Apple lowers App Store fee for small developers but monopoly criticisms remain

Apple has said it will launch a programme cutting the commission it takes from app sales to 15 per cent for developers who make less than $1m annually through its iOS App Store.  The ‘Small Business Program’ follows legal action taken by Fortnite developer Epic Games, which in August accused Apple of following monopolistic practices for its … Read more

Cerebras AI compute system 200x faster than supercomputer

Cerebras has worked with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to demonstrate its CS-1 system, which is based on the world’s largest chip.  The CS-1 is powered by Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine (WSE), which was first presented in November 2019. While chipmakers typically cut a wafer into hundreds of separate chips, Cerebras … Read more

Different Types Of Software Testing

Functional Testing types include: Unit Testing Integration Testing System Testing Sanity Testing Smoke Testing Interface Testing Regression Testing Beta/Acceptance Testing Non-functional Testing types include: Performance Testing Load Testing Stress Testing Volume Testing Security Testing Compatibility Testing Install Testing Recovery Testing Reliability Testing Usability Testing Compliance Testing Localization Testing  

AI tool could predict future ratings of films

Researchers have developed an AI tool that can rate a film’s content in a matter of seconds, based on the film script and before a single scene has been shot.  Ratings can determine a film’s appeal to consumers and the size of its potential audience. Thus, they have an impact on a film’s bottom line. … Read more

Cut-price lidar sensor could slash cost of autonomous driving

Velodyne Lidar, which makes one of the most crucial sensors for driverless cars, has announced a new $500 (£380) lidar array with no moving parts that could drastically lower the cost of bringing automation to vehicles.  The high cost of lidar sensors, which act as the eyes of a self-driving car, has been one of … Read more

Radar could help self-driving cars ‘see’ clearly in foggy conditions

Engineers in the US have developed a way to improve the imaging capability of existing radar sensors – a system that could enable self-driving cars to ‘see’ what’s up ahead regardless of the weather.  Inclement weather conditions pose a challenge for the development of self-driving cars. These vehicles rely on technology such as LiDAR and … Read more

Video games shown to improve wellbeing for players

People who spend time video games have been shown to have improved wellbeing according to a new study from Oxford University.  With many people forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, gaming firms have enjoyed a record year, with more people playing than ever before, coupled with the recent launch of new … Read more

‘Planet hunter’ space telescope gets seal of approval

The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved plans to build the world’s first space telescope dedicated to studying the atmosphere of exoplanets.  The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (Ariel) will be used to investigate the relationship between exoplanet chemistry and environment, collecting data from approximately 1,000 known exoplanets. Around 4,000 planets outside our solar system … Read more