Archives April 2024

MarineMax has confirmed suffering a cyberattack, thought to be ransomware, in which threat actors stole sensitive customer information.

In an 8-K form, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 1, the company, one of the leading yacht sellers worldwide, said a third party “gained unauthorized access to portions of our information environment.”

• DJI has released a teaser for a launch event on April 11
• The teaser shows an FPV drone that looks a lot like the leaker DJI Avata 2
• The Avata 2 is expected to be launched alongside a new DJI Goggles 3 headset

Just a week after a wave of leaks revealed hands-on videos and retail packaging for a new DJI Avata 2 drone, the drone giant has all but confirmed that the FPV (first-person view) flying machine will be launching on April 11.

A new ‘Ready to Roll’ teaser (below) posted on DJI’s social media and website shows that it’ll be launching a new drone on April 11 at 9am EDT / 2pm BST (or midnight AEST on April 12).

The recent few years have not been smooth sailing for Binance, which has time and again found itself surrounded by legal issues. In a first, Binance Holdings has established a board of directors comprising of seven members – who will weigh-in on the company’s decision making and business-related resolutions as an assistance to CEO Richard Teng. The decision comes after the exchange recently received a summon from Nigerian authorities on suspicions of the exchange’s involvement in facilitating unlawful activities.

This is the first time in seven years since Binance’s inception that the company has formed a board of directors. Gabriel Abed, the ambassador of Barbados to the UAE has been appointed as the chairperson of Binance’s board of directors. Company CEO Teng along with co-founder Heina Chen are also part of the board, an official blog post revealed.

“This significant change in leadership is viewed as a central shift at Binance under the supervision of CEO Richard Teng, appointed in November following Binance’s settlement with US authorities. Since its establishment in China in 2017, Binance claimed to operate without a global headquarters. Teng, however, has indicated the desire to apply a more conventional corporate structure, including defining its headquarters and effective board of directors,” the post by Binance said.

Given the company’s back-to-back legal tussles, it only seems natural that the company has decided to involve more industry experts to drive its operations.

Binance was probed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year for violating US’ business-related laws. In November 2023, the founder of the exchange, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering programme at the company.

Soon after, Zhao resigned as the company CEO and Binance paid a settlement amount of $4.3 billion (roughly Rs. 35,855 crore) in penalties to the US Justice Department, Treasury Department, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Following Zhao’s step down, Teng was named the new CEO of the exchange. However, even under Teng’s leadership, Binance’s legal issues do not seem any closer to being solved.

Earlier this month, Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes had reportedly summoned Binance CEO Teng on suspicions of the exchange’s potential involvement in money laundering and terror financing. While details on Teng’s arrival in Nigeria for this meeting remains unknown, a Binance executive in custody of Nigerian authorities reportedly escaped and flew abroad leaving the company in an awkward situation.

Binance’s intention of becoming the most licenced crypto exchange in the world has also hit a roadblock after Philippines announced a ban on the exchange citing its lack of an official operational licence.

Since 2022, Binance had been assembling a solid team of lawyers to help it tackle legal hassles.

Samsung’s feature-packed One UI 6.1 update finally began rolling out to older Samsung phones on March 28, but several users are complaining that the software upgrade has left their devices charging at a slower speed and lower wattage.

According to a Samsung Community Forum post (via PhoneArena), One UI 6.1 is causing phones including the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 to “lock” at 15W charging, even when higher wattage chargers (like Samsung’s own 25W fast charger) are in use. Another post from the UAE version of Samsung’s Community Forum details the same issue for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, so it appears as though the problem is not region-dependent.

Telegram has unveiled its latest effort to take on other industry giants, such as WhatsApp, Messenger and Apple, by introducing new business-focused features.

Available now, Telegram Business offers a range of tools, including customizable start pages, business hour settings, automated greeting and away messages, and AI chatbot integration. 

The most widely available (and free) version of ChatGPT, ChatGPT-3.5, is being made available to use without having to create and log into a personal account. That means you can have conversations with the AI chatbot without it being tied to personal details like your email. However, OpenAI, the tech organization behind ChatGPT, limits what users can do without registering for an account. For example, unregistered users will be limited in the kinds of questions they can ask and in their access to advanced features. 

This means there are still some benefits to making and using a ChatGPT account, especially if you’re a regular user. OpenAI writes in an official blog post that this change is intended to make it easy for people to try out ChatGPT and get a taste of what modern AI can do, without going through the sign-up process. 

