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February 19, 2025, 6:40 PM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft unveils the Majorana 1, its first quantum processor that uses the Majorana particle instead of electrons, that can potentially fit a million qubits — Microsoft has spent 17 years researching a new material and architecture for quantum computing.
More: Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Nature, arXiv.org, The Guardian, SiliconANGLE, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, The Hill, Forbes, The Register, The National, CNBC, Business Standard, Telegraph, Maginative, Investor's Business Daily, BBC, Proactive, The Boston Globe, NBC News, Yahoo Finance, HPCwire, Thurrott, The Information, Reuters, Network World, Windows Central, GeekWire, TechEBlog, New Scientist, Constellation Research, and Microsoft
Bluesky: @quinnypig.com and @graemesmith
Mastodon: @jschauma@mstdn.social and @johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz
X: @satyanadella, @microsoft, @cryptified_soul, @gillverd, @elliotthetrainr, @stockmktnewz, @jaguaranalytics, @fxshaw, @fxshaw, @tomwarren, @konstanthacker, @thomasgwong, @konstanthacker, @ijustine, @dwarkesh_sp, @konstanthacker, @0xlac, @basedbeffjezos, @bdsams, @ccatalini, @aureliensacaze, @dr_chetan_nayak, @morningbrew, @aubreystrobel, and @satyanadella
LinkedIn: Satya Nadella, Maciej Malinowski, Dr. Renata Jovanovic, Chetan Nayak, Bela Bauer, Krysta Svore, John Preskill, Zulfi Alam, and Christian Dickel. Forums: Hacker News
| Financial Times: |
Microsoft says it has harnessed a new state of matter using particles called Majorana fermions, a significant breakthrough to create workable topological qubits — US tech giant says it has harnessed a new state of matter to create the basic building blocks of a quantum machine
More: Ars Technica, The New Stack, PCMag, MIT Technology Review, RetailWire, Microsoft, and Hindustan Times. Bluesky: @chicagomike
| Dwarkesh Patel / Dwarkesh Podcast: |
| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Apple unveils the $599+ iPhone 16e with a 6.1" display, A18, 48MP camera, Apple Intelligence, the C1 cellular modem, USB-C, and no MagSafe, shipping February 28 — Apple has officially taken the wraps off of the all-new iPhone 16e. The device features an all-new design paired with the A18 chip inside …
More: Apple, Apple on YouTube, The Verge, MacRumors, MacRumors, Engadget, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, CNET, HotHardware, The Verge, Tom's Guide, AppAdvice, CNBC, PhoneArena, Computerworld, The Standard, Bloomberg, iPhone in Canada Blog, Phandroid, Forbes, Redmond Pie, mjtsai.com, iThinkDifferent, OS X Daily, Press Start, ZDNET, Lifewire, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, How-To Geek, Benzinga, PYMNTS.com, Proactive, International Business Times, Business Standard, Android Authority, mobilenewscwp.co.uk, MacRumors, TechSpot, MacStories, Appleosophy, BGR, Business Today, Cryptopolitan, Irish Examiner, en.ain.ua, Cult of Mac, iClarified, 9to5Mac, The Economic Times, MacRumors, TechCrunch, TechRadar, 9to5Toys, and Washington Post
X: @film_girl, @aaronp613, @joannastern, @zollotech, @mkbhd, @parkerortolani, @dylanmcd8, @snazzylabs, @parkerortolani, @film_girl, @mgsiegler, @gregorymcfadden, @shishirshelke1, @caro_milanesi, @aaronp613, @joannastern, @varunkrish, @film_girl, @zollotech, @firstadopter, @aaronp613, @aaronp613, @willguyatt, @microsoftvapple, @maxwinebach, @dylanmcd8, @markgurman, @aaronp613, @deedydas, @film_girl, @markgurman, @aaronp613, @wongmjane, @maxwinebach, and @tim_cook. LinkedIn: Raffaele Cetrulo
Forums: r/iPhone16Pro, r/LinusTechTips, r/apple, r/technology, r/iphone, r/hardware, r/apple, r/apple, r/iPhoneSE, and Ars OpenForum
| Zac Hall / 9to5Mac: |
Apple unveils its first in-house cellular modem, the C1, with 5G support, to replace Qualcomm modems, saying it's the most power-efficient iPhone modem ever — After years of development, Apple has unveiled what it calls C1, its first-ever in-house cellular modem.
