Gadgets And Technology Daily News | 20 Jul 2023
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UN Security Council Holds First Meeting on AI, Highlights Urgent Need for Global Regulation
The United Nations Security Council held its first meeting on artificial intelligence on Tuesday where China said the technology should not become a "runaway horse" and the United States warned against its use to censor or repress people.
Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who chaired the meeting under Britain's July presidency of the body, said AI will "fundamentally alter every aspect of human life."
"We urgently need to shape the global governance of transformative technologies because AI knows no borders," he added after saying that AI could help address climate change and boost economies. But he also warned that the technology fuels disinformation and could aid both state and non-state actors in a quest for weapons.
The 15-member council was briefed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jack Clark, co-founder of high-profile AI startup Anthropic, and Professor Zeng Yi, co-director of the China-UK Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance.
"Both military and non-military applications of AI could have very serious consequences for global peace and security," Guterres said.
Guterres backs calls by some states for the creation of a new U.N. body "to support collective efforts to govern this extraordinary technology," modeled on the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun described AI as a "double-edged sword" and said Beijing supports a central coordinating role of the U.N. on establishing guiding principles for AI.
"Whether it is good or bad, good or evil, depends on how mankind utilizes it, regulates it and how we balance scientific development with security," Zhang said, adding that there should be a focus on people and AI for good to regulate development and to "prevent this technology from becoming a runaway horse."
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Jeffrey DeLaurentis, also said there was a need for countries to also work together on AI and other emerging technologies to address human rights risks that threaten to undermine peace and security.
"No member states should use AI to censor, constrain, repress or disempower people," he told the council.
Russia questioned whether the council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, should be discussing AI.
"What is necessary is a professional, scientific, expertise-based discussion that can take several years and this discussion is already underway at specialized platforms," said Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All New Tourist Vehicles Provided for Rentals in Goa to be EVs from January 2024, CM Says
All new tourist vehicles, as well as cabs and motorbikes provided on rent in Goa will have to be electric vehicles from January 2024, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday.
The Goa government proposes major reforms to promote EVs in the coastal state, Sawant said addressing a side-event organised by the NITI Aayog during the ongoing fourth Energy Transitions Working Group meeting under India's G20 Presidency in Panaji.
India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant was also present at the side event.
Goa ranks fourth in India in terms of percentage of electric vehicles (EVs) purchased in any state, Sawant said.
He said all new tourist vehicles, cabs and motorbikes provided on rent will mandatorily have to be electric vehicles from January next year.
He also said new vehicles purchased by the government from January 2024 will mandatorily be EVs.
“It will also be mandatory for permit holders having multiple tourist taxis, rent-a-bike and rent-a-cab (service) operators to retrofit 30 percent of the fleet to electric vehicles by June 2024,” Sawant said.
He said the per capita vehicle ownership in Goa is 4.5 times the national average.
Goa is ranked 15th in the world in terms of vehicle density. Being a global tourism hotspot, more than 85 lakh tourists visit Goa every year against the state's population of 15 lakh, he said.
“This forms a major contributor for the increased carbon emission in the state due to a large number of taxis, rent-a-vehicle (services) and buses used to ferry tourists,” Sawant said.
As per a recent study, 40 per cent of the total carbon emission generated in Goa is due to the operation of vehicles, he said.
The Goa government has provided financial assistance for 1,679 electric vehicles amounting to Rs. 122 million (Rs 12.2 crore) under a scheme, Sawant said.
“Subsequent to the introduction of the scheme, the percentage sale of vehicles increased exponentially from 0.2 per cent to 9.4 per cent in 2022-23,” he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Moto G14 Renders Leak Online; 50-Megapixel Dual Rear Cameras, 5,000mAh Battery Tipped
Moto G14 has been in the rumours for a few weeks now. The exact launch date of the new G-series phone has not been announced by Motorola yet, but ahead of its debut, alleged marketing renders of the smartphone have leaked online. In the leaked images, the Moto G13 successor is seen in four different colour options with a hole-punch display. They also suggest a dual rear camera setup and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the device. The Lenovo-owned company is expected to unveil the Moto G14 in August.
TheTechOutlook published alleged marketing renders of Moto G14. From what we can see, the design looks nearly identical to its predecessor — Moto G13. It is seen with slightly thick bezels on the sides and has a centrally placed hole-punch cutout on the display. On the back, there is a dual rear camera setup along with an LED flash. The camera sensors appear to be arranged in a rectangular-shaped island at the upper left corner of the handset. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner can be seen as well. The handset is shown in beige, blue, grey and gold colour options.
The source states that the Moto G14 will run on an octa-core SoC with 128GB of storage. It could pack a 50-megapixel primary rear camera unit and a 5,000mAh battery with support for 20W fast charging. It is said to have a speakers enhanced with Dolby Atmos technology.
The Moto G14 was recently spotted on the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) certification site with the model number XT2341-4 and Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) website. Motorola is yet to confirm the launch date of the smartphone, but it is speculated to go official in August.
The Moto G13 was launched in India in March with a price tag of Rs. 9,999 for the sole 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage variant.
It has a 6.5-inch HD+ (720 x 1,600) LCD display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. It runs on an octa-core MediaTek Helio G85 SoC and packs a triple rear camera unit, led by a 50-megapixel primary sensor. An 8-megapixel front camera and a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging support are the other specifications of the handset.
