Technology

India reversed a laptop licensing policy after behind-the-scenes lobbying by U.S. officials, who however remain concerned about New Delhi’s compliance with WTO obligations and new rules it may issue, according to US trade officials and government emails seen by Reuters. In August, India imposed rules requiring firms like Apple, Dell and HP to obtain licences for all shipments of imported …

The Meta-owned application – WhatsApp – has reportedly started working on another feature for its users which will allow the users to transcribe voice messages. The WABetaInfo has spotted the feature in the latest beta version of WhatsApp for iOS as well as Android. The feature which is expected to be launched soon will allow users to convert voice messages …

The US Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday for illegally maintaining a monopoly for its iPhone by stifling competition and imposing exorbitant costs on consumers. The lawsuit, brought also by 17 US states, attacked the iPhone for raking in hundreds of billions of dollars by making it difficult for consumers to switch away from Apple to cheaper smartphones and …

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly on Thursday called for the development of a set of international guidelines to address the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence. The resolution, co-sponsored by dozens of countries and adopted by consensus, emphasises the necessity of guidelines “to promote safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems,” while excluding military AI from its purview. On …

PARIS: The world threw away a record amount of smartphones, televisions and other electrical devices in 2022, the UN said on Wednesday, warning this avalanche of dumped gadgets was polluting the planet. Less than one quarter of the 62 million tonnes of e-waste produced in 2022 was recycled, resulting in heavy metals, plastics and toxic chemicals leaking from junked devices. …

Neuralink on Wednesday streamed a video of its first human patient playing computer chess with his mind and talking about the brain implant making that possible. Noland Arbaugh, 29, who was left paralysed from the shoulders down by a diving accident eight years ago, told of playing chess and the videogame “Civilization” as well as taking Japanese and French lessons …

LAHORE: As disruption of social media platform X stre­t­ched into its fifth week, Inte­rior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Tuesday the country needed “better laws” to regulate internet free speech. “We need to make better laws,” he said when asked whe­ther his ministry was responsible for shutting down the platform, formerly known as Twitter. “Expression is fine, but ma­k­ing false …

ISLAMABAD: The Violent Extremism Prevention Unit of the capital police blocked 462 social media accounts involved in spreading hatred, police said. The unit examines and investigates accounts of different social media platforms to counter the spread of religious, sectarian, and linguistic hatred and propaganda against the country and institutions, they added.     The unit thoroughly monitored social media, traced 1,522 …

Turkey’s competition authority imposed on Monday an interim measure on Meta Platforms meant to hinder data sharing between the Instagram and Threads platforms as it investigates possible abuse of the company’s dominant market position. In December, the authority launched an investigation into Facebook parent Meta over a possible violation of competition law by linking its social media platforms Instagram and …

Apple is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation. The negotiations are about licensing Gemini for some new features coming to the iPhone software this year, the report said, adding that the terms or branding of an AI agreement or how it would be …