Engadget

03.07.2024 20:00 Later this year, millions of Apple devices will begin running Apple Intelligence, Cupertino's take on generative AI that, among other things, lets people create images from text prompts. But some members of the creative community are unhappy about what they say is the company’s lack of transparency around the raw information powering the AI model that makes this possible. “I wish Apple would have explained to the public in a more transparent way how they collected their training data,” Jon Lam, a video games artist and a creators’ rights activist based in Vancouver, told Engadget. “I think their announcement could not have come at a worse time.” Creatives have historically been some of the most loyal customers of Apple, a company whose founder famously positioned it at the “intersection of technology and liberal arts.” But photographers, concept artists and sculptors who spoke to Engadget said that they were frustrated about Apple’s relative silence around how it gathers data for its AI models. Generative AI is only as good as the data its models are trained on. To that end, most companies have ingested just about anything they could find on the internet, consent or compensation be damned. Nearly 6 billion images used to train multiple AI models also came from LAION-5B, a dataset of images scraped off the internet. In an interview with Forbes, David Holz, the CEO Midjourney, said that the company’s models were trained on “just a big scrape of the internet” and that “there isn’t really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they’re coming from.” Artists, authors and musicians have accused generative AI companies of sucking up their work for free and profiting off of it, leading to more than a dozen lawsuits in 2023 alone. Last month, major music labels including Universal and Sony sued AI music generators Suno and Udio, startups valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, for copyright infringement. Tech companies have – ironically – both defended their actions and also struck licensing deals with content providers, including news publishers. Some creatives thought that Apple might do better. “That’s why I wanted to give them a slight benefit of the doubt,” said Lam. “I thought they would approach the ethics conversation differently.” Instead, Apple has revealed very little about the source of training data for Apple Intelligence. In a post published on the company’s machine learning research blog, the company wrote that, just like other generative AI companies, it grabs public data from the open web using AppleBot, its purpose-made web crawler, something that its executives have also said on stage. Apple’s AI and machine learning head John Giannandrea also reportedly said that “a large amount of training data was actually created by Apple” but did not go into specifics. And Apple has also reportedly signed deals with Shutterstock and Photobucket to license training images, but hasn’t publicly confirmed those relationships. While Apple Intelligence tries to win kudos for a supposedly more privacy-focused approach using on-device processing and bespoke cloud computing, the fundamentals girding its AI model appear little different from competitors. Apple did not respond to specific questions from Engadget. In May, Andrew Leung, a Los Angeles-based artist who has worked on films like Black Panther, The Lion King and Mulan, called generative AI “the greatest heist in the history of human intellect” in his testimony before the California State Assembly about the effects of AI on the entertainment industry. “I want to point out that when they use the term ‘publicly available’ it just doesn’t pass muster,” Leung said in an interview. “It doesn’t automatically translate to fair use.” It’s also problematic for companies like Apple, said Leung, to only offer an option for people to opt out once they’ve already trained AI models on data that they did not consent to. “We never asked to be a part of it.” Apple does allow websites to opt out of being scraped by AppleBot forApple Intelligence training data – the company says it respects robots.txt, a text file that any website can host to tell crawlers to stay away – but this would be triage at best. It's not clear when AppleBot began scraping the web or how anyone could have opted out before then. And, technologically, it's an open question how or if requests to remove information from generative models can even be honored. This is a sentiment that even blogs aimed at Apple fanatics are echoing. “It’s disappointing to see Apple muddy an otherwise compelling set of features with practices that are no better than the rest of the industry,” wrote Federico Viticci, founder and editor-in-chief of Apple enthusiast blog MacStories. Adam Beane, a Los Angeles-based sculptor who created a likeness of Steve Jobs for Esquire in 2011, has used Apple products exclusively for 25 years. But he said that the company’s unwillingness to be forthright with the source of Apple Intelligence training data has disillusioned him. "I'm increasingly angry with Apple," he told Engadget. "You have to be informed enough and savvy enough to know how to opt out of training Apple's AI, and then you