Technology News

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty PC Demo Impressions – Satisfying Rhythm-Based Combat Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty demo — out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox one, and Xbox Series S/X for free — is a strong showcase of what the game's progression system and combat will be like, with the latter relying on a Sekiro-like rhythm-based deflect system. The demo contains the first two chapters, and your save data and progress will carry over to the full release. On P...

Elden Ring’s First Major Expansion ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ Announced: All Details Elden Ring’s first major DLC expansion just got announced. In a tweet, developer FromSoftware revealed that the DLC will be called ‘Shadow of the Erdtree,’ unveiling a key art for the same which presumably features Miquella of the Haligtree. Currently, there is no word on a release date, but the developer confirmed that the expansion will be out on PC, PS4, PS5,...

WhatsApp’s Call Link Feature Rolling Out for Beta Testers on Windows: Report WhatsApp Call Link feature is reportedly rolling out to the latest WhatsApp beta for Windows app. The feature lets users create a call link and send that to their contacts to invite them for a voice or video call. The feature was rolled out to WhatsApp for Android recently. It is currently said to be available on the WhatsApp beta for Windows app version 2.2307.3.0.

Jio 5G Network Services Will Be Available Across India by End of 2023, Says Reliance Reliance Jio Infocomm reiterated on Tuesday that it will extend high-speed 5G telecom services across India by the end of 2023. "We are on the path to achieving the declared goal to increase the Jio 5G footprint month after month to other cities, towns, and talukas of various States and UTs, and are aiming to cover every town, every taluka, and every tehsil across the...

Beyond Good and Evil 2 Hits Another Development Setback as Studio Head Departs: Report Beyond Good and Evil 2 has hit another development setback as the studio’s managing director Guillaume Carmona has reportedly exited the company. As per Kotaku, while Carmona had been absent from the office since the start of 2023, the Ubisoft Montpellier staff were informed of this leadership change just last week. The news comes in the wake of a labour investigati...

Technology Will Help India Become Developed Nation by 2047; 5G, AI Will Transform Sectors: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday outlined the massive and modern digital infrastructure being created to ensure that benefits of digital revolution reach all citizens. a post-Budget webinar on 'Unleashing the Potential: Ease of Living Using Technology', Modi said that technology would help India achieve the target of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

Snapchat Launches Its Own ChatGPT-Powered Chatbot 'My AI' Social media firm Snap said on Monday it is rolling out an experimental chatbot feature running on OpenAI's GPT technology for some users of its photo messaging app Snapchat. The feature dubbed as My AI will be running the latest version of OpenAI’s GPT technology which has been customised for Snapchat. The AI chatbot will be initially rolling out to Snapchat+ su...

Germany Wants to Ease Visa Application Process, Relax Language Requirements for Indian IT Workers: Report German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that his government wants to ease the path for Indian information technology experts to obtain work visas in Germany. "We want to simplify the issuing of visas. We intend to modernize the whole bureaucratic process in addition to legal modernization," Scholz said while visiting India's Silicon Valley in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Call of Duty Is Not Skipping This Year, Will Continue Modern Warfare 2 Story in Standalone Entry: Report Call of Duty 2023 is reportedly a full-fledged release, serving as a continuation of last year’s Modern Warfare II reboot. Publisher Activision had originally planned to skip a year, and focus on a premium expansion for MW2, which includes a campaign DLC and some multiplayer maps. However, a report suggests the company has changed its mind, and will now release it a...

Netflix March 2023 Releases: Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga, Rana Naidu, Murder Mystery 2, and More What are the biggest Netflix originals in March 2023? Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga, Rana Naidu, Murder Mystery 2, Luther: The Fallen Sun, Shadow and Bone season 2, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, Kill Boksoon, Copycat Killer, The Night Agent, and more lead the releases for Netflix in March 2023.

‘Collaboration Rather Than Replacement’: ChatGPT-Like AI Platforms Won’t Replace Jobs, Says TCS Generative AI like ChatGPT will create an "AI co-worker" and not replace jobs, Milind Lakkad, the chief human resources officer (CHRO) at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) feels. TCS is the country's largest IT services firm that employs over 6 lakh people.

The Last of Us Episode 8 Trailer: Troy Baker’s Cannibalistic Gang Is on the Hunt for Ellie and Joel The Last of Us episode 8 trailer is out, teasing Ellie’s encounter with a cannibalistic survivor group which intends to take her in. Troy Baker, the original voice actor for Joel in the video game, also stars in the episode as James, a senior, untrusting member of the gang. Titled ‘When We Are in Need,’ the episode reportedly clocks in at 51 minutes, and is dire...

Qualcomm Demonstrates Fastest Offline Stable Diffusion AI Image Generation on Android: Details Qualcomm on Thursday demonstrated the generation of AI images offline on an Android smartphone using Stable Diffusion, one of the most popular generative AI tools. The company says it ran Stable Diffusion 1.5 locally on an Android smartphone powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC and showed an image being generated offline in under 15 seconds.

Meta Steps Up Chatbot Buzz, Announces Research Tool LLaMA as Rival to Microsoft's ChatGPT, Google's LaMDA Meta Platforms introduced a research tool for building artificial intelligence-based chatbots and other products, seeking to create a buzz for its own technology in a field lately focused on internet rivals Google and Microsoft. The technology has become popular, and controversial, in recent months as more companies have started to build them and introduce tests of p...

China Directs Tech Companies Not to Offer Access to ChatGPT on Their Platforms: Report China has instructed them not to offer access to ChatGPT services on their platforms, either directly or via third parties, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia. Beijing's clampdown on ChatGPT, the hugely popular AI-powered chatbot, comes as little surprise to many in China's tech industry.