More: Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Verge, MacRumors, PhoneArena, PhoneArena, Android Central, CNET, and Trusted Reviews
Bluesky: @stevekovach. X: @maxwinebach, @markgurman, @dylanmcd8, @basicappleguy, @benbajarin, @markgurman, @maxwinebach, and @benbajarin
| Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac: |
More: MacRumors, Engadget, MacRumors, Barron's Online, Android Police, The Verge, PCMag, CNET, MacRumors, Engadget, PhoneArena, Entrepreneur, Laptop Mag, Spokesman.com, MobileSyrup, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Six Colors, MacRumors, Tom's Guide, Digital Trends, Game Rant, TechRadar, Expert Reviews, and Trusted Reviews
| Hartley Charlton / MacRumors: |
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft announces Muse AI, a first-of-its-kind generative AI model that can generate a game environment based on visuals, players' controller actions, or both — Microsoft Research and Xbox game studio Ninja Theory have partnered to create a new AI model for gaming.
More: Microsoft Research, Xbox Wire, Nature, Xbox on YouTube, Ars Technica, VentureBeat, Reuters, Microsoft, Wired, PC Gamer, TweakTown, Neowin, Stevivor, VICE, Game Developer, PCMag, New Scientist, Laptop Mag, The Decoder, Metro.co.uk, Video Games Chronicle, Thurrott, Engadget, Gameranx, The Shortcut, IGN, Dot Esports, Digital Trends, Polygon, and GameSpot
Bluesky: @tomwarren.co.uk. X: @satyanadella, @rowancheung, @azed_ai, @xboxwire, @rowancheung, @howfxr, @peteratmsr, @knoebelbroet, @wario64, @tomwarren, @msftresearch, @tomwarren, @peteratmsr, @coldplay, @theturingpost, @rowancheung, and @rowancheung. Forums: r/gaming
| Erik Larson / Bloomberg: |
Trump Media and Rumble sue a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, alleging he tried to illegally suppress the US social media activity of conservative Brazilians — - Suit targets a supreme court justice who has clashed with Musk — Brazilian judge has long attacked ‘fake news,’ disinformation
More: CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Newsmax, Law.com International, Law360, NBC Bay Area, Folha de S.Paulo, Glenn Greenwald, Rumble, Seeking Alpha, Associated Press, UPI, Politico, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Reuters, CNBC, Fortune, Axios, Reuters, Forbes, Trump Media & …, Reclaim The Net, and United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
X: @prestonjbyrne, @paoloardoino, @wicary, @daphnehk, @andrewjfhoward, @chrispavlovski, @ggreenwald, @kyledcheney, and @ggreenwald
Forums: r/worldnews, r/neoliberal, r/Brazil, r/NewsOfTheStupid, and r/worldnews
| Katie Roof / Bloomberg: |
Sources: X is in talks to raise funds at a $44B valuation, matching the price Elon Musk paid for Twitter in 2022, as his proximity to Trump alters X's prospects — - Valuation is the same as Musk's 2022 Twitter acquisition — Billionaire has recently tapped private markets for big sums| Andy Greenberg / Wired: |
Signal updates its app with phishing protections after Google warned Russia-linked hackers are using fake QR codes for group invites to trick Ukrainian soldiers — Google warns that hackers tied to Russia are tricking Ukrainian soldiers with fake QR codes for Signal group invites that let spies steal their messages.
