The King officially gave his final approval: the controversial reform to the UK’s Investigative Powers Act (IPA) is all set to become law. The government seeks to widen its digital surveillance capabilities “to protect the British people” in spite of technological change. Technologists and digital rights experts foresee a rather different outcome, however, reminiscent of … Read more
On the outskirts of Beijing sits a set of unassuming buildings marked ‘X’, for ‘extreme’. Inside the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility (SECUF), researchers from all over the world are pushing matter to its limits with extreme magnetic fields, pressures and temperatures, and examining it in new ways with extremely precise resolution in time. One … Read more
As AI becomes more of a common presence in my companies and organizations across the world, questions are inevitably being asked about the effect the technology will have on human jobs. With its core task of taking large and complex sets of data, analyzing it to find trends or anomalies, and creating detailed reports, accountancy … Read more
The Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) are the latest wireless earbuds from Nothing, unveiled earlier this month – and the updates are already getting underway, with an upgrade to the Transparency Mode coming soon. That’s the word from Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who says the improvements will be “noticeable”. He’s also asked for users … Read more
Edge, Microsoft’s default web browser in Windows 11, is getting new text editing capabilities, including Copilot-assisted rewriting, improved clipboard functionality, and support for handwritten text in forms and web pages via a stylus. Windows Copilot is the AI assistant that Microsoft has been busy integrating into Windows 11 and various other products, including Microsoft Edge. … Read more
Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau and finance minister Chrystia Freeland hold copies of the 2024 federal budget.Credit: David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Researchers in Canada got most of what they were hoping for in the country’s 2024 federal budget, with a big boost in postgraduate pay and more funding for research and scientific infrastructure. “We are … Read more
Apple is easing up its self-repair policy, allowing iPhone owners to fix their devices with used parts instead of forcing them to buy new replacements. The tech giant told The Washington Post the update will apply to screens, batteries, and cameras among other things. Apple states in its announcement post that they have plans to … Read more
Sony just announced a trio of new speakers in a new line of audio products called the ULT Power Series. This is an attempt by the company to reduce some of the clutter involved with its naming conventions, so and XE-Series products. Both lines are being wrapped up into the ULT Power Series branding. To … Read more
Bixby’s never really been my smart home voice assistant of choice, and I’d wager that’s the same for most smart home enthusiasts. Much like Apple’s Siri, Bixby is more of a nice-to-have for those already in the wider Samsung ecosystem, lagging behind in terms of features and functionality when compared to the likes of Google Assistant … Read more
Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Even before recent complaints about X’s declining quality, posting a paper on the social media platform did not translate to a boost in citations.Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Posting about a paper on X (formerly Twitter) seems to … Read more