Innholdsfortegnelse for #638 i Techlife News

Smartphones could get much smarter this year as the next wave of artificial intelligence seeps into the devices that accompany people almost everywhere they go. Samsung, the biggest rival to Apple and its iPhone, provided a glimpse of how smartphones are evolving during a Wednesday unveiling of the next generation of its flagship Galaxy models. The sales pitch for the Galaxy S24 lineup revolves around an array of new features powered by AI. “We will reshape the technology landscape, we will open a new chapter without barriers to unleash your potential,” TM Roh, the president of Samsung’s mobile experience division, vowed to a crowd gathered in a San Jose, California, arena usually used for hockey games and concerts. Besides featuring some of Samsung’s own work in AI, the Galaxy S24…

Goldman Sachs’ profits jumped 51% from a year earlier, the investment banks said this week, helped by the strong returns in the overall market in the last three months of the year. However the storied investment bank closed out a difficult 2023 with its profits down nearly a third from 2022, as the bank wrote off its consumer banking franchise and laid off employees in what the bank has called a turnaround year. Goldman posted a profit of $2 billion in the last three months of the year, up from $1.33 billion in the same period a year earlier. On a per-share basis, Goldman earned $5.48 per share, beating analysts’ expectations. The bank saw modest improvements in its trading and investment management divisions, but saw declines in its important investment…

The imminent launch of Apple’s Vision Pro headset marks a pivotal moment in the company’s history and, for the first time, requires a comprehensive presentation and hands-on experience for the average consumer to truly appreciate its capabilities. As we approach the launch day, the anticipation surrounding in-store demos is palpable. A NEW IN-STORE EXPERIENCE Traditionally, Apple Stores have been the epitome of sleek design and straightforward customer experiences. However, the Vision Pro headset is set to change this dynamic drastically. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, those interested in a demo will undergo a multi-step process, including face scans, custom assembly of the Vision Pro, a detailed walkthrough of the interface and controls, and device calibration, all before a comprehensive 25-minute demonstration. The new experience will form part of the onboarding…

Boeing told employees this week that it plans to increase quality inspections of its 737 Max 9 aircraft, following the failure of an emergency exit door panel on an Alaska Airlines flight last week. It is the latest in a series of troubles for Boeing, whose reputation as the premier American aircraft manufacturer has been tarnished by a series of manufacturing flaws that have led some airlines to hold off aircraft purchases or go with its European rival, Airbus. The inspections come after Federal regulators grounded the 737 Max, and that Boeing has said that after the Alaska Airlines flight and customer complaints, it is “clear that we are not where we need to be” on quality assurance and controls. “Our team is also taking a hard look at our…

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a court order to take effect that could loosen Apple’s grip on its lucrative iPhone app store, and potentially affect billions of dollars in revenue a year. The justices rejected Apple’s appeal of lower-court rulings that found some of Apple’s app store rules for apps purchased on more than 1 billion iPhones constitute unfair competition under California law. The appeal stemmed from an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, maker of the popular Fortnite video game. Epic lost its broader claim that Cupertino, California-based Apple was violating federal antitrust law, and the justices also rejected Epic’s appeal Tuesday. But in turning away Apple’s plea, the court lifted a hold on an order to allow app developers throughout the U.S. to insert links to other…

Technology company Baidu refuted a newspaper report that said its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie was linked to Chinese military research. Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post cited an academic paper from a university affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army cyberwarfare division. The paper stated that the division had tested its artificial intelligence system on Baidu’s Ernie and on artificial intelligence firm iFlyTek’s Spark, both of which are language-based AI chatbots similar to ChatGPT. After its Hong Kong-listed stock plunged more than 11.5% Monday, Baidu denied the allegations, saying in a statement that it had not engaged in a business collaboration with the paper’s authors or their affiliated institutions. “Ernie Bot is available to and used by the general public,” the Chinese company said in its statement. The academic paper…

Artificial intelligence is easily the biggest buzzword for world leaders and corporate bosses diving into big ideas at the World Economic Forum’s glitzy annual meeting in Davos. Breathtaking advances in generative AI stunned the world last year, and the elite crowd is angling to take advantage of its promise and minimize its risks. In a sign of ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s skyrocketing profile, CEO Sam Altman made his Davos debut to rock star crowds, with his benefactor, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, hot on his heels. Illustrating AI’s geopolitical importance like few other technologies before it, the word was on the lips of world leaders from China to France. It was visible across the Swiss Alpine town and percolated through afterparties. Here’s a look at the buzz: OPENAI OPENING BIG AT DAVOS…

The barista tipped the jug of smooth, foamy milk over the latte, pouring slowly at first, then lifting and tilting the jug like a choreographed dance to paint the petals of a tulip. Latte art is a skill that can take months if not years of practice to master — but not for this barista powered by artificial intelligence. Robots of all kinds caused a stir on the show floor last week at the annual CES technology trade show in Las Vegas. It’s innovations like this that worry Roman Alejo, a 34-year-old barista at the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, who can’t help but wonder if the clock is ticking on hospitality jobs in the age of AI. “It is very scary because tomorrow is never promised,” he…

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has outlined a plan to prevent its tools from being used to spread election misinformation as voters in more than 50 countries prepare to cast their ballots in national elections this year. The safeguards spelled out by the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup in a blog post this week include a mix of preexisting policies and newer initiatives to prevent the misuse of its wildly popular generative AI tools. They can create novel text and images in seconds but also be weaponized to concoct misleading messages or convincing fake photographs. The steps will apply specifically to OpenAI, only one player in an expanding universe of companies developing advanced generative AI tools. The company, which announced the moves this week, said it plans to “continue our platform safety…

