Month: May 2024
BYD unveils new hybrid that can drive non-stop for over 2,000 kilometers without recharging or refueling
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD has unveiled an innovation that could shake the global auto market. Its latest advance isn’t a new car but a next-generation hybrid powertrain capable of traveling more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) on a
The post BYD unveils new hybrid that can drive non-stop for over 2,000 kilometers without recharging or refueling first appeared on Tech Startups.
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD has unveiled an innovation that could shake the global auto market. Its latest advance isn’t a new car but a next-generation hybrid powertrain capable of traveling more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) on a […]
The post BYD unveils new hybrid that can drive non-stop for over 2,000 kilometers without recharging or refueling first appeared on Tech Startups.
Is F1 24 stuck on Chinese? Here’s how to change your language on the PC version
If you have picked up the Steam version of F1 24 and got the Champion’s Edition which is out now… Continue reading Is F1 24 stuck on Chinese? Here’s how to change your language on the PC version
The post Is F1 24 stuck on Chinese? Here’s how to change your language on the PC version appeared first on ReadWrite.
If you have picked up the Steam version of F1 24 and got the Champion’s Edition which is out now it is entirely possible you have come against a hugely annoying bug that forces the games into the Chinese language upon installation.
If like us, your bilingual skills are less than you may like you will then struggle to navigate the mysteries of the menu system trying to find the setting to turn it back into English.
Well, all that time you are taking looking is wasted because you can’t actually do it without changing the registry which we will go into in a minute.
Some users have noticed that this can happen because the game (for some) seems to default to Chinese in the EA App before installation, so if you haven’t installed it yet that may be worth checking before you do to save you the effort of having to go through the following steps to get it back to your native language.
Understandably players aren’t happy with this amongst other things in the game – like it being undrivable – with comments such as “Can’t expect to buy a game for just 100€ and select a language you want.”
How to change the language from Chinese in F1 24
Hopefully, this issue will be patched out before long by EA but to tide you over in the meantime you can pull off the following registry wizardry if you are semi-confident messing around inside Windows.
Open the Windows search bar and type Regedit
You now need to find the F1 24 install directory – if you didn’t change the default it will be ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREcodemastersF1_24 – if you did you need to locate where you put it.
Open the LOCALE entry and change it to en_US
If you don’t want to do all this, you should uninstall the game and check it isn’t set to Chinese in the EA App before reinstalling and that should hopefully fix it for you. If not, then just follow the above carefully.
The post Is F1 24 stuck on Chinese? Here’s how to change your language on the PC version appeared first on ReadWrite.
Hardly any of us are using AI tools like ChatGPT, study says – here’s why
A new international study has revealed that AI tools like ChatGPT have a long way to go before they become truly mainstream.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed or left behind by ChatGPT and other AI tools, fear not – a big new international study has found that most of us aren’t using generative AI tools on a regular basis.
The study from Reuters Institute and Oxford University (via BBC), which surveyed over 12,000 people across six countries, seemingly reveals how little that AI hype has percolated down to real-world use, for now.
Even among the people who have used generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot, a large proportion said they’d only used them “once or twice”. Only a tiny minority (7% in the US, 2% in the UK) said they use the most well-known AI tool, ChatGPT, on a daily basis.
A significant proportion of respondents in all countries (including 47% in the US, and 42% in the UK) hadn’t even heard of ChatGPT, a figure that was much higher for other AI apps. But after ChatGPT, the most recognized tools were Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Snapchat My AI, Meta AI, Bing AI and YouChat.
Trailing further behind those in terms of recognition were generative AI imagery tools like Midjourney, plus Claude and the xAI’s Grok for X (formerly Twitter). But while the regular use of generative AI tools is low, the survey does provide some interesting insights on what the early dabblers are using them for.
This table from the survey shows answers to the question: “You said you have used a generative AI chatbot or tool. Which, if any, of the following have you tried to use it for (even if it didn’t work)?” (Image credit: Reuters Institute and Oxford University)
Broadly speaking, the use cases were split into two categories; “creating media” and, more worryingly given the issue of AI hallucinations, “getting information”. In the former, the most popular answer was simply “playing around or experimenting” (11%), followed by “writing an email or letter” (9%) and “making an image” (9%).