have to trust a corporation to honor your wishes. Plus, all I can see being offered as an option to opt out is further training their AI with your data." Karla Ortiz, a San Francisco-based illustrator, is one of the plaintiffs in a 2023 lawsuit against Stability AI and DeviantArt, the companies behind image generation models Stable Diffusion and DreamUp respectively, and Midjourney. “The bottom line is, we know for generative AI to function as is, relies on massive overreach and violations of rights, private and intellectual,” she wrote on a viral X thread about Apple Intelligence. “This is true for all AI companies, and as Apple pushes this tech down our throats, it’s important to remember they are not an exception.” The outrage against Apple is also a part of a larger sense of betrayal among creative professionals against tech companies whose tools they depend on to do their jobs. In April, a Bloomberg report revealed that Adobe, which makes Photoshop and multiple other apps used by artists, designers, and photographers, used questionably-sourced images to train Firefly, its own image-generation model that Adobe claimed was “ethically” trained. And earlier this month, the company was forced to update its terms of service to clarify that it wouldn’t use the content of its customers to train generative AI models after customer outrage. “The entire creative community has been betrayed by every single software company we ever trusted,” said Lam. It isn’t feasible for him to switch away from Apple products entirely, he’s trying to cut back — he’s planning to give up his iPhone for a Light Phone III. “I think there is a growing feeling that Apple is becoming just like the rest of them,” said Beane. “A giant corporation that is prioritizing their bottom line over the lives of the people who use their product.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/artists-criticize-apples-lack-of-transparency-around-apple-intelligence-data-131250021.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 14:50 Google’s greenhouse gas emissions spiked by nearly 50 percent in the last five years, due to data centers required to power artificial intelligence, according to the company’s 2024 Environmental Report. The report shows the company’s progress towards meeting its self-proclaimed objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 – despite this additional challenge. Using AI features uses a lot of energy. In 2023, researchers at AI startup Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University found that generating a single image using artificial intelligence can use as much energy as charging a smartphone. Google has a lot of AI projects on the go. Alongside the likes of Gemini, generative AI tools, it's using the technology to add over 100 languages to its translation services. And there's also the rumored AI chatbots. According to the report, Google said it expects its total greenhouse gas emissions to rise “before dropping toward our absolute emissions reduction target,” without explaining what would cause this drop. – Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Meta is changing its policy for the most-moderated word on its platforms How Apple redesigned its Photos app around customization A new Resident Evil game is in the works from the director of Resident Evil 7 ​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Michigan is getting the nation’s first smart highway Three miles of I-94 will have special sensors and communication equipment. Canvue The Alphabet-backed startup Cavnue has started constructing the smart highway as part of a new pilot project for smart highways. The new smart road is one long tracking system, designed to inform both Michigan’s Department of Transportation and drivers about potential issues ahead, It's hoped that the project will help relieve traffic congestion and even prevent accidents. The pilot program of the highway is located between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan, with future plans to extend the smart highway to 40 miles in six more phases that would connect to both cities. Continue reading. DJI announces a move into e-bike motors If the future of drone sale is looking dicey… With a US ban of its hyper-popular drones increasingly likely, DJI has been diversifying into something very different. Enter the Avinox Drive, an e-bike motor system that will go up against dominant players like Bosch and Shimano. The Avinox system, on paper at least, appears to out-spec some popular systems from those rivals, thanks to the lower weight, extra torque and higher-capacity batteries. DJI however won’t be making bikes, so let’s see how it fares. The system will first appear with a new bike brand called Amflow, which is launching the new PL model weighing in at 19.2kg — on the low-end for electric mountain bikes . Continue reading. Netflix’s newest remake is that Minesweeper game from the '90s Fortunately not a gritty 10-part action drama. The latest title to join the Netflix Games roster is a modern remake of Minesweeper, ancient timekiller on ‘90s Windows PCs. The classic PC puzzle game has been reimagined with an international setting, tasking the player with very literally looking for underwater mines Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-googles-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climbed-nearly-50-percent-in-five-years-due-to-ai-111514346.