Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Disney’s Confidential Data from Slack Channel gets hacked
Walt Disney has become the latest corporation to face data breach after it came to light that an anonymous hacking group called ‘NullBulge’ has stolen confidential data from its several internal channels. These confidential data include messages, files, code, and details about unreleased projects, ad campaigns, and even information on job applicants. One of the representatives of NullBulge told Wall Street Journal that their actions were motivated by Walt Disney’s alleged ill treatment of contractual artists following the boom of AI tools and its blatant disregard for consumers. This is a second a data breach incident in span of last one week, after AT&T said last Friday that hackers have stolen nearly all of its customer call and text records.
2)
YouTube Music is testing new features – AI generated radio & Song recognition tool
YouTube Music has announced that it is testing conversational radio feature to only select premium users in the US. This feature will allow users to create a custom radio station by describing what they want to hear. For example, you can ask for ‘soft rock music’ or ’90’s pop songs’ and it will create a radio station based on your text prompts. Separately, YouTube Music is publicly making available song recognition tool called ‘sound search,’ allowing listeners to search for songs by simply humming or singing. Earlier this feature was in beta testing phase but it is now available to all IOS and Android users.
3)
Apple releases the first public beta for IOS 18
As was expected, Apple has finally launched the public beta for IOS 18. It has launched public betas for iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia and watchOS 11. IOS 18 comes with tones of new features but the only disappointment is that it doesn’t include Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new AI system that is packed with many AI driven features. Apple users will have to wait till fall to get their hands on Apple Intelligence. Among the many IOS 18 features the stand-alone feature is more customizable home screen. This feature allows to freely arrange apps and widgets, with space between icons and even personalized app icon colors. iPadOS 18, on other hand, has brought a long-awaited native calculator app with a powerful “Math Notes” function that can solve handwritten equations and even plot graphs.
4)
Microsoft’s new AI Model ‘Spreadsheet LLM’ aims to unlock insight from Spreadsheet
Microsoft researchers have released a new research paper on an AI model that can accurately analyses data in your spreadsheet. Named as ‘Spreadsheet LLM,’ this LLM can find trends, correlations, and patterns in your data. It can even analyze historical data and future trends, helping businesses to make future trends. The research paper claims that this LLM is better equipped in reducing the errors and inconsistencies that most of the current Business Intelligence tools are prone to. However, these are still early days as the Spreadsheet LLM is unlikely to be available for public use anytime soon. However, it does appear that this AI model has the potential to significantly boost productivity and unlock valuable information currently hidden within spreadsheets.
5)
A TikTok glitch allow teens to access its Shopping Tab despite adult-only policy
It has come to public notice that a technical problem in TikTok is allowing its teen users to use its shopping features; even though by TikTok’s own policy these features are restricted for users below 18 years of age. Although this matter is still under investigation, current information suggest that there must be problem with TikTok’s ineffective age verification method or parental control features. Teen users exposure to in-app purchases have raised several concerns, like they might be exposed to inappropriate products that are unsuitable for young audience and uncontrolled spending by minors.