Month: August 2024
Netflix is about to get one of my favorite sci-fi movies, with 91% on Rotten Tomatoes – here’s why Edge of Tomorrow deserves a sequel
One of my favorite sci-fi movies Edge of Tomorrow deserves a sequel now that it’s coming to Netflix.
One of my favorite sci-fi movies, Edge of Tomorrow, is coming to the Netflix on September 7 and it’s just another reminder that the Tom Cruise action flick really deserves a sequel.
Netflix is home to some of the best sci-fi movies – it’s a big reason why we rate it as one of the best streaming services – and it’s about time Edge of Tomorrow was added to their ever-expanding library of new Netflix movies after being absent from streaming services.
Edge of Tomorrow was considered to be one of the “biggest box office risks” by The Hollywood Reporter upon its release in 2014, and it became somewhat true after it earned an underwhelming $370 million worldwide (a lot, but arguably not enough for a movie with a budget of nearly $200 million). However, it’s not the disaster that some expected it to be, as it’s still a huge hit with audiences 10 years later, and was met with praise from critics given its impressive 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, which earns it a well-deserved place on our best Netflix movies list.
Since Edge of Tomorrow has become a cult classic within the sci-fi genre, there has been talks of a sequel since the movie’s release and it’s about time we jump back into more time-loop alien action – I mean, 10 years is a long time to wait!
Edge of your Seat
Cruise is one of the most reliable Hollywood action stars and has appeared in some of the best sci-fi movies in modern cinema, including War of the Worlds (which is also one of my all-time favorites), the rather underrated Oblivion, and of course, Edge of Tomorrow.
Based on the novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Cruise stars as Major William Cage, a public relations officer for the military in a future where Earth is trying to stop an alien invasion. Cage is killed after being forced into the frontlines on a combat mission against the ruthless alien foe, but he soon finds himself reliving the same fight and his death over and over again. Desperate to find a way to change the outcome of the war and stop dying, he teams up with infamous soldier Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) to save the planet as he constantly loops around on his quest.
Edge of Tomorrow is a powerful, brainy sci-fi action blockbuster that has a unique plot made all the more exciting with its well-rounded characters, heart-pounding special effects, and witty dialogue. What makes it stand out from other sci-fi flicks is the character development of Cage, who transforms from a fearful and cowardly man into an alien killing machine. It showed Cruise in a mode we don’t see enough from him any more – he wasn’t the regular action hero we expect, which made it all the more interesting. Edge of Tomorrow also manages to keep you engaged with a difficult romance between Cage and Vrataski amidst all the time traveling chaos, as constantly witnessing her death takes an emotional toll on him.
Variety reported that Warner Bros. announced in 2019 that it was officially developing an Edge of Tomorrow sequel, but for all its popularity, it’s never taken off. Although there was promising news when it was revealed in January 2024 that Cruise had signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to develop and produce movies starring himself, so I have high hopes that this means we’re one step closer to a sequel and seeing Cruise and Blunt’s chemistry on-screen once again. (And the success of Top Gun Maverick can’t have hurt matters.)
Speaking to Empire magazine, director Doug Liman reassured fans that Edge of Tomorrow 2 was not dead and that he and Cruise continue to be in touch about the sequel. “No, we keep talking about it. We love that world,” and added that they had both re-watched it recently. “Tom and I just actually re-watched it about two months ago, because I hadn’t seen it in 10 years. I was like, ‘Wow, that is a really good movie.’”
(Image credit: HBOMax)
In an interview with IGN, Liman made a big promise back in 2016 that the sequel would “revolutionize how people make sequels.” While this all has me craving more extra-terrestrial action, it sounds as though Liman might take the sequel into a different direction as his filmmaking style has changed over the years.
Doug Liman told Total Film: “I had not watched it since it came out. And I have a very short attention span and memory. I wasn’t able to watch it entirely as a viewer, but I was definitely also not the filmmaker anymore.”
