teleportation Between Photons From Two Distant Light Sources Achieved

  20-11-2025 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  Researchers in Germany achieved a major milestone for the future quantum internet by successfully teleporting quantum information between photons generated by two different, physically separated quantum dots -- something never accomplished before due to the difficulty of producing indistinguishable photons from remote sources. Phys.org reports: At the University of Stuttgart, the team succeeded in teleporting the polarization state of a photon originating from one quantum dot to another photon f
  
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• In the AI Race, Chinese Talent Still Drives American Research

  20-11-2025 04:30 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: When Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, unveiled the company's Superintelligence Lab in June, he named 11 artificial intelligence researchers who were joining his ambitious effort to build a machine more powerful than the human brain. All 11 were immigrants educated in other countries. Seven were born in China, according to a memo viewed by The New York Times. Although many American executives, government officials and pundits ha
  
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• China's Diesel Trucks Are Shifting To Electric

  20-11-2025 02:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader ukoda shares a report from the Associated Press: China is replacing its diesel trucks with electric models faster than expected, potentially reshaping global fuel demand and the future of heavy transport. In 2020, nearly all new trucks in China ran on diesel. By the first half of 2025, battery-powered trucks accounted for 22% of new heavy truck sales, up from 9.2% in the same period in 2024, according to Commercial Vehicle World, a Beijing-based trucking data provider. T
  
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• Tokyo Court Finds Cloudflare Liable For Manga Piracy in Long-Running Lawsuit

  20-11-2025 01:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  A Tokyo court ruled that Cloudflare is liable for aiding manga piracy after failing to act on infringement notices and continuing to cache and serve content for major piracy sites, awarding about $3.2 million in damages. TorrentFreak says the decision sets a significant precedent in Japan, suggesting CDN providers can face direct liability when they don't verify customers or respond adequately to large-scale copyright abuse. From the report: After a wait of more than three and a half years, the
  
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• Adobe Bolsters AI Marketing Tools With $1.9 Billion Semrush Buy

  20-11-2025 01:02 via slashdot.org
  Adobe is buying Semrush for $1.9 billion in a move to supercharge its AI-driven marketing stack. Reuters reports: Semrush designs and develops AI software that helps companies with search engine optimization, social media and digital advertising. The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of next year, would allow Adobe to help marketers better understand how their brands are viewed by online consumers through searches on websites and generative AI bots such as ChatGPT and Gemini. "The
  
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• Apple N1 Wi-Fi Chip Improves On Older Broadcom Chips In Every Way

  20-11-2025 00:23 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: This year's newest iPhones included one momentous change that marked a new phase in the evolution of Apple Silicon: the Apple N1, Apple's first in-house chip made to handle local wireless connections. The N1 supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and the Thread smart home communication protocol, and it replaces the third-party wireless chips (mostly made by Broadcom) that Apple used in older iPhones. Apple claimed that the N1 would enable more relia
  
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