Tech Bites

The European Union is likely to reach a political agreement this year that will pave the way for the world's first major artificial intelligence ( AI ) law, the bloc's tech regulation chief Margrethe Vestager said on Sunday. This follows a preliminary deal reached on Thursday by members of the European Parliament to push through the draft of the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act to a vote by a committee of lawmakers on May 11. Parliament will then thrash out the bill's final details with EU member states and the European Commission before it becomes law. At a press conference after a Group of Seven digital ministers' meeting in Takasaki, Japan, Vestager said the EU AI Act was "pro-innovation" since it seeks to mitigate the risks of societal damage from emerging technologies. Regulators around the world have been trying to find a balance where governments could develop "guardrails" on emerging artificial intelligence technology without stifling

Elon Musk on Saturday announced a plan for his Twitter platform to allow media publishers to charge users on a per-article basis with a single click. "This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article," the billionaire entrepreneur said on Twitter, adding, "Should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public." He said the plan would begin next month, but provided no details on exact pricing or what cut Twitter would take. The announcement came as Musk has been struggling, amid frequent controversy, to make Twitter profitable. Rolling out next month, this platform will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click. This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article.… — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2023 Media orga

Poco F5 series —including Poco F5 5G and Poco F5 Pro 5G — is set to make its global debut on May 9. The company has been teasing the design and some of the key specs of the phone via its Twitter handle. In the latest development, the company has revealed the display specification of the Poco F5 Pro 5G. The phone is tipped to come with a triple rear camera setup along with an LED Flash on the back panel. Poco, via its official Twitter page, has teased the display specs of the the upcoming Poco F5 Pro 5G ahead of its global debut on May 9. The phone will come with a WQHD+ display. The teaser image of the phone also confirms a centrally aligned punch hole on the top of the display housing a selfie camera. The smartphone will further ship with a triple rear camera setup and an LED Flash placed inside a rectangular camera island on the back panel. Other than these, Poco is yet to reveal any details about the Poco F5 Pro 5G but the rumours and leaks have already given us a sneak peek into

Twitter has locked NDTV's official handle on Saturday evening. The microsite has not stated any reason for locking out the media news handle yet. Meanwhile, team NDTV has tweeted on another handle that they are 'working with Twitter to restore @ndtv account'. It is to be noted that NDTV is yet to release an official statement regarding the account being locked. Therefore, the reason behind the issue is yet to be disclosed.  Earlier in the day, Twitter locked out another Indian media agency ANI, stating that it is 'under 13 year's of age'.  Officials statements from NDTV and Twitter in the matter are awaited.  Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it's first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital , the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify , Gaana , JioSaavn , Google Podcasts , Apple Podcasts ,

Samsung recently introduced skin temperature-based sensor for women's menstrual health tracker on the Galaxy Watch 5 series. The tech giant is now reportedly working on adding more health-tracking features based on skin temperature. However, there are no further details available about the update yet. Meanwhile, the menstrual cycle tracking feature is currently accessible across 32 countries including Korea, the US, and European regions. It uses an infrared temperature sensor to provide accurate data on menstrual cycles. A Samsung official, who is in charge of Samsung Health Service, has announced via the  Samsung community forum for Korea that the company will expand the usage of the skin temperature sensor to more health-tracking features. The new features using temperature sensors will be available in a future software update for the device, as per the announcement. However, he hasn't shared further details regarding the health tracking features that will be added or th

Google Pixel Fold is expected to launch soon in the market. It is being speculated that the company may unveil the Pixel Fold at the upcoming Google I/O, scheduled for May 2023. However, Google is yet to confirm any detail officially. However, despite no official announcement, there has been a number of rumours about the purported smartphone. A recent leak by a popular tipster, displaying the design renders of the Pixel Fold, has provided new insights into the smartphone's cover design. The images shared by tipster Evan Blass (Twitter @evleaks) on a personal Twitter account, via 9to5Google, appear to be taken from a press render that the company could use for marketing. The leaked image shows the Pixel Fold's outer display with a centrally aligned punch hole, the Pixel Launcher home screen with themed icons, Google's stock apps, and a blurred At a Glance widget. Additionally, the smartphone appears to have a wider aspect ratio and a thinner hinge. In the shared images,