Edge of Tomorrow has all the high-octane thrills of a sci-fi blockbuster that could have birthed a franchise. I’m interested to see how Liman would revisit this world and bring back all the nostalgia of its predecessor. With all this buzz around a sequel, I can’t help but yearn for Edge of Tomorrow 2.
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5 new features Alexa AI will bring to paying subscribers next month, according to a new leak
A new leak has seemingly revealed the features that are coming to Amazon’s Alexa AI assistant –here’s what to expect.
We’ve been waiting almost a year for Amazon’s AI reboot of Alexa, and some new leaked documents suggest the upgraded voice assistant is finally going to launch soon, with some new talents.
The Washington Post says it’s obtained some “internal documents” that reveal some of Alexa AI’s new features, alongside a likely “mid-October” launch date. The new voice assistant will apparently also cost “as much as $10 a month”, with today’s version of Alexa remaining free and being rebranded as “classic Alexa”.
That pricing apparently isn’t yet final, with Amazon apparently planning to “make decisions on pricing, subscription structure and the product name” this month, according to documents seen by the Post.
But it does now look highly likely that Amazon is planning to tempt us into another monthly subscription for its conversational voice assistant, which it first teased back in September 2023. Since then, Amazon has launched its AI-powered Rufus shopping assistant, and also quietly “integrated generative AI into different components of Alexa”, as it told us in July.
What will the new Alexa AI be able to do? Here are five features that are coming to tempt you into a subscription, according to those leaked documents.
1. Smart Briefing
(Image credit: Amazon)
Amazon appears to be keen to launch its AI-powered Alexa before the US Presidential election, and for good reason – one of its key features will apparently be a new ‘Smart Briefing’ feature.
According to the leaked documents, these will give you “daily, AI-generated summaries of news articles” that are “selected based on a customer’s preferences”. This would be quite an upgrade on the existing Alexa, which doesn’t handle political questions particularly well – and Amazon will clearly need to be confident in the accuracy of Alexa’s replies in such an important year.
Still, this is apparently a highly-requested feature, with Amazon’s documents stating “AI features that help customers curate, summarize, and explore current events was also rated as one of the top customer requests.”
2. More personalized responses
(Image credit: Amazon México)
The leaked Amazon documents suggest that the new AI-powered Alexa will “feel more conversational and charismatic” and will “learn to recognize the individual voices of new customers and ask people questions about themselves so as to be more helpful later”, according to The Washington Post.
It’s already possible to set up a Voice ID with today’s Alexa and get personalized responses, so that particular feature isn’t new. But the suggestion is that Alexa AI will learn about different users by asking (mildly creepy) questions like ‘tell me something about what you like to do on the weekends?’.
Apparently, you’ll even be able to tell the voice assistant about your family’s dietary requirements, and it’ll bear those in mind when generating recipe suggestions. Exactly how or where this information will be stored isn’t clear, but it certainly sounds useful as long as you’re happy with the privacy trade-off. And talking of recipes…
3. Cooking help
The leaked Amazon documents apparently contain the observation that “food assistance was ranked one of the top 3 areas where customers want more help from AI enabled assistance”. So helping you find recipes will apparently be another key focus for the new Alexa AI.
There isn’t any more detail on exactly how this will be achieved. Has the new Alexa been trained on licensed recipes from the likes of BBC Good Food? We don’t yet know, but we hope it doesn’t ‘hallucinate’ – that is, make stuff up – too much; we don’t want to end up making a fish omelette or recreating a horrendous TikTok abomination.
4. Shopping Scout
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
It wouldn’t been an Amazon AI assistant if shopping wasn’t at the forefront of its silicon mind – and helping you find new impulse buys is apparently going to be another focus of Alexa AI.
According to the leaked documents, you’ll be able to ask it questions like “do you have any deals on headphones?” or “what colors do the shoes come in?”. Even better, a new product called Shopping Scout will apparently let you know when something you’re looking to buy has just gone on sale.
That could be handy during the Black Friday deals event, although given that those deals are sometimes questionable, you’ll still want to corroborate the results with tech experts like, for example, TechRadar. You’ll also want to keep an eye on your Amazon subscriptions, as that feature is apparently designed to help drive those.
