Science & Technology

Apple’s reckoning isn’t just the end of an era for the company — it’s a reflection of the smartphone’s fall from beloved gadget to commodity. I was sitting in a suburban Cincinnati Starbucks when I realized everything was going to change. It was early 2008, and a friend was showing me his new phone. He loaded a…

Sundar Pichai currently serves as the CEO of Google and Alphabet’s Board of Directors. New Delhi: Sundar Pichai shared his 20 years of journey in Google with a heartening note on Instagram. In his instagram post he shared a glimpse of his 2 decades of journey and noted significant changes since his first day in the tech…

Alphabet and Microsoft ignited a rally in technology stocks on Friday with earnings that showed big AI investments were driving growth, allaying doubts that their costly bets would take time to pay off after a soft forecast from Meta Platforms. Alphabet surged 10% and closed with a stock market value above $2 trillion for the first time,…

Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google on Friday asked a federal court in Virginia to reject a U.S. government lawsuit accusing the advertising and search giant of anticompetitive practices in the online advertising marketplace. The Justice Department, which filed the advertising lawsuit in January 2023, accused the company of abusing its dominance of the digital advertising business and…

The two NASA astronauts assigned to Boeing’s first human spaceflight arrived at their launch site Thursday, just over a week before their scheduled liftoff. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will serve as test pilots for Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which is making its debut with crew after years of delay. They flew from Houston into Kennedy Space Center…

Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, driven by gains from adoption of artificial intelligence across its cloud services, and the company’s shares jumped more than 4% in extended trade. Executives forecast ranges for current quarter cloud revenue that were mostly above Wall Street targets. The rise in…

You wanna see her move? I think that’s the fun part. The room is thick with anticipation and fabricated skulls. She’s gonna wake up. Give her a second. Matt McMullen eyes his creation as her eyes flutter open in return, her gaze settling upon all the disembodied faces and mechanical mandibles surrounding her in this workshop where…

The 54-year-old patient is said to be recovering well after having a pig kidney as part of a double surgical procedure which also saw her fitted with a mechanical pump to keep her heart beating. A US woman has become the first person in the world to undergo a pig kidney transplant and also have a mechanical…

COPS are trialing new AI tech that writes police reports based on body camera footage – and it takes just minutes. The system has received rave reviews from law enforcement, but strict rules are required to avoid any artificial intelligence blunders. Security tech giant Axon says its Draft One is revolutionary. And the company hopes that it…

A MIND-BLOWING flying car has made history after conducting the world’s first flight with a passenger. Music legend Jean-Michel Jarre, 75, took off in KleinVision’s half-plane hybrid, known as the AirCar, in Slovakia this week to mark the company’s latest milestone. The French electronic artist completed two flights in the futuristic vehicle at Piestany international airport in…

Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab disappointed investors on Wednesday with forecasts of higher expenses and lighter-than-expected revenue, knocking nearly $200 billion off its stock market value and raising fears the surging cost of AI is outpacing its benefits. Shares of the Facebook and Instagram parent dropped about 15% in extended trade following the report, its market…

The United States and Russia are set to face off over nuclear weapons in space on Wednesday at the United Nations Security Council, which is due to vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution calling on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space. Russia is expected to block the draft resolution, said some diplomats. The U.S. move…

Apple has confirmed its next major launch event and it is just a few weeks away. The 2024 iPad model refresh is widely expected at the next May 7 launch event which comes with a tagline ‘Let Loose’ and an Apple Pencil as a part of the event creative. Apple has been widely tipped to bring the…

The satellite imagery has shown significant expansion in glacial lakes in the Himalayas, especially in India, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday. The satellite data archives spanning the past 3 to 4 decades provide valuable insights into changes occurring in glaciated environments. Long-term satellite imagery covering the catchments of Indian Himalayan river basins from…

The 2019 policy, alongside measures such as restricting temporary workers and vendors from accessing internal systems, is being eliminated. Alphabet Inc’s Google announced on Friday its decision to retract the mandate for US suppliers and staffing firms to pay their employees at least $15 an hour and offer health insurance and additional benefits. This move is anticipated…