The top two answers in the ‘getting information’ category were “answering factual questions” (11%) and “asking advice” (10%), both of which were hopefully followed by some corroboration from other sources. Most AI chatbots still come with prominent warnings about their propensity for making mistakes – for example, Google says Gemini “could provide inaccurate information or could even make offensive statements”.
AI tools are arguably better for brainstorming and summarizing, and these were the next most popular uses cases in the survey – with “generating ideas” mentioned by 9% of respondents and “summarizing text” cited by 8% of people.
But while the average person is still seemingly at the dabbling stage with generative AI tools, most people in the survey are convinced that the tools will ultimately have a big impact on our daily lives. When asked if they thought that “generative AI will have a large impact on ordinary people in the next five years”, 60% of 18-24 year olds thought it would, with that figure only dropping to 41% among those who were 55 and older.
Why are AI tools still so niche?
ChatGPT was easily the most well-known AI tool in the survey, but regular users were still in the minority. (Image credit: Reuters Institute and Oxford University)
All surveys have their limitations, and this one focuses mostly on standalone generative AI tools rather than examples of the technology that’s baked into existing products – which means that AI is likely more widely used than the study suggests.
Still, its broad sample size and geographic breadth does give us an interesting snapshot of how the average person views and uses the likes of ChatGPT. The answer is that it remains very niche among consumers, with the report’s lead author Dr Richard Fletcher suggesting to the BBC that it shows there’s a “mismatch” between the “hype” around AI and the “public interest” in it.
Why might that be the case? The reality is that most AI tools, including ChatGPT, haven’t yet convinced us that they’re frictionless or reliable enough to become a default part of our tech lives. This is why the focus of OpenAI’s new GPT-4o model (branding being another issue) was a new lifelike voice assistant, which was designed to help lure us into using it more regularly.
Still, while even tech enthusiasts still have reservations about AI tools, this appears to be largely irrelevant to tech giants. We’re now seeing generative AI being baked into consumer products on a daily basis, from Google Search’s new AI summaries to Microsoft’s Copilot coming to our messaging apps to iOS 18’s rumored AI features for iPhones.
So while this survey’s respondents were “generally optimistic about the use of generative AI in science and healthcare, but more wary about it being used in news and journalism, and worried about the effect it might have on job security”, according to Dr Fletcher, it seems that AI tech is going to become a daily part of our lives regardless – just not quite yet.
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Right to repair is now the law in Colorado / Colorado’s bill, which takes effect on January 1st, 2026, covers almost anything with a chip and prohibits ‘parts pairing.’
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Right to repair is now the law in Colorado
Device manufacturers have until January 1st, 2026, to comply with Colorado’s new rules. | Screenshot: iFixit via YouTube
Colorado now has some of the broadest right-to-repair laws in the US thanks to a new bill signed by Governor Jared Polis on Tuesday. The HB24-1121 “Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment” rules require all manufacturers to make it easier for consumers and independent electronics businesses to purchase the necessary equipment needed to repair devices themselves.
“Under this bill, when an item is broken, it could be a cellphone like this, a dishwasher, a washing machine, or a laptop, Coloradans will have the information they need to repair their own equipment or use the repair provider of their own choice,” Polis said at the bill signing, as reported by the Colorado Times Recorder.
This builds on Colorado’s right-to-repair laws that were already introduced for agricultural equipment and powered wheelchairs, extending similar protections to almost any consumer electronic device with a chip. Like the repair rules passed in Minnesota last year, Colorado’s law notably covers data center and business-to-business equipment, only without Minnesota’s vague exclusion for “critical infrastructure” equipment.
There are some exclusions, like game consoles (due to lobbying from game console manufacturers over piracy concerns), medical devices, ATVs, and motor vehicles, which are also typical for repair rules introduced in other states like California and New York. Like Oregon’s right-to-repair law, Colorado’s HB24-1121 explicitly prohibits electronics manufacturers from using “parts pairing” to prevent replacement components from working unless approved by company software.
Device manufacturers have until January 1st, 2026, to comply with Colorado’s new rules, which apply to all electronics manufactured on or after July 1st, 2021.
