Innholdsfortegnelse for #654 i Techlife News

New York City’s watchdog agency has launched an investigation into allegations that the city’s police department improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens. The city Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday, saying it was prompted by recent requests from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society asking it to look into the NYPD’s social media policies and practices. Adams, a Democrat, in her letter cited reports from The Associated Press and others highlighting how the department and some of its top officials have in recent months adopted a more aggressive online presence, using their accounts on the X platform to take on critics. In one post featured in the reports, Chief of Patrol John Chell said…

TikTok will begin labeling content created using artificial intelligence when it’s uploaded from outside its own platform. TikTok says its efforts are an attempt to combat misinformation from being spread on its social media platform. “AI enables incredible creative opportunities, but can confuse or mislead viewers if they don’t know content was AI-generated,” the company said in a prepared statement Thursday. “Labeling helps make that context clear—which is why we label AIGC made with TikTok AI effects, and have required creators to label realistic AIGC for over a year.” TikTok said that it’s teaming with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity and will use their Content Credentials technology. The company said that the technology can attach metadata to content, which it can use to instantly recognize and label AI-generated…

At this year’s Let Loose Event, Apple unveiled all-new iPad Airs, iPad Pros, and new accessories like the Apple Pencil Pro. These devices offer game-changing graphics and outrageous performance and showcase the powerful M4 chip for the first time. APPLE’S THINNEST PRODUCT The latest iPad Pro incorporates groundbreaking features and technological advancements. The redesigned models are equipped with the M4 chip, boast Ultra Retina XDR OLED displays, and a nano-texture display option, setting a new standard for the iPad lineup. The new iPad Pro models present a considerably slimmer profile, thinner than an iPod Nano whilst offering display sizes of 11 and 13 inches. The 11-inch variant measures just 5.3mm in thickness and weighs under a pound, making it exceptionally portable. The larger 13-inch model, while maintaining a slim 5.1mm…

Federal highway safety investigators want Tesla to tell them how and why it developed the fix in a recall of more than 2 million vehicles equipped with the company’s Autopilot partially automated driving system. Investigators with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have concerns about whether the recall remedy worked because Tesla has reported 20 crashes since the remedy was sent out as an online software update in December. The recall fix also was to address whether Autopilot should be allowed to operate on roads other than limited access highways. The fix for that was increased warnings to the driver on roads with intersections. But in a letter to Tesla posted on the agency’s website, investigators wrote that they could not find a difference between warnings to the driver…

Japanese video-game maker Nintendo said this week that it will make an announcement about a successor to its Switch home console sometime before March 2025. In reporting its financial results, Nintendo gave no details about the announcement, including about whether it would launch that successor product during this fiscal year, or just announce its plans for it. “We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015,” the company’s president, Shuntaro Furukawa, said in a statement. Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. reported a 13% rise in profit for the fiscal year that ended in March, boosted by solid demand for Switch software like “The Legend of Zelda: Tears…

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suing the U.S. over a law that would ban the popular video-sharing app unless it’s sold to another company, arguing that it vaguely paints it as a threat to national security to get around the First Amendment. The widely expected lawsuit filed on Tuesday may be setting up what will likely be a protracted legal fight over TikTok’s future in the United States — and could end up before the Supreme Court. If TikTok loses, it says it will be forced to shut down next year. The popular social video company says that the law, which President Joe Biden signed as part of a larger $95 billion foreign aid package, is so “obviously unconstitutional” that the sponsors of the measure are trying…

A federal judge on Wednesday questioned whether Apple has set up a gauntlet of exasperating hurdles to discourage the use of alternative payment options in iPhone apps, despite a court order seeking to create more ways for consumers to pay for digital services. The verbal sparring between Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and the head of Apple’s app store kicked off a hearing focused on whether Apple is still steering U.S. consumers to its once-exclusive app payment system in defiance of an injunction aimed at promoting more choices that could help lower prices. Gonzalez Rogers’ order requires Apple to allow app developers to display links to other options besides the company’s own payment system in the U.S. Apple makes billions of dollars annually from that setup, which imposes commission ranging from…

Like many of us, Jessica Peoples has heard the warnings about excessive screen time at night. Still, she estimates spending 30 to 60 minutes on her phone before going to sleep, mostly scrolling through social media. “Recently, I’ve been trying to limit the amount,” says Peoples, a discrimination investigator with the state of New Jersey. “I do notice that how much time I spend affects how long it takes to fall asleep.” Over half of Americans spend time on their phones within an hour of going to sleep, according to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation. That’s the very latest we should shut off devices, experts say. The brain needs to wind down long before bedtime to get the restorative deep sleep that helps the body function, said Melissa…

AI fakery is quickly becoming one of the biggest problems confronting us online. Deceptive pictures, videos and audio are proliferating as a result of the rise and misuse of generative artificial intelligence tools. With AI deepfakes cropping up almost every day, depicting everyone from Taylor Swift to Donald Trump to Katy Perry attending the Meta Gala, it’s getting harder to tell what’s real from what’s not. Video and image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney and OpenAI’s Sora make it easy for people without any technical skills to create deepfakes — just type a request and the system spits it out. These fake images might seem harmless. But they can be used to carry out scams and identity theft or propaganda and election manipulation. Here is how to avoid being duped by…

