The European Commission spends €400,000 on its own metaverse and only attracts six people to the inauguration
05/12/2022Absolute failure. The inagurated of the new metaverse from the European Commission that was presented a few days ago with a virtual party, only attract six persons. According to the specialized journalist Vicen Chadwick from Devex, the European Commission has invested €387,000 in the project to develop a virtual world, designed to attract the attention of young people and create a shared space on the Internet in which they can become aware of those thinghs that EU does on the world stage, and reflect on the problems that affect a globalized world. Also, this metaverse is designed to promote actions of the European Union related to health, education, climate and other topics of interest for youngest, such the Erasmus scholarships. The inauguration of the space, however, went completely unnoticed by the target audience and the few persons who entered the party, such as the journalists from Gizmodo, assure that the metaverse of the European Commission has many shortcomings.
[ ... ]
Interpol opens its first office in the Metaverse
07/11/2022Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization or International Police, has presented its first office in the metaverse through which they intend to improve the fight against crime in the digital universe. The digital police station, which is a copy of the General Secretariat of Interpol in Lyon (France), will offer training for investigators and police officers and will allow the collaborators of this international organization to interact through their avatars, without geographical or physical limits. The inauguration of this new virtual center had been accompanied by the announcement of the creation of a group of Interpol experts that will advise police forces around the world about the risks on the global stage. Also, it has been announced that the International Police Organization has joined Meta, Microsoft and other technology giants to define the metaverse and protect communities from cybercrime, including globally recognized and criminalized crimes, such as sexual harassment, 'phishing', financial fraud or 'ransomware', among others. The objective of this joint work, they explained, is to create regulatory frameworks "and eliminate future criminal markets before they are fully formed." According to a study by the technology company Gartner, in over three years, in 2026, one of four people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse to work, shop and interact with other users.
[ ... ]
Google will expand telepresence testing to other companies outside of its offices
21/10/2022Google continues with Starline 3D communication's project, based on telepresence and has announced that they will start testing it soon. This new communication solution works as a window in which you can make eye contact with another person, who appears in 3D and real size , allowing two participants to feel as if they were together, in the same space, despite the distance. To achieve this, Starline works with two structures in parallel, the first formed by a screen with cameras, speakers, lighting microphones and the computer where, they have explained, the other person is represented. The secod structure has a rear unit with infrared feedback, where the user is located. So far, Starlie prototypes have been tested in some Google offices in the United States and now, it has been announced that they will also begin testing in other technology partner companies such T-Mobile, Hackensack Meridian Health or Salesforce.
[ ... ]
Meta uses AI for a new system that generates videos from text descriptions
03/10/2022Meta has presented "Make-A-Video" a new application that, based on Artificial Intelligence, is capable to generate a short video from a text description. The AI system used is based on imaging technology that learns from paired text and image data and videos without context. From them, the new system is able to create a high-quality video, converting the provided text into a short clip. According to the statement issued from Mark Zuckerberg's company, "Make-A-Video" represents an important advance with respect to "Make-A-Scene", the similar system presented by Meta last summer, that generates precise images from descriptions of text and sketches.
[ ... ]
DuckDuckGo will offer their temporary or disposable mail service free
14/09/2022After launching the beta version of the new temporary or disposable mail service, 'Email Protection', DuckDuckGo has announced that once tested it is now available free for all users. 'Email Protection' is presented as a solution to be able to have a second 'e-mail' address to use in subscriptions and pages likely to send ‘spam'. Available from the DuckDuckGo mobile app and browsers, the service incorporates privacy protections against link tracking and smart encryption against unencrypted links, and features such as direct response. The accounts that are created through 'Email Protection' as a secondary email will contain the domain @duck.com and among the recommended uses proposed by DuckDuckGo are free trials or registration in services that usually send advertising or spam.
[ ... ]
Intel plans to raise the price of their products up to 20%
19/07/2022Intel could raise the prices of some of his products by 10% to 20% before the end of the year to deal with inflation. This has been advanced by the Taiwanese media Nikkei Asia, which indicates that the American manufacturer would already be warning its customers of the measure. Some products that would see their price rise would be CPUs for servers and computers, as well as chips for WIFI devices. Intel, according to Nikkei Asia, will attribute the price change to the rise in raw materials and also to the production costs of their products. Intel reached a record turnover of 79,024 million dollars in 2021, which represented a growth of 1.4% for the company compared to revenue recorded the previous year, although their net profit fell by 4.9% last year.
[ ... ]
The Spanish, the European citizens who know more about metaverse and virtual reality
27/06/2022The Spanish are the European citizens who most claim to know what the metaverse, virtual reality and augmented reality are. In fact, the results of the report presented by Ipsos in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, ensure that this knowledge would be not only above the European average, also the worldwide. Thus, 63% of Spaniards say they know the metaverse, compared to 52% of the world population, 30% of germans or 28% of France citizens. At the other extreme we find Turkey (86%), India (80%), China (73%) and South Korea (71%), which are presented as the countries with the largest population knowledgeable about the metaverse. "The results of this research work give a very optimistic view of the potential of the metaverse and show that many people are open to the technological change that is taking place," says Jame Ferrand-Gutiérrez, head of Data Intelligence at Ipsos in Spain. The director, however, points out that “we cannot ignore that the metaverse is still a concept that has not been fully realized […] Although it is planned as a parallel reality where everything has a place, in reality it is not. Well, at least at present. We will see in the future where it evolves". About the augmented and virtual reality, 77% of Spaniards say they know the first one well, and 85% the second, being, once again, Turkey, the country in the world where the percentages of familiarity with these technologies are more high, 94%. According to the report 'How the world sees the metaverse and extended reality', which collects data from 29 countries, obtained between April and May through the Ipsos Global Advisor platform, citizens expect that applications that use the metaverse will have a growing impact on their lives over the next decade and, according to the document, in Spain the greatest impact is expected in the field of virtual education and training (63%), entertainment (61%), video games (57%), work meetings (55%) and way of socializing and resources related to health (both with 54%).