WhatsApp Rolling Out Settings Search Bar Feature on Latest iOS Beta Update: Report WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out a new search bar for the setting section on iOS that will allow users to quickly search through the settings menu. The Meta-owned messaging app is also rolling out the ability to report status updates to some beta testers on the latest iOS beta version, according to a feature tracker.

Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure Expansion Release Date Set for March 29: All Details Playground Games have announced the second major expansion for Forza Horizon 5 called Rally Adventure, arriving March 29 across PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. The upcoming expansion will introduce a new region, 10 new vehicles, and a host of rally-focussed features and events.

Google, Twitter Supreme Court Cases Won’t Break the Internet Google is being sued based on the recommendations that YouTube’s algorithms make to users in the familiar “up next” box. Twitter is accused of making insufficient efforts to remove pro-terror postings.

Mortal Kombat 12 Confirmed by Warner Bros., Scheduled for 2023 Release Mortal Kombat 12 is coming this year. Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed the news during its quarterly earnings call with hopes for “ambitious launch projections.” NetherRealm Studios and Ed Boon had been secretive about the new fighting game iteration. Back in June, Johnny Cage voice actor Andrew Bowen accidentally hinted at Mortal Kombat 12.

Netflix Cuts Prices of Subscription Plans Up to Half in Some Countries as Shares Drop 5 Percent As Netflix looks to maintain subscriber growth amid stiff competition and falling stock, the streaming giant announced price cuts for its subscription plans in some countries. Netflix stock fell nearly 5 percent, underperforming the broader market and on course for its worst day in more than two months.

Qualcomm Demonstrates Fastest Offline Stable Diffusion AI Image Generation on Android: Details Qualcomm on Thursday demonstrated the generation of AI images offline on an Android smartphone using Stable Diffusion, one of the most popular generative AI tools. The company says it ran Stable Diffusion 1.5 locally on an Android smartphone powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC and showed an image being generated offline in under 15 seconds.

Valve Sets Trap, Permanently Bans Over 40,000 Dota 2 Players for Cheating: Details Valve has banned over 40,000 Dota 2 players in the past couple of weeks, who were caught using third-party software to cheat in games. While the company wasn’t specific on the app’s purpose, it revealed that the software in question was able to access internal data used by the Dota client. Normally, such information should not be available to players. However, upo...

Steam Reveals Major Sales and Fests Schedule for 2023: The Full List Valve has listed the entire Steam Sales and Fests schedule for 2023. The calendar should serve as an advance notice for players to plan out their game purchases, without fear of missing out. This year’s schedule has four major seasonal sales, where almost every released title will be available at a discount — in addition to Fests, which are limited-time, thematic ...

Elden Ring Has Sold Over 20 Million Copies Worldwide, Bandai Namco Confirms Elden Ring has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, publisher Bandai Namco confirmed in a tweet. The Game of the Year winner at The Game Awards 2022 achieved this milestone just days before its one-year anniversary on February 25. The total combines the figures of both physical and digital units sold. At The Game Awards, director Hidetaka Miyazaki promised more Elde...

YouTube Spotted Testing ‘1080p Premium’ Video Quality With Enhanced Bitrate YouTube has been spotted testing a new high-quality video feature. The new video quality “1080p Premium,” as seen by a Reddit user, appears on YouTube video quality settings with the “Enhanced bitrate” label. The new video quality option seems to be available only for YouTube Premium users. The option appears alongside the ‘regular’ 1080p streaming quality...

PlayStation Confirms State of Play Event: Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, PS VR2 Games, and More Sony has confirmed a new State of Play event for this week, promising five new PS VR2 games and more than 15 minutes of gameplay showcase for the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game. The event is scheduled to go live on PlayStation’s official YouTube and Twitch channels on February 24, at 2:30am IST in India, and February 23, 1pm PT in the US.

Microsoft Teams Working to Roll Out New Version, Could Launch in March: Report Microsoft is reportedly working on a new version of Teams, to be dubbed Microsoft Teams 2.0. The new version is likely to bring several improvements to the performance and battery life. It is said to consume 50 percent less memory and could be launched next month.

Made-in-India Battle Royale Indus Sets Third Community Playtest for February 25: Details Pune-based developer SuperGaming has announced the third community playtest for its upcoming battle royale, Indus. The in-person event is scheduled for February 25 at the White Orange Software in Surat, Gujarat, and is open only to 50 lucky entrants — accessible by filling out a form. The studio also revealed that Indus is nearing one million pre-registrations on An...

Google Chrome Tipped to Bring a Double-Click Shortcut to Close Tabs: Report Google is reportedly working on a new shortcut for its Chrome browser that will let users close active tabs quickly. The new shortcut is likely to be a mouse input enabling users to close tabs by double-clicking. Currently, the browser allows users to close active tabs by simply clicking on the “X” symbol on the tab or by using the Ctrl+W keyboard shortcut.

Cocaine Bear’s Absurdist Premise Points to Decent Box Office Estimate: Report Cocaine Bear — releasing Friday in theatres — might see a decent box office opening after all, despite going up against Marvel’s latest Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. As per Variety, the Elizabeth Banks-directed film is expected to collect $15 million (about Rs. 124 crore) to $17 million (about Rs. 141 crore) at the North American box office, during its open...

Authenticator App Reportedly Uses App Store Advertising to Scam Users, Collects Secret QR Codes Soon after Twitter announced that it was turning off support for SMS-based two-factor authentication for users without a Twitter Blue subscription, copycat 2FA apps have reportedly appeared on Apple's App Store, charging users up to $40 (roughly Rs. 3,300) in annual charges.