Nearly a quarter of UK five-to-seven-year-olds now have their own smartphone, Ofcom research suggests. Social media use also rose in the age group over last year with nearly two in five using messaging service WhatsApp, despite its minimum age of 13. The communications regulator warned parental enforcement of rules “appeared to be diminishing.” It also said the…

Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab on Friday said it will roll back requirements that U.S. suppliers and staffing firms pay their employees at least $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits, a move that could allow the tech giant to avoid bargaining with unions. The elimination of the 2019 policy, along with…

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson has been outspoken about his fears surrounding China’s activities in space SPACEX is reportedly building a fleet of spy satellites, with defence giant Northrop Grumman, as part of a secret deal with a US intelligence agency. It follows comments made by a top Space Force commander earlier this month regarding China’s monster network…

This marks Ola’s second IPO attempt, following a 2021 plan to raise up to ₹8,300 crore, which was scrapped. Ride-hailing giant Ola Cabs is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) aiming to raise around ₹4,000 crore with a company valuation of approximately ₹40,000 crore, Reuters reported on Friday. Backed by SoftBank, Ola intends to submit IPO…

Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab said on Friday it had removed Meta Platforms’ (META.O), opens new tab WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China after being ordered to do so by the Chinese government, which cited national security concerns. Other Meta apps including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger remained available, according to Reuters checks on Friday…

Chinese government-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. critical infrastructure and are waiting “for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday. An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully gained access to numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline…

A day after retiring the hydraulic model, Boston Dynamics’ CEO discusses the company’s commercial humanoid ambitions Atlas lies motionless in a prone position atop interlocking gym mats. The only soundtrack is the whirring of an electric motor. It’s not quiet, exactly, but it’s nothing compared to the hydraulic jerks of its ancestors. As the camera pans around…

If you’re passionate about photography and aspire to be a professional photographer, check out our list of the top 7 DSLR cameras under 1 lakh. These DSLR cameras come with decent features and lens quality to let you start your photography journey. Though you can find DSLR cameras for a lesser price as well, if photography is…

AI technology advancements have heightened concerns about sexually explicit fakes, often targeting women and girls. These are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from authentic content Meta Platforms’ independent Oversight Board is currently examining the company’s response to two AI-generated sexually explicit images of female celebrities shared on Facebook and Instagram. These images, which were not named to…

China’s Baidu said on Tuesday (Apr 16) its artificial intelligence chatbot “Ernie Bot” has garnered more than 200 million users as it seeks to remain China’s most popular ChatGPT-like chatbot amid increasingly fierce competition. Robin Li, CEO of the Chinese internet company, revealed the new milestone at a conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday. The chatbot was released…

Apple is in advanced discussions with Indian companies Murugappa Group and Tata group’s Titan Company for the assembly of iPhone camera modules. This move could deepen the Indian supplier ecosystem for Apple as it shifts more operations away from China. Apple is in the final stages of discussions with Murugappa Group and Tata group’s Titan Company to…

Twitter, now referred to as X, is set to start charging new users for engaging with tweets. This move comes as part of an effort to combat spam and improve user experience. Twitter aka X, which used to be a free to use social media platform, will soon start charging money from new users. According to Elon…

Ventusky wrote, ‘Despite numerous reports of UFOs or Atlanteans launching from the ocean, yesterday’s image of giant waves near Africa was due to a model error’ Alien and conspiracy theorists showed up in full force last week after a weather modeling software “error” showed an anomaly the size of Texas moving up the African coastline while generating…

London-based model Alexsandrah has a twin, but not in the way you’d expect: Her counterpart is made of pixels instead of flesh and blood. The virtual twin was generated by artificial intelligence and has already appeared as a stand-in for the real-life Alexsandrah in a photo shoot. Alexsandrah, who goes by her first name professionally, in turn…

