Technology News for Thursday 23rd June 2022

1. Twitter tests long-form text feature called 'Notes'

The long-form feature is being tested by a small group of writers and Twitter did not give more details on its wider roll-out. The company currently has a 280-character limit on tweets, a feature it began testing nearly five years ago.

2. Amazon previews Alexa capability that synthesizes a person's voice from less than a minute of audio

Rohit Prasad, Alexa AI senior vice president and head scientist, discusses the voice synthesis technology at Amazon re:MARS. LAS VEGAS — A short video of a child asking Alexa to have his grandma read the Wizard of Oz is generating more than its share ...

3. Google takes down Android Auto from phones

Google introduced Android Auto app in March 2015 to give users an experience of maps, navigation and music on Android smartphones without hassle. A few years ago, Google stopped providing for a car-optimised UI in the Android Auto app but kept a ...

4. iOS 16's editable iMessages may not play nice with older iPhones

The latest iOS developer beta 16 includes a messy workaround to allow newly editable iMessages to be received on iPhones without iOS 16, 9to5Mac reports. It could prove annoying for anyone in an iMessage group chat using an older iPhone or Android.

5. Amazon shows off Alexa feature that mimics the voices of your dead relatives

Amazon has revealed an experimental Alexa feature that allows the AI assistant to mimic the voices of users' dead relatives. The company demoed the feature at its annual MARS conference, showing a video in which a child asks Alexa to read a bedtime ...

6. Apple iOS 16: Apple Just Revealed The Coolest iPhone Upgrade Yet

The next iPhone software, iOS 16, is going to have an amazingly cool feature. It'll be released in the fall, though public betas will start landing next month. Oh, and the new addition will come to the iPad in iPadOS, too. June 23 update below.

7. Spotify revamps in-app concert discovery with new Live Events Feed

Though Spotify doesn't sell event tickets directly, it's able to leverage its listening data and knowledge of a user's location to suggest concerts to fans who may be interested in attending.

8. No Man's Sky takes off on Nintendo Switch in October

The huge space exploration game No Man's Sky will be available on the Nintendo Switch on October 7th, developer Hello Games revealed Thursday. That's a bit later than the summer timeline announced in February, but it's good to have a concrete date to ...

9. Xiaomi shows us what we're missing in the US with the Poco F4 and X4 GT

The €399 (about $418) Poco F4 is mostly a rebranding of the Redmi K40S, with a Snapdragon 870 processor, an OLED screen with fast refresh rate, stabilized main camera, and fast wired charging.

10. AI has star power to accelerate fusion

UK Atomic Energy Authority's Lorenzo Zanisi, 29, is one of the first of a new wave of computer scientists working on artificial intelligence technologies for fusion in the UK. After recently receiving an award from the Turing Institute, ...

11. Samsung agrees to pay $14m penalty over misleading Galaxy ads

Justice Michael Murphy approved the settlement between the tech company and the Australian competition and consumer commission (ACCC) in the longrunning case launched in 2019, over ads related to seven Galaxy phone models.

12. Amazon's Alexa could soon mimic voice of dead relatives

The capability, unveiled at Amazon's Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas, is in development and would allow the virtual assistant to mimic the voice of a specific person based on a less than a minute of provided recording.

13. App Rules Are Twisted to Absurdity

But buying other types of digital subscriptions can be completely different. If you purchase a platinum membership to the dating service Tinder in the iPhone app, you are effectively signing up with Apple, and Tinder is on the sidelines.

14. Microsoft Edge gets new Xbox and PC gaming performance features

Alongside a new gaming-focused homepage and casual games integration, Edge is also getting a Clarity Boost to improve Xbox Cloud Gaming streams and an efficiency mode to prevent Edge from taking PC resources when a game is being played.

15. Google is notifying Android users targeted by Hermit government-grade spyware

An illustration showing spyware on a red phone on a blue background with blinking eyes. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch. Security researchers at Lookout recently tied ...

16. Samsung Australia owes $9.7 million for misleading waterproof claims

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (or ACCC) took Samsung Australia to task on these claims in 2019, and the Federal Court is ordering Samsung to pay up. The ACCC's chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says ...

17. Super Stardust Portable sneaks onto PlayStation Plus Premium

Sony's revamped PlayStation Plus service completes its rollout today with launches in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand — and it's brought a little surprise with it, in the form of a new addition to the Classics catalog for Premium subscribers, ...

18. Poco F4 5G launch highlights: Poco F4 5G launched with Snapdragon 870

Poco launched the new Poco F4 5G today in India. The new F-series phone from the company is the first in the series since last year's Poco F3 GT. It features a Snapdragon 870 chipset, a 120Hz AMOLED screen and other flagship-level specifications.

19. Epic monster battles will be at the heart of Final Fantasy XVI

The thing Naoki Yoshida is most excited about in Final Fantasy XVI is the eikon battles. In speaking to The Verge, Yoshida, the game's director, talked about how earth-shattering, knock-down, drag-out fights between some of the franchise's most ...

20. AWS sent a Snowcone to space

At its re:Mars conference, Amazon today announced that it quietly sent one of its AWS Snowcone edge computing and storage devices into space on the Axiom mission to the International Space Station. For the most part, this was an off-the-shelf Snowcone, ...

21. Acclaimed strategy game Into the Breach comes to mobile via Netflix

Into the Breach, the sci-fi turn-based strategy game from the makers of FTL: Faster Than Light, will be available on iOS and Android as part of a Netflix subscription beginning July 19th, developer Subset Games announced Thursday. Since late last year, ...

22. Amazon's Alexa could soon speak in a dead relative's voice, making some feel uneasy

Well fear not: Amazon unveiled a new feature in the works for its virtual assistant Alexa that can read aloud in a deceased loved one's voice based on short recording of the person. "While AI can ...

23. Google Chrome's latest update on iOS brings improved security, the Discover feed and more

As part of a broader update to its Chrome web browser, Google announced today a handful new features coming to the latest build of Chrome on iOS. Among the key additions, the Chrome app is gaining access to Google's Enhanced Safe Browsing feature which ...

24. OSOM's OV1 is now Solana's web3 Android handset, Saga

OSOM and Nothing have quickly become two of the most fascinating companies operating the smartphone space in recent years. Nothing is the latest project from OnePlus cofounder, Carl Pei, while OSOM is largely composed of former Essential employees ...

25. #MeToo founder Tarana Burke on grief; Why there are few Black doctors in the US

Author and activist Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, talks about the immense amount of grief we're all feeling. And, the percentage of Black doctors hasn't changed in 40 years. New reporting finds Black residents get more harshly ...

26. Nintendo and the Steam summer sale are here to ruin you financially

The Nintendo Switch atop a Steam Deck, showing its similar design and array of ports Two consoles, both out to ruin your wallet Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge ...

27. Microsoft Edge is transforming into the ultimate gaming browser

Microsoft Edge is delivering today what it promised two weeks ago: a gaming-focused home page, games integrated directly into the browser, and a “clarity boost” for streamed cloud games. On June 9, Microsoft tipped off several plans for upcoming ...