Tech

Microsoft gets US $242m verdict in Cortana patent claim Microsoft ( MSFT.O ) must pay IPA Technologies patent owner $242 million, a federal jury in Delaware said on Friday after determining that Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant software infringed on IPA patents. A jury agreed with the IPA after a week-long trial that Microsoft’s voice recognition technology infringed on the IPA’s …

Musk’s Starlink satellite is disrupted by a massive solar storm Starlink, the satellite arm of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, warned on Saturday of “degraded service” as Earth was hit by the biggest geomagnetic storm from solar activity in two decades. Starlink owns around 60% of the approximately 7,500 satellites orbiting the Earth and is the dominant player in the satellite internet. …

Plans to increase the resilience of the 999 system were announced The government has announced new measures it says will increase the resilience of the 999 system, following the worst outage in nearly 90 years. Technical issues across the country mean calls are not being connected to emergency services in June 2023. The government will increase its surveillance of any …

Apple is the latest tech giant under siege To understand the extent to which the US government’s new lawsuit attacks the essence of the identity Apple has forged for itself, let’s first consider the firm’s fan base. Apple has a unique position as a technology brand. I’ve been to a lot of Apple events in my time, both virtual and …

Apple, Meta and Google will be investigated by the EU The EU has announced investigations into some of the world’s biggest technology firms over anti-competitive practices. Meta, Apple and Alphabet, which owns Google, are being investigated for possible violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022. If they are found to be breaking the rules, firms can face …

Elon Musk’s X anti-hate group case thrown out A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk’s social media firm X against a group that claims hate speech has increased on the platform since the tech tycoon took over. X has accused the Center Against Digital Hate (CCDH) of taking “unlawful” steps to access his data. A US …

Charges for Uber Eats drivers over face scan bias case A black Uber Eats driver has been fined after “racially discriminatory” facial recognition checks prevented him from accessing the app to get work. When Pa Edrissa Manjang started working for Uber Eats, in November 2019, the app didn’t often ask him to send a selfie to register for a job. …

Ninja: Twitch’s biggest player shares cancer diagnosis US streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has revealed he has been diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Posting on X, the 32-year-old Fortnite player – who has 19m followers on Twitch – said a mole removed from his leg was found to be cancerous. Ninja said a second black spot on his …

Home test kits for cancer patients approved for use A new device to help reduce the time cancer patients spend in hospital has been given regulatory approval. Liberty allows patients to take a blood test – and upload the results – at home, and without supervision. Its users say it allows them to reduce hospital visits, while doctors suggest it …

How sci-fi writer JG Ballard’s computer poem predicted ChatGPT In the 1970s, science fiction writer JG Ballard was intrigued by the increasing capabilities of computers – so used them to compose poetry. They are the first step on the journey to ChatGPT. Novelist and short story writer JG Ballard, is best known for creating warped and reimagined versions of the …