The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said this week in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam, which for years has been trying to highlight the growing disparities between the super-rich and the bulk of the global population during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, reckons the gap has been “supercharged” since the coronavirus pandemic. The group said the fortunes of the five richest men — Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault and his family of luxury company LVMH, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and investment guru Warren Buffett — have spiked by 114% in real terms since 2020, when the world was…

Uber is shutting down alcohol delivery app Drizly, the company confirmed, three years after acquiring the platform for $1.1 billion. Drizly will officially shut down at the end of March, Uber told. That means orders are open until then, Drizly said in details posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “We’ll be sure to let you know when it’s last call,” Drizly wrote in a post this week. In a prepared statement, Uber’s senior vice president of delivery Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty said that the company decided to close Drizly’s business and “focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything — from food to groceries to alcohol — all on a single app.” Uber purchased Drizly in a cash-and-stock deal back in 2021. The…

Amazon-owned online audiobook and podcast service Audible is laying off about 5% of its workforce, marking the third round of job cuts at the e-commerce giant’s businesses last week as the technology industry continues to shed roles in the new year. In a memo sent to employees, Audible CEO Bob Carrigan said the company is in good shape, but faces an “increasingly challenging landscape.” “We did not take this route without considerable thought,” Carrigan said. “But getting leaner and more efficient is the way we will need to operate now — and in the foreseeable future — in order to continue delivering best-in-class audio storytelling to our customers around the world.” A spokesperson for Audible declined to provide the number of employees who will be affected by the cuts. The…

For nearly a week, frigid temperatures from Chicago to northern Texas have made life painful for electric-vehicle owners, with reduced driving range and hours of waiting at charging stations. In Oak Brook, Illinois, near Chicago, television reporters found Teslas that were running out of juice while in long lines for plugs at a Supercharger station. The temperature hit a low of minus 9 Fahrenheit (-23 Celsius). Outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Teslas were plugged in at six of eight charging stations Wednesday as the wind howled with a temperature of 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 Celsius). At least one driver was nearly out of juice. It’s well known that EVs lose some of their travel range in the cold, especially in subzero temperatures like those that hit the nation’s midsection…

From electric cars to transparent TVs to the latest accessibility tech and virtual assistants backed by artificial intelligence, there was a wide range of innovations presented at the CES tech show in Las Vegas last week. The best of it aimed to solve big real-world problems. Some of it aimed to make your life more fun. And some of it was just a little out there. Experts spent last week combing cavernous exhibit halls for the most exciting, interesting and unusual tech innovations. Here’s what caught our eye at CES 2024. ACCESSIBILITY PRODUCTS WERE BIG ON HOPE At a conference where excess and opulence manifested itself in nearly everything, it was encouraging to see how much progress has been made toward developing assistive technologies for the disabled. Boston-based GyroGear, a…

Generations of Americans have held firm to a version of free speech that makes room for even the vilest of views. It’s girded by a belief that the good ideas rise above the bad, that no one should be punished for voicing an idea — except in rare cases where the idea could lead directly to illegal action. Today, that idea faces competition more forceful and vehement than it has seen for a century. On college campuses, a newer version of free speech is emerging as young generations redraw the line where expression crosses into harm. There’s a wave of students who have no tolerance for speech that marginalizes. They draw lines around language that leads to damage, either psychological or physical. Their judgments weigh the Constitution but also incorporate…

John Walsh, advocate for missing children and longtime host of “America’s Most Wanted,” said he feels outmanned by criminals all the time – especially in the courtroom. “I say to myself, ‘My god, the lawyer for this dirtbag predator is smarter and more sophisticated than the cops are’,” the co-founder of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “They don’t really know the technology.” Human traffickers and sexual predators often use high-end technology and increasingly take advantage of encryption to protect the details of their crimes, Walsh said. And even if they didn’t, law enforcement officials, especially in smaller cities and towns, lack the budget and the access to the technological tools that would speed up the investigation and aid in the prosecution of the offenders. Cellebrite DI, Ltd.,…

More executives are feeling better about the global economy, but a growing number don’t think their companies will survive the coming decade without a major overhaul because of pressure from climate change and technology like artificial intelligence, according to a new survey of CEOs by one of the world’s largest consulting firms, PwC. The survey of more than 4,700 CEOs worldwide was released this week as business elites, political leaders and activists descended on the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and it showed a mixed picture of the coming years. Of the executives, 38% were optimistic about the strength of the economy, up from 18% last year, when the world was mired in high inflation, weak growth, rising interest rates and more. The CEOs’ expectation of economic…

The squabble over billion of dollars in overdraft fees that Americans get charged every year is intensifying. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to propose rules this week that further rein in banks’ ability to charge customers a fee when they overdraw their bank account. Opponents of the fees often cite the example of a $3 cup of coffee costing someone $40. The banking industry is gearing up to fight back with a multimillion-dollar marketing and lobbying campaign. While banks have drastically cut back on overdraft fees in the past decade, the nation’s biggest banks still take in roughly $8 billion in overdraft fees every year, according to data from the CFPB and bank public records. The Biden Administration has placed overdraft fees at the center of a campaign…