By Shikhar Mehrotra A leaked promo banner appears to confirm Samsung’s Galaxy S26 launch event for late February, aligning perfectly with months of industry rumors.
The post Samsung leak spoils the Unpacked date for Galaxy S26 series launch appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source:: Digital Trends

Brotli is one of the most widely used but least-known compression formats ever devised, long incorporated into all major browsers and web content delivery networks (CDNs). Despite that, it isn’t yet used in the creation and display of PDF documents, which since version 1.2 in 1996 have relied on the FlateDecode filter also used to compress .zip and .png files.

That is about to change, though, with the PDF Association moving closer to publishing a specification this summer that developers can use to add Brotli to their PDF processors. The hope is that Brotli will then quickly be incorporated in an update of the official PDF 2.0 standard, ISO 32000-2, maintained by the International Organization for Standardization.

With PDF file sizes steadily increasing, and the number stored in enterprise data lakes ballooning by billions each year, the need for a more efficient compression method has never been more pressing.

The pay-off for using Brotli compression will be smaller PDFs. This will translate into an average of 10% to 25% reduction in file size, depending on the type of content being encoded, according to a 2025 test by PDF Association member Artifex Software.

Unfortunately, for enterprises this is where the work begins. As PDFs written using Brotli compression start to circulate, anyone who hasn’t updated their applications and library dependencies to support it will be unable to decompress and open the new-format files. For PDFs, this would be a first: While the format has added numerous features since becoming an ISO standard in 2008, none have stopped users from opening PDFs.

The most visible software requiring an upgrade to support Brotli includes proprietary PDF creators and readers such as Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor, and Nitro PDF. PDF readers integrated into browsers also fall into this category.

Beyond this, however, lies a sizable ecosystem of less-visible open-source utilities, libraries, and SDKs which are used inside enterprises as part of PDF workflows and automated batch processing. Finding and updating these components, often buried deep inside third-party libraries, promises to be time consuming.

If enterprises delay updating, then they risk encountering PDFs created using newer software supporting Brotli that will no longer open on their older, non-updated programs. IT teams will most likely come face to face with this when users contact them to report that they can’t open a file.

Building Brotli support

To kick off adoption, developers need encouragement, said Guust Ysebie, a software engineer with document processing developer Apryse. “Somebody has to jump first and make some noise so other products jump on the bandwagon,” he said.

It’s a challenge because, as he explained in a post about the move to Brotli on the PDF Association’s website, Brotli’s adoption has been slowed because the PDF specification requires consensus across hundreds of stakeholders.

The transition can be eased in three ways, he suggested, the simplest of which is to publicize the need to upgrade across multiple information sources as part of an awareness campaign.

A more radical suggestion is that Brotli-enabled PDFs could be formatted such that, rather than cause older readers to crash, they could show a “not supported” error message encouraging customers to upgrade as a placeholder for the compressed content.

A final tactic is for likeminded developers to take it upon themselves to upgrade open-source libraries. Ysebie said he’s added Brotli support to several libraries, including the iText SDK from Apryse.

“This is how adoption works in real life: Create the feature unofficially, then early adopters implement it, and this causes bigger products to also adopt it,” said Ysebie. The critical moment for adoption of Brotli-enabled software would be its appearance in Adobe Reader. This will happen at some point, but when is still unclear, he said.

The good news is that because there are only a limited number of software libraries to upgrade, adding support to this software should be straightforward, said Ysebie. However, organizations will still have to apply those updated images to their current applications.

As to when Brotli will be added to the ISO PDF 2.0 specification (ongoing since 2015), Ysebie agreed this has a way to go. But the industry had to move on from old technology at some point. “We need to push the ecosystem forward. It will be a little chaotic in the beginning but with a lot of potential for the future.”

Source:: Computer World

Microsoft has for the first time reported Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption stats, boasting this week of 15 million paid seats (individual user licenses). There are “multiples more enterprise chat users” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during the company’s earnings call Wednesday — a reference to Copilot Chat, a simplified version of the AI assistant available to Microsoft 365 customers at no extra cost. (Microsoft did not provide specific figures.)

