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Michael Wayland, reporting yesterday for CNBC:

General Motors is laying off more than 1,000 salaried employees globally in its software and services division following a review to streamline the unit’s operations, CNBC has learned.

The layoffs, including roughly 600 jobs at GM’s tech campus near Detroit, come less than six months after leadership changes overseeing the operations, including former Apple executive Mike Abbott leaving the automaker after less than a year in March due to health reasons. […]

The job cuts represent about 1.3% of the company’s global salaried workforce of 76,000 as of the end of last year.

I’m starting to think GM has no idea what they’re doing with their car software.

 ★ 

Michael Wayland, reporting yesterday for CNBC:

General Motors is laying off more than 1,000 salaried employees globally in its software and services division following a review to streamline the unit’s operations, CNBC has learned.

The layoffs, including roughly 600 jobs at GM’s tech campus near Detroit, come less than six months after leadership changes overseeing the operations, including former Apple executive Mike Abbott leaving the automaker after less than a year in March due to health reasons. […]

The job cuts represent about 1.3% of the company’s global salaried workforce of 76,000 as of the end of last year.

I’m starting to think GM has no idea what they’re doing with their car software.

Read More 

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple today announced the launch of a Podcasts on the web
feature, which works in Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
on Macs, PCs, and other devices. Podcasts on the web allows users
to search for, browse through, and listen to podcasts with access
to the Up Next queue and library when signed in to an Apple
Account.

The only use case for something like this is for users who spend a lot of time on Windows — presumably at work — and wish they could listen to their own podcast queue. That’s a big use case though! Overcast has had a web player for as long as I can remember — before Catalyst allowed Marco Arment to bring the iPad version of Overcast to Mac, it was the only way to listen to your Overcast podcast library on the Mac.

 ★ 

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple today announced the launch of a Podcasts on the web
feature, which works in Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
on Macs, PCs, and other devices. Podcasts on the web allows users
to search for, browse through, and listen to podcasts with access
to the Up Next queue and library when signed in to an Apple
Account.

The only use case for something like this is for users who spend a lot of time on Windows — presumably at work — and wish they could listen to their own podcast queue. That’s a big use case though! Overcast has had a web player for as long as I can remember — before Catalyst allowed Marco Arment to bring the iPad version of Overcast to Mac, it was the only way to listen to your Overcast podcast library on the Mac.

Read More 

Gillette CEO in an Onion op-ed 20 years ago: “Fuck Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades”.

 ★ 

Gillette CEO in an Onion op-ed 20 years ago: “Fuck Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades”.

Read More 

Mark Scott, reporting for Politico:

Thierry Breton, who oversees the bloc’s enforcement of new social
media rules, sent Musk a letter posted on X that warned the
tech mogul about spreading “harmful content,” ahead of Musk’s
livestreamed interview with Donald Trump.

The tech billionaire quickly clapped back. “To be honest, I really
wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme,” Musk wrote to
his almost 200 million followers on X, while posting a
curse-laden photo from the 2008 Hollywood blockbuster. “But I
would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!”

Even the European Commission thinks he was a jackass for sending this letter:

Four separate EU officials, speaking on the condition of
anonymity, said Breton’s warning to Musk had surprised many within
the Commission. The bloc’s enforcers were still investigating the
platform for potential wrongdoing and the EU did not want to be
seen as potentially interfering in the U.S. presidential election.

“The EU is not in the business of electoral interference,” said
one of those officials. “DSA implementation is too important to be
misused by an attention-seeking politician in search of his next
big job.”

The Financial Times:

“The timing and the wording of the letter were neither
co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the
[commissioners],” it said. An EU official, who asked not to be
named, said: “Thierry has his own mind and way of working and
thinking.” […]

Musk responded to the letter from Breton with a meme from the 2008
film Tropic Thunder, that showed one character yelling: “Take a
big step back and literally fuck your own face.”