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 14:50 Proton now has its own version of Google Docs in its Drive cloud storage service, and like the company's other products, it comes with end-to-end encryption. The company says its flavor of Docs "offers a unique solution in a market where most popular products neglect privacy" and recommends it for use in the healthcare, media, finance and legal industries. Proton Docs has advanced formatting and image embed options like Google Docs has and can create, open and edit documents in multiple formats, including Microsoft .docx. It has collaboration tools similar to Google Docs', as well. Users can invite anyone to view and edit their documents, though those without a Proton account will be prompted to create one first. The free tier of Proton Drive includes essential document features so people don't have to pay for the service if they don't want to. Participants will be able to add comments to the document, reply to them and resolve them. And users will see other participants' presence and their cursor placements in real time, so that they know who's working on which part of the document and so that their edits don't clash. Proton didn't say whether the launch of Docs means it's going to roll out analogues of Google's other Workspace apps in the future, but the company did expand its offerings with several different products over the last few years. In addition to Drive cloud storage — and, of course, its email service — the company has a VPN, an encrypted calendar and even a password manager. Docs will make its way to Proton users over the coming days. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/proton-launches-its-own-version-of-google-docs-100044471.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 10:11 With a US ban of its hyper-popular drones more likely than not, DJI has been diversifying into products that won't be affected by the Countering CCP Drones Act, like backup batteries. Now the company is entering the e-bike arena with the Avinox Drive System that will go up against the likes of Bosch, Bafang, Shimano and SRAM. The Avinox system promises a relatively light 2.52 kg weight , while offering up to 105Nm of peak torque/power and 600Wh or 800Wh battery options. It uses GaN 3x fast charging tech, so the 800Wh battery can be charged from 0 to 75 percent in 1.5 hours. A planetary gearset and polymer gears allow for a balance of size, weight and power output, along with a quiet ride, according to DJI. The system offers four standard riding assist modes, Auto, Eco Trail and Turbo, along with a Boost mode for extra power when required. The Auto mode uses what DJI calls "multi-sensor fusion" to continuously adjust assistance based on riding resistance. Avinox includes a two-inch OLED full-color touchscreen display to control the assist modes and display pertinent information. It allows riders to connect their smartphones to access features like security, data recording, sharing and real-time bike status/location. You can also use the app to access and customize assist levels and parameters. Finally, it comes with dual Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth connectivity for a "clutter-free handlebar setup," the company wrote. The Avinox system appears to out-spec some popular systems from Bosch, Shimano, Brose and others thanks to the lower weight, extra torque and higher-capacity batteries. It'll first appear with a new bike brand called Amflow, which is launching the new PL model weighing in at 19.2kg — on the low-end for electric mountain bikes . The Amflow PL also includes a four-bar linkage structure and "cutting-edge geometry," a rear shock co-tuned with FOX, and an SRAM rear derailleur. As for the US ban on DJI's drones, the Countering CCP Drones Act has passed through Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It's now set to be reviewed by the Senate and if approved, would likely be signed into law by President Biden. In a counterpoint article, DJI wrote: "This act damages not just DJI, but also the broad ecosystem of operators, businesses and public safety agencies that rely on their technologies to conduct safe and efficient operations." DJI's Avinox Drive system will be sold only to manufacturers, so no retail price is available. The Amflow eMTB doesn't have an exact price yet, but will be sold for between €7,000 and €12,000 in Europe. It's due to be released in Q4 2024 "through authorized dealers in Germany, the UK and Australia, amongst others," the company said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dji-further-diversifies-from-drones-with-the-avinox-e-bike-drive-system-070043218.