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Yet more signals suggest Apple may be preparing to open hitherto closed elements of its ecosystem: both Google and Mozilla are working on iOS web browsers that don't use WebKit, Apple's rendering engine.
Mozilla and Google seem to be prepping
Mozilla's GitHub repository now contains code for Firefox on iOS that uses the company's own Gecko rendering engine rather than WebKit. And Google's Chromium team is building an iOS browser that uses its own Blink code for rendering. This is significant, since Apple insists all iOS browsers use its own rendering engine.
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Google today announced several upgrades to its search, translate and maps applications that use artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to provide expanded answers and live search features that can instantaneously identify objects and locations around a user.
In at an event in Paris, the company demonstrated upgrades for its Google Maps Immersive View and Live View technology, along with new features for electric vehicle (EV) drivers and people who walk, bike or ride public transit that show 3D routes in real time. Live View, announced in 2020, allows users to get directions placed in the real world and on a mini map at the bottom of a mobile screen.
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 Insurance provider UnitedHealthcare today announced the launch of UnitedHealthcare Rewards, a program that allows members to use their Apple Watches or iPhones to earn up to $1,000 per year by completing different health goals and activities.
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 Microsoft may have ushered in a paradigm shift with the release of new versions of its search engine, Bing, and web browser, Edge -- both now powered by artificial intelligence. The post Microsoft Ups Ante for Online Search With New AI-Powered Bing Engine, Edge Browser appeared first on TechNewsWorld.
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If it seems like everyone is rushing to develop an alternative to ChatGPT, you're not wrong. Chinese online commerce heavyweight Alibaba has confirmed to CNBC that it's working on its equivalent to OpenAI's hit AI chatbot. The company isn't detailing features or offering a release schedule, but says it has been developing generative AI since 2017 and is in the middle of internal testing.
The reveal comes as multiple tech giants have introduced rivals to or spinoffs of ChatGPT this week. Google unveiled Bard, while China's Baidu said it was testing "Ernie Bot." Microsoft, meanwhile, launched a redesigned Bing that uses a "much more powerful" language model built with OpenAI's help. The text-generating AI is considered particularly useful for search, where it can provide detailed responses to very specific questions.
Alibaba hasn't said how it would put the AI to work. However, the company is a powerhouse in online shopping and has its fingers in numerous other fields ranging from cloud computing through to finance. A counterpart to ChatGPT could be useful in many of these categories, and might help Alibaba challenge Baidu and other Chinese firm
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Well, sort of.
Microsoft
ChatGPT still requires a huge amount of processing power to run compared to standard search engines, so it's unlocking in a timed manner. You'll need to go to Bing.com/new in order to check it out. Sign in with your Microsoft account (Hotmail, Office 365, whatever) and click "Join the waitlist" in order to put your name down as one of the first potential users.
In the meantime you can see how the interface works with a series of pre-baked queries, such as "help plan my special anniversary trip" or "help me create a trivia quiz." It isn't as wide-open as the full GPT-infused version of Bing that a very small amount of users now has access to, but it'll help you get prepared for
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If the unofficial debut of Google's Bard chatbot is any indication, misinformation is about to get a lot worse. The company posted an ad to Twitter this week showing off the natural-language AI model displaying false information about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
In the advertisement (via Reuters), a short GIF shows an example of a Q&A with Bard. "What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9-year old about?" the query reads. The machine quickly spits out three ideas, including the last one that says, "JWST took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our own solar system. These distant worlds are called ‘exoplanets.' Exo means ‘from outside.'" Although the bit about exoplanets is spot-on, the first part saying the JWST took the first pictures of them is false. That honor belongs to the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2004, as confirmed by NASA.
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RTX Video Super Resolution will upscale ho-hum 1080p Internet video to crisp 4K, powered by the AI tensor cores in GeForce RTX 40-series and 30-series graphics cards. Yes, please. Earlier this week, Videocardz noticed that the new Chrome 110 build includes a flag that enables new technology by default.
I had hoped Nvidia would flip its ow
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The Galaxy S23 and the iPhone 14 are both great phones at $800. We spell out each phone's specs so you can see what sets them apart.
