Microsoft just officially listed AI as one of its top priorities

Microsoft just named artificial intelligence as one of its top priorities in a financial filing. The annual report for the company’s 2017 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, now includes six references to AI, up from zero in the previous annual report. And the company has plunked AI into its corporate vision statement, too. “Our strategic vision is to compete and grow by building best-in-class platforms and productivity services for an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge infused with AI,” the company wrote in the annual report, which was…

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Safaricom simplifies M-PESA access to businesses

Kenya is an undisputed global leader when it comes to mobile money services. In 2007, the telecom operator Safaricom launched its mobile money service M-Pesa as a simple way to text small payments between users. A decade later, M-Pesa has become the world’s most successful money transfer service. Safaricom, a major Mobile service provider in Kenya has announced a release of a feature-rich M-PESA Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) portal to businesses in the country.  Dubbed Daraja, the portal will enable businesses to easily integrate with the platform drastically cutting down…

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HomePod firmware confirms the next iPhone will use infrared face unlock

Pinning down the precise features of the next iPhone has been difficult of late. A standard “S” model iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that won’t be radically different from last year’s is expected, but we’re also expecting a high-end model. It appears, based on a tweet from developer Steve Troughton-Smith, that at least one of those models will have face unlock. And the high-end model (alternately referred to as the “iPhone Pro,” “iPhone 8,” or even “iPhone X”) will have a bezel-less screen that wraps around the speaker and cameras…

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Microsoft MS Paint to get axed from Windows 10

Microsoft plans to stop developing the iconic Paint program, nudging it a step closer to the end. The Tech Giant announced last week that it will stop actively developing Paint starting with a fall update to Windows 10, its flagship operating system. As a result, Paint could be removed altogether in future updates: The once vital component is now vestigial. In a statement, Microsoft played down the news, noting that Paint will continue to be available for free download and many of its features will remain in other places, including…

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Dell Unveils the World’s First 32-Inch 8K Monitor

Dell has unveiled some impressive new monitors for its products. At the start of the year, the 2017 lineup included new Infinity Edge displays, HDR displays, a new touchscreen display, and even the world’s first 32-inch, 8K monitor. Dell has now released the UP2718Q monitor, which offers a A 27” 3840 x 2160 resolution with the all trendy trick for 2017, HDR. The UP2718Q is making use of an IPS panel (AHVA) at 6-hz, and thus offers support for HDR10.   This is a stunning panel for people who do a particular kind of work…

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Over 36.5 million Android users get infected by Judy Malware

A new malware named ‘Judy’ has been found in over 41 apps on the Google Play Store, and it has infected between 8.5 million to 36.5 million users. This is according to a report from security research firm Check Point, which discovered the malware and alerted Google. The search giant has started removing these infected apps from the Play Store. According to researchers from Check Point, the apps were available on the Play Store for years, but have been clean and virus-free for most of the time. It appears that…

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Apple loses top spot on Laptop Magazine’s best brands ranking for 2017

After taking first place every year since 2010 in Laptop Mag’s survey of the best and worst laptop brands, Apple has dropped to fifth place in the 2017 edition of the survey. Participants voted on six criteria for each brand, and while Apple scored well on reviews, design and support, it took a beating in value and selection. The tech giant has always sold its laptops at a premium, but in 2017, consumers don’t think they’re worth it. The online review site evaluates the 10 biggest laptop brands for its annual ranking…

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YouTube’s AI can now describe sound effects

YouTube understands the power of video to tell stories, move people, and leave a lasting impression. One part of storytelling that many people take for granted is sound, yet sound adds color to the world around us. YouTube has had automated captions for its videos since 2009, and now it’s expanding the feature to include captions for sound effects. While those three were some of the most frequent manually captioned sounds, YouTube says it’s only in the early stages of making improvements for its deaf and hard of hearing users.…

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ISPs argue Web history isn’t “sensitive” they should be able to sell it

Internet providers are continuing to argue that they should be free to share and sell users’ web history without permission because it isn’t “sensitive information.” “Web browsing and app usage history are not ‘sensitive information,’” CTIA said in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission yesterday. CTIA is the main lobbyist group representing mobile broadband providers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Sprint. The disagreement is around whether internet providers should be treated differently than web companies, like Facebook and Google. Internet providers argue that it’s unfair that the…

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Google leaks Microsoft’s Internet Explorer bug

Google has disclosed a still-active vulnerability in the Edge and Internet explorer browsers that Microsoft apparently ignored for more than three months. The Internet explorer bug was reported to Microsoft by a Google engineer and given 90 days to eliminate the error. The flaw was leaked as Microsoft failed to comply with the appointed timeframe. The flaw fundamentally allows ill-intended individuals to build websites that cause the browsers to spontaneously crash and  to take control of your browser in certain cases, BBC reports. The flaw has to do with the way…

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