By Thomas Macaulay Five fast-growing Nordic scaleups have reached the finals of TECH5 — the “Champions League of Technology.” They join a standout quintet from Benelux, unveiled last week, in the race to be crowned Europe’s hottest scaleup. The Nordics — comprising Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden — boast just 27 million people but punch well above their weight in innovation. The region has Europe’s highest density of unicorns — privately held companies valued at over $1bn. Despite accounting for only 4% of Europe’s population, the Nordics hosted 17% of the continent’s unicorns between 2013 and 2023. Sweden leads the pack with the…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Nick Godt Rivian’s brand new ‘hands-off’ driving feature will work with unmapped roads on Gen2 vehicles later this year.

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By Nadeem Sarwar Deep Research and AI overview podcasts have been my two favorite Google Gemini features so far. Microsoft has finally implemented them on its Copilot platform.

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At a special 50th anniversary event on Friday, Microsoft executives reflected on the company’s storied past and on how it’s now reinventing itself for an AI-focused future.

With previous CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer in attendance, current CEO Satya Nadella boasted that the company is “leading this new wave of AI innovation, and more importantly, democratizing just like we did it with the PC.”

Details about the company’s plans were laid out by Microsoft Executive Vice President Mustafa Suleyman, who noted that the ability to customize Windows to every person’s specific needs is coming. “Years ago, Bill laid out a bold ambition, which at the time probably felt like a pretty crazy dream — to put a PC on every desk and in every home.

“Today, we’re creating a Copilot for everyone,” Suleyman said at the event, which was webcast. 

Suleyman talked about how the company is transforming its generative AI (genAI)-based Copilot into a personal assistant. Microsoft is replicating key sensory features from humans into the software.

“Today, we’re taking the very first steps towards rich memory and personalization, the very foundations of an AI companion,” Suleyman said.

Copilot is gradually adding a “Memory” feature that can personalize the tool to remember human preferences, dates, events and more. Suleyman pointed out how the AI agent over time will be able to remember birthdays, and provide reminders on tasks. It will also provide advice on how users go through each step in training sessions on specific topics and even memorize individual traits, such as whether a person greets others formally or informally.

The memory feature works with others such as “Actions,” which can complete tasks in the background.

Microsoft is also developing avatars for Copilot that make interacting with it more fun. Suleyman showed off avatars as animated characters, and in jest showcased the dreaded Clippy — of old Microsoft Office fame — as an avatar.

The company’s main announcements included Copilot Vision, a mobile app that can help users interact with the real-world. The app uses the phone’s camera to capture images and in real-time provide context of the surroundings.

“With our new mobile app, Copilot can actually see what you see and talk to you about it in real time,” Suleyman said.

The second piece to Copilot Vision is a Windows app, which can take a snapshot of a user’s PC screen and help explain what is being displayed. The app works across applications, browser tabs or files.

“It will read the screen and interact with the content. You’ll be able to use Copilot to search, change settings, organize files and collaborate on projects without switching between files or apps,” the company said in a blog post.

“With my permission it can see my screen like a second set of eyes,” Suleyman said at the event said. “It’s my sounding board. And most importantly, it can respond in the context of what I’m seeing on my screen.”

Suleyman made no reference to Windows Recall, the controversial Copilot feature that uses snapshots to log the history of activity on a PC. Recall was unveiled last year and quickly ran into a storm of controversy related to privacy concerns.

Microsoft has also started rolling out Copilot Search, with AI integrated into a conventional Bing search to provide better search results. The search results will be personalized and dynamically generated on the screen.

“With Copilot’s new search capabilities, you can get many magazine style cards made just for you, on any topic that you care about, with text, images, videos, and maps built right in,” Suleyman said.

Microsoft also unveiled “Podcasts,” an AI feature that can instantly generate podcasts with video and audio, and new AI technologies for Azure AI Foundry. 

For enterprise users, Microsoft recently rolled out Research and Analyst agents to boost enterprise search and employee productivity. 

AI will be the biggest change to the PC since the graphical user interface (GUI), and it may be as important as the first databases for enterprise users, said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.

But harnessing its potential is a challenge, with numerous usability, privacy and security challenges. “The ability to make AI most useful and efficient for enterprise needs still needs a lot of work. We’re in the first innings,” Gold said.

Microsoft’s challenge with AI is not just in the OS, but also in apps that support enterprise users, where Microsoft has a large installed base.

“While Copilot may make the way we interact with our devices through agents that implement and execute tasks for us more personal, it’s what AI may do to enhance our insights from our increasingly complex enterprise informational environment that could be a game changer,” Gold said.

