Science and technology

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter operating profits plunged nearly 70 percent, the biggest drop in more than eight years, as the global economic slowdown dealt a blow to electronics and chips sales. The South Korean tech giant said operating profits for the October to December period slumped to 4.3 trillion won ($3.4 billion), a 69 percent drop from a year earlier. The drop is in line with the estimate Samsung released earlier this month and marks the company’s worst decline in quarterly profits since the third quarter of 2014. “The business environment deteriorated significantly in the fourth quarter due to weak demand amid a global economic slowdown,” Samsung said in a statement. Sales fell eight percent to 70.46 trillion won from the same period the previous year. Samsung singled out weak demand for memory chips, saying the sector had been hit hard “as prices fell and customers continued to adjust inventory amid deepening uncertainties in the external en

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) today announced the launch of the ‘DIFC Metaverse Platform’, in line with the Dubai Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy’s aim to attract technology innovators from around the world. The platform is part of a comprehensive strategy being developed by Dubai International Financial Centre, the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, to accelerate Dubai’s status as a global metaverse leader.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by DIFC (@difc) The DIFC Metaverse Platform is aligned with the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to add $4 billion to Dubai’s GDP, support 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030 and attract 1,000 companies specialised in blockchain and metaverse technologies. The platform also supports the objective of the recently launched Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to generate economic value worth AED100 billion from dig

Emirates has operated its first milestone demonstration flight on a Boeing 777-300ER, powering one of its engines with 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The flight took off from Dubai International Airport (DXB), and was commanded by Captain Fali Vajifdar and Captain Khalid Nasser Akram, flying for more than one hour over the Dubai coastline. The demonstration flight powered by SAF holds particular significance as the UAE declares 2023 the ‘Year of Sustainability’. The year will showcase the UAE’s commitment to seek innovative solutions to challenges such as energy, climate change and other issues related to sustainability. The flight supports collective industry efforts to enable a future of 100% SAF flying and help advance the UAE’s sustainability objectives. Emirates’ demonstration flight, the first in the Middle East and North Africa to be powered by 100% SAF, supports broader efforts to reduce lifecycle CO2 emissions as the industry looks to scale up its use of SAF. The fl

The Meta-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp is working on a new feature in the camera and for photo editing. The messaging giant has introduced several updates in a short span of time and is evolving fast. This new update will allow users to separately access picture and video recording options. Users can now record videos without having to hold the button down like before. Picture editing has been made easy with many options now. Several new text features are introduced. The user can also choose different colours and filters. These new features are available in the beta version for now. However, later on, these features will be added for all WhatsApp users. Read more: WHATSAPP LAUNCHES OFFICIAL PROXY SUPPORT TO FIGHT INTERNET CENSORSHIP Earlier, WhatsApp allowed users to connect via proxy servers due to Internet shutdowns or if their governments block the service in their country. The company said proxy support was launched for WhatsApp users all over the world. A prox

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)’s virtual employee ‘Rammas’, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI), answered more than 6.8 million enquiries since its launch in the first quarter of 2017 until the end of December 2022. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said that DEWA launched Rammas as part of its strategy to employ AI in all its operations and services. Rammas encourages the use of smart channels, reduces the number of visits to DEWA’s Customer Happiness Centres and supports smart adoption at DEWA, which reached 99% in 2022.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by هيئة كهرباء ومياه دبي-DEWA (@dewaofficial) “DEWA focuses on the future by using technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Energy Storage, and the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as developing the technological infrastructure and providing the latest solutions. This

Intel saw about $8 billion wiped off its market value on Friday after the U.S. chipmaker stumped Wall Street with dismal earnings projections, fanning fears around a slump in the personal-computer market. The company predicted a surprise loss for the first quarter and its revenue forecast was $3 billion below estimates as it also struggled with slowing growth in the data center business. Intel shares closed 6.4% lower, while rival Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia ended the session up 0.3% and 2.8%, respectively. Intel supplier KLA settled 6.9% lower after its dismal forecast. “No words can portray or explain the historic collapse of Intel,” said Rosenblatt Securities’ Hans Mosesmann, who was among the 21 analysts to cut their price targets on the stock. The poor outlook underscored the challenges facing Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger as he tries to reestablish Intel’s dominance of the sector by expanding contract manufacturing and building new factories in the United States and Eu

