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Meta wants to make its AI hardware slicker and more fashion-forward. It also needs to make its software more usable. The way to do all that appears to be hiring design maestros away from Apple.
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Is it a bug? Is it a technical issue? Or did Apple just yank a camera feature that wasn't popular?
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"People think it's some kind of crazy, crazy, nutty thing," said Luckey.
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The Antigravity A1 drone offers an experience akin to being in a glass orb hovering 500 meters above the earth.
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The Ceramic Shield 2 material that Apple uses for the iPhone 17 display includes an anti-reflective coating that's designed to cut down on glare. It's a coating that prior-generation iPhone models didn't have, and it can make a difference in bright lighting conditions.
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Tiimo, a visual planner for people with ADHD that uses AI, won the App of the Year award.
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Spotify's latest listener recap is a year-end hit.
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Russia has blocked Apple's FaceTime video calling app in an ongoing effort to eliminate private communication methods, reports Reuters. Russia claims ?FaceTime? is being used for criminal activity, and that blocking the app is a legitimate law enforcement measure. Social network Snapchat and multiplayer gaming platform Roblox were also banned this week.
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Apple Arcade received five more games today, including endless runner Subway Surfers, the world's most downloaded mobile game. Since its launch in 2012, the game has received billions of downloads across all platforms.
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First, the news: In its announcement that the Brad Pitt blockbuster F1: The Movie will make its debut on Apple TV in December, Apple casually noted that as of now, Apple TV isn't Apple TV anymore.
"Apple TV is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity," Apple's press release reads. What's the new identity, you ask? Aside from a new and multicolor Apple TV logo, that's hard to say.
Those of us who follow the streaming industry greeted the news with furrowed brows. So Apple TV the streaming service is now on Apple TV, the streaming box? Isn't that kind of confusing? Yes, the Apple TV streaming player is officially known as "Apple TV 4K," but still.
Well, it's details like the " " and the "4K" that cause headaches when it comes to clear and consistent branding, and the truth is most folks haven't bothered with the "plus" for a long time. Severance, The Studio, The Morning Show, Ted Lasso—those are all Apple TV shows, according to everyday streamers.
Sometimes, simplicity and familiarity are best. Take HBO Max, which went through a three-year-old rebranding drama that saw the service renamed as "Max," a change that was mainly driven by the now-unraveling alliance between the former WarnerMedia and Discovery.
Warner Bros. Discovery likely spent a fortune trying to get the Max branding to stick, but most subscribers just kept calling it HBO Max. Finally, the entertainment giant stopped swimming against the ti
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Meta is facing its biggest existential threat in its history. Years after the Federal Trade Commission first sued the social network in an attempt to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, the trial that will shape its future is finally underway. FTC v. Meta began last month when CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand, and is expected to last for several weeks.
The FTC is hoping to prove to US District judge James Boasberg that Meta's acquisitions of its one-time rivals were anticompetitive and hurt US consumers. Meta, meanwhile, has argued that Instagram and WhatsApp were only able to grow to the billion-user services they are because of its investment into them over the last decade or more.
While the case is unlikely to be fully settled anytime soon, the trial has successfully uncovered tons of new details about the inner workings of Meta and its approach to potential competitors. And testimony from former execs like Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom and longtime COO Sheryl Sandberg have shed new light on the company's past.
Instagram's former CEO speaks
Facebook's 2012 acquisition of Instagram is a central part of the FTC's case against Meta. The government has argued that Mark Zuckerberg bought Instagram in order to neutralize it as a competitor
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Microsoft announced a series of upcoming new features for Copilot PCs and Windows 11. One of the most compelling updates for Copilot PCs is agent, which provides on-device AI assistance for adjusting a PC's settings. Some of the example tweaks Microsoft gave for this application are issues such as "how to control my PC by voice" and "my mouse pointer is too small."
Not only can the agent answer these types of queries, but if the necessary permissions are granted, the AI can also make the requested changes for a user. The blog post specifies that only questions in English are "initially" supported, which hints that more languages will be added at a later date. This feature will first roll out to Copilot PCs with Snapdragon chips, while thoe computers powered by Intel and AMD will get agents "soon."
Microsoft is also adding more actions to the Click to Do capability for Copilot AI assistance with whatever is currently active on a computer's screen. Copilot will be able to act on text or an image, including creating a bulleted list from selected text or drafting copy into Microsoft Word. Other new actions include scheduling a meeting, sending a message to Microsoft Teams and sending data to Microsoft Excel. Click to Do will also support engaging a computer's Reading Coach and Immersive Reader modes.
While most of Microsoft's recent messaging about Windows 11 has put Copilot PCs at front and center, but there will be some new goodies for the owners of oth
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