Tag Archives: author_name|Anna Washenko

Discord is rolling out end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls

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Discord is rolling out new end-to-end encryption for both audio and video calls on its platform. The tech will be applied to calls from DMs, group DMs, voice channels and Go Live streams. Discord detailed the tech and its goals for the end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in a blog post. Desktop and mobile clients already support the new upgrade, and the rest of the clients should be getting the feature next year.

The company has focused on transparency with its E2EE protocols, and has made plenty of information about it publicly available. Discord is also promising that there should be no sacrifices to call quality with the addition of E2EE. One notable exception to the encryption protocol will be messages. Discord said that's so that the messages can still fall under the company's content moderation rules.

This type of thorough encryption has become increasingly common over the years. It's not unusual to see it as either an option or a new default for users on platforms such as Signal, WhatsApp and Zoom.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/discord-is-rolling-out-end-to-end-encryption-for-voice-and-video-calls-224548948.html?src=rss

Zynga says it will fight $45 million fine for infringing decades-old IBM patents

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The internet is so core to how modern life operates that it's easy to forget how much of the technology that went into building the world wide web has patent protections. And some of those patents are still being enforced today. Zynga may be learning that the hard way, as a court ruled last week that the gaming company infringed on IBM patents dating back to the pre-internet telecom platform Prodigy from the 1980s. As a result, Zynga could be facing damages of $44.9 million. IBM's "Method for presenting advertising in an interactive service" patent from 1993 accounts for $40 million of the recommended damages.

For anyone still playing the once-ubiquitous Zynga games, this decision shouldn't interrupt your game time. The company said in an SEC filing that it would not have to modify or end operation of its games as a result of the court decision. Intriguingly, not every game in the Zynga catalog was found to be infringing on the patents. For instance, Crosswords with Friends was deemed an offender, but none of the Words With Friends titles were. A representative from Take-Two told Ars Technica that the company would appeal the ruling.

IBM has a long legacy of collecting intellectual property rights. Zynga, which was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2022, isn't its first target for potentially infringing on these Prodigy patents, and it's likely not the last. The computer company has had many online businesses in its crosshairs over the years, from the long-time giants (like Amazon and X, formerly Twitter) to the flashes in the pan (like Groupon). But some defendants, like pet retail platform Chewy, have successfully fended off IBM's legal charges.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/zynga-says-it-will-fight-45-million-fine-for-infringing-decades-old-ibm-patents-214316611.html?src=rss

Elgato’s latest Stream Deck is a $900 rackmount unit for pros

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Elgato has introduced the Stream Deck Studio, a new version of its creative control tech that's firmly targeting professional broadcasters. This 19-inch rackmount console has 32 LCD keys and two rotary dials. The $900 price tag shows that this is not an entry-level purchase.

The company collaborated with broadcast software specialist Bitfocus on the Stream Deck Studio. The device can run the Companion software that works on other Stream Deck models, but also supports the company's new Buttons software. The Buttons app allows for additional interface customization designed specifically for the Stream Deck Studio.

Elgato has been expanding its Stream Deck line, which began life as a simple sidekick for livestreamers, to reach a broader range of users. For instance, it introduced an Adobe Photoshop integration aimed at visual artists. This push to reach more pro-tier customers could put Elgato into more frequent competition with rival brands like Loupedeck, which Logitech acquired last year, along with established broadcast brands like Blackmagic.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/elgatos-latest-stream-deck-is-a-900-rackmount-unit-for-pros-215003305.html?src=rss

White House gets voluntary commitments from AI companies to curb deepfake porn

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The White House released a statement today outlining commitments that several AI companies are making to curb the creation and distribution of image-based sexual abuse. The participating businesses have laid out the steps they are taking to prevent their platforms from being used to generate non-consensual intimate images (NCII) of adults and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Specifically, Adobe, Anthropic, Cohere, Common Crawl, Microsoft and OpenAI said they'll be:

  • "responsibly sourcing their datasets and safeguarding them from image-based sexual abuse"

All of the aforementioned except Common Crawl also agreed they'd be:

  • "incorporating feedback loops and iterative stress-testing strategies in their development processes, to guard against AI models outputting image-based sexual abuse"

  • And "removing nude images from AI training datasets" when appropriate.

