Meta has called for tougher stances on smartphone app stores over fears of children being harmed online.

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -Activision Blizzard said its studio that developed "Call of Duty" would set up shop in

Kateryna Pylypenko prepared two backpacks for her youngest son's first day of school on Friday. One with school supplies, and one for the bomb shelter.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2023--

Egypt will “bleed” precious reserves unless it devalues its currency again, the managing director of the International Monetary

Google has been abusing its dominance for years, and may have to sell part of its business as a result, European regulators have said. Breaking the advertising technology business apart may be the only way to address regulators’ concerns, they said. The European Union said that Google has been favouring its own advertising technology over those of its competitors, using its dominance over the internet to further entrench that control. It has been abusing that dominant position since 2014, regulators said. As such, only selling part of that advertising technology business would be the way to avoid those concerns, it said. So-called “behavioural remedies” – which force the business to conduct itself in specific ways but without changing the ownership or structure of the company – would not work, regulators warned. More follows Read More Elon Musk refuses to pay Twitter’s Google bill, leaving site in peril Major Google Bard update allows it to not just write code, but execute it Artificial intelligence warning over human extinction labelled ‘publicity stunt’

Hurricane Idalia came ashore on Florida’s west coast with destructive Category 3 winds, triggering blackouts and unleashing flooding

Fans of The X Files have got a new alien-related US government drama to get stuck into, it seems. Senior Republican Marco Rubio claims that those who have reported alien aircraft being retrieved by the US government “have held very high clearances and high positions within our government." The Florida senator and vice chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence did not reveal who had come forward with claims, but said: “Frankly, a lot of them are very fearful.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “Fearful of their jobs, fearful of their clearances, fearful of their career.” At the start of June, James Comer, chair of the influential House Oversight Committee, said the group was looking into allegations that a top-secret military program already had a fully intact UFO. Republicans Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a committee member, and Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who is not a committee member but has made claims about a government cover-up on the subject in the past, are to lead the probe. The investigation came after David Grusch, a 36-year-old airforce veteran, made public claims about UFOs. Grusch previously worked at the National Reconnaissance Office, on what is now referred to as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs). Grusch told NewsNation that the government had retrieved a number of “non-human origin technical vehicles,” some of which contained “dead pilots”. “There are people who have come forward to share information with our committee over the last couple of years,” Rubio said on 26 June. Referring to Grusch, he added: “I would imagine some of them are potentially some of the same people perhaps he’s referring to.” Following the NewsNation interview, Department of Defense spokesperson Sue Gough said it had “not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of any extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.” NASA also said that despite one of its priorities being the search for extraterrestrial life, it had not found credible evidence. Rachel Partlow, communications director for Burchett, told Newsweek on 27 June that the congressman was “aware” of Grusch's claims. She declined to comment on whether the veteran would be brought in to provide testimony, with hearing dates not yet set in stone. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Tim Cook describes his first experience with Apple’s forthcoming Vision Pro headset as an “aha moment”. The mixed reality device, he claims, has the potential to usher in an entirely new era of computing, having a profound impact on the way we work, communicate and experience the world – just like the iPhone did 16 years ago. And for it to succeed, just like the iPhone, it’s going to need apps. The Apple CEO is in London at the end of a whirlwind European tour to meet with app developers that he hopes will be among the first to realise his ambitions for the Vision Pro. The UK has the largest developer community in Europe, and as he meets three of them, he is clearly curious about their apps. It is a common sight with Cook: app developers on their best behaviour, nervous with anticipation, instantly relaxing as he focuses on them, genuinely interested, warming to his encouragement and questioning. “I think the apps today are outstanding,” he says. “It’s a reminder of the empowerment of the App Store. I’m still amazed that an entrepreneur in any country in the world in a basement can start a company and it can be global,” he snaps his fingers, “like that.” Cook likes to talk about Apple’s app developers because he takes pride in the jobs created by the Apple ecosystem. Estimates suggest that half a million jobs are now directly connected to the iOS app economy, which is up nearly 70 per cent compared to 2019. UK app developers have earned nearly £7.5 billion from their apps, Apple says. When Cook took over from Steve Jobs as CEO in 2011, the app economy was still in its infancy: Instagram was less than a year old and apps like Deliveroo and Tinder did not even exist yet. Just over a decade later Apple’s App Store is now facilitating more than $1 trillion in billings and sales annually, helping the company to become the richest in the world. Among the app developers showing off their creations at Apple’s Battersea Power Station headquarters is Joseph Mambwe, whose fitness app Gym Streak aims to manage your workout for you. Mambwe says that, at the app’s core is a demonstration that “resilience is a superpower that is available to everyone, along with persistence and the will to keep going.” The app uses augmented reality (AR) to create videos where the animated figure demonstrating the exercises appears to be working out in your living room. Also in attendance is Andy Weekes, the creator of Night Sky, which also uses AR to make stars, planets and even the International Space Station appear onscreen as you point your iPhone at the place they are in the sky. It can send reminders and messages so you can share what you see – and even what you can’t – with friends and family. There is a regular refrain from the developers about the Apple Vision Pro, which is set to launch early next year: Something like Night Sky could be jaw-droppingly good on the spatial computing headset, with its immersive, wraparound display. Cook says they’re looking forward to it. “We have developer labs in London and Munich, and we’re seeing some incredible work. There’s so much excitement out there.” The tech boss says Vision Pro has become part of his nightly routine, helping him understand how it could become an industry-defining product. “There are huge differences in how people look at it, depending on if they’re read about it or actually tried it,” he says. “I believe even more about how profound spatial computing is. When you’ve tried it, it’s an aha moment, and you only have a few of those in a lifetime.” Throughout the app demonstrations, the developers talk about the support they receive from Apple. “These apps,” Cook says afterwards, “allow developers to make people more sustainable, give somebody educational knowhow about space or even democratise personal training. These are big ideas. These apps are great collaborations, but our whole company is based on collaboration.We really believe one plus one equals three. “We’ve always viewed ourselves as tool makers,” he adds. “So to make tools that allow other people to change the world in their own way and for us to have a role in that makes my heart sing… We’ve always believed our tools should be as easy to use as our products, so we try to make the developer tools simple. It’s the developer’s idea that’s the big lift, not the act of doing it themselves. It’s great to see the validation of that playing out.” Through the powerful processors in the latest iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, Cook believes Apple iOS is now “the best gaming platform out there”. Games also form a major part of Vision Pro’s appeal, allowing users to interact and compete within an entirely new dimension. “There’s significant excitement about our role in gaming, and we’re very serious about it,” he says. “This is not a hobby for us. We’re putting all of ourselves out there.” Read More ‘I saw the future. It left me in tears’ Tim Cook says Vision Pro release is on track: ‘I watched Ted Lasso Season 3 on it’ New discovery is ‘holy grail’ breakthrough in search for aliens, scientist say Musk confirms he is cutting election integrity staff from X/Twitter ahead of 2024

On June 5, at this year's WWDC, Apple is all but certain to launch an

The Lensbaby Double Glass II ($199.95) is an update to one of the original Optic

Exiting from the pandemic, the assumption might be students who returned quickly to in-person learning might be the least scathed academically