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Bing Search Engine Surpasses 100 Million Daily Active Users

This week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s pursuit of Google hit a new high when the company revealed that the number of daily active users of its AI-powered Bing search engine had exceeded 100 million.

Bing’s statistics were revealed in a blog post on Wednesday by Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president, and chief consumer marketing officer at Microsoft. Notably, Mehdi noted that a third of Bing’s active users are brand-new to Bing. Bing preview is a constrained early-bird form of its upcoming search engine.

The company viewed this as “validation” of its belief that search needs to be reinvented and evidence of the attraction of providing search, responses, chat, and creativity all in one spot.

Also Read: Google expands Gmail client-side encryption to more users

Even though Google, which has over 1 billion users on a daily basis, is still the market leader, this is a promising start for Microsoft. Mehdi wrote in the blog, “This is a surprisingly notable figure, and yet we are fully aware we remain a small, low, single-digit share player. that said, it feels good to be at the dance!” The Microsoft executive continued by claiming that users were using Bing more frequently, though he withheld precise figures.

Mehdi outlined the two variables that influence Bing usage and trial. According to The Verge, the company has actively pushed its browser, Microsoft Edge, onto users through Windows updates and prompts in an effort to deter them from downloading Google Chrome.

According to Mehdi, Microsoft intends to keep utilizing Edge to promote Bing in the future. The Microsoft executive said, “We expect new capabilities, like having Bing search and create in the Edge sidebar, will bolster further growth.”

Mehdi noted that another element influencing the growth is Bing’s improved core web search ranking, which has improved in quality and relevance as a result of the recent inclusion of OpenAI’s Prometheus model. Microsoft claimed at a news conference last month that Prometheus was “more powerful than ChatGPT”.

It should come as no surprise that users are visiting Bing to communicate with the famous search engine. An average of 3 chats are had per session by about one-third of users every day on Bing chat. Since the preview started on February 7, Bing has recorded over 45 million chats.

The Bing chatbot was introduced by Microsoft a month back in a “limited preview,” and it makes use of an OpenAI large language model (LLM). In reaction to the bot’s occasionally strange and threatening conversations, the company changed the behavior of the bot in a number of ways.

Also Read: Snapchat launches A.I. chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT

Microsoft recently added a few “personalities” for the chatbot to make replies either more direct or more entertaining. One alteration limited the number of answers the chatbot could deliver in a single occasion because it was simpler for the chatbot to go off the rails during longer sessions.

Microsoft has updated its Edge browser, Skype, the Windows 11 taskbar, as well as certain developer tools since last month to include “new Bing” features. The organization is also testing “multimodal AI” technology, which can process data in a variety of formats, including text, audio, video, and images.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Google expands Gmail client-side encryption to more users

After launching in the beta the previous year, Google recently made public that Gmail’s client-side encryption mode has now become readily accessible for companies and education providers.

The feature prevents even Google from viewing the contents of the emails it hosts, with data encoded before it enters Google servers. According to the firm, this can be beneficial for businesses that must meet stringent compliance or confidentiality standards.

Although Workspace “encrypts data at rest and in transit by using secure-by-design cryptographic libraries,” CSE gives organizations total control over their encryption keys. “Starting today, users can send and receive emails or create meeting events with internal colleagues and external parties, knowing that their sensitive data (including inline images and attachments) has been encrypted before it reaches Google servers,” Google wrote in a blog post.
Source: engadget.com

Also Read: Are all Google One subscribers now able to access Magic Eraser?

Claims about the firm striving to enhance the encryption for its email service date as far as 2014, so it’s encouraging to discover that client-side encryption is officially ready.

Even So, the functionality is not aimed at everyone; it’s solely accessible by individuals who have Education Standard, Workspace Enterprise Plus, or Education Plus accounts and not personal accounts. It’s also not especially simple to install, as the process seems to be geared toward IT departments.

This functionality is disabled by default, which will annoy many security professionals, and can be activated after a consumer deploys an important management service incorporated with their authentication server.

Although encrypting Drive files & Calendar events are a great addition, CSE protections might be most impactful in Gmail. After all, organizations can send an email to third-party companies instead of sharing data as well as calendar invites with them. In any case, Google claims that CSE is now available for all vital Workspace applications.

“Users can continue to collaborate across other essential apps in Google Workspace while IT and security teams can ensure that sensitive data stays compliant with regulations,” the Googlers said.
Source: theregister.com

Also Read: Google tests blocking news content for some Canadians

Whilst also Gmail is undoubtedly among the most efficient applications for client-side encryption, Google has also made the feature available in a number of its various other Workspace apps, including Drive, Docs, as well as Meet.