It’s likely to be a decade-long maturing process before enterprises see the same level of maturity and creativity users have grown to expect in day-to-day go-to apps.

“Enterprises need to start down the path now, but don’t expect to achieve the end state in the short term,” Gold said.

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Future lunar bases could run on solar panels forged from molten moon dust, turning the Moon’s surface into an energy source, thanks to a new research breakthrough.  Scientists at the University of Potsdam have engineered so-called “moonglass” solar cells made by melting artificial moon dust or “regolith” and then combining it with a layer of perovskite crystal to create a working solar panel.  The device could be lighter, cheaper, and more radiation-resistant than the panels already used in space, said the researchers. Their results were published in the journal Device this week. Today, solar panels power satellites, space stations, and…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Hisan Kidwai TikTok’s formula of short-form videos, driven by an algorithm that constantly tracks users’ likings, has made…
The post How to Download TikTok Videos with 4K Tokkit? appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Deepti Pathak Technology has made humanoid robots look more real, enhancing their movements and responses. Humanoid robots are…
The post 10 Most Advanced Humanoid Robots appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Nadeem Sarwar Amazon has started testing a new feature called “Buy for Me” that deploys an AI agent to shop for products from other websites on your behalf.

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Enterprise IT leaders are facing a double-whammy of uncertainties complicating their data center building decisions: The ever-changing realities of genAI strategies, and the back-and-forth nature of the current tariff wars pushed by the United States.

“This is obviously a fluid situation. The stated goal of the [US] administration is to bring more development into the US,” said Forrester Senior Analyst Alvin Nguyen. “But with some of these activities, there is the potential that it draws some manufacturing and other capabilities of the data center away from the US.”

Nguyen, who advises enterprises on data center strategies, said the tariffs are adding complexity and uncertainty into the already volatile genAI data center strategies.

“Right now, there’s too much variability. With all of the tariffs, this may be the thing that slows down AI,” Nguyen said. “And if you slow down AI, that will slow down the data centers.”

Source:: Computer World

Microsoft is urging Office 2016 and 2019 customers to upgrade to Microsoft 365 before support ends Oct. 14, but analysts said viable alternatives are available outside Microsoft’s walled garden.

“Continuing to use unsupported software can expose your organization to security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and operational disruptions,” the company warned in a blog post.

Microsoft 365 is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Office, which also includes Teams, Copilot and web-based collaborative features. It is available only by subscription, with prices starting at $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year for the Personal edition.

The alternative, a standalone desktop version of Microsoft Office, doesn’t have the AI and collaboration features, nor does it have Copilot or Teams. Users looking to replace Office 2016 or 2019 could also opt for the convenience of a one-time purchase of Office 2024, which costs $149. 

Microsoft in the blog post talked only about upgrading to M365, which never expires. Office 2024 support ends in October 2029.

Analysts said enterprise customers might find upgrading to Microsoft 365 worthwhile for its generative AI (genAI) tools, collaborative features and security. Or, depending on enterprise AI and productivity needs, they could jump ship for rivals such as Google Workspace. 

For enterprise customers worried about data privacy in the cloud, the desktop edition of Office or free open-source alternatives such as LibreOffice might be more attractive. The $149 price of Office 2024 might also be cheaper than Microsoft 365 in the long run, analysts said.

Microsoft wants to move customers to Microsoft 365 subscription services, said Jason Wong, vice president at Gartner for on app design and development.

“This makes support easier and lowers the cost of products for Microsoft, while at the same time it opens up many up-sell and cross-sell opportunities such as security products, the Power Platform tools, and of course M365 Copilot,” Wong said.

Basic Microsoft 365 editions for home users or business users don’t include Teams. But users can get features that include Intune, Defender, Clipchamp and Loop at higher subscription prices.

For those who only need Microsoft Office apps that include PowerPoint and Word, the standalone option could be attractive, especially if they already use something like Google or Zoho for mail, calendar, and document storage, said Irwin Lazar, principal analyst at Metrigy.

“For those wishing to take advantage of AI, an upgrade to M365 is a requirement. I expect that for [small and mid-sized businesses], Microsoft now offering M365 without Teams at a lower price could prove attractive,” Lazar said. 

Metrigy in a recent study noted that about 25% of Microsoft customers were evaluating the unbundled option. The study, Employee Experience Optimization: 2025, was published in November.

“Google’s recent price increases for Workspace are likely to help Microsoft, especially for SMBs, though Google includes Gemini AI now with Workspace,” Lazar said.

