At 2 am while feeding my infant, I received notification: Sacked Google worker

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At 2 am while feeding my infant, I received notification: Sacked Google worker

Among the 12,000 workers sacked by Google, an employee said he was feeding his newborn at 2 a.m. when he received a notification that he had lost access to his Google corporate accounts and been laid off via email.

Nicholas Dufau, an Associate Product Counsel at Google who spent only six months at the company in Los Angeles, US, wrote in his LinkedIn post, “Last Tuesday morning at 2 a.m., I became a father. On Friday morning at 2 a.m. while feeding my infant, I received a notification that I had lost access to my Google corporate accounts. I had been laid off via automated email”.

“And so last week marked the end of my 6-month stint at Google where I worked on a team packed with intelligent, driven, and kind folks who welcomed me into their Google family,” he added.

Affected by the layoff, Dufau said that the time he lost his job made him feel acutely expendable and naive.

Keeping up the fighting spirit, he concluded his post by saying, “And of course, my saintly wife and miraculous daughter have been here to lift my spirits and give me comfort. They have shown me that whatever difficulties I may be facing, I still have so much more to be thankful for.”

Meanwhile, another Google employee who worked as a recruiter said he got sacked by the company in the middle of an interview.

Dan Lanigan Ryan, a recruiter at Google, who spent 1.3 years at the company in Dublin, Ireland, wrote in his LinkedIn post, “Unfortunately, I was laid off from Google along with many thousands of others last Friday”.

“I did not expect it to come to such an abrupt end, blocked out of the system in the middle of a call,” he added.

Google introduces AI system that generates music from text descriptions

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Google introduces AI system that generates music from text descriptions

Google has introduced a new AI system called – “MusicLM” that can generate high-fidelity music in any genre given a text description.

However, the company is fearing the risks, and has no immediate plans to release it, reports TechCrunch.

Google isn’t the first to try generative AI for songs, as there have been other attempts, including Riffusion, an AI that composes music by visualizing it, as well as Dance Diffusion, Google’s own AudioML, and OpenAI’s Jukebox.

But due to technical constraints and limited training data, none of them has been able to produce songs that are particularly complex in composition or high fidelity.

MusicLM is perhaps the first that can, said the report.

MusicLM was trained on a dataset of 2,80,000 hours of music to learn to generate coherent songs for descriptions of “significant complexity” (eg., “enchanting jazz song with a memorable saxophone solo and a solo singer” or “Berlin ’90s techno with a low bass and strong kick”), as described in an academic paper by US-based Cornell University.

Meanwhile, Google announced that users can now lock their incognito session when they leave Chrome on Android.

“You can require biometric authentication when you resume an Incognito session that was interrupted,” the tech giant said in a blog post.

Earlier, this feature was available on iOS devices, but now it is rolling out to Android users too.

Premium segment at highest spot, 5G phones at 32% market share in India

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Premium segment at highest spot, 5G phones at 32% market share in India

The premium segment (Rs 30,000 and above) contributed 11 percent to India’s smartphone shipments and 35 percent to overall market revenue in 2022, the highest ever.

Samsung led the market in 2022 in terms of shipment value share with a 22 percent share, followed by Apple, in the country, according to Counterpoint Research.

However, in terms of shipment volume, Xiaomi led the market in 2022 with a 20 percent share, closely followed by Samsung.

Xiaomi slipped to third position in Q4 2022 with Samsung and vivo capturing first and second spots respectively.

5G smartphones captured a 32 percent share in 2022. Samsung became the top-selling 5G brand in 2022 with a 21 percent share.

Apple continued to lead the premium smartphone segment, with the iPhone 13 emerging as the top-selling model. Apple also led the market in Q4 2022 in terms of shipment value.

“Consumer demand started declining from the second quarter when the global economy was crippled by multiple macroeconomic issues like all-time high inflation, rising unemployment, and geopolitical conflicts, affecting India’s economy as well,” said senior research analyst Prachir Singh.

Inventory build-up across channels after the second quarter led to lower-than-expected shipments throughout the second half of the year.

“We believe that the inventory and demand situation will continue to affect the market in the first half of 2023 before improving in the latter half driven by the festive season and upgrades to 5G devices,” Singh added.