Analysts said the number of paid user seats lags expectations at this stage, given the company’s efforts to market Microsoft 365 Copilot and position it as central to its AI strategy.

“Microsoft’s disclosure of 15 million Microsoft 365 Copilot paid users represents disappointing uptake of the tool — just 3.3% of the 450 million-strong Microsoft 365 user base, despite reorganizing the Microsoft 365 product and go-to-market around Copilot,” said J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.

“My take is that businesses are still trying to figure out the best way to use Microsoft 365 Copilot, and are hesitant to take on another expense without knowing how it will help their worker productivity,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates. 

He expects adoption to increase significantly over the next couple of years, though this will likely be tied to “contractual renewals and obligations that enterprises have to navigate, rather than simply adding on to existing contracts with Microsoft. It’s a similar situation to how enterprises viewed the migration to Microsoft 365 originally,” Gold said.

Microsoft 365 Copilot launched in late 2023 as a paid add-on for Microsoft 365 customers. It’s embedded into productivity applications such as Word, Teams, and Outlook, and is increasingly pitched as an AI agent that can perform tasks autonomously. 

Despite significant business interest in the Microsoft 365 Copilot and its potential to boost employee productivity, adoption has been sluggish. This is due to a range of factors, including a perceived lack of value and concerns about data security and governance.

In its earnings call, Microsoft reported a three-fold increase in the number of customers with more than 35,000 seats, compared to last year. (The total number was not provided.) That rise included deals with Fiserv, ING, NAST, the University of Kentucky, the University of Manchester, the US Department of Interior, and Westpac. “Publicis alone purchased over 95,000 seats for nearly all its employees,” said Nadella. 

In most cases, companies pay for a limited number of Microsoft 365 licenses, assigned to small groups within their workforce “due to the cost and lack of proven, measurable ROI,” said Gownder. 

“So, while a lot of organizations have a few licenses, few organizations hold a lot of licenses,” he said.

Microsoft also announced figures about individual usage. Microsoft 365 Copilot is becoming a “daily habit” for those with access to the AI assistant, Nadella said on the earnings call, with a 10-fold increase in daily active users compared to the previous year. In addition, the average number of user conversations with the AI assistant has doubled in the past year. In neither instance did Microsoft provide specific numbers.

In the medium term, Gownder said, Microsoft is repositioning the value proposition of the Microsoft 365 Copilot paid product. While it’s mostly considered an AI personal assistant inside Office apps, it also offers license holders a “powerful cost-containment promise in a world of growing agentic AI,” he said.

That’s because Microsoft 365 Copilot license holders gain unmetered access to Copilot Agents. “As organizations deploy more and more Copilot Agents, the value proposition of the license will broaden to include unmetered access to agents,” he said. 

The company still needs to prove the tools’ worth to businesses — and users. “Unless Microsoft can improve the Microsoft 365 Copilot product, both as a personal assistant and as an enabler of agentic AI, it might continue to struggle with adoption,” said Gownder.

During the earnings call, Microsoft highlighted increased revenue for its Microsoft 365 productivity suite, up 17%. The number of paid seats increased 6% year-on-year to 450 million, boosted by increased adoption among small and medium businesses. 

Microsoft recently announced price increases for Microsoft 365 customers that will begin July 1.

Source:: Computer World

By Ana-Maria Stanciuc G2, the Chicago-based software insights platform, agreed today to acquire three prominent software review and discovery properties from Gartner: Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp. The deal brings four of the largest B2B review sites under a single roof and signals a shift toward unified, AI-driven software recommendation and buying experiences.   According to the announcement, the combined business will include roughly six million verified customer reviews and tap into an audience of more than 200 million annual software buyers. G2 said it expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to standard regulatory and closing conditions.   G2’s…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Shaheer Anwar If you want to learn “How do electric cars work?”, you’ve come to the right place….
The post How Do Electric Cars Work? Electric Motors And Batteries Explained appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Hisan Kidwai Planning to buy an electric car? Read this first!
The post Everything Explained About Electric Cars: Basics Of An EV appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Pranob Mehrotra During its Q4 2025 earnings call, Samsung has confirmed that its first AR glasses will launch in 2026.
The post Samsung’s first AR glasses are coming in 2026 with immersive multimodal AI experiences appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source:: Digital Trends