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 10:11 A number of pretty good titles are coming to Microsoft's Game Pass this month for Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, including Engadget staff favorites Neon White and Tchia. Neon White is a first-person shooter and puzzle platformer, wherein you play the part of an assassin taken from Hell to exterminate demons in Heaven in an annual competition. It was one of Engadget's best games for 2022, and we praised it for being smooth and fast-paced, having complex weapons and having almost 100 replayable levels to go through. Meanwhile, Tchia is one of our top game picks for 2023. In the charming action-adventure game, you play the role of Tchia, a young girl who has to find and rescue her kidnapped father. Tchia uses her power of "soul jumping" to take control of animals and inanimate objects in order to solve puzzles, find items, fight enemies and travel to new areas. Both Neon White and Tchia will be available on Game Pass starting on July 11. Before that, on July 3, Journey to the Savage Planet is returning to the Game Pass library. In the game, you play an explorer for a company called Kindred Aerospace, traveling across galaxies and planets and interacting with alien life forms. Meanwhile, a game called Flock published by Annapurna Interactive will be available on the service on July 16, the same day it's released. It's a multiplayer co-op game, where you play shepherd to a flock of flying creatures. But if you want to play something food-related, the cooking game Magical Delicacy will also arrive on the cloud gaming service on the same day. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/neon-white-tchia-and-a-bunch-of-other-titles-are-coming-to-game-pass-this-month-045548792.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 04:41 Google’s greenhouse gas emissions spiked by nearly 50 percent in the last five years thanks to energy-guzzling data centers required to power artificial intelligence, according to the company’s 2024 Environmental Report released on Tuesday. The report, which Google releases annually, shows the company’s progress towards meeting its self-proclaimed objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. Google released 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023, the report states, which was 48 percent higher than in 2019, and 13 percent higher than a year before. “This result is primarily due to increases in data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions,” said Google in the report. “As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands associated with the expected increases in our technical infrastructure investment.” Google’s report spotlights the environmental impact that the explosion of artificial intelligence has had on the planet. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple and other tech companies plan to pour billions of dollars into AI, but training AI models requires enormous amounts of energy. Using AI features uses significant amounts of energy too. In 2023, researchers at AI startup Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University found that generating a single image using artificial intelligence can use as much energy as charging a smartphone. Analysts at Bernstein said that AI would “double the rate of US electricity demand growth and total consumption could outstrip current supply in the next two years,” the Financial Times reported. Last month, Microsoft, which also pledged to go “carbon negative” by the end of this decade, reported that its greenhouse gas emissions had risen nearly 30 percent since 2020 due to the construction of data centers. Google’s report said that the company’s data centers were using way more water than before to stay cool as a result of expanded AI workloads. Some of those workloads so far have involved Google Search suggesting that people eat rocks and put glue on their pizza to prevent the cheese from falling off, as well as Gemini, the company’s AI-powered chatbot, generating images of ethnically diverse Nazis. In 2023, Google’s data centers consumed 17 percent more water than the year before. That’s 6.1 billion liters, enough to irrigate approximately 41 golf courses annually in the southwestern United States, according to the company’s strangely kooky measure. “As our business and industry continue to evolve, we expect our total GHG emissions to rise before dropping toward our absolute emissions reduction target,” Google’s report stated, without explaining what would precipitate the drop. “Predicting the future environmental impact of AI is complex and evolving, and our historical trends likely don’t fully capture AI’s future trajectory. As we deeply integrate AI across our product portfolio, the distinction between AI and other workloads will not be meaningful.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climbed-nearly-50-percent-in-five-years-due-to-ai-002646115.