I know, from its name, it’s not apparent what the hell it is. I’d make a snarky joke, but TechCrunch captured it the best — it’s Google Wave. For folks who’ve accessed the internet only through smartphones, Wave was a much-hyped Google project for collaboration that died in a year. Loop — built on the Fluid framework — is a series of content components that will be synced across its Office suite of productivity apps....

This morning, Bloomberg reported that the tech giant wants to acquire the app for more than $10 billion — a hefty sum. In December, Discord raised $100 million at a $7 billion valuation, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the sale price is higher than $10 billion. On Monday, VentureBeat reported that Discord is exploring multiple options, including a sale. But a Microsoft acquisition is not the only possibility on the horizon for Discord....

The security feature is essentially meant to thwart any attempts made by cybercriminals to break the real-time anti-malware defenses incorporated in Windows. In other words, tamper protection safeguards against “malicious and unauthorized changes to security features, ensuring that endpoint security doesn’t go down.” The setting, which will be on by default for home users, can be accessed as follows: In the search box on Taskbar, type and select the option Windows Security Select Virus & threat protection Select Virus & threat protection settings Select Manage settings Turn on/off Tamper Protection...

Many have touted GPT-3 as the next-generation artificial intelligence technology that will usher in a new breed of applications and startups. Since GPT-3’s release, many developers have found interesting and innovative uses for the language model. And several startups have declared that they will be using GPT-3 to build new or augment existing products. But creating a profitable and sustainable business around GPT-3 remains a challenge. Microsoft’s first GPT-3-powered product provides important hints about the business of large language models and the future of the tech giant’s deepening relation with OpenAI....

If you’ve got an Nvidia 2060, 2070, or 2080 card (Super and Ti variants included) in your PC, or even an RTX-enabled GPU in your laptop, you’ll soon be able to enjoy a more realistic looking Minecraft, complete with dynamic lighting and shadows rendered in real-time. You can also expect specular highlights, reflections, and additional depth and detail across the board. Hit play on the video above to get a taste....

These two proposals, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act and the Open App Markets Act, will focus on preferential treatment to indigenous products and the monopoly of app stores. In this story, we’ll break down both these bills and their impact on companies and consumers. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act This bill was first introduced in the Senate last October with an aim to prevent companies from favoring their own products on their platforms....

Last Wednesday, the president attended GM’s Factory Zero grand opening in Michigan and even had some fun behind the wheel of a 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup. During his speech, Biden praised GM CEO Mary Barra for driving the country’s electric future: You can watch his speech on the video below. The thing is, Biden’s comments are a bit of an exaggeration. I mean, GM has pledged to have an all-electric vehicle line-up by 2035, but for now its sales mostly derive from conventional gas-guzzlers....

There are plenty of great reasons to sign up with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) provider. But beyond key perks like access to geo-restricted content, VPNs primarily accomplish one critical mission: guarding your identity and digital footprint from being monitored and tracked by anyone out there on the big bad internet. So if cloaking you from online predators is a VPN’s main function, it stands to reason that a service geared toward that goal should get your attention....

According to a report by Android Police, the streaming platform is exploring an option on its Android app that’ll let you speed up episodes up to 1.5x and slow them down to 0.5x. The company confirmed it’s a mobile-only test in a blog post: Netflix added that this feature can help you skip to the part in an episode with your favorite scene, or slow it down for a fast-paced or a foreign-language title....

Scammers are getting so good at it that even cybersecurity experts are taken in. One of us (Oliver Buckley) recalls that in 2018 he received an email from the pro-vice chancellor of his university. The infamous “prince of Nigeria” emails are falling out of fashion. Instead, scammers are scouring social media, especially business-related ones like LinkedIn, to target people with tailored messages. The strength of a relationship between two people can be measured by inspecting their posts and comments to each other....