By Andrew Alex AI adoption is creating a clear divide among employees. Some see AI as a tool to increase their impact, while others see it as a threat to their role. So, where does the truth lie between these two mindsets? Let’s explore. AI doesn’t eliminate roles, it removes low-leverage work Over the past two years, we’ve seen a wave of layoffs often attributed to “AI replacing humans.” Among widely discussed cases, IBM openly stated that over 7,000 back-office roles may no longer need to be hired because AI can absorb the work. Many other tech players, including Microsoft, Amazon, and HP,…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Omair Khaliq Sultan Most headphone upgrades are incremental. You get a little more bass, a little more clarity, and you move on. Open-back planar magnetic headphones can be a different kind of jump. They’re the sort of gear that makes familiar songs feel bigger, more detailed, and more “in the room.” The HIFIMAN Ananda is on sale for […] The post If you want “wow, I didn’t know my music had that in it,” these open-back planars are on sale appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source:: Digital Trends

By Omair Khaliq Sultan If you watch any professional esports tournament in 2026, you will notice a distinct lack of bulky “gaming headsets” on stage. Instead, the top players in Valorant and Counter-Strike are wearing In-Ear Monitors (IEMs). The industry secret is out: massive over-ear drivers often muddy the soundstage with overwhelming bass, whereas IEMs offer surgical precision. The […] The post The “wallhack” audio setup: why gamers are ditching headsets for IEMs appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source:: Digital Trends

The popular messaging app WhatsApp got a range of new security features Tuesday with the launch of “Strict Account Settings.” The security changes, which must be turned on, allow the app to block files and attachments from unknown senders, disable link previews, and silence calls from unknown callers.

The goal is to reduce the risk of users being hacked, scammed, or monitored. According to WhatsApp, the features are aimed particularly at vulnerable users such as activists and journalists.

Apple and Google have already added similar security features to iOS and Android, respectively, according to Reuters.

Just last month, a security firm in Czechia warned WhatsApp users of a simple way hackers could access a user’s conversations in real time by manipulating the app’s device pairing or linking routine.

Source:: Computer World

With many AI projects failing, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for advancing AI proofs of concept to real-world use in the corporate world. But two companies, Ernst & Young (EY) and Lumen, have had success — though they’ve tackled the issue in dramatically different ways.

EY, being in a regulated space of finance and tax, has embraced what it sees as a measured and responsible approach while managing the risks that come with rolling out new technology. Lumen has been more aggressive, working to create an AI culture at the company by giving all employees AI tools from day one.

“There’s become a bifurcation [in approaches]…, some experimentation is innovation theater…, but you’re now starting to get to tangible use cases,” said Joe Depa, global chief innovation officer at EY.

At EY, responsible AI projects with risk management

EY, the global tax and advisory firm, develops portable frameworks to help clients navigate AI adoption. The company has 30 million documented processes internally and 41,000 agents in production and uses its own knowledge to steer clients to success.

With agentic AI becoming more and more ubiquitous, even more foundational technologies are on the way that will further change enterprise IT operations. “The speed of technology evolution is only getting faster,” Depa said. “We’re moving from generative AI to agentic AI to physical AI. We’ve got quantum right behind it.”

Organizations now find themselves implementing new AI processes while replacing legacy infrastructure “that you still haven’t caught up with the last technology life cycle,” Depa said.

A critical part of success with AI is ensuring a solid data foundation, he said — otherwise, prototypes will likely fail before getting off the ground. (An EY client survey in late 2024 found that 83% of organizations at the time lacked the proper data foundation to take advantage of AI.)

“Whether we’re talking about generative AI or physical AI or quantum, your underlying data set is…a lifeblood in some cases, but also an inhibitor,” Depa said. He argued that governance and responsible AI frameworks are what make scaled deployment possible.

