ICT news

• Tencent Scraps Plans For VR Hardware as Metaverse Bet Falters

  17-02-2023 16:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Tencent is abandoning plans to venture into virtual reality hardware, as a sobering economic outlook prompts the Chinese tech giant to cut costs and headcount at its metaverse unit, Reuters reported Friday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. From the report: The world's largest video game publisher had ambitious plans to build both virtual reality software and hardware at an "extended reality" XR unit it launched in June last year, for which it hired nearly 300 people. It had come up
  
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• Binance Set To Lose Permission To Operate In EU

  17-06-2026 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Binance is expected to lose permission to serve EU customers in July after Greek regulators reportedly decided to reject its MiCA license application. Reuters reports: Under new EU rules, called MiCA, crypto firms have until the end of June to obtain a licence to allow them to keep servicing clients across the bloc. Binance's application, made to Greece's market regulator, is set to be turned down, the people said. European regulators have been attempting to rein in crypto exchanges, which allow
  
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• France To Stop Certifying Products Without Quantum-Safe Encryption

  16-06-2026 23:00 via it.slashdot.org
  Starting in 2027, France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI will stop certifying security products that lack quantum-resistant encryption, effectively forcing government agencies and critical infrastructure operators to phase out older cryptographic systems. Reuters reports: Samih Souissi, ANSSI's chief of staff, said at the France Quantum conference that the agency would halt such certifications from 2027, and that businesses should be buying only quantum-safe products by 2030. ANSSI approval is requ
  
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• Mobileye Is Entering the US Robotaxi Market With Standalone Service

  16-06-2026 22:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The driving technology company Mobileye plans to launch a robotaxi service in an as-yet-unnamed US city in 2027, it said earlier today. The service will be vertically integrated, using Mobileye's Moovit mobility platform to interact with customers booking rides, coordinate drivers, and so on. The Israeli company, which was bought by Intel in 2017 before going public again in 2022, says it will start with around 100 robotaxis early next year.
  
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• Snap's First Consumer AI Glasses Are Coming This Fall For $2,195

  16-06-2026 21:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Snap is launching its first consumer augmented-reality glasses this fall for $2,195. "You can preorder a pair of Specs now at specs.com with a $200 refundable deposit, and Snap says they're expected to ship 'this fall' in the US, UK, and France," reports The Verge. From the report: This is a big moment for Snap: The company made a big entry into smart glasses with its original Spectacles in 2016, and the company has been toiling away on nonpublic AR versions of Spectacles over the past few years
  
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• SpaceX To Acquire AI Coding Startup Cursor For $60 Billion

  16-06-2026 20:00 via science.slashdot.org
  SpaceX has agreed to acquire Cursor for $60 billion in stock, adding the popular AI coding assistant to Elon Musk's newly public aerospace-and-AI conglomerate. CNBC reports: Cursor built a popular AI coding tool that helps software developers generate, edit and review code, and the company has experienced explosive growth since its founding in 2022. In November, Cursor said it crossed $1 billion in annualized revenue, according to a release at the time. Cursor was also ranked at No. 37 on the an
  
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• The US Government's Anthropic Models Ban Was Never About an AI Jailbreak

  16-06-2026 19:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  TechCrunch's Zack Whittaker argues that the U.S. government's abrupt export-control order forcing Anthropic to pull its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models offline was "never about an AI jailbreak" threat. Instead, it was driven more by "personality differences" between the AI company and Trump administration. Security experts say the reported guardrail bypass did not justify the order and warn that the move sets a troubling precedent: the government can unilaterally disrupt American software products w
  
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• Russian Spam and Profanities Are Now Plaguing the Arch Linux AUR

  16-06-2026 18:00 via it.slashdot.org
  The Arch Linux User Repository "AUR" is facing another issue just days after more than 1,500 packages were found carrying malware. According to Phoronix, over 70 AUR packages have reportedly been modified to insert Russian spam and profane messages into users' shell configuration files. From the report: Nicolas Boichat with his AI/LLM detection bot detected some questionable messages appearing in AUR content. Russian messages were being added post-install to the bashrc / zshrc / Fish configurati
  
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• Firefox 152 Adds JPEG XL Support, Redesigned Settings

  16-06-2026 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Linuxiac: Mozilla has released Firefox 152, the latest update to its popular open-source web browser, with updated settings, improved media controls, experimental JPEG XL support, and various platform-specific fixes for desktop and Android. A key update is the redesigned Firefox Settings page, which now features clearer groupings, improved navigation, and a more streamlined structure for easier customization. The release also expands built-in spellchecker
  
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• Venus' Strange Rotation Was Likely Triggered By a High Velocity Moon-Sized Impactor

  16-06-2026 13:00 via science.slashdot.org
  New simulations suggest Venus' extremely slow backward rotation may have been triggered by a high-angle collision with a fast-moving object roughly one-tenth its mass. The impact could have dramatically altered Venus' spin and melted nearly its entire mantle. Universe Today reports: Venus' bizarre and extraordinarily slow retrograde rotation on its axis has long puzzled planetary scientists. But in a new paper presented at the recent European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, the aut
  
