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The PS5 Pro will be announced in mid-September and will likely hit store shelves sometime during the holiday season, according to insider information published by VGC. The information was brought forth by a reliable Dealabs user called billbil-kun, who has a pretty good track record for leaking upcoming games and hardware.
Here’s what the leaker has laid out. Take all of this with a grain of salt, as it’s not coming from Sony. First of all, it’ll actually be called the PS5 Pro. This was assumed, based on the PS4 Pro, but we didn’t have any actual naming details. The user claims to have access to the packaging design, but didn’t feel comfortable sharing copyrighted images. Instead, they sketched out the packaging, as seen below.
Dealabs / billbil-kun
As you can see, the design is similar to the PS5 Slim, with a white colorway. We don’t know if it’ll be available in other colors beyond white. There looks to be three black stripes across the middle, which is a new design element. These stripes could double as cooling vents but, again, we just don’t know. 
The leaker also doesn’t know if the console will have a disc drive, though it has been theorized that it could ship without a drive in order to keep costs down. It’s equally unclear if there will be two versions of the PS5 Pro, one with a disc drive and a digital-only edition.
Adidas x PS5… (no, just joking) 😅The wait is over!It took me some time to finish the drawing,Here is the final design of PS5 Pro with many other details including:📅 Announcement window💿 All Digital?🎮 Included Controller#PS5Pro https://t.co/Egkav2XiV9— billbil-kun (@billbil_kun) August 29, 2024

The report also indicates that the console will ship with the same standard DualSense controller that comes with the original PS5 and the PS5 Slim. The leaker, however, offers no information regarding internal specifications. In other words, we are still (mostly) in the dark about the “Pro” part of the PS5 Pro.
To that end, there have been other leaks that hint at the console’s power. Back in March, a YouTuber leaked official documentation from Sony that explained some of the console’s specifications. The document is believed to be legitimate by IGN and other sites, but the video has since been taken down at Sony’s behest.
The video suggested that the forthcoming console will have the same CPU as the standard PS5, but that there will be a “High CPU Frequency Mode” that pushes the chipset by ten percent to 3.85GHz. It has also been indicated that the GPU will be powered by 33.5 teraflops versus the standard PS5’s 10.28 teraflops.
This doesn’t mean that the PS5 Pro will be three times better at rendering than the regular PS5. There have been recent changes in AMD’s architecture that make it difficult to directly compare teraflops between the PS5 and the PS5 Pro, as indicated by The Verge. The leak suggests a 45 percent uptick with rendering. 
Sony has filed a copyright strike against the PS5 Pro leak video from Moore’s Law is Dead. The video has been removed from YouTube pic.twitter.com/lxv5jS9CMY— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) April 15, 2024

In any event, it sure looks like we are mere weeks (or even days) away from an official announcement from Sony. Here’s to hoping the PS5 Pro won’t absolutely shred our bank accounts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/it-sure-seems-like-the-ps5-pro-will-be-announced-in-the-next-few-weeks-173708822.html?src=rss

The PS5 Pro will be announced in mid-September and will likely hit store shelves sometime during the holiday season, according to insider information published by VGC. The information was brought forth by a reliable Dealabs user called billbil-kun, who has a pretty good track record for leaking upcoming games and hardware.

Here’s what the leaker has laid out. Take all of this with a grain of salt, as it’s not coming from Sony. First of all, it’ll actually be called the PS5 Pro. This was assumed, based on the PS4 Pro, but we didn’t have any actual naming details. The user claims to have access to the packaging design, but didn’t feel comfortable sharing copyrighted images. Instead, they sketched out the packaging, as seen below.

As you can see, the design is similar to the PS5 Slim, with a white colorway. We don’t know if it’ll be available in other colors beyond white. There looks to be three black stripes across the middle, which is a new design element. These stripes could double as cooling vents but, again, we just don’t know. 

The leaker also doesn’t know if the console will have a disc drive, though it has been theorized that it could ship without a drive in order to keep costs down. It’s equally unclear if there will be two versions of the PS5 Pro, one with a disc drive and a digital-only edition.

The report also indicates that the console will ship with the same standard DualSense controller that comes with the original PS5 and the PS5 Slim. The leaker, however, offers no information regarding internal specifications. In other words, we are still (mostly) in the dark about the “Pro” part of the PS5 Pro.

To that end, there have been other leaks that hint at the console’s power. Back in March, a YouTuber leaked official documentation from Sony that explained some of the console’s specifications. The document is believed to be legitimate by IGN and other sites, but the video has since been taken down at Sony’s behest.

The video suggested that the forthcoming console will have the same CPU as the standard PS5, but that there will be a “High CPU Frequency Mode” that pushes the chipset by ten percent to 3.85GHz. It has also been indicated that the GPU will be powered by 33.5 teraflops versus the standard PS5’s 10.28 teraflops.