Tencent Said to Be in Talks With Meta to Distribute Quest VR Headsets in China Tencent Holdings is in talks with Meta Platforms to distribute its Meta Quest line of virtual reality headsets in China, three people familiar with the matter said. The talks between Tencent and Meta started last year and have continued in recent months, according to one of the sources who has direct knowledge of the matter, adding that the talks remain early stage a...

Qualcomm Launches Paid Cloud Software Service Qualcomm Aware to Track Goods Qualcomm on Tuesday said it is launching a paid cloud software service to help companies that use its chips keep tabs on goods as they move through the supply chain. The San Diego, California company is the world's biggest provider of chips that help smartphones connect to mobile data networks.

Mark Zuckerberg May Have Better Luck With Elon Musk’s ‘Blue Tick' Mark Zuckerberg recently announced Meta Verified, a paid subscription service for users to receive a verification badge on the platform, after providing government-issued ID to prove their identity. Here's why Zuckerberg may have better luck with Meta Verified than Elon Musk's revamped Twitter Blue, which has reportedly floundered — only about 0.2 percent of Twitter...

UPI-PayNow Linkage Would Take Bilateral Relations to Greater Heights: Singaporean Envoy UPI-PayNow linkage took place on Tuesday, on which Singaporean High Commissioner to India Simon Wong Wie Kuen said this collaboration would take bilateral relations to greater heights and his country looks forward to continuing to be part of India's digital transformation journey.

Oyo to Expand in Numbers, Plans to Open Around 1,800 More Hotels in 2023 Oyo on Tuesday announced its plan to double the number of premium hotels in India with the addition of around 1,800 such hotels in 2023. Its premium hotel brands include Townhouse Oak, Oyo Townhouse, Collection O and Capital O. Oyo currently has about 1,800 premium hotels in India.

Croma Magical Summer Sale 2023: Top Deals on Air Conditioners, Other Appliances Croma Magical Summer Sale 2023 brings exciting discounts on summer home appliances. If you’re looking to upgrade or replace an appliance, we’ve handpicked some of the best deals you can grab on air conditioners, refrigerators, and other home appliances this summer.

India, Singapore to Link Digital Payments Systems UPI, PayNow for Cross-Border Transactions: All Details India and Singapore are set to link their digital payments systems UPI and PayNow for easier cross-border transactions. The linkage of these two payment systems of both countries would enable residents of both countries to the faster and more cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances. 

Google Meet Rolls Out 360-Degree Background Support on Android, iOS Devices Google Meet has finally rolled out immersive 360-degree backgrounds on Android and iOS devices. With the new feature, users can select from multiple available backgrounds. Users can now apply these effects while attending a Google Meet call on their smartphones. The feature has been rolled out for both Android and iOS devices for all Google Workspace users and those w...

Avatar: The Way of Water Is Now the Third Biggest Movie of All Time, Collecting Over $2.243 Billion A little over two months since its theatrical debut, Avatar: The Way of Water has now become the third-biggest film of all time. The James Cameron-directed sequel has collected $2.243 billion (about Rs. 18,550 crore) at the worldwide box office, surpassing his own 1997 disaster romance film Titanic. Avatar 2 has collected $658.4 million (about Rs. 5,443 crore) from US...

The Last of Us Episode 7 Trailer: Ellie Reminisces on Her Past With Riley The Last of Us episode 7 trailer is out, teasing a pivotal character from the game’s DLC — Riley. Portrayed by Storm Reid, she is Ellie’s close friend at the Boston military camp. Titled ‘Left Behind,’ the flashback arc, set weeks before the show’s pilot, will reportedly run for 56 minutes, and might also show the first time Ellie got bit by an infected.

BAFTA Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List, From All Quiet on the Western Front to The Banshees of Inisherin All Quiet on the Western Front emerged with the top honour at the BAFTA Awards 2023. The German anti-war film won seven trophies at this year’s ceremony, becoming the first non-English language film to do so. It was closely followed by Marin McDonagh’s Irish black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin with four awards, including one for best original screenplay.

‘AI Could Be the Next Platform’: Silicon Valley Investors Rush to Find the Next ChatGPT Since its discrete release in late November, ChatGPT has become one of the fastest growing apps ever and pushed Microsoft and Google to rush out projects that had until now stayed carefully guarded over fears that the technology wasn't yet ready for the public.

Meta Launches Twitter Blue-Style Subscription for Facebook and Instagram, Service Starts at $11.99 a Month Meta is launching a subscription service starting at $11.99 (roughly Rs. 990) for Facebook and Instagram to authenticate one's account, which follows a similar move by Elon Musk at Twitter. Subscribers will get a badge indicating their account has been verified with a government ID, extra protection against impersonation, direct access to customer support and more vis...

India to Be Major Telecom Exporter in 3 Years; 4G and 5G Stack 'Now Ready', Communications Minister Says India is set to emerge as a telecom technology exporter to the world in the next three years, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. The country's indigenous 4G/5G technology stack is "now ready" and has been tested with 10 million simultaneous calls, according to the minister.

How to Set Up App-Based Two Factor Authentication on Twitter for Free Twitter has confirmed that it will shut down SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users except Twitter Blue subscribers on March 20. However, you won't have to pay Twitter a monthly fee to keep your account secure. Here's how to set up 2FA using third party apps for free, without a Twitter Blue subscription.

