Proton is going non-profit!

Remember one of the best open-source password manager, VPN, e-mail and storage services by Proton? Yep, they're going non-profit now. They have adopted the swiss non-profit structure which blocks any takeovers and sets a lot of trustees which help in keeping Proton's original mission intact.

Proton-AG itself will continue to remain for-profit, however, rest assured, we can sleep peacefully knowing our beloved Proton services are safe.

🔗 Proton
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

PhonePe in Talks With Major Smartphone Makers for Mobiles to Come With Pre-installed Indus Appstore

PhonePe is discussing with smartphone brands to pre-install its Indus Appstore, aiming to shift users from Google Play Store.

The Indus Appstore, acquired for $90 million in May 2022, has currently entered into strategic OEM partnerships with Nokia and Lava and is in advanced discussions with other major manufacturers, targeting 150 million users by year-end. It offers over 250,000 apps, with incentives like zero listing fees and no in-app transaction fees for developers.

The appstore has already attracted major apps and gaming companies, offering an alternative to the Google Play Store's high fees and restrictive policies.

🔗 Entrepreneur
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Western Digital leaps from 2TB to 100TB SSDs!

As some of you might've caught on, WD and Kioxia has made a big breakthrough in technology with BiCS8 2TB QLC chips. This is the 8th generation of BiCS chips. It features a 50% improvement in memory compared to its predecessor!
The performance metrics show:

• 12% better layer density

• 21% Better Read Latency

• 30% Better Program Bandwidth

Additionally, WD has shown a smol fingertip sized die, saying that the cute little die holds a storage capacity of 2 Trillion bits.

Now, my question is whether these SSDs will be cheap enough for general purpose users like us to buy. :P

🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Oh wow, look at that

We hit 4000 subscribers.

Thanks y'all!

(@Fadhal007 is the 4000th subscriber :P)

🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Windows 11 will bring your Android phone directly to the Start Menu

Microsoft has announced that it will integrate Phone Link into the Windows 11 Start Menu. This will put your phone’s status as well as shortcuts to key tools alongside your list of apps. Currently, it’s required that you open the Phone Link app manually to access these options.

This will only work with Android for the time being, with iOS support coming “later.” It’s rolling out now in beta using Phone Link version 1.24052.124.0 and Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3790.

Access your phone messages, calls, and photos directly from Start, ensuring you never miss an important update or moment. Pick up where you left off with the latest activities from your phone, all seamlessly integrated into your Start menu experience.

🔗 9to5Google
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Spotify launches a new Basic streaming plan in the US

Spotify has launched a new "Basic" streaming plan in the U.S. priced at $10.99 per month, which includes all the Premium plan benefits except the monthly audiobook listening.

This introduction follows a price hike of the Premium plan to $11.99. This Basic plan could be a good option for people who listen to music and podcasts only

Additionally, Spotify is considering a "Supremium" plan with high-fidelity audio, costing at least $5 more per month.

🔗 TechCrunch
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Apple is NOT releasing Apple Intelligence in Europe!

Another swift european victory. Apple announced that it'd block the release of Apple Intelligence, iPhone mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing from users in EU this year because the Digital Market Act "force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security" as said by Apple itself.

I'd like to remind you, this is said by a "big tech" corporate with a completely closed-source operating system WHICH has KNOWINGLY partnered with OpenAI to bring this 'feature'. Yeah.

The DMA continues to rule dominance in controlling these corporates in Europe.

🔗 CNBC
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

X is limiting Live Streaming Abilities To Premium Subscribers

X has announced that the live-streaming feature will soon go behind the paywall, which makes it the only company to make Livestream a paid feature. No other information has been given, like when this change will take place, and why is this change taking place.

🌐 X/Twitter
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Apple and Meta discuss AI partnership for iOS 18

Apple and Meta have discussed a partnership that would see Meta AI models integrated into iOS 18 for Apple Intelligence.

This integration would likely be similar to the deal Apple has struck with ChatGPT, which is currently the only third-party partner for Apple Intelligence. 

🔗 9to5Mac
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Microsoft Account to local account conversion guide erased from official Windows 11 guide

Microsoft has been pushing Windows 11 users to sign in with a Microsoft Account, making it harder to use a local account. Instructions on how to switch from a Microsoft Account to a local account were recently removed from the official Windows 11 guide.

Converting your Windows 11 PC's login from a Microsoft Account to a local account is a pretty simple process. All you have to do is go to the Settings app, proceed to Accounts > Your info, and select "Sign in with a local account instead."

The removal suggests Microsoft wants to limit this option for the average consumer.

📄 Wayback Machine | Current Guide
🔗 TomsHardware

🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Google no longer developing Material Web Components

MWC offered a library of Material 3 components — Button, FAB, Icon button, Checkbox, Chips, Dialog, Divider, Elevation, Focus ring, List, Menu, Progress indicators, Radio, Ripple, Select, Slider, Switch, Tabs, and Text field — that developers could use on websites. 

Earlier this month, the team announced (h/t Artem Russakovskii) that MWC has entered maintenance mode and will no longer see updates with all future plans abandoned.

MWC is not deprecated or going away, but Material Design is no longer actively staffing its development.

The original team is “investigating ways to continue development of new features and components, including identifying new maintainers.”

🔗 9to5Google
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Apple shelved the idea of integrating Meta’s AI models over privacy concerns

Apple briefly held talks with Meta about the possibility of a partnership way back in March when Apple was talking to multiple companies to explore integration of their models with their devices.

However, the company shelved the idea of putting Meta’s AI models on iPhones over privacy concerns. Partnering with Meta also won’t do a lot of good to Apple’s image.

🔗 TechCrunch
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

EU charges Microsoft with antitrust violations over Teams

The European Commission has charged Microsoft with antitrust violations for bundling its Teams app with its Office suite, marking the first such charges in over a decade. This gives Teams an undue advantage over competitors like Slack and Zoom.

In April, Microsoft proposed unbundling Teams from Office beyond Europe to avoid regulatory action, but officials found the measures insufficient. Microsoft faces potential fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenue if found guilty of violating competition rules.

We are concerned that Microsoft may be giving its own communication product Teams an undue advantage over competitors by tying it to its popular productivity suites for business. If confirmed, Microsoft’s conduct would be illegal under our competition rules. Microsoft now has the opportunity to reply to our concerns.


🔗 Financial Times
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Google is killing infinite scroll on search results

Google is discontinuing continuous scroll in its search results, reverting to the classic pagination bar starting today on desktop and in the coming months on mobile. Continuous scroll, introduced on mobile in October 2021 and on desktop in December 2022, will be phased out.

Google aims to improve search result delivery speed, as automatic loading of additional results didn't significantly enhance user satisfaction. This change may impact website click rates and Search Console data. The bottom of desktop search results will now feature a "Next" button, and mobile will show a "More results" button.

🔗 Search Engine Land
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

rabbit data breach: all r1 responses ever given can be downloaded

On May 16, 2024, the Rabbitude team discovered critical hardcoded API keys in Rabbit Inc's codebase, affecting services like ElevenLabs, Azure, Yelp, and Google Maps.

These keys allow:
• Unauthorized access to sensitive data.
• Altering responses or bricking R1 devices.
• Changing TTS settings.

The ElevenLabs key allows to:
• Get a history of all past text-to-speech messages
• Change voices
• Add custom text replacements
• Delete voices, crashing the rabbitOS backend.

Despite being aware of the breach for over a month, Rabbit Inc has not rotated the keys. The api keys continue to be valid.

🔗 rabbitude
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks