Month: August 2024
Spotify Points Finger at Apple Over an Unwelcome Change To Volume Control Tech
Spotify claims Apple may be again in violation of European regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires interoperability from big technology companies dubbed “gatekeepers.” From a report: This time, the issue isn’t about in-app purchases, links or pricing information, but rather how Apple has discontinued the technology that allows Spotify users to control the volume on their connected devices.
When streaming to connected devices via Spotify Connect on iOS, users were previously able to use the physical buttons on the side of their iPhone to adjust the volume. As a result of the change, this will no longer work. To work around the issue, Spotify iOS users will instead be directed to use the volume slider in the Spotify Connect menu in the app to control the volume on connected devices. The company notes that this issue doesn’t affect users controlling the volume on iOS Bluetooth or AirPlay sessions, nor users on Android. It only applies to those listening via Spotify Connect on iOS. As a result, Spotify iOS users globally will be directed to use the new in-app volume slider beginning on September 3.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Spotify claims Apple may be again in violation of European regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires interoperability from big technology companies dubbed “gatekeepers.” From a report: This time, the issue isn’t about in-app purchases, links or pricing information, but rather how Apple has discontinued the technology that allows Spotify users to control the volume on their connected devices.
When streaming to connected devices via Spotify Connect on iOS, users were previously able to use the physical buttons on the side of their iPhone to adjust the volume. As a result of the change, this will no longer work. To work around the issue, Spotify iOS users will instead be directed to use the volume slider in the Spotify Connect menu in the app to control the volume on connected devices. The company notes that this issue doesn’t affect users controlling the volume on iOS Bluetooth or AirPlay sessions, nor users on Android. It only applies to those listening via Spotify Connect on iOS. As a result, Spotify iOS users globally will be directed to use the new in-app volume slider beginning on September 3.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
OpenAI: Everything You Need to Know About the Company That Started a Generative AI Revolution
Its ChatGPT chatbot quickly set the tone for what we can expect from Big Tech in the coming years.
Its ChatGPT chatbot quickly set the tone for what we can expect from Big Tech in the coming years.
Sunrise alarm clock didn’t make waking up easier—but made sleeping more peaceful
Hatch Restore 2 targets circadian rhythms, but it can’t beat sunlight.
The Hatch Restore 2 with one of its lighting options on. [credit:
Scharon Harding ]
To say “I’m not a morning person” would be an understatement. Not only is it hard for me to be useful in the first hour (or so) of being awake, but it’s hard for me to wake up. I mean, really hard.
I’ve tried various recommendations and tricks: I’ve set multiple alarms and had coffee ready and waiting, and I’ve put my alarm clock far from my bed and kept my blinds open so that sunlight might wake me. But I’m still prone to sleeping through my alarm or hitting snooze until the last minute.
The Hatch Restore 2, a smart alarm clock with lighting that mimics sunrises and sunsets, seemed like a technologically savvy approach to realizing my dreams of becoming a morning person.
PSA: Check Your Fridge For Recalled Meat Causing Deadly Listeria Outbreak
The recalled meat has caused 57 hospitalizations in 18 states and nine people have died from the outbreak — and cases are still piling up.
The recalled meat has caused 57 hospitalizations in 18 states and nine people have died from the outbreak — and cases are still piling up.
Starlink’s local bank accounts are frozen as X prepares to be shut down in Brazil
A judge in Brazil has blocked Starlink’s bank accounts in the country amid a deepening dispute with X. The move comes as the same Supreme Court judge has threatened to shut down X in the country, and is a direct response to the ongoing legal battle with the social media company, Reuters reported.
X owner Elon Musk has been feuding with Brazil Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes for months over demands to block certain accounts in the country. The company closed down its operations in Brazil earlier this month as a result of the court orders, which X has characterized as “censorship orders.”
Now, Moraes is apparently attempting to use one of Musk’s other companies, SpaceX-owned Starlink, in an attempt to get X to comply with the court order. “This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X,” Starlink wrote in a statement on X. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally.”
Moraes has also threatened to shut down X in the country entirely. On Wednesday, the judge said X would be shut down in Brazil if they didn’t appoint a legal representative in the country. X said in an update Thursday, shortly after that deadline had passed, that it “soon” expects Moraes to order the shutdown.
“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States,” the company wrote in a statement published in English and Portuguese. “The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.” The company said it planned to publish Moraes’ “illegal demands and all related court filings” in the coming days. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/starlinks-local-bank-accounts-are-frozen-as-x-prepares-to-be-shut-down-in-brazil-234046493.html?src=rss
A judge in Brazil has blocked Starlink’s bank accounts in the country amid a deepening dispute with X. The move comes as the same Supreme Court judge has threatened to shut down X in the country, and is a direct response to the ongoing legal battle with the social media company, Reuters reported.
X owner Elon Musk has been feuding with Brazil Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes for months over demands to block certain accounts in the country. The company closed down its operations in Brazil earlier this month as a result of the court orders, which X has characterized as “censorship orders.”