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 04:41 It’s been a hot minute since we’ve had a brand new Resident Evil game. Then again, it’s hard to blame Capcom for that — Resident Evil: Village created such a high bar for future sequels to limbo under or jump over, depending on which hypothetical bar-based sport you’re playing in your head. Capcom has finally confirmed that Resident Evil 9 is on the way and they’ve tapped a veteran director to oversee the tenth zombie adventure shooter. IGN reported that Capcom confirmed the news of the sequel during its Next Summer 2024 stream. Director Koshi Nakanishi will be in charge of the new Resident Evil game. Nakanishi has over a decade of experience directing Resident Evil games including The Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. "We're making a new Resident Evil," Nakanishi said. "It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7, but I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can't share any details just yet, but I hope you're excited for the day I can." Capcom has unleashed a deluge of remasters of some of its biggest game classics. During the same stream, Capcom also announced a re-release of the first Dead Rising called Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The emaster of the mall zombie slayer will feature a new voiceover for the game’s journalist protagonist Frank West, updated HD graphics and fluffier poodles. Capcom also announced a demo for the Japanese-inspired, strategy action game Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and a re-release of Resident Evil: Biohazard for Apple mobile devices and Apple computers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-resident-evil-game-is-in-the-works-from-the-director-of-resident-evil-7-235543024.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 04:41 Texas will be the main battleground for a case about porn websites that is now headed to the Supreme Court. The Free Speech Coalition, a nonprofit group that represents the adult industry, petitioned the top court in April to review a state law that requires websites with explicit material to collect proof of users' ages. SCOTUS today agreed to take on the case challenging a previous ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit as a part of its next term beginning in October. Texas was one of many states over the last year to pass this type of age-verification legislation aimed at porn websites. While supporters of these bills have said they are intended to protect minors from seeing inappropriate content, their critics have called the laws an overreach that could create new privacy risks. In response to the laws, Pornhub ended its operation in those states, a move that attracted public attention to the situation. "While purportedly seeking to limit minors' access to online sexual content, the Act imposes significant burdens on adults' access to constitutionally protected expression," the FSC petition says. "Of central relevance here, it requires every user, including adults, to submit personally identifying information to access sensitive, intimate content over a medium — the internet — that poses unique security and privacy concerns." This case is one of the latest First Amendment rights questions to go before the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the court remanded a case about social media content moderation back to lower courts and passed judgment on how closely social media companies can engage with federal officials about misinformation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/texas-age-verification-law-for-pornography-websites-is-going-to-the-supreme-court-233511418.html?src=rss

03.07.2024 04:41  The latest title to join the Netflix Games roster is a very modern take on one of the icons of Windows computing. That's right, you can now play Minesweeper through Netflix's app. The classic PC puzzle game has been reimagined with an international setting, tasking the player with very literally looking for underwater mines by overlaying the usual interface of numbers and flags over vibrant pictures of waterways from around the world. For those of us who grew up playing the original game, this take from Netflix is certainly a departure in appearance. Colorful aquatic backgrounds? A journey mode? Buh? However, the Netflix version does have one definite bonus that the trailer calls out at its close: "No in-game ads. No extra fees. No in-app purchases." Trying to find a modern-day Minesweeper game for mobile involves sifting through what feels like countless options that mimic the look of the original, but are either ad-supported or require purchase to go ad-free. Minesweeper is also an interesting retro addition to what has become a wide-ranging collection of titles at Netflix. The company has its own takes on card games Hearts and Solitaire alongside indie darlings like Hades and international mega-hits from the Grand Theft Auto series. Plus there are some games that tie into Netflix's own programming. The company has definitely cast a wide net with this endeavor.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-has-reimagined-minesweeper-and-its-out-now-220009017.html?src=rss