It's a voluntary commitment, so today's announcement doesn't create any new actionable steps or consequences for failing to follow through on those promises. But it's still worth applauding a good faith effort to tackle this serious problem. The notable absences from today's White House release are Apple, Amazon, Google and Meta.

Many big tech and AI companies have been making strides to make it easier for victims of NCII to stop the spread of deepfake images and videos separately from this federal effort. StopNCII has partnered with several companies for a comprehensive approach to scrubbing this content, while other businesses are rolling out proprietary tools for reporting AI-generated image-based sexual abuse on their platforms.

If you believe you've been the victim of non-consensual intimate image-sharing, you can open a case with StopNCII here; if you're below the age of 18, you can file a report with NCMEC here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/white-house-gets-voluntary-commitments-from-ai-companies-to-curb-deepfake-porn-191536233.html?src=rss

Steam Families library sharing is live, and you can all play at the same time

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Following a beta test earlier this year, Steam Families is now live with a new way for relatives to be connected on the gaming portal. Up to five family members can be invited into a group, which will grant access to a shared family library. Each person can create their own save files and collect their own achievements for games in the family library.

The marquee development with the new family feature is that multiple people within the group will be able to play games from the shared library at the same time. And if you own multiple copies of a game, then multiple people can be playing that title at once. The caveat with family sharing is that a game developer may opt not to support the feature. Steam maintains a list of the titles that currently have family sharing enabled.

Steam Families also folds in the features of the old Steam Family View, where the adults can monitor and limit what the children in the group can do on the platform. Any adult in the family will be able to restrict kids' access to Steam's store, communities or chat. They can also set playtime limits, approve extensions to the limits and recover a child's account if the password is lost.

This type of family sharing plan doesn't always reflect a person's home environment, and Steam does have some restrictions on Steam Families' use. Adults can leave a family group at any time, but have to wait a year before they can join or create another family. Also, the Steam accounts need to be in the same country to join a family group.

Valve has a full FAQ on its Steam support page detailing the limitations of Steam Families and how to restrict the games kids in your family have access to.

Update, September 12, 1:40PM: This story was updated after publish with additional information on Steam's FAQ for its families feature.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/steam-families-library-sharing-is-live-and-you-can-all-play-at-the-same-time-231044311.html?src=rss

Friend requests are returning to Xbox

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Xbox is changing its process for forming connections on the gaming platform. Its new method works like, well, just about every other social platform, where you'll send a friend request that is either accepted or denied.

That sounds like the obvious way for this feature to function, but Xbox adopted a more passive approach to friends for the recent console generation. The way it works in the current system is that anybody can add another Xbox account to their follow list. When two accounts followed each other, they were upgraded to friends.

Xbox Friends Update
Microsoft

The change shouldn't yield much of a difference in players' social tab. If you're already friends, you'll stay friends. If you aren't mutuals, you'll continue following the account. That means you can still keep an eye on updates from individuals, clubs and games within the Xbox ecosystem.

Xbox is also launching new privacy and notification options to help manage the return of friendship, so players can set who is able to follow them or send them friend requests. The blog post didn't give a release date for when the new friends system will get a public rollout, but it is available starting this week as a preview for people in the Xbox Insiders program.

Today's announcement is the latest in a wave of Xbox news in the past month. The company also introduced the Game Pass Standard plan and opened pre-orders for the all-digital Xbox Series X.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/friend-requests-are-returning-to-xbox-220614785.html?src=rss

Google announces deal with direct-air capture startup to remove carbon emissions

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Google announced that it has entered a partnership with Holocene to support its direct-air capture technology for collecting and removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Under this $10 million deal, Google will purchase carbon removal credits from Holocene at a rate of $100 per metric ton. This is the price the US Department of Energy set as a goal for direct-air capture technology to make it a viable part of efforts to reduce the rate at which we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

As the name implies, direct-air capture can collect carbon dioxide out of the air, then concentrate the gas to be stored in underground reservoirs. It sounds great in theory, but the technology has proven expensive and difficult to scale. Google said its support should allow Holocene to capture and store 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the early 2030s, in addition to helping the company further refine its DAC technology. Holocene has a more detailed explanation of its DAC approach on its website.