This doesn’t mean that the PS5 Pro will be three times better at rendering than the regular PS5. There have been recent changes in AMD’s architecture that make it difficult to directly compare teraflops between the PS5 and the PS5 Pro, as indicated by The Verge. The leak suggests a 45 percent uptick with rendering. 

In any event, it sure looks like we are mere weeks (or even days) away from an official announcement from Sony. Here’s to hoping the PS5 Pro won’t absolutely shred our bank accounts.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/it-sure-seems-like-the-ps5-pro-will-be-announced-in-the-next-few-weeks-173708822.html?src=rss

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Researchers at Cornell University tapped into fungal mycelia to power a pair of proof-of-concept robots. Mycelia, the underground fungal network that can sprout mushrooms as its above-ground fruit, can sense light and chemical reactions and communicate through electrical signals. This makes it a novel component in hybrid robotics that could someday detect crop conditions otherwise invisible to humans.
The Cornell researchers created two robots: a soft, spider-like one and a four-wheeled buggy. The researchers used mycelia’s light-sensing abilities to control the machines using ultraviolet light. The project required experts in mycology (the study of fungi), neurobiology, mechanical engineering, electronics and signal processing.
“If you think about a synthetic system — let’s say, any passive sensor — we just use it for one purpose,” lead author Anand Mishra said. “But living systems respond to touch, they respond to light, they respond to heat, they respond to even some unknowns, like signals. That’s why we think, OK, if you wanted to build future robots, how can they work in an unexpected environment? We can leverage these living systems, and any unknown input comes in, the robot will respond to that.”
The fungal robot uses an electrical interface that (after blocking out interference from vibrations and electromagnetic signals) records and processes the mycelia’s electrophysical activity in real time. A controller, mimicking a portion of animals’ central nervous systems, acted as “a kind of neural circuit.” The team designed the controller to read the fungi’s raw electrical signal, process it and translate it into digital controls. These were then sent to the machine’s actuators.
Cornell University / Science Robotics
The pair of shroom-bots successfully completed three experiments, including walking and rolling in response to the mycelia’s signals and changing their gaits in response to UV light. The researchers also successfully overrode the mycelia’s signals to control the robots manually, a crucial component if later versions were to be deployed in the wild.
As for where this technology goes, it could spawn more advanced versions that tap into mycelia’s ability to sense chemical reactions. “In this case we used light as the input, but in the future it will be chemical,” according to Rob Shepherd, Cornell mechanical and aerospace engineering professor and the paper’s senior author. The researchers believe this could lead to future robots that sense soil chemistry in crops, deciding when to add more fertilizer, “perhaps mitigating downstream effects of agriculture like harmful algal blooms,” Shepherd said.
You can read the team’s research paper at Science Robotics and find out more about the project from the Cornell Chronicle.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/these-robots-move-through-the-magic-of-mushrooms-171612639.html?src=rss

Researchers at Cornell University tapped into fungal mycelia to power a pair of proof-of-concept robots. Mycelia, the underground fungal network that can sprout mushrooms as its above-ground fruit, can sense light and chemical reactions and communicate through electrical signals. This makes it a novel component in hybrid robotics that could someday detect crop conditions otherwise invisible to humans.

The Cornell researchers created two robots: a soft, spider-like one and a four-wheeled buggy. The researchers used mycelia’s light-sensing abilities to control the machines using ultraviolet light. The project required experts in mycology (the study of fungi), neurobiology, mechanical engineering, electronics and signal processing.

“If you think about a synthetic system — let’s say, any passive sensor — we just use it for one purpose,” lead author Anand Mishra said. “But living systems respond to touch, they respond to light, they respond to heat, they respond to even some unknowns, like signals. That’s why we think, OK, if you wanted to build future robots, how can they work in an unexpected environment? We can leverage these living systems, and any unknown input comes in, the robot will respond to that.”

The fungal robot uses an electrical interface that (after blocking out interference from vibrations and electromagnetic signals) records and processes the mycelia’s electrophysical activity in real time. A controller, mimicking a portion of animals’ central nervous systems, acted as “a kind of neural circuit.” The team designed the controller to read the fungi’s raw electrical signal, process it and translate it into digital controls. These were then sent to the machine’s actuators.

The pair of shroom-bots successfully completed three experiments, including walking and rolling in response to the mycelia’s signals and changing their gaits in response to UV light. The researchers also successfully overrode the mycelia’s signals to control the robots manually, a crucial component if later versions were to be deployed in the wild.

