msg newsletter: IT news – July 2024

Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Digitization

26. 07. 2024 10 reading minutes

July 2024 was marked by innovation in the world of IT and technology: Japanese scientists set a new record for internet speed, Apple is preparing for massive production automation, and a new generation of language models is outperforming the competition.

Japanese scientists set a new world record for internet speed – 402 Tbps

Japanese researchers have set a new world record for download speeds, breaking the previous record of 321 Tbps by achieving a speed of 402 Tbps. This performance was made possible through the use of widely available optical fibre and new amplifier technology. The ground-breaking achievement demonstrates the potential of current technology, despite the fact that such download speeds are as yet unavailable to mainstream users. The Japanese researchers used a transmission system covering the entire band from O to U, achieving a record bandwidth of 37.6 THz. This advancement holds out hope for faster internet connections in the future, even though current devices are not yet capable of handling such a volume of data. Source : https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/internet/japan-breaks-internet-speed-record-by-hitting-402-tbps-so-fast-you-could-download-windows-11-in-under-a-millisecond

Apple plans to replace up to 50 percent of people on the lines with machines

Apple plans to significantly automate the production of its iPhone devices, which could reduce the number of workers on assembly lines by up to 50%. The change is motivated by a desire to reduce labour costs and increase production efficiency. Automation has already begun to make itself felt in the assembly of the iPhone 15 series, where machines have replaced human workers in some production processes. As a result of the changes, Apple has seen a decline in the total number of manufacturing partner employees from the 1.6 million recorded in 2022 to 1.4 million in the next year, 2023. Even though the quality of the resulting products still poses a challenge Apple plans to continue the trend of automation, which may put the jobs of current workers at risk. Source : https://www.phonearena.com/news/apple-reportedly-plans-to-replace-50-of-iphone-assembly-line-workers-with-machines-in-coming-years_id159784

Claude 3.5 Sonnet – new AI from Anthropic competes with ChatGPT

The Anthropic platform has introduced an enhanced Claude 3.5 Sonnet language model that rivals ChatGPT in speed and portability. This model, available on cloud.ai/chat for free as a mobile app for iOS, offers faster speed and better understanding of humor and complex constructs over the previous Claude 3 Opus model. Sonnet is twice as fast and cheaper per million tokens, and performs better at generating programming code than ChatGPT. The model is suitable for complex tasks, technical support, retail, logistics and financial services, and can transcribe text from low-quality images and understand illustrations. Also new thing are the so called Artifacts, which allow clear separation of generated content in separate sections. Further enhancements are planned for the future, including connections to enterprise applications and memory features that will allow AI to better target responses based on user preferences. Source : https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-5-sonnet

YouTube ends cheaper Premium subscription via VPN

YouTube plans to end the ability to get cheaper Premium subscriptions using VPN services. The platform will detect accounts that use VPNs to activate subscriptions in countries with lower prices, and those subscriptions will subsequently be cancelled. Users trying to get cheaper subscriptions can expect to have their Premium account cancelled if the country of activation does not match the country from which the user has been accessing their account for a long time. The move is in response to significant price differences between countries, which users are taking advantage of to cut costs. Source : https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-targeting-vpn-subscription-3453186/

Update for Windows 11 brings new features

Windows 11 is getting a new update, KB5039302, which brings a number of noticeable changes. Among the most noticeable differences are improvements to the appearance of Explorer, where the blue lines and file and directory borders are now more prominent, which will be especially appreciated by users with high-resolution displays. Another new feature is the addition of a panel with information about OneDrive and the Microsoft 365 Family suite in the user menu in Start. The update also brings Game Pass recommendations to the home screen, settings, and also an improved context menu with the ability to compress to 7-Zip, tar, gzip, bzip2, and other formats. Minor changes also include an update to Emoji to version 15.1, which now look prettier and sharper. The update is also able to appear as a preview version to some users, that means, as a preview before the final version. Zdroj: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/june-25-2024-kb5039302-os-builds-22621-3810-and-22631-3810-preview-0ab34e3f-bca9-4a52-a1a4-404bf8162f58

YouTube plans to train its own AI using music content from record labels

YouTube plans to create new artificial intelligence (AI) tools. YouTube has begun negotiating with record companies to acquire the rights to music content. The aim is to train AI using these recordings, which could significantly improve the quality and capabilities of their AI systems. However, these efforts are facing obstacles as major record labels such as Sony, Warner and Universal are cautious, especially after recent lawsuits against other AI companies for unauthorized use of their music. If YouTube was to gain legal access to recorded music, this could have a significant impact on the music industry, including a possible increase in “artificial” competition for real artists. Source : https://www.gizchina.com/2024/06/26/youtube-in-talks-with-record-companies-for-ai-music-training/

Apple Intelligence – new AI features and subscription plans

Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, new artificial intelligence features that will be available starting in the fall of 2024 in updated iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia operating systems. These AI features will initially only be available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models. The company plans to charge for some AI features through Apple Intelligence+, similar to iCloud+, to compensate for the decline in revenue from hardware sales. In Europe, the release of some features may be delayed due to regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), causing concerns about user privacy and security. To this end, Apple is already working on a solution with the European Commission to offer these features in the EU without compromising on security. Source : https://www.apple.com/apple-intelligence/

