Technology News for Monday 1st July 2024

1. Is Screen Time to Blame for Rising Rates of Myopia in Children?

TOPLINE: More time spent exposed to screens is associated with a higher risk for myopia in children and adolescents; the use of computers and televisions appears to have the most significant effects on eye health.

2. Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for July 1, #386

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: Get you there ...

3. AI Chatbots Seem as Ethical as a New York Times Advice Columnist

Large language models lack emotion and self-consciousness, but they appear to generate reasonable answers to moral quandaries. By Dan Falk. Moor Studio/Getty Images. Artificial Intelligence. In 1691 the London newspaper the Athenian Mercury published ...

4. A reduction in self-reported confidence accompanies the recall of memories distorted by prototypes

Leveraging unsupervised machine learning algorithms, we extracted participant-specific prototypes and embedded responses in two-dimensional space to quantify prototype-based distortions in individual memory traces. Our findings reveal robust and ...

5. Europe's privacy laws put Meta in a tight spot. Now its antitrust laws are going in for the kill

What the Commission is doing to Meta is essentially data-protection enforcement through antitrust means. The DMA's rules reflect the increasing tendency of tech antitrust regulators to treat piles of data like the moat- ...

6. A major SmartThings update brings support for appliances, robot vacuums, and more through Matter

Samsung also announced several other updates to its smart home platform, including app design improvements, new device control options, a hub backup option, shareable routines, and the gamification of its SmartThings Energy feature.

7. Meta's Ad-Free Subscription Violates Competition Law, EU Says

Thierry Breto, wearing dark-rimmed round glasses, speaking with one hand raised. Thierry Breton, the European commissioner who helped draft the Digital Markets Act, said the law was intended to ...

8. Facebook and Instagram's 'Pay or Consent' Advertising Model Under EU Scrutiny

Meta introduced the model in November 2023, offering EU users two options: pay a monthly fee for an ad-free experience or continue using the platforms for free with personalized ads. However, the Commission argues ...

9. The Vision Pro will get Apple Intelligence and 'Go Deeper' in-store demos

The Vision Pro sitting next to its battery. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge. For all its impressive technical chops, Apple's all ...

10. Balancing act: Novel wearable sensors and AI transform balance assessment

Date: June 26, 2024; Source: Florida Atlantic University; Summary: Traditional methods to assess balance often suffer from subjectivity, aren't comprehensive enough and can't be administered remotely. They also are expensive and require specialized ...

11. Meta accused of breaking European law with its 'pay or consent' model

Facebook parent Meta has been accused of breaking Europe's new digital competition rules over its “pay or consent” advertising model. Late last year, Meta (META) launched a service called “Subscription for no ads,” allowing European users of Facebook ...

12. Aston Martin set to thrill with dynamic display at Goodwood Festival of Speed

An incredible line-up of Aston Martin sports cars has been assembled to supply velocity with verve at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, including Valkyrie, Valour, Valiant, Victor and Vantage; Aston Martin Valiant will make its global debut at ...

13. The best Android tablets

If price is no object, consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, with a set of features as extensive as its name. This high-end Android tablet is an excellent drawing companion, with an expansive screen, 2.5K resolution and a responsive S Pen stylus that ...

14. Supreme Court Declines to Rule on Tech Platforms' Free Speech Rights

The justices unanimously returned two cases, which concerned state laws that supporters said were aimed at “Silicon Valley censorship,” to lower courts. Critics had said the laws violated the sites' First Amendment rights.

15. EU says Instagram's paid ad-free option breaches rules

The European Commission says Facebook owner Meta's "pay or consent" advertising model is in breach of its laws. Under the tech giant's new service in the EU, users must either consent to receiving personalised ads or pay €12.99 (£11) a month to remove ...

16. Best laptop deals for summer and back-to-school season

With a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, 8 GB RAM storage and 256 GB of hard disk space, this is a great option to get a MacBook at a lower price. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3.

17. Microsoft AI head Mustafa Suleyman says anyone can use information on internet to train their AI models for free

During an interview with CNBC, Suleyman downplayed concerns about AI companies accessing intellectual property. He believes that freely copying and using publicly available content has been the norm online since a long time.