Google Meet wants to keep you safe while walking

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Google Meet wants to keep you safe while walking
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Most people use Google Meet at their desks or in crowded coffee shops. However, some people have to join the meetings on the go using their mobile app. Google Meet might come out with a feature called On-the-Go that will keep you safe while you’re walking.

This feature was discovered through a 9To5Google APK deep-dive. As such, you should take this news with a grain of salt. Code for this feature was discovered deep within the Google Meet app, so, it was not officially announced by Google. As such, the company can take this away at any moment.

Google Meet will launch the On-the-Go feature for when you’re walking

A lot of the time, it’s the user’s responsibility to be safe. However, it doesn’t mean that clever software features can’t help in that regard. According to 9To5Google, if Google Meet discovers that you are walking while on a meeting, the app will prompt you to turn on the On-the-Go feature.

This is essentially a mode to help minimize distractions while you’re in the meeting. There are some meetings that are too important to pass up, and you may find yourself attending the meeting while on your way to the office.

When you activate On-the-Go, the interface will change so that it’s a lot less distracting. For starters, the video feed from the other people in the meeting will disappear so that you’re not constantly having to look at your phone.

Google Meet On the Go

Next, all the function buttons will be enlarged. This will make them much easier to see. In the screenshot, we see the mute, raise hand, audio, and hang-up buttons presented as big bubbly Material You UI elements. Not only are they easy to see, but they comply with your Material You color theme.

You will either activate this mode when Google Meet prompts you or manually through the menu. At this point, we don’t know when or if Google will launch this feature. Hopefully, it does because it seems like a very useful feature


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US Senators introduce bipartisan bills to address AI development concerns

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US Senators introduce bipartisan bills to address AI development concerns
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It’s no secret that ever since the start of the AI revolution with the launch of ChatGPT, the US government has had its concerns regarding the rampant development and transparency in the field. Now, in an effort to address these issues, US senators have recently introduced two bipartisan bills that will focus on increasing transparency in government AI usage and ensuring the US remains competitive in the latest technological advancements.

These bills come after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated he had scheduled three briefings aimed at educating the senators about these AI systems, with the first session focusing on defence and intelligence implications.

“This legislation will better synchronize our national security community to ensure America wins the technological race against the Chinese Communist Party,” said Senator Young.

Disclosing AI usage

Introduced by Senators Gary Peters, Mike Braun, and James Lankford, the first bill focuses on transparency, as it mandates that federal agencies disclose their use of AI when interacting with individuals. Additionally, the bill also includes a provision for individuals to appeal decisions made by AI systems.

“The federal government needs to be proactive and transparent with AI utilization and ensure that decisions aren’t being made without humans in the driver’s seat,” said Senator Braun.

Assessing Global Competition

Meanwhile, the second bill, introduced by Senators Michael Bennet, Mark Warner, and Todd Young, aims to establish an Office of Global Competition Analysis, which would be responsible for assessing the country’s competitive position in AI development, particularly in comparison to China, which has recently intensified its efforts in the field. Additionally, the bill also acknowledges the importance of maintaining a competitive advantage in other key areas, including semiconductors and quantum computing.

“There is no single federal agency evaluating American leadership in critical technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, despite their significance to our national security and economic prosperity,” said Senator Young.


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Manchester Cyber Attack – Hackers Stolen Sensitive Data

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Manchester Cyber Attack – Hackers Stolen Sensitive Data
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Manchester Cyber Attack

An alarming cyberattack has hit the University of Manchester, and the University confirmed this incident officially on June 9, 2023.

This unfortunate event likely resulted in threat actors’ unauthorized access, raising concerns about potential data exposure.

CSN

The University of Manchester has over 10,000 dedicated staff and 45,000 enrolled students. 

This University is UK’s one of the major and most successful public research institutes.

The University of Manchester Cyber Incident

The discovery of a breach in their systems has confirmed the infiltration by an attacker, raising concerns regarding the potential duplication of data.

Moreover, it has been confirmed that University is already working actively with internal security professionals and external support. 

This united collab will address the issue, accurately verify the affected systems, and restore the functionality of the systems in a timely manner.

While apart from this, the University has already informed this incident to the following authorities:-

  • Information Commissioner’s Office
  • National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
  • National Crime Agency

As of now, the members of the University are not mandated to reset their passwords. But it is strongly recommended to maintain a state of high alertness to mitigate phishing attacks.

