Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name

Laura Normand / The Verge

The coming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th, but could unveil sooner, is meant to signal the tech giant’s ambition to be known for more than social media and all the ills that entail. The rebrand would likely position the blue Facebook app as one of many products under a parent company overseeing groups like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and more. A spokesperson for Facebook declined to comment for this story.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/19/22735612/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse

Intel CEO warns chip shortage won’t end until at least 2023, as laptop sales get hit by supply issues

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Part of the problem isn’t always shortages in chips specifically, but rather with combinations of parts. “We call it match sets, where we may have the CPU, but you don’t have the LCD, or you don’t have the Wi-Fi. Data centers are particularly struggling with some of the power chips and some of the networking or ethernet chips,” Gelsinger explains.

Chaim Gartenberg @cgartenberg 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/21/22739192/intel-chip-shortage-q3-2021-earning-laptop-revenue

Google’s Pixel 6 camera smartens up snapshots with AI tools

Image Credits: Brian Heater

Google’s latest flagship phones have an impressive set of automated, AI-powered tools to help make your photos look better, with smart blurs, object removal and skin tone exposure. While we’ll have to test them out to see if they work as advertised, they could be useful for everyone from pixel peepers to casual snapshot takers.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/googles-pixel-6-camera-smartens-up-snapshots-with-ai-tools/

Apparently, it’s the next big thing. What is the metaverse?

Getty Images

Instead of being on a computer, in the metaverse you might use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments.

Unlike current VR, which is mostly used for gaming, this virtual world could be used for practically anything – work, play, concerts, cinema trips – or just hanging out.

Most people envision that you would have a 3D avatar – a representation of yourself – as you use it.

But because it’s still just an idea, there’s no single agreed definition of the metaverse.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58749529

U.S. pursues a unique solution to fight hackers. It revolves around esports.

(The Washington Post illustration; iStock)

Asked about the possibility of teaching skills to people who could use it for ill, he compared himself to a chemistry teacher. “I teach them how to put elements together. That knowledge could be misused, but we assess character,” O’Connor said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/10/15/cybersecurity-hacks-esports/

Snapchat is back up, after users couldn’t post or send messages for hours

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

For a couple of hours on Wednesday morning, Snap Streaks were at risk as many users reported they couldn’t successfully post story updates or send messages on the service. In a tweet, the Snapchat Support Twitter account confirmed the issues, telling people to “hang tight, we’re looking into it!”

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/13/22724142/snapchat-down-outage-error-down-story-messages