CJI Chandrachud flagged the potential of bias and indirect discrimination manifested in the use of AI in this regard, giving the example of the increased use of biometrics, specifically facial recognition technology. Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Saturday dwelt on the risks that come with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the…

“The girlfriend Singularity is here.” When witnessing the sorry state of men addicted to AI girlfriends, one Miami tech exec saw dollar signs instead of red flags. In a blog-length post on X-formerly-Twitter, former WeWork exec Greg Isenberg said that after meeting a young guy who claims to spend $10,000 a month on so-called “AI girlfriends,” or…

Apple has not attributed the recent wave of attacks to any stakeholder. Last October, it had sent a similar notification to Opposition leaders across parties. Apple has sent a fresh round of threat notifications to some of its users in India, along with 91 other countries, warning them that their iPhone could have been potentially attacked by…

The Black Market That Delivers Elon Musk’s Starlink to U.S. Foes. The satellite-internet devices are helping Russian fighters in Ukraine and paramilitary forces in Sudan; SpaceX hasn’t shut them off. A salesman at Moscow-based online retailer shopozz.ru has supplemented his usual business of peddling vacuum cleaners and dashboard phone mounts by selling dozens of Starlink internet terminals…

There’s been a flurry of reconnaissance satellites heading into orbit recently, partly in a race between South and North Korea to get eyes in the sky. So what are all those satellites doing up there? The US launched a reconnaissance satellite into orbit on Tuesday, the second reconnaissance satellite to go up in as many days. On…

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a bizarre sliver of an object speeding above the lunar surface last month. And as it turns out, we’re not looking at a UFO — or, uh, maybe an Unidentified Lunar Object — because there’s a perfectly human explanation for the lunar apparition. It turns out that the LRO’s image was photobombed…

Telecommunications company NTT and leading newspaper Yomiuri to issue manifesto calling for new laws to restrain generative AI TOKYO—Japan’s largest telecommunications company and the country’s biggest newspaper called for speedy legislation to restrain generative artificial intelligence, saying democracy and social order could collapse if AI is left unchecked. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, or NTT, and Yomiuri Shimbun…

When you unbox that shiny new iPhone or sleek MacBook, you’re probably eager to dive right in and start exploring. But before you get too carried away, there’s something you should know: those pre-installed apps that come with your device might not be as innocent as they seem. A startling new study by researchers Amel Bourdoucen and…

A standoff between Elon Musk and Brazil escalated on Sunday when a Supreme Court judge opened an inquiry into the billionaire after Musk said he would reactivate accounts on the social media platform X that the judge had ordered blocked. Musk, the owner of X and a self-declared free speech absolutist, has challenged a decision by Justice…

South Korea’s defence ministry said on Monday (Apr 8) the country’s second homegrown spy satellite had entered orbit after its launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the John F Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch, which comes after Seoul’s first spy satellite was put into orbit from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in December,…

Eclipse fever is building. Millions in North America are hoping to spend around four minutes of total darkness as the Moon blocks the Sun’s light on Monday. For some, those precious minutes will be an opportunity for often impossible science experiments – a chance to unravel the secrets of our universe. Researchers will fly rockets into the…

Imagine a camera so powerful it could spot a golf ball 15 miles away, cover an area of the sky seven times wider than the full moon, and produce images so detailed they would require hundreds of ultra-high-definition TVs to display just one at full size. This incredible piece of technology isn’t just a pipe dream –…

Apple users in India have got a new security warning from the nodal security agency of the Indian government this week. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued the alert with a high severity rating, dated April 2, 2024. The security issue is really big because it affects major parts of Apple devices, including iPhones…

Humane, Rabbit, Brilliant, Meta, and countless other companies are just about to launch AI-first gadgets. AI hardware may not be as big as the smartphone, but it’s going to be big. I’m just going to call it: we’ll look back on April 2024 as the beginning of a new technological era. That sounds grandiose, I know, but…

Moment part a CHINESE rocket explodes over California after rouge reentry through Earth’s atmosphere – months after spy balloon fiasco • A rocket exploded over California as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere • The rocket is the Chinese-owned Shenzhou-15 orbital module Californians received a shock in the early hours of Tuesday morning when golden streaks from an…