Twitter Sued Again Over Severance Pay, Lawsuit Claims Company Owes at Least $500 Million to Ex-Workers
Twitter on Tuesday was hit with the second lawsuit this month to claim that it owes at least $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,105 crore) in severance pay to ex-workers, the latest in a series of cases arising from Elon Musk's acquisition of the social media company.
The proposed class action filed in Delaware federal court by former Twitter senior engineer Chris Woodfield also alleges that the company targeted older workers for layoffs, a claim that has not been made in the other pending cases.
Woodfield, who worked for Twitter out of Seattle, says the company repeatedly told employees that they would receive two months' salary and other payouts if they were laid off, but that he and other workers have not received the money.
Twitter laid off more than half of its workforce as a cost-cutting measure after Musk acquired the company last October.
Twitter no longer has a media relations department and the company responded to an email seeking comment with an automatic response containing a poop emoji. The company has said in response to other lawsuits that laid-off workers have been paid in full.
A similar lawsuit was filed last week in California federal court claiming Twitter owes ex-employees more than $500 million in severance.
Twitter has not responded to that lawsuit, which claims it violated a federal law regulating employee benefit plans by failing to abide by the terms of a severance plan established before Musk acquired the company.
Woodfield's lawsuit accuses the company of breach of contract and fraud. Woodfield also claims that Twitter targeted him to be laid off because he is an "older worker," though the complaint does not state his age.
According to the lawsuit, Woodfield signed an agreement to arbitrate work-related legal disputes that requires Twitter to pay the initial fees to allow individual cases to proceed. He says that he initiated an arbitration against Twitter earlier this year.
But Woodfield claims Twitter has refused to pay the fee in his case, blocking it from going forward. That claim was made by hundreds of ex-employees in a separate case earlier this year. Twitter has said those workers did not submit the necessary paperwork.
Twitter has also been accused in several separate lawsuits of disproportionately laying off women and workers with disabilities, failing to give advance notice of layoffs, and not paying promised bonuses to its remaining employees. The company has denied those claims.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
iPhone 16 Pro Max Tipped to Get a Super Telephoto Periscope Camera: All Details
iPhone 15 series is expected to go official in September, but ahead of it, rumours about next year's iPhone series are already circulating online. The purported iPhone 16 series might offer significant camera upgrades and the iPhone 16 Pro Max could feature a super telephoto periscope zoom camera. Apple has been packing improved camera units on iPhone models each year. The company is expected to pack a periscope camera on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max this year. The non-pro models in the iPhone 15 series are also said to get a 48-megapixel primary rear camera sensor.
Well-known tipster Digital Chat Station recently posted alleged specifications of the unannounced iPhone 16 Pro Max on Weibo. According to him, the upcoming flagship handset will have a super telephoto periscope zoom camera. Super zoom lenses have a focal length of over 300mm. The ongoing iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro models have a focal length of around 77mm, so the 300mm focal length would be a significant upgrade over previous models. Super telephoto cameras are widely used for sports and wildlife photography. It would also assist in portrait photography.
The tipster also claims that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a larger camera sensor that could be 1/1.14 inches in size. In comparison, the current iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature a 1/1.28-inch sensor.
Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to feature a periscope camera as well. As per an earlier rumour, the periscope lens will enable up to 5-6x optical zoom. So presumably next year's iPhone 16 series might debut with an even more advanced camera system. However, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max launch is easily more than a year away, so these speculations can be taken with a pinch of salt.
Meanwhile, Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 15 series of smartphones, likely to comprise the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, in September. All models in the series are said to come with the Dynamic Island. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are expected to run on the A16 Bionic chip, while the Pro models are tipped to be powered by the A17 Bionic SoC. The non-Pro models are expected to pack an improved 48-megapixel wide camera sensor as well.
iPhone 16 May Use New Battery Technology to Offer Longer Battery Life: Details
iPhone 15 series is expected to go official in September with upgrades in design as well as specifications. Apple hasn't announced any details regarding the iPhone 15 series, but we're already hearing a lot about its successors — iPhone 16 lineup. Most recently, a tipster claimed that Apple will use new battery technology for the iPhone 16 models. This technology is expected to improve battery life and offer greater longevity compared to standard batteries. This transition may also bring faster charging capabilities to the iPhone 16 lineup.
Tipster RGcloudS (@RGcloudS) on Twitter stated that Apple will use stacked battery technology from electric vehicles for the entire iPhone 16 lineup. He also claimed that Samsung is working on stacked battery technology for its forthcoming Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Previously, the tipster had claimed that Apple would launch the iPhone 15 series this year with the stacked battery technology, but that may no longer be the case. He also said that Apple might introduce 40W wired and 20W MagSafe wireless charging. Based on the previous launch timelines of Galaxy S series devices, Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S24 lineup early next year, while the iPhone 16 lineup might go official later in September. It appears that Samsung might implement the technology ahead of Apple.
Stacked batteries would offer a set of benefits over the conventional Li-ion battery including improved efficiency, cooler temperatures, and longevity. Besides EVs, they are used extensively in aerospace and aviation.
A recent leak suggested bigger batteries for the iPhone 15 lineup. The vanilla iPhone 15 is said to pack a 3,877mAh battery, an upgrade from the 3,279mAh on the iPhone 14. The larger iPhone 15 Plus could come equipped with a 4,912mAh battery. Last year's iPhone 14 Plus has a 4,323mAh battery.
The iPhone 15 Pro is tipped to house a 3,650mAh battery, up from the 3,200mAh cell on the outgoing iPhone 14 Pro. The top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max could be equipped with a 4,852mAh battery, which is larger than the 4,323mAh unit on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
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