“Microsoft has said the USA should copy Australia’s plan to force Google and Facebook to pay for links to news content,” reports The Register, “and suggested that doing so will help improve social cohesion and strengthen democracy.” But Google has fired back with a statement asserting that Microsoft’s motives are impure. “Of course they’d be eager to impose an unworkable levy…
Tag: microsoft
Microsoft’s Big Win in Quantum Computing Was an ‘Error’ After All
In a 2018 paper, researchers said they found evidence of an elusive theorized particle. A closer look now suggests otherwise. From a report: In March 2018, Dutch physicist and Microsoft employee Leo Kouwenhoven published headline-grabbing new evidence that he had observed an elusive particle called a Majorana fermion. Microsoft hoped to harness Majorana particles to build a quantum computer, which promises…
Microsoft Teams AI could tell you who is most enjoying your video call
Researchers at Microsoft have developed an AI for the firm’s Teams videoconferencing software that highlights positive audience reactions during a virtual presentation Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267147-microsoft-teams-ai-could-tell-you-who-is-most-enjoying-your-video-call/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Salesforce Declares the 9-to-5 Workday Dead, Will Let Some Employees Work Remotely From Now On
Cloud computing company Salesforce is joining other Silicon Valley tech giants in announcing a substantial shift in how it allows its employees to work. From a report: In a blog post published Tuesday, the company says the “9-to-5 workday is dead” and that it will allow employees to choose one of three categories that dictate how often, if ever, they return…
Intel Sues Oregon Engineer Who Left For Microsoft, Allegedly Taking Trade Secrets With Him
Intel sued a former Oregon employee last week, alleging he took trade secrets with him when he bolted for Microsoft and used the information to gain an advantage in subsequent business negotiations with Intel. From a report: The engineer, Varun Gupta, worked for Intel for a decade before leaving for Microsoft in January 2020, according to the suit. He allegedly loaded…
As VS Code Gains in Popularity, Microsoft Praises ‘Inner Source’ Development
It’s been estimated that there are 24 million developers in the world. 14 million of them now use Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code (VS Code) as their IDE, reports ZDNet, with five million new users arriving in 2020. Julia Liuson, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s developer division, tells them why: “The strategy for VS Code is really to support our any, any,…
Raspberry Pi OS Accused of ‘Phoning Home’ To Microsoft
Slashdot reader rushtobugment quotes a story from Hot Hardware: One of the software options for running a Raspberry Pi module is Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian), the officially supported Debian-based operating system put out by The Raspberry Pi Foundation. It has been around since 2015 without too much complaint. However, a recent update has some Raspberry Pi OS users up in…
Microsoft Launches Viva, Its New Take on the Old Intranet
Microsoft today launched Viva, a new “employee experience platform,” or, in non-marketing terms, its new take on the intranet sites most large companies tend to offer their employees. From a report: This includes standard features like access to internal communications built on integrations with SharePoint, Yammer and other Microsoft tools. In addition, Viva also offers access to team analytics and an…
Sony Says It Sold 4.5 Million PlayStation 5 Consoles Last Year and Took a Loss on Sales
Sony shipped more than 4.5 million PlayStation 5s from the console’s Nov. 12 launch to the end of the year, but it took a loss on those sales because the PS5’s “strategic price point” is lower than what it cost to manufacture it. From a report: The disclosure was part of Sony’s quarterly report to investors, delivered in Japan earlier today….
Beyond qubits: Team takes next big step to scale up quantum computing
Scientists and engineers at the University of Sydney and Microsoft Corporation have opened the next chapter in quantum technology with the invention of a single chip that can generate control signals for thousands of qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers. …