The University cannot give specific answers yet about who carried out the attack or if any important research or personal information was taken. 

As they are still investigating the whole matter with security experts and assured that they would share all the key updates with the public once they have more information.

Stop Advanced Email Threats That Target Your Business Email – Try AI-Powered Email Security


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A 13-year-old spent almost $65K on mobile games

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A 13-year-old spent almost $65K on mobile games
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We’ve all been obsessed with that new mobile game we downloaded on our phones, and we’ve all spent just a few more dollars on it than we should have. However, one Chinese teen took things a little bit too far. According to a report from Insider (via Phone Arena) a 13-year-old in China spent $64K on mobile games.

$64K on mobile games

Not too long ago, a woman by the name of Gong Yiwang got a call from her daughter’s boarding school. Her teacher was concerned that her 13-year-old daughter was spending a lot of money on mobile games, and her concerns would be correct. Yiwang check the bank account to see that she only had 7¢ left in her account (.5 Yuan).

It turned out that her daughter had spent a whopping $64K (over 450,000 Yuan) on mobile games between January and May. A breakdown of the charges revealed that she spent $16,800 (119,983.92 Yuan) on game accounts, and $30,000 (214,257.00 Yuan) on in-game purchases. The remainder of the money she gave away to peers. The image below shows some of the transactions that she made.

Game transactions

The daughter said that she had no idea where the money came from. However, the investigation found that she had used her mother’s debit card to make the transactions, and she actually deleted her chat and transaction history to cover up her purchases. So, this isn’t a case of a child unknowingly spending a lot of money on transactions. She knew what she was doing.

As for sending money to her peers, in an interview with Elephant News, the Chinese news channel that covered the story, she said “If I didn’t send it to them, they would bother me all day.” So, her friends caught wind of her addiction and capitalized on it.

Her mother has tried to contact the game developers and reclaim the money. As of yet, she has not been able to recover the full amount.

Overarching issue

The story points to an overarching issue that affects kids and young adults getting carried away with spending money on apps. Mobile game addiction exists. Around the world, parents are looking at their bank accounts to discover that their children spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on mobile games.

This is why it’s important to constantly monitor your children when they get access to mobile devices. Also, it’s important to keep an eye on your bank account for any suspicious activities. In the case of Gong Yiwang, this happened over the course of five months. If your child did spend money on games, you will want to catch that as early as you can.


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Here’s how you can avoid the upcoming Paramount+ price increase

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Here’s how you can avoid the upcoming Paramount+ price increase
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Paramount+ has announced that starting on June 27, everyone’s bills will be going up by a buck or two, depending on the plan you have. So the ad-supported plan will go up to $5.99 per month and the ad-free will be now $11.99 per month. But what if there was a way to avoid that price increase?

Luckily there is. And it’s a simple one, but also only temporary. Basically, before June 27, pre-pay for a year of Paramount+. That will lock you in at the current price of $49.99 for the ad-supported, and $99 for the ad-free tier, for a full year.

Now, you will need to cancel your account, and then create a new one (with a new email) to do this. So it’s not super simple, but hey, that means you aren’t getting the price increase for a full year.

Should you keep Paramount+?

Paramount+ is one of the smaller streaming services out there. It’s the successor to CBS All Access, and using the name of the studio that creates a lot of great content – Paramount Pictures.

On Paramount+, you’ll find a lot of your favorite shows from CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and many others. All of the brands from Paramount and Viacom. There’s a ton of great originals available on Paramount+, including Fatal Attraction, Criminal Minds: Evolution, Seal Team, Challenge World Championship and much more.

Paramount+ also has a pretty decent amount of sports. You can stream the NFL, but only games in your local market, unfortunately. It also has the PGA Tour, UEFA Champions League, Serie A, NWSL, Combate Global, Showtime Boxing and more to come.

It also has some great news options available. Local CBS affiliates are available, as well as CBS Mornings and the 24/7 streaming news channel – CBS News.

For about $5 or $6 per month, it’s not too bad of a service, and it is also one of the cheaper ones out there. So it might be worth keeping Paramount+, especially if you can prepay a year of the service and lock in that cheaper price.


