ICT news

• Final Fantasy iOS Game Shuts Down Over Unfixable Bug

  14-02-2025 23:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  The Verge's Jay Peters reports: Square Enix has shut down the iOS version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and removed it from the App Store following an unfixable bug that blocked people from accessing content they had paid for. [...] The company says that if you made in-app purchases in January 2024 or later, you're eligible to request a refund by contacting Apple Support. Square Enix says that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles will continue to be supported on other platforms. The game is al
  
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• Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 4.6 as Its AI Tools Rattle Software Markets

  05-02-2026 19:00 via slashdot.org
  Anthropic on Thursday released Claude Opus 4.6, its most capable model yet, at a moment when the company's AI tools have already spooked markets over fears that they are disrupting traditional software development and other sectors.
  The new model improves on Opus 4.5's coding abilities, the company said -- it plans more carefully, sustains longer agentic tasks, handles larger codebases more reliably, and catches its own mistakes through better debugging. It is also the first Opus-class model to
  
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• Western Digital Plots a Path To 140 TB Hard Drives Using Vertical Lasers and 14-Platter Designs

  05-02-2026 17:45 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Western Digital this week laid out a roadmap that stretches its 3.5-inch hard drive platform to 14 platters and pairs it with a new vertical-emitting laser for heat-assisted magnetic recording, a combination the company says will push individual drive capacities beyond 140 TB in the 2030s.
  The vertical laser, developed over six years and already working in WD's labs, emits light straight down onto the disk rather than from the edge, delivering more thermal energy while occupying less vertical sp
  
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• Amazon Plans To Use AI To Speed Up TV and Film Production

  05-02-2026 17:01 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Amazon plans to use AI to speed up the process for making movies and TV shows even as Hollywood fears that AI will cut jobs and permanently reshape the industry. From a report: At the Amazon MGM Studio, veteran entertainment executive Albert Cheng is leading a team charged with developing new AI tools that he said will cut costs and streamline the creative process. Amazon plans to launch a closed beta program in March, inviting industry partners to test its AI tools. The company expects to have
  
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• Spotify Plans To Sell Physical Books

  05-02-2026 16:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Spotify is planning to let premium subscribers in the U.S. and U.K. buy hardcovers and paperbacks directly through its app starting this spring, partnering with Bookshop.org to handle pricing, inventory and fulfillment.
  The Swedish streaming company, which entered the audiobook market in 2022, will also introduce a feature called Page Match that lets users scan a page from a physical book or e-reader and jump to the exact spot in the audiobook edition. Spotify will earn an undisclosed affiliate
  
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• FBI Couldn't Get Into Reporter's iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled

  05-02-2026 15:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  The FBI has been unable to access a Washington Post reporter's seized iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode, a sometimes overlooked feature that makes iPhones broadly more secure, according to recently filed court records. 404Media: The court record shows what devices and data the FBI was able to ultimately access, and which devices it could not, after raiding the home of the reporter, Hannah Natanson, in January as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information. It also provides
  
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• Kalshi Claims 'Extortion,' Then Recants in Feud Over User Losses

  05-02-2026 13:30 via slashdot.org
  Kalshi, the largest U.S. prediction market, accused a small data startup called Juice Reel of "extortion" after a stock analyst used the company's transaction-level data to argue that prediction market users lose money faster than gamblers on traditional betting apps -- then walked the allegation back hours later.
  The equity research analyst Jordan Bender at Citizens found that the bottom quarter of prediction market users lost about 28 cents of every dollar wagered in their first three months,
  
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• China Has Seized Sony's Television Halo

  05-02-2026 11:30 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Sony announced last month that it plans to pass control of its home entertainment division -- including the two-decade-old Bravia television brand -- to Chinese electronics group TCL through a joint venture in which TCL would hold a 51% stake. The Japanese company was long ago overtaken in sales by South Korea's Samsung and LG and now holds just 2% of the global television market. Sony stopped making its own LCD screens in 2011.
  Chinese companies supplied 71% of television panels made in Asia la
  
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• Munich Makes Digital Sovereignty Measurable With Its Own Score

  05-02-2026 09:00 via it.slashdot.org
  alternative_right writes: The city of Munich has developed its own measurement instrument to assess the digital sovereignty of its IT infrastructure. The so-called Digital Sovereignty Score (SDS) visually resembles the Nutri-Score and identifies IT systems based on their independence from individual providers and 'foreign' legal spheres. The Technical University of Munich was involved in the development.
  In September and October 2025, the IT Department already conducted a first comprehensive tes
  
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• Valve's Steam Machine Has Been Delayed, and the RAM Crisis Will Impact Pricing

  05-02-2026 06:00 via it.slashdot.org
  Valve has pushed back the launch of its Steam Machine, Steam Frame and Steam Controller hardware from its original Q1 2026 window to a vaguer "first half of the year" target, blaming the ongoing memory and storage shortage that has been squeezing the tech industry.
  The company said in a post today that rising component prices and limited availability forced it to revisit both its shipping schedule and pricing plans. Valve had previously indicated the Steam Machine would be priced at the entry le
  