Google Calls CCI Fine Over Mobile App Distribution 'Unfair Imposition' Google on Friday submitted before the NCLAT that there was "unfair imposition" by the competition watchdog CCI over its mobile app distribution agreement with device makers as it does not restrict from installing other apps, including that of rivals. A two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan on Friday said it will start day-to-day hearing of...

Microsoft's Bing Plans AI Ads, Testing Them in Early Version of Chatbot Microsoft has started discussing with ad agencies how it plans to make money from its revamped Bing search engine powered by generative artificial intelligence as the tech company seeks to battle Google's dominance. Microsoft showed off a demo of the new Bing and said it plans to allow paid links within responses to search results, said an ad executive, who spoke abou...

Microsoft Says Revamped Bing is 'Work in Progress' After Report Claims Mistakes in Chatbot’s Responses Microsoft unveiled its new Bing search engine powered by the technology behind the ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot recently. A report from The Wall Street Journal reported that early testers were calling out mistakes and disturbing responses generated by the technology. Microsoft said that the search engine is still a work in progress, describing the past week...

mPassport Police App Launched by MEA to Expedite Police Verification of Passport Issuance mPassport Police App was launched by the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday, as part of the ministry's efforts to expedite and streamline police verification of passport issuance. According to a regional passport officer, verification using tablets will effectively reduce the passport issuance timeline by 10 days.

Microsoft Looks to Tame Revamped AI-Powered Bing as Users Report Being Disparaged by Chatbot Microsoft has announced that it will make improvements to the AI-powered Bing chatbot after users began to complain that they were disparaged by the service. The company said in a blog post that the search engine chatbot is responding with a “style we didn’t intend” to certain types of questions.

Ubisoft Says Too Many Titles in Development Led to Recent Game Delays, Cancellations Ubisoft has finally revealed the reason behind its several game delays and cancellations. During its Q3 2022–23 investors call, CEO Yves Guillemot claimed that the measure was taken because the company was producing too many titles at the same time. Cutting down on minor projects will help them save time, by moving those developers on to offer support on post-launch...

India’s Private Wireless Investment to Hit $250 Million by 2027, Mobile Data Usage to Double Soon: Nokia Report According to a report by Nokia, India's investment in private wireless network is expected to reach nearly $250 million (roughly Rs. 2,067 crore) by 2027. The report also mentioned that India’s mobile data usage had more than tripled over the last five years.

Horizon Forbidden West, The Quarry, Resident Evil 7 Lead PlayStation Plus Extra, Deluxe Games for February 2023 Sony has revealed the list of games coming to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe catalogue in February. Key highlights include Horizon Forbidden West, The Quarry, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Borderlands 3, Scarlet Nexus, and more. The games will be available on PS Plus’s higher-tier plans, starting February 21.

Best Laptop Deals Under Rs. 50,000 on Croma Right Now We’ve handpicked some of the best deals and offers available on laptops under Rs. 50,000 on Croma right now. These laptops come along cashback and discount offers to help you make the most out of your purchase.

Lucky Hank Trailer: Bob Odenkirk Powers Through a Mid-Life Crisis AMC+ just dropped a trailer for Lucky Hank, starring Bob Odenkirk as a bitter English professor at an underfunded college. The eight-episode series charts a week in the life of a self-proclaimed anarchist, as he argues with his peers, yells at students, and fight a goose. It is based on the 1997 Richard Russo novel ‘Straight Man’, and is slated to release March 19...

WhatsApp Updated With Support for Sending Up to 100 Media Files, Captions for Documents, More: Details WhatsApp has announced three new features - document captions, longer group subjects and descriptions, the ability to share up to 100 media files, and avatars. These features are now accessible to all users who download the most latest version of WhatsApp for Android from the Google Play store.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Crosses $400 Million at Global Box Office Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has collected an impressive $401.5 million (about Rs. 3,318 crore) at the worldwide box office. Roughly $241.4 million (about Rs. 1,995 crore) were pulled from markets outside the US, with Mexico being the top market. From within the US and Canada, the Joel Crawford-directed spin-off sequel has earned $160.1 million (about Rs. 1,323 crore)...

Jio, Airtel and Vi Said to Push for Regulation of Communication OTT Services at Meeting With TRAI Chief Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) asked TRAI chief P D Vaghela for regulation of communication OTT players, making a unanimous pitch for 'same service-same rules'. Telecom operators have argued that OTT players, which offer similar services as telcos do, should be regulated on similar lines.

Returnal PC Review: Eternal Awakenings on a Lovecraftian Planet Returnal PC review: As the latest PlayStation-to-PC port, Returnal opens doors for more mainstream gamers to get a feel of roguelike games. Fuelled by a relentless stream of Lovecraftian horror, it packages some satisfying gunplay and exploration mechanics and offers fresh challenges across all its biomes. Returnal’s PC version comes with an FOV slider, tons of grap...

Snapdragon X75, Snapdragon X72 5G Advanced-Ready Modems Announced by Qualcomm Ahead of MWC 2023 Qualcomm on Wednesday announced the Snapdragon X75 — the first 5G Advanced-ready modem — and the Snapdragon X72 5G wireless modem-to-antenna solution. The chipmaker also unveiled the Qualcomm Fixed Wireless Access Platform Gen 3 for 5G fixed internet access that it claims is the first fully integrated FWA platform with 5G Advanced-ready connectivity.

Elon Musk Requested Twitter Algorithm Change To Boost His Tweets, Was Unhappy with Views: Report Twitter CEO Elon Musk reportedly requested Twitter engineers to alter the site’s algorithm to boost the performance and engagement of his tweets. With Musk’s tweets prioritised, a glut of them showed up in users’ feeds on Monday, according to a report by Platformer.