As for where this technology goes, it could spawn more advanced versions that tap into mycelia’s ability to sense chemical reactions. “In this case we used light as the input, but in the future it will be chemical,” according to Rob Shepherd, Cornell mechanical and aerospace engineering professor and the paper’s senior author. The researchers believe this could lead to future robots that sense soil chemistry in crops, deciding when to add more fertilizer, “perhaps mitigating downstream effects of agriculture like harmful algal blooms,” Shepherd said.

You can read the team’s research paper at Science Robotics and find out more about the project from the Cornell Chronicle.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/these-robots-move-through-the-magic-of-mushrooms-171612639.html?src=rss

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Not only is Telegram CEO Pavel Durov facing criminal charges in France, the company he founded could be in hot water with the European Union as well. EU officials are looking into whether the platform lied about its user numbers to avoid being regulated under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The Joint Research Centre — a department of the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch — is conducting a technical investigation in an attempt to determine Telegram’s true user numbers in the bloc. Officials are also discussing the matter with Telegram, according to the Financial Times. “We have a way through our own systems and calculations to determine how accurate the user data is,” said Thomas Regnier, the EC’s spokesperson for digital issues, said.
Earlier this year, Telegram claimed to have 41 million users in the bloc. While it was supposed to provide an updated figure this month, it said only that it had “significantly fewer than 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU.” Officials claim Telegram’s failure to disclose the actual number is itself a breach of the DSA, while they believe that the investigation will reveal that more than 45 million residents are using it.
That figure is significant because services that have more than 45 million users (10 percent of the EU’s population) there are designated as “very large online platforms.” Those are subject to stricter rules under the DSA, violations of which can lead to a fine of up to six percent of a company’s annual revenue. Platforms with the designation have to meet higher compliance and content moderation standards, and share data with the EC. Third-party auditing is also a factor.
Telegram is said to be on the cusp of cracking 1 billion users in total. Other than China, the user base is “roughly proportionate to the population of each market [or] continent,” Durov told the FT earlier this year.
On Wednesday, French prosecutors formally charged Durov amid an ongoing investigation. Among other things, he has been accused of “complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs and hacking software” and “refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal activity” on Telegram, which is an encrypted messaging service.
Durov, who was arrested at an airport near Paris over the weekend, was released from custody after posting bail of €5 million. The Telegram CEO, who obtained French citizenship a few years ago, is required to stay in France and check in at a police station twice weekly until the investigation is concluded. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-officials-believe-telegram-lied-about-user-numbers-to-skirt-regulation-165538148.html?src=rss

Not only is Telegram CEO Pavel Durov facing criminal charges in France, the company he founded could be in hot water with the European Union as well. EU officials are looking into whether the platform lied about its user numbers to avoid being regulated under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Joint Research Centre — a department of the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch — is conducting a technical investigation in an attempt to determine Telegram’s true user numbers in the bloc. Officials are also discussing the matter with Telegram, according to the Financial Times. “We have a way through our own systems and calculations to determine how accurate the user data is,” said Thomas Regnier, the EC’s spokesperson for digital issues, said.

Earlier this year, Telegram claimed to have 41 million users in the bloc. While it was supposed to provide an updated figure this month, it said only that it had “significantly fewer than 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU.” Officials claim Telegram’s failure to disclose the actual number is itself a breach of the DSA, while they believe that the investigation will reveal that more than 45 million residents are using it.

That figure is significant because services that have more than 45 million users (10 percent of the EU’s population) there are designated as “very large online platforms.” Those are subject to stricter rules under the DSA, violations of which can lead to a fine of up to six percent of a company’s annual revenue. Platforms with the designation have to meet higher compliance and content moderation standards, and share data with the EC. Third-party auditing is also a factor.

Telegram is said to be on the cusp of cracking 1 billion users in total. Other than China, the user base is “roughly proportionate to the population of each market [or] continent,” Durov told the FT earlier this year.

On Wednesday, French prosecutors formally charged Durov amid an ongoing investigation. Among other things, he has been accused of “complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs and hacking software” and “refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal activity” on Telegram, which is an encrypted messaging service.

Durov, who was arrested at an airport near Paris over the weekend, was released from custody after posting bail of €5 million. The Telegram CEO, who obtained French citizenship a few years ago, is required to stay in France and check in at a police station twice weekly until the investigation is concluded. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-officials-believe-telegram-lied-about-user-numbers-to-skirt-regulation-165538148.html?src=rss

