Microsoft Enhances Bing Search and Bing Chat: Introducing Integration with ChatGPT and Third-Party Plugins

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May 24, 2023

During the Microsoft Build 2023 developer conference, Microsoft made significant announcements regarding its search engine, Bing, and its chatbot AI, ChatGPT. The most notable update is the integration of Bing search directly into ChatGPT, a move that aligns with Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI and signifies the company’s commitment to improving Bing’s capabilities.

In the blog post, Microsoft emphasized that ChatGPT, powered by Bing search, will provide more timely and up-to-date answers by leveraging its built-in world-class search engine and web access. Users can expect ChatGPT’s responses to be based on search results and web data, complete with relevant quotes for further exploration.

Initially, the new Bing search feature will be available to subscribers of ChatGPT Plus, but Microsoft plans to extend it to free users in the near future through a plugin that seamlessly incorporates Bing search into the chatbot experience.

Microsoft’s dedication to expanding functionality does not stop there. In early May, the company revealed its plans to support third-party plugins in Bing Chat. The recent Microsoft Build 2023 conference confirmed that developers will have the opportunity to create plugins compatible with various platforms, including Bing Chat, ChatGPT, Dynamics 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Windows Copilot.

Additionally, Microsoft introduced several new plugin partners for Bing Chat, with names including Expedia, Instacart, Kayak, Klarna, Redfin, TripAdvisor, Zillow, and more. These plugins will be available on both desktop and mobile platforms in the coming weeks, either within Bing Chat or through the Bing Sidebar in the Edge web browser.

Looking ahead, Microsoft plans to incorporate the Bing Chat plugin into the newly announced Windows Copilot and Edge web browsers, further expanding the reach and functionality of the Bing ecosystem.

By integrating Bing search into ChatGPT and introducing a wide range of third-party plugins, Microsoft aims to enhance the search and chatbot experiences for its users. These updates demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, providing users with more comprehensive and efficient tools for information retrieval and interactive communication.

Microsoft Unveils Windows Copilot: An AI Chatbot Empowering Windows Control and Text Generation

By

Vishak

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May 24, 2023

Microsoft has taken its integration of AI to new heights with the introduction of “Windows Copilot,” a chatbot designed to provide users with control over Windows and text generation capabilities. Building upon the existing AI-powered Bing Chat, which is driven by OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, Windows Copilot aims to make Windows interaction more accessible and user-friendly.

In a previous Windows update, Microsoft made it easier for users to access Bing Chat from the Windows taskbar. However, the company has now elevated its AI integration within Windows by presenting a vision of the future where users can directly control Windows itself through interactions with a chatbot.

Windows Copilot takes a prominent position “front and centre of the taskbar,” allowing users to easily locate and modify settings by engaging with the chatbot without the need to navigate deep into Windows menus. This streamlined approach empowers users to interact with Windows in a conversational manner, simplifying tasks and enhancing the overall user experience. Moreover, the tool enables users to summarize content or compose text directly from the clipboard, providing additional convenience and efficiency.

Microsoft positions Windows Copilot as an extension of the existing Bing/ChatGPT ecosystem. Users can ask a wide range of questions to Copilot, spanning from simple to complex inquiries. For instance, users can plan a trip to visit family in Cyprus by asking Copilot to find airfare and accommodation options for their winter vacation. This integration seamlessly connects users to the capabilities of Bing Chat while leveraging the power of AI to deliver tailored and informative responses.

By introducing Windows Copilot, Microsoft aims to empower all users, transforming them into power users who can fully harness the potential of Windows through intuitive interactions with the chatbot. Additionally, Microsoft plans to support third-party plugins within Bing Chat, further expanding the capabilities and versatility of the platform.

No More Typos: WhatsApp Rolls Out Message Editing Feature

By

Anu Thomas John

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May 23, 2023

WhatsApp has announced the rollout of its much-anticipated message editing feature. This announcement was confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post.

WhatsApp users can now modify their messages within a 15-minute window after sending them. To edit a message, users simply need to press and hold on the message and select the ‘Edit’ option from the contextual menu that appears. After making the necessary changes, the edited message will display an ‘Edited’ tag next to the timestamp, making it clear that the message has been altered. Importantly, the application will not retain any correction history, meaning that other users will not be able to view previous versions of the edited messages.

This new feature is expected to give users more control over their chats, allowing them to correct misspellings or add more context to a message within 15 minutes of sending it. However, if a message is older than 15 minutes, it can no longer be edited.

Before the introduction of this feature, WhatsApp users had to either delete a message entirely or send a correction in a separate message. Last year, the platform increased the time limit to delete a message from 48 hours to 60 hours. The message editing feature, though, will help users avoid sending correction messages that may potentially confuse the recipient and create unnecessary notifications. It’s worth mentioning that when a message is deleted, it doesn’t completely disappear from the conversation but is replaced with a greyed-out note stating, “This message was deleted”.