“What we found is that clients that have implemented responsible AI frameworks…into their workflows and processes and the way they train employees” reduced their compliance risk, Depa said. “But then they also saw greater growth and value out of AI.”

Responsible AI guardrails are important because they allow teams to experiment more freely. “They now feel comfortable experimenting in a safe sandbox,” Depa explained.

When clients struggle with AI rollouts, Depa asks about their training approach. “I’ve never heard any client say they’ve over-invested in training still,” he said, adding that a  successful deployment often means abandoning traditional training methods. 

”You have to train employees at the point of their application of AI solutions, so they truly learn on the spot,” Depa said.

He pointed to robotic surgery as an example. The technology can perform surgeries “at or better than human surgery” with laser-like precision, helping address physician shortages and improving health outcomes.

“But if I can’t get the hospitals, the doctors, to adopt this new technology, it doesn’t really matter,” Depa said. “It’s less of a technology challenge, more of a change management, people-process challenge.”

At Lumen, ‘culture eats strategy’

Lumen, which is expanding its network backbone to meet AI demands, has made AI adoption a board-level strategic commitment. The company uses what Sean Alexander, senior vice president of connected ecosystems, calls a “tops down, bottoms-up” approach.

“I’m a big believer that culture eats strategy for breakfast, and that’s even more important in the AI space,” Alexander said.

CEO Kate Johnson uses AI tools daily, and that interest in the technology flows down the workforce chain, with new employees getting AI tools on day one.

“We turn on Copilot Studio and Copilot Enterprise for everybody,” Alexander said. “For onboarding new employees, this is taking the traditional six months to realize your potential down to about four months.”

Alexander is also developing a “Copilot Studio in a day” program where teams spend half a day in training, then move into “hacking” to build confidence.

“We’ve installed a governance model focused on responsible adoption of AI that encourages a maker culture in terms of taking agency and solving problems, but making sure we’re starting off with a specific measurable metric that we want to move and then working back from that,” he said.

One sales leader records his weekly one-on-one conversations with direct reports, then feeds those transcripts into an large language model (LLM) he built with Copilot Studio. This allows him to identify “specific points of friction, areas of opportunity” and “drift in strategic planning,” Alexander said.

He offered a number of examples involving AI in production. The company, for example, built a migration buddy agent to help customers move from legacy products to strategic portfolios. The agent performs customer lookups, product validation, offer validation, compliance checks, and contract reviews.

“There’s a human in the middle taking a look at it, but [it] provides output to the sales agent, which is significantly reducing time involved in increasing responsiveness and customer satisfaction,” Alexander said.

“We put teams together and identify a specific problem, then both business leaders and technical leaders build up the agent and test before deployment,” he said.

Testing follows a careful rollout process with groups of about a dozen customers. “There’s a lot of A/B testing and controlled rollout to ensure we’re meeting the quality bar,” Alexander said.

For customer service, time-to-resolution is Lumen’s most important metric for network outages. One of Alexander’s peers converted what started as a “hack” into an LLM-based feature called “Ask Greg.”

The system solves network issues by reasoning over problems and providing resolution steps, pulling health monitoring, telemetry, and geospatial data from dozens of systems.

“We have about four million customer service requests per year,” Alexander said. “Our estimate is that this hack, which started as a pilot, is saving us about $10 million in cost per year.

Lumen also takes advantage of a knowledge graph based on Microsoft 365 data. The company organized its SharePoint data by department and security level. Copilot can augment conversations with understanding of Lumen’s products, services, and operations in near real-time.

“We’re changing the company. We’re transforming it daily,” Alexander said.