But, Scott reports, we’ll still have Breton to kick around for the foreseeable future:

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron backed Breton to
serve another term at the European Commission. Breton has been
vocal in his eagerness to hold onto his digital files, according
to three EU officials with knowledge of the matter.

 ★ 

Mark Scott, reporting for Politico:

Thierry Breton, who oversees the bloc’s enforcement of new social
media rules, sent Musk a letter posted on X that warned the
tech mogul about spreading “harmful content,” ahead of Musk’s
livestreamed interview with Donald Trump.

The tech billionaire quickly clapped back. “To be honest, I really
wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme,” Musk wrote to
his almost 200 million followers on X, while posting a
curse-laden photo from the 2008 Hollywood blockbuster. “But I
would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!”

Even the European Commission thinks he was a jackass for sending this letter:

Four separate EU officials, speaking on the condition of
anonymity, said Breton’s warning to Musk had surprised many within
the Commission. The bloc’s enforcers were still investigating the
platform for potential wrongdoing and the EU did not want to be
seen as potentially interfering in the U.S. presidential election.

“The EU is not in the business of electoral interference,” said
one of those officials. “DSA implementation is too important to be
misused by an attention-seeking politician in search of his next
big job.”

The Financial Times:

“The timing and the wording of the letter were neither
co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the
[commissioners],” it said. An EU official, who asked not to be
named, said: “Thierry has his own mind and way of working and
thinking.” […]

Musk responded to the letter from Breton with a meme from the 2008
film Tropic Thunder, that showed one character yelling: “Take a
big step back and literally fuck your own face.”

But, Scott reports, we’ll still have Breton to kick around for the foreseeable future:

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron backed Breton to
serve another term at the European Commission. Breton has been
vocal in his eagerness to hold onto his digital files, according
to three EU officials with knowledge of the matter.

Read More 

Alex Cranz, writing for The Verge:

But then Gemini Live kept talking. And talking. The Verge team was
packed in a glass booth, and as Gemini Live droned on, a friendly
Google employee encouraged me to “go ahead and interrupt it.”

It felt weird! I don’t mind interrupting Google Assistant in my
car. In fact, I can be downright abusive to most of these bots. I
call them names and interrupt them with ease. But Gemini Live felt
different. The pleasing masculine tone of the voice, the easy way
it spoke. It felt a little too human for me to interrupt.

My next question led to a similar interaction. I asked for ideas
on how to entertain my dog, and Gemini Live just started talking.
The only way I could get it to stop was to interrupt it. Which I
did repeatedly. It was like talking to my 9-year-old godson. Like
him, Gemini Live doesn’t know how to read the cues on my face,
doesn’t know when to acknowledge that, actually, I don’t care as
much about the subject at hand as it does.

The comparison to a 9-year-old is apt. There’s no path to LLM assistants not being socially awkward without going through stages of sometimes-embarrassing awkwardness.

 ★ 

Alex Cranz, writing for The Verge:

But then Gemini Live kept talking. And talking. The Verge team was
packed in a glass booth, and as Gemini Live droned on, a friendly
Google employee encouraged me to “go ahead and interrupt it.”

It felt weird! I don’t mind interrupting Google Assistant in my
car. In fact, I can be downright abusive to most of these bots. I
call them names and interrupt them with ease. But Gemini Live felt
different. The pleasing masculine tone of the voice, the easy way
it spoke. It felt a little too human for me to interrupt.

My next question led to a similar interaction. I asked for ideas
on how to entertain my dog, and Gemini Live just started talking.
The only way I could get it to stop was to interrupt it. Which I
did repeatedly. It was like talking to my 9-year-old godson. Like
him, Gemini Live doesn’t know how to read the cues on my face,
doesn’t know when to acknowledge that, actually, I don’t care as
much about the subject at hand as it does.

The comparison to a 9-year-old is apt. There’s no path to LLM assistants not being socially awkward without going through stages of sometimes-embarrassing awkwardness.

