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A new email from Sony says that PlayStation will require players to verify their age later this year to keep using communication features like messages and voice chat. Insider-Gaming reports: The initiative comes from the goal of providing "safe, age-appropriate experiences for players and families while respecting their privacy" and providing "meaningful control over their gaming experiences." The age-verification process will be implemented globally, and players will need to verify their age to continue using PlayStation communication services, such as messages and voice chat. If the player opts not to verify their age, they can still use other services, such as games, trophies, and the store. Only the communication experience will be affected if you choose not to verify your age. PlayStation didn't provide a date for when players will need to begin the verification process.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: A ban on mobile phones in schools in England is to be introduced by the government to ensure that "critical safeguarding legislation" is passed. The government will table an amendment to the children's wellbeing and schools bill in the House of Lords after the bill was held up by peers on opposition benches. It will make existing guidance on mobile phone bans in schools statutory, a move that ministers have resisted until now. The government had consistently argued that the vast majority of schools had already banned mobile phones, and that there was no need to add a legal requirement. They finally capitulated, however, describing it as "a pragmatic measure" to get the bill through. [...] The bill is regarded by many as the biggest piece of child protection legislation in decades and includes proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children's social care, and a "single unique identifier" to help agencies track a child's welfare.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple announced that Tim Cook will step down as CEO in September after 15 years in the role, handing the job to hardware chief John Ternus. Longtime Slashdot reader sinij shares the news from MarketWatch: Cook leaves an impressive legacy after growing the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization from just $300 billion 15 years ago. Over Cook's 15-year tenure as CEO, Apple's stock has risen 1,932%, beating the S&P 500's 504% increase, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That places Apple's stock as the 38th best-performing member of the index over that period of time. Cook had big shoes to fill, replacing Apple's iconic founder, Steve Jobs, as CEO. Cook's successor, John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, will need to guide Apple's through uncharted waters as the company navigates its artificial-intelligence transition and supply-chain constraints. Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world," said Cook. "John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future. I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman." As for Ternus' replacement, the role of Chief Hardware Officer will be awarded to Apple executive Johny Srouji. "Srouji, who most recently served as senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, will assume an expanded role leading Hardware Engineering, which John Ternus most recently oversaw, as well as the hardware technologies organization," said Apple in a press release.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Alex Bores, a former Palantir employee and current Democratic House candidate in New York, is proposing an "AI dividend" that would send direct payments to Americans if AI drives major job losses. "At its core, the AI Dividend is simple: if AI dramatically increases productivity and concentrates wealth, the American people have a stake in those gains," a memo on the policy reads. Axios reports: The dividend would fund direct payments to Americans. It would also be invested into workforce training and education, as well as government capacity to "govern AI safely and fund independent oversight," per the plan memo. "You don't take out fire insurance because you expect your house to burn down -- you have insurance in case something goes awry," Bores told Axios in an interview. "Here we have, for the first time, a technology where the makers of the technology are explicitly saying that their goal is to replace all human labor." "The fact that they've put it out there means government needs to take it seriously." [...] The proposal would be funded through: - A token tax, described in the memo as a "modest tax on AI consumption" - Equity participation in frontier AI firms - Changes to the tax code that would reduce incentives to invest in AI "when it leads to less work" "If [AI companies] they can support this plan, that would show that they actually believe in what they're putting out there," Bores said. "If they're not doing it, then I think it shows that they're really putting window dressing out there." Further reading: Palantir Posts Bond Villain Manifesto On X

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Deezer says AI-generated songs now make up 44% of all new uploads to its platform, with nearly 75,000 arriving each day and more than two million per month. The company notes that consumption of these tracks is still very low, "between 1-3% of the total streams," and 85% are flagged as fraudulent. TechCrunch reports: The latest figure from Deezer highlights a continuous surge in AI-generated music uploads to the platform. Deezer reported receiving around 60,000 AI tracks per day in January, up from 50,000 in November, 30,000 in September, and just 10,000 in January 2025, when it first launched its AI-music detection tool. Songs tagged as AI-generated on Deezer are automatically removed from algorithmic recommendations and not included in editorial playlists. The company announced today that it will no longer store hi-res versions of AI tracks. "AI-generated music is now far from a marginal phenomenon and as daily deliveries keep increasing, we hope the whole music ecosystem will join us in taking action to help safeguard artists' rights and promote transparency for fans," said Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier in a press release. "Thanks to our technology and the proactive measures we put in place more than a year ago, we have shown that it's possible to reduce AI-related fraud and payment dilution in streaming to a minimum."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Starting on September 1, Ternus will lead one of the world's most valuable companies, but if you're not a dedicated Apple enthusiast, you've probably never heard of this man, who has largely remained out of the spotlight until now.