Device manufacturers have until January 1st, 2026, to comply with Colorado’s new rules. | Screenshot: iFixit via YouTube
Colorado now has some of the broadest right-to-repair laws in the US thanks to a new bill signed by Governor Jared Polis on Tuesday. The HB24-1121 “Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment” rules require all manufacturers to make it easier for consumers and independent electronics businesses to purchase the necessary equipment needed to repair devices themselves.
“Under this bill, when an item is broken, it could be a cellphone like this, a dishwasher, a washing machine, or a laptop, Coloradans will have the information they need to repair their own equipment or use the repair provider of their own choice,” Polis said at the bill signing, as reported by the Colorado Times Recorder.
This builds on Colorado’s right-to-repair laws that were already introduced for agricultural equipment and powered wheelchairs, extending similar protections to almost any consumer electronic device with a chip. Like the repair rules passed in Minnesota last year, Colorado’s law notably covers data center and business-to-business equipment, only without Minnesota’s vague exclusion for “critical infrastructure” equipment.
There are some exclusions, like game consoles (due to lobbying from game console manufacturers over piracy concerns), medical devices, ATVs, and motor vehicles, which are also typical for repair rules introduced in other states like California and New York. Like Oregon’s right-to-repair law, Colorado’s HB24-1121 explicitly prohibits electronics manufacturers from using “parts pairing” to prevent replacement components from working unless approved by company software.
Device manufacturers have until January 1st, 2026, to comply with Colorado’s new rules, which apply to all electronics manufactured on or after July 1st, 2021.
PayPal is launching an ad sales business based on user behavior data
PayPal wants to revolutionize advertising by using customer data.
PayPal has announced plans to launch a new advertising platform that it hopes will add to the company’s consumer value.
The news comes amid a company shakeup, with Mark Grether joining as SVP and General Manager for PayPal Ads, and John Anderson joining as SVP and General Manager for Consumer Group.
PayPal’s new advertising platform builds on the firm’s “long-standing relationships with millions of consumers and merchants,” which it believes puts it in a unique and strong position to lead the advertising industry.
PayPal launching ad platform
The company will use its extensive network of consumers and merchants to collate customer insights that will go on to fuel personalized ads.
“The advertising business, which will include PayPal advanced offers platform, will use customer insights to build a dynamic, truly personalized platform that will drive better advertising spend performance for merchants while delighting consumers with compelling offers,” its announcement read.
Grether, who will be heading up PayPal Ads, joins the company from Uber, where he grew Uber Advertising to become a $1 billion business.
Diego Scotti, EVP and General Manager for Consumer Group and Global Marketing & Communications, commented: “Commerce and advertising are deeply connected, and we believe that the advertising platform we are building at PayPal will become a must-use marketing channel for merchants big and small.”
According to the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report, it processed 6.5 billion payments from 400 million customers. For the whole of 2023, it processed around 25 billion transactions.
PayPal also owns and operates other financial services, like money-transferring app Venmo and deal-finding platform Honey, further adding to the wealth of data it’s able to collect.
Looking ahead, and armed with more powerful data, PayPal hopes to boost both merchant sales and consumer discovery in what could be a great move for the economy, and a not-so-welcome update for our wallets.
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Samsung’s largest union calls its first-ever strike
Samsung’s largest workers’ organization, the National Samsung Electronics Union, has announced that it’s planning to stage a walkout next week as part of its fight for fair compensation. Members are threatening to skip work for a day, on June 7, in hopes that the company would listen to their demands after their wage negotiations over the past months had come to a standstill. If it pushes through, BNN Bloomberg says it’ll be the first strike ever by the company’s employees since Samsung was founded. As Reuters reports, Samsung agreed to a 5.1 percent increase in wages this year, but the union is also negotiating to add one more day to workers’ annual leaves and for more transparency when it comes to performance bonuses.
“What we want is not a 1-2 percent wage increase. What we want is to be paid fairly for the amount of work done,” union leaders said in front of Samsung’s offices in Seoul. “We want to be compensated for our labor fairly and transparently.”
