Blaze

Google's giving Android users an extra tool to keep their phones safe with the mandatory biometric security of Identity Check.

Samsung is working on a new AI experience for its devices that will help you use your phone without ever accessing the Settings menu.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20764381

I've been looking for something like the old app making 3D wallpapers from GCam lens blur photos, but found nothing. This is not the same, but it is quite good nonetheless.

cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/18362688

Summary:

In the video, Mrwhosetheboss argues that Google Search has become worse. He believes that Google has prioritized sponsored links and shopping ads over organic search results. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the information you are looking for on Google. He also criticizes Google for its use of generative AI, which he believes is not accurate and could eventually replace the need to visit other websites.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3693618

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3693467

Chinese social media giant Bytedance was dealt a stinging blow last September when Ireland’s data privacy watchdog issued it a record $370 million fine over its failure to properly safeguard the personal data of children using its app TikTok. New corporate filings suggest that Bytedance expects more fines like this to come. The company has explicitly set aside $1 billion to cover future fines from European privacy regulators.

Bytedance has faced a barrage of lawsuits and investigations from regulators around the world over TikTok’s addictive design, handling of user data and lack of safeguards for teenage users. Only yesterday, the attorneys general of thirteen states and the District of Columbia filed separate lawsuits claiming that TikTok was designed to be used compulsively and had harmed children and teens as a result.

The $1 billion provision for future fines was revealed in corporate accounts for TikTok’s European operations filed this week with the United Kingdom’s Companies House. The accounts also showed that TikTok’s European revenues surged to $4.57 billion last year, up from $2.6 billion in 2022. Its losses have also nearly tripled to $1.3 billion in 2023, up from $512 million.

[...]

The scale of total fines and penalties facing TikTok on the European continent could be even larger than the $1 billion provision in its 2023 accounts. The European Commission opened an investigation into TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA) in February 2024. The European Union can fine companies up to 6% of global revenue for breaches of the DSA, or impose a ban.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/16468659

The company still isn’t profitable on an annual basis, and declined to say how much revenue has grown since it was reported to be a modest $9 million in 2022. But Substack has added more than a million paid subscribers over the last year. News content continues to account for the company’s largest segment of subscribers, and it has more in the pipeline.

To avoid fizzling the way competitors like Medium have, Substack is trying to become less a journalism platform and more a payment system for creators.

In recent months, the company has been reaching out to influencers, video creators and podcasters to convince them to join the platform. It doesn’t need beauty influencers, say, to all of a sudden become bloggers. But it does want to be the primary vehicle for paying creators regardless of medium.