02.07.2024 23:41 A three-mile stretch of Interstate 94 in Michigan will be converted into America’s first smart highway. Axios reports that the Alphabet-backed startup Cavnue has started constructing the smart highway as part of a new pilot project that could spur other construction projects across the country. Two more highways are in the works for Austin, Texas and somewhere else in the Southwest, according to Cavnue’s website. The new smart road is big, long car tracking system for Michigan’s Department of Transportation and for drivers on the highway. The smart highway is designed to send data like traffic updates, weather conditions, driving conditions and stranded vehicles in the hopes of relieving traffic congestion, preventing accidents and providing efficient responses to roadway emergencies. The pilot program of the highway is located between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan. There are future plans to extend the smart highway to 40 miles into six more phases that would connect to both cities once the pilot program is complete. The smart highway works with a series of poles placed every 200 meters along the road that hold sensor pods, compute pods and communication equipment. There are also cameras along the highway that monitor every stretch of roadway and take images that are analyzed by AI and machine learning algorithms to identify hazardous driving conditions. Alerts are sent to MDOT and drivers connected to the roadway. So far, the system can only talk to autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles but Cavnue expects half of cars to have some level of autonomy by 2030. America has some catching up to do when it comes to building and implementing smart highways. Great Britain, for instance, started working on its first internet-connected road in 2014.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/michigan-is-building-the-nations-first-smart-highway-213004576.html?src=rss

02.07.2024 23:41 Amazon Prime Day is later this month, and the retailer has been promoting the big sale with additional discounts with early Prime Day deals. Right now, members of Amazon Prime can snag three months of an Audible Premium Plus subscription for free. This deal runs through July 31. After the three-month deal, subscriptions will automatically renew at the usual price of $15 per month. But as with any Audible subscription, you can cancel at any time. So if you're an avid audiobook listener and have been waiting for a good deal, or if you're mildly curious about the service and want a longer time to test whether it's right for you, now's a good time to hop aboard. At this tier, Audible grants subscribers one title from its catalog every month. With this membership, you get unlimited listening access to the Plus catalog of originals, audiobooks and podcasts in addition to your one title per month. Audible also runs members-only sales and discounts that you can take advantage of as well. While the platform is best known for audiobooks, it also hosts original productions of radio plays and audio-only stories. Notable names such as Neil Gaiman and The Walking Dead's creative team have collaborated on Audible Originals. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-members-can-get-audible-free-for-three-months-ahead-of-prime-day-204245766.html?src=rss

02.07.2024 23:41 The summer is usually a quiet time for tech news but Samsung is about to shake things up a bit. The next Samsung Unpacked event is set for July 10. It will take place in Paris at 3PM local time, which is 9AM ET. The company released its Galaxy S24 devices earlier this year after its first Unpacked of 2024, so it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see new versions of the traditional smartphone format here . However, there’s a decent chance that Samsung will show off its latest set of foldables. Rumors are suggesting that it’s ready to reveal a new smartwatch too. And then there’s the small matter of the smart ring that Samsung has been teasing this year. Here’s a look at what we expect from Samsung Unpacked, July 2024 edition: Samsung Galaxy Ring Samsung’s smart ring is its most intriguing upcoming device. It’s a brand-new product category for the company, though Samsung has been preparing for it by refining its health and wellness tech in its other devices over the last few years. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is slated to arrive “in or around August,” according to the company itself, so it would be more of a surprise if the device didn’t appear at Unpacked. After first teasing the wearable during January’s Unpacked, Samsung revealed more details about it in February. The Galaxy Ring will be available in three colors — platinum silver, gold and ceramic black — and multiple sizes. The ring will measure heart rate, movement and breathing to help track your sleep. It’s expected to support fertility tracking too. The Galaxy Ring will also be able to pair with a Galaxy Watch, so if you wear both, you’re likely to get more accurate health data. Samsung Naturally, the Galaxy Ring will be compatible with Galaxy phones but Samsung is aiming to make it work with other Android handsets. As of February, iOS compatibility was to be determined, so perhaps rival device Oura will remain the go-to choice for many iPhone users. For what it's worth, some of the company's smartwatches are compatible with certain iPhones and non-Samsung Android phones. Samsung has yet to reveal the exact release date and pricing for the Galaxy Ring. However, that information is almost certainly going to be announced at Unpacked. Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 It’s probably the right time for Samsung to roll out new foldables as we move into the back half of the year and the holiday shopping season. We may very well see the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and and Galaxy Z Flip 6 at Unpacked. The updates are expected to be relatively minor. Rumors suggest the Z Flip 6 will get a modest battery capacity increase to 4,000 mAh, an option to increase the RAM to 12GB and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. Camera upgrades also seem likely, with Samsung said to be bringing the same 50MP camera seen in the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S24 to the Z Flip 6. As for the flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 6, that's expected to have the same size screen and thickness as last year's model. The cover screen may adopt Corning Gorilla Armor for improved durability along with anti-reflective tech. It doesn't seem that the cameras will be upgraded, while there may only be a very small increase to battery capacity. It's a safe bet that there will be a chipset upgrade to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, though. Meanwhile, one leak has suggested that both devices are getting a $100 increase compared with last year's models. We'll need to wait until Unpacked to find out for sure whether that's the case. There has also been some chatter around a more premium Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, as well as slim versions of both foldable formats. However, these may arrive alongside the Galaxy S25 lineup in early 2025. If they appear at the July Unpacked event, it's likely to be a tease at most. Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Ultra Galaxy Watch 7 listings popped up early on some online stores, so we'll probably see that wearable show up at Unpacked too. It's expected to have a 3nm chipset that could improve power efficiency and performance. The health sensors are likely to get an upgrade too. This being 2024, there will naturally be some AI-powered features. A listing detailed AI-powered sleep, exercise and communications features, including a smart reply function for the latter. That's not all, though, as there are indications that a Galaxy Watch Ultra is on the way too. A number of leaked images suggest it'll be chunkier than standard Galaxy Watch models. The device is expected to have a rectangular design with a round watch face. Most intriguingly, the Galaxy Watch Ultra could have a digital crown-style dial and button combination on the side instead of a rotating bezel for navigation. Rumors peg the price at $700, which would be far more expensive than other Galaxy Watch devices. Here's hoping Samsung has packed enough features in there to make it worthwhile. Official Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Galaxy Ring Charger rendersLiterally, almost all things about the Samsung Unpacked have been leaked as always pic.twitter.com/EXFZOnWRV1— Tim Tom 0 June 16, 2024 Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro It's been a couple of years since the last Galaxy Buds models , so those are due for an upgrade. It's likely that we'll see both Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro at Unpacked on July 10. The two models will be available in silver and white colorways and have an IP57 rating for dust and water resistance, along with SmartThings Find support, according to Android Headlines. As with the Buds 2 Pro, it's expected that the Buds 3 Pro will have a two-way speaker designed to deliver richer audio, while the regular Buds 3 will have a one-way speaker. The higher-end model is also said to offer adaptive noise control, blade lights and ambient sound. Buds 3 Pro are also expected to deliver longer battery life than the more budget-friendly model, though both are believed to have active noise cancellation. There's one other big anticipated change as word on the street indicates Samsung is set to mimic Apple's AirPods by adopting a stem design. Whether you're a fan of that format or not, there's one clear advantage of the stem: it places the microphone a little closer to your mouth, which should improve call quality. For what it's worth, when Samsung revealed the Galaxy Buds Live in 2020, it said those lacked an "awkward stem." Galaxy Reserve pre-order deals Like it's been doing in recent years, Samsung has already made it possible to reserve "one of the next generation of Galaxy devices on Samsung.com." That'll make you eligible for "instant Samsung Credit" of $50 and "up to $1,500 in savings when they pre-order." Of course, this doesn't tell us much about what to officially expect from the company, but it's a sign there'll be at least something to reserve, right?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/heres-all-the-samsung-hardware-and-announcements-we-expect-from-the-unpacked-event-on-july-10-143014890.html?src=rss