Specifically, they haven’t been able to form simple cell membranes in seawater-like conditions, which most agree would have been required to create the first living organisms. But my colleagues and I have recently shown, in a paper in Nature Ecology and Evolution, that the combination of molecules scientists have used to recreate these membranes doesn’t reflect the components that would have been available at the time. In fact, we found that, with the right ingredients, ocean vent conditions are actually necessary to form some cell membranes....

The company will bring four battery swap stations to the Oslo region by September, and then will expand to other Norwegian locations, starting in 2022. — Matthias Schmidt (@auto_schmidt) May 6, 2021 While battery swap stations haven’t caught on in Europe, in China Nio has now hit the milestone of 2,000,000 battery swaps. Truth be told, this charging alternative offers many advantages. You simply drive up to a designated station to you have your EV battery replaced with a new one – and it’s all done within 3 minutes....

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Nuro is now allowed to test its low-speed autonomous delivery vehicles in Atherton, East Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and Woodside, TechCrunch reports. [Read: Survey: Drop in pollution gets Brits interested in electric vehicles] This makes Nuro the second company to be granted a license to operate vehicles without a driver in California....

So, Quick Resume. This is a feature on the Xbox Series X and Series S (suck it, PS5 losers) that lets you switch between certain games instantly. Effectively, you can move from a FIFA battle straight into the middle of an Assassin’s Creed mission and back again almost instantly. I’ve written about my love for this feature before — and time hasn’t dulled the magic of Quick Resume. Quite the opposite....

Or maybe it’s just some marketing gimmick — in which case I will hate myself for writing this article. The company tweeted this short clip from its USA Twitter account, highlighting an August 11 reveal: — OnePlus➕ (@OnePlus_USA) August 10, 2021 At first glance, it seems like OnePlus is about to unveil a folding phone right as Samsung announces the Galaxy Fold and Flip 3. At second glance, I smell shenanigans....

Annual meteor showers are usually the result of the Earth passing into the debris field left behind by a passing comet. The Orionid display is one of two such regular displays resulting from the passing of Comet Halley every 76 years (the other being the Eta Aquarid display each May). Hunting for the bunter At nighttime or in the pre-dawn sky, the Orionid meteor shower provides amateur skygazers a chance to see a beautiful display of shooting stars....

Results from the UK’s first multi-city autonomous vehicle(AV) trial have revealed that 55 percent of respondents would not feel comfortable using a self-driving car if given the opportunity, Findings from a national survey – which analysed 2,500 responses – also found that just 30 percent of those surveyed believed self-driving vehicles will be safer than traditional vehicles, with 44 percent disagreeing and 26 percent undecided. The survey, compiled by DG Cities, an innovation company born out of the Borough of Greenwich, found a general reluctance among drivers towards the new technology – with safety cited as a key concern....

Welcome to the latest edition of Pardon The Intrusion, TNW’s bi-weekly newsletter in which we explore the wild world of security. If you own a smartphone, you’re probably being tracked as part of a pandemic surveillance system. As the coronavirus outbreak accelerates, governments worldwide have turned to technology such as phone tracking and facial recognition to battle the virus and contain the outbreak. These are unprecedented times we live in....

The number of human trafficking victims globally is as many as the inhabitants of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Croatia, and Hungary combined. While human trafficking is often associated with (illegal) prostitution, about 25 million of these 40 million victims end up in labor exploitation situations — working in nail salons, nursery gardens, and restaurant kitchens, to name a few examples. One unique characteristic sets this group apart from other victimized populations: Many people exploited in work situations, don’t realize they are victims....

A Mr Samson Lwanga, director of Dunamiscoins Resources Limited, was arrested last week and should appear in court later this week, local news reports. It’s reported that the scam managed to con 10 billion Ugandan shillings ($2.7 million) out of victims. The authorities are still on the look out for the other four directors of the company. Like numerous other cryptocurrency-based scams, Dunamiscoins promised investors and employees large returns in a short space of time....