Category: News

ShinyShiny snippets: Amazon’s Book Depository to close down

UK-based online store Book Depository is being closed down by its parent company, the US technology giant Amazon. Book Depository has told customers it will cease operations later this month after almost two decades in business. It comes after Amazon announced plans to cut thousands of jobs as it shakes up its businesses globally. The…

ShinyShiny snippets: TikTok fined £12.7m by UK’s data watchdog

TikTok has been fined £12.7m for failing to protect the privacy of children, the UK's data watchdog has said. An investigation conducted by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found the video-sharing app breached data protection law. It says the breaches happened between May 2018 and July 2020. TikTok says it disagrees with the ICO's decision.…

ShinyShiny snippets: Elon Musk among those calling for halt in AI training

Key figures in artificial intelligence want training of powerful AI systems to be suspended amid fears of a threat to humanity. They have signed an open letter warning of potential risks, and say the race to develop AI systems is out of control. Twitter chief Elon Musk is among those who want training of AIs…

ShinyShiny snippets: Pope Francis in puffer jacket was (not surprisingly) a deep fake

On March 25, 2023, a photo that appeared to show 86-year-old Pope Francis out and about in a fashionable white puffer jacket went viral on social media. As many who saw it suspected, it was actually a deepfake image created via artificial intelligence (AI). It originally appeared on Reddit in the r/midjourney subreddit. Midjourney is an app that generates images from natural-language…

ShinyShiny: TikTok boss faces grilling at US congressional hearing

Bruising, damaging, relentless. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced four-and-a-half hours of questioning at a US congressional hearing on Thursday. As one congressman pointed out, some people run marathons quicker than that. Mr Chew will certainly be feeling it, after a torrid time giving evidence. Many tech execs have stood before Congress, and they often…

ShinyShiny snippets: TikTok facing complete US ban

TikTok is facing a complete ban in the US over fears that China is using the app as a covert tool for spying and spreading propaganda. CEO Shou Chew will testify before Congress on Thursday, with members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee set to raise their concerns about how much access the Chinese…

3 in 4 women play mobile games daily, report claims

Mobile gaming is soaring in popularity as the 'go-to' for women of all ages for relaxation, stress relief and mental stimulation, according to a new global research report commissioned by GameHouse. In celebration of Women's History Month, GameHouse commissioned Pollfish to survey over 800 US and UK consumers aged 18 years+ through 65 years+ about…

ShinyShiny snippets: Oppo Find X6 and X6 Pro launch with cameras galore

We were left impressed with Oppo's Find X5 Pro last year, so naturally, we have high expectations for its successor. As announced earlier, the upcoming Oppo Find X6 Pro meets the basic requirements you'd expect from a 2023 flagship: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, Sony's IMX989 "1-inch" sensor for the main camera, a bright 6.82-inch 3,168 x…

ShinyShiny snippets: US vinyl sales overtake CDs for first time since 1980s

Vinyl record sales outperformed CDs in the US for the first time since 1987, according to a new report. Just over 41 million vinyl records were sold in 2022, to the tune of $1.2bn (£.99bn). Only 33 million CDs were sold, amounting to $483m. It was the 16th consecutive year of growth for record sales, about…