Enterprises would see value in moving from legacy on-prem, disconnected apps to Microsoft 365 though at this point those were probably Lotus or legacy on-prem Exchange/Sharepoint customers.  “The savings is likely to be minimal if customers are already using cloud-based services for document, email, and calendar,” Lazar said.

Some organizations are resisting the push to the cloud — primarily European-based companies with stricter data requirements and regulations. “Cost also plays a factor in staying on-premise, but typically organizations realize they won’t be getting the latest features and capabilities, like generative AI and Copilot, if they choose this path,” Wong said. 

Gartner sees clients evaluating rival suites to see what life looks like outside of the Microsoft ecosystem. “It typically comes down to familiarity of products and features for the workers, and the overall security and cost of ownership for IT to consider whether to switch or not,” Wong said.

Microsoft, for its part, painted a doomsday scenario to get users to upgrade to Microsoft 365 if they don’t quit Office 2016 or 2019 by the time support expires. 

“You may have started noticing limitations,” the company wrote. “Your apps are stuck on your desktop, limiting productivity anytime you’re away from your office. You can’t easily access your files or collaborate when working remotely or traveling, creating unnecessary friction for your team. Perhaps you’ve seen your company’s IT expenses creep upwards as you’ve added separate solutions for email, file storage, and virtual meetings.”

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Europe’s tech industry is bracing for impact after the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs yesterday. The US slapped a 20% tariff on imports from the EU — twice the rate for the UK. Switzerland fared even worse, receiving a hefty 32% levy.  Several European tech firms, investors, and analysts told TNW that the measures could disrupt supply chains, force pricing adjustments, and stem the flow of transatlantic VC capital — plunging European tech companies big and small into uncertainty. “Trump’s trade tariffs will have a huge impact on the global tech landscape, forcing startups to reconsider their headquarters and assess…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Siôn Geschwindt “Hello, I will be your driver for today,” says Bartek Szurgot, a software engineer at German startup Vay and my chauffeur for this ride. He disengages the handbrake, gently presses the accelerator and the new Kia Niro EV I’m sitting in slowly pulls out of the parking lot.    As we approach the first intersection, Bartek indicates, turns the steering wheel, makes his observations, and drives out onto a busy road near the centre of Berlin. So far, pretty standard — except for one big difference. Bartek isn’t in the car. He’s in an office a few blocks away, controlling the…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Deepti Pathak Slang and acronyms are constantly evolving, and it is hard to stay up to date if…
The post FS Meaning in Texts Explained: Use Cases & Examples appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Nadeem Sarwar A heart rate device inspired by Starfish can potentially solve the accuracy problems, detect serious cardiac issues, and solve a crucial power problem, too.

Source:: Digital Trends

By Nadeem Sarwar Amazon will launch 27 satellites as part of its Project Kuiper mission next week, aiming to build a constellation of over 3,000 internet satellites in orbit.

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Generative AI (genAI) is quickly transforming healthcare, according to a survey by consultancy McKinsey & Co. released today. The survey of 150 healthcare industry organizations found 85% are exploring or had already adopted genAI.

The organizations, which included insurers, health systems, and health services and technology (HST) groups, found that 40% or more from each group had already implemented genAI. Not surprisingly, HST organizations have the highest rate of genAI implementations at 57%. The least? Healthcare providers with a 40% implementation rate.

GenAI has already been proven in studies using historical patient data to be more accurate at diagnosing illnesses and other conditions. For example, OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo model not only outperformed physicians, but also outdid every single AI system developed for healthcare over the last 50 years, according to the lead doctor in one study at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston. And it did so without any medical training.

Healthcare stakeholders are also using genAI to explore ways to create value and reduce costs, despite ongoing challenges such as evolving regulations and capability gaps.

Of the respondents that have already implemented genAI tools, 64% reported that they anticipated or had already quantified positive ROI, “suggesting high expectations for genAI technology,” McKinsey said.

Many organizations are also forming partnerships to access external talent while customizing AI solutions, and partnerships with hyperscalers could ensure successful implementations, McKinsey said.

Early genAI use cases have focused on improving administrative efficiency, dealing with IT gaps, and boosting clinical productivity. As capabilities grow, other uses could expand to patient engagement and quality-of-care improvements. Leaders recognize the importance of AI risk management and governance for safe implementation.

Organizations that have developed their genAI capabilities are seeing success with large-scale implementations, b ut future success will depend on a value-driven strategy, strong execution, and effective management, McKinsey said.

Most respondents reported their organizations had implemented or were developing genAI use cases, with more in the implementation phase than the proof-of-concept stage. However, 15% had not started proof-of-concept work.