5. An AI assistant for kids
The Amazon Echo Dot (above) has previously been launched in special Kids editions (Image credit: Amazon)
This one will likely prove the most controversial of Alexa AI’s new powers. According to The Washington Post’s report, Amazon hopes its rebooted shopping assistant will “prove compelling to children”.
The leaked documents suggest that a new experience called ‘Explore with Alexa 2.0’ will let verified children have “back-and-forth, exploratory conversations with Alexa about any topic under the sun”.
While Amazon seemingly claims that this experience will be “safe and moderated”, there has previously been some controversy around whether smart speakers are really safe for children.
The weaknesses of AI-powered assistants, all of which are capable of hallucinating to some degree, could only exacerbate that, but we’ll reserve judgement until we see Amazon’s new Alexa AI assistant launch – seemingly sometime in mid-October.
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AirPods Pro 3 Rumored to Feature ‘Much Better’ Active Noise Cancellation
While there have been many rumors about the upcoming AirPods 4, a leaker has now shared an alleged upgrade planned for the AirPods Pro 3.
In a post today on social media platform X, the previously-accurate leaker known as Kosutami claimed that the AirPods Pro 3 will feature “much better” active noise cancellation compared to the AirPods Pro 2, which launched nearly two years ago. However, the leaker did not provide any specific details about this alleged upgrade.
Apple already advertises the AirPods Pro 2 as featuring “up to twice as much” active noise cancellation compared to the original AirPods Pro, so the AirPods Pro 3 would be even more improved in this regard.
Apple is expected to announce both low-end and mid-tier AirPods 4 models during its September 9 special event. Kosutami claimed that the AirPods Pro 3 are also coming “soon,” but it is unclear if this information is accurate, as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has previously reported that Apple planned to release redesigned AirPods Pro in 2025.
Both the low-end and mid-tier AirPods 4 are rumored to feature a revised design with better fit in the ear, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C port. The mid-tier AirPods 4 are also said to feature active noise cancellation, and a speaker in the charging case that can play a sound for Find My location tracking.
AirPods Max are also rumored to be updated later this year, but the only change expected is a USB-C charging port instead of Lightning.
Kosutami is known as a prototype Apple product collector, but he has occasionally shared accurate information about Apple’s future plans, including details about FineWoven accessories before they launched last year. Kosutami also revealed that iPhone 16 Pro batteries will have a metal enclosure, and this change was later corroborated by other sources.Related Roundup: AirPods ProTag: KosutamiBuyer’s Guide: AirPods Pro (Neutral)Related Forum: AirPodsThis article, “AirPods Pro 3 Rumored to Feature ‘Much Better’ Active Noise Cancellation” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
While there have been many rumors about the upcoming AirPods 4, a leaker has now shared an alleged upgrade planned for the AirPods Pro 3.
In a post today on social media platform X, the previously-accurate leaker known as Kosutami claimed that the AirPods Pro 3 will feature “much better” active noise cancellation compared to the AirPods Pro 2, which launched nearly two years ago. However, the leaker did not provide any specific details about this alleged upgrade.
Apple already advertises the AirPods Pro 2 as featuring “up to twice as much” active noise cancellation compared to the original AirPods Pro, so the AirPods Pro 3 would be even more improved in this regard.
Apple is expected to announce both low-end and mid-tier AirPods 4 models during its September 9 special event. Kosutami claimed that the AirPods Pro 3 are also coming “soon,” but it is unclear if this information is accurate, as Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman has previously reported that Apple planned to release redesigned AirPods Pro in 2025.
Both the low-end and mid-tier AirPods 4 are rumored to feature a revised design with better fit in the ear, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C port. The mid-tier AirPods 4 are also said to feature active noise cancellation, and a speaker in the charging case that can play a sound for Find My location tracking.
AirPods Max are also rumored to be updated later this year, but the only change expected is a USB-C charging port instead of Lightning.
