Tag: Google

Fitbit Charge 6 unveiled, Epic Games cuts workforce

Fitbit Charge 6 is the latest addition in the Google wearables division bringing improved health tracking and even deeper integration with Google apps like YouTube Music, Google Pay and Google Maps. Charge 6 features a 1.04-inch color AMOLED display with Always-On Display (AOD) functionality. The tracker features an aluminum, glass and resin build with a…

WhatsApp gets ready to support iMessage, Apple prepares to launch iPhone 15

The hugely popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp appears to be getting its ducks in a row, ready to open its apps up to support for third-party messaging services like Apple's iMessage. The move comes as the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) gets ready to come into force in March 2024. The EU recently confirmed that it has…

AI can ‘safely’ read breast cancer scans, study claims

Artificial intelligence (AI) can "safely" read breast cancer screening images, a preliminary study suggests. Researchers found computer-aided detection could spot cancer in mammograms - X-ray pictures of the breast - at a "similar rate" to two radiologists. The NHS is already looking at how it can implement such technology in its breast screening programme. However, the…

Google claims quantum computing breakthrough, Tesla delivers record number of EVs

Left: Artist's rendition of the Sycamore processor mounted in the cryostat. (Full Res Version; Forest Stearns, Google AI Quantum Artist in Residence) Right: Photograph of the Sycamore processor. (Full Res Version; Erik Lucero, Research Scientist and Lead Production Quantum Hardware) Google has developed a quantum computer that instantly makes calculations that would…

ShinyShiny snippets: Google confirms Pixel Fold phone

Google has confirmed the Pixel Fold, its first foldable smartphone, with video teasers on both YouTube and Twitter. The company was expected to reveal the Pixel Fold at Google I/O next week, but leaks ruined that surprise. The device has a vertical hinge that unfolds into a tablet-like 7.6-inch display. There’s also an exterior screen, measuring 5.8 inches. Rumors…

ShinyShiny snippets: Google takes step closer towards ditching passwords

Google is moving one step closer to ditching passwords, rolling out its passkey technology to Google accounts from Thursday. The passkey is designed to replace passwords entirely by allowing authentication with fingerprint ID, facial ID or pin on the phone or device you use for authentication. Apple has begun using the technology in iOS16 and the…

ShinyShiny snippets: Sega buys Angry Birds creator, Rovio Entertainment

The maker of Angry Birds video games has agreed to be bought by the Japanese gaming giant behind the Sonic the Hedgehog character. Japan's Sega Sammy Holdings is paying €706m (£625m) for Finland-based Rovio Entertainment. Rovio has said Angry Birds was the first mobile game to be downloaded one billion times, and the brand has…

ShinyShiny snippets: WhatsApp could be banned in UK, boss warns

WhatsApp could be banned in the UK, its head has warned. The UK’s upcoming Online Safety Bill could force the app to weaken the end-to-end encryption that currently secures messages on the service, said Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp at parent company Meta. If the government forced the company to weaken that security, WhatsApp…

ShinyShiny snippets: Why M3GAN is the perfect AI ‘monster’

M3GAN is Hollywood's latest attempt to turn AI into a horror genre. Pic: Universal There is no shortage of robot uprising fiction in the Western canon (see: the works of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick; classics like “The Terminator”; family-friendly spins like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”). It’s a conceit that…