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A robot has become so good at playing table tennis that at times it defeated elite human players, in what has been hailed as “a longstanding milestone for AI”. The robotic arm, built by Japanese electronics giant Sony, is a paddle-wielding robot by the name of Ace. Ace was pitted against professional athletes and was found to have given them a real challenge with its nine camera eyes positioned around the court. The robot, which also has eight joints that direct its movements, learned how to play the sport using the AI method known as reinforcement learning. Sky News
People should stop using passwords online, the UK’s cyber agency has warned. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it was “overhauling decades of practice” by advising the public to stop relying on passwords for protection because they had become too vulnerable to hackers. Experts at the NCSC, an arm of GCHQ, say that is because most phishing attempts begin with criminals stealing or compromising a person’s login details. Instead, it is encouraging everyone to adopt passkeys, a password-free sign-in method, deemed much more secure because they cannot be stolen from servers. Telegraph
British businesses are being urged to step up their vigilance against a China-linked hacking ploy that uses everyday devices for espionage. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and agencies in nine other countries have warned of persistent attempts by Beijing-backed groups to hack equipment such as wifi routers to launch cyber-attacks. Known as “covert networks” or “botnets”, they typically target vulnerable equipment – for instance devices that have not had a software update or are old – as a base for staging activities such as surveillance and data theft. The Guardian
Xbox says it is dropping the prices of its subscription service Game Pass, just six months after hiking them by more than 50%. But the Microsoft-owned company said new Call of Duty games will only be added to the more premium Game Pass Ultimate and also PC Game Pass “about a year” after they are released. Reaction from fans was mixed, with some praising, external Xbox for “listening to feedback” on prices, while others noted it created “a trust issue”, external over what other first-party games could be removed in future. BBC
Spotify has just rolled out a new app specifically for your tablet, and it’s designed to make your listening and watching feel much more at home on a bigger screen. The update turns your tablet into a proper hub for discovering music, podcasts, audiobooks, and video content. You can explore your library on one side of the screen while something plays on the other – ideal for when you want to find your next favourite artist without pausing what you’re already enjoying. GB News
Satellite-to-phone services such as Starlink Mobile, which help users remain connected in cellular dead zones, might be all the rage in the telecommunication industry. But a new report raises questions about whether US customers are actually using the technology. Speedtest.net’s parent company, Ookla, published a report offering a rare glimpse into the satellite-to-phone market, covering US and international usage of Starlink Mobile, Skylo, and Lynk Global for Android phones. The report finds that the percentage of users accessing satellite technology in the US and Canada has decreased in recent months. PC Mag
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