Amazon has made another circular AI deal: It's investing another $5 billion in Anthropic. Anthropic has agreed to spend $100 billion on AWS in return.

Google is rolling out Gemini in Chrome in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. The company is rolling this feature out to both desktop and iOS in all of these countries except Japan.

The transition has been expected for some time and ends one of the longer and more impactful runs a CEO has had at any company. Cook had inherited a company that many industry watchers and enthusiasts struggled to separate from its famed founder. What he leaves behind is a $4 trillion business with annual revenue that has more than quadrupled on his watch.

You can use the new tools to remove blemishes, refine skin texture, brighten eyes, or whiten teeth in photos.

If Instagram has been turning your color photo posts into black and white recently, don’t worry, there’s no problem with your camera or your account. The Meta-owned app has confirmed to Engadget that the issue is caused by a bug that’s affecting HDR photos in particular. "Earlier today, a technical issue caused some HDR photos to appear incorrectly as black-and-white for a subset of accounts,” Instagram has told us. However, we see complaints dated April 18 and 19, so the issue has been going on a bit longer for some people.

Regardless of when the bug started causing problems, the Instagram team said it has since corrected the issue. If your posts are still showing up in black and white, Instagram said the fix will automatically turn your affected photo posts back to their original state over the next few hours. “We apologize for any inconvenience,” they added.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/instagram-says-a-bug-turned-your-photos-black-and-white-061802389.html?src=rss

Amazon and Anthropic are strengthening their ties once again, with steep financial commitments made on both sides. Today, Amazon announced that it will invest $5 billion in the AI company, along with as much as $20 billion in additional payments if certain milestones are met. This news follows the initial $4 billion investment Amazon made in Anthropic in 2023 and a second $4 billion round from 2024.

On Anthropic's side, it has committed to continued use of Amazon's custom Trainium silicon for its AI models. The latest agreement will see Anthropic promising to spend more than $100 billion on AWS technologies over the coming decade. It will secure up to 5 gigawatts of current and future chip capacity for training and powering its models. Their partnership is also bringing Anthropic's Claude platform to Amazon Web Services customers within the AWS portal, removing the need for additional credentials.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-will-invest-up-to-25-billion-in-anthropic-in-a-broad-deal-225239302.html?src=rss

After debuting in the US, Gemini in Chrome is making its way to more markets. Starting today, Google is rolling out Chrome's built-in chatbot to users in Asia and the Pacific, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. The expansion comes after Google earlier this year made Gemini in Chrome available to people in Canada, India and New Zealand.

With the exception of Japan, where Google isn't making the new suite available on iOS just yet, everyone else in the countries mentioned above can access Gemini in Chrome through Chrome's desktop browser, and the app on their iPhone or iPad. To get started, just tap the "Ask Gemini" icon at the top right of the screen. It will open a new sidebar Google introduced at the start of the year where you can chat with Gemini across every open tab. From there, you can also access Google's in-house image generator, Nano Banana 2. As you would expect, the suite offers integrations with Google's other apps, allowing you, for instance, to add events to Calendar without leaving the interface.

If you don't want to use Gemini, you can right click on the shortcut to unpin it from the top of the interface.

Update 7:43PM ET: This article has been updated to reflect the expansion includes the entire Asia-Pacific region.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-brings-gemini-in-chrome-to-users-in-asia-and-the-pacific-220000698.html?src=rss

Apple CEO Tim Cook is officially stepping down from his role on September 1, the company announced today, while current SVP of hardware engineering John Ternus will take over as the new CEO. Cook will transition to a new role as executive chairman of Apple’s Board of Directors. The company says the move was “approved unanimously” by Apple’s Board, and that Cook will work on transitioning his duties over the summer.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.”

Cook became CEO of Apple in 2011 following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, and he led the charge for Apple’s post-iPhone and iPad era by launching the AirPods, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. He also pushed the company into being more of a service provider with the launch of Apple TV and Apple Music. While he’s had a strong reputation as a logistics-oriented executive, Cook has been criticized for lacking the product vision that Jobs was known for.

Ternus, on the other hand, has been focused on product design since joining Apple in 2001. He became VP of hardware engineering in 2013, and later transitioned to a senior executive role in 2021. Ternus was also prominently featured at the MacBook Neo launch a few months ago, where Apple announced a low-cost yet high-quality notebook that encapsulates its unique place in the PC industry.

“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in a statement. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another.”

Cook published a community letter timed for the announcement, which we’ve included below:

To the Apple community:
For the past 15 years I’ve started just about every morning the same way. I open my email and I read notes I received the day before from Apple’s users all over the world.

You share little pieces of your lives with me and tell me things you want me to know about how Apple has touched you. About the moment your mom was saved by her Apple Watch. About the perfect selfie you captured at the summit of a mountain that seemed impossible to climb. You thank me for the ways Mac has changed what you can do at work and sometimes give me a hard time because something you care about isn’t working like it should.