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• A Chinese Rocket Breaks Apart Dangerously Close To the Starlink Constellation

  16-06-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  A Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket's upper stage broke apart shortly after last week's June 9 launch, likely creating 100 to 150 pieces of debris in a busy region of low-Earth orbit crossed by the ISS and lower-altitude Starlink satellites. Most fragments should reenter within months because of atmospheric drag, but experts say the incident adds to a worsening trend as China leaves more large rocket bodies in orbit while expanding its launch rate. Ars Technica reports: The US Space Force confirmed the b
  
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• Cybersecurity Vets Protest 'Dangerous' US Government Ban On Anthropic's Most Powerful Models

  16-06-2026 05:30 via it.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: A group made up of dozens of cybersecurity experts, including several well-known veterans of the industry, published an open letter to the U.S. government asking it to lift the export control order on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models. According to the open letter, "this action has taken the best models away from [cybersecurity] defenders" who now can't use the models to find vulnerabilities and make their software and products more secure.
  
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• The US Government Is Letting a Key Data Center Regulation Expire

  16-06-2026 01:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  The Federal Data Center Enhancement Act (FDCEA) is set to expire in September without an apparent replacement, potentially ending requirements for federal agencies to report on data-center efficiency, resilience, energy and water use, and contractor sustainability. Wired reports: Despite the public backlash, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the government agency that sets guidance for how agencies implement policies in line with the president's agenda, is not providing any plans for ho
  
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• FBI Issues Urgent Kali365 Security Warning For Teams, Outlook, OneDrive Users

  16-06-2026 00:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  alternative_right shares a report from The Hill: The FBI released an urgent security warning to the public about a fast-acting scam targeting Microsoft 365 users on Teams, Outlook and OneDrive. The agency warned that the hacking platform Kali365 seeks out OAuth device codes, allowing scammers to sneak past multi-factor authentication codes, and without the need for a password, to access Microsoft accounts. Scammers will send a phishing email impersonating a trusted document-sharing service with
  
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• Google Chrome's Next Update Will Mark the End of Popular Ad Blockers

  15-06-2026 23:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google is removing Chrome's last remaining workarounds for Manifest V2 extensions, effectively ending support for legacy ad blockers such as the original uBlock Origin. 9to5Google reports: CyberNews points out a Chromium commit that removes support for the "kExtensionManifestV2Disabled" flag, which is referred to as "dead code" seeing as Chrome no longer supports Manifest V2 extensions. This removal acts as the final stop for many Manifest V2-based ad blocker extensions that were still in use to
  
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• Users Cry Foul After AMD Stripped Memory Crypto From Its Consumer CPUs

  15-06-2026 22:02 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A decade ago, AMD added a protection to its high-end CPUs to protect them against cold boot attacks and other types of physical exploits that siphon sensitive data out of the connected memory chips. Short for Transparent Secure Memory Encryption, TSME encrypts the entire contents stored in memory, making the data useless to physical attackers. Over time, AMD added TSME to lower-end processors, including the consumer version of its Ryzen chip
  
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• Trump's 'Made In the USA' Phone Is Just a Reskinned HTC U24 Pro

  15-06-2026 21:00 via mobile.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader necro81 writes: The heavily promoted, $499 T1 "Trump Phone" was originally said to be "Made in the USA" and ship in September 2025. Later, that was downgraded to "Assembled in the USA." Given the Trump Organization's lack of engineering or supply chain expertise, many assumed the "T1" would just be a private-label phone made by someone else. After a number of delays, the first phones are finally shipping.
  iFixit has performed a teardown and concluded that the T1 is a jus
  
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• Britain Unveils Sweeping Ban On Social Media For Under-16s

  15-06-2026 20:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from NBC News: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a sweeping ban on social media use for those under 16, joining other countries around the world seeking to protect children online. "It's a big step for our country," Starmer said in a recorded video message released Monday. "Social media is making our children unhappy and unsafe, and as a parent, as much as a Prime Minister, I just can't let that go on anymore," he added.The ban wil
  
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• Fox Is Buying Roku For $22 Billion

  15-06-2026 19:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion, combining Fox's sports, news, entertainment, Tubi, and Fox One offerings with a streaming platform that reaches about 100 million people. The companies say the merger would create the "third-largest player in US television by share of viewing," while Fox insists Roku will remain open to competing apps after the deal closes. CNN reports: Fox has dabbled in streaming over the past few years -- finally launching its Fox One competitor last August -- but has lacke
  
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• Google CEO Largely Avoids Discussing AI In Stanford Commencement Speech

  15-06-2026 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  BrianFagioli writes: Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivered Stanford University's 2026 commencement address, but despite leading one of the companies at the center of the AI boom, he spent very little time discussing artificial intelligence. Instead, the speech focused on optimism, working on hard things, and following your interests. The omission is notable given how many graduates are entering a job market being reshaped by AI. While Pichai briefly referenced a "rewiring of technology," he largely
  
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• Swiss Voters Reject Proposal To Cap Population At 10 Million

  15-06-2026 17:00 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Voters in Switzerland have rejected an unprecedented far-right proposal to cap the country's population at 10 million in a divisive referendum dubbed "the Swiss Brexit." Some 54.79% of voters were against the proposal by the Swiss People's party (SVP) and 45.21% were in favor. Turnout was 58.86%. A different outcome would have obliged the Swiss government to limit the population, currently 9.1 million, to 10 million by 2050, enacting tough r
  
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• Are Many College Students Losing the Ability to Read?