A Russia-based hacking group named Cold River is behind an expansive and ongoing information-gathering campaign that has struck various targets in government, politics, academia, defence, journalism, and activism, Britain said on Thursday. In an advisory, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping intelligence agency, said Cold River impersonates people around its targets by using fake email addresses and social media profiles. “There is often some correspondence between attacker and target, sometimes over an extended period, as the attacker builds rapport,” the advisory said. Asked to comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We don’t know anything about that.” The advisory did not directly attribute the digital attacks to the Russian government. Cold River hackers encourage the target to click on a malicious link that tricks them into entering their login credentials on a website controlled by the group, the advisory said. Reuters rep

TOKYO: Japan and the Netherlands will join the United States in implementing export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China soon, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The trilateral talks are set to conclude as early as Friday US time, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The Netherlands would expand restrictions on ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) in a move that would prevent the sale of machines that are crucial to making certain types of advanced chips, Bloomberg reported. Read more: Exclusive: China plans over $143 billion push to boost domestic chips, compete with Us Japan would set similar limits on Nikon Corp (7731.T), it said. Sources have told Reuters that a deal between Dutch and US officials could possibly conclude by the end of the month as representatives from the two countries meet in Washington on Friday. from Science and Technology News - Latest science and technology news https://ift.tt/0SoLMTF

A truck-sized asteroid will pass near Earth on Thursday in one of the closest approaches to our planet ever recorded, NASA said, emphasising that it poses no danger. Watch ARY News live on  live.arynews.tv Asteroid 2023 BU, which was recently discovered by an amateur astronomer, will zoom by the southern tip of South America at around 4:27 pm PST on Thursday (0027 GMT Friday), according to NASA. It will pass just 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometres) from Earth’s surface, much closer than many geostationary satellites orbiting the planet. But there is no risk that the asteroid will hit Earth, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday. Even if it did, the asteroid measuring 3.5-8.5 metres (11-28 feet) across would largely disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere, potentially just resulting in a few small meteorites. It was discovered on Saturday from an observatory in Crimea by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov, who previously spotted an interstellar comet in 2019. Dozens of observations w

Mastercard’s current-quarter revenue growth forecast fell short of Wall Street estimates, fanning fears that the card company was heading into a much tougher environment in 2023 as the economy loses steam. After the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes for most of last year, the economy has begun to show some signs of slowing down, with wide-ranging layoffs and fears of a recession spooking consumers. Mastercard shares fell 1.4% to $377 in premarket trading, even after the company reported fourth-quarter profit ahead of estimates. The company said it expects first-quarter revenue to grow at the “high-end of high-single digits range”. Analysts were expecting a growth of 10.7%, according to Refinitiv IBES data. However, Mastercard, which has a bigger exposure to Asia Pacific than peer Visa, benefited in the fourth quarter from the reopening of borders and pent-up demand for travel in the region, which helped it offset the hit from 10% higher costs in the quarter. Excluding one-time items,

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has confirmed details on the second mission of the UAE Astronaut Programme. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, atop a Falcon 9 rocket, will carry the UAE astronaut and Mission Specialist Sultan Al Neyadi, along with two NASA astronauts, Mission Commander Stephen Bowen, and Pilot Warren Hoburg, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by مركز محمد بن راشد للفضاء MBRSC (@mbrspacecentre) Key mission information, such as the launch time and launch opportunities, was announced during the NASA Crew-6 mission overview media briefing. “We are proud to talk about our second mission under the UAE Astronaut Programme and Sultan’s first mission to space.Our human space programme kicked off in 2017 where we selected our first two astronauts, Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi. We had our first mission to the ISS in 2019, which had an impact on hundre

Apple has provided iOS 12.5.7, macOS 11.7.3, and other updates for older devices that can’t be updated to the latest releases. The iPhone 5S software update fixes some security issues on the handset, the update is also available for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). Apple has also released another software update for other older devices in the form of iOS 15.7.3 and iPadOS 15.7.3. The iOS 15.7.3 and iPadOS software updates are available for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, 1st gen iPhone SE, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4th gen, and the 7th gen iPod Touch. All of these software updates for the older models of the iPhone and iPad fix a range of security issues on the software, you can see some details on these over at Apple’s website at the link below. Apple also released some software updates for older versions of the Mac, this update is macOS Monterey 12.6.3. The new iOS 12.5.7, iOS 15.7.3 and iPadOS 15.7.3 ,and macOS Monterey 12

