Author: zppiot
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US spacecraft that landed on the moon is about to stop functioningBut another lunar lander, from Japan, has unexpectedly popped back to life. (NYT $)2 Meet the nine-month-old $2 billion French AI startup Mistral claims it’ll rival US giants—but it’s also just taken money from Microsoft. (WSJ $)+ Microsoft is investing an undisclosed amount into Mistral. (FT $)3 How a local news website became an AI-generated clickbait farmThis case provides a fascinating insight into how generative AI is starting to fill the internet up with trash. (Wired $)+ We are hurtling toward…
When the iPhone 14 series launched, we got our first glimpse at how smartphones can combine with satellite connections. Limited in many ways, sure, but still pretty important — especially when it comes to saving your life. You could send a one way signal, containing all the important information about how rescuers can find you, and what condition you are in. Cool.But what about… actual calls? Can you imagine going to the top of the Alps and calling home? Well, that would probably not be at the top of your to-do list, but we are exaggerating to make a point…
Rules that require all AI-generated content to be watermarked are impossible to enforce, and it’s also highly possible that watermarks could end up doing the opposite of what they’re supposed to do, Leufer says. For one thing, in open-source systems, watermarking and provenance techniques can be removed by bad actors. This is because everyone has access to the model’s source code, so specific users can simply remove any techniques they don’t want. If only the biggest companies or most popular proprietary platforms offer watermarks on their AI-generated content, then the absence of a watermark could come to signify that content…
If you live in the UK, now’s definitely the time to score the Google Pixel Buds Pro at a bargain price! Amazon UK just released an exciting deal on these top-notch earbuds, selling different colors at a cool 33% discount. These puppies haven’t been offered at discounted prices in about a couple of weeks. As far as we know, the previous deal was live for a limited time, which is also how Amazon UK advertises this one. In other words, if you’d like to complete your Google ecosystem with a new pair of wireless earbuds, don’t think twice and pull…
“The present is not a prison sentence, but merely our current snapshot,” they write. “We don’t have to use unethical or opaque algorithmic decision systems, even in contexts where their use may be technically feasible. Ads based on mass surveillance are not necessary elements of our society. We don’t need to build systems that learn the stratifications of the past and present and reinforce them in the future. Privacy is not dead because of technology; it’s not true that the only way to support journalism or book writing or any craft that matters to you is spying on you to…
If you live in a place where power outages often come without notice, getting a backup power source is more than sensible. Granted, portable power stations aren’t the most budget-friendly items. On the bright side, merchants like Amazon regularly offer deals on many of the most popular stations. Right now, for instance, the retailer is offering EcoFlow’s highly capable Delta 1300 at a $300 cheaper price for a limited time. At 27% off, the station drops to its best price for 2024 only for the second time since the beginning of this year. The last time this limited-time deal was…
Web novels are a unique form of literature that has been popular on the Chinese internet for much of the last two decades: long stories that are written and posted chapter by chapter every day. Each chapter can be read in less than 10 minutes, but installments will keep being added for months if not years. Readers become avid fans, waiting for the new chapter to come out every day and paying a few cents to access it. While some talented Chinese book authors got their big break by writing web novels, the majority of these works are the popcorn of…
At its recent Unpacked event unveiling the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung dropped a tantalizing hint about its first-ever smart ring. Now, at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the company showcased the Galaxy Ring live, and it is nothing short of stunning. While Samsung has been tight-lipped about the specifics of the ring, slated for release sometime in the second half of 2024, recent reports are shedding more light on this intriguing device. During a briefing at MWC, Samsung spilled the beans on the battery life of the Galaxy Ring, as reported by Financial News (via Android Authority). According…
The Galaxy A25 5G has been on the market for just over a month. However, the world’s largest online retailer is apparently eager to lift your spirits with a first-ever deal for this budget-friendly handset. That’s right; the Galaxy phone is now available at 12% off its MSRP on Amazon. Undoubtedly not the most generous deal, the 12% markdown is still quite tempting, especially considering that it’s the first discount available for this device (without a carrier plan attached to it.) By the way, Best Buy has the same offer on the hot new Samsung phone, in case you prefer it…
Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus and founder and CEO of Nothing, has expressed his admiration for certain Apple products and practices in the recent past – he said that he respects Apple for constantly refining the iPhone. Just a few weeks ago, he said that Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro was not overhyped, but, on the contrary, the spatial computer was actually “underhyped”. Also, he said that he’ll review the Apple Vision Pro “when things calm down and I can be more objective” in an X/Twitter post.Not being a smartwatch fan, though, he’s not an admirer of the Apple Watch.Now, Carl…
The so-called “Google graveyard” is about to get bigger with yet another app that the search giant plans to discontinue, YouTube Kids. Introduced a while ago as a way for kids to access YouTube on various platforms, including smart TVs, consoles and streaming devices, the standalone YouTube Kids app will be completely removed from TVs in July.Although the YouTube Kids app icon on the TV will be going away later this summer, YouTube Kids will still be available by going to a child’s profile in the YouTube app. Basically, this means that the standalone Kids app will be replaced with…
With OnePlus 2 Watch 2 now released and Oppo Watch X just around the corner, Google has started to hype the software under the hood of these new wearable devices, explaining how it managed to boost both power and performance.These important improvements have been implemented with the help of Google hardware partners, so they touch every aspect of the Wear OS development including design.In a blog post published this week, Google reveals how it managed to improve on two key aspects: power and performance. One of the benefits that OnePlus Watch 2 offers to its users is extended battery life.…
OnePlus is trying a second time to bring customers a solid wearable device. The newly revealed OnePlus Watch 2 promises to address all the weaknesses of the previous model, while adding a bunch of new features and improvements thanks to its unique dual-engine architecture.Powered by the latest version of Wear OS by Google (Wear OS 4), OnePlus Watch 2 features two different chipsets, the Snapdragon W5 performance chipset and the BES 2700 MCU efficiency chipset. Thanks to the dual-engine architecture, OnePlus Watch 2 users will experience improved battery life and better performance.According to OnePlus, the 500 mAh battery powering the…
ZTE used the MWC 2024 expo to announce its grand return to the global market with a slew of innovative products, from the cheapest foldable phone to the flagship Z60 Ultra and a $199 photography-oriented Focus series, plus everything in-between like the new nubia Pad 3D II with AI and 5G connectivity.The company announced an “extensive global expansion throughout Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa” for its newest 2024 crop of phones that range from the lowly $149 nubia Music to the flagship Z60 Ultra with its under-display camera.The nubia Music, however, offers dual 3.5mm audio jacks and…
I wish I can give you the full rundown on the Galaxy Ring, but the truth is I can’t. Samsung continues to be incredibly tight-lipped regarding its health-focused smart ring, so we still know next to nothing about it.However, the Galaxy Ring did move one small step towards being a real product here at the Mobile World Congress, where it’s available on display behind glass windows. A number of previously unknown facts were indeed shared by Samsung representatives, which enables us to at least start paining the full picture.First things first, so far there seem to be three different Galaxy…
When you think of the Energizer name, you think of batteries (and the Energizer Bunny). Avenir Telecom licensed the Energizer name and at MWC the company introduced the Energizer Hard Case P28K smartphone. What sets this device apart from any other Android handset is the 28,000mAh battery inside the device. As a comparison, the battery that powers the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra weighs in at 5,000mAh. The Hard Case P28K battery fast charges at 33W and takes about 90 minutes to fully charge.Avenir says that it created the phone to be used in countries where access to a reliable power…