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X is discouraging users from viewing a link to an NPR story about Donald Trump’s recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery, raising questions about whether the Elon Musk-owned platform is putting its thumb on the scale for the former president.
On Thursday, NPR reporter Stephen Fowler posted a link to a story in which he quoted an Army official who said that an employee at Arlington National Cemetery was “abruptly pushed aside” during an event attended by Trump and members of his campaign earlier this week. The outlet had previously reported that there was a “physical altercation” at the event with campaign staff over federal laws barring campaign activities at the cemetery.
Some users on X who attempt to click a link to the story are greeted with a warning message saying that X has deemed that “this link may be unsafe.” It states that it could be malicious, violent, spammy or otherwise violate the platform’s rules, but doesn’t explain why the link was flagged. Fowler posted a thread on X, each tweet of which contained a link to his story — the warning appears to affect the first two instances of the link but not others, for reasons unknown. It’s highly unusual for such a warning to appear before a link to a mainstream website. Other links to NPR, as well as other coverage of Trump’s visit to Arlington, don’t appear to have such a label.
Notably, Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump this election, and recently held a lengthy live streamed conversation with him on X. Musk has also publicly feuded with NPR in the past, adding a “state affiliated media” label to its account for several months last year. NPR hasn’t posted from its main account on X since the label was added last April.
X didn’t immediately respond to questions about its use of the label.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-labeling-an-unflattering-npr-story-about-donald-trump-as-unsafe-163732236.html?src=rss

X is discouraging users from viewing a link to an NPR story about Donald Trump’s recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery, raising questions about whether the Elon Musk-owned platform is putting its thumb on the scale for the former president.

On Thursday, NPR reporter Stephen Fowler posted a link to a story in which he quoted an Army official who said that an employee at Arlington National Cemetery was “abruptly pushed aside” during an event attended by Trump and members of his campaign earlier this week. The outlet had previously reported that there was a “physical altercation” at the event with campaign staff over federal laws barring campaign activities at the cemetery.

Some users on X who attempt to click a link to the story are greeted with a warning message saying that X has deemed that “this link may be unsafe.” It states that it could be malicious, violent, spammy or otherwise violate the platform’s rules, but doesn’t explain why the link was flagged. Fowler posted a thread on X, each tweet of which contained a link to his story — the warning appears to affect the first two instances of the link but not others, for reasons unknown. It’s highly unusual for such a warning to appear before a link to a mainstream website. Other links to NPR, as well as other coverage of Trump’s visit to Arlington, don’t appear to have such a label.

Notably, Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump this election, and recently held a lengthy live streamed conversation with him on X. Musk has also publicly feuded with NPR in the past, adding a “state affiliated media” label to its account for several months last year. NPR hasn’t posted from its main account on X since the label was added last April.

X didn’t immediately respond to questions about its use of the label.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-labeling-an-unflattering-npr-story-about-donald-trump-as-unsafe-163732236.html?src=rss

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The Labor Day discounts are coming in hot. Here’s one for Apple’s fantastic MagSafe charging pad. It’s usually $39, but this Amazon sale brings it down to $29. That’s a savings of 26 percent and close to a record low price.
If you haven’t tried a charging pad before, you are in for a treat. There’s a reason this thing made our list of the best iPhone accessories. All you do is plug it in and then plop the device right on top of it. It’ll juice up, thanks to the magic of inductive charging.

Apple’s MagSafe charging pad will work with just about any Apple handset past the iPhone 8, though the internal magnetic locking mechanism only works with the iPhone 12 and later. All this means is it’ll be a bit more finicky to place older handsets. Also, the charging pad isn’t tethered to phones. It powers up the charging cases that ship with most AirPods earbuds.
We loved the powerful internal magnets, which makes phone placement a breeze. The only real downside is that the cable that runs from the pad to a power outlet is on the shorter side, so it may require some furniture rearrangement or the use of an extension cord.
The original $39 asking price was also a sticking point, given that off-brand products are much cheaper. That’s changed with this sale. Why get a third-party charging pad for $25 when you can get the real deal for $29?
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-labor-day-sale-discounts-apples-magsafe-charging-pad-to-just-29-150200016.html?src=rss

The Labor Day discounts are coming in hot. Here’s one for Apple’s fantastic MagSafe charging pad. It’s usually $39, but this Amazon sale brings it down to $29. That’s a savings of 26 percent and close to a record low price.

If you haven’t tried a charging pad before, you are in for a treat. There’s a reason this thing made our list of the best iPhone accessories. All you do is plug it in and then plop the device right on top of it. It’ll juice up, thanks to the magic of inductive charging.

Apple’s MagSafe charging pad will work with just about any Apple handset past the iPhone 8, though the internal magnetic locking mechanism only works with the iPhone 12 and later. All this means is it’ll be a bit more finicky to place older handsets. Also, the charging pad isn’t tethered to phones. It powers up the charging cases that ship with most AirPods earbuds.

We loved the powerful internal magnets, which makes phone placement a breeze. The only real downside is that the cable that runs from the pad to a power outlet is on the shorter side, so it may require some furniture rearrangement or the use of an extension cord.