Microsoft Corp on Wednesday said it had recovered all of its cloud services after a networking outage took down its cloud platform Azure along with services such as Teams and Outlook used by millions around the globe. Azure’s status page showed services were impacted in Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Only services in China and its platform for governments were not hit. By late morning Azure said most customers should have seen services resume after a full recovery of the Microsoft Wide Area Network (WAN). An outage of Azure, which has 15 million corporate customers and over 500 million active users, according to Microsoft data, can impact multiple services and create a domino effect as almost all of the world’s largest companies use the platform. Businesses have become increasingly dependent on online platforms after the pandemic caused a shift to more employees working from home. Earlier, Microsoft said it had determined a network connectivity issue was o

The US Justice Department sued Google on Tuesday for its dominance of the online advertising market, launching a fresh legal battle against the California-based tech giant. The federal antitrust suit accused Google of unlawfully maintaining a monopoly that had “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry.” “Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies,” the suit added. The case was launched by the US Justice Department (DOJ) in conjunction with eight states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia. Central to the case is Google’s dominance of the ad tech business, the technology that companies rely on for their online advertising needs. The prosecutors said Google “now controls” the crucial sector, meaning website creators earn less and advertisers pay more, all while innovation is choked by th

Crypto giant Binance processed almost $346 million in bitcoin for the Bitzlato digital currency exchange, whose founder was arrested by U.S. authorities last week for allegedly running a “money laundering engine,” blockchain data seen by Reuters show. The Justice Department on Jan. 18 said it  charged Bitzlato’s co-founder and majority shareholder  Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national living in China, with operating an unlicensed money exchange business that “fueled a high-tech axis of cryptocrime” by processing $700 million in illicit funds. Bitzlato had touted the laxity of its background checks on clients, the Justice Department said, adding that when the exchange did ask users for ID information, “it repeatedly allowed them to provide information belonging to “straw man” registrants.” Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was among Bitzlato’s  top three counterparties  by the amount of bitcoin received between May 2018 and September 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial

Microsoft said on Monday it would invest more in OpenAI, staking its future on the startup and tech behind the chatbot sensation ChatGPT, as well as setting the stage for more competition with its rival Alphabet’s Google. Recently touting a revolution in artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft is building on a bet it made nearly four years ago on OpenAI. In 2019 it dedicated $1 billion for the startup co-founded by Elon Musk and investor Sam Altman, and has since built a supercomputer to power OpenAI’s technology, among other forms of support. In a blog post, Microsoft said, “Today, we are announcing the third phase of our long-term partnership with OpenAI through a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment to accelerate AI breakthroughs to ensure these benefits are broadly shared with the world.” A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on the terms of the investment, which some media outlets earlier reported would be $10 billion. Microsoft is committing even more resources t

Internet and mobile phone services were disrupted after a prolonged power breakdown continued for over 9 hours across the country, ARY News reported on Monday. Due to the prolonged electricity blackout, the power supply to telecom towers was also discontinued which resulted in the disruption of internet and mobile phone services in several cities across the country. The telecom companies were now running out of fuel reserves for the towers and facing difficulties to continue the uninterrupted voice and data services. READ: POWER BREAKDOWN HITS MAJOR CITIES OF PAKISTAN According to the telecom companies, mobile towers are being run on backup power connections since Monday morning. They said that the restoration of the power supply is inevitable for the continuation of uninterrupted voice and data services. The country is facing a major power outage for over 9 hours while the government is so far failed to restore the electricity supply from the National Grid. The government is re

Once the stuff of science fiction, lab-grown meat could become reality in some restaurants in the United States as early as this year. Executives at cultivated meat companies are optimistic that meat grown in massive steel vats could be on the menu within months after one company won the go-ahead from a key regulator. In a show of confidence, some of them have signed up high-end chefs like Argentine Francis Mallmann and Spaniard José Andrés to eventually showcase the meats in their high-end eateries.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by UPSIDE Foods (@upsidefoods) But to reach its ultimate destination – supermarket shelves – cultivated meat faces big obstacles, five executives told Reuters. Companies must attract more funding to increase production, which would enable them to offer their beef steaks and chicken breasts at a more affordable price. Along the way, they must overcome a reluctance among some consumers to even try lab-