Now, Moraes is apparently attempting to use one of Musk’s other companies, SpaceX-owned Starlink, in an attempt to get X to comply with the court order. “This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X,” Starlink wrote in a statement on X. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally.”
Moraes has also threatened to shut down X in the country entirely. On Wednesday, the judge said X would be shut down in Brazil if they didn’t appoint a legal representative in the country. X said in an update Thursday, shortly after that deadline had passed, that it “soon” expects Moraes to order the shutdown.
“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States,” the company wrote in a statement published in English and Portuguese. “The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.” The company said it planned to publish Moraes’ “illegal demands and all related court filings” in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/starlinks-local-bank-accounts-are-frozen-as-x-prepares-to-be-shut-down-in-brazil-234046493.html?src=rss
Google’s AI chatbot for your Gmail inbox is rolling out on Android
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Google recently started letting you use its Gemini AI chatbot to ask questions about your Gmail inbox on the web, and now, that feature is coming to mobile. The company says its Gmail Q&A feature is starting to roll out on Android and that the feature will be “coming soon” to iOS.
Using Gmail Q&A, “you can ask Gemini questions about your inbox or to do things like find specific details in your emails, show you unread messages, view messages from a specific sender, or summarize emails about a topic in your inbox,” according to Google’s blog post. Google previewed Gmail Q&A earlier this year at its I/O conference.
Gmail Q&A could be a potentially useful way to sift through your email or find something that might be buried in the depths of your inbox. But note that the feature isn’t available to all users: you’ll need to subscribe to Google One AI Premium or be on a Google Workspace plan with the Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, or Education Premium add-ons.
As with many generative AI tools, you should also always double-check that Gemini doesn’t hallucinate anything that it pulls up.
Gmail Q&A is starting to roll out as of Thursday, and Google says it could take up to 15 days to show up for you.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Google recently started letting you use its Gemini AI chatbot to ask questions about your Gmail inbox on the web, and now, that feature is coming to mobile. The company says its Gmail Q&A feature is starting to roll out on Android and that the feature will be “coming soon” to iOS.
Using Gmail Q&A, “you can ask Gemini questions about your inbox or to do things like find specific details in your emails, show you unread messages, view messages from a specific sender, or summarize emails about a topic in your inbox,” according to Google’s blog post. Google previewed Gmail Q&A earlier this year at its I/O conference.
Gmail Q&A could be a potentially useful way to sift through your email or find something that might be buried in the depths of your inbox. But note that the feature isn’t available to all users: you’ll need to subscribe to Google One AI Premium or be on a Google Workspace plan with the Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, or Education Premium add-ons.
As with many generative AI tools, you should also always double-check that Gemini doesn’t hallucinate anything that it pulls up.
Gmail Q&A is starting to roll out as of Thursday, and Google says it could take up to 15 days to show up for you.
ChatGPT has doubled its weekly active users to 200 million
ChatGPT now has 200 million weekly active users, according to OpenAI. That represents a doubling of the weekly audience of 100 million the company announced last November. A representative from the company told Engadget that API usage has also doubled since the July release of GPT-4o mini.
User numbers aren’t the only big growth OpenAI has seen over the past year. CEO Sam Altman reportedly told employees this summer that the company’s annualized revenue — which takes a monthly revenue figure and stretches it out over a whole year — had reached $3.4 billion, up from $1.6 billion at the end of 2023.
Separately from today’s usercount announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft are in talks to invest in a new fundraising round for OpenAI. The only detail the report had about the scale of this funding round was that it would push OpenAI’s valuation above $100 billion.
Microsoft has invested $13 billion into the AI business since 2019, while Apple revealed that ChatGPT will form a large part of its upcoming Apple Intelligence push. Both Microsoft and Apple gave up their seats on OpenAI’s board of directors this summer after the European Commission raised antitrust concerns about the businesses’ close relationships.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-has-doubled-its-weekly-active-users-to-200-million-233037951.html?src=rss
ChatGPT now has 200 million weekly active users, according to OpenAI. That represents a doubling of the weekly audience of 100 million the company announced last November. A representative from the company told Engadget that API usage has also doubled since the July release of GPT-4o mini.
User numbers aren’t the only big growth OpenAI has seen over the past year. CEO Sam Altman reportedly told employees this summer that the company’s annualized revenue — which takes a monthly revenue figure and stretches it out over a whole year — had reached $3.4 billion, up from $1.6 billion at the end of 2023.
Separately from today’s usercount announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft are in talks to invest in a new fundraising round for OpenAI. The only detail the report had about the scale of this funding round was that it would push OpenAI’s valuation above $100 billion.
Microsoft has invested $13 billion into the AI business since 2019, while Apple revealed that ChatGPT will form a large part of its upcoming Apple Intelligence push. Both Microsoft and Apple gave up their seats on OpenAI’s board of directors this summer after the European Commission raised antitrust concerns about the businesses’ close relationships.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-has-doubled-its-weekly-active-users-to-200-million-233037951.html?src=rss