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Xiaomi 13 Ultra arrives to Europe, high price tag unfortunately confirmed

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Xiaomi 13 Ultra arrives to Europe, high price tag unfortunately confirmed
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The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has launched in Europe, thus marking its global launch, as expected. The phone arrived to China back in April, and back then we knew that its global variant is coming. Well, it started popping up on Xiaomi’s European websites, along with its price tag.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra launches in Europe with a truly high price tag

Unfortunately, the phone is extremely expensive. The global Xiaomi 13 Ultra model will cost you €1,499. Considering that the Xiaomi 13 Pro launched at €1,300, that is not exactly all that surprising. However, the phone launched at only CNY5,999 ($839/€780) in China two months ago.

Chinese consumers will have a much more affordable Xiaomi 13 Ultra variant at their disposal. We presume that various additional import expenses had a lot to do with the price hike, though this is a huge difference.

You’ll need to pay almost twice as much to get the phone in Europe. It is €719 more expensive than in China. Do note that this is a 12GB RAM variant of the phone, which comes with 512GB of storage. It is available in both Black and Green variants.

The specs are pretty much the same as on the variant made for China

The specs are pretty much the same as in China, though this model comes with a global MIUI 14 version. The phone includes a 6.73-inch QHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 fuels the phone, while you’re also getting IP68 certification here. A 5,000mAh battery is also included in the package. 90W wired charging is supported, as is 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging.

Four 50-megapixel cameras sit on the back of the phone, along with Leica lenses. The main unit uses a 1-inch camera sensor from Sony, and so on. If you’d like to take a closer look at the specs, click here. We’ve also reviewed the Xiaomi 13 Ultra a while back.


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Pixel Watch is finally getting overnight SpO2 tracking

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Pixel Watch is finally getting overnight SpO2 tracking
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Although Google unveiled its Pixel Watch late last year, there is one critical feature that the watch has lacked and fans have been eagerly waiting for, i.e. SpO2 measurement. However, according to reports, Google could finally be bringing blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) tracking to all users.

A Reddit user named triforce28 first discovered the feature when they stumbled upon an “Oxygen saturation” card in the Fitbit Today app. The card appeared below the Sleep score and provided users with a percentage representing their “Last sleep session,” and when tapped, the app redirected them to a detailed fullscreen stats page dedicated to SpO2, along with a comprehensive explanation.

“The Fitbit app on the watch shows oxygen saturation from sleeping last night. I’ve never seen it before. Is that new, or have I just not paid attention in the past?” said the Reddit user.

Big step ahead

The new addition of the SpO2 tracking is a significant step forward, as previously, the Pixel Watch only provided estimated oxygen variation (EOV) data under the ‘Restoration’ section. And even after the Heart Metrics dashboard became freely accessible in March, following the removal of the Fitbit Premium requirement, the metrics for SpO2 or skin temperature stated “no recent data,” along with a message indicating that these features were not available on the current device.

Although the exact rollout details of SpO2 tracking on the Pixel Watch remain uncertain, as many users have not reported seeing the new feature in the June update, the addition of SpO2 tracking could finally make the Pixel Watch a strong contender in the Android smartwatch space, which in recent years has been dominated by the likes on Samsung. Furthermore, it would provide users with valuable insights into their blood oxygen saturation, especially during activities like exercise or sleep, contributing to a more holistic understanding of their well-being.


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Spotify is testing a new feature for simplifying offline music downloads

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Spotify is testing a new feature for simplifying offline music downloads
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Streaming music online brings a lot of benefits like getting access to millions of songs, freeing up valuable space on your phone, and creating and sharing playlists with your friends. However, a downside to streaming is that as soon as you lose your internet connection, your music disappears as well. Spotify, one of the most popular music streaming platforms, is now testing a new feature that will simplify the process of downloading music for offline listening. According to a tweet spotted by Android Central, Daniel Ek, Spotify’s CEO, says the company is testing a feature called “Your Offline Mix.” While there aren’t many details available yet, such as a release date or specific workings, one thing is clear: it is “designed for those times when you might not be online.”

The concept behind this new feature is to allow you to enjoy your recently played music even when you’re unexpectedly offline. The app will automatically download a mix of the songs you’ve recently listened to, so if you find yourself in airplane mode, in the middle of nowhere, or in a long, long tunnel, for instance, you’ll still have something to listen to.

Based on an image shared on Twitter, we can assume the Offline Mix could be over three hours long, which provides plenty of listening time. However, it needs to be clarified how often these playlists will be downloaded or if they will be automatically deleted after a certain period. Otherwise, the app could become quite large. Just to give an idea, a playlist with 100 high-quality songs can use up to around 1GB of storage.