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The original AirPods Pro and AirPods Pro 2 are popular among iPhone users for their convenience and compelling mix of features. However, your options are limited if something happens to the charging case, and your earbuds aren't under warranty. Apple will replace the case for a fee. If you own a first-generation pair of AirPods Pro, you're probably better off buying the new model to get a fresh set of batteries. In any event, there's no easy way to repair a set of AirPods Pro and limit your electronic waste. Replacement parts are either hard to find, expensive or non-existent, and Apple didn't design any of its earbuds with repairability in mind.
Robotics engineer Ken Pillonel, who became internet famous in 2021 for creating a working USB-C iPhone, is trying to fix that. Wi
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Turkey may be blocking access to Twitter, two days after a pair of catastrophic earthquakes struck the area. Thousands of people are still trapped in buildings in Turkey and Syria, where the death toll is approaching 12,000.
According to Bloomberg, people in Turkey started having trouble accessing Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. Some have resorted to VPNs to use the service. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey's main opposition party, has accused the government of blocking Twitter.
It's not clear why the Turkish government might want to prevent access to Twitter amid such devastation. The social media service is still a valuable disaster response tool and users have also been sharing images of the destruction caused by the earthquakes. Twitter does not have a communications team that can be reached for comment.
This would not be the first time that Turkey has stopped residents from accessing social media services. It has also done so during cross-border military operations and terror attacks. In 2014, Turkey temporarily banned Twitter. Users were sharing voice recordings and documents that purportedly showed corruption within then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's sphere of influence. Erdogan became Turkey's president later that year and he remains in power. His government has
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Of all the once-unthinkable changes Elon Musk had made since taking over Twitter, pulling the rug out from under developers might seem relatively minor. After banning third-party clients without warning, Twitter announced that it would no longer allow any developer to use its APIs for free.
So far, Twitter has communicated very little about the changes, other than confirming a February 9th cut-off date. Musk has suggested Twitter could charge $100 a month "with ID verification," but hasn't elaborated. What we do know, is that once free access is shut off, thousands of apps, research projects, bots and other services will stop functioning (or, at the very least, be interrupted). If you're a Twitter user, chances are this will affect you in some way, and you shouldn't wait until it's too late to prepare.
Change logins for apps where you've signed in with TwitterIf you've ever used your Twitter credentials to sign into another service, the coming API shutoff could prevent you from being able to access your account. That means you'll want to double check which services you've used Twitter as a login for, and change your account info while you're still able to.
You can check which services have access to your Twitter account via Settings - Security and Account Access - Apps and sessions - Connected Apps (or, clicking here). Depending on the service, you may have to create an entirely new account with different credentials.
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 Today we're tracking a pair of sitewide sales that you can find on ZAGG and Nomad, offering up to 65 percent off popular accessories like wireless chargers, iPhone cases, MagSafe-compatible car vent mounts, and much more.
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Clackeys, a boutique supplier of artisan keycaps and other keyboard-themed tchotchkes, has managed to nab the official license for the first generation Transformers circa 1984 for a series of desk mats. We're talking the real primo stuff, back when a 30-foot Megatron somehow turned into a tiny James Bond gun, and no one had ever heard the name "Shia LaBeouf." The super-sized mats are 900mm by 400mm, with your choice of seven art styles, including two kick-ass painted battle scenes right off a Reagan-era lunchbox.
The mats are $25 each, more than reasonable for licensed gear, and up for pre-order now. They'll start shipping sometime in April. Don't be discouraged by the delay, and get an order in now if you want one: these explicitly "Limited Edition" mats have a tendency to disappear and never return.
Computer Accessories
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The service was blocked in what appeared to be a coordinated way.
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 Hardware prototyping consultant Ken Pillonel has sought to address some of the AirPods Pro's repairability issues with a 3D-printed replacement casing and switching the Lightning charging port for a USB-C port.
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 Samsung's newly announced Galaxy S23 Ultra hasn't quite hit the market yet, but unearthed benchmarks for the device suggest Apple still has the world's fastest mobile processor by a considerable margin.
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 Were you one of the many users affected by the iOS 16.2 HomeKit architecture bug that, among other issues, prevented users from adding new devices to their network? The good news is that Apple will likely send a fix for it in the next software update.
Read more...
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The Super Bowl is set, and that means it's a good time of year to be in the market for a new TV. With many of the major TV brands unveilingtheirlatestmodelsearlier in the year at CES, prices on last year's older-but-still-worthy sets have continued to descend. Yes, those willing to wait and pay extra for the latest and greatest are likely to get a better image, but buying a well-reviewed older TV is usually the better value. While we don't review many TVs here at Engadget, we've scoured reviews and price histories to find the best Super Bowl 2023 TV deals happening right now. Prices may fall further over the coming months as TV manufacturers look to clear out their inventory, and it might be too late to get some of these sets in time for the Big Game itself, but for now, here are a few discounts of note.
