BitsServer

TikTok, Snapchat and others sign pledge to tackle AI-generated child sex abuse images Tech firms including TikTok, Snapchat and Stability AI have signed a joint statement pledging to work together to counter child sex abuse images generated by artificial intelligence. Britain announced the joint statement - which also listed the United States, German and Australian governments among its 27 signatories - at an event on Monday being held in the run up to a global summit hosted by the UK on AI safety this week. "We resolve to sustain the dialogue and technical innovation around tackling child sexual abuse in the age of AI," the statement read. "We resolve to work together to ensure that we utilise responsible AI for tackling the threat of child sexual abuse and commit to continue to work collaboratively to ensure the risks posed by AI to tackling child sexual abuse do not become insurmountable." Britain cited data from the Internet Watch Foundation showing that in on...

Microsoft to improve Xbox app for Windows handheld gaming PC Microsoft has begun testing new updates to its Xbox app on Windows 11 improving the experience on their handheld devices and smaller screens. Just last week, Microsoft released an Xbox test app with a new compact mode that significantly reduces the sidebar on the left-hand side. Working on any screen size, the compact mode was designed to improve “the experience on handhelds and small screens,” according to Microsoft. The minor UI change was very welcome on devices like the ROG Ally which only have a 7-inch display. Windows handheld mode concept was already leaked from a hackathon project inside Microsoft earlier this year, which also detailed a floating taskbar, an improved game launcher, and changes to the Xbox app coming soon. The Asus’ ROG Ally is becoming the portable Xbox for PC Game Pass, where Xbox chief Phil Spencer has already described the handheld as his “Xbox on the go” in an interview with Eurogamer earlier th...

Four ways Google Analytics helps with data-driven decision making Google Analytics is an important tool for website owners and digital marketers looking to gain insights into their online presence. Google Analytics provides a great amount of data that can help you understand the way users are interacting with the product. This data can be used to optimise your website, improve user experience, and boost conversion rates. Here are some ways of making the most of the data provided by Google Analytics; 1. UTM Parameters UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. UTM parameters are short pieces of text that are added to URLs to track the source and medium of traffic. There are five kinds of parameters; source, campaign, medium, term, and content. By using these UTM parameters, you can get a clearer picture of which marketing channels are driving the most traffic and conversions for your product. This information can help you understand your users and allocate your resources more effectively....

Google introduces screenshot feature for YouTube Google is testing a new built-in screenshot feature for YouTube. The new feature, currently in beta, will be available on the web version of YouTube. To take a screenshot, the viewer needs to pause a YouTube video while watching in Chrome and right-click the video. A drop-down menu reveals the option "Save video frame as". Click on that option and save the image as a PNG. Four months ago, Google added an option to "COPY video frame" in YouTube's pop-up menu (the one that appears when you double right click on the video), well, Google has now added an option to SAVE the video frame:https://t.co/iVJlZtbrn3 .https://t.co/8KLJXxFaRV pic.twitter.com/nHw2nhAqXy — Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) October 26, 2023 Read More Elon Musk's X launches two new premium subscription plans The feature will help users avoid the hassle of cropping the screenshot taken by a phone. It will soon be available for all the chrome users.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai to testify Monday in US Google antitrust trial Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Alphabet and its subsidiary Google, will testify on Monday in the once-in-a-generation antitrust fight over Google's dominance of search and some parts of search advertising. The Take Pichai, who is being called as a witness for Google, will likely be asked about the company's investments aimed at keeping its search competitive, especially as smartphones took over, and innovation in search advertising. The government, in cross-examination, may ask why the company pays billions of dollars annually to ensure that Google search is the default in smartphones. Context * The government has argued that Google, which has some 90% of the search market, illegally paid an estimated $10 billion annually to smartphone makers like Apple and wireless carriers like AT&T and others to be the default in search on their devices in order to stay on top. The clout in search mak...

Elon Musk's X launches two new premium subscription plans Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, rolled out two new subscription plans on Friday, including a Premium+ tier for users willing to pay for an ad-free experience. The Premium+ plan, priced at about $16 per month, includes all the tools and features offered by the platform, minus the ads, the company said in a post on the platform. It will, however, be available for users accessing the platform through a web browser for now, it added. The basic tier is priced at $3 per month but is not ad-free. X is also planning to bundle video and audio calling for some users, in a push to turn the platform into an everything app. Musk has been exploring several options to extensively monetize the social media platform, which he acquired for $44 billion in October 2022.