Source:: Computer World

By Ana-Maria Stanciuc In a bold turn of phrase and deed, Paris has quietly told Silicon Valley “au revoir.”  On January 26, 2026, France’s Ministry of Finance announced that by 2027, all public servants will switch from U.S. video apps like Microsoft Teams and Zoom to a homegrown platform called Visio.  No more license renewals for Teams, Zoom, Webex, or Meet, just one unified, French-built solution.  In one stroke, a long-discussed slogan “digital sovereignty” has leapt off the podium and into practice. This is not a press release; it’s a watershed moment: Europe’s second-biggest economy is wagering that, when it comes to critical…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Hisan Kidwai OPPO India has announced the launch of the OPPO Premier League (OPL) 2026, a new internal…
The post OPPO India Introduces OPPO Premier League 2026 appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Deepti Pathak OPPO has begun teasing a new K-series smartphone in India, suggesting a launch is soon to…
The post OPPO Hints New K-Series Smartphone Coming Soon in India appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

The explosive growth of AI infrastructure is creating a mad dash for new data center capacity – and more data center staff – unlike anything seen before.

Demand for data center capacity could more than triple by 2030 due to growth in AI and other workloads, according to data from McKinsey.

Continue reading on Network World.

Source:: Computer World

By Moinak Pal Researchers found that listening to music with rhythmic beat stimulation lowers anxiety more effectively than pink noise.
The post Your daily music routine could help ease anxiety, science suggests appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source:: Digital Trends

Microsoft is warning admins of an Office security bypass zero day vulnerability that can be triggered simply by a user opening a document. The flaw is currently being actively exploited.

“The vulnerability is serious,” said Johannes Ullrich, dean of research at the SANS Institute. “The root cause is that Microsoft Office still supports the older OLE document format, which provides access to various OLE components. The effect is similar to what an attacker could do with Office Macros. But Office Macros are typically blocked for documents downloaded from the internet. Microsoft implemented similar protections for OLE components, but this recent exploit found a way to bypass them.”

Despite efforts by Microsoft and email gateway vendors, emails with malicious attachments are still a significant attack vector, he added.

“It is important that organizations roll up this update quickly. Until it has been applied, filters on email gateways or endpoint protection signatures may help mitigate the threat.”

Fortunately the vulnerability, CVE-2026-21509, which has a CVSS score of 7.8, is fixed automatically in Office 2021 and up, however, admins should note that these applications need a restart for the patch to take effect. For Office 2016 and Office 2019, there’s a separate patch.

Jack Bicer, director of vulnerability research at Action1, said that for security teams and CISOs “the urgency is real: don’t wait, prioritize this update immediately, and ensure all Office applications are restarted so the protections take effect without delay.” 

The flaw is exploited by sending malicious Office documents and convincing users to open them, “a classic technique that emphasizes the ongoing effectiveness of social engineering in real-world attacks,” he said.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added the hole to its catalogue of known exploited vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities in the catalogue must be remediated by federal civilian executive branch agencies by a specified date.

Asked for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company recommends impacted customers follow the guidance on its CVE page. It also points out that Microsoft Defender has detections in place to block exploitation, and Office’s default Protected View setting provides an extra layer of protection by blocking malicious files from the internet.

“As a security best practice, we encourage users to exercise caution when downloading and enabling editing on files from unknown sources, as indicated in security warnings,” the spokesperson added.

Source:: Computer World

By Alexandru Stan Shortly after launch, TNW Council is already seeing clear, early signals from its concierge model, signals that underline a fundamental truth often overlooked in the startup ecosystem: founders operating at €1 to 10 million and leaders scaling companies between €10 to 100 million are solving entirely different problems. From the first concierge-led conversations, a consistent pattern emerged. Founders in the €1 to 10M range are primarily seeking: practical growth strategies clarity on positioning, channels, and prioritization hands-on experience that helps them avoid early-stage execution mistakes In contrast, leaders operating at €10 to 100M are no longer asking for growth playbooks.…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Ana-Maria Stanciuc Slush, the Finnish nonprofit behind one of the most influential startup gatherings in Europe, has named Noora Saksa as its new Chief Executive Officer, a shift that indicates a strategic evolution for the organisation as it expands beyond its flagship event model. Saksa assumes the top role after years as Slush’s Chief Operating & Financial Officer and Head of Partnerships, where she managed core operations, finances, and ecosystem programmes. Her trajectory within the organisation reflects a deep operational understanding of Slush’s mission: to connect founders, investors, and builders in ways that help founders advance on their journeys. In stepping into…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web