The original $39 asking price was also a sticking point, given that off-brand products are much cheaper. That’s changed with this sale. Why get a third-party charging pad for $25 when you can get the real deal for $29?

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-labor-day-sale-discounts-apples-magsafe-charging-pad-to-just-29-150200016.html?src=rss

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Netflix and the BBC have released an all-too-brief look at Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. A clip from the stop-motion animated movie features Wallace proudly revealing his latest invention, a “smart gnome” called Norbot. The robot aggressively shakes Gromit’s paw while introducing itself to the pooch, hinting at trouble ahead.
It’s a very short clip, but it’s full of charm and wit. The concept of a smart gnome as a riff on the smart home is funny by itself and it perfectly matches the type of humor the Wallace and Gromit series is known for. Wallace encouraging Gromit to put the voice-activated Norbot through its paces is a great touch too, considering that the beagle is famously silent.
There’s something not quite right about Norbot — the robot has a creepy design and an all-too-chipper attitude (the great Reece Shearsmith voices it). According to the Radio Times, the smart gnome is designed to perform any gardening task or “gnome improvement” (heh). It proves a hit with Wallace and Gromit’s neighbors, at least until things start to go wrong in what may well be cinema’s most terrifying instance of AI running amok yet. Wallace and Gromit will have even more problems on their plate, as the film includes the return of franchise villain Feathers McGraw.
“We are delighted to introduce Norbot, a ‘Nifty Odd-jobbing Robot’ gnome, designed to help Gromit with his gardening chores,” directors Nick Park (the series’ creator) and Merlin Crossingham said in a statement. “Norbot is Wallace’s most proud achievement to date and, according to Wallace, his ‘best invention ever!’ Garden gnomes have long been a part of Wallace and Gromit’s world, but this is no cute patio ornament… We’re so excited to see Wallace unleashing his latest invention, Norbot, into the world. However, his long-suffering pooch, Gromit, may be a little less sure…”
It’s almost hard to believe that Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is just the second full-length film in the franchise’s long and Oscar-laden history. It will arrive almost two decades after The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Netflix announced a deal with Aardman a couple of years ago to bring new Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit films to its platform. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will arrive on the streaming service later this year everywhere except the UK, where it will premiere on the BBC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflixs-wallace-and-gromit-movie-features-a-smart-gnome-robot-in-a-teaser-clip-143224865.html?src=rss

Netflix and the BBC have released an all-too-brief look at Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. A clip from the stop-motion animated movie features Wallace proudly revealing his latest invention, a “smart gnome” called Norbot. The robot aggressively shakes Gromit’s paw while introducing itself to the pooch, hinting at trouble ahead.

It’s a very short clip, but it’s full of charm and wit. The concept of a smart gnome as a riff on the smart home is funny by itself and it perfectly matches the type of humor the Wallace and Gromit series is known for. Wallace encouraging Gromit to put the voice-activated Norbot through its paces is a great touch too, considering that the beagle is famously silent.

There’s something not quite right about Norbot — the robot has a creepy design and an all-too-chipper attitude (the great Reece Shearsmith voices it). According to the Radio Times, the smart gnome is designed to perform any gardening task or “gnome improvement” (heh). It proves a hit with Wallace and Gromit’s neighbors, at least until things start to go wrong in what may well be cinema’s most terrifying instance of AI running amok yet. Wallace and Gromit will have even more problems on their plate, as the film includes the return of franchise villain Feathers McGraw.

“We are delighted to introduce Norbot, a ‘Nifty Odd-jobbing Robot’ gnome, designed to help Gromit with his gardening chores,” directors Nick Park (the series’ creator) and Merlin Crossingham said in a statement. “Norbot is Wallace’s most proud achievement to date and, according to Wallace, his ‘best invention ever!’ Garden gnomes have long been a part of Wallace and Gromit’s world, but this is no cute patio ornament… We’re so excited to see Wallace unleashing his latest invention, Norbot, into the world. However, his long-suffering pooch, Gromit, may be a little less sure…”

It’s almost hard to believe that Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is just the second full-length film in the franchise’s long and Oscar-laden history. It will arrive almost two decades after The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Netflix announced a deal with Aardman a couple of years ago to bring new Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit films to its platform. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will arrive on the streaming service later this year everywhere except the UK, where it will premiere on the BBC.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflixs-wallace-and-gromit-movie-features-a-smart-gnome-robot-in-a-teaser-clip-143224865.html?src=rss