Google updates Maps with Immersive View, other AI features Google has rolled out Immersive View for routes and other AI features to help people navigate more confidently. Announced at Google I/O, Immersive view for routes offers a multidimensional view from start to finish, visual turn-by-turn directions and simulated traffic and weather conditions. The tool uses AI to fuse billions of Street View and aerial images and give a visual treat to the users. The new feature is currently rolling out to users in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice on Android and iOS. Read More US-China tensions will slow global chip industry, TSMC founder says In addition to that, Google Maps is launching the biggest expansion of its Lens in Maps feature which will help users find nearby ATMs, transit stations, restaurants, coffee shops and stores. The feature is coming to 50 new cities including Au...

TikTok rejects Malaysian accusation it blocks pro-Palestinian content Social media platform TikTok said on Friday accusations by the Malaysian government that it was blocking pro-Palestinian content were "unfounded". Muslim-majority Malaysia on Thursday warned of action against social media firms TikTok and Meta, saying their platforms had been accused of restricting content supporting Palestinians. Meta responded on Thursday, saying there was "no truth" to the accusation and it was not deliberately suppressing voices on its Facebook platform. A TikTok spokesperson, in an email to Reuters on Friday, also rejected Malaysia's accusation that it was blocking pro-Palestinian content. "The claim is unfounded. Our community guidelines apply equally to all content on TikTok, and we're committed to consistently enforcing our policies to protect our community," the spokesperson said. Both Meta and TikTok designate Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement ...

Microsoft introduces keyboard mapping feature for Xbox controllers Earlier this month, Microsoft announced key upcoming accessibility features for Xbox players, one of which included controller-to-keyboard input remapping. The feature is now ready and ready for use. The keyboard mapping feature will significantly increase gaming options and improve overall experience for users with disabilities. Players would be able to configure the buttons of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and the Xbox Adaptive Controller to match specific keys on their keyboards. According to Microsoft, the feature will "expand controller input capabilities in games that have many commands, have limited remapping capabilities, or do not support controllers." Keyboard mapping was highly requested feature by the accessibility community and is has now finally been adhered to by the company. Microsoft has been moving to include all players into their community with a more intentional approach wh...

US-China tensions will slow global chip industry, TSMC founder says The founder of the world's biggest chipmaker, Morris Chang, said on Thursday that increasing tensions over technology between the United States and China will slow down the global chip industry. Chang, who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in the late 1980s, made the remarks at an event hosted by the Asia Society in New York. The company has helped the democratically governed island of Taiwan become the world's leading producer of advanced chips. US officials earlier this month enacted another set of export restrictions that clamped down on what chips and chipmaking tools can be exported to China after Huawei Technologies last month showed off a phone with a new domestically manufactured chip. Chang, 92, said that cutting off China's chip industry from the rest of the world would affect other players beyond China. "I think that decoupling will ultimately slow down everybody. O...

UK's Sunak says AI risks must be addressed, ahead of key safety summit Governments and companies need to address the risks of artificial intelligence head on if they are to reap the benefits, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will say in a speech on Thursday, ahead of the first global AI Safety Summit next week. Britain is bringing together AI companies, political leaders and experts at Bletchley Park on Nov. 1-2 to discuss what some see as an existential danger posed by AI, with an aim of building an international consensus on its safe development. Sunak wants Britain to be a global leader in AI safety, carving out a role after Brexit between the competing economic blocs of the United States, China and the European Union in the rapidly growing technology. Around 100 participants will discuss subjects including the unpredictable advances of AI and the potential for humans to lose control of it, according to the agenda. Sunak will say that while AI will boost economic growth...

Social media platform X rolls out audio, video calling Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is launching an early version of video and audio calling for some users, according to chief technology officer and owner Elon Musk, as the billionaire pushes for X to become an "everything app". Musk described a post on the platform instructing users on enabling the feature as an "Early version of video & audio calling on X". The latest functionality comes amid a series of new features and changes to the platform's core experience under Musk, who acquired the social media company nearly a year ago. After rebranding Twitter as X, Musk signaled he would turn the platform into a super-app, offering a range of services from messaging and social networking to peer-to-peer payments. Teasing the feature in August, Musk had said users would not need a phone number for the features, which will be available on Apple's iOS, Google's Android and personal ...

Music streaming was 2022's top moneymaker for songwriters, composers Streaming became the largest source of income for composers and songwriters in 2022 and helped boost their collections by more than a quarter to 10.83 billion euros ($11.44 billion), a report showed on Thursday. Digital royalty collections surged nearly 34% to 4.2 billion euros in 2022 as more consumers turned to music and video subscription services, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) said in the report. After a boom during the pandemic, streaming collections have doubled from their pre-COVID levels and account for 35% of total collections for music creators, surpassing TV and radio. Royalties from the live and public performance sector - including concerts, exhibitions and theatres - rose by 69.9% to 2.68 billion euros in 2022, but remained below 2019 levels of around 7.9% after collapsing during the pandemic. The report said live entertainment has continued its rebou...

Microsoft's AI bets boost cloud business, Alphabet yet to find silver lining Google-parent Alphabet's cloud business suffered as long-time rival Microsoft's took off in the September quarter, demonstrating early signs that the Windows maker's investment in artificial intelligence was paying off. Alphabet's shares fell 7% in after hours trading on Tuesday. Microsoft's rose 5%. The drop in Alphabet's shares, despite it beating Wall Street estimates for overall profit and sales, showed investors wanted it to deliver gains in artificial intelligence and demonstrate it remained competitive against Microsoft's Azure and Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) AWS cloud businesses. "While a single quarter doesn't a major trend make, this quarter's cloud results ... suggest that Azure is gaining share against its competition," said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research. "In addition, it could be that Microsoft's very strong mess...

Amazon officially rolls out support for passkeys Amazon joins the latest trend of going passwordless by introducing passkeys. Like other platforms, Amazon offers passkeys that utilize fingerprints, facial scanning, and PINs as their sign-in method. The option to set up the passkey is now available on the website. The idea of going passwordless is to ensure more security for the users as the passkeys are not susceptible to phishing attacks. It also makes it easy for users as they do not have to remember any numbers or letters of their passwords. Read More Japan launches antimonopoly probe into Google's search dominance The company is rolling out support for the tech to its desktop website and iOS app. Some apps like Amazon’s shopping app or Prime Video still require passwords to sign in. Moreover, some Amazon platforms might still ask for two-factor authentication, however, the company is working on it.

Japan launches antimonopoly probe into Google's search dominance Japan's competition watchdog said on Monday it has started investigating Google for a possible breach of antimonopoly laws in web search services, following similar steps by authorities in Europe and other major economies. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) said it was investigating whether Google violated Japan's Antimonopoly Act by returning part of its revenue to Android smartphone makers on the condition they not install rival search engines. It is also looking into Google's practice of making Android phone makers install its "Google Search" and "Google Chrome" browser applications with the "Google Play" app. "There is suspicion that through these steps it is excluding competitors' business activity and restricting its business partners' business activity in the search services market," a JFTC official told a press conference. The official said the ...

Strong ad sales, stable enterprise spending wind beneath Big Tech earnings US technology giants are likely to post their strongest quarterly revenue growth in at least a year as their legacy businesses stabilized, but investors looking for signs of a boost from artificial intelligence (AI) may be disappointed. Microsoft, Google-parent Alphabet, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms and Amazon are expected to have built on the recovery in their enterprise software and digital ads businesses as professional and consumer spending stayed resilient despite an uncertain global economy. The quartet's shares have rallied -- between Microsoft's 36% and Meta's 157% -- this year, boosting their combined market value to over $6 trillion and lifting the benchmark S&P 500 index. "After a year where enterprise spend was held down by concerns about the economy, we're heading into a year where those concerns are slowly subsiding, making for a more stable spending environment in ente...

Three ways Microsoft Authenticator helps in securing your account Microsoft Authenticator is a mobile app developed by Microsoft that provides an additional layer of security for online accounts. It is primarily used for two-factor authentication (2FA), to enhance the security of Microsoft and other online accounts. Here are four ways in which Microsoft Authenticator helps improve the security of your online accounts; 1. Two-factor authentication (2FA) When you enable two-factor authentication for an online account, you will be required to provide a second form of verification to prove your identity along with your password. In the case of Microsoft Authenticator, the app generates a six or eight-digit code. When you want to log in to an app or service, you follow the standard login process. The website or app will prompt you to enter a two-factor authentication code. This code is then provided by Microsoft Authenticator app. 2. Save passwords and other details If you struggle to man...

Bitcoin hits two-month high above $30,000 in volatile week Bitcoin jumped on Friday above $30,000 for first time since July , taking gains for the week past 10%, against a backdrop of volatile trading across cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by circulation, climbed as high as $30,022, its highest since July 23. It was last up 4% on the day. There was no immediate news catalyst for the move in bitcoin, said Joseph Edwards, head of research at London crypto firm Enigma Securities. Bitcoin is known for its volatility and the opacity of its markets. The mood across the broader financial markets has also been nervy lately. Investor sentiment has been rattled by war in the Middle East, a rise in benchmark US 10-year yields towards 5% and concern about the prospect of interest rates staying a lot higher for a lot longer. Bitcoin markets have been especially skittish this week, as investors await news of the fate of applications with the US Securities and Exchang...

