Recent Articles

After the Amazon-owned ‘Ring’ video doorbell company’s recent major subscription price hike across its range caused anger and made the news, we look at what customers have said and if there’s a way to beat the price hike. Ouch!  Ring has angered customers and received......

In this tech-insight, we take a look at the world of virtual cards, who offers them, their benefits, and other secure payment alternatives. What Are Virtual Credit Card Numbers?  Virtual credit cards and their card numbers (as the name suggests) only exist in the virtual......

OpenAI’s new ‘Sora’ AI-powered text-to-video tool is so good that its outputs could easily be mistaken for real videos, prompting deepfake fears in a year of important global elections. Sora  Open AI says that its new Sora text-to-video model can generate realistic videos up to......

Google’s new “Talk to a Live Representative” feature will call a business for you, wait on hold for you, and call you when a human representative is available. Being Tested  Similar to Google Pixel’s existing “Hold for Me” feature, “Talk to a Live Representative” is......

Meta has announced that it will be passing on Apple’s 30 per cent service charge (often referred to as the “Apple tax”) to advertisers who pay to boost posts on Facebook and Instagram through the iOS app. This move is a response to Apple’s in-app purchase fees,......

In a bid to “tilt the cybersecurity balance from attackers to cyber defenders,” Google has announced the launch of its AI Cyber Defence Initiative. The initiative involves the introduction of: – Secure AI Framework (SAIF) – a conceptual framework for secure AI systems, to help collaboratively secure......

In this insight, we look at what blockchain identifiers are, their roles, users, and relevance to businesses, plus how they could work with the domain name system. What Are Blockchain Identifiers?  Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, is the decentralised, secure, incorruptible ledger system that enables......

The US The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that robocalls using AI-generated voices are now illegal. What Are Robocalls And Why Make Them Illegal? A robocall is a call made using voice cloning technology with an AI-generated voice, i.e. it is a telemarketing call......

Google has rebranded its Bard chatbot as Gemini, the name of its new powerful AI model family, and launched a $20 per month ‘Gemini Advanced’ subscription service. Gemini Advanced  To compete with the likes of ChatGPT, Google has launched its own monthly Chatbot subscription service......

With the world’s first metal 3D printer being sent to the International Space Station (ISS), we look at what impact being able to print metal parts in space could have on space-travel plus potential environmental considerations and more. 3D Metal Printer  Although the ISS already......

In a recent experiment where AI was taught to behave maliciously and then taught to stop, the bad behaviour continued despite efforts to stop it, giving a chilling reminder of the potential threats of AI. The Experiment  The Cornell University experiment was documented in an......

Google has announced that it is trying out generative AI within Google Maps as a way for users to discover new places based on their questions. How?  What Google means is that if users, for example, are visiting a town or city, they can simply......

AnyDesk, the remote desktop application company has reported that it recently suffered a cyberattack where hackers gained access to its production servers. It has been reported that source code and private code signing keys were stolen. AnyDesk said in a statement that on discovering the......

With the world’s first metal 3D printer being sent to the International Space Station (ISS), we look at what impact being able to print metal parts in space could have on space-travel plus potential environmental considerations and more. 3D Metal Printer  Although the ISS already......

Following Microsoft’s recent announcement that it is expanding its Copilot product line-up to appeal to a larger range of businesses, we take a look at what this means and some of the stand-out pros and cons. Copilot  In November last year, Microsoft, a major investor......

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have reported making a two-legged “biohybrid robot” after combining an artificial skeleton with biological muscle, which can walk and pivot underwater. Biohybrid  Whereas ‘typical’ biohybrid robots can only move in straight lines or perform large turns (making them unsuitable for use......

Included in a recent major update to Google’s Gmail on Android (for now), a new feature can help users to declutter and remove annoying spam from their inbox. Select All Option The new feature (currently being rolled out) enables users to use a “Select all” tick box......

Security researchers, Arctic Wolf Labs, have reported that victims of Royal and Akira ransomware are being targeted in follow-on extortion attacks. In these follow-on attacks (starting in October 2023), two of which were documented by Arctic Wolf Labs, the threat actors falsely claimed they were......

Following many legal challenges to AI companies about copyrighted content being scraped and used to train their AI models (without consent or payment), a new certification for copyright-compliant AI has been launched. The Issue  As highlighted in the recent case of the New York Times......

Work has started on Google’s first UK data centre which will cost $1 billion (£790m), will add to Google’s 27 data centres worldwide, and will support its move into AI. Crucial Compute Capacity  The data centre is being built on a 33-acre site at Waltham......

A new review of existing research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), warns that video gamers who are listening to high-intensity sound levels for long periods of time may be risking permanent hearing loss and tinnitus. Overlooked Area  Whereas headphones, earbuds, and music venues......

It’s been reported that The European Commission is now seeking feedback from Apple’s rivals and customers over concessions agreed by Apple relating to its tap-and-go mobile payment systems, based on the independent technology called Near-Field Communication (NFC). Following an antitrust investigation and the threat of......