“There was too much work. I just want to put my nose on the window (this time) and enjoy the sights of Mother Earth from space,” Rakesh Sharma told NDTV Bharat is still “saare jahan se accha (best in the world)”, said the country’s very first cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of that historic…

Speaking about SpaceX’s mission, the expert added: “I don’t think it’s realistic and we’ve got to solve those problems here on Earth.” A top astronomer has branded Elon Musk’s ambitions for Mars a “dangerous illusion”, casting doubt on SpaceX’s multi-billion dollar project. Musk has previously said that he wants to bring over a million people to Mars…

Google agreed to destroy or de-identify billions of records of web browsing data collected when users were in its private browsing “Incognito mode,” according to a proposed class action settlement filed Monday. The proposed settlement in Brown v. Google will also mandate greater disclosure from the company about how it collects information in Incognito mode and put…

TRILLIONS of cicadas are set to invade the United States for the first time in 221 years, scientists say. In late April, two large broods of periodical cicadas are expected to emerge from the ground for a noisy mating frenzy. “Billions, even trillions, of cicadas are going to emerge at the same time across 17 states,” Chris…

Four Canadian school boards have sought more than C$4 billion ($2.96 billion) in damages from social media firms such as Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab and Snap (SNAP.N), opens new tab in a lawsuit, alleging that their products harmed students. The products are “negligently designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave and…

Meta will be sunsetting Facebook News in early April for users in the US and Australia as the platform further deemphasizes news and politics. The feature was shut down in the UK, France and Germany last year. Launched in 2019, the News tab curated headlines from national and international news organizations, as well as smaller, local publications.…

Over the last 15 years, weak capital investment in rich countries has held back productivity growth. But that may be about to change. Why it matters: The pathway to higher incomes and standards of living rests on economies finding ways to deploy their labor forces more productively. The dearth of productivity growth over the last couple of decades…

But Tesla is now struggling. Mr. Musk helped create his competition, Chinese E.V. makers that are taking market share and becoming a security concern for the United States and Europe. Tesla benefited from a Chinese policy it helped shape. In California, where Tesla launched its first car in 2008, the company has profited from an emissions mandate…

The AI search tools are getting better — but they don’t yet understand what a search engine really is and how we really use them. AI is coming for the search business. Or so we’re told. As Google seems to keep getting worse, and tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot seem to keep getting better,…

Beyond AI, WWDC attendees anticipate a slew of announcements concerning updates across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and other operating systems. Apple enthusiasts worldwide eagerly anticipate the commencement of the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), set to kick off with its keynote address on June 10th and extend until June 14th. As customary, the tech giant is poised to…

Pavan Davuluri, an IIT Madras graduate, is the new head of Microsoft Windows and Surface after Panos Panay’s departure to Amazon. With this, Davuluri joins the league of Indians heading major US tech companies. IIT Madras alumni Pavan Davuluri has been appointed as the new head of Microsoft Windows and Surface. Davuluri assumed the role following the…

There are already fears of artificial intelligence (AI) taking our jobs, or even ending humanity all together. Now a robot has been filmed apparently groping a woman in Saudi Arabia. The seven-second clip was taken at DeepFest in Riyadh – an event billed as the ‘premier meeting place for the global artificial intelligence ecosystem’. During the showcase,…

Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new ‘superpower’, scientists discover • Worms living near Chernboyl appear to be immune to radiation • Results give scientists clues to how DNA repair can vary between individuals From black frogs to a new species of dog, radiation exposure has forced many animals living near Chernobyl to mutate. But a…

Top scientist warns AI could surpass human intelligence by 2027 – decades earlier than previously predicted • Mathematics PhD, futurist Ben Goertzel said advanced AI could make its own AI • PhD predicts ‘artificial super intelligence’ smarter than all of human civilization The computer scientist and CEO who popularized the term ‘artificial general intelligence’ (AGI) believes AI…