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• BMW Commits To Subscriptions Even After Heated Seat Debacle

  05-02-2026 03:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  BMW may have retreated from its controversial plan to charge monthly fees for heated seats, but the German automaker is pressing ahead with subscription-based vehicle features through its ConnectedDrive platform.
  A company spokesperson told The Drive that BMW "remains fully committed" to ConnectedDrive as part of its global aftersales strategy. Features requiring data connectivity will likely carry recurring fees.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Microsoft Adds Sysmon To Windows

  05-02-2026 01:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft has finally delivered on its promise to integrate Sysmon -- the long-standing system monitoring tool from its Sysinternals suite -- directly into Windows, a move that should make life considerably easier for enterprise administrators who have struggled with deploying and managing the utility across thousands of endpoints.
  The functionality landed this week in Windows Insider builds 26300.7733 (Dev channel) and 26220.7752 (Beta channel). Sysmon allows administrators to capture system ev
  
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• Russian Spy Satellites Have Intercepted EU Communications Satellites

  04-02-2026 21:46 via science.slashdot.org
  European security officials believe two Russian space vehicles have intercepted the communications of at least a dozen key satellites over the continent. From a report: Officials believe that the likely interceptions, which have not previously been reported, risk not only compromising sensitive information transmitted by the satellites but could also allow Moscow to manipulate their trajectories or even crash them.
  Russian space vehicles have shadowed European satellites more intensively over th
  
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• 'Everyone is Stealing TV'

  04-02-2026 20:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  A sprawling informal economy of rogue streaming devices has taken hold across the U.S., as consumers fed up with rising TV subscription costs turn to cheap Android-based boxes that promise free access to thousands of live channels, sports events, and on-demand movies for a one-time $200 to $400 purchase.
  The two dominant players -- SuperBox and vSeeBox -- are manufactured by opaque Chinese companies and distributed through hundreds of American resellers at farmers markets, church festivals and F
  
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• As Software Stocks Slump, Investors Debate AI's Existential Threat

  04-02-2026 19:09 via slashdot.org
  Investors were assessing on Wednesday whether a selloff in global software stocks this week had gone too far, as they weighed if businesses could survive an existential threat posed by AI. The answer: It's unclear and will lead to volatility. From a report: After a broad selloff on Tuesday that saw the S&P 500 software and services index fall nearly 4%, the sector slipped another 1% on Wednesday. While software stocks have been under pressure in recent months as AI has gone from being a tail
  
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• Anthropic Pledges To Keep Claude Ad-free, Calls AI Conversations a 'Space To Think'

  04-02-2026 17:00 via slashdot.org
  Anthropic said today that its AI assistant Claude will not carry advertising of any kind -- no sponsored links next to conversations, no advertiser influence on the model's responses, and no unsolicited third-party product placements -- calling Claude a "space to think" that should remain free of commercial interruption. The announcement comes days after Anthropic's chief rival, OpenAI, announced plans to bring ads to some of its ChatGPT offerings.
  Anthropic said its internal analysis of Claude
  
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• Pinterest Sacks Workers For Creating Tool To Track Layoffs

  04-02-2026 16:01 via slashdot.org
  Pinterest has sacked two engineers for tracking which workers lost their jobs in a recent round of layoffs. BBC: The company recently announced job cuts, with chief executive Bill Ready stating in an email he was "doubling down on an AI-forward approach," according to an employee who posted some of the memo on LinkedIn.
  Pinterest told investors the move would impact about 15% of the workforce, or roughly 700 roles, without saying which teams or workers were affected. But then "two engineers wrot
  
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• Why Google's Android for PC Launch May Be Messy and Controversial

  04-02-2026 15:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google's much-anticipated plan to merge Android and ChromeOS into a single operating system called Aluminium is shaping up to be a drawn-out, complicated transition that could leave existing Chromebook users behind, according to previously unreported court documents in the Google search antitrust case.
  The new OS won't be compatible with all existing Chromebook hardware, and Google will be forced to maintain ChromeOS through at least 2033 to honor its 10-year support commitment to current users
  
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• Adobe Actually Won't Discontinue Animate

  04-02-2026 14:00 via it.slashdot.org
  Adobe is no longer planning to discontinue Adobe Animate on March 1st. From a report: In an FAQ, the company now says that Animate will now be in maintenance mode and that it has "no plans toâdiscontinue or remove access" to the app.
  Animate will still receive "ongoing security and bug fixes" and will still be available for "both new and existing users," but it won't get new features. Many creators expressed frustration after Adobe's original discontinuation announcement from earlier this
  
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• AMD Hints the Next-Gen Xbox Console Could Launch Next Year

  04-02-2026 12:00 via games.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Speaking during an earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Lisa Su stated that its development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox SoC is "progressing well to support a launch in 2027."
  While the comment doesn't outright confirm the next Xbox will release next year, it indicates that the Microsoft could be ready to launch soon.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Say Hello To GoogleSQL