In every one of those emails I feel the beating heart of our shared humanity. I feel a sense of deepening obligation to work harder and push further. But most of all, I feel a gratitude that I cannot put into words, that I somehow got to be the person on the other end of those emails, the leader of a company that ignites imaginations and enriches lives in such profound ways it defies description. What an honor and a privilege it has been.

Today we announced that I’m taking the next step in my journey at Apple. Over the coming months I will be transitioning into a new role, leaving the CEO job behind in September and becoming Apple’s executive chairman. A new person will be stepping into what I know in my heart is the best job in the world. That leader is John Ternus, a brilliant engineer and thinker who has spent the past 25 years building the Apple products our users love so much, obsessed with every detail, focused on every possible way we can make something better, bolder, more beautiful, and more meaningful. He is the perfect person for the job.

John cares so much about who we are at Apple, what we do at Apple, who we reach at Apple, and he has the heart and character to lead with extraordinary integrity. I am so proud to call him Apple’s next CEO. This company will reach such incredible heights under his leadership, and you will feel his impact in every bit of delight and discovery that grows out of the products and services to come. I can’t wait for you to get to know him like I do.

This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. Not on behalf of the company, this time, though there is a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our walls. But simply on behalf of me. Tim. A person who grew up in a rural place in a different time and, for these magical moments, got to be the CEO of the greatest company in the world. Thank you for the confidence and kindness you’ve shown me. Thank you for saying hi to me on the street and in our stores. Thank you for cheering alongside me when we unveiled a new product or service. Thank you, most of all, for believing in me to lead the company that has always put you at the center of our work. Every day we get up and think about what we can do to make your life a little bit better. And every day, you’ve made mine the best I could have asked for.

Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/tim-cook-will-step-down-as-204959434.html?src=rss

Mastodon seems to be recovering after a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that took down its primary mastodon.social instance. As TechCrunch notes, the platform began reporting issues early Monday morning as much of the Mastodon-operated server became inaccessible.

It's not clear who might be behind the attack, but Mastodon's head of communications Andy Piper described it as a "major" incident. A couple hours later, Mastodon shared on a status page that it had implemented countermeasures and that users should be able to access mastodon.social once again. Piper said that "some ongoing instability is a possibility" as the site recovered. It's unclear if any other instances of the service were also targeted; mastodon.social is run directly by the nonprofit and is the largest server on the federated platform.

Mastodon is the second decentralized platform to be targeted with a DDoS in recent days. Last week, Bluesky also dealt with a significant DDoS incident that took parts of the service offline for several hours. The company posted what it said was its final update Monday morning, saying that its service had "remained stable" and that there was "no evidence of unauthorized access to private user data." A few hours later, however, it seemed Bluesky was once again experiencing some issues, though the cause was unclear. Its official status page was down, and a post from its server status account indicated that there were "elevated errors and timeouts on some Bluesky-hosted services." Bluesky said it was investigating.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/mastodon-was-hit-by-a-major-ddos-attack-that-briefly-took-down-parts-of-the-service-204823221.html?src=rss

And China is loving it

Iranian media is claiming that the US used backdoors and/or botnets to disable networking equipment during the current war, and Chinese state media is dining out on the allegations....

Dud contracts, proprietary designs, and zero-experience supplier make for quite the mess

The NASA Office of Inspector General, the aerospace agency’s auditor, fears that work on next-generation spacesuits won’t finish in time to use them for the planned Artemis III Moon landing mission in 2028....

Remember what we promised when you subscribed for a year? Well, we've got a new deal that's better for us.

Microsoft's GitHub has stopped accepting new Copilot individual subscriptions while the code hosting biz figures out how it can meet its service commitments without breaking the bank....

A lesson in how not to respond to vulnerability reports

UPDATED Vibe-coding platform Lovable is pooh-poohing a researcher’s finding that anyone could open a free account on the service and read other users' sensitive info, including credentials, chat history, and source code. However, the company’s story keeps changing: First it attributed the publicly exposed info to "intentional behavior" and "unclear documentation," then threw bug-bounty service HackerOne under the bus....

The struggles continue for Fermi America's 17 GW bit barn ambitions

It’s been a weekend filled with dizzying changes in the boardroom at datacenter wannabe Fermi America as it hopes eventually to expand its West Texas campus to about 17 gigawatts of behind-the-meter generation capacity....

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 21

Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, will replace Cook later this year.

Amid rumors of leaving certain markets, the company introduces the Nord CE6 and Nord CE6 Lite.

After failing to deliver its first customer satellite into the correct orbit, the FAA grounds Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket pending an investigation.

What's old is new again.

Problems with the ground system would have "put current GPS military and civilian capabilities at risk."

Cook will be executive chairman, but will no longer run the company day to day.