On a late night in December, Shane Jones, an artificial intelligence engineer at Microsoft , felt sickened by the images popping up on his computer. Jones was noodling with Copilot Designer, the AI image generator that Microsoft debuted in March 2023, powered by OpenAI’s technology. Like with OpenAI’s DALL-E, users enter text prompts to create pictures. Creativity…

In an update that might reassure literally everyone on Earth, a new study is effectively debunking any speculation that the infamous asteroid Apophis will collide with our planet. Initially discovered in 2004 and officially named asteroid 99942, Apophis quickly gained notoriety as one of the most hazardous asteroids in our solar system. This was due to its…

A former Google software engineer has been charged by the US with stealing trade secrets about artificial intelligence (AI) while secretly working for two Chinese companies. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was indicted in California on four charges and arrested on Wednesday. The Chinese national allegedly stole more than 500 confidential files. If convicted he…

Elon Musk shared posts mocking the global outage reported by users on Facebook and Instagram. Both these platforms are owned by Meta. Elon Musk took a dig at rival Meta after social media platforms Facebook and Instagram faced a global outage on Tuesday evening. The two platforms were back online after about an hour. Musk, who acquired…

For the first time, ‘mini-organs’ have been grown using human stem cells taken from pregnancy. Researchers say this could lead to advances in prenatal medicine, as human development can be observed in late pregnancy which could help treat and monitor any congenital conditions before birth. The mini-organs can retain the baby’s biological information, as the researchers explain…

Brussels on Monday fined Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for thwarting competition from music streaming rivals via restrictions on its App Store, the iPhone maker’s first ever penalty for breaching EU rules. A basic penalty of 40 million euros was inflated by a huge lump sum included as a deterrent – a…

Julius Baer’s clients had invested via a feeder fund into a Macquarie vehicle that held the Byju’s stake. Macquarie Capital is reportedly writing down nearly its entire investment in Byju’s, after Swiss bank Julius Baer Group alleged the edtech firm charged fees based on an outsized and outdated valuation. The unit of Australia’s Macquarie Group is, according…

The big smartphone show has the answer to the future of smartphones and an app to find a workout buddy The TechCrunch team is in Barcelona this week to bring you all the action going on at Mobile World Congress 2024. You already know what we’re expecting, so sit back, relax and stay tuned throughout the week…

A suspected surveillance balloon was found by commercial fishermen off the coast of Alaska, CNN reported citing three sources. They are expected to turn it over to the FBI for further examination at the lab in Quantico, Virginia. The unmanned balloon will be handed over to government representatives over the weekend. A suspected surveillance balloon was found…

Google delisted 23 apps from Indian developers for not complying with its payment policy, impacting businesses relying on Android. Google delisted at least 23 apps from nine Indian developers from its Play Store on Friday for not complying with its payments policy. These include all thirteen apps from Matrimony.com — such as Bharat Matrimony, Kerala Matrimony and…

U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found problems with record keeping and quality controls for animal experiments at Elon Musk’s Neuralink, less than a month after the startup said it was cleared to test its brain implants in humans, according to an agency report reviewed by Reuters. The inspectors identified quality control lapses at the company’s California…

Odysseus, the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon in half a century, lost power and went dormant on Thursday as it entered a frigid lunar nightfall, ending its mission a week after a lopsided touchdown that hindered operations and its scientific output. Intuitive Machines (LUNR.O), opens new tab, the Texas-based aerospace company that NASA paid…

After a phenomenal start on July 26 when bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore were received in a single day, the response has been tepid in the following days. The Centre received bids worth Rs 1,50,130 crore after a total of 37 rounds of bidding in the ongoing 5G Spectrum auction. The auction kicked off on July…

A Polish scientific institute has categorized domestic cats as an “invasive alien species.” The Polish Academy of Sciences has defined the house cat (felis catus) as “alien” as it was domesticated in the Middle East and has deemed cats as “invasive” due to the “negative influence of domestic cats on native biodiversity,” they explained in a statement.…