More: Google Cloud Blog, Security Affairs, Ars Technica, CyberScoop, CyberInsider, Infosecurity, Dark Reading, CSO, Washington Times, pravda.com.ua, The Record, UPI, and Forbes
X: @danwblack, @780thc, @imposecost, and @danwblack
Forums: r/technology, r/signal, r/technews, and r/craftofintelligence
| Adamya Sharma / Android Authority: |
Google is bringing Circle to Search-like visual searches to its Chrome and Google iOS apps, without the Circle to Search branding — The feature will work within the Chrome and Google iOS apps via Lens. — • — • — • — TL;DR — Google is bringing Circle …
More: The Keyword, How-To Geek, 9to5Google, PYMNTS.com, Thurrott, AppleInsider, MakeUseOf, Neowin, PCMag, CNET, Android Police, Search Engine Journal, Engadget, The Verge, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, Cult of Mac, Android Central, MacRumors, BGR, The Irish Sun, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechCrunch, PhoneArena, and Pocket-lint
| Ben Schoon / 9to5Google: |
| Andy Chalk / PC Gamer: |
Valve releases the Team Fortress 2 SDK with the game's source code, allowing users to build new games based on Team Fortress 2, licensed for non-commercial use — Valve has also released major updates to all Source-engine multiplayer games adding 64-bit support, scalable HUDS, “and a lot of other improvements.”
More: TF2 Official Blog, Ars Technica, Eurogamer.net, Game Rant, Neowin, Engadget, OC3D, ReadWrite, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, TechSpot, Destructoid, GamesRadar, Digital Trends, and GameSpot
Bluesky: @steinmakesgames. X: @ultr4nima, @heyitscookie, @xradicald, @4g_b4nny, @ultr4nima, @skyminslash, @steamdb, @shoun1c, @jonsyishere, @ultr4nima, @phisnom, @teamfortress, @micahtischler, and @interneth0f
Forums: r/pcmasterrace, Slashdot, and Ars OpenForum
| Jon Keegan / Sherwood News: |
Perplexity open sources R1 1776, a version of the DeepSeek R1 model that CEO Aravind Srinivas says has been “post-trained to remove the China censorship” — But shortly after its release, attention turned to how compliant the model was with Chinese censorship laws.
More: Perplexity, TestingCatalog, and The Decoder
Bluesky: @edzitron.com. X: @bill_drexel, @aravsrinivas, @aravsrinivas, @perplexity_ai, @localghost, @nathanbenaich, @perplexity_ai, and @perplexity_ai. LinkedIn: Ipek Ceylan. Forums: Hacker News
| VentureBeat: |
Sources: Chinese game publisher NetEase has been directed to divest its overseas holdings, starting with hit game Marvel Rivals, which laid off its Seattle team — Chinese game publisher NetEase raised fears with recent moves that it is unloading as much as all of its overseas holdings …
More: PC Gamer, Kotaku, Eurogamer.net, VentureBeat, IGN, The Verge, TechRadar, MobileSyrup, The Verge, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, en.ain.ua, Engadget, GamesIndustry.biz, Wccftech, GeekWire, and Eurogamer.net
X: @stephentotilo, @zhugeex, @marvelrivals, @gigawattconduit, @lordbalvin, @wario64, @rivalsassembled, @slashlp89, @hh_varuna, @directfeedgames, @1exi, @alecrobbins, @bellulargaming, @coopercooperco, @neferpitoup, @jakesucky, @lordbalvin, @knoebelbroet, and @ianrile42523693
LinkedIn: Thaddeus Sasser and Jack Burrows
| Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times: |
Google launches a Gemini 2.0-based AI co-scientist tool to help biomedical scientists create novel hypotheses and speed up research, available to select testers — Lab assistant powered by artificial intelligence can help generate scientific hypotheses — Google has built …
More: Google Research, SiliconANGLE, Ars Technica, Forbes, The Keyword, Reuters, WinBuzzer, and Imperial News. Forums: Slashdot
| Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch: |
Filings: US Army soldier Cameron John Wagenius pleads guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon and stealing a massive trove of phone records from them last year — Cameron John Wagenius pleaded guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon and stealing a massive trove of phone records from the companies … | Axios: |