55-inch Samsung S95B OLED TV
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Last September, Google began rolling out Search with Live View, a feature within Maps that adds search functionality to the app's augmented reality layer. At the time, that feature was only available if you found yourself in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Paris or Tokyo. Today, Google announced it's bringing Search with Live View to Barcelona, Dublin and Madrid within the coming months. The company is also greatly expanding the availability of Live View within indoor locations. Google said Wednesday it's bringing the functionality to more than 1,000 new airports, train stations and malls across cities like Barcelona, London, Madrid, Paris and Singapore. The expansion will take place over the next few months.
Separately, Google (via The Verge) showcased some of its other work in AI-augmented search. In one demo, the company asked for a summary of the best constellations to look for when stargazing. Notably, the demo Google showed wasn't as polished as the one Microsoft brought to its "new Bing" showcase yesterday. In that instance, Bing provided the user with footnotes and links to the material it used to summarize its findings, something that was missing from Google's demo.
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The Sony SF100F has a Bass Reflex speaker for punchier audio and a voice enhancement feature, which is ideal for softer dialogue in movies and television shows. The S-Force Pro Front Surround sound is designed to envelope you, really upping the immersion factor. It connects to your TV via HDMI ARC and it's wall-mountable. The compact size also means that it can fit virtually anywhere. Sony's soundbar averages a killer 4.3 stars (out of 5) across well over 3,000 user reviews, so lots of people love it.
This is fantastic deal, so you better order one now before the big day arrives. In the eastern U.S., Amazon currently says it'll arrive Saturday if you order today!
Get the Sony SF100F soundbar for $98 at Amazon
Home Audio
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 Apple in its upcoming iOS 16.4 update will re-introduce the revamped HomeKit architecture it originally pulled in December due to widespread issues, MacRumors can confirm.
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 Apple this week made a beta version of its upcoming "Apple Pay Later" feature available to the company's more than 80,000 retail employees in the U.S. for testing, according to a report today from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
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 The growing popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot has inspired Microsoft and Google to add conversational AI functionality into their search products, with both companies making AI-related announcements this week.
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 Chinese smartphone company OnePlus today announced the official debut of the OnePlus 11 5G, which is the company's latest flagship smartphone. The device was already announced in China, but today marks the global launch so we thought we'd compare the OnePlus 11 5G to the iPhone 14 Pro Max to see how the camera measures up.
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And no surprise here, but Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 for laptops is absolutely ferocious. Though not an exact replica of its desktop counterpart (a sore spot for some internet denizens), this graphics processor still posts huge improvements over its RTX 3080 Ti predecessor—while seemingly using less power.
How big? Think performance increases as high as 70 percent in our tests. This GPU is a juggernaut backed by impressive technology—and that bodes well for the laptops coming our way. Our YouTube video dives deep into the details, but for the key points (as tested on a monstrous MSI Titan GT77 with the Core i9-13980HX and an Nvidia RTX 4090), read on.
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Qualys, sometimes described as one of the pioneering SaaS vendors, has bent with the times to begin offering Mac support within its cloud security offering.
A pioneer in SaaS goes Mac
Since it launched in 1999, Qualys has traditionally offered its services to PCs, mobile devices, and cloud-native applications. The company's original 2000 product, QualysGuard, was distinguished as one of the first to market vulnerability management tools.
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 Mozilla is working on a non-WebKit version of Firefox for iOS in anticipation of changes to Apple's platform rules, The Register reports.
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 Samsung and LG are preparing their factories for mass production of the first iPads with OLED displays, according to South Korea's ETNews. The report describes the displays as "hybrid" panels, as they use a combination of flexible and rigid OLED technologies.
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 After years of discussions with local authorities, Apple Pay in South Korea has been approved by the financial regulator, paving the way for the mobile payment system to launch in the first half of this year (via The Korea Herald).
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 Apple is working on a new Home accessory that is designed to serve as a central hub for smart home management. The Apple TV and the HomePod are already home hubs and almost all Apple devices can control a HomeKit setup, but Apple is designing an all-in-one home management product to make control even easier.
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