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Meta has published an update on how its Llama large language models are performing, and they’re apparently doing so well that they’re now “approaching 350 million downloads to date.” That’s 10 times more than the downloads it accumulated compared to the same time last year. Approximately 20 million of those downloads took place in the last month alone, after the company released Llama 3.1, its latest LLM that it says can now rival OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s. 
The monthly usage of Llama grew ten times from January to July this year for some of Meta’s largest cloud service providers, the company said. From May to July, in particular, hosted Llama usage on its cloud partners more than doubled by token volume. In addition to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, the company teamed up with Databricks, Dell, Google Cloud, Groq, NVIDIA, IBM watsonx, Scale AI and Snowflake, among others, to make its LLMs more readily available to developers.
Meta attributed Llama’s growing usage to “the power of open source.” It said that making the LLMs available to all allowed it to see “a vibrant and diverse AI ecosystem come to life where developers have more choice and capability.” When Meta released Llama 3.1, Mark Zuckerberg extolled the virtues of open source AI, calling it the “path forward.” He also talked about the steps Meta is taking to make open source AI the industry standard. 
In its latest report, it gave examples of how companies are using Llama for their needs. AT&T apparently uses Llama to fine-tune customer searches, while DoorDash relies on the LLM to make tasks easier for its software engineers. Llama also generates the real-time reactions of the creatures called “Dots” in Niantic’s Tamagotchi-like game Peridot. Meanwhile, Zoom uses Llama (along with other LLMs) to power its AI Companion that can summarize meetings and make smart recordings. “The innovation has been broad and rapid, from start-ups pushing new boundaries to enterprises of all sizes using Llama to build on-premises or through a cloud service provider,” Meta wrote. “Industry is building and innovating with Llama, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-says-llamas-usage-grew-tremendously-due-to-the-power-of-open-source-140020454.html?src=rss

Meta has published an update on how its Llama large language models are performing, and they’re apparently doing so well that they’re now “approaching 350 million downloads to date.” That’s 10 times more than the downloads it accumulated compared to the same time last year. Approximately 20 million of those downloads took place in the last month alone, after the company released Llama 3.1, its latest LLM that it says can now rival OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s. 

The monthly usage of Llama grew ten times from January to July this year for some of Meta’s largest cloud service providers, the company said. From May to July, in particular, hosted Llama usage on its cloud partners more than doubled by token volume. In addition to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, the company teamed up with Databricks, Dell, Google Cloud, Groq, NVIDIA, IBM watsonx, Scale AI and Snowflake, among others, to make its LLMs more readily available to developers.

Meta attributed Llama’s growing usage to “the power of open source.” It said that making the LLMs available to all allowed it to see “a vibrant and diverse AI ecosystem come to life where developers have more choice and capability.” When Meta released Llama 3.1, Mark Zuckerberg extolled the virtues of open source AI, calling it the “path forward.” He also talked about the steps Meta is taking to make open source AI the industry standard. 

In its latest report, it gave examples of how companies are using Llama for their needs. AT&T apparently uses Llama to fine-tune customer searches, while DoorDash relies on the LLM to make tasks easier for its software engineers. Llama also generates the real-time reactions of the creatures called “Dots” in Niantic’s Tamagotchi-like game Peridot. Meanwhile, Zoom uses Llama (along with other LLMs) to power its AI Companion that can summarize meetings and make smart recordings. “The innovation has been broad and rapid, from start-ups pushing new boundaries to enterprises of all sizes using Llama to build on-premises or through a cloud service provider,” Meta wrote. “Industry is building and innovating with Llama, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-says-llamas-usage-grew-tremendously-due-to-the-power-of-open-source-140020454.html?src=rss

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Meta’s Oversight Board is looking at two anti-transgender posts shared in 2024 that were reported multiple times for hate speech, bullying and harassment. The first is a video shared on Facebook that shows a trans woman being confronted in the bathroom by another woman. The post misgenders the person as a man and questions why they should be allowed to use a women’s bathroom. The other case looks at a video posted on Instagram in which a transgender girl wins a women’s sporting competition, with some spectators audibly expressing their disapproval. The post also misgenders the athlete as a boy. 
The company’s hate speech policy prohibits any direct attack on an individual due to their gender identity. Yet, in both instances, Meta left the post live after users reported them. Then, following individual appeals to the Board, Meta took another look under its Hate Speech and Bullying and Harassment policies and came to the same conclusion. It also told the Board that it would have left the Facebook post up regardless, as it’s newsworthy given that “transgender people’s access to bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity is the subject of considerable political debate in the United States.” 
The user who appealed the Facebook post argued to the Board that Meta is allowing a transphobic post to remain on one of its platforms. The assertion for the Instagram post was that the attacks lobbied at the athlete violate Meta’s Community Standards. 
The Board is now seeking public comments through September 12 on aspects such as Meta’s policies, the challenges of enforcing them and how the content of each post and accompanying video could be seen from a sociopolitical context. It’s combining these two cases “to assess whether Meta’s approach to moderating discussions around gender identity respects users’ freedom of expression and the rights of transgender and non-binary people.” Meta has 60 days to respond once the Board makes a recommendation.
This latest instance is part of a consistent pattern from Meta of violating trans rights and well-being. Last year, the Board ruled that Meta wrongly took down two Instagram posts of a transgender and non-binary couple with bare chests but covered nipples. Both posts discussed transgender healthcare and how they were raising money so one of them could afford gender-affirming surgery. Meta argued the posts violated its sexual solicitation policies after getting user reports and automatic system alerts. The couple then appealed to Meta and the Board, with Meta reversing their decision. The Board still looked into it and agreed that the posts should never have been removed. 
Outside entities have also criticized Meta’s lack of protections. Early this year, LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD published a report outlining how Meta fails to enforce its own policies around anti-trans hate speech. The report showed dozens of clear examples demonstrating hate speech across Facebook, Instagram and Threads between June 2023 and March 2024, including anti-trans slurs, dehumanizing language and promotions of conversion therapy. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/metas-oversight-board-looks-into-anti-trans-posts-that-the-company-wont-remove-135331089.html?src=rss