  15-06-2026 13:34 via news.slashdot.org
  Futurism reports:in a new essay for The Chronicle Higher Education, university-level literature and writing instructor Tyler Jagt recalls how not a single one of his students could get through an assigned 20-page article, something that he had read "without complaint" as an undergraduate a decade ago.
  One student confessed that the reason they didn't finish was that they kept losing track of what the paper was about. And there's no doubt that they're not alone. Jagt cites the 2024 National Asses
  
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• IT Workers Are Now Struggling to Find Work, as 'Picky' Companies Demand AI Skills

  15-06-2026 09:04 via it.slashdot.org
  "Battered by years of mass layoffs, California tech workers were hoping the job market would rebound this year," reports the Los Angeles Times. "But things are getting worse."
  The class divide is widening in Silicon Valley as a tiny group of employees is landing unprecedented packages for AI skills, while many others struggle to find work. The have-nots are doing everything that used to guarantee great jobs — refreshing resumes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles and doing interviews — but
  
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• US-Iran Peace Agreement Prompts Stock Rally, Leaves Some Investors Skeptical and Questions on Speed of Resuming Oil Production

  15-06-2026 04:31 via news.slashdot.org
  "Asian stocks rallied Monday while oil prices tumbled," reports CNBC, "after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a peace deal aimed at ending nearly four months of conflict..."
  The strongest reaction was seen in energy markets. U.S. crude oil futures for July delivery were down 4.77% to $80.83 per barrel by 8:27 p.m. ET. Brent futures, the international benchmark, for August delivery traded about 4% lower to $83.77 per barrel. Asian equities surged. South Korea's Kospi jumped 5.1%, Japan's Nikkei 225 cl
  
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• Workers Spend As Much Time 'Botsitting' AI As Producing Useful Work, Survey Finds

  15-06-2026 03:19 via it.slashdot.org
  "As the use of artificial intelligence spreads across companies worldwide, it is relieving workers of tedious old chores but creating new ones," reports the Los Angeles Times.
  "Most people don't realize the amount of time that they're spending working on the tools to get the time savings that they're professing," said Paul Leonardi, Duca Family professor of technology management at UC Santa Barbara."Leonardi is one of the co-authors of the new study published by the Work AI Institute, whose cont
  
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• Microsoft Updates Six Windows Apps. 'Photos' Gets Watermarks for Copilot Images (Off by Default)

  15-06-2026 01:15 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft dropped "massive" updates for six stock Windows apps, reports the "Microsoft enthusiast" site Neowin.
  Here's some of their more interesting highlights for Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint:
  The Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0):AI watermarking — "AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default i
  
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• Microsoft Updates Six Windows' Apps. 'Photos' Gets Watermarks for Copilot Images (Off by Default)

  15-06-2026 01:15 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft dropped "massive" updates for six stock Windows apps, reports the "Microsoft enthusiast" site Neowin.
  Here's some of their more interesting highlights for Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint:
  The Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0):AI watermarking — "AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default i
  
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• UK Scientists See Little Evidence for Claims Smartphones Are Rewiring Kids' Brains

  14-06-2026 23:35 via mobile.slashdot.org
  UK's Members of Parliament (MP) were "looking for proof that smartphones and social media are rotting children's brains," writes The Register — but they got "a less satisfying answer from neuroscientists on Wednesday: nobody can really prove it."Appearing before the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee this week, three researchers spent much of the session explaining that concern and evidence are not quite the same thing. Asked what evidence exists on the impact of digital devices
  
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• As 'Disclosure Day' Premieres, Steven Spielberg Says He Believes Aliens Really Have Visited Earth

  14-06-2026 22:11 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Steven Spielberg grants that his 1977 UFO film Close Encounters was "speculative," writes the Associated Press, but "Disclosure Day, he insists, is the real deal.""It's my first film that will be considered science fiction that I do not consider to be science fiction," Spielberg said in a recent interview. "It's much more reflective of the world as it is evolving and discoveries that are being made as we speak." Spielberg, at 79, is trying to revive and reconsider the alien wonder that's long li
  
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• Will Meta's $14 Billion Bet on AI Ever Pay Off?

  14-06-2026 20:43 via tech.slashdot.org
  "A year after spending over $14 billion to bring in Alexandr Wang and a group of his top Scale AI engineers to revamp its artificial intelligence efforts, Meta is at least back on the map in AI," reports CNBC, "though it's still far behind OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in the market."Wang's big accomplishment was the delivery of the Muse Spark AI model in April, marking Meta's first jump into proprietary foundation models and away from a strict adherence to open source, or open weight as it's mor
  
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