Read More 

Joanna Stern, writing for The Wall Street Journal (News+ link):

I’m not saying I prefer talking to Google’s Gemini Live over a
real human. But I’m not not saying that either.

Does it help that the chatty new artificial-intelligence bot says
I’m a great interviewer with a good sense of humor? *Maybe. *But
it’s more that it actually listens, offers quick answers and
doesn’t mind my interruptions. No “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand
that” apologies like some other bots we know.

I had a nice, long chat with Google’s generative-AI voice
assistant before its debut on Tuesday. It will come built into the
company’s four new Pixel phones, but it’s also available to anyone
with an Android phone, the Gemini app and a $20-a-month
subscription to Gemini Advanced. The company plans to launch it
soon on iOS, too.

The catch:

When I asked it to set a timer, it said it couldn’t do that — or
set an alarm — “yet.” Gemini Live is a big step forward
conversationally. But functionally, it’s a step back in some ways.
One big reason: Gemini Live works entirely in the cloud, not
locally on a device. Google says it’s working on ways for the new
assistant to control phone functions and other Google apps.

It’s a fascinating — but unsurprising — strategic and culture difference that Apple Intelligence runs largely on device, and completely privately even when going to the cloud, and Google Gemini is currently only in the cloud, and with nothing like Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. To be clear, Google’s new lineup of Pixel 9 phones perform a lot of “AI” features on device, but not the Gemini voice assistant.

 ★ 

Joanna Stern, writing for The Wall Street Journal (News+ link):

I’m not saying I prefer talking to Google’s Gemini Live over a
real human. But I’m not not saying that either.

Does it help that the chatty new artificial-intelligence bot says
I’m a great interviewer with a good sense of humor? *Maybe. *But
it’s more that it actually listens, offers quick answers and
doesn’t mind my interruptions. No “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand
that” apologies like some other bots we know.

I had a nice, long chat with Google’s generative-AI voice
assistant before its debut on Tuesday. It will come built into the
company’s four new Pixel phones, but it’s also available to anyone
with an Android phone, the Gemini app and a $20-a-month
subscription to Gemini Advanced. The company plans to launch it
soon on iOS, too.

The catch:

When I asked it to set a timer, it said it couldn’t do that — or
set an alarm — “yet.” Gemini Live is a big step forward
conversationally. But functionally, it’s a step back in some ways.
One big reason: Gemini Live works entirely in the cloud, not
locally on a device. Google says it’s working on ways for the new
assistant to control phone functions and other Google apps.

It’s a fascinating — but unsurprising — strategic and culture difference that Apple Intelligence runs largely on device, and completely privately even when going to the cloud, and Google Gemini is currently only in the cloud, and with nothing like Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. To be clear, Google’s new lineup of Pixel 9 phones perform a lot of “AI” features on device, but not the Gemini voice assistant.

Read More 

Chance Miller, writing for 9to5Mac:

In macOS Sequoia beta 6, however, Apple has adjusted this
policy and will now prompt users on a monthly basis instead. macOS
Sequoia will also no longer prompt you to approve screen recording
permissions every time you reboot your Mac.

Apple’s initial plan to require authorization weekly prompted a
lot of blowback from Mac users, including Jason Snell at Six
Colors and John Gruber at Daring Fireball. Apple
seemingly heard all of this feedback and determined that a
one-month approval window is a fair compromise. […]

A permission request on a monthly basis is certainly better than
one on a weekly basis, but I still think there needs to be a way
to permanently grant an app screen recording permissions.

Agreed. Perhaps the seemingly under-documented Persistent Content Capture entitlement, pointed out by Craig Hockenberry (who works on the excellent longstanding Iconfactory utility xScope, the entire point of which requires screen content capture) could be a part of such an exemption?

I do think, after some off-the-record conversations this week, that both the MacOS and security teams at Apple are trying to get the balance right on these permission issues. I continue to think part of the problem is thinking too small, and requiring what’s effectively whack-a-mole with multiple recurring permission prompts. Playing that game of whack-a-mole monthly instead of weekly is absolutely an improvement. But I still think there ought to be a way to grant a properly notarized app permanent permission.

