ijeff

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/2319056 ([email protected])

• The U.S. is updating rules to prevent American chipmakers from selling AI chips to China that skirt existing restrictions.
• These updated rules will expand the scope of restricted chips and demand reporting for certain shipments.
• The move aims to prevent U.S. technology from strengthening China's military but risks complicating U.S.-China diplomatic efforts.
• Consumer chips are exempt, but the new rules aim to close loopholes and evolve with technology advancements.

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/2217155 ([email protected])

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/2217153 ([email protected])

• Launch of new security-centric products and features: Pixel 8 with Tensor G3 chip for enhanced cyber attack resistance, improved Gmail sender requirements for reduced spam, and default passkeys for simplified and secure sign-ins across Google Accounts.
• Inherent security in products aimed at reducing user burden, exemplified by the automatic security features in Google technology allowing users to operate online with a sense of safety.
• Updated privacy controls, including an easier method to clear the last 15 minutes of browsing history on Chrome and a dark web report to check Gmail address exposure on the dark web, all aimed at enhancing user privacy and security.
• Educational initiatives beyond Google products, in collaboration with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), to raise cybersecurity awareness and provide tools and tips for online safety, including a series of educational videos.

cross-posted from [email protected]

cross-posted from [email protected]

cross-posted from [email protected]

• Google announced the launch of Assistant with Bard, an enhancement using generative AI, during the Made by Google event alongside the unveiling of Pixel 8 and Pixel Watch 2.
• Assistant with Bard aims to offer personalized assistance such as trip planning, email details retrieval, and grocery list creation.
• The new assistant integrates with existing Google apps like Gmail and Docs for better information retrieval and summarization, maintaining interaction via text, voice, or images.
• A notable feature is its ability to provide photo captions; by overlaying Bard on a photo, users can generate captions and relevant hashtags for social media posting.
• Privacy settings are customizable according to user preferences, ensuring a level of privacy control.
• The release is staged, with a rollout to early testers "soon" and a broader launch on Android and iOS platforms "in the coming months."

cross-posted from [email protected]

• The Android Earthquake Alert system failed to detect recent tremors in north India, possibly due to its recent launch and gradual rollout to Android 5+ users in the country.
• The system utilizes accelerometers in Android smartphones to function as mini-seismometers, identifying potential earthquakes when multiple phones detect simultaneous shaking.
• Once an earthquake is detected, the system sends advance warnings to nearby Android handsets. The feature was recently made available in local languages in India.
• However, the system has limitations including the inability to detect all earthquakes, and errors in estimating magnitude and shaking intensity.
• Usage of this feature requires Wi-Fi and/or cellular data connectivity, with both Android Earthquake Alerts and location settings enabled.

cross-posted from [email protected]

cross-posted from [email protected]

• Samsung is launching a new cloud gaming service on its Galaxy smartphones and tablets, with the service possibly reaching "1 billion" Galaxy devices as early as this week.
• The cloud gaming service aims to remove game download times, enabling immediate streaming of mobile games without the need for downloading them from the Play Store or Galaxy Store.
• Samsung plans to undercut the typical 30% service fees charged by other platforms to attract developers to its cloud gaming service.
• The cloud gaming service has been integrated into the Samsung Game Launcher and has received positive feedback during ongoing testing.
• This move follows Samsung's earlier ventures into cloud gaming, including the 2022 launch of Gaming Hub on its TVs, which integrated various cloud gaming services.

cross-posted from [email protected]

Microsoft’s Nadella to Testify at Google Antitrust Trial Monday

By Leah Nylen and Dina Bass

October 1, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. EDT

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is set to take the stand Monday as part of the Justice Department’s antitrust trial against Google.

The DOJ has accused Alphabet Inc.’s search division of unlawfully maintaining a monopoly by paying $10 billion a year to rivals, smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers to make its search engine the default option on mobile devices and web browsers. Google has denied the allegations.

To help prove its case, the DOJ hopes to use testimony from Nadella and other executives from Microsoft to show how even a company of its size and resources couldn’t unlock Google’s hold on the search market.

Last week, Microsoft business development executive Jonathan Tinter testified that the Redmond, Washington-based software giant failed to secure a deal to put its Bing search app on Apple’s products, even though it was willing to offer far better terms than Google and lose multiple billions of dollars on the agreement. In the end, Apple signed a fresh deal with Google.

Tinter also told the court that Microsoft’s Surface Duo smartphone was required to use Google search in order to license the Android mobile operating system and was limited from using Bing on its own devices. Nadella was personally involved in discussing some of these issues with his Google counterpart, Sundar Pichai, and will probably be asked about those conversations.

Nadella was instrumental in the development of Bing, created by Microsoft in an ultimately doomed attempt to catch up with Google and capture a chunk of the online advertising market.

While Bing has gained share on desktop computers, where it was integrated with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and later Edge browser, it has lagged on mobile devices where people overwhelming use Google. Three or so years ago, Microsoft even discussed selling Bing to Apple, a transaction that would have replaced Google as the default option on the iPhone maker’s devices, Bloomberg reported. But a deal never came to fruition.