Paytm Payments Bank Launches NPCI’s UPI LITE Feature for Faster Real-Time Transactions Paytm Payments Bank has launched UPI LITE, a feature enabled by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for multiple small-value UPI transactions. The UPI LITE feature enables faster real-time transactions with a single click through Paytm as the bank aims to drive the adoption of digital payments across the country.

Twitter Should Be Stable by End of 2023, Will Be Good Time to Find New CEO Then: Elon Musk Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that he expects the microblogging site to be stable by the end of 2023. He also said that end of this year would be good timing to find someone else to run the company. "I think I need to stabilise the organisation and just make sure it's in a financially healthy place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out," Musk said, speaking vi...

Microsoft's New Development Will Let Windows 11 Control RGB Lighting: Report Windows 11, in its latest Insider Build, brings control for RGB lighting directly from the system. Most Windows gaming laptops and desktop PCs feature RGB lighting as accessories to enhance the experience for gamers. Most companies like Dell, HP, Asus and Lenovo offer custom apps to let users control these lights or the effects they emit.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play Kicks Off February 15: All Details Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s Ranked Play kicks off February 15, and before that, Activision has dropped key details about how it works. Developed by Treyarch, in tandem with Infinity Ward, the new competitive mode will adhere to the rules set by Call of Duty League (CDL) — involving 4v4 multiplayer matches on select maps and game modes. Activision has introduc...

Epic Games Claims Google India Not Complying With Antitrust Orders Epic Games is challenging Google in an Indian tribunal for not complying with some portions of an antitrust directive, alleging that the tech giant is not hosting the gaming company's app store on Google's Play Store app. Epic filed the claim with an appeals tribunal in New Delhi on February 9.

Dead Island 2 Release Date Brought Forward by a Week, Will Now Arrive April 21 Dead Island 2’s release date has been brought forward by a week. In a tweet, publisher Deep Silver confirmed that after spending eight years in development hell, work on the zombie-slasher sequel is now officially complete. On that note, the team has now preponed the launch date from April 28 to April 21. This also prevents it from colliding with Star Wars Jedi: Sur...

Google to Integrate Its ChatGPT-Style AI Chatbot Bard to ChromeOS: Report Google introduced its AI chatbot service Bard earlier this month and now the tech giant has been spotted working to integrate the same to ChromeOS as well. Bard, a ChatGPT-style conversational AI search service, is powered by Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA).

The Penguin HBO Max Series Reportedly Casts Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and More HBO Max’s The Penguin spin-off series is expanding its ensemble roster with four new additions. As per Variety, the series has cast Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, and Marvel’s Runaways alum Rhenzy Feliz. The eight-episode series commences filming later this month in New York City, with Mare of Easttown helmer Craig Zobel attached to direct...

US Lawmakers Express Concerns Over ‘Unchecked and Unregulated’ AI as ChatGPT’s Popularity Explodes As ChatGPT continues its meteoric rise in the world of tech and beyond, its exploding popularity has begun attracting US lawmakers' attention with questions about its impact on national security and education. Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat on the House of Representatives Science Committee, said in a recent opinion piece in the New York Times that he was excited ...

Google to Spread Misinformation Prebunking in Europe; Initiative in the Works in India Google, after seeing promising results in Eastern Europe, will initiate a new campaign in Germany to make people more resilient to the corrosive effects of online misinformation. The tech giant plans to release a series of short videos highlighting the techniques common to many misleading claims.

ChatGPT's Popularity Worries US Lawmakers About Its Impact on National Security ChatGPT, a fast-growing artificial intelligence program, has drawn praise for its ability to write answers quickly to a wide range of queries, and attracted US lawmakers' attention with questions about its impact on national security and education. It was created by OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft, and made available to the public for free.

Microsoft to Demonstrate AI Features Inspired by ChatGPT for Word, PowerPoint and Outlook: Report Microsoft is said to be preparing to demonstrate AI-powered capabilities for its Microsoft Office apps: Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. The company is reportedly working on integrating advanced technology from OpenAI with the ability to generate content and other data based on machine learning technlogy from the San Francisco startup.

Internet Explorer to Be Permanently Deactivated on Windows 10 via Microsoft Edge Update on February 14 Internet Explorer 11 will finally be permanently disabled on February 14 and Microsoft's outdated browser will be killed by the Redmond company via a software update to its current generation Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10.

WhatsApp Starts Testing Ability to Share Up to 100 Images, Working on Ability to Send High-Quality Photos WhatsApp's latest beta update includes the ability for users to share a higher number of image files at once in a chat. WhatsApp has also been spotted working on an update that will allow for high-quality image sharing over chats, as well as the ability for photos to retain their original quality.

ChatGPT Frenzy Takes Over China as Firms Rush to Integrate AI Chatbot Technology Into Products Microsoft-backed OpenAI has kept its hit ChatGPT app off-limits to users in China, but the app is attracting huge interest in the country, with firms rushing to integrate the technology into their products and launch rival solutions.

ChatGPT Passes United States Medical Licensing Exams: Study ChatGPT could score at or around the approximately 60 per cent passing threshold for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), with responses that made coherent, internal sense and contained frequent insights, according to a new study. Taken by medical students and physicians-in-training, the USMLE assesses knowledge spanning most medical disciplines, ranging ...

New AI Voice-Cloning Tools Have Potential to Spread Misinformation on Social Media A doctored version of the US President Joe Biden’s video has amassed hundred of thousands of views this week on social media, making it appear he gave a speech that attacks transgender people. Digital forensics experts say the video was created using a new generation of artificial intelligence tools, which allow anyone to quickly generate audio simulating a person...