It also stated earlier in the month that client-side encryption is now readily accessible for Google Calendar, allowing businesses to add extra security to an event’s synopsis and attachments.

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

Google tests blocking news content for some Canadians

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., announced on Wednesday that it is implementing tests that may restrict access to news material for certain Canadian users as a potential countermeasure to the government’s internet news law.

The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau unveiled House of Commons Bill C-18, the “Online News Act,” in April. This legislation outlined regulations that would compel Google and Facebook to enter into business agreements and compensate news publishers for their material.

Image Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

In an email statement to Reuters, a Google spokesperson stated, “We’re briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users. We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to Search.”

Also Read: Amazon Web Services pairs with Hugging Face to target AI developers

As it considers potential responses to the bill, the company said on Wednesday that it is momentarily restricting access to news material for less than 4% of its Canadian users. The update affects both its widely used search engine and Android’s Discover tool, which offers news and sports content.

The test, which will last for approximately five weeks, has an impact on all forms of news content, the company said. The tech giant acknowledged that the time-limited tests “limit the visibility of Canadian and international news to varying degrees”.

Canadians won’t be frightened, according to a spokesperson for Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez, who also criticized Google for copying Meta’s strategy. She stated, “Canadians need to have access to quality, fact-based news at the local and national levels, and that’s why we introduced the Online News Act.

Tech giants need to be more transparent and accountable to Canadians.” Due to worries about laws that would require digital platforms to compensate news publishers, Facebook issued a warning last year that it might restrict the sharing of news material on its network in Canada.

A government report claimed that a similar law in Australia, which went into force in March 2021 after negotiations with major tech companies resulted in a brief suspension of Facebook news feeds there, has largely succeeded. The Canadian news media sector has fought Facebook and requested more control of tech firms from the government in order to make up for the financial losses the sector has endured as a result of Facebook and Google’s steady increase in market share of ads over the years. Since 2008, more than 450 Canadian news organizations have shut down, with 64 of those happening in the previous two years.

Also Read: Google Chrome rolls out long-awaited battery-saving features

Google voiced concerns about the proposed law to a House of Commons committee, saying that it would favor big publishers over smaller outlets, would not require publishers to follow fundamental journalistic standards, and could lead to the spread of “cheap, low quality, clickbait content” rather than public interest journalism.

The corporation has stated that it would prefer to contribute to a fund that would compensate news publishers indirectly, comparable to the Canada Media Fund. The bill was approved by the House of Commons in December and will soon be reviewed by the Senate.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Google Chrome rolls out long-awaited battery-saving features

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

Google Chrome is considered one of the top Android internet browsers, and it boasts feature equality with the desktop application.

Google Chrome has evolved into a resource hog in the time frame of 14 years ever since its release, consuming an increasing percentage of your system’s storage as well as battery life with evidently complete impunity.

When Chrome 108 was released in December, Google set out on a mission to rid the search engine of its notoriety for always being resource-hungry, introducing two additional utility services called Memory Saver & Energy Saver. Both of these features are now readily accessible on Chrome 110 for desktop pcs.

Chrome’s brand-new Memory Saver functionality helps to optimize resource consumption by focusing on improving active tabs as well as other apps, as announced in December.

Also Read: Meta Launches Subscription Service for Facebook and Instagram

Deactivated tabs are snoozed as well as demoted to the background and even though continue to appear within the tab strip; users can load up a non-active tab as well as verify the Omnibox alert to determine how much Computer Memory Saver has released for those other tasks.

Energy Saver is nearly identical, but it works to decrease Chrome’s battery usage on notebooks & Chromebooks. Users can set Energy Saver to begin immediately as their battery level falls below 20 percent. When activated, you’ll notice a leaf symbol next to the Omnibox as well as an absence of huge stunning visuals.

Google explains that it accomplishes these battery savings by deactivating seamless browsing and website visual effects, as well as lowering video frame rates.

The brand-new Memory Saver & Energy Saver functionalities are automatically enabled on Chromebooks, Windows, as well as Macs beginning with the stable channel update of Chrome 110. Furthermore, you could always disable or limit the functionality of these functions, which is as simple as removing online sites from Memory Saver so they do not snooze.

Also Read: Google Staff in Zurich Stage Walkout Over Job Cuts

To perform effectively, Chrome as well enables you to enable Energy Saver automatically when the charger is disconnected.