Realme 11 series smartphones, comprising the vanilla Realme 11, Realme 11 Pro, and Realme 11 Pro+, are confirmed to launch on May 10 in China. While the smartphones' debut is still more than a week away, the company has revealed the display specifications of the Realme 11 Pro+ via a Weibo post. Additionally, the smartphone has also appeared on Geekbench listing suggesting a few more details including the processor and software support. The listing hinted that the handset could run on Android 13 OS. It could be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC. Realme has teased  the design and display specifications of the upcoming Realme 11 Pro+ ahead of its launch in China. The smartphone, which is set to make its debut on May 10, will sport a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a centrally positioned hole-punch cutout. It also gets curved edges with a 61-degree curvature. The display of the smartphone features a 120Hz refresh rate. The official poster also revealed that the Realme 11 Pro+ wil

As recently as February, generative AI did not feature prominently in EU lawmakers' plans for regulating generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT . The bloc's 108-page proposal for the AI Act, published two years earlier, included only one mention of the word "chatbot." References to AI-generated content largely referred to deepfakes: images or audio designed to impersonate human beings. By mid-April, however, members of European Parliament (MEPs) were racing to update those rules to catch up with an explosion of interest in generative AI, which has provoked awe and anxiety since OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT six months ago. That scramble culminated on Thursday with a new draft of the legislation which identified copyright protection as a core piece of the effort to keep AI in check. Interviews with four lawmakers and two other sources close to discussions reveal for the first time how over just 11 days this small group of politicians hamme

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that the social media platform will take a 10 percent cut on content subscriptions after the first year, as the company looks to monetize content on the website in a bid to diversify its revenue sources. Earlier this month, billionaire owner Musk said users of the social media platform will be able to offer their followers subscriptions to content, including long-form text and hours-long video. He had also said that the company will not take a cut for the first 12 months on content subscriptions. Musk has been bringing in changes at Twitter to boost revenue after the platform saw advertising income drop last year in the run up to his $44 billion (nearly Rs. 3,59,700 crore) acquisition that closed in October. He added that the company's cut from subscriptions on iOS and Android platforms will drop to 15 percent in the second year from 30 percent in the first. A few days back, Musk also has made an important announcement regarding the bl

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday blocked Microsoft's $69 billion (nearly Rs. 5,64,100 crore) acquisition of Call of Duty  maker Activision Blizzard over concerns it would hinder cloud gaming . The ruling was a shock after the regulator had already resolved its concerns about the consoles market, a sector dominated by Sony 's PlayStation and Microsoft 's Xbox , which dwarfs cloud gaming. Is the deal dead? Not necessarily. Microsoft said it remained fully committed and would appeal. The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. How does the appeal process work? Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. Microsoft will not be able to offer new remedies at this stage, such as offering to keep Activision content off its Xbox Game Pass , a subscrip

Bitcoin, that stepped into the last week of April with lower prices, managed to bounce back to recovery after four days of losing ground. The cryptocurrency on Friday, April 28, recorded a gain of 1.22 percent to trade at $29,410 (roughly Rs. 24 lakh) on both, national as well as international exchanges. This is the closest Bitcoin has been this week to the mark of $30,000 (roughly Rs. 24.5 lakh). In the last 24 hours, the most expensive cryptocurrency rose by $452 (roughly Rs. 36,960) in value. Ether incurred a small loss of 0.03 percent on Friday. The value of the second-most expensive cryptocurrency stood at $1,905 (roughly Rs. 1.55 lakh) at the time of writing, as per Gadgets 360's crypto price tracker . “Investors and traders are now focusing on the upcoming FOMC interest rate decision next week. Bitcoin has managed to maintain its position due to concerns about banking instability. Its immediate resistance is $29,800 (roughly Rs. 24.3 lakh) and its support is $29,250 (Roug

Sony Xperia 1 V launch date has been announced by the company, and the next "One" branded smartphone is set to make its debut next month. While the company is yet to reveal details of its upcoming phone, leaked renders have already given us a sneak peek at the handset as well as its specifications. The phone is expected to arrive as the successor to the Sony Xperia 1 IV that was launched  by the company last year. The Japanese phone maker confirmed that it will launch the next "ONE" smartphone on May 11 at 1 pm Japan Time (9:30 am IST). The firm is evidently referring to the upcoming Xperia 1 V smartphone in the teaser video. Sony has also touted the camera performance of the phone, tweeting that it will be equipped with a next-generation sensor. However, it hasn't shared details of the camera's specifications. According to an earlier report , leaked images of the Sony Xperia 1 V hint at the presence of a triple rear camera setup along with an LED flash

