This Week in Tech! August 14, 2023

Here are the latest news and developments in the tech industry this week.

Apple Music’s Spotify-like Feature is Now Live

Apple Music is rolling out a new personalized radio station – Dubbed Discovery Station, for its subscribers, but it has not made any official announcement yet.  

The new Discovery Station tab was spotted on Apple Music on August 7. It is under the ‘Listen Now’ tab on Apple Music App in the ‘Stations for You’.

This new radio station will help the users to come across new songs based on their listening history and preferences, as reported by 9to5Mac. This is similar to the Discover Weekly Playlist by Spotify. 

Apple has yet to give any details about the algorithm of this new personalized station. 

Next Gen OSDP Broke Before Going Out Of The Gate

You have read it right! The next-generation Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) was supposed to make it harder to break into secure facilities, but it failed. 

It was supposed to use encryption to protect communications between control panels and access control devices.

However, the researchers discovered the vulnerabilities that broke the OSDP secure channel were added about ten years ago! This allows the attackers to bypass the encryption and get access.

OSDP Alliance is already working on a fix to stop this, but in the meantime, the organizations using this OSDP Secure Channel should protect themselves using strong passwords, keep access control devices up to date, use intrusion detection systems, and conduct regular security assessments.

Google Introduces In-app Gmail Translation to Mobile Devices

Google has recently announced to bring Gmail translation to mobile devices.

As per the news, the users will be able to translate their emails in over a hundred languages directly from their tablets or Smartphones. 

This new real-time transcription feature is now available for Android users, but soon it will be available for iOS users.

It is indeed good news for users who receive frequent emails in unknown languages. 

For translation, the users just need to tap on the dedicated Translate button appearing at the top of the message. 

Google will instantly translate the email into a preferred language. The users will also have the privilege to choose their desired language of translation.

Websites Take Steps To Block ChatGPT Web Crawlers to Protect Their Contents

OpenAI has recently released instructions on how to block GPTBot, its web crawler, from accessing the websites. Although these restrictions do not apply to the current Open AI models, these are going to affect future versions.

This has led to a swirl of activities on the part of websites that do not want their content to be used to train OpenAI’s AI models.

OpenAI uses GPTBot to collect data from the web. This data is then used for training the AI models to generate texts, translate languages, and create various kinds of content. 

However, using GPTBot has led to controversies, as many of the sites have accused OpenAI of scraping their content without any permission.

The instruction to block GPTBot is a way to protect the content of the sites being used by the OpenAI.

The blocking of the GPTBot indicates a significant development in the debate over using AI for generating content. However, it still remains to be seen how OpenAI will collect the required data to train the AI models without the cooperating hands of the websites. 

WhatsApp Rolls Out Screen Sharing Feature

WhatsApp is rolling out screen-sharing features like GMeet, Teams, and Zoom for Android and iOS users.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has officially announced this via Facebook and Instagram profiles.

This latest feature aims to improve your video-calling experience. 

So, from now on, you will not be able to see the faces of the participants but can also share your screen during a video conference just by tapping the new Share button.

This screen-sharing feature will enable the users to collaborate more effectively. You will have the option to top screen sharing at any point you want. 

New Security Bug Affects Intel CPUs 

Recently, Google’s security researcher Daniel Moghimi found new security bugs – ‘Downfall’ and ‘Inception’ in the Intel CPUs that can leak your sensitive data, including passwords and encryption keys.

These bugs affect multiple generations of Intel processors, including the latest AMD CPUs. 

Both of the bugs can be patched with firmware updates or OS-level microcode updates with incorporated fixes.

Intel and AMD have already released the OS-level updates to address the issue. 

Both companies have said that as soon as the server, PC, and motherboard manufacturers release a firmware update, they will make those immediately available.

Brave Replaces Google with Brave Search

Brave is switching to its own search engine, replacing Google for the new users in the US and Canada. 

The new search engine, Brave Search, will also replace DuckDuckGo in Germany and Quant in France.

Brave Search Engine does not track the users or their searches; it is built on an independent index.

This means that your search data is secured from the advertisers and anyone else.

Brave has become more popular in recent years, and Brave search is indeed a significant step taken by the company. 

It will attract more of the new users. Though Brave Search is just in its early age it shows the potential to be a major competitor to Google or any other popular search engines.

Airtel’s Wynk Music Gets Dolby Atmos Support

Airtel has announced that Wynk Music will now support Dolby Atmos, and Spatial audio is no longer a novelty feature. This revolutionary technology is going to change the entire audio experience.

Dolby Atmos creates a 360-degree listening experience, and the Wynk Music users will not enjoy the spatial audio tracks on Smartphones, Smart speakers, or tablets.

Spatial audio is gained popularity in recent years and is often used in TV shows or movies for a more immersive user experience.

Dolby Atmos is a popular spatial audio format that is compatible with a wide range of devices.

The addition of Dolby Atmos to Wynk music makes spatial audio more accessible for a varied range of users, and this is a step ahead of Airtel, which is trying to introduce the best possible audio experience to its customers.

Twitter.com Finally Switches to X.com

Twitter is switching over to the domain name X.com on iOS devices. Recently, a user has reported seeing this change in the URL while copying and posting links from the X app share sheet on iOS. 

The links now initiate with X.com instead of the earlier domain, twitter.com.

However, the Android app and Web link are redirecting the users to use the old domain, but this is expected to change in the coming days.

In addition to the change in the domain name, Twitter has also made changes to the iOS app. 

Last week, Elon Musk rebranded the TweetDeck app as XPro, which claims to be a more powerful version of TweetDeck, offering many new features.

Elon Musk will bring many more changes to X. Now; we need to wait and see how these changes shape the company’s future.

Google Pixel 8 Series To Introduce ‘Audio Magic Eraser’

Back in 2021, Google introduced a Magic Eraser feature with Pixel 6 & Pixel 6 Pro. This AI-based image editing and machine learning feature is vastly available now.

Recently, a leaked promo video suggests that the Pixel 8 series will also have an ‘Audio Magic Eraser’ that will be official in October this year. The video also indicates that the vanilla Pixel 8 will have a blue color option.

EZ (@EZ8622647227573), an X user (formerly Twitter), has posted a promo video that teases that the skateboarders are using the new Magic Eraser feature for unwanted noise cancellation from the video clips. 

The video gives a glimpse of the Pixel 8 in the blue color option, and it is also rumored that the Pixel 8 will feature improved cameras and a faster processor.

Seems like the new Pixel 8 series will introduce Audio Magic Eraser feature to reduce video background noise.#Pixel8 #Pixel8Pro #GooglePixel pic.twitter.com/Tb23MoDuUI

— EZ (@EZ8622647227573) August 11, 2023

Closing Thoughts

There is always something new to learn in the world of technology. So, stay tuned with us to find out what’s happening here every week and keep yourself up to date.