Memory Saver, as well as Energy Saver options, are obtainable in the Performance tab of Google Chrome. Energy Saver doesn’t appear to be present on desktop computers for understandable reasons. If you have upgraded to Chrome 110 and have yet to see the latest toggle button, you might need to allow the mentioned flags by entering them in the Omnibox afterward and setting them to “Enabled.”

chrome://flags/#battery-saver-mode-available

chrome://flags/#high-efficiency-mode-available

Suhani Jain

Google Staff in Zurich Stage Walkout Over Job Cuts

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

In Zurich, approximately 250 employees of Alphabet Inc.’s Google protested the company’s decision to lay off around 6% of its workforce by walking out on Wednesday.

As per union spokesman Dominik Fitze, the workers left their workstations before midday with the help of the Syndicom trade union and gathered outside one of the two Google locations in the Swiss city with placards.

They urged Google to speak with an employee committee about alternatives to layoffs and help for people from abroad whose residency is dependent on their employment, as required by Swiss law, Fitze added. In addition, he said, they want the corporation to promise not to make any more job layoffs.

Also Read: Google has rolled out Immersive View for Maps across five cities

Even while the protesters made up a relatively small part of Google’s 5,000 or so employees in Zurich, it is unusual for corporate workers at tech corporations to strike. It comes after comparable demonstrations by colleagues about the job layoffs earlier this month in New York and California.

A Google spokesperson noted, “We know this is an uncertain time for our employees and we are working hard to share updates as soon as we can in line with local labor law. However, given the ongoing process, we are not in the position to comment further on the matter.”

In response to the faltering global economy and increasing inflation, Alphabet said in January that it will be laying off more than 12,000 employees, following other tech behemoths including Meta, Amazon, and Salesforce Inc.

Affected employees in the US received notification right away, but in Europe, it has taken longer because of stricter local employment rules that, in some situations, call for a consultation procedure.

Fitze stated that because the workers in Zurich had not yet received notice, it is unknown how many of them lost their jobs.

In 2018, Google employees in numerous places around the world staged a strike in protest of how the company handled complaints of sexual misconduct. Google revealed in January 2023 that it will be eliminating 6% of positions globally and has let go of about 12,000 workers.

Also Read: Amazon Subsidiary Zappos Lays Off Around 20% of Staff

Numerous former staff flocked to Twitter to discuss their fate in the wake of this statement.

As a result of the unexpected layoffs, several people also expressed their hurt. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, was even called upon to resign by online users, former workers, and others. A short time after the Google Layoffs, reports of a probable compensation reduction for Pichai also started to circulate.

Earlier Pichai accepted complete accountability for the layoffs. He said that the corporation overhired during the pandemic when demand was extremely strong.

In the email he sent to Google employees, Pichai stated, “Over the past two years, we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Google has rolled out Immersive View for Maps across five cities

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

Immersive View for Google Maps has become available in five cities in the world, following its debut last year all over hundreds of excellent landmarks.

It integrates huge amounts of Street View as well as aerial pictures, letting people glide over neighbourhoods and afterwards drop back down to floor level for a deeper inspection at points of interest. The experience is equivalent to Google Earth, but there is the ability to explore in greater depth in Street View.

Immersive View was first officially confirmed in May 2021 & grew to include 250 worldwide landmarks in September of the year before, which include Tokyo Tower as well as the Acropolis of Athens.

Also Read: Google will blur explicit images in search by default

The feature is now accessible in London, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, as well as Tokyo, also with Indoor Live View functionality broadening to thousands of airports, shopping malls and train stations.

Interactive View can be utilized to make trips to exhibitions, parks, and perhaps activities by virtually gliding atop black and white building structures to find entry points, verify near the area traffic as well as parking, and determine which regions are likely to draw the most throngs of people. A time slider is also available for viewing a destination at various times of day and under various weather conditions.

Users searching for near area eateries or food outlets can just use New interactive View to develop immersive walkthroughs by morphing pictures with neural radiance fields, NeRF, which is an AI-Based advanced technique and by mapping colour & light from numerous still photographs from widely different angles, it develops a three-Dimensional constructed spectacle.

Also Read: Twitter to start charging developers for API access

With the help of NeRF, Google can “accurately recreate the full context of a place including its lighting, the texture of materials and what’s in the background,” according to a blog post. “All of this allows you to see if a bar’s moody lighting is the right vibe for a date night or if the views at a cafe make it the ideal spot for lunch with friends.”
Source: engadget.com

In the meantime, Search On google has Live View, as well as Indoor Live View, which will be expanded to even more places in the following months. The firm also offered a quick glimpse at its forthcoming Search chatbot known as Bard.

Suhani Jain

Google

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