Other prominent findings include:

Nearly half (47%) of payers, health systems and HST groups have already rolled out genAI tools. 

About three-quarters of healthcare leaders believe the technology could help most with administrative efficiencies and clinical productivity — and more than half (55%) believe it has value for patient/member engagement and IT/infrastructure. 

Sixty-one percent of payers and providers expect to collaborate with partners on building out their genAI capabilities; 20% said they’d build their own; 19% said they’d buy a program. 

GenAI may create “tremendous value” in areas that could fundamentally improve patient experience and streamline operations to generate cost savings, the report said.

Source:: Computer World

US President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order this week creating the US Investment Accelerator office to oversee the CHIPS and Science Act, a Biden-era program to re-shore semiconductor production.

According to a White House statement, the new entity’s mission will be to speed up corporate investments domestically by reducing government regulations and coordinating with federal agencies.

Trump has criticized the bipartisan CHIPS Act, signed by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2022, and said he wants to negotiate better deals. The office will also work to make it easier for companies to invest in US semiconductor manufacturing.

In a speech before Congress last month, Trump called the CHIPS Act “horrible” and said he wanted to defund it: “We don’t have to give them money; we just want to protect our businesses and our people, and they will come because they won’t have to pay tariffs if they build in America.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the status of CHIPS Act funding.

In February, reports emerged that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) planned to cut 497 jobs as part of Trump’s federal government downsizing. NIST, a non-regulatory agency within the US Department of Commerce (DoC), helps drive innovation and industrial competitiveness and oversees the CHIPS for America program. The personnel cuts were widely criticized as damaging to the rollout of the CHIPS Act.

In a letter today, nearly two-dozen lawmakers bemoaned the firings of 70 probationary employees at NIST and the ongoing reduction-in-force efforts by the Trump Administration that could target additional probationary scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and other staff authorized by the CHIPS Act.

The letter from 22 members of the US House of Representatives to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the potential changes come on the heels of the deferred resignation program, which already is affecting the capacity of the NIST to fulfill its statutory obligations. “Removing national and international leaders from the nonpartisan and professional civil service at NIST would hamper the development of critical standards, threaten industrial and consumer safety, and weaken American leadership around the world,” the letter said.

In 2021, the years-long decline in domestic chip production was exposed by a worldwide supply-chain crisis that led to calls for re-shoring manufacturing to the US. After more than a year of work from the Biden Administration to respond to acute semiconductor shortages, Congress in August 2022 passed the measure.

The Commerce Department, which is administering the CHIPS Act, spent months negotiating with semiconductor designers and fabricators to gain commitments from them and to achieve specific milestones in their projects before getting government payouts.

With the CHIPS Act spurring them on, semiconductor makers including  Intel, Samsung, Micron, TSMC, and Texas Instruments unveiled plans for a number of new plants on US soil. (Qualcomm, in partnership with GlobalFoundries, also said it would invest $4.2 billion to double chip production in its Malta, NY facility.)

The Department of Commerce has been divvying up $52 billion in the hopes of spurring on-shore chip manufacturing. While about $32 billion of CHIPS Act money has been allocated, the funds have not yet been dispersed. It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s action this week could delay disbursement of the monies.

Source:: Computer World

By Thomas Macaulay Google DeepMind’s reported clampdown on sharing research will stifle AI innovation, warns the CEO of Iris.ai, one of Europe’s leading startups in the space. The UK-based lab has tightened its rules on releasing AI studies, the Financial Times reported this week. Citing seven current and former DeepMind scientists, the newspaper said the company has introduced stricter vetting and additional bureaucracy, making it harder to publish research. The changes aim to protect the company’s edge in AI, the sources said. Acquired by Google in 2014, DeepMind has long been a leader in computer science breakthroughs. In recent years, however, the lab…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Deepti Pathak Understanding the latest slang terms and abbreviations is essential to communicate effectively in the constantly evolving…
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By Thomas Macaulay Every entrepreneur has to overcome obstacles, but few have faced the challenges of Oleksandr Kosovan. As the founder and CEO of Ukrainian scaleup MacPaw, Kosovan runs his business in a country under invasion. The company has even been hit by missile barrages. As relentless Russian bombing and shelling pummel Ukraine, his team presses on with their work. In October, they released a new version of CleanMyMac, MacPaw’s flagship maintenance and optimisation product.  “It was completely developed during the war,” Kosovan tells TNW on a video call from his home in Kyiv. The software earned rave reviews. But two months later,…This story continues at The Next Web

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