Kosutami is known as a prototype Apple product collector, but he has occasionally shared accurate information about Apple’s future plans, including details about FineWoven accessories before they launched last year. Kosutami also revealed that iPhone 16 Pro batteries will have a metal enclosure, and this change was later corroborated by other sources.
This article, “AirPods Pro 3 Rumored to Feature ‘Much Better’ Active Noise Cancellation” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Chief Automation Officer: Separating fact from fiction
Organizations remain skeptical about the effectiveness of appointing a Chief Automation Officer for digital transformation.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, many countries recognize the urgency of embracing automation to maintain a competitive edge. As a result, there is a growing realization of the need for senior executive oversight and support for automation initiatives to effectively navigate the digital era.
The concept of appointing a Chief Automation officer has gained traction due to the increasing acknowledgement of automation’s role in transforming business operations and driving efficiency. Despite the widespread recognition of process automation as a fundamental component of digital transformation strategies for 70% of organizations, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, it’s important to approach this with caution.
The tech industry is constantly evolving, and trends shift rapidly from one innovation to the next. Instead of hastily creating roles driven by industry hype, what’s truly essential is strong executive sponsorship and leadership for advanced automation programs at the most influential levels. This approach should be fortified with comprehensive business acumen and a robust network to effectively instigate substantial change.
If you’re serious about automation, it needs to be embedded into a primary C-suite role that’s not transitional, and a person able to tie-in, and federate tasks or projects across the organization.
Our automation champion needs to be a senior leader tasked with driving digital transformation, by optimizing resources and able to keep pace with evolving customer demands, and fluid market and technology dynamics. They’re also the pathway to efficiency and agility, streamlining workflows, enabling the organization to allocate resources to focus on higher-value activities, while maintaining compliance according to internal and external policies.
To succeed and unleash the full potential of intelligent automation (IA), organizations need to foster collaborations with their sales, finance, compliance, legal and other functions, as they deploy automation to boost productivity and revenue opportunities across the enterprise. It demands strategic vision, cross-functional collaboration, and a deep understanding of the enterprise’s digital infrastructure.
This is where your product and IT support teams become indispensable as – with a top-down mandate from your CIO / CTO and CEO – everyone is laser-focused on faster tangible outcomes and can capitalize on synergies as internal communication channels are more open and have less barriers to overcome. And if you’re working in a constantly changing fast-moving market, as you automate, you’re more flexible and better able to control and direct customer conversations based on outcomes when scaling digital workers.
Why C-level executives must be the ones to prioritize automation
The success stories of companies that have embraced automation underscore the transformative potential of strategic automation initiatives. For instance, some companies have identified intelligent automation as a solution to enhance efficiency and bridge process gaps. By prioritizing automation at the executive level and investing in teams, these companies have streamlined operations, allowing frontline staff to prioritize exceptional customer service.
This is all great, but the journey to automation excellence requires more than just deploying digital workers or implementing robotic process automation (RPA) tools. A non-traditional IT approach that embraces business and operation can help build a multifaced team with a unique blend of skills, including a deep understanding of technology, business acumen, and change management expertise.
Such teams can align automation initiatives with business objectives and drive organizational change, constantly identifying areas ripe for automation, prioritizing initiatives based on their potential impact, and securing executive buy-in for automation investments. Moreover, they play a pivotal role in fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, where automation is embraced as a strategic enabler of business growth.
Building your ‘E-Suite’: A future-ready approach
Placing automation directly in the boardroom signals a paradigm shift in managerial leadership, but it also raises questions about the requisite skills and qualifications.
While a CAO sounds great in principle, you need a diverse skill set encompassing technology, business strategy, and change management gained from a process management and IT systems background and a diverse network and knowledge of the business and IT environment.
In most cases, your CIO and / or CTO is the orchestrator of automation initiatives, driving alignment between technology investments and business objectives, understanding of both the technical aspects of automation and the strategic imperatives driving business transformation. They may choose to identify a dedicated role within their leadership team, but will have the overall mandate, breadth of influence and knowledge to drive true transformational and cross departmental change.