WhatsApp’s competitors, including Telegram and Signal, have long offered the ability to edit messages. Apple also introduced the ability to edit and unsend messages sent via iMessage with iOS 16. Twitter introduced the edit button for its paid users last year. While WhatsApp’s 15-minute window to modify a message isn’t as generous as Telegram’s 48-hour window, it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has stated that the feature is already being rolled out to users and will be available to everyone globally in the coming weeks.

The process of editing a WhatsApp message is simple and user-friendly:

Open the WhatsApp application and navigate to the message you wish to edit. Remember, you have a 15-minute limit from the time it was sent to make edits.
Long press on the message. A contextual menu with different options will appear.
Select the ‘Edit’ option, which appears next to a pencil icon.
Rewrite the message and save the changes once it’s ready.
The tag ‘Edited’ should now appear at the bottom of the WhatsApp message, next to the time it was last modified.

Rest assured, all the changes made to WhatsApp messages will maintain the same end-to-end encryption that the platform has been using for some time. This ensures that users’ data is not being used by third parties without their consent or that of Meta.

Supercomputers in 2023: Frontier Retains Top Spot and AMD Rises to Prominence

By

Avinash A

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May 23, 2023

The TOP500 list of supercomputers from June 2023 does not have many surprises, with the Frontier at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) remaining the top-ranked supercomputer. Developed by AMD and Hewlett Packard, the Frontier is the only true exascale model system on the list, with a maximum performance (Rmax) of 1,194 PFLOPS and a peak performance (Rpeak) of 1,679.82 PFLOPS. It has 8,699,904 cores and consumes 22,703 kW of power.

The second-place supercomputer is the Supercomputer Fugaku in Japan, with a significantly lower Rmax and Rpeak of 442.01 and 537.21 PFLOPS respectively. The rest of the top 10 includes supercomputers from Finland, Italy, the United States, and China. Notably, the LUMI supercomputer in Finland, developed by the same team as the Frontier, ranks third.

It’s worth noting that the anticipated Aurora, a mainframe for the Argonne National Laboratory, is missing from this list, despite expectations of it having over 2 Exa-FLOPS of computing power.

The new entry to the list is in the eleventh place, a Microsoft Azure system with a performance of 53.96 PFLOPS, pushing the Juwels Booster, the most powerful mainframe in Germany, to the 13th position. This Azure system, like the Frontier, uses AMD’s Epyc processors and Instinct MI250X accelerators.

In terms of processors, AMD’s Epyc processors are now as popular as Intel’s Xeons for new systems on the list. This is a significant achievement for AMD, given that Xeons have long been the first choice for high-performance computers.

On the geographical distribution of the supercomputers, most of them are located in the USA and China. However, China’s share is decreasing, partly due to the country no longer reporting data for its most powerful systems, and the trade blockade making the construction of new systems with components from the USA significantly more difficult.

As for the Green500 list, it still has the same frontrunner, a system called Henri, which is operated by the US research institute Flatiron Institute. Thanks to an upgrade with Nvidia’s H100 computing GPU, it currently achieves 65,396 GFLOPS/W, which is half a percent better than the value reported in November 20221.

For the most accurate and detailed information, you may want to directly check the TOP500 and Green500 websites or their official reports.

Google to Delete Inactive Accounts After Two Years: Here’s What You Need to Know

By

Anu Thomas John

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May 23, 2023

Google has announced a significant policy change that will affect users who remain inactive for an extended period. The tech giant will start deleting Google accounts and the associated data — Gmail, Drive, and Photos files — of users who have not logged in for two years. This new policy, set to go into effect later this year, is Google’s latest move to ensure the safety and integrity of its services.

According to Google, the primary reason for this move is security. The company’s internal analysis suggests that inactive accounts are 10 times less likely to have two-step verification set up, making them more vulnerable to security breaches. Once compromised, these accounts can become conduits for spam and identity theft. Additionally, this policy change also serves as a cost-saving measure for Google, as deleting old accounts and freeing up storage space can reduce operational expenses.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Google users. The company has clarified that this policy applies only to individual accounts. Business accounts, especially those paying a monthly fee, will not be affected as long as the payments continue. Furthermore, YouTube content, despite initial confusion, will not be deleted as part of this policy change. Google has affirmed that public YouTube videos will remain intact regardless of account activity.

Users can maintain their Google account activity and avoid deletion by taking a few simple actions at least once every two years:

Reading or sending an email
Using Google Drive
Watching a YouTube video
Downloading an app on the Google Play Store
Using Google Search (while signed into the account)
Signing in to a third-party app or service using Google
Checking in with an Android device
Paying for a Google One storage subscription.

Moreover, Google Photos has a separate “activity” metric. This metric requires users to either visit the Google Photos app or website or upload a photo every two years to prevent the deletion of their photos.

This policy change does not mean that users who haven’t logged in for two years will immediately lose their accounts. Google has planned a phased implementation of this policy, officially termed as “The Great Google Account Purge,” scheduled for December 2023. Google promises to send multiple notifications in the months leading up to the deletion, both to the account’s primary and recovery email addresses if provided, to ensure that users are not caught off guard by this change.

8 Best free online presentations tools to create slides without PowerPoint

By

Vishak

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May 23, 2023

We use Microsoft PowerPoint for presentations for our personal, professional, and educational projects. What about trying something new — online presentations tools to create presentations without PowerPoint.

Although we are familiar with PowerPoint, and it’s many customization options, but it is not the only one that we can use if we want to achieve a striking, original, and fun result.

Lets checkout some interesting free online presentation tools that can replace PowerPoint. These tools deliver slides something much more attractive than the Powerpoint does or something with a different and dynamic touch. And these free online presentation tools are the best free PowerPoint alternative out there with which to create slides with ease.

Contents

1 Best free online presentations tools:

Best free online presentations tools:

1. Google Slides

Google Slides is a free, online, and collaborative tool to create presentations online, making it one of the best alternatives to PowerPoint.

In Google Slides, there is a gallery of templates that we can choose from if we don’t want to start from scratch and want to work on a ready-made scheme. Once created, the format and design are identical to the Microsoft suite — you can add titles, add backgrounds, add images, or slide and transitions between them.

There are backgrounds or designs for all the slides you create, and you can change them as many times as you want. Google allows you to insert images, audio, video, text, shapes, graphics, diagrams, etc. You can also share what you created with anyone so that everyone can have access or add text, make the required adjustments.

2. Sway

Sway is Microsoft’s own tool, like Google, with its Google Slides. It is a free online presentation tool in which we find predetermined presentations to fill in or templates that we can use at no cost.

It can be a recommended option if you are not looking to complicate yourself but are looking for online alternatives to PowerPoint. Its main advantage is its simplicity, but it also has tutorials that show you how to make your presentations step by step.

3. Canva

Canva is one of the most fashionable online design tools in recent times thanks to the number of functions it allows us. It is available online or through an app for both Android and iOS. It is free although with payment options for users who want better graphics or more functions.

It is one of the most practical and recommended to create infographics or designs for social networks and even to create your own ebook. It is also one of the best options for creating presentations online.

Just choose from the templates it offers us, add photographs, texts, or descriptions, and let’s add pages to the design. Once we have the project complete, we can download it in various formats like PDF, video with MP4 format, GIF, etc.

4. Genial.ly

Genial.ly is one of the best online alternatives to the classic PowerPoint, the most recommended for infographics, for presentations.

You can create interactive content, and it has all kinds of resources that we can access from a free account. One of the best free online presentation tools used not only by many design professionals but also practical for the field of education, communication agencies or for the corporate field. However, there are payment plans to unlock more options in it, that allows even more creativity.

5. Slidebean

In Slidebean, you can get presentation templates for business, academic use, startups, etc. The operation is similar to the previous ones — you must register for free to access the editor, and once inside, you will be able to see all your presentations or create a new one.

Everything is perfectly guided, and you will find tutorials that will tell you how to do it, so there is no problem. In addition, as in most, you will see that there are templates designed for each type of presentation — within academics, you will find, for example, templates for history presentations or to defend a thesis or a master’s degree.

6. Emaze

The way Emaze works is very similar to other online slide creating websites, and its main advantage is undoubtedly its simplicity. If you don’t have experience creating presentations, this is one of the best alternatives to PowerPoint that you can try online.

You will need to register with an email and password, and once you have to choose from all the available templates. They are available in video, 3D, or conventional templates with slides. Since there are a lot of different templates already available, you will only have to fill in your data without complications, which is very useful for all the newbies. It is completely free. Although it has a payment option to improve its functions, but you wouldn’t have to pay to get an original and quality presentation.

7. Visme

Visme is an online designing tool very similar to Canva and also useful for infographics or designs of all kinds. It can be used when creating presentations online if you are looking for alternatives to PowerPoint to achieve a striking and different effect. There are over a thousand different templates available. All you need to do is register for free to make your presentation. You can choose between the available formats or start from scratch with your designs.

8. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is also an online presentation program based on slides. Register for free (although there are payment options). One of the advantages of this website for presentations is that it has the possibility of collaborative editing in documents or presentations so you can work in a group without any problem. Another interesting advantage is that we find its app on almost any device, so we will not necessarily have to work on a computer. You can download it on iPhone and iPad, Apple TV, Android, or even has an extension to add to your browser.

We hope that you were able to find the one you were looking for. If you know any other similar online presentation tools to replace PowerPoint, do let us know in the comment section.