Sources: NIST plans to cut 497 people, including 74 postdocs and most staff at its Chips for America program; the AI Safety Institute faces an uncertain future — Exit Content Preview … - The cuts come at a time when the U.S. is looking to lead in AI development and stave off competition from China.| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Instagram updates direct messages with translation in 99 languages, scheduling and pinning tools, music-sharing features, and more, on iOS and Android first — Instagram is upgrading its direct messages, also known as DMs, with a handful of new features that make its messaging system …
More: Instagram, TechRadar, PhoneArena, Engadget, Pocket-lint, Meta, iPhone in Canada Blog, Mashable, and Axios
| James Hunt / The Block: |
Binance.US resumes USD deposits and withdrawals for the first time since June 2023, when the US SEC sued Binance, Binance.US, and co-founder Changpeng Zhao — - Binance.US customers can deposit and withdraw U.S. dollars on the platform for the first time in nearly two years.| Danny Nelson / CoinDesk: |
Source: in text messages, Libra co-creator Hayden Davis bragged he could “control” Argentine President Javier Milei by making payments to Milei's sister, Karina — A key player behind the Libra token bragged about buying access to Argentine President Javier Milei's inner circle months …
More: Gizmodo, DL News, Cryptopolitan, Wired, Bloomberg, and Bloomberg
X: @davidrkadler, @harikunzru, @bykatherineross, @marchochstein, @beaniemaxi, @tier10k, @asslatam, @chilearmy123, @realdannynelson, @skesslr, @0xpepo, @julian__fahrer, and @tier10k
Forums: Hacker News and r/CryptoCurrency
| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
Uber ditches commissions in favor of fees for auto-rickshaw drivers in India in response to increased competition from local rivals Rapido and Namma Yatri — Uber is moving away from its commission-based model for three-wheeled motorized rickshaw drivers in India in response to increased competition …
More: Times of India, CNBC-TV18, PC-Tablet India, India Today, Reuters, and The Indian Express
X: @vivekmadani, @indiantechguide, @nikhilkumarks, @refsrc, and @tim_clif
| Krystal Hu / Reuters: |
Lambda, which offers cloud services and computers to train AI, raised a $480M Series D, sources say at a $2.5B valuation, taking its total funding to $863M — Lambda, a cloud computing firm specializing in providing hardware and services to power artificial intelligence development …
More: DatacenterDynamics, Lambda, and San Francisco Business Times
| Devindra Hardawar / Engadget: |
Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti review: a capable GPU for 4K gaming, DLSS 4 multi-frame gen, and runs cool, but prices fluctuate wildly and $750 is expensive for mid-range — But good luck finding one at that price. — It's honestly difficult to remember the simpler days of video card shopping …
More: The Verge, Tom's Hardware, PC Gamer, Gizmodo, Eurogamer.net, PCMag, CGMagazine, Windows Central, TweakTown, PCWorld, and Forbes
| Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
French privacy startup Murena unveils the €539 Murena Pixel Tablet, running its open-source, forked /e/OS, after releasing a “deGoogled” smartphone in 2022 — Murena, the French privacy firm that's forked Android to deliver so-called deGoogled smartphones, has repeated the trick with a tablet.
More: The Verge, Phandroid, Android Police, Liliputing, and Android Authority
| Romain Dillet / TechCrunch: |
Mistral's Le Chat app tops 1M downloads in just 14 days, quickly reaching the App Store's top free downloads spot in France; ChatGPT had 500K in just six days — A couple of weeks after the initial release of Mistral's AI assistant, Le Chat, the company told Le Parisien that it has reached one million downloads.Sponsor Posts
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Zoho:
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