Meta to use facial recognition to spot celebrity scam ads, EV sales up in Europe
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is to introduce facial recognition technology to try and crack down on scammers who fraudulently use celebrities in adverts. Elon Musk and personal finance expert, Martin Lewis, are among those to fall victim to such scams, which typically promote investment schemes and crypto-currencies. Mr Lewis previously told the Today programme, on BBC Radio 4, that he receives “countless” reports of his name and face being used in such scams every day, and had been left feeling “sick” by them. BBC
Electric car sales increased by 14% across Europe in September, reversing a period of sustained decline in demand for EVs, but car sales were down across the board. Figures from industry analysts Jato Dynamics reveal that 212,197 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in September – up from 186,380 in the same month last year. Jato attributes the uptick in EV demand to the success of various incentives across the region – France’s EV tax reductions and Italy’s state-backed scrappage scheme, for example. Autocar
Civil servants are to be given new AI tools to help them do their jobs under a partnership that Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has said will end the “drudgery” of Whitehall work. Microsoft on Monday unveiled new “autonomous agents” – akin to a digital secretary or virtual coworker – that can automatically respond to emails, handle administrative tasks and organise schedules. It came as the company announced a five-year deal with the British government to provide the tools to Whitehall. Telegraph
A meteorite four times the size of Mount Everest may have helped life to thrive after it smashed into Earth, research suggests. The S2 meteorite crashed into our planet around 3.26 billion years ago and such impacts are usually considered disastrous for life. But experts suggest the conditions caused by the impact of the space rock, which had a diameter of 37-58km, might have caused certain life forms to bloom. Sky News
If we had a ‘best for blood pressure’ category in our best smartwatches buying guide then the Huawei Watch D2 would be instantly catapulted into this position. It supersedes the Watch D that was released in 2022, and is looking set to reignite a watch series that was otherwise going to be consigned into the depths of smartwatch history. Blood pressure monitoring in a smartwatch is an incredible achievement, a reality made possible through an airbag strip located behind the main watch strap. Tech Radar
Apple announced a trio of major new hearing health features for the AirPods Pro 2 in September, including clinical-grade hearing aid functionality, a hearing test, and more robust hearing protection. All three will roll out next week with the release of iOS 18.1, and they could mark a watershed moment for hearing health awareness. Apple is about to instantly turn the world’s most popular earbuds into an over-the-counter hearing aid. That also means we’re about to enter an era where we’ll need to get comfortable with people wearing earbuds at all times. The Verge
The Xiaomi 15 series will premiere the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite on the market. The announcement came in the aftermath of Qualcomm’s unveiling of the new flagship chipset at the Snapdragon Summit 2024 in Hawaii. Senior VP Adam Zeng (Zeng Xuezhong) announced it during his few minutes on stage.
Xiaomi is expected to unveil the 15 series tomorrow, October 23. It’s likely that it will launch just the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro at first, with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra coming later, possibly in early 2025. GSM Arena