Google Pixel 7a is expected to make its official debut at Google I/O 2023 alongside the Pixel Fold. Ahead of the expected launch, multiple leaks have exposed almost every detail about the upcoming smartphone. Now, a well know tipster has shared an alleged image of Pixel 7a in a new colour option. The new render leak shows off the handset in a new shade. Past leaks have suggested blue, grey, and white colour options for the Pixel 7a. It is expected to be powered by a Tensor G2 chipset. Known tipster Evan Blass (@evleaks) posted the alleged render of Google Pixel 7a on Twitter. The leaked render shows the handset in an orange shade. This colour option looks quite identical to the coral colour we've seen in past Google handsets such as the Pixel 6 and Pixel 4 . Previous leaks have also given us a look at the blue, grey, and white colourways. The Google Pixel 7a is seen with dual rear cameras similar to the outgoing Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro models. A Google logo is also placed

Online retail titan Amazon on Thursday reported that its cloud and ads units helped it beat earnings expectations in the first quarter of this year despite shoppers and businesses being more careful about spending. "For the first time in several quarters, Amazon may finally have a bit of wind at its back," said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Andrew Lipsman. Amazon shares spiked more than 10 percent shortly after release of the earnings figures, only to sink slightly below the day's closing price as it warned that customers were remaining watchful of their budgets. Amazon reported a profit of $3.2 billion (roughly Rs. 26,162 crore) on revenue that climbed 9 percent to $127.4 billion (roughly Rs. 10,41,616 crore) in the quarter. The net income was about a billion dollars more than analysts had forecast. "There's a lot to like about how our teams are delivering for customers, particularly amidst an uncertain economy," said Amazon chief executive s

A delivery executive of an e-commerce firm allegedly stole 10 iPhones by replacing them with dummy phones on the way to deliver them to the customer here, police said on Thursday. Station in-charge of Matrix Finance Solution, which delivers Amazon 's parcel, Ravi in his complaint alleged that on March 27 delivery executive Lalit was handed over a customer's parcel, which contained 10 iPhones and an AirPods , at his address, they said. However, instead of delivering the parcel, Lalit replaced the iPhones with replicas and sent his brother Manoj to deposit them back to the company claiming that the customer could not be contacted, Ravi said in his complaint. Suspecting some tampering with the packaging, the parcel was opened and the delivery company found the fake phones inside, police said. Meanwhile, upon not receiving his parcel, the customer also cancelled his order, they said. An FIR has been registered against Lalit under sections 420 (cheating), 408 (criminal breach

SonyLIV and Applause Entertainment on Thursday unveiled their upcoming slate for 2023, including two new series as well as the return of popular shows such as Scam , Tanaav, Avrodh, and Undekhi. The two new shows are Kafas, a social drama directed by Sahil Sangha, and a suspense thriller 36 Days, a press release stated. Kafas features Sharman Joshi, Mona Singh, and Vivan Bhatena, while Vishal Furia-directed 36 Days stars Neha Sharma, Purab Kohli, Shruti Seth, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Amruta Khanvilkar, Sharib Hashmi, Shernaz Patel, Faisal Rashid, Chahat Vig, and Kenneth Desai in pivotal roles. The project line-up also includes the second instalments of Tanaav and Scam — Scam 2003: The Telgi Story — and season three of Undekhi and Avrodh. Directed by Hansal Mehta and Tushar Hiranandani, Scam 2003 will focus on the story of the infamous stamp paper scam by Abdul Karim Telgi. “It is with great pleasure that we announce our upcoming slate for 2023 at Applause Entertainment with SonyLIV. T

Aadhaar holders have carried out nearly 2.31 billion authentication transactions in the month of March 2023, indicative of the growing usage of Aadhaar and the growth of the digital economy in the country. In a release, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT said the March number is better than the February when 2.26 billion authentication transactions were carried out. A majority of the authentications transaction numbers were carried out by using biometric fingerprints during the month, followed by others. "Aadhaar e-KYC service continues to play a stellar role for banking and non-banking financial services by providing transparent and improved customer experience and helping in ease of doing business. More than 311.8 million eKYC transactions were carried out during March 2023, a jump of over 16.3 per cent against February," said the release. Another benefit of the adoption of e-KYC is it has also significantly reduced customer acquisition costs for financial institu