  04-02-2026 09:01 via developers.slashdot.org
  BrianFagioli writes: Google has quietly retired the ZetaSQL name and rebranded its open source SQL analysis and parsing project as GoogleSQL. This is not a technical change but a naming cleanup meant to align the open source code with the SQL dialect already used across Google products like BigQuery and Spanner. Internally, Google has long called the dialect GoogleSQL, even while the open source project lived under a different name.
  By unifying everything under GoogleSQL, Google says it wants to
  
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• OpenAI's Lead Is Contracting as AI Competition Intensifies

  04-02-2026 06:01 via slashdot.org
  OpenAI's rivals are cutting into ChatGPT's lead. From a report: The top chatbot's market share fell from 69.1% to 45.3% between January 2025 and January 2026 among daily U.S. users of its mobile app. Gemini, in the same time period, rose from 14.7% to 25.1% and Grok rose from 1.6% to 15.2%.
  The data, obtained by Big Technology from mobile insights firm Apptopia, indicates the chatbot race has tightened meaningfully over the past year with Google's surge showing up in the numbers. Overall, the ch
  
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• Walmart Joins $1 Trillion Club

  04-02-2026 03:01 via slashdot.org
  Walmart's market cap surpassed $1 trillion on Tuesday, putting the largest U.S. retail chain in an exclusive club dominated by tech groups. Bloomberg adds: The Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain -- a longtime favorite of bargain-hunting consumers -- has flexed its massive scale and supplier network to keep prices low and grab market share across the income spectrum. While Walmart has maintained its appeal to households looking for value, its online offerings are drawing new, wealthier shoppers se
  
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• Google Home Finally Adds Support For Buttons

  04-02-2026 00:31 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Google Home users, your long nightmare is over. The platform has finally added support for buttons. The release notes for a February 2 update state that several new starter conditions for automations are now available, including "Switch or button pressed."
  Smart buttons are physical, programmable switches that you can press to trigger automations or control devices in your smart home, such as turning lights on or off, opening and closing shades, running a Goo
  
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• Ultra-Processed Foods Should Be Treated More Like Cigarettes Than Food, Study Says

  03-02-2026 22:30 via science.slashdot.org
  Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have more in common with cigarettes than with fruit or vegetables, and require far tighter regulation, according to a new report. The Guardian: UPFs and cigarettes are engineered to encourage addiction and consumption, researchers from three US universities said, pointing to the parallels in widespread health harms that link both.
  UPFs, which are widely available worldwide, are food products that have been industrially manufactured, often using emulsifiers or artific
  
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• NASA Delays Artemis II To March

  03-02-2026 21:00 via science.slashdot.org
  ClickOnThis writes: NASA has delayed the Artemis II launch to March of this year, after a wet dress-rehearsal uncovered a hydrogen leak. From the NASA article: During tanking, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak in an interface used to route the cryogenic propellant into the rocket's core stage, putting them behind in the countdown. Attempts to resolve the issue involved stopping the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage, allowing the interface to warm up f
  
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• Google Plots Big Expansion in India as US Restricts Visas

  03-02-2026 20:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  Alphabet is plotting to dramatically expand its presence in India [non-paywalled source], with the possibility of taking millions of square feet in new office space in Bangalore, India's tech hub. From a report: Google's parent company has leased one office tower and purchased options on two others in Alembic City, a development in the Whitefield tech corridor, totaling 2.4 million square feet, according to people familiar with the deal. The first tower is expected to open to employees in the co
  
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• 'Vibe Coding Kills Open Source'

  03-02-2026 19:01 via news.slashdot.org
  Four economists across Central European University, Bielefeld University and the Kiel Institute have built a general equilibrium model of the open-source software ecosystem and concluded that vibe coding -- the increasingly common practice of letting AI agents select, assemble and modify packages on a developer's behalf -- erodes the very funding mechanism that keeps open-source projects alive.
  The core problem is a decoupling of usage from engagement. Tailwind CSS's npm downloads have climbed s
  
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• YouTube Kills Background Playback on Third-Party Mobile Browsers

  03-02-2026 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  YouTube has confirmed that it is blocking background playback -- the ability to keep a video's audio running after minimizing the browser or locking the screen -- for non-Premium users across third-party mobile browsers including Samsung Internet, Brave, Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge.
  Users began reporting the issue last week, noting that audio would cut out the moment they left the browser, sometimes after a brief "MediaOngoingActivity" notification flashed before media controls disappeared. A Goo
  
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• PayPal's CEO Change Blindsided HP's Board

  03-02-2026 17:00 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: PayPal said on Tuesday it was booting its CEO and replacing him with its board chair Enrique Lores, sparing no ambiguity as to why: "The pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board's expectations," it said in a statement. One group that was blindsided was HP, where Lores was until Tuesday serving as CEO, according to people familiar with the matter.
  Lores' switchup sent them rushing to launch a search process, those people said. HP's board doe
  
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