Right now, Spotify offers the option to download music for offline listening. While downloading an entire playlist is simple with just one button, downloading a single song can be a bit tricky and frustrating. You have to add the song to a playlist first and then download the entire playlist or add it to an already downloaded playlist.

With this new feature, Spotify aims to simplify things: a much-needed step to enhance user experience. Its competitor, YouTube Music, has been offering this feature to its premium subscribers for quite some time now. To remain a major player in the game Spotify needs to keep up with these updates.

Spotify boasts around half a billion users, and adding new features is a smart move, especially considering that only around 40% of Spotify users are premium subscribers. This new feature will likely only be available to premium users, which may help Spotify attract new paid subscriptions.

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AT&T pledges RCS support on all Android devices

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AT&T pledges RCS support on all Android devices
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AT&T has pledged whole-hearted support for Google’s RCS (Rich Communicate Services) on Android devices. With this partnership, Google Messages will be the default messaging app on all AT&T Android phones in the US. This follows a similar commitment from T-Mobile in March, making messaging a more consistent experience for Android users. Verizon is yet to get on board, though.

AT&T finally embraces RCS wholeheartedly

RCS is a modern messaging standard and a massive upgrade to age-old SMS and MMS technologies. It brings features like read receipts, typing inductor, support for larger files, better group chats, end-to-end encryption, and many more to your phone’s messaging app. As you may have guessed, RCS requires an internet connection to work. But even if you’re offline, your messages will still go through as SMS or MMS. So your communication won’t be cut when there’s no internet, something that instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram don’t offer.

Google has been long trying to make RCS the default messaging system on Android devices. But despite its best efforts, US wireless carriers never committed to this system wholeheartedly. In October 2019, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint (which merged with T-Mobile in 2020) formed a consortium and launched a joint venture called the Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI) to improve the messaging experience for mobile users. However, years later, nothing has materialized out of it.

Meanwhile, Google took matters into its own hands and integrated RCS into its Messages app, which comes pre-installed on most Android devices around the world. It then started calling on carriers for full-fledged RCS support through Messages, which is finally coming. Shortly after T-Mobile committed to it, AT&T joined the bandwagon too. Verizon is sticking to its own RCS solution with a separate app, but we hope it would also adopt the more universal standard and help make messaging on Android more consistent.

RCS is still missing on iPhones

Unfortunately, carrier support will only improve the messaging experience in the Android space. Cross-platform messaging between Android devices and iPhones is still a mess. That’s because Apple doesn’t support RCS on iPhones. Messages sent from an Android device to an iPhone go through as SMS and are notably distinguished in the iMessage app using “green bubbles”. Messages sent from other iPhones appear in “blue bubbles”. Despite Google repeatedly taking digs at the company publicly, Apple has shown no signs of fixing this mess. It recently debuted iOS 17 without RCS support.


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Google introduces new AI photo editing tool called ‘Imagen Editor’

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Google introduces new AI photo editing tool called ‘Imagen Editor’
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It comes as no surprise that the last few years have been nothing short of a revolution when it comes to artificial intelligence, with text-to-image AIs like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion changing the landscape of photography and image production as we know it. Now, in line with these efforts, Google has recently unveiled a new AI tool called Imagen Editor, which allows users to make specific modifications to images based on textual prompts without altering the rest of the picture.

A new way of editing

One of the major features of the new tool is its simplicity, as users only need to upload their image, select the region they wish to edit, and describe the desired changes for that particular area. For example, when a user highlights a dog’s body in an image and requests a “red spacesuit with a white star,” the tool accurately incorporates the spacesuit into the selected area. In another instance, the tool added a “rocket made out of cardboard” and “blue gaming headphones” to the image of the dog.

Similar to Google’s object eraser, users can erase unwanted elements in the background of a photo, thus highlighting the main subject and removing distractions. Additionally, the Imagen Editor tool also offers the ability to alter the colour of the sky in a photo. For instance, if you have a picture of a sunset and want to enhance its visual impact, the tool can transform the sky into a more vibrant and captivating shade of blue, adding depth and beauty to the image.

No release date yet

Although the features of the Imagen Editor have the potential to transform the world of photo editing and photography, Google has decided not to release the tool to the public due to concerns related to responsible AI and bad actors potentially misusing it to manipulate images. Therefore, if Google ever intends to release the tool to the public, the company must implement stringent measures, such as proper image labelling and marking, when processing images through the tool.


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