Internet casino gambling is legal in only a handful of states, but the industry is convinced it is the future of betting, even as some worry about cannibalizing physical casinos. Speaking Wednesday at the SBC Summit North America, a major gambling industry conference, industry executives acknowledged the difficulty they’ve had in expanding the legalization of online casino games. Yet they remain certain that, like many other industries, the future of gambling is online. “Once you get to millennials, people are comfortable basically running their entire life off their cell phone,” said Elizabeth Suever, a vice president with Bally’s Corporation. “This is where gaming is going.” It’s just not getting there all that quickly. Only seven U.S. states currently offer legal online casino games: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode…

Walt Disney Company revealed an innovative addition to its Disney+ lineup, exclusive to Apple Vision Pro users. “What If...? An Immersive Story” represents Disney’s pioneering venture into interactive storytelling, designed specifically for the advanced mixed reality capabilities of Apple Vision Pro. The app is inspired by the Marvel’s What If...? series, inviting fans to explore the Multiverse in an unprecedented way. Users will experience a unique blend of video, interactive storytelling, and mixed reality. This hour-long narrative adventure promises to immerse users deeply into the Marvel Universe, offering a dynamic and engaging experience that integrates both augmented and virtual realities. By using simple gestures and movements, participants can interact with the environment around them, making each journey through the story uniquely their own. The new app stands out as a…

The Walt Disney Co. swung to a loss in its second quarter because of restructuring and impairment charges, but its adjusted profit topped expectations and its streaming business turned a profit. Theme parks also continued to do well and the company boosted its outlook for the year. While Disney said this week that it foresees its overall streaming business softening in the current quarter due to its platform in India, Disney+Hotstar, it expects its combined streaming businesses to be profitable in the fourth quarter and to be a meaningful future growth driver for the company, with further improvements in profitability in fiscal 2025. The direct-to-consumer business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, posted quarterly operating income of $47 million compared with a loss of $587 million a year earlier. Revenue rose…

The World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted its 10th class of honorees Thursday, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impacts on the video game industry and popular culture. The inductees debuted across decades, advancing technologies along the way and expanding not only the number of players, but the ages and interests of those at the controls, Hall of Fame authorities said in revealing the winners. The Hall of Fame recognizes electronic games of all types — arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile. The Class of 2024 was selected by experts from among a field of 12 finalists that also included Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Neopets, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and You Don’t Know Jack. The honor for Atari’s Asteroids comes 45 years after…

Apple last week disclosed its steepest quarterly decline in iPhone sales since the pandemic’s outset, deepening a slump that’s increasing the pressure on the trendsetting company to spruce up its products with more artificial intelligence. The 10% drop in year-over-year iPhone sales for the January-March period is latest sign of weakness in a product that generates most of Apple’s revenue. It marked the biggest drop in iPhone sales since July-September period in 2020, when production bottlenecks caused by factory closures during the pandemic resulted in a delayed release of that year’s model. The current iPhone downturn was the main reason Apple’s revenue for the latest quarter decreased 4% from last year to $90.8 billion. It marked the fifth consecutive quarter that Apple’s revenue dipped from the previous year. Apple’s profit…

The U.S. government loosened some rules governing electric vehicle tax credits, potentially making more EVs eligible for credits of up to $7,500 but leading critics to accuse the Biden administration of helping China. The Treasury Department announced final regulations for the credits under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, giving automakers more time to comply with some provisions about where battery minerals can come from. The credits range from $3,750 to $7,500 for new EVs. There’s also a $4,000 credit for used ones. They’re aimed at juicing demand for EVs in an effort to reach a Biden administration goal that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. This year the credits are available at the time a vehicle is purchased from an authorized dealer rather than waiting for…

FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that. FTX said in a court filing late Tuesday that it owes about $11.2 billion to its creditors. The exchange estimates that it has between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion to distribute to them. The filing said that after paying claims in full, the plan provides for supplemental interest payments to creditors, to the extent that funds still remain. The interest rate for most creditors is 9%. That may be a diminished consolation for investors who were trading cryptocurrency on the exchange when it collapsed. When FTX sought bankruptcy protection in November 2022, bitcoin was going for $16,080. But crypto…

Grocery delivery company Instacart is partnering with Uber Eats to offer a new perk to its customers: restaurant delivery. San Francisco-based Instacart said this week that its U.S. shoppers will see a “Restaurants” tab in the company’s app in the coming weeks. Restaurant orders will be delivered by Uber Eats drivers. Instacart said its Instacart Plus members – who pay $99 per year or $9.99 per month for free grocery deliveries over $35 – will also get free restaurant delivery for orders over $35. Regular Instacart members will be charged Uber Eats delivery fees. Instacart said it will earn an affiliate fee with every order, but it didn’t reveal any other financial details of the partnership. Instacart said most Americans shop for groceries — either online or in a store…