OnePlus 11 5G, OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Review: Incremental but Noteworthy Upgrades OnePlus 11 5G was launched in India earlier this week, alongside the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. They are the company’s latest flagship smartphone and truly wireless stereo earbuds, respectively, and come with important upgrades over their predecessors. OnePlus also launched a handful of other devices at the Cloud 11 launch event earlier this week. These include the OnePlus...

Government Said to Revoke Ban on LazyPay, Kissht, Other Fintech Firms The government will revoke the ban imposed on fintech firms LazyPay and Kissht after representations were made by these companies, a senior official said on Friday. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued blocking orders on Saturday, based on an emergency request.

Facebook, Google, YouTube Should Be Made to Share Ad Revenue With Media Companies, Rajya Sabha MP Says Big tech firms like Facebook, Google, and YouTube should be made to share advertising revenue with media companies in India, BJP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said on Friday. The MP also added that newspapers and TV channels have been losing advertising revenue after the entry of big tech firms.

Apple Avoids Mass Layoffs Amid Ongoing Slowdown Because of Efficient Hiring During the Pandemic: Details Apple is under less pressure to lay off workers amid the ongoing economic slowdown thanks to cautious hiring during the pandemic, compared to rivals Amazon, Microsoft, and Google that have laid off thousands of workers. While the Cupertino company has frozen hiring in some areas and is keeping a lid on spending, it hasn’t yet resorted to mass layoffs like its rivals...

Tech CEOs Will Pay a Harsh Price for These Job Cuts Big Tech layoffs have affected nearly every noteworthy firm in Silicon Valley with almost 100,000 positions eliminated this year. Tech workers might have taken the brunt of firings, but their counterparts in finance have begun to feel the pressure of the ongoing financial slowdown. Here's how the ongoing layoffs in the tech sector could hurt CEOs at Big Tech firms in ...

Twitter Failed to Submit Complete Report on Efforts to Combat Online Disinformation, EU Says Twitter did not provide a full report to the European Union (EU) on the efforts taken by the microblogging platform to combat disinformation and fake news, according to officials. Twitter said it's "making real advancements across the board" at fighting disinformation in its baseline report, but lagged behind firms like Google, TikTok, Microsoft as well as Facebook an...

Nintendo Direct February 2023: All the Major Announcements and Trailers 2023’s first Nintendo Direct event showcased a slew of new announcements and trailers, for games both old and new. Key highlights include a gameplay trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 4 release date, new expansions for Splatoon 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, a new Mario Kart 8 map, and a whole lot more.

Nokia Extends Fibre Broadband Equipment Production to India Amid Rising Demand From Local Customers Nokia on Thursday announced that it would extend manufacturing of PON optical line terminals (OLTs) to its factory in the country, amid an increase in demand from Indian and global customers. The country is seeing massive demand for fibre connectivity from both fixed and mobile operators, a senior Nokia executive said.

Twitter Will Restore Services After Users Were Unable to Tweet During Outage, Elon Musk Says Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Thursday said that Twitter services would be restored later in the day, after several users were unable to access the service for hours. Users who were unable to tweet during the outage were shown a message stating that they had exceeded the daily limit for sending tweets.

SpaceX Prevented Ukraine From Using Starlink Internet for Drones Amid Russia War, Company President Says SpaceX took measures to block the use of drones by Ukraine over its Starlink satellite Internet services in the region amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, a top executive said on Wednesday. Using Starlink with drones went beyond the scope of an agreement SpaceX has with the Ukrainian government, according to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

Disney to Lay Off 7,000 Workers to Cut Costs, Restructure Company in Sweeping Revamp by CEO Bob Iger Disney on Wednesday announced that it would cut 7,000 jobs at the firm, as part of efforts to cut costs and return power to creative executives. The company also said it would be restructured into three distinct segments, with the aim of having a more cost-effective, coordinated approach to its operations, according to CEO Bob Iger.

Netflix's Password Sharing Crackdown Begins in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain Netflix on Wednesday announced that it would begin cracking down on password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, with the new measures broadly rollling out to other regions in the coming months. Members on Netflix's standard or premium plan in many countries can add an extra member sub account for up to two people at an additional cost, acccording to N...

Google AI Chatbot Bard Caught Providing Inaccurate Information in Company Ad Google published an online advertisement in which its much-anticipated AI chatbot Bard delivered an inaccurate answer. The tech giant posted a short GIF video of Bard in action via Twitter, describing the chatbot as a "launchpad for curiosity" that would help simplify complex topics.

Overwatch 2 Season 3 to Bring Dating Simulator, One-Punch Man Skin, and More Overwatch 2’s season 3 event is now live, heralding an Asian mythology theme with new skins and cosmetics. The new healing ninja Kiriko is getting a customisable Amaterasu skin, which can be unlocked by completing tiers in the premium battle pass. Additionally, Blizzard is introducing Loverwatch, a limited-time browser-based dating simulator, where players can try c...

WhatsApp Spotted Working on Call Scheduling, Voice Note Transcription Features: All Details WhatsApp is working on the ability to schedule calls in groups and receive transcriptions of voice notes, according to details shared by a feature tracker.

Tencent Is Planning a Valorant League as Gaming Crackdown Eases in China Tencent is planning to host a Valorant esports tournament as the FPS game rolls out in China, following a two-year industry crackdown. Talks are in their initial stages and Tencent could push back its timeline from its predicted summer window. A Valorant league should help kickstart competitive online gaming in China after pandemic restrictions and a clampdown on yout...