In the future, automation will play an increasingly crucial role in your organization as it continues to develop. With the rise of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), RPA, and process orchestration, the range of automation projects will only grow. Consequently, organizations that invest in developing automation capabilities and placing automation leadership at the highest levels of management will be best positioned to succeed in the digital era.
The importance of top-down thinking and support emphasizes the strategic role of automation in propelling digital transformation and business achievements. By doing this, organizations can speed up innovation, streamline operations, and gain a competitive advantage in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.
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Hackers infect ISPs with malware that steals customers’ credentials
Zero-day that was exploited since June to infect ISPs finally gets fixed.
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)
Malicious hackers likely working on behalf of the Chinese government have been exploiting a high-severity zero-day vulnerability that allowed them to infect at least four US-based ISPs with malware that steals credentials used by downstream customers, researchers said Tuesday.
The vulnerability resides in the Versa Director, a virtualization platform that allows ISPs and managed service providers to manage complex networking infrastructures from a single dashboard, researchers from Black Lotus Labs, the research arm of security firm Lumen, said. The attacks, which began no later than June 12 and are likely ongoing, allow the threat actors to install “VersaMem,” the name Lumen gave to a custom web shell that gives remote administrative control of Versa Director systems.
Getting admin control of ISP infrastructure
The administrative control allows VersaMem to run with the necessary privileges to hook the Versa authentication methods, meaning the web shell can hijack the execution flow to make it introduce new functions. One of the functions VersaMem added includes capturing credentials at the moment an ISP customer enters them and before they are cryptographically hashed. Once in possession of the credentials, the threat actors work to compromise the customers. Black Lotus didn’t identify any of the affected ISPs, MSPs, or downstream customers.
Ex-Googlers Discover That Startups Are Hard
Dozens of former AI researchers from Google who struck out on their own are learning that startups are tricky. The Information: The latest example is French AI agent developer H, which lost three of its five cofounders (four of whom are ex-Googlers) just months after announcing they had raised $220 million from investors in a “seed” round, as our colleagues reported Friday. The founders had “operational and business disagreements,” one of them told us.
The drama at H follows the quasi-acquisitions of Inflection, Adept and Character, which were each less than three years old and founded mostly by ex-Google AI researchers. Reka, another AI developer in this category, was in talks to be acquired by Snowflake earlier this year. Those talks, which could have valued the company at $1 billion, fell apart in May. AI image developer Ideogram, also cofounded by four ex-Googlers, has spoken with at least one later-stage tech startup about potential sale opportunities, though the talks didn’t seem to go anywhere, according to someone involved in the discussions.
Cohere, whose CEO co-authored a seminal Google research paper about transformers with Noam Shazeer, the ex-CEO of Character, has also faced growing questions about its relatively meager revenue compared to its rivals. For now, though, it has a lot of money in the bank. Has someone put a curse on startups founded by ex-Google AI researchers?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Dozens of former AI researchers from Google who struck out on their own are learning that startups are tricky. The Information: The latest example is French AI agent developer H, which lost three of its five cofounders (four of whom are ex-Googlers) just months after announcing they had raised $220 million from investors in a “seed” round, as our colleagues reported Friday. The founders had “operational and business disagreements,” one of them told us.
The drama at H follows the quasi-acquisitions of Inflection, Adept and Character, which were each less than three years old and founded mostly by ex-Google AI researchers. Reka, another AI developer in this category, was in talks to be acquired by Snowflake earlier this year. Those talks, which could have valued the company at $1 billion, fell apart in May. AI image developer Ideogram, also cofounded by four ex-Googlers, has spoken with at least one later-stage tech startup about potential sale opportunities, though the talks didn’t seem to go anywhere, according to someone involved in the discussions.
Cohere, whose CEO co-authored a seminal Google research paper about transformers with Noam Shazeer, the ex-CEO of Character, has also faced growing questions about its relatively meager revenue compared to its rivals. For now, though, it has a lot of money in the bank. Has someone put a curse on startups founded by ex-Google AI researchers?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.