Sustainability has become an important talking point for a lot of big tech. Google has made a big investment in buying carbon offsets, enough that it claims to have eliminated its entire "carbon legacy," and it aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. But its greenhouse gas emissions have risen almost 50 percent in the past five years thanks to the intensive data center demands of AI usage.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-announces-deal-with-direct-air-capture-startup-to-remove-carbon-emissions-225627149.html?src=rss

Google announces deal with direct-air capture startup to remove carbon emissions

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Google announced that it has entered a partnership with Holocene to support its direct-air capture technology for collecting and removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Under this $10 million deal, Google will purchase carbon removal credits from Holocene at a rate of $100 per metric ton. This is the price the US Department of Energy set as a goal for direct-air capture technology to make it a viable part of efforts to reduce the rate at which we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

As the name implies, direct-air capture can collect carbon dioxide out of the air, then concentrate the gas to be stored in underground reservoirs. It sounds great in theory, but the technology has proven expensive and difficult to scale. Google said its support should allow Holocene to capture and store 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the early 2030s, in addition to helping the company further refine its DAC technology. Holocene has a more detailed explanation of its DAC approach on its website.

Sustainability has become an important talking point for a lot of big tech. Google has made a big investment in buying carbon offsets, enough that it claims to have eliminated its entire "carbon legacy," and it aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. But its greenhouse gas emissions have risen almost 50 percent in the past five years thanks to the intensive data center demands of AI usage.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-announces-deal-with-direct-air-capture-startup-to-remove-carbon-emissions-225627149.html?src=rss

Game Pass Standard is now available on Xbox

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The Xbox Game Pass Standard plan is available starting today. Microsoft announced a revamp to its Game Pass subscription plans in July, introducing the Standard option alongside a price increase for the Ultimate tier. The Standard plan costs $15 a month, while Ultimate will run you $20 a month.

The Standard subscription tier will offer the essential features of the Game Pass program: online multiplayer gaming, access to a large library of games, and discounts on select game purchases. The big difference between Standard and Ultimate is that Standard plan members will not be able to play some blockbuster releases, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, on day one. The wait time on Standard varies by title, but can last up to or longer than 12 months. Ultimate plans also include membership to EA Play and access to Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Xbox has been struggling to compete with PlayStation in this console generation. That's partially due to hardware differences: Microsoft offered an underwhelming refresh to its console lineup this summer whereas Sony managed to build lots of hype for the announcement of its expensive new PS5 Pro. But the Game Pass plan has also been struggling to generate continued revenue for Microsoft, with just 34 million subscribers reported in February.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/game-pass-standard-is-now-available-on-xbox-202451946.html?src=rss

Game Pass Standard is now available on Xbox

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The Xbox Game Pass Standard plan is available starting today. Microsoft announced a revamp to its Game Pass subscription plans in July, introducing the Standard option alongside a price increase for the Ultimate tier. The Standard plan costs $15 a month, while Ultimate will run you $20 a month.

The Standard subscription tier will offer the essential features of the Game Pass program: online multiplayer gaming, access to a large library of games, and discounts on select game purchases. The big difference between Standard and Ultimate is that Standard plan members will not be able to play some blockbuster releases, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, on day one. The wait time on Standard varies by title, but can last up to or longer than 12 months. Ultimate plans also include membership to EA Play and access to Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Xbox has been struggling to compete with PlayStation in this console generation. That's partially due to hardware differences: Microsoft offered an underwhelming refresh to its console lineup this summer whereas Sony managed to build lots of hype for the announcement of its expensive new PS5 Pro. But the Game Pass plan has also been struggling to generate continued revenue for Microsoft, with just 34 million subscribers reported in February.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/game-pass-standard-is-now-available-on-xbox-202451946.html?src=rss