India’s smartphone shipments declined 9 percent YoY to reach over 152 million units in 2022, according to the report.

The decline, which is the second ever in India’s smartphone market, can be attributed to the decline in entry-level and budget segments which faced supply constraints at the beginning of the year and then witnessed lower demand throughout the year.

“While entry-tier and budget segments were most affected, the premium segment remained immune and showed double-digit growth. OEMs’ increased focus, consumers upgrading for premium features, and, most importantly, availability of various financing schemes,” said research analyst Shilpi Jain.

Overall, India’s smartphone market revenue remained flat despite a 9 percent YoY decline in shipments.

OnePlus grew 50 percent YoY in 2022 driven by the OnePlus Nord CE 2 series.

It focused on diversifying and expanding its product portfolio across different price points and increasing its offline presence to drive sales, the report mentioned.

Apple developing iOS 17: Report

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Apple developing iOS 17: Report

Apple is reportedly developing its iOS 17 software update and other new updates that will be released this year.

Some of the tech giant’s open-source documentation referencing iOS 17 has received updates, reports 9To5Mac.

Every year, the company starts adding references to upcoming iOS, macOS, and watchOS upgrades to its various open-source repositories.

Future versions are frequently referred to as “TBA” by the iPhone maker in order to hide their actual version numbers.

The following operating systems are expected to be introduced at Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June this year– iOS 17, macOS 14, watchOS 10, iPadOS 17, and tvOS 17.

The release of the company’s Reality Pro headset, which will give the company’s lineup a fully new operating system, is expected to coincide with the updates this year.

However, the tech giant has not yet revealed the dates for WWDC and it is still unclear whether the conference will be a hybrid in-person and virtual event like last year or a completely in-person event, the report said.

Earth to have close encounter with small asteroid this week

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Earth to have close encounter with small asteroid this week

An asteroid, about the size of a box truck, will have a very close encounter with the Earth this week, NASA Systems has predicted.

The asteroid, called Asteroid 2023, is expected to fly over South America. During its flight, the asteroid is predicted to be only 2,200 miles above Earth’s surface, making it the closest in recorded history, according to NASA.

However, the space agency said that there is no risk of the asteroid impacting Earth, and even if it did, the small asteroid, which is estimated to be 11.5 to 28 feet (3.5 to 8.5 meters) across, would disintegrate harmlessly in the atmosphere, with some of the larger debris potentially falling as small meteorites.

The asteroid was initially spotted by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov on Saturday and reported to the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

NASA’s Scout impact hazard assessment system was then used to analyze MPC’s data and predict the near miss.

“Scout quickly ruled out 2023 BU as an impactor, but despite the very few observations, it was nonetheless able to predict that the asteroid would make an extraordinarily close approach with Earth,” Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at JPL who developed Scout, said in a statement.

“In fact, this is one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded,” he added.

Although this asteroid poses no threat to Earth, NASA has been focusing on building planetary defenses against them.

Google may release Pixel Tablet Pro with Tensor G2 chip

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Google may release Pixel Tablet Pro with Tensor G2 chip

Tech giant Google will reportedly release a Pro version of its upcoming Pixel Tablet, which will feature a Tensor G2 chip.

According to leaker Kuba Wojciechowski, the tech giant initially started working on a tablet using the original Tensor chip but this project was then allegedly canceled as the company began working on a tablet that used Tensor G2 instead, reports Android Authority.

The first device is expected to be the Pixel Tablet and the second device is likely to be the one coming to market this year, which might be the Pro model.

The leaker also mentioned that the only difference between the two devices is likely to be the chip powering them.

Last month, Wojciechowski discovered a device called “TangorPro” in the Google Camera Go application’s code.

As “Tangor” is believed to be the codename for the Pixel Tablet, “TangorPro” strongly indicated a Pro variant of the Pixel Tablet.

Meanwhile, the upcoming Pixel Tablet and its charging speaker dock have been leaked on Facebook Marketplace, a destination on Facebook where people can buy and sell items.

‘It feels like slap in the face’: Sacked Google worker whose mother died of cancer

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‘It feels like slap in the face’: Sacked Google worker whose mother died of cancer

Among the 12,000 employees that Google has laid off, a software engineer has said he was fired by his employer just days after returning to work from a bereavement leave following the death of his mother.