Zoom to Lay Off 1,300 Workers as Firm Cuts 15 Percent of Workforce Amid Slowing Demand Zoom announced on Tuesday that it will cut about 1,300 jobs, amid slowing demand in a post-pandemic world. The cuts will affect 15 percent of the company's workforce. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said he would take a pay cut of 98 percent for the coming fiscal year and forego his bonus.

WhatsApp Status Updated With Emoji Reactions, Voice Status, Link Previews and More Features: Details WhatsApp is rolling out a bunch of new features globally to all users. The instant messaging app has added a more advanced privacy option to choose who can see their status updates as well as voice status updates, emoji reactions, and preview links on the status.

Farzi, The Night Manager, The Consultant, and More: February Web Series on Netflix, Hotstar, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi-led Farzi, The Night Manager starring Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, The Flash season 9, Christoph Waltz-led The Consultant, Hello Tomorrow! on Apple TV+, Gina Rodriguez’s Not Dead Yet, and My Dad the Bounty Hunter — the seven biggest TV shows and web series in February 2023 on Netflix, Hotstar, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Vid...

Layoffs Alone Won’t Solve Tech’s Problems: Parmy Olson The tech sector has had a tough time recently with the prevailing economic downturn hitting all the big companies. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet have all announced layoffs in the thousands to cut their losses. While these tech giants are tightening up on fringe benefits and showing their talent the door, there is still more to do.

Jio Extends 5G Network to 10 Cities Across 8 States, Service Now Live in 236 Cities Jio announced on Tuesday that it is rolling out its True 5G services in 10 cities across eight states. According to Jio, the cities of Hindupur, Madanapalle and Proddatur in Andhra Pradesh; Raigarh in Chhattisgarh; Talcher in Odisha; Patiala in Punjab; Alwar in Rajasthan; Mancherial in Telangana; Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Roorkee in Uttarakhand will enjoy its 5G ...

Twitter Update for iOS, Android to Remember Choice of Recommended or Chronological Feed Twitter Support has confirmed that the most recent version of the app for iOS and Android now remembers which tab the user last selected. As a result, after closing and reopening the app, Twitter will always display the most recently used tab first. Twitter allowed the same for its Web platform earlier in January. Twitter CEO Elon Musk promised users last month that a...

Baidu’s ChatGPT-Style Service ‘Ernie Bot’ to Complete Internal Testing in March as AI Race Heats Up Chinese internet giant Baidu said that its own ChatGPT-style AI chatbot, dubbed “Ernie Bot,” will complete internal testing in time for launch in March. The latest development comes as the race for global artificial intelligence supremacy heats up, with Google announcing its own AI project, Bard.

Meta vs US FTC: Regulator Will Not Appeal in Fight to Block Takeover of VR Content Maker Within The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will not appeal a court's decision in its fight to block Facebook parent Meta from purchasing VR content maker Within, the regulator said. However, the FTC could still attempt to stop the deal as part of a process before an FTC administrative law judge that is set to take place on February 13.

Big Tech Firms Not Doing Enough to Remove Fake News, Comply With EU Online Content Rules: NGO Avaaz Big Tech services like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok didn't do enough to tackle disinformation in languages other than English, an activist NGO claims. The firms are expected to submit reports on compliance with updated EU rules on disinformation as part of the Digital Services Act (DSA) that came into force last November.

EU Lawmakers Plan to Finalise Draft AI Rules by March Amid Concerns About ChatGPT EU lawmakers hope to agree on draft artificial intelligence rules next month, with the aim of clinching a deal with EU countries by the end of the year, one of the legislators steering the AI Act said. EU industry chief Thierry Breton has said new proposed artificial intelligence rules will aim to tackle concerns about the risks around ChatGPT.

Twitter Sued for $1.6 Million by Advisory Firm Over Unpaid Bills After Elon Musk Acquisition Innisfree M&A Incorporated, a US-based advisory firm, sued Twitter on Friday in New York State Supreme Court, seeking about $1.9 million (roughly Rs. 15.7 crore) for what it says are unpaid bills after it advised the social media company on its acquisition by Elon Musk last year. "As of December 23, 2022, Twitter remains in default of its obligations to Innisfree unde...

Google Chrome Working on Option to Quickly Delete 15 Minutes of Browsing History: Report Google is reportedly working on a new feature for Chrome that will let users delete their browsing history for last 15 minutes. The feature has been spotted in the Chromium source code that will enable users to quickly delete their browsing history on Chrome for Android.

Dell to Lay Off About 6,650 Employees Amidst Falling Demand for PCs: Report Dell Technologies will eliminate about 6,650 jobs, or about five percent of its global workforce, hurt by falling demand for its personal computers, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The previous cost-cutting measures, including a pause on hiring and limits on travel, are no longer enough, CEO Jeff Clarke said in a memo.

Ransomware Attacks in Europe Targeting 2-Year-Old Computer Bug, Say Cybersecurity Agencies Amid Internet Outage The Italian premier’s office said Sunday night the attacks affecting computer systems in the country involved “ransomware already in circulation" in a product made by cloud technology provider VMware. Palo Alto, California-based VMware fixed the bug back in February 2021 but the attacks are targeting older, unpatched versions of the product.

‘Had to Save Twitter From Bankruptcy’: Elon Musk Reveals ‘Extremely Tough’ Period Following Twitter Takeover Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday said that the past three months have been "extremely tough" as he "had to save Twitter from bankruptcy" while also fulfilling his duties in Tesla and SpaceX. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Musk said that the microblogging site continues to have challenges.