The National Samsung Electronics Union has 28,000 members, which represent over a fifth of the company’s workforce. Union leaders aren’t expecting the strike to have a significant impact on Samsung’s production since most of its manufacturing processes are automated anyway, but they’re still hoping that their walkout could compel the company to take them seriously. The union certainly has more power to negotiate now — apparently, its membership grew four-fold over the past couple of years after the company pledged to stop its union-busting schemes.
Samsung used to be notorious for suppressing organized labor activities. In 2018, board chairman Lee Sang-hoon was indicted for sabotaging legitimate labor activities by threatening to lower wages of employees who join them, deliberately stalling negotiations between management and laborers and digging up dirt on key union personnel to persuade them to cease their activities. Lee stepped down as chairman of the board in 2020, the same year Samsung’s Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee promised to end the company’s union-busting practices.
The union said, however, that there’s “no change in the management’s attitude” despite Lee’s promise to eliminate non-union management. “We can no longer stand by the company’s lack of will to negotiate,” it added. If the company refuses to engage in meaningful talks, the union is planning to stage more walkouts in the future. A Samsung spokesperson told BNN Bloomberg, however, that “the company remains committed to engaging in good faith negotiations with the unions, and is making every sincere effort to an agreement.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-largest-union-calls-its-first-ever-strike-123035998.html?src=rss
Samsung’s largest workers’ organization, the National Samsung Electronics Union, has announced that it’s planning to stage a walkout next week as part of its fight for fair compensation. Members are threatening to skip work for a day, on June 7, in hopes that the company would listen to their demands after their wage negotiations over the past months had come to a standstill. If it pushes through, BNN Bloomberg says it’ll be the first strike ever by the company’s employees since Samsung was founded. As Reuters reports, Samsung agreed to a 5.1 percent increase in wages this year, but the union is also negotiating to add one more day to workers’ annual leaves and for more transparency when it comes to performance bonuses.
“What we want is not a 1-2 percent wage increase. What we want is to be paid fairly for the amount of work done,” union leaders said in front of Samsung’s offices in Seoul. “We want to be compensated for our labor fairly and transparently.”
The National Samsung Electronics Union has 28,000 members, which represent over a fifth of the company’s workforce. Union leaders aren’t expecting the strike to have a significant impact on Samsung’s production since most of its manufacturing processes are automated anyway, but they’re still hoping that their walkout could compel the company to take them seriously. The union certainly has more power to negotiate now — apparently, its membership grew four-fold over the past couple of years after the company pledged to stop its union-busting schemes.
Samsung used to be notorious for suppressing organized labor activities. In 2018, board chairman Lee Sang-hoon was indicted for sabotaging legitimate labor activities by threatening to lower wages of employees who join them, deliberately stalling negotiations between management and laborers and digging up dirt on key union personnel to persuade them to cease their activities. Lee stepped down as chairman of the board in 2020, the same year Samsung’s Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee promised to end the company’s union-busting practices.
The union said, however, that there’s “no change in the management’s attitude” despite Lee’s promise to eliminate non-union management. “We can no longer stand by the company’s lack of will to negotiate,” it added. If the company refuses to engage in meaningful talks, the union is planning to stage more walkouts in the future. A Samsung spokesperson told BNN Bloomberg, however, that “the company remains committed to engaging in good faith negotiations with the unions, and is making every sincere effort to an agreement.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-largest-union-calls-its-first-ever-strike-123035998.html?src=rss
DraftKings and Flutter stock plummets following proposed Illinois tax hike
Both DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment saw their stocks fall yesterday (May 28) when a gambling tax hike was proposed in… Continue reading DraftKings and Flutter stock plummets following proposed Illinois tax hike
The post DraftKings and Flutter stock plummets following proposed Illinois tax hike appeared first on ReadWrite.
Both DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment saw their stocks fall yesterday (May 28) when a gambling tax hike was proposed in Illinois.
Illinois lawmakers discussed the increase over the weekend in the 2025 budget meeting, but it hasn’t yet been formally approved.
The impact of the hike has been seen quicker than people have realized, with stocks of the big operating companies already taking a hit.
Flutter ended the trading day yesterday at $188.33, 7.7% lower than the final price on Friday evening before the long Memorial Weekend.
DraftKings saw a similar downward trend too as its closing price on Tuesday was $36.61. This figure is 10.2% lower than on Friday afternoon.