China vice premier pushes for more Apple investment, cooperation China's Vice Premier Ding Duexiang told Apple CEO Tim Cook the group was welcome to participate in developing China's digital economy, as Cook made a surprise visit to Beijing less than a month after the Chinese launch of its iPhone 15. Cook's visit comes as competition between the US tech giant and China's Huawei heats up in Apple's third-largest market, and as Beijing tightens oversight on security concerns. Sales of iPhone 15 models in their first 17 days in China were down 4.5% compared to the iPhone 14, Counterpoint Research said, without providing specific figures. China in September widened curbs on the use of iPhones by state employees, telling staff at some central government agencies to stop using their Apple handsets at work. "China is willing to provide more opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises including Apple to develop in the country," Ding told Cook in a meeting on Th...

Elon Musk's X to launch premium subscriptions soon Elon Musk said on Friday social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will soon launch two new tiers of premium subscriptions. "One is lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads, and the other is more expensive, but has no ads," Musk said on a post on X. Two new tiers of X Premium subscriptions launching soon. One is lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads, and the other is more expensive, but has no ads. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2023   Musk, who took over the platform in October 2022, has been trying to boost revenue by charging users and by wooing back advertisers, who stopped buying ads after Musk fired most employees and disbanded content moderation teams. Musk has acknowledged that the platform has taken a hit on revenue and has blamed activists for pressuring advertisers. While he did not provide more details on the subscription plans, a test case by X earlier this week s...

Instagram to let users add polls in comments section Instagram has started testing a feature where users can add a poll option in the comment section under the posts. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram shared the update on his broadcast channel of his platform. He mentioned that the new feature is a way to help creators increase engagement on the posts. The option to add polls will be available for both regular feed posts and Reels. The format of it will be similar to the ones shared in stories. However, it is unclear how long the polls will remain open after they are posted. Read More As Google pushes deeper into AI, publishers see fresh challenges The feature is an addition to the idea of making the comment section more interactive and engaging. The new option is currently available for the limited audience for testing and will be rolled out soon.

Google bets on India with Pixel smartphone manufacturing Alphabet Inc's Google will start manufacturing smartphones in India and its flagship Pixel 8 will be available next year, an executive said on Thursday, as the tech giant joins global companies setting up facilities in the South Asian nation. At a Google for India event, Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of devices and services, said Google will partner with international and domestic manufacturers to produce the smartphones locally. "India is a priority market for Pixel smartphones, and we're committed to bringing the best of our hardware and underlying built-in software capabilities to people across the country," Osterloh said. No details on how many smartphones will be manufactured or where factories will be located were immediately available. The company also announced plans to allow users to book metro tickets directly from the Google maps app. Google, which runs one of the largest payment apps via Goo...

WhatsApp rolls out listen-once audio messages on beta WhatsApp has introduced a number of exciting new features on the platform, but more recently has begun rolling out self-destructing audio messages to beta users. First reported by WABetaInfo, the feature is available to all Beta users with the latest version of the app. The self-destructing audio will work similarly to photos and videos which can only be viewed once. The audio message will disappear after being heard once. The View Once feature was introduced by WhatsApp in 2021, which soon prompted the company to block users from taking screenshots or screen recording the media that was sent. Consequently, users won't be able to download or record the audio messages either. Read: Meta to roll out broadcast channels to Facebook, Messenger According to the report, “WhatsApp is introducing a new feature to allow users to share voice notes with view once mode enabled for added privacy. This feature is available to some beta teste...

Music publishers sue AI company Anthropic over song lyrics  Music publishers Universal Music, ABKCO and Concord Publishing sued artificial intelligence company Anthropic in Tennessee federal court on Wednesday, accusing it of misusing an "innumerable" amount of copyrighted song lyrics to train its chatbot Claude. The lawsuit said Anthropic violates the publishers' rights through its use of lyrics from at least 500 songs ranging from the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" and Beyonce's "Halo." Representatives for Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The publishers' attorney Matt Oppenheim declined to comment on the litigation but said it is "well-established by copyright law that an entity cannot reproduce, distribute, and display someone else's copyrighted works to build its own business unless it ...