Apple and its Android rivals saw sales slide in the first quarter in China, research firm Canalys reported on Thursday, as consumers continued to tighten their belts following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. The iPhone maker was the top-selling brand over the first three months of the year, with 20 percent market share. But its overall shipments in China fell to 13.3 million units, a 3 percent decrease from the same period in 2022. Sales for all other top-selling brands also fell, with total smartphone shipments dropping 11 percent year-on-year to 67.2 million units, the lowest quarterly total since 2013. Despite being the best-selling brand in the quarter, Apple saw its total market share fall 3 percentage points year-on-year. Oppo and Vivo , Android brands that trail Apple as the second and third best-sellers, saw shipments fall 10 percent and 7 percent respectively. Honor and Xiaomi , which specialise in low-end models, saw shipments fall 35 percent and 20 percent resp

A California judge on Wednesday tentatively ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be interviewed under oath about whether he made certain statements regarding the safety and capabilities of the carmaker's Autopilot features. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the family of Walter Huang against Tesla in Santa Clara Superior Court, over a car crash which killed the Apple engineer in 2018. Huang's family argues Tesla's partially automated driving software failed. The carmaker contends Huang was playing a videogame on his phone before the crash and disregarded vehicle warnings. Plaintiff attorneys sought to depose Musk regarding recorded statements that tout the capabilities of Autopilot. In a 2016 statement cited by plaintiffs, Musk allegedly said: "A Model S and Model X, at this point, can drive autonomously with greater safety than a person. Right now.” Tesla, however, opposed the request in court filings, arguing that Musk cannot recall details about statements. In

The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday urged CEOs of several artificial intelligence (AI) companies to prioritize security measures, combat bias, and responsibly roll out new technologies. Democratic Senator Mark Warner raised concerns about potential risks posed by AI technology. "Beyond industry commitments, however, it is also clear that some level of regulation is necessary in this field," said Warner, who sent letters to the CEOs of OpenAI , Scale AI,  Meta Platforms ,  Alphabet 's Google , Apple , Stability AI, Midjourney, Anthropic, Percipient.ai, and Microsoft . "With the increasing use of AI across large swaths of our economy, and the possibility for large language models to be steadily integrated into a range of existing systems, from healthcare to finance sectors, I see an urgent need to underscore the importance of putting security at the forefront of your work," Warner said. Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck S

Funko Pops, the adorable vinyl and bobblehead figurine lineup with a cult following, is getting its own video game. 10:10 Games dropped a teaser for its upcoming title, Funko Fusion, which is described as an action-adventure multiplayer game, featuring characters from several movies and TV series. The brief trailer doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay and simply shows off its cast from NBCUniversal franchises such as The Umbrella Academy , Jurassic World , Shaun of the Dead, He-Man, Chucky the Doll, and more. Funko Fusion is slated to arrive sometime in early 2024, across PC and consoles. 10:10 Games marks its debut project with Funko Fusion , promising unique personalities and abilities for each character. It would make sense for the game to be fashioned after the Lego series of video games like LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga or LEGO Batman , because the studio was co-founded by Jon Burton — the five-time BAFTA award winner and founder of TT Games . For this project, h

Celebrating its 100th year, Warner Bros. unveiled a packed lineup of new big-screen films at CinemaCon on Tuesday, from a live-action Barbie comedy to Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg's remake of The Color Purple . The historic Hollywood studio also used its presentation at the annual Las Vegas gathering to tease a ‘10-year plan' to relaunch its DC superhero films, which include beloved characters such as Batman and Superman. David Zaslav, who spearheaded last year's corporate merger of Warner and Discovery, took to the stage personally to court an audience predominantly made up of theatre owners. “We don't want to do direct-to-streaming movies,” said Zaslav, whose predecessor was slammed for releasing Warner films directly onto its streaming platform HBO Max — recently rebranded as Max . “We're in no rush to bring the movies to Max.” Across a two-and-a-half-hour presentation, Zaslav and fellow Warner bosses brought out A-list stars including Margot Robbie, Ry