Technology

Imagine a device that not only tracks your health but also actively supports you in overcoming one of the toughest habits to break - smoking. Researchers are now exploring how smartwatches, equipped with advanced sensors and AI-driven apps, can ... provide personalized, real-time interventions to help people quit smoking more effectively. How Smartwatches are Different from Traditional Methods While traditional approaches to smoking cessation such as reminders or support messages sent to your phone have shown some success, they come with limitations. Messages sent at arbitrary times may miss the ... (view more)

Google says it's created a processor that can complete a task in five minutes that would take existing supercomputers an effectively infinite time. But it will likely be five years before the processor is ready for commercial use and experts say ... Google's boasts are somewhat selective. The Willow chip is Google's attempt at quantum computing, which is likely to be the next major advance in computing technology. In very simple terms, most traditional computers work by storing and processing data as 0s or 1s, represented by something physical (usually an electronic "gate" in a circuit) that can ... (view more)

Silicon Valley tech giants and financial technology companies that collectively process over 13 billion financial transactions annually will now face enhanced government oversight. On Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ... finalized a new rule aimed at subjecting digital wallets and payment apps to the same scrutiny as traditional banks. This move is designed to safeguard consumer data, prevent fraud, and address unauthorized account closures. (Source: reuters.com ) Why the New Rule Matters Digital payment platforms like Apple Wallet, Google Pay, and Venmo have become ... (view more)

We recently reported on an AI model that could take control of a computer, for example to complete a form. Now a Google leak reveals its planning a similar technology. Anthropic recently released a beta update to its AI model Claude. It includes the ... ability to move a mouse cursor by taking a screenshot and calculating the number of pixels to figure out how far and in what direction to move. The company gave the example of the tool automatically copying data from a spreadsheet to fill out an online form. "Jarvis" Leaks Now Google has let slip it's about to release a similar tool. It ... (view more)

Google will soon let children use Android phones to make in-person purchases. It says there will be sufficient safeguards and controls for parents. The changes will be to Google Wallet. That's an app that lets users store card details and make ... payments in the real world without the card. The app also lets users store electronic versions of tickets and passes. The payments are contactless and use the NFC (near-field communication) chip in the phone. Users must authenticate the app through a security measure such as a PIN, passcode, fingerprint or facial recognition. Previously the app was only ... (view more)

Running app Strava made it possible to track the locations of world leaders and high-profile political candidates according to a newspaper investigation. Security services say the vulnerability did not put people at risk but are reviewing their ... guidelines on using the app. Le Monde investigated the movements of bodyguards for politicians including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Emannuel Macron and Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump plus partners Jill Biden and Melania Trump. (Source: lemonde.fr ) Secret Trip Revealed The newspaper was able to discover the names of the presidential bodyguards and find ... (view more)

The makers of an AI model claim it can take control of a computer and complete tasks such as completing forms. The latest version of "Claude" takes a screenshot and counts pixels to figure out how far to move the cursor. Anthropic, which made ... Claude, say this is the first time a publicly released AI model has the capability of "computer use". It defines this as "looking at a screen, moving a cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text. The goal is to allow the model to carry out tasks which go beyond simply generating text or images in line with a user's instructions. Instead, it could actually ... (view more)

Harvard students have demonstrated that "smart glasses" can be used to look at somebody in public and reveal their identities and personal information. Meta, which made the glasses used in the demonstration, say they have adequate security ... safeguards in place. The Ray-Ban smart glasses, produced by Facebook owner Meta, connect wirelessly to a smartphone. They include a camera, speaker and microphone and allows a range of hands-free actions such as filming, taking photos and making calls. (Source: meta.com ) Facial Recognition Abused AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio of Harvard University ... (view more)

Facebook and Instagram's attempts to avoid users being misled by AI-generated photos have backfired. Several users report photographs they took themselves as being falsely labeled as made by AI tools. Meta, which owns both sites plus social ... discussion tool Threads, has started adding a "Made with AI" label to images. In some cases it's there because the users has ticked a box to say they used AI to make the image. In other cases, it's because Meta's detection tools have flagged the image. The site has felt pressure to clearly indicate AI-generated images that could be designed to fool and ... (view more)

A new approach to computer processing could double speeds while halving power consumption, according to researchers. The approach could work on existing hardware without needing physical modifications. The research builds on the existing technique ... of multithreading. That's an attempt to overcome the major limitation of computer processors (CPUs). They are broken down into cores (often 2, 4 or 8 cores) but each core can only carry out one task at any specific split-second. Workload Optimized Threading means breaking bigger tasks down into a list of individual steps known as a thread. The ... (view more)