Category: News and Views

Apple’s AI plans for the iPhone just leaked. Here’s what we know | Digital Trends

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Apple is the only major name in the world of Big Tech that hasn’t made its ambitious AI plans public yet. But that will change in a few weeks, with a focus on reimagining the iPhone experience. Bloomberg, citing internal sources, has detailed how Apple plans to integrate generative AI experiences with iOS 18, the next major build of its iPhone operating system.

The company plans to push new AI-powered capabilities not just in such in-house apps as Safari and Maps, but also in experiences like the notification system and a supercharged Spotlight search. Notably, Apple will push the bulk of AI processing to the iPhone’s silicon, and only a minor portion of it will be pushed to the cloud.

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People want ‘dumbphones’. Will companies make them?| BBC News

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Self-labelled neo-Luddites and the tech-stressed are searching for phones with fewer features. Industry experts cite precarious profit margins and a wobbly market around this niche need.

The iPhone turns 17 this year. The launch of the touchscreen-controlled device signalled a moment that has defined our expectations of smartphones ever since. Almost an entire generation has grown up never knowing life without a smartphone. Enough time has passed that people have learnt about the good and bad of these devices in their lives, whether from myriad scientific studies, or simply their own experiences.

Many people are now acutely aware of the costs of having the world at their fingertips. And they’re rejecting the ways these phones can sap concentration, impact sleep and exacerbate mental health concerns.

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BMW, Jaguar and VW imported banned Xinjiang parts – Senate probe | BBC News

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BMW, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Volkswagen (VW) used parts made by a supplier on a list of firms banned over alleged links to Chinese forced labour, a US congressional report has said.

At least 8,000 BMW Mini Cooper cars were imported into the US with components from banned Chinese firm Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group (JWD), according to the report by Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden’s staff.

“Automakers’ self-policing is clearly not doing the job,” the Democrat Senator said.

BMW said it had “strict standards and policies regarding employment practices, human rights, and working conditions, which all our direct suppliers must follow”.

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Microsoft Build 2024: All the AI and hardware products Microsoft announced | TechCrunch

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Microsoft wants to bring generative AI to the forefront of Windows — and the PCs running it. At a keynote ahead of its annual Build developer conference this week, the company unveiled a new lineup of Windows machines it’s calling Copilot+ PCs, plus generative AI-powered features like Recall, which helps users find apps, files and other content they’ve viewed in the past. Copilot, Microsoft’s brand of generative AI, will soon be far more deeply integrated into the Windows 11 experience. And new Microsoft Surface devices are on the way. We’ve rounded up all the major announcements here.

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Google is launching a new Android feature to drive users back into their installed apps | TechCrunch

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Google has a new plan to promote Android apps outside of its Play Store. It was launched last week at its Google I/O 2024 developer conference, where the company spoke of a plan to re-engage users with apps they already have installed on their devices, as well as new ones, by giving developers a place to showcase their content in a unique way. Already, the company has more than 35 developer partners on board to test the new offering, including Spotify, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok and Shopify

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How to turn off Google AI Overviews | Mashable

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I’ll get straight to the point: there’s no “off” button for Google’s new AI Overviews feature. There is instead a “Web” button, buried in the “More” section of Google’s familiar row of buttons that look sort of like folder tabs, alongside things like “Images” and “News.”

Searching the new “Web” tab will get you the sort of results page you’re used to, with no AI-written summary of Google’s findings — just some links.

There’s a more elaborate, but much more complete solution to your problem as well, and I’ll go into that below. Using the Web option, however, is the simplest way out of the mess you’ve found yourself in.

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OpenAI and Google’s latest AI announcements make one thing clear: They’re officially rivals. | Mashable

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At Google I/O earlier this week, generative AI was unsurprisingly a major focal point.

In fact, Google CEO Sundar Pichai pointed out that “AI” was said 122 times, plus two more times by Pichai as he closed out the event.

The tech giant has injected AI features into seemingly all of its products and services, including Search, Workspace, and creative tools for videos, photos, and music. But arguably the biggest news of the day was how Google’s announcements compared to those from OpenAI. Just a day before Google I/O, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o, a “natively multimodal” model that can process visuals and audio in real-time, which ostensibly ramped up the burgeoning rivalry.

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The backbone of America’s economy was just dealt a serious blow | CNN Business

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US consumers could be reaching their breaking point. After dealing with elevated inflation and the highest interest rates in decades, they’re starting to rein in their spending.

Last month, retail sales were unchanged from March, when spending increased by a downwardly revised 0.6%, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.

April spending missed the 0.4% increase that economists had projected, according to FactSet. The figures are adjusted for seasonal swings but not inflation.

By comparison, a year ago, retail sales surged by 3%. Stripping away auto sales, April retail sales were up by 0.2% last month, matching economists’ expectations.

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Uber will now let you book a shuttle to the airport | CNN Business

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Uber wants to make it cheaper to get a ride to the airport, concerts or sporting events.

The rideshare company on Wednesday announced the launch of Uber Shuttle, an offering that will let users book up to five seats in a shuttle from a central location to an event or the airport – for less than the cost of a regular Uber ride. The cost of the shuttle rides won’t be affected by surge pricing, a common affliction when lots of people are looking for rides at the same time.

Riders can book their space on the shuttles, which will hold between 14 and 55 seats, up to a week in advance and will receive a QR code ticket to board. Uber plans to partner with local shuttle companies with commercially licensed drivers to facilitate the offering, but users will be able to rate and tip drivers within the Uber app like with any other ride.

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OpenAI unveils huge upgrade to ChatGPT that makes it more eerily human than ever | Live Science

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A new version of ChatGPT can read facial expressions, mimic human voice patterns and have near real-time conversations, its creators have revealed.

OpenAI demonstrated the upcoming version of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, called GPT-4o, in an apparently real-time presentation on Monday (May 13). The chatbot, which spoke out loud with presenters through a phone, appeared to have an eerie command of human conversation and its subtle emotional cues — switching between robotic and singing voices upon command, adapting to interruptions and visually processing the facial expressions and surroundings of its conversational partners. During the demonstration, the AI voice assistant showcased its skills by completing tasks such as real-time language translation, solving a math equation written on a piece of paper and guiding a blind person around London’s streets.

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