Experts point out a series of flaws, including small size and no control group.

Importers can now request refunds, two months after Trump's Supreme Court loss.

Energy management and speed differentials are the problems of the day.

An autonomous robot from the company Honor ran a half marathon in 50:26, beating the human record by 7 minutes.

Responsibly dispose of your food scraps with one of these indoor, (mostly) odor-free, WIRED-tested devices.

John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, will replace Cook as CEO on September 1. Cook will stay on as executive chairman.

The actor-director discussed his least favorite currency and read a series of mean tweets—about us!—at our inaugural WIRED@Night event.

The CEO of Magical Adventures Balloon Rides tells WIRED how the pilot made a safe landing after they got stranded over a neighborhood.

Sony's various Bravia TVs deliver high-end picture and sound. But with a few extra tweaks, you can push those aspects even further.

The 2026 Moto G sticks to a proven formula, offering great performance at an affordable price.

PrivacyBee is one of the most comprehensive data removal services I've tested, capable of removing personal information from hundreds of sites.

The new protocol was built for 'better security and barrier-breaking speeds.' I tested whether it can compete with WireGuard during its early phase.

If you need to encrypt a file on your Android device so it can be safely shared with other users, this handy app gets the job done.

The European Commission is set to designate ChatGPT as a ‘Very Large Online Search Engine,’ subjecting OpenAI to strict Digital Services Act compliance rules.

The post European Commission Moving to Classify ChatGPT as ‘Very Large Online Search Engine’ Under Digital Services Act appeared first on TechRepublic.

Square POS stands out for its free entry point, flexible software, and wide hardware range. However, its all-in-one approach can fall short depending on your business type and growth needs.

The post Square POS Review 2026: Pricing, Features, Pros and Cons appeared first on TechRepublic.

Apple CEO Tim Cook steps down, handing leadership to hardware chief John Ternus in a major shift that could shape the company’s next era.

The post End of an Era: Tim Cook Steps Down as Apple CEO, John Ternus to Take Over appeared first on TechRepublic.

VP.NET makes VPN privacy verifiable, not just policy-based, with secure enclave tech for up to five devices.

The post This VPN Lets You Verify Your Business Privacy For $130 appeared first on TechRepublic.

Apple’s Mac Studio 2026 may be delayed due to supply chain issues and memory shortages, with reports pointing to a later-than-expected release timeline.

The post Mac Studio 2026: Apple’s New Desktop Faces a Delayed Timeline appeared first on TechRepublic.

Dyson reimagines hair drying on-the-go Dyson launches a compact Supersonic Travel hair dryer with full performance for on-the-go use.

Tim Cook passes Apple baton to John Ternus Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO, with hardware chief John Ternus set to take over in September 2026.

Kindles were notably nowhere in sight.

BookCon 2026 returned for the first time in six years, and fans returned in droves, selling out the event fast. We were on the ground at the event, covering panels and chatting with authors and BookTok creators. But just like the attendees, we also hit ...

iPhone 18 Pro Max leak reveals Dark Cherry colour Leaks suggest Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro Max could feature a new Dark Cherry colour, A20 chip, and improved battery life, with a launch expected in September 2026.

WhatsApp tests Plus subscription WhatsApp is testing a new ‘Plus’ subscription plan for Android users, offering premium features like chat customisation and expanded controls while keeping core messaging services free.

Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple CEO, handing the reins to hardware engineering chief John Ternus. A Seattle tech vet and former advisor to Steve Jobs says the choice signals a return to the company's product roots at a critical moment. Read More

Wireless technology could keep military drones flying indefinitely, or be adapted as a directed-energy defense system for countering drones. Read More

Two months after investing $50 billion in OpenAI and striking a $100 billion cloud deal, Amazon announced a similar arrangement with its original AI partner, Anthropic: up to $25 billion in new investment and a $100 billion-plus commitment to AWS over 10 years. Read More

Seattle's mayor is exploring a moratorium on new data centers, but the city's real utility challenges — skyrocketing electricity prices, a looming capacity gap, and an eastside water defection — have nothing to do with data centers. Read More

Tech company billboards are a big part of the landscape in Silicon Valley. Summation CEO Ian Wong said the Seattle/Bellevue area "has world-class technical talent, but the scene here has always been understated." Read More

Great for small businesses and quick hires, but hidden fees and uneven support let it down.

Never paid attention to the box in the corner of the office? Maybe it’s time to start – here are ten amazing facts about your laser printer.

Philips' attractive milk frother is extremely simple to use and does an excellent job of foaming milk, but there's just one texture and it's rather thick.

A variety of recipes at the touch of a button and a truly talented milk steaming wand make this Breville machine the true king.

The DESI project recorded data from 47 million galaxies and quasars and built a 3D map of the universe to help unlock dark energy's secrets.