Tommy York, who is based in San Francisco in the US, wrote in a LinkedIn post that his mother died in December 2022 after battling stage-four cancer.

“I was laid off from Google last week. I found out on my fourth day back from bereavement leave for my mom, who died from cancer in December,” York wrote.

“It’s unclear how the lay-offs were determined, and perhaps the year I had may have nudged me more towards being laid off. I started at Google in December 2021, and my Mom was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer the following February, around when the formal orientation ended and I was put on projects,” he added.

He further said that his termination felt like a “slap in the face, like being hit when you’re down”.

Moreover, he remembered the time that he spent with his mother, saying: “I’m grateful that I spent the time and energy I did with my mom, and not overworking for a company who might decide on one cold Friday morning that my badge doesn’t work anymore”.

The professional concluded by thanking the company for the “generous” severance package he received and said he would take a two-month break to re-center.

“I’ll be taking February and March off, but am open to starting to search for new work around the end of March. If you hear of any opportunities you think might be particularly suited to me, get in touch,” he wrote.

ChatGPT can’t be credited as an author on research paper: Springer Nature

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ChatGPT can’t be credited as an author on research paper: Springer Nature

AI tools such as ChatGPT threaten transparent science, according to Springer Nature, the world’s largest academic publisher, which has laid down ground rules for its use, saying software like ChatGPT can’t be credited as an author in papers published in its journals.

First, no large language models (LLMs) tool will be accepted as a credited author on a research paper.

“That is because any attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, and AI tools cannot take such responsibility,” said Nature in an article.

Second, researchers using LLM tools or AI chatbots should document the use in the methods or acknowledgments sections.

“If a paper does not include these sections, the introduction or another appropriate section can be used to document the use of the LLM,” said the publisher.

The AI chatbot ChatGPT has brought the capabilities of such tools, known as LLMs, to a mass audience.

ChatGPT can write presentable student essays, summarize research papers, answer questions well enough to pass medical exams, and generate helpful computer code.

It has produced research abstracts good enough that scientists found it hard to spot that a computer had written them.

“Worryingly for society, it could also make spam, ransomware, and other malicious outputs easier to produce. Although OpenAI has tried to put guard rails on what the chatbot will do, users are already finding ways around them,” said the report.

That is why Nature is setting out these principles.

“Ultimately, research must have transparency in methods, and integrity and truth from authors. This is, after all, the foundation that science relies on to advance,” the report mentioned.

WhatsApp working on new text editor for drawing tool

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WhatsApp working on new text editor for drawing tool

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly working on a redesigned text editor for its drawing tool.

The platform plans to introduce three new features to improve the drawing editor, reports WABetaInfo.

The first feature will provide users the ability to quickly switch between different fonts by just tapping one of the font options displayed above the keyboard.

The second feature relates to the flexibility of text alignment. Users will be able to align the text to the left, center, or right with the help of this feature, giving users more control to format the text in photos, videos, and GIFs.

Moreover, the third feature will allow users to change the text background, making it easier to differentiate important text.

The report said that the new text editor is currently under development and is expected to be released in a future update of the application.

Last week, it was reported that the messaging platform was working on a new feature that will allow users to send photos in their original quality.

The platform is planning to integrate a new setting icon within the drawing tool header which will allow users to configure the quality of any photo, providing them more control over the quality of images they are sending, especially when sending the photo in its original quality is necessary.

Indian-American astronaut nominated for promotion to US Air Force brigadier general

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Indian-American astronaut nominated for promotion to US Air Force brigadier general

US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American astronaut Raja Chari on the moon mission team for promotion to Air Force brigadier general, according to the Defence Department.

The nomination announced on Thursday will have to be confirmed by the Senate which approves all senior civilian and military appointments.

The US Air Force uses the same ranks as the Army, which considers brigadiers to be one-star generals.

Chari is a member of the Artemis team of astronauts preparing for the US mission of returning to the moon.

In 2021, he commanded a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) crew to the International Space Station where he served for 177 days and conducted a spacewalk.

Before joining NASA, Chari was an Air Force test pilot with a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics.

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