Technology

Apple Faces Growing Suit Over “Stalking Via AirTags”

Ars Technica reports: This month, more than three dozen victims allegedly terrorized by stalkers using Apple AirTags have joined a class-action lawsuit filed in a California court last December against Apple. They alleged in an amended complaint that, partly due to Apple’s negligence, AirTags have become “one of the most dangerous and frightening technologies employed by stalkers” because they can …

Read More »

Best Buy To Soon Stop Selling All Physical Media

The Digital Bits reports: The Digital Bits has learned from industry sources—and we’ve confirmed it with multiple sources now—that Best Buy plans to exit the physical media business for good next year, possibly as soon as the end of Q1 2024. This includes not just their in-store Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD sales, which the retailer has been gradually …

Read More »

23andMe Confirms User Data Has Been Hacked

Ars Technica reports: Genetic profiling service 23andMe has commenced an investigation after private user data was been scraped off its website.  Friday’s confirmation comes five days after an unknown entity took to an online crime forum to advertise the sale of private information for millions of 23andMe users. The forum posts claimed that the stolen data included origin estimation, phenotype, …

Read More »

Amazon’s Alexa Is Saying The 2020 Election Was Stolen

The Washington Post reports: Amid concerns the rise of artificial intelligence will supercharge the spread of misinformation comes a wild fabrication from a more prosaic source: Amazon’s Alexa, which declared that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Asked about fraud in the race — in which President Biden defeated former president Donald Trump with 306 electoral college votes — the …

Read More »

Google Maps Sued Over Fatality At Collapsed Bridge

The New York Daily News reports: Google is being sued by the family of a North Carolina man who drowned after he drove off a collapsed bridge while following outdated directions from the Maps app. Philip Paxson was driving home from his daughter’s birthday party on Sept. 30, 2022 when his car plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory — about …

Read More »

Apple Issues Update To Block Israeli Outfit’s Spyware

The Associated Press reports: Apple released a significant security update for iPhones and iPads Thursday to patch newly discovered security vulnerabilities in the devices’ system software. The issue was discovered by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, who said the software flaw was being “actively exploited” to deliver commercial spyware called Pegasus developed and sold by the Israeli …

Read More »

Coming iPhones To Feature Universal USB-C Charger

Bloomberg News reports: Apple is set to shift its iPhone charging port from Lightning to USB-C after pushing back on such a change for years. If Apple Inc. had its way, the iPhone would continue to use the current Lightning connector for the next few years — until the point when the company is ready to begin phasing out ports …

Read More »

MLB Stadium Tests “Facial Authentication” Entry System

AM New York reports: Major League Baseball is testing facial authentication-based entry that would allow ticketed fans to walk directly into stadiums — a convenient new arrival method that the league says won’t compromise on safety and security. The Philadelphia Phillies have partnered with MLB to use their stadium as the site of a pilot program called Go-Ahead Entry, which …

Read More »

Federal Court: AI-Generated Art Can’t Be Copyrighted

Reuters reports: A work of art created by artificial intelligence without any human input cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, a U.S. court in Washington, D.C., has ruled. Only works with human authors can receive copyrights, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said on Friday, affirming the Copyright Office’s rejection of an application filed by computer scientist Stephen Thaler on behalf …

Read More »

Netflix Begins Public Testing Of Streamed Video Games

The Verge reports: Netflix is kicking off the first public tests of its cloud-streamed games. Beginning Monday, some Netflix subscribers in Canada and the UK will be able to check out Netflix games streamed to select TVs, connected TV devices, and on the web from Netflix.com. The company first launched its mobile gaming offerings as a free perk for subscribers …

Read More »

Politico: 25 Congress Members Drive Electric Vehicles

Politico reports: Congress is deeply divided on whether Washington should push more Americans to buy electric vehicles. But more than two dozen lawmakers have made the leap themselves, according to a first-of-its kind tally by POLITICO’s E&E News — including at least two House Republicans who oppose President Joe Biden’s climate policies. Conservative Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is a longtime …

Read More »

Whole Foods To Roll Out Pay-By-Palm Nationwide

ABC News reports: Amazon is bringing its pay-by-palm technology to Whole Foods stores. The company announced Thursday that its Amazon One palm recognition system will soon be in more than 500 Whole Foods stores by the end of the year. Amazon rolled out the technology in 2020, and it is currently available in more than 200 Whole Foods stores nationwide. …

Read More »

Tech Giants Agree To Meet Voluntary AI Safeguards

The Associated Press reports: Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology have agreed to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by President Joe Biden’s administration. The White House said Friday that it has secured voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies meant to ensure their AI products are safe before they …

Read More »

Tesla Hails Production Of Long-Delayed Cybertruck

TechCrunch reports: Tesla over the weekend said its first much anticipated Cybertruck came off the electric vehicle maker’s production line in Texas. The debut of the long-delayed, futuristic-looking pickup truck comes in the lead up to Tesla’s second-quarter 2023 earnings call. Tesla CEO Elon Musk first introduced the Cybertruck in 2019, but vehicle production has repeatedly been delayed. The truck …

Read More »

Webb Telescope Offers Stunning Image On Anniversary

Via press release from NASA: From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never before in its first year of science operations. To celebrate the completion of a successful first year, NASA has released Webb’s image of …

Read More »

Robots Hold Press Conference, Promise Not To Rise Up

Reuters reports: Robots presented at an AI forum said on Friday they expected to increase in number and help solve global problems, and would not steal humans’ jobs or rebel against us. The nine humanoid robots gathered at the ‘AI for Good’ conference in Geneva, where organisers are seeking to make the case for artificial intelligence and the robots it …

Read More »

Grammy Awards Rules AI-Created Music Ineligible

The Associated Press reports: The Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards to better reflect an evolving music industry. Of those newly instituted guidelines, protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning sparked headlines: “Only human creators” could win the music industry’s highest honor in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music. …

Read More »

Apple Is First Company With $3 Trillion Market Cap

The Associated Press reports: Apple became the first publicly traded company to close a trading day with a $3 trillion market value, marking another milestone for a technology juggernaut that has reshaped society with a line-up of products that churn out eye-popping profits. Apple shares closed up 2.3% at $193.97 Friday, bringing its market value to $3.04 trillion. Apple is …

Read More »

Survey: 73% Of Americans No Longer Have A Landline

The Washington Post reports: About 73 percent of American adults lived in a household without a landline at the end of last year — a figure that has tripled since 2010. The latest survey shows that landlines are far more common among homeowners (34 percent have them) than among renters (15 percent), while Hispanic Americans (20 percent) are less likely …

Read More »

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Sends “Postcard” From Mars

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reports: After completing a major software update in April, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took a last look at “Marker Band Valley” before leaving it behind, capturing a “postcard” of the scene. The postcard is an artistic interpretation of the landscape, with color added over two black-and-white panoramas captured by Curiosity’s navigation cameras. The views were taken …

Read More »