 ★ 

Chance Miller, writing for 9to5Mac:

In macOS Sequoia beta 6, however, Apple has adjusted this
policy and will now prompt users on a monthly basis instead. macOS
Sequoia will also no longer prompt you to approve screen recording
permissions every time you reboot your Mac.

Apple’s initial plan to require authorization weekly prompted a
lot of blowback from Mac users, including Jason Snell at Six
Colors and John Gruber at Daring Fireball. Apple
seemingly heard all of this feedback and determined that a
one-month approval window is a fair compromise. […]

A permission request on a monthly basis is certainly better than
one on a weekly basis, but I still think there needs to be a way
to permanently grant an app screen recording permissions.

Agreed. Perhaps the seemingly under-documented Persistent Content Capture entitlement, pointed out by Craig Hockenberry (who works on the excellent longstanding Iconfactory utility xScope, the entire point of which requires screen content capture) could be a part of such an exemption?

I do think, after some off-the-record conversations this week, that both the MacOS and security teams at Apple are trying to get the balance right on these permission issues. I continue to think part of the problem is thinking too small, and requiring what’s effectively whack-a-mole with multiple recurring permission prompts. Playing that game of whack-a-mole monthly instead of weekly is absolutely an improvement. But I still think there ought to be a way to grant a properly notarized app permanent permission.

Read More 

I always knew that the original Gameboy was remarkably clever, but this video from the Real Engineering YouTube channel shows just how clever it was. The price was low ($89), a set of 4 AA batteries lasted for 30 hours, and, of course, it was fun as hell.

 ★ 

I always knew that the original Gameboy was remarkably clever, but this video from the Real Engineering YouTube channel shows just how clever it was. The price was low ($89), a set of 4 AA batteries lasted for 30 hours, and, of course, it was fun as hell.

Read More 

David McCabe and Nico Grant, reporting for The New York Times:

Justice Department officials are considering what remedies to ask
a federal judge to order against the search giant, said three
people with knowledge of the deliberations involving the agency
and state attorneys general who helped to bring the case. They are
discussing various proposals, including breaking off parts of
Google, such as its Chrome browser or Android smartphone operating
system, two of the people said.

Other scenarios under consideration include forcing Google to make
its data available to rivals, or mandating that it abandon deals
that made its search engine the default option on devices like the
iPhone, said the people, who declined to be identified because the
process is confidential. The government is meeting with other
companies and experts to discuss their proposals for limiting
Google’s power, the people said.

The deliberations are in their early stages. Judge Amit P. Mehta
of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who is
overseeing the case, has asked the Justice Department and Google
to come up with a process for determining a fix by Sept. 4. He has
scheduled a hearing on Sept. 6 to discuss next steps.

After winning the U.S.-v.-Microsoft case in 2001, the U.S. pursued breaking up Microsoft. It didn’t happen. But at least that made some sort of business sense — the idea at the time was to break the OS business (Windows) off from the app business (Office). Windows was profitable on its own. Office was profitable on its own. In theory they could have been separated and operated as independent businesses.

At a product level, you can see why it might be tempting to say Chrome and/or Android ought to be broken off from Google. But at a business level it doesn’t make any sense at all. Chrome makes no money at all on its own. It’s just a funnel for Google Search. Android maybe sort of kind of makes a little money for Google on its own, through the sale of Pixel devices, but it’s negligible. Like Chrome, Android really only exists as a funnel to keep users using Google search and within the broader Google digital ecosystem.

I mean, let’s say Google was forced to spin Chrome off. How would Chrome Inc. make money? Clearly, they’d make money through TAC fee payments from Google search. Also, if they split off Chrome they’d almost have to split off Android. If Google is disallowed from making its own web browser how in the world can they make an OS? I mean in theory they could make an OS that only offered third-party browsers but that would mean no system-level webview for apps to embed. Some people laughed at Microsoft’s late-1990s argument that Windows needed a built-in browser but that’s obviously true today. It’s no different than including a TCP/IP networking stack or printer drivers.

