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The Morning After: Arm doubles down in its Qualcomm fight
24 Oct

The Morning After: Arm doubles down in its Qualcomm fight

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Isn’t it fun when a relatively minor skirmish over money boils over to threaten (checks notes) the whole Android ecosystem? .Essentially, back in 2021, Qualcomm bought an AI chip company, Nuvia, which was also an Arm licensee. Qualcomm has used Nuvia’s technology inside its AI PC chips, but Arm feels Qualcomm never sought its blessing to transfer those licenses.In response, Arm sued Qualcomm in 2022 to try to get what it was owed, with the battle due to go to trial this December. But unless someone backs down in the interim, Qualcomm might not be able to make the chips…
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Tesla says it will ‘begin launching’ new and more affordable EVs next year
24 Oct

Tesla says it will ‘begin launching’ new and more affordable EVs next year

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One of Tesla’s biggest downsides has always been the upfront cost of its electric vehicles versus gas models. The cheapest car it currently sells is $42,490 before subsidies, and the average starting price of its 2024 models is just over $63,000.Tesla wrote in its that it’s making “preparations” to offer new vehicles with “more affordable models.” The EV maker’s cost of goods sold per vehicle also came down to “its lowest level ever” at $35,1000.“Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025,” the report reads. “These vehicles…
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Arm cancels Qualcomm’s license to use its chip design standards
24 Oct

Arm cancels Qualcomm’s license to use its chip design standards

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Arm has taken its feud with Qualcomm to the next level, two years after filing a lawsuit against its former close partner. According to Bloomberg, the British semiconductor company has canceled the architecture license allowing Qualcomm to use its intellectual property and standards for chip design. As the news organization notes, Qualcomm, like many other chipmakers, uses Arm's computer code that chips need to run software, such as operating systems. Arm has reportedly sent Qualcomm a 60-day notice of cancelation — if they don't get to an agreement by then, it could have a huge impact on both companies' finances…
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Oversight Board says Meta’s handling of a satirical image of Harris and Walz raises ‘serious concerns’
23 Oct

Oversight Board says Meta’s handling of a satirical image of Harris and Walz raises ‘serious concerns’

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Two weeks before the US presidential election, the Oversight Board says it has “serious concerns” about Meta’s content moderation systems in “electoral contexts,” and that the company risks the “excessive removal of political speech” when it over-enforces its rules. The admonishment came as the board weighed in on a case involving a satirical image of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.Meta originally removed the post, shared on Facebook in August, that showed an edited version of a movie poster from Dumb and Dumber. The original 1994 movie poster shows the two main characters grabbing…
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A federal ban on fake online reviews is now in effect
23 Oct

A federal ban on fake online reviews is now in effect

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Be warned, online merchants who see no issue in publishing phony reviews from made-up customers: that practice is no longer allowed. A federal ban on fake online reviews has taken effect.The Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule on the purchase and sale of online reviews and it came into force 60 days after it was published in the Federal Register. The agency's commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the regulation.The rule bans businesses from creating, buying or selling reviews and testimonials attributed to people who don't exist, including those that are AI generated. False celebrity endorsements aren't allowed and…
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Amazon is reportedly working on a low-cost storefront to rival Temu
23 Oct

Amazon is reportedly working on a low-cost storefront to rival Temu

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Amazon may be working on a secondary online sales platform that would compete with the absurdly low prices of Chinese retailer Temu. The Information that it has seen internal information sent to Amazon merchants that detail some of the price caps for this new storefront.The outlet claims the upper limit of prices are set at $8 for jewelry, $9 for bedding, $13 for guitars and $20 for sofas that are shipped from its fulfillment center in Guangdong, China under this new "Low-Cost Store." According to the site's sources, orders from this storefront would have slower shipping timelines of nine to…
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Huawei appears to still be using TSMC chips despite US sanctions
22 Oct

Huawei appears to still be using TSMC chips despite US sanctions

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A Canadian research firm called TechInsights took a deep dive on one of Huawei’s artificial intelligence accelerators and found a chip manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). spoke with several people familiar with the investigation who asked to remain anonymous since TechInsights’ report has been released to the public.The anonymous sources says TechInsights’ investigation found an Ascend 910B chip made by TSMC in one of Huawei’s AI accelerators. The company that conducted the investigation declined to comment.The US Commerce Department implemented additional against Huawei that barred the electronics company from obtaining chips made by foreign firms. Earlier this year,…
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Ecobee smart home users can now unlock Yale and August smart locks from its app
22 Oct

Ecobee smart home users can now unlock Yale and August smart locks from its app

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Ecobee is integrating smart locks into its app. The company doesn’t make smart locks of its own, but you can now control Wi-Fi-enabled ones from Yale and August using the Ecobee app. The feature could prevent you from switching apps to let someone who rings your smart doorbell in. However, it’s locked behind a subscription, so user convenience isn’t the only motive here.The integration adds an “unlock” button from the Ecobee app’s live view. So, you can let visitors in from the same screen where you confirm it’s someone you want coming inside. (Handy!) The Ecobee app also allows you…
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Stable Diffusion 3.5 follows your prompts more closely and generates more diverse people
22 Oct

Stable Diffusion 3.5 follows your prompts more closely and generates more diverse people

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Stable Diffusion, an open-source alternative to AI image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E, has been updated to version 3.5. The new model tries to right some of the wrongs (which may be an understatement) of the widely panned Stable Diffusion 3 Medium. Stability AI says the 3.5 model adheres to prompts better than other image generators and competes with much larger models in output quality. In addition, it’s tuned for a greater diversity of styles, skin tones and features without needing to be prompted to do so explicitly.The new model comes in three flavors. Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large is the…
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Meta and GoFundMe team up to streamline social media donations
22 Oct

Meta and GoFundMe team up to streamline social media donations

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Meta and GoFundMe by which folks use social media to donate to charitable causes. GoFundMe links will still be shared via social media, but now they’ll boast a suite of improvements. This integration impacts both Instagram and Facebook.The companies say the new GoFundMe links create an “interactive experience for potential donors.” To that end, there’s a big and bold new donate button that jettisons users to the official GoFundMe page to complete the transaction. The social media posts are also now dynamic, meaning they change in real time as the amount of money raised and the number of donors fluctuates.…
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