AI company Anthropic has published a research paper highlighting how large language models (LLMs) can be subverted so that at a certain point, they start emitting maliciously crafted source code. For example, this could involve training a model to write secure code when the prompt......

A new AI tool called GNoME from Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence lab has reportedly discovered and contributed nearly 380,000 new compounds to the Materials Project, the open-access database founded at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). GNoME  The Graph Networks for......

Google has announced that Google Cloud customers who want to switch and migrate their network data to another cloud provider and/or on-premises will no longer be charged a transfer fee to do so. How?  The process for the free transfer away from Google involves contacting......

Following the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, we take a look at some of the more novel and fun gadgets (and claims from the show) and what lessons businesses can take away from this year’s event. CES The Consumer Electronics Show......

In this brief guide to storage technology, we compare and contrast the benefits of flash drives and Hard Disk Drives (HDD) for enterprise storage and take a look at some other popular storage options. What are Flash Drives?  Flash drives, sometimes called Solid State Drives......

Worries about smartphone demand have been blamed for Microsoft’s stock market value ending a trading session higher than Apple’s last week for the first time since 2021. How Much?  Microsoft adding 1 per cent to its stock value compared to just a 0.2 per cent......

Even though the feature was launched in early 2023 with a target of getting 100 million verified members by 2025, many people may not yet have heard that LinkedIn provides an identity verification feature on its platform. LinkedIn’s Persona verification process confirms an individual’s identity......

With January 1 being ‘Public Domain Day’, we look at what ‘public domain’ actually means in relation to works of literature, music, art, and science. Public Domain Day New Year’s Day each year is called ‘Public Domain Day’ because it’s the day that the copyright......

In the first change to Microsoft keyboards in 30 years, an AI key is to be added to Microsoft Windows 11 PC keyboards from February. Copilot Key  In a move that Microsoft says will make “2024 the year of the AI PC” and to mark a “shift toward......

A recent Times report highlighted how Phil Douglas, director-general of the UK Border Force, aims to replace the UK’s physical passport-based entry system with an upgraded, frictionless, facial recognition-based e-Gates system. Current eGates System  The current eGates system that most UK travellers have experienced involves......

Following news that Google may need to pay $5 billion over tracking millions of people who thought they were browsing privately through incognito mode, we look at what incognito mode actually does. Incognito Mode  Different browsers have different names for ‘private browsing mode’ including ‘InPrivate......

UK Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said in a recent radio interview that driverless cars could be on some UK roads by the end of 2026. 2026  Following the November announcement of the new Automated Vehicles (AV) Bill, in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today......

Amazon has announced that from 5 February 2024, its Amazon Prime Video customers in the UK and Germany will see “limited” ads unless they pay £2.99 per month to remove them. Why?  Amazon says that in view of the fact it won’t be making changes......

The latest version of the Apple Watch has gone back on sale in the US after being removed from sale by the US Government from 26 December 2023. Its removal from sale followed claims by medical technology company Masimo that the watch’s pulse oximetry sensors......

Cyber Security News has compiled a top 10 most notable cyber-attacks of 2023 list, serving as a reminder to businesses that advancements in technology, increased connectivity, and the more sophisticated tactics used by threat actors mean that cyber-attacks are evolving at a rapid pace. Top......

Austria’s Repair Bonus voucher scheme sees the government pay citizens up to €200 (£173) towards getting old electrical appliances, devices and tech gadgets fixed. Why?   The Austrian government scheme, financed through the Covid Recovery Fund, is designed to motivate people to repair rather than throw......

Following on from Google’s recent launch announcement for Gemini (its new super-powered foundation model family), Google has now announced the launch of AI Studio to enable the development of apps and chatbots using Gemini. Gemini (Pro)  Google recently announced the introduction of its largest and......

A whitepaper by researchers at Sophos highlights how, rather than remaining anonymous, ransomware gangs now engage with the media to shape the narrative around a hack and gain a tactical and strategic advantage. The Ransomware Threat  Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to......

A Los Angeles-based startup has said the news channel it’s about to launch will feature virtual newsreaders delivering news content generated by AI. AI-Generated News And Presenters  Channel 1, which describes itself as a “personalised global news network powered by AI” showcased its virtual AI-generated news and......

It’s been reported that the UK’s Minister of State (Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire), the Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, has urged UK police forces to follow Bedfordshire’s example of using artificial intelligence (AI) to save time and money in carrying out admin tasks.......

Following U.S. Senator Ron Wyden revealing that governments can secretly force Apple and Google to hand over the contents of push notifications sent to customers’ phones, Apple has said it’s changed its policy and will no longer do so without a valid judge’s order. This......

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit has reported disrupting the activities of major cybercrime-as-a-service provider Storm-1152. Microsoft says Storm-1152 has created for sale approximately 750 million fraudulent Microsoft accounts, earning the group millions of dollars in illicit revenue, and costing Microsoft and other companies even more to......

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