Meta’s Oversight Board is looking at two anti-transgender posts shared in 2024 that were reported multiple times for hate speech, bullying and harassment. The first is a video shared on Facebook that shows a trans woman being confronted in the bathroom by another woman. The post misgenders the person as a man and questions why they should be allowed to use a women’s bathroom. The other case looks at a video posted on Instagram in which a transgender girl wins a women’s sporting competition, with some spectators audibly expressing their disapproval. The post also misgenders the athlete as a boy. 

The company’s hate speech policy prohibits any direct attack on an individual due to their gender identity. Yet, in both instances, Meta left the post live after users reported them. Then, following individual appeals to the Board, Meta took another look under its Hate Speech and Bullying and Harassment policies and came to the same conclusion. It also told the Board that it would have left the Facebook post up regardless, as it’s newsworthy given that “transgender people’s access to bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity is the subject of considerable political debate in the United States.” 

The user who appealed the Facebook post argued to the Board that Meta is allowing a transphobic post to remain on one of its platforms. The assertion for the Instagram post was that the attacks lobbied at the athlete violate Meta’s Community Standards. 

The Board is now seeking public comments through September 12 on aspects such as Meta’s policies, the challenges of enforcing them and how the content of each post and accompanying video could be seen from a sociopolitical context. It’s combining these two cases “to assess whether Meta’s approach to moderating discussions around gender identity respects users’ freedom of expression and the rights of transgender and non-binary people.” Meta has 60 days to respond once the Board makes a recommendation.

This latest instance is part of a consistent pattern from Meta of violating trans rights and well-being. Last year, the Board ruled that Meta wrongly took down two Instagram posts of a transgender and non-binary couple with bare chests but covered nipples. Both posts discussed transgender healthcare and how they were raising money so one of them could afford gender-affirming surgery. Meta argued the posts violated its sexual solicitation policies after getting user reports and automatic system alerts. The couple then appealed to Meta and the Board, with Meta reversing their decision. The Board still looked into it and agreed that the posts should never have been removed. 

Outside entities have also criticized Meta’s lack of protections. Early this year, LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD published a report outlining how Meta fails to enforce its own policies around anti-trans hate speech. The report showed dozens of clear examples demonstrating hate speech across Facebook, Instagram and Threads between June 2023 and March 2024, including anti-trans slurs, dehumanizing language and promotions of conversion therapy. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/metas-oversight-board-looks-into-anti-trans-posts-that-the-company-wont-remove-135331089.html?src=rss

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When I was a preteen, social media was just getting going, so there weren’t many restrictions in place regarding access. Now, regulations — and the consequences of not having them — are everywhere, with the latest example coming courtesy of Meta (a case study for all the good and bad social media has to offer). Meta has announced it’s opening up Horizon Worlds to preteens with parent-approved access to a Meta account.
Anyone aged 10 to 12 can soon request entry to the VR game and explore different worlds like The Space Station or Citadel. Each world is also getting a rating of ages 10+, 13+ or 18+, with ones in the last category not shown as an option to anyone 17 or younger. Parents can either approve all worlds in a specific age bracket, go through and pick specific ones or wait for their kid to send a request.
Further safety features in Horizon Worlds for preteens include the fact that voice chat is disabled for everyone except parent-approved contacts, there are no follow suggestions and there are automatic offline status and visibility settings — something only a parent can change. All parent-managed accounts will also permanently have the personal boundary feature turned on, stopping other avatars from getting too close. Plus, anyone using a Meta Quest 2 or 3 headset will have to re-enter their birthday before playing.
As thought out as these measures seem, parents and guardians might not want to trust that Meta will take care of everything without question. The company has hardly kept young people’s well-being at the forefront of their decisions, with lawmakers slamming (and suing) Meta for its disregard. Nearly every state across the US has taken part in lawsuits alleging Meta hooks teenagers onto its platforms and repeatedly promotes safety features while ignoring staff pleas to devote more time and resources to protecting children. Our deep dive into all of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s dangerous decisions (including the company taking minimal action to stop adults from sexually harassing children on Facebook and Instagram) is available here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-open-up-horizon-worlds-access-to-preteens-130059930.html?src=rss

