Tech
Waze is adding electric vehicle charging stations to its route planning tool
/ The Google-owned navigation tool says its EV charging locator will be the most accurate thanks to its crowdsourced map editing feature.
SpaceX Is Testing Its Starlink Satellite Cell Phone Coverage
Last year, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced their new partnership "Coverage and Above and Beyond,” a global satellite-to-cellular network program. Aimed at putting an end to mobile dead zones, such as rural areas or in the middle of the ocean, Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert detailed plans to provide 5G coverage via second-generation Starlink satellites.Nearly a year later, the two companies have shared that they’ll begin testing the 5G service later in 2023.Speaking on a panel at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition 2023, Vice President of Starlink enterprise sales Jonathan Hofeller declared that Starlink boasts “well over a million users” and is currently building 6 second-generation satellites each day, per CNBC space reporter Michael Sheetz.Hofeller went on to say that SpaceX w...
Microsoft Edge now has a Bing AI chatbot sidebar
Microsoft/ Tech / Microsoft brings its AI-powered Bing sidebar out of testing and into stable versions of its Microsoft Edge browser. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>The new Bing sidebar in Microsoft Edge.
Meta is laying off 10,000 more employees in a series of cuts
/ The news comes after 13 percent of the company was cut in November. ‘This will be tough and there’s no way around that,’ CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees.
Meta Exec Says Company is “Winding Down” Support of NFTs on Facebook and Instagram
It looks like Meta is taking a step back on its words of support for NFTs following a recent string of tweets from the company's Head of Commerce and Financial Technologies, Stephane Kasriel.Kasriel alerts its consumers in a tweet that states that Meta is "winding down" its support of NFTs on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. This comes just less than a year after Meta has pushed to adopt "digital collectibles" and after Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 the "year of efficiency". The note step away from NFTs is unsurprising after Zuckerberg announced in the 2022 earnings call that the company has suffered major net losses, indicating that his metaverse-obsessed direction may not be a promising one.In a thread on Twitter, Kasriel said, "We're winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now t...
Sony Unveils Point-and-Shoot Camera for the Visually Impaired
Continuing to share its technological advancements, Sony has now unveiled a point-and-shoot camera designed for the visually impaired. The "DSC-HX99 RNV" comes as a kit comprised of a point-and-shoot and a viewfinder with a retinal laser projection system.The Sony Cybershot DSC-HX99 base features a 24mm to 720mm zoom lens and an 18-megapixel illuminated sensor with built-in image stabilization. The Retissa Neoviewer from Japan’s QD Laser projects a digital image drawn from the camera directly onto the retina of a user. Though Sony notes that the technology is not functional for everyone."The laser retinal projection of Retissa Neoviewer is a completely new technology that has been put to practical use for the first time in the world," according to Dr. Mitsuru Sugawara, the President and CE...
This tiny chip is being used to develop a tooth-mounted sensor that can read your spit
/ Silicon Labs is hoping more device makers will follow suit and use their teeny xG27 SoC to make medical and wearable devices. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Silicon Labs Miniaturizing tech is a perpetual challenge for wearable makers. The smaller the device, the better it is for wearability. The thing is, that usually comes at the expense of battery life. However, Silicon Labs is hoping its latest xG27 chipset is small and energy-efficient enough to spark some big ideas in the medical tech space — like a saliva reader that’s so tiny it can be mounted onto a tooth. Accord...
California’s gig worker-focused Prop 22 isn’t overturned after all
/ A court has overturned a 2021 ruling that struck down the law, declaring it unconstitutional. It allows companies like Uber to classify workers as contractors, not employees. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images An appeals court in California has ruled that the state’s Proposition 22 should mostly be allowed to stand, after a judge ruled to strike it down in 2021, declaring it unconstitutional, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The law, which passed in 2020 following a massive and expensive campaign, made it so companie...
Meta gives up on NFTs for Facebook and Instagram
/ Meta is moving on from more crypto projects, even though NFTs / digital collectibles were once pitched as part of its ‘metaverse’ future.
Sony wants to help low-vision users enjoy photography by shining lasers in their eyes
/ A new viewfinder housing from QD Laser for the DSC-HX99 point-and-shoot camera uses retinal lasers to help people see clearly through it, and Sony is helping foot the bill. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Sony Giant frickin’ laser beams get all the buzz and sci-fi love, but it’s our little laser bros that are putting in the work: taking measurements, entertaining our cats, and now, in the case of a Sony camera, helping people with vision problems see clearly through an electronic viewfinder and take pictures. Sony is working with fellow Japanese company QD Laser to releas...
Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon
/ A viral Reddit post has revealed just how much processing the company’s cameras apply to photos of the Moon, further blurring the line between real and fake imagery in the age of AI. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: u/ibreakphotos For years, Samsung “Space Zoom”-capable phones have been known for their ability to take incredibly detailed photos of the Moon. But a recent Reddit post showed in stark terms just how much computational processing the company is doing, and — given the evidence supplied — it feels like we should go ahead and say it: Samsung’s pictures of the...
Custom AI chatbots are quietly becoming the next big thing in fandom
Artificial Intelligence AI chat systems put a new, sometimes solipsistic twist on the fannish roleplaying tradition. Share this story a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>Self-help bots on Character.AI sit alongside celebrities and fictional characters. Similar to the “Historical Figures” chat app that caused a stir in January, Character.AI lets users speak to AI-generated characters. But where that app offered paid chatbot versions of William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, and Adolf Hitler, Character.AI’s offerings are broader. The founders of Character.AI claim that their ideals behind the company are to “he...
