Tech News – Page 87 – by Arlin Schaffel

Snapchat’s Snapstreaks are about to get more flexible — for a fee

Snapstreaks, a Snapchat feature that tracks how long you’ve been trading daily snaps with a friend, are about to get a little more forgiving. In a short blog post, the company says it’s testing the option to let users restore broken streaks. “Starting today, we’re making it easier to take a break with a new feature we’re testing to let you reignite the spark and restore one Streak for free with just one tap,” it writes.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/2/23621747/snapchat-snapstreaks-restore-freeze-premium-features%20SUN

Pokémon Sleep is just the start of my fully gamified life

I go for walks with pikmin and soon will snooze with pokémon. What’s next: lunch with Kirby?
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/1/23618888/pokemon-sleep-nintendo-gamified-life-apps

DOJ suit could represent significant stumbling block for $20B Adobe-Figma deal

The DOJ is reportedly getting ready to file suit to block the $20 billion Adobe-Figma deal announced last year on the grounds it is anti-competitive. Bloomberg first reported the story yesterday afternoon. In a statement, Adobe took exception with the idea that the deal is anti-competitive, arguing that the two companies are looking at very different markets — creativity and collaboration.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/24/doj-suit-could-represent-significant-stumbling-block-for-20b-adobe-figma-deal/

Google Chrome’s new zoom on mobile blows things up by up to 300 percent

Chrome on Android now lets you zoom in on text, images, videos, and on-screen buttons up to 300 percent without affecting the layout of the webpage.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/27/23615602/google-chrome-page-zoom-android-accessibility

Are Google and Bing’s Chat AI Going to Change Search Forever?

Chat-driven artificial intelligence may be one of the oldest forms of hype around—it’s literally been a point of discussion since the 60s (hi ELIZA)—and now it’s coming for your search engine. That’s been the big hype train of the last few weeks, and it’s one that seems to be flattening every other tech discussion in its wake. It even got Elon Musk out of the news cycle for five minutes.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpypg/bing-chat-google-conversational-ai-search

Atlassian says employee, company info stolen from third-party app

“Our initial research shows that a hacker gained access to an Atlassian employee’s valid credentials to pivot and access the Atlassian employee directory and office floor plans held within Envoy’s app,” the spokesperson said.
https://therecord.media/atlassian-envoy-data-stolen-siegedsec/

Inside Meta’s Push to Solve the Noisy Office

Coming to the campuses of Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is a contraption that can block sound, shield workers from their peers and allow for heads-down, uninterrupted work. It’s a cubicle. That is, a noise-canceling cubicle designed using some of the same principles found in soundproof, echo-free anechoic chambers. “The Cube,” which the company is beginning to roll out to offices worldwide after months of development, absorbs sound from multiple directions, says John Tenanes, vice president of global real estate and facilities at Meta. “It’s like a self- cocoon.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-metas-push-to-solve-the-noisy-office-ba43042