The substantial tax increase would mean DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment would qualify for the top bracket of payment.
Flutter Entertainment is an international sports betting and gambling company that owns FanDuel.
Proposed Illinois tax hike and what this means for operators
Late on Sunday night (May 26) senators passed a FY2025 budget that includes a sports betting tax rise making Illinois the second-most expensive state for wagering operators to do business in.
Operators with the highest adjusted gross revenue will have to pay a 40% tax and even the smaller operators will have to pay more at 20%. The standard has been a 15% tax which came into force when sports betting went live in June 2021.
All those who generate adjusted gross revenue of $30 million a year will be on the 20% tax whereas a report of more than $200 million a year would see the 40% tax rate.
There are other boundaries included too, all of which are significantly higher than what sports betting companies are currently paying.
The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) has set up a ‘No Tax Hike Illinois’ page on its website as it urges people to tell legislators that no new taxes should be brought in.
In the reasoning for why this matters, they say: “More taxes mean worse odds for players. Customers will have access to fewer promotions and bonuses. A tax hike will increase illegal offshore sports betting.”
Featured Image: Photo by Joel Mott on Unsplash
The post DraftKings and Flutter stock plummets following proposed Illinois tax hike appeared first on ReadWrite.
XDefiant Twitch Drops: All weekly rewards explained
XDefiant is taking on the behemoth that is Call of Duty in an effort to give FPS fans another game… Continue reading XDefiant Twitch Drops: All weekly rewards explained
The post XDefiant Twitch Drops: All weekly rewards explained appeared first on ReadWrite.
XDefiant is taking on the behemoth that is Call of Duty in an effort to give FPS fans another game to put hours upon hours into, unlocking new guns, camos, and more along the way.
While the grind is certainly real if you’re wanting to expand your skin game, there are some shortcuts you can take to secure a fresh lick of paint on your weapons, and even new outfits for faction members.
One way in which this can be done is via XDefiant Twitch Drops and while the usual drop system is a one-and-done affair, things work a little differently for the new FPS on the block.
Below, we’ll explain everything you need to know about XDefiant Twitch Drops so you can get your hands on as many goodies as possible without having to rely on the battle pass.
How to get XDefiant Twitch Drops
The process for obtaining the XDefiant Twitch Drops is very similar to that of many other rewards of this ilk.
Simply link your Twitch and Ubisoft accounts via this link, watch your favorite XDefiant streamers who have drops enabled, and claim via your Twitch Inventory.
What is specific to these drops is that there are three sets of rewards requiring different watch times. This starts at 30 minutes and increases in 30 minute increments. So, you will need to watch for 90 minutes to get all rewards that week.
All XDefiant Twitch Drop rewards: Preseason week 1-6
Since you can earn a reward for racking up watch time for 30, 60, and 90 minutes every week for six weeks, some quick math brings the total number of rewards to 18. While there are some mainstays each week, a lot vary, so it’s worth checking out a few streams each week to secure your in-game presents.
Here is the complete list of XDefiant Twitch Drops for Preseason week 1-6:
Week 1
30 minutes = Weapon XP Booster
60 minutes = Morganite M4A1 Weapon Skin
90 minutes = Violet M4A1 Weapon Skin
Week 2
30 minutes = Weapon XP Booster
60 minutes = Morganite M9 Weapon Skin
90 minutes = Violet Vector .45 ACP Weapon Skin
Week 3
30 minutes = Weapon XP Booster
60 minutes = Morganite M870 Weapon Skin
90 minutes = Ember M16A4 Weapon Skin
Week 4
30 minutes = Weapon XP Booster
60 minutes = Pelagic M9 Weapon Skin
90 minutes = Ember Vector .45 Weapon Skin
Week 5
30 minutes = Weapon XP Booster
60 minutes = Disruption M60 Weapon Skin
90 minutes = Eruption MDR Weapon Skin
Week 6
30 minutes = Weapon XP Booster
60 minutes = Amber M44 Weapon Skin
90 minutes = Pelagic Vector .45 ACP Weapon Skin
The post XDefiant Twitch Drops: All weekly rewards explained appeared first on ReadWrite.