Here are the top trending news from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Microsoft gives OneDrive a fresh new look & feel, AI Copilot integration, and more
Microsoft has just announced a major overhaul of OneDrive, its cloud storage service. The new OneDrive boosts a new design and look, integration with AI Copilot and number of other new enhancements. Talking about the new design then it is built on Microsoft’s new Fluent Design language, which is also visible in Windows 11. The new design is more modern and streamlined, with a focus on putting files and folders in center stage. AI Copilot, on other hand, will help OneDrive users with variety of tasks including finding important files, organizing your files, and creating new content like new documents & presentations. Other new features include new media view that organizes all of your images, videos, and media in one place. Additionally, OneDrive users will enjoy offline feature that will allow them to access and edit their files even without internet connection.
2)
Google is cracking down on spams in Gmail with new anti-spam features
Google has just announced that pretty soon it is going to introduce several anti-spam features that will make it more difficult for spam mails to land in your Gmail inbox. Going forward, anyone who send more than 5,000 messages per day will have to mandatorily provide one-click unsubscribe button in their mails. Additionally, if a bulk senders’ spam rate’ exceeds the threshold of 0.3% of the total spam messages then their mails will be flirted or blocked. These soon to be launched features will add to the existing anti-spam features that Gmail already provides to filter out spam mails from your inbox. These features are still in the early stages of development, but Google expects to start rolling them by end of 2023.
3)
Netflix plans to raise prices (again)
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Netflix is considering raising prices for its ad-free streaming plan. This unconfirmed news comes barely hours after Hollywood actors ended their strike. The price hike of the ad-free streaming plan is likely to start from the US and Canada and will be rolled out to other markets in the later months. However, it is still not known how much Netflix will raise the price and exactly when will the revised price come into effect. If Netflix does increase the price then it will become the latest OTT platform to do so. Barely few hours ago Warner Bros announced that the monthly price of the ad-free version of its Discovery + streaming service is increasing from $6.99 to $7.99.
4)
Microsoft rolls out DALL-E 3 to all Bing Chat and Bing Image Creator
The image generator inside the AI-powered Bing Chat is all set to get a big upgrade starting from today. Microsoft has just announced that OpenAI’s third version of DALL-E will be now available to all Bing Chat and Bing Image Creator users. Starting from today, Bing Chat users in the U.S and other markets can easily generate high quality images by simply typing a text prompt. DALL-E-3 integration with Bing Chat has happen even before its integration with ChatGPT. DALL-E 3’s integration with ChatGPT is scheduled to happen by end of this month and it will be only available to paid subscribers. DALL-E 3 is successor to DALL-E 2 and is significantly more powerful and versatile. It can generate more realistic and creative images from text prompts.
5)
Apple rolls out new app review policy in China
Amid Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on the tech industry Apple has just rolled out a new app review policy in China. As per this new app policy, Apple now requires app developers to obtain a government license before publishing new apps on its App Store in China. This means IOS app developers will now have to first submit their apps to the Chinese government to verify whether the apps comply with China’s law & regulations. And only after securing green signal, the app developers will be allowed to publish their apps in the App Store. It is still not clear how Chinese government will review apps for compliance with its laws and regulations. Some experts have raised concerns that the government could use the new policy to censor apps or to block access to certain types of content. Apple, on other hand, has assured that it will fully cooperate with the Chinese government to comply with its new rules.