When I was a preteen, social media was just getting going, so there weren’t many restrictions in place regarding access. Now, regulations — and the consequences of not having them — are everywhere, with the latest example coming courtesy of Meta (a case study for all the good and bad social media has to offer). Meta has announced it’s opening up Horizon Worlds to preteens with parent-approved access to a Meta account.

Anyone aged 10 to 12 can soon request entry to the VR game and explore different worlds like The Space Station or Citadel. Each world is also getting a rating of ages 10+, 13+ or 18+, with ones in the last category not shown as an option to anyone 17 or younger. Parents can either approve all worlds in a specific age bracket, go through and pick specific ones or wait for their kid to send a request.

Further safety features in Horizon Worlds for preteens include the fact that voice chat is disabled for everyone except parent-approved contacts, there are no follow suggestions and there are automatic offline status and visibility settings — something only a parent can change. All parent-managed accounts will also permanently have the personal boundary feature turned on, stopping other avatars from getting too close. Plus, anyone using a Meta Quest 2 or 3 headset will have to re-enter their birthday before playing.

As thought out as these measures seem, parents and guardians might not want to trust that Meta will take care of everything without question. The company has hardly kept young people’s well-being at the forefront of their decisions, with lawmakers slamming (and suing) Meta for its disregard. Nearly every state across the US has taken part in lawsuits alleging Meta hooks teenagers onto its platforms and repeatedly promotes safety features while ignoring staff pleas to devote more time and resources to protecting children. Our deep dive into all of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s dangerous decisions (including the company taking minimal action to stop adults from sexually harassing children on Facebook and Instagram) is available here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-open-up-horizon-worlds-access-to-preteens-130059930.html?src=rss

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LG has introduced a smart home hub called ThinQ ON that has the technology to control not just LG-branded appliances but also other smart home devices. It comes with a built-in speaker that gives you a way to talk to LG’s AI voice assistant, so you can use it to look up information, as well as to control your smart devices with spoken commands. LG says its technology can “understand the context of conversations” and can determine your preference for a specific device. It could, perhaps, tell your preferred temperature for the thermostat or the washer cycle you typically use. And it can notify you when a task is done, such as when the dryer cycle is finished. 
The ThinQ ON hub is Matter-certified and can use Wi-Fi or Thread — a low-power wireless protocol — to connect to smart home devices and appliances. In addition, LG’s acquisition of smart home platform company Athom and its smart hub Homey Pro earlier this year gives the device’s compatibility a huge boost. Apparently, the Homey App Store contains over 1,000 applications that will give the hub that capability to control products from a wide number of brands around the world. 
LG has yet to reveal the ThinQ ON’s pricing and availability, but it’s showcasing the hub at IFA 2024 in Berlin, Germany, which will take place from September 6 to 10. 
LG Electronics, Inc.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/lg-debuts-its-thinq-on-smart-home-hub-that-comes-with-an-ai-voice-assistant-120052215.html?src=rss

LG has introduced a smart home hub called ThinQ ON that has the technology to control not just LG-branded appliances but also other smart home devices. It comes with a built-in speaker that gives you a way to talk to LG’s AI voice assistant, so you can use it to look up information, as well as to control your smart devices with spoken commands. LG says its technology can “understand the context of conversations” and can determine your preference for a specific device. It could, perhaps, tell your preferred temperature for the thermostat or the washer cycle you typically use. And it can notify you when a task is done, such as when the dryer cycle is finished. 

The ThinQ ON hub is Matter-certified and can use Wi-Fi or Thread — a low-power wireless protocol — to connect to smart home devices and appliances. In addition, LG’s acquisition of smart home platform company Athom and its smart hub Homey Pro earlier this year gives the device’s compatibility a huge boost. Apparently, the Homey App Store contains over 1,000 applications that will give the hub that capability to control products from a wide number of brands around the world. 

LG has yet to reveal the ThinQ ON’s pricing and availability, but it’s showcasing the hub at IFA 2024 in Berlin, Germany, which will take place from September 6 to 10. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/lg-debuts-its-thinq-on-smart-home-hub-that-comes-with-an-ai-voice-assistant-120052215.html?src=rss

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