Government Bans Over 230 Betting, Loan Lending Apps With Chinese Links After Complaints of Extortion Central government has initiated the process to ban and block 138 betting apps and 94 loan lending apps with Chinese links on an 'urgent' and 'emergency' basis, top government sources said on Sunday. As per sources, the MHA recommended the MeitY this week to ban and block these apps, and the Ministry subsequently initiated the process as per communication.

Microsoft Blames Iranian State Actors for Cyberattack on Charlie Hebdo US computing giant Microsoft said Friday that it had identified Iranian state actors as those behind the recent cyberattack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Clint Watts, the general manager of Microsoft's Digital Threat Analysis Center, said that the hackers, who called themselves "Holy Souls," were Iranian cybersecurity firm Emennet Pasargad.

ION Group Paid the Ransom, Claim Hackers Responsible for Disruptive Breach The hackers who claimed responsibility for a disruptive breach at financial data firm ION say a ransom has been paid, although they declined to say how much it was or offer any evidence that the money had been handed over. ION Group declined to comment on the statement.

The Last of Us Part I PC Port Delayed by Three Weeks, Will Now Arrive on March 28 The Last of Us Part 1’s PC port has been delayed by three weeks, developer Naughty Dog has confirmed. The studio claims that the additional time will be utilised to ensure a more polished experience at launch. Originally slated to release on March 3, The Last of Us Part I will now arrive on March 28, with pre-orders live across Steam and Epic Games Store.

50 Government Websites Hacked, 8 Data Breaches in 2022: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha in a written reply that 50 government websites have been hacked in the year 2022-23. Union Minister informed the upper House on the question of the details of instances of hacking of Central Ministries/Departments and State Government websites since 2020, year-wise.

Activision Blizzard Agrees to Pay $35 Million to Settle Workforce Allegations Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay $35 million (nearly Rs. 290 crore) to settle allegations over the video game maker's handling of workplace complaints and violations of whistleblower protection rules, US financial regulators said on Friday. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the company knew employee retention issues were "a particularly important risk ...

Microsoft, Amazon, Other Tech Firms Cut Jobs at Second-Highest Pace on Record in US Layoffs in the United States hit a more than two-year high in January as technology firms cut jobs at the second-highest pace on record to brace for a possible recession, a report showed on Thursday. The layoffs impacted 1,02,943 workers, a more than two-fold jump from December and an over five-times surge from a year earlier, according to the report from employment f...

NHRC Chief Calls for Strict Laws for Unlawful Internet Behaviour, Cyber Crimes National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson Justice (Retd) Arun Kumar Mishra on Thursday called for a stringent law to deal with "unlawful Internet behaviour and cyber crimes." He was speaking after the inauguration of the 25th All India Forensic Science Conference at the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar.

ChatGPT to Become Fastest-Growing App, Estimated to Have Gained 100 Million Monthly Active Users in January: Study ChatGPT, the popular chatbot from OpenAI, is estimated to have reached 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history, according to a UBS study on Wednesday.

PlayStation Plus Collection Is Shutting Down, Players Can Redeem the 19-Game Collection by May 9 Sony is shutting down its PlayStation Plus Collection soon. Starting May 9, the 19-game collection, which includes both first and third-party titles, will not be available to PS5 owners subscribed to the PS Plus service. Once redeemed, players will be required to hold onto their PS Plus memberships to play the game in the future.

Microsoft Reportedly Working on Adding Improved ChatGPT Version Based on GPT-4 to Bing to Compete With Google Microsoft is reportedly planning to integrate OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot into its search engine Bing. The tech giant recently announced a multi-million-dollar investment into OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT.

US Senator Urges Apple, Google to Remove TikTok From App Stores Over National Security Risks A US Senator on the Senate intelligence committee, asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for iOS and Android respectively, stating that the short video sharing platform poses a threat to national security. TikTok says China's government cannot access the personal data of US citizens or manipulate the app's content, but the app is facing increas...

Google Chrome Is Working on Ability to Translate Text Within Images: Report Google is reportedly working on a new feature for Chrome that will let users translate text within images with ease. The web browser currently allows users to translate text by selecting the entire page. However, translating content from posters, banners, and other images is not possible yet.

Twitter Makes First Interest Payment to Banks on Elon Musk’s $13 Billion Buyout Loan Twitter has begun interest payments on the bank loan that helped finance Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the social media platform last year. According to people familiar with the matter, Twitter has made its first interest payment to banks, paying about $300 million last week.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Takes 25 Percent Pay Cut as Part of Company-Wide Salary Reductions Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will take a 25 percent salary cut, the company announced on Tuesday. The chipmaker is cutting management salaries across the firm, as it tries to save cash for its turnaround plan. Last week, Intel provided a gloomy outlook, predicting one of the worst quarters in its more than 50-year history, amid a shaky global economy.

Elon Musk's 2018 Tesla Tweets Caused Billions of Dollars in Investor Damages, Estimates Show Elon Musk may have caused billions of dollars in damages to investors due to his 2018 tweets declaring he had secured the financing required to take Tesla private. Depending on the verdict, Musk and the electric automaker that he runs could be facing more financial fallout for his unpredictable behavior on the Twitter platform, which he now owns

Snap Expects Lower Revenue in First Quarter Amid Increased Competition From TikTok, Lower Ad Demand Snap reported on Tuesday that the firm swung to a net loss in Q4 2022 and the parent firm of popular app Snapchat expects revenue to fall by up to 10 percent in the current quarter. The company said that its business continued to be hurt by a weakening economy, increased competition from rivals and "platform policy changes".