02.07.2024 23:41 Meta is changing a long-running policy regarding the Arabic word “shaheed,” which has been described as the most-moderated word on the company’s apps. The company said in an update to the Oversight Board that use of the word alone would no longer result in a post’s removal. The Oversight Board had criticized the company for a “blanket ban” on the word, which is often translated as “martyr,” though, as the board noted, it can have multiple meanings. Meta’s previous policy, however, didn’t take that “linguistic complexity” into account, which resulted in a disproportionate number of takedowns over a commonly used word. Shaheed, the board said earlier this year, “accounts for more content removals under the Community Standards than any other single word or phrase,” across the company’s apps. In its latest update, Meta said that it had tested a new approach to moderating the word following a recommendation from the board. “Initial results from our assessment indicate that continuing to remove content when “Shaheed” is paired with otherwise violating content – or when the three signals of violence outlined by the Board are present – captures the most potentially harmful content without disproportionality impacting voice,” the company wrote. The change should have a significant impact on Meta’s Arabic-speaking users, who, according to the board, have been unfairly censored as a result of the policy. “The Oversight Board welcomes Meta’s announcement today that it will implement the Board’s recommendations and introduce significant changes to an unfair policy that led to the censoring of millions of people across its platforms,” the board said in a statement. “The policy changes on how to moderate the Arabic word ‘shaheed’ should have a swift impact on when content is removed, with a more nuanced approach ending a blanket ban on a term that Meta has acknowledged is one the most over-enforced on its platforms.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-changing-its-policy-for-the-most-moderated-word-on-its-platforms-185016272.html?src=rss

02.07.2024 23:41 Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner, officially starting on July 16, but early deals are already starting to trickle in. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy A35 smartphone is currently available for $350, which is a discount of $50 and a record-low price for the mid-level handset. The A35 just became available in the US back in April, so the discount comes as a nice surprise. This is a capable smartphone with a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display that boasts a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, just like its cousin the Galaxy A55. This phone also includes the company’s Vision Booster software, which adjusts the screen’s tone according to ambient lighting conditions, and Samsung’s Knox Vault privacy technology. We put the Galaxy A35 on our list of the best midrange smartphones for a number of key reasons. We loved the screen, calling it one of the best displays available for the price, and the versatile camera system. We also enjoyed the 5,000mAh battery, which easily allows for all-day use. This battery supports 25W fast charging. As for power, the Exynos 1380 processor won’t break any speed records and the 6GB of RAM is on the lower side. The same goes for the 128GB of onboard storage, though Samsung has added a microSD card for expansion. Despite these specs, the Galaxy A35 performs admirably with most tasks. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-early-prime-day-deal-brings-the-samsung-galaxy-a35-phone-to-a-record-low-price-174556637.html?src=rss

02.07.2024 23:41 Bose surprised everyone when it debuted its clip-on Ultra Open Earbuds early this year. The premise was part fashion and part function, leaving your ears open to ambient sounds while you listen to tunes or podcasts. That model is $299 though, a price that's prohibitive for anyone looking to give the unique wear style a try. Enter JLab, the budget audio company with a solid track record for sound quality and features for under $100, and its new model: the Flex Open Earbuds. At just $50, it's much easier to take a gamble on the clip-on design, especially if you don't want make these your all-day buds. The Flex Open Earbuds offer the same basic premise as the Bose model. They clip onto the back of your ear while situating a speaker just outside of your ear canal. This leaves your ears open to outside noise you actually want to hear while also keeping your ears unplugged and comfy. JLab promises that the Flex Open Earbuds are suitable for calls, and multipoint Bluetooth allows you to switch devices with ease. Google Fast Pair is available on Android devices, so you can connect as soon as you take the buds out of the case. Where the Flex Open Earbuds actually surpass the Ultra Open Earbuds is durability and battery life. The $50 JLab version is IP55 rated where the Bose model is IPX4. The Flex Open Earbuds will also last over seven hours on a charge, according to the company, which is at least two hours more than I got on the Ultra Open Earbuds during my tests. In terms of audio, JLab employs 12mms drivers that it says are tuned to satisfy both bass lovers and listeners who love crisp, clear treble. The JLab app also provides a Bass Boost feature that leverages an algorithm for "astonishing" performance and "a truly immersive audio experience." I wouldn't expect sound quality on the level of Bose here, but JLab's reputation is solid enough that these will probably get the job done audio-wise. Plus, I mean, you're saving $250 in the process. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jlabs-flex-open-earbuds-are-a-50-version-of-the-bose-ultra-open-173339211.html?src=rss