The Untold Story of App Rejections: Apple’s First-ever App Store Transparency Report Unveils Intriguing Stats

By

Adwaith

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May 23, 2023

Apple has recently made a groundbreaking move by releasing its first-ever App Store Transparency Report. This comprehensive report reveals a variety of statistics, including the number of apps rejected, reasons for rejection, and data about customer and developer accounts. The report aims to provide meaningful insights into the stringent app review process that Apple follows.

In 2022, Apple received a staggering total of 6,101,913 app submissions for the App Store. Among these, 1,679,694 apps were rejected due to a multitude of reasons, including security, performance, design, and legal issues. The transparency report meticulously details the specific App Store policies violated by these rejected apps.

The rules that suffered the most violations were the Design 4.0 rule and the DPLA 3.2 cheating rule, resulting in 149,378 and 32,009 rejections, respectively. However, rejections were not always the end of the road. Developers collaborated with Apple to rectify the issues in 253,466 initially rejected apps, which were subsequently approved.

Apple also undertook the task of removing 186,195 apps from the App Store due to rule violations. The categories most prone to rule violations were games, followed by service, business, and educational apps.

A significant revelation in the report is the number of apps removed upon governmental request, with China leading the count. The Chinese government requested the removal of 1,435 apps, most of which were games.

During 2022, developers lodged a total of 18,412 appeals against app removals. Additionally, the report highlights the number of developer accounts terminated by Apple, totaling 428,487. Out of 3,338 developers who contested their App Store bans, only 159 accounts were reinstated.

Customer accounts were not immune to termination either. Apple announced the termination of 282,036,628 customer accounts, a figure encompassing all accounts created, including those of non-iPhone and iPad users.

Despite the high number of rejections and terminations, the App Store continued to thrive. It averaged 656,739,889 weekly visitors and 747,873,877 weekly app downloads. The report also revealed that the total number of apps on the App Store in 2022 was 1,783,232, a testament to the platform’s ongoing success.

In addition to these insights, Apple divulged that it had blocked $2.09 billion in fraudulent transactions on the platform last year. As the tech giant prepares for the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference kicking off on June 5th, the tech community eagerly awaits any further data or insights Apple may share.

This unprecedented transparency report, a part of Apple’s $100 million settlement with App Store developers in 2021, is expected to be released annually. With its wealth of information, it serves as a valuable resource for both developers and users, shedding light on the inner workings of the App Store and emphasizing Apple’s commitment to maintaining a safe, high-quality platform for apps.

EU Imposes Record €1.2 Billion Privacy Fine on Meta: A Wake-Up Call for Data Protection

By

Avinash A

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May 23, 2023

Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, has been hit with the largest privacy fine in the history of the European Union — a staggering €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for failing to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This landmark decision, issued by the Irish Data Protection Commission and the European Data Protection Board, further orders Meta to cease the transfer of data from European users to the United States — a move considered to be a significant risk to user privacy.

The decision has roots in a case brought forward by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who argued that the framework for transferring EU citizen data to America did not sufficiently protect Europeans from US surveillance. Despite previous mechanisms to legally transfer personal data between the US and the EU, the latest iteration, Privacy Shield, was struck down by the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court, in 2020.

The Irish Data Protection Commission has now instructed Meta to “suspend any future transfer of personal data to the US within the period of five months” from the decision. Meta used a mechanism called standard contractual clauses to transfer personal data in and out of the EU, but this method was challenged as it failed to address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects identified by the European Court of Justice.

This fine eclipses previous record-breaking penalties imposed on Meta’s subsidiaries; Instagram was fined €405 million in 2022, and WhatsApp was penalized €225 million in 2021. The previous record fine by the EU was €746 million, levied against Amazon in 2021 for similar violations.

Meta has expressed its displeasure at the ruling, branding the fine as “unjustified and unnecessary,” and arguing that it is just one of thousands of companies doing the same. “We are appealing these decisions and will immediately seek a stay with the courts who can pause the implementation deadlines, given the harm that these orders would cause, including to the millions of people who use Facebook every day,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, and Jennifer Newstead, chief legal officer at the company, stated in a blog post.

The case puts the spotlight back on the EU and Washington’s efforts to establish a new data transfer mechanism. Last year, the US and EU agreed “in principle” to a new framework for cross-border data transfers, but this fresh pact has yet to be implemented. Meta hopes that this new EU-U.S. data privacy agreement will be in place before the Irish regulator’s deadlines come into effect, allowing its services to continue without disruption or impact on users.

The court decision gives Meta five months to stop transferring data to the US and six months to cease storing current data on EU residents in the US. As the saga continues, this ruling sends a strong message about the importance of user privacy and the lengths that regulatory bodies are willing to go to protect it. The world will be watching closely to see how Meta navigates this unprecedented challenge.