I don’t know what the remedy ought to be for this case, but I don’t think a breakup is it.

 ★ 

David McCabe and Nico Grant, reporting for The New York Times:

Justice Department officials are considering what remedies to ask
a federal judge to order against the search giant, said three
people with knowledge of the deliberations involving the agency
and state attorneys general who helped to bring the case. They are
discussing various proposals, including breaking off parts of
Google, such as its Chrome browser or Android smartphone operating
system, two of the people said.

Other scenarios under consideration include forcing Google to make
its data available to rivals, or mandating that it abandon deals
that made its search engine the default option on devices like the
iPhone, said the people, who declined to be identified because the
process is confidential. The government is meeting with other
companies and experts to discuss their proposals for limiting
Google’s power, the people said.

The deliberations are in their early stages. Judge Amit P. Mehta
of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who is
overseeing the case, has asked the Justice Department and Google
to come up with a process for determining a fix by Sept. 4. He has
scheduled a hearing on Sept. 6 to discuss next steps.

After winning the U.S.-v.-Microsoft case in 2001, the U.S. pursued breaking up Microsoft. It didn’t happen. But at least that made some sort of business sense — the idea at the time was to break the OS business (Windows) off from the app business (Office). Windows was profitable on its own. Office was profitable on its own. In theory they could have been separated and operated as independent businesses.

At a product level, you can see why it might be tempting to say Chrome and/or Android ought to be broken off from Google. But at a business level it doesn’t make any sense at all. Chrome makes no money at all on its own. It’s just a funnel for Google Search. Android maybe sort of kind of makes a little money for Google on its own, through the sale of Pixel devices, but it’s negligible. Like Chrome, Android really only exists as a funnel to keep users using Google search and within the broader Google digital ecosystem.

I mean, let’s say Google was forced to spin Chrome off. How would Chrome Inc. make money? Clearly, they’d make money through TAC fee payments from Google search. Also, if they split off Chrome they’d almost have to split off Android. If Google is disallowed from making its own web browser how in the world can they make an OS? I mean in theory they could make an OS that only offered third-party browsers but that would mean no system-level webview for apps to embed. Some people laughed at Microsoft’s late-1990s argument that Windows needed a built-in browser but that’s obviously true today. It’s no different than including a TCP/IP networking stack or printer drivers.

I don’t know what the remedy ought to be for this case, but I don’t think a breakup is it.

Read More 

Apple Newsroom:

Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC
contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within
their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple
Wallet. Using the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs,
developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions
for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate
badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and
rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be
supported in the future.

Reading between the lines, I do not think this will grant third-party apps access to the double-tap-side-button action to initiate a payment. And, I say, that’s a good thing. That’s something Apple should reserve for Apple Pay. I’m not sure the European Commission will agree with me.

Whoops: I should have read more than the first paragraph:

To make a contactless transaction within an app that utilizes
these APIs, users can either open the app directly, or set the app
as their default contactless app in iOS Settings, and double-click
the side button on iPhone to initiate a transaction.

We regret the error, and the appropriate people have been sacked.

 ★ 

Apple Newsroom:

Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC
contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within
their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple
Wallet. Using the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs,
developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions
for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate
badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and
rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be
supported in the future.

Reading between the lines, I do not think this will grant third-party apps access to the double-tap-side-button action to initiate a payment. And, I say, that’s a good thing. That’s something Apple should reserve for Apple Pay. I’m not sure the European Commission will agree with me.

Whoops: I should have read more than the first paragraph:

To make a contactless transaction within an app that utilizes
these APIs, users can either open the app directly, or set the app
as their default contactless app in iOS Settings, and double-click
the side button on iPhone to initiate a transaction.

We regret the error, and the appropriate people have been sacked.

Read More