In its announcement post on April 1, 2024, OpenAI explained that it’s rolling out the change gradually, so if you want to try it for yourself and can’t yet, don’t panic. When speaking to PCMag, an OpenAI spokesperson explained that this change is in the spirit of OpenAI’s overall mission to make it easier for people “to experience ChatGPT and the benefits of AI.”

To create an OpenAI account or not to create an OpenAI account

Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is confirmed to launch in India soon alongside the Galaxy M15 5G. The phones have been teased to launch in the country previously and their Amazon availability was also confirmed. Now the India launch date of the smartphones has been announced. Alongside, Samsung has also revealed the colour options and a few key features of the handset including chipset, camera, display, battery and charging details. Notably, the phones were recently unveiled in select global markets.

The Amazon microsites for both the Galaxy M55 5G and the Galaxy M15 5G confirm that the phones will launch in India on April 8 at 12pm IST. The pages also reveal several key features of the handsets. The Galaxy M55 5G will be offered in the country in Denim Black and Light Green shades, while the Galaxy M15 5G is confirmed to come in three colour options – Blue Topaz, Celestine Blue, and Stone Grey.

Samsung Galaxy M55 5G will launch in India in Denim Black and Light Green colourways
Photo Credit: Amazon

The Indian variant of the Galaxy M55 5G is set to come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, a 6.7-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED Plus display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and 1,000 nits of peak brightness level. It will be equipped with Vision Booster technology that is claimed to help users see the screen clearly even under bright sunlight. The phone will be backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W wired fast charging.

For optics, the Galaxy M55 5G will carry a triple rear camera unit including a 50-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS). The phone is confirmed to sport a 50-megapixel front camera sensor for selfies and video calls. It will have a Nightography feature and AI-backed tools like Image Clipper and Object Eraser. 

The Galaxy M15 5G, on the other hand, will have a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ chipset and feature a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display. It will also sport a 50-megapixel triple rear camera unit. The handset will be backed by a 6,000mAh battery that is claimed to offer a battery life of up to two days.

Both Galaxy M55 5G and Galaxy M15 5G models are also confirmed to be equipped with Samsung’s Knox Security, while the former will also come with the Samsung Wallet feature. 

An earlier leak suggested that the Galaxy M55 5G will start in India at Rs. 26,999 for the 8GB + 128GB option, while the 8GB + 256GB and 12GB + 256GB variants could be priced at Rs. 29,999 and Rs. 32,999, respectively. Meanwhile, the Galaxy M15 5G has been tipped to cost Rs.13,499 for the 4GB + 128GB option and Rs. 14,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant.

Android 15 could bring a major design revamp to the volume panel, as per a new report. The launch of the next iteration of the operating system for Android smartphones is still months away, but some of its new features have already been leaked. Recently, a report claimed that users will be able to archive an app in Android 15 to save space on their smartphone instead of uninstalling it entirely. Now, another report claims that the volume panel could finally be brought up to Google’s Material You design language.

According to a report by tipster Mishaal Rahman (via Android Authority), Android 15 could continue the process of bringing all the areas of the smartphone to the Material You standards. The new design language was first unveiled in 2021 with Android 12, and since then Google has been adding it to different apps and functionalities. As per the report, the volume panel is the latest to feature its elements.

The current volume panel already has some of its elements with a bottom sheet appearing when the volume button is pressed. However, the current design features thin sliders for Media, Call, Ring, Notification, and Alarm audio streams. There is also a header labelled Sound & vibration and icons that are placed next to the slider, and the name of the stream being placed above the slider.

Android 15 volume panel
Photo Credit: Mishaal Rahman/Android Authority

As per the report, the redesigned volume panel changes the sliders quite a bit. These were spotted within the latest Android 15 Developer Preview 2 release, however, they have not been rolled out to beta testers. The new sliders are now thicker and are pill-shaped. The icon and the audio stream text are placed inside the slider, and there is a button next to the media slider that collapses the entire panel to a single row when tapped. Tapping it again opens the fully expanded view.

Based on the image shared, the top label is also gone, and it is replaced by a permanent audio output switcher icon. The icon remains present even when the audio is not being played through an external speaker and states that the audio is being played through the device itself. The report also highlighted that when adjusting a stream volume, the text also moves to always stay visible. The redesigned volume panel could be shipped with the stable Android 15 release, however, since Google has not officially added it to the OS so far, it is not written in stone.

World of Warcraft franchise director John Hight says Blizzard Entertainment isn’t using generative AI in the massively multiplayer online game (MMO).

During a recent interview with IGN at the Game Developers Conference 2024,  Hight explained that AI is the most exciting thing for the games industry right now, specifically machine learning, a tool that has been used by studios for years to make tasks easier for developers, not generative AI.

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