With Files from Tom Li
Meta will continue to use facial recognition technology, NYC mayor wants to embrace cryptocurrency, and Tencent makes its own cloud chips.
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It’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Friday, November 5, and I’m your host, Jori Negin-Shecter.
Remember when Facebook announced that it was dropping its facial recognition services yesterday? Well, as it turns out, that wasn’t entirely true. While Facebook and Instagram have promised to drop facial recognition for photo tagging, and delete facial templates of more than a billion people, their parent company, Meta, is now saying that this change doesn’t apply to other metaverse products. One company spokesperson told Recode that Meta is already exploring new ways to include biometrics into emerging services, including its envisioned simulation-based internet social hub.
Cryptocurrency is perhaps the hottest and most controversial topic in today’s digital economy. The latest headline-grabbing news comes from New York City mayor Eric Adams. In an interview with Bloomberg Radio, Adams said he wants to remove barriers that prevent cryptocurrency adoption. This is a part of Adam’s campaign promise last year to digitally transform the city. Adams vowed that he would turn the city into the hub for science, cybersecurity, and cutting edge technology, which apparently also involves cryptocurrency.
Finally, Chinese technology company Tencent has introduced three system-on-chips. Designed in house, the three chips are an AI accelerator, video transcoder, and a network interface controller. All the new chips are designed for Tencents data centres and cloud infrastructure, and the move itself is clearly an effort to reduce reliance on U.S. Technology. Tencent, who have traditionally sourced its hardware from companies like Intel and AMD, will slowly transition away from those by swapping in their own chips. It’s an arduous process, but it’s one that the company sees as mandatory.
And now, for something a little bit different. Three P.M. rolls around and you’re already missing your bed. You take a peek at your desk, and a mountain of work is staring back. But the most terrifying part is the seemingly innocent flower pot next to it. Designed by Hardware Unknown, the Focus Flower will blast your face with water if you miss a deadline. The user would press a start time and press it again when the work is done. If not, then be prepared to grab a towel. Obviously, spraying water at work has other hazards, like damaged electronics and soiled documents. On the other hand, however, at least the flower pot is kind enough to include an LED indicator for the countdown.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. If you have a suggestion or tip, please drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thanks for listening, I’m Jori Negin-Shecter.