[ ... ]
Meta test end-to-end encryption on calls and messages in their virtual reality glasses
30/05/2022Meta announced some time ago their desire to improve the privacy of their users and the confidentiality of their conversations, and in accordance with this, the company has just presented a new software update, v40, for its Meta Quest 2 virtual reality glasses, which tests the encryption of end-to-end of both calls and Messenger conversations that can be done through this device. In addition, this update incorporates a new function in App Unlock, which allows the user to block certain games and 'apps' with a security pattern plan. Another new feature is the secure payment system in 3D Secure, which is presented as an alternative to the Oculus app. The Meta Quest 2 glasses also receive with this update the possibility of being paired with other keyboards through Bluetooth connectivity, being fully compatible with Apple keyboards. Finally, among the outstanding novelties of this new v40 update, is the possibility of hearing the same thing from the speakers on the left and right of the viewfinder and even from the headphone jack. In addition, there is the option to adjust the left and right audio channels for those who hear better from one side than the other.
[ ... ]
Recycling containers connected to the mobile to reward the citizen
31/03/2022The Spanish startup Recircula Solutions has just presented Recysmart to the market, a device that can be installed in any type of urban container and identify the material of the recycled packages. The objective of this development is to promote incentive programs that helps population to recycle. The device combines a unique mechanical design with AI algorithms based on acoustics, so the unique and characteristic acoustic signal that a package generates when it's inserted into a container is captured by the sensor, processed and reported in real time to the managers authoritys so they can remunerate the person who has use the container. To do this, the citizen will have previously identified himself on the device through his mobile or using a physical card. In Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona) several of these devices have been installed in various containers in the town. Recircula Solutions will also send several units to Portugal, Austria, France, the United Kingdom and Greece.
[ ... ]
Starlink Satellite Internet service multiplies their speed
11/02/2022Starlink, the Internet satellite network of SpaceX division, continues to bet on improving the download speed of their service and has just presented a new antenna that improves the performance of its basic kit. Its size is beat larger than the current antenna and Space X assure, it can offer a download speeds of 150 to 500 Mbps and a latency of 20 to 40 ms, compared to the speed of 50 Mb/s to 150 Mb/s of the initial kit . The official launch of the new antenna has been done in the United States, where users can already reserve it. It's expected that the antenna will arrive to Europe on the second quarter of the year.
[ ... ]
What's new in Google for Android?
10/01/2022Google opens the year with news and has already presented in CES 2022 some of the most importants ones, such the new option for locking and unlocking devices and for the remote control of actions on all devices compatible with their Assistant. This means that from now on, you can unlock and use a Chromebook, mobile or tablet from a Wear OS smartwatch. To be successful, of course, the devices must be close to the clock. It is also available the option of unlocking - opening or start the car - BMW vehicles through a compatible Samsung phone or Pixel and, also, the function of transferring and managing content between devices through an integrated Chromecast that allows users to send content from the smartphone to televisions and monitors as well to speakers. Google has also announced the upcoming launch of a new device connection function that will allow, for example, to configure a Chromebook from the mobile phone and access all the saved data,. The new feature will also incorporate 'Fast Pair' pairing with Bluetooth accessories.
[ ... ]
USB-C cables will be marketed with power rating logos
05/10/2021USB type C cables will be marketed with new logos according to their power, has announced USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). USB-IF has explained that the new logos have been designed to solve cable confusion and to make it easier to decide which cables and chargers to purchase depending on the costumer needs. This type of cable has options from 60W to 240W. The consortium has also presented through the same statement, the logos for USB 4, based on Thunderbolt and with transfer rates of up to 40 Gbps.
[ ... ]
Atari VCS, Atari's retro mini-console for playing games and enjoying digital entertainment, hits the market
21/06/2021Atari has announced the launch of Atari VCS, its retro mini-console on which they have been working for the last three years and with users will be able to access classic games as well as digital entertainment. Atari VCS is presented as a hybrid console with a videogame console and computer functions inspired by the design of the Atari 2600, as can be seen in the chassis of the equipment, with a matte black body riddled with horizontal stripes and a wooden front. The mini-console is powered by the AMD Ryzen R1606G processor, which streams video in 4K and has support for PC gaming. In this PC mode, the Atari VCS is compatible with operating systems such as Windows, ChromeOS or Ubuntu, features Google productivity solutions and offers the possibility to expand the internal storage. The mini-console, which comes with a joystick and game controller, provides access to a catalog of 100 classic games, streaming entertainment platforms and productivity tools. It can also be connected to a TV and has access to Antstream or Game Jolt libraries, and to different computer game libraries in PC mode. It also allows viewing content from the most popular streaming and social platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch ... Atari VCS is now available for pre-order for $399.99.
[ ... ]
QUIC, the new official network protocol to replace TCP
04/06/2021QUIC, the network protocol designed by Google, has been presented by the Internet Engineering Task Force, IETF, as a new official Internet standard to replace TCP, the current main standard. Google's QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections) network protocol is designed to reduce latency with retransmissions taking less time, potentially reducing the waiting time for search results by 8% on computers and 4% on mobile devices, according to the paper released by Google in 2017. QUIC will replace TCP, the current main standard of the Internet since 1974 - when it was still Arpanet - and on which the operation of Internet elements such as the World Wide Web (WWW) logic system, file transmission, 'emails' and remote administration depend. The new QUIC protocol has already been published by the IETF, making it an official network protocol.
[ ... ]