Windy news – city temperature maps

Windy.com has introduced a new feature called City Heatmaps, which provides city-specific temperature maps with colour-coded temperature differentiation. This innovative feature provides a detailed overview of temperature conditions in different urban areas and is already available in cities such as Prague and Bratislava. The new feature complements the existing temperature information layer, which also covers smaller cities and towns. The temperature maps are useful for both general users and professionals and represent a step forward in the field of meteorological services, placing Windy.com among the leading providers of innovation in this area. Source : https://www.windy.com/

Hackers obtained 33 million phone numbers

Security firms, including ESET, warn us of the dangers of SMS authentication, which is vulnerable to attacks such as SIM swapping. Recently, hackers exploited an insecure API in Authy, gaining access to 33 million phone numbers. Although Twilio, Authy’s parent company, claims that hackers did not gain access to their systems, the risk of abuse remains high. Users are advised to update apps and be cautious when using SMS authentication, as even phone numbers themselves can be valuable to attackers. Source : https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-abused-api-to-verify-millions-of-authy-mfa-phone-numbers/

Notepad checks spelling

The latest version of Notepad (Notepad.exe) has a spell check feature that you can check via the Microsoft Store. When activated, it displays red wavy lines under unrecognized words, and you can set up automatic corrections, although this feature is not yet fully functional. The spell checker supports files with TXT extensions and other types, but the language support is limited and can’t adapt to the user’s needs. Spellcheck works without an Internet connection and allows you to add your own words to the dictionary with a right-click. This new feature brings enhancements that were previously lacking in WordPad. Source : https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-notepad-finally-gets-spell-check-autocorrect

Spotify will allow commenting on podcasts

Spotify is expanding its options for podcasts with a new comments feature that will allow visitors to interact with podcast creators. This feature will gradually become available to all users and will allow for more open communication and feedback. In addition, Spotify is launching a new podcast management app that will make it easier for creators to edit and manage their content. The comments section will be available globally and is expected to expand to all creator and visitor profiles soon. Source : https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-07-09/podcast-app-comments-update/

Google’s Gemma 2 lightweight language model

Google introduces Gemma 2, a lightweight version of its Gemini language model designed for local deployment/use on smartphones and computers. Gemma 2 supports 9 billion and 27 billion parameters, is more powerful than the previous generation, and also includes new security mechanisms. The model is capable of running on NVIDIA H100 or A100 80GB Tensor Core graphics chips, while being relatively expensive to operate. Google also provided hands-on examples and the opportunity to try out the 27B version of Gemma 2 through Google AI Studio, where it is available without the presence of special hardware. Source : https://blog.google/technology/developers/google-gemma-2/

Support for Android 5.0 Lollipop ends

Google has announced that it is ending support for Android 5.0 Lollipop, which was released in November 2014. This version of the system, which is installed on less than 1% of active devices, including approximately 30 million units, will stop receiving Google Play Services updates. Devices running Android Lollipop will not have access to new features or important security updates. This decision will allow Google to focus on developing and supporting newer versions, such as Android 15, to provide better security and performance for current devices. Users of devices running Lollipop will have a transition period, but must expect that their devices may be less compatible with new apps and features. Source : https://9to5google.com/2024/07/11/android-lollipop-google-play-services/

10 billion passwords leaked

The recent leak revealed nearly 10 billion passwords, the largest leak of its kind in history. The leak, posted on a hacker forum, contains 9,948,575,739 unique passwords in unencrypted text form. This huge file, known as rockyou2024.txt, includes a combination of new and old passwords, making brute force attacks easier. Users are advised to use unique passwords and consider using two-factor authentication to minimize the risk of their online accounts being compromised. It is also important to remember that the growing number of leaked passwords increases the overall security risk. Source : https://cybernews.com/security/rockyou2024-largest-password-compilation-leak/

YouTube starts to tackle deepfake videos

YouTube is introducing new rules to fight videos created by artificial intelligence that imitate real people, either in voice or appearance similarity. Known as ‘deepfake videos’, these videos can often spread false information or damage individuals’ reputations. Under the new rules, users will be able to report content that violates their rights by imitating their appearance or voice. YouTube will evaluate such reports based on a variety of factors, including the content’s designation as “AI-generated” and its potential to harm the imitated individuals. Video creators will have 48 hours to edit or remove the problematic content before YouTube intervenes. The new rules are already in place, and the platform is focusing on specifically verifying these cases to ensure privacy and ensure ethical content on the platform. Source : https://www.gizmochina.com/2024/07/16/youtube-guidelines-ai-based-videos/

Massive IT infrastructure outage – faulty update shut down 8.5 million IT systems

On Friday 19. July, a faulty update to CrowdStrike Falcon software, which was supposed to focus on detecting new threats, caused widespread problems with IT systems around the world. The update caused “blue screen of death” crashes on 8.5 million Windows computers, crippling major businesses, airports, banks, stores and media outlets. The problem was caused by a bug in a specific Windows-only file, and although most systems are now fine, a full return to normal can take days or weeks. In addition, there have been attempts by cyber attackers to exploit the situation. Source:https://time.com/7000476/microsoft-it-outage-crowdstrike-role-what-happened-explanation/Autor: Jozef Wagner, Java Developer Senior at msg life Slovakia

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msg newsletter: IT news – July 2024

Zuzana Kocáková

At msg life Slovakia I take care of the company culture, events and I am part of the marketing team. I like a job where I can be creative and contribute to making my colleagues at msg feel good. I regularly prepare for you not only news and interesting things from the world of information technology and insurance, but also from behind the scenes events at msg life Slovakia.