Category: Technology

The long-running dispute between the European Commission and Apple over the use of its payment technology could soon come to an end. The Commission has officially announced Apple’s plan to open up its Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, used for tap-and-go payments, to third-party mobile wallet providers. Rumors of Apple’s proposal first surfaced in December 2023.

The Commission opened an investigation into Apple in 2020 over potentially restricting rival mobile wallet pay developers’ access to necessary technology, thus eliminating Apple Pay’s competition. Two years later, it announced charges against Apple for allegedly violating the European Union’s antitrust laws, which, if proven, could leave Apple with a massive bill.

Apple’s proposal compromises on its previous assertions that third parties could negatively impact security. If approved, Apple would, among other things, allow third parties to APIs with NFC functionality — no fee or use of Apple Pay or wallet required. This shift would include access to technology that keeps payment information secure. Apple would apply this to any developers and iOS users registered in the European Economic Area (EEA). However, people outside the EEA might still be able to use third-party apps. Apple also claims it will call upon an independent reviewer in disputed instances where the company denied NFC access. All suggested changes and prior press releases on the case are available here.

As expected, the European Commission has not rushed to accept Apple’s proposed commitments. Instead, it has laid them out and requested feedback from Apple’s rivals (and any other interested entities) on whether the laid-out changes are acceptable.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-offers-to-open-up-nfc-payments-to-rival-companies-in-eu-antitrust-case-130528339.html?src=rss 

The tech world isn’t taking any breaks after CES! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Senior Writer Sam Rutherford to discuss Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event, where it debuted the Galaxy S24 smartphone line. They don’t look very different from last year, but they’re packing a load of AI smarts. Also, Cherlynn finally got to try out the Apple Vision Pro and tells us all about her spatial computing journey. While it was a mostly eye-opening experience, the headset also hurt Cherlynn’s head and forced her to confront one of nature’s most terrifying creatures: A butterfly.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

Topics

Samsung’s Galaxy AI event: S24 line, 7 years of support for new phones, and a Galaxy Ring teaser – 1:05

Cherlynn’s Apple Vision Pro hands-on experience – 34:42

Apple is selling Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 again with blood oxygen feature disabled – 1:03:05

Apple finally allows links to third party websites for purchases – 1:04:57

Google throws support behind right to repair bill – 1:06:19

OpenAI laid out its misinformation strategy for a busy 2024 election year – 1:07:58

Cold temperatures in Chicago led to a lot of dead Teslas – 1:09:44

Pop culture picks – 1:16:50

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Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-samsung-galaxy-s24-apple-vision-pro-133055516.html?src=rss 

X (formerly Twitter) rolled out audio and video calling for iOS users back in October 2023. Now, the feature is coming to Android, with an engineer at X, @enriquebrgn, sharing the news in a post: “Audio and video calls on X slowly rolling out for Android users today! Update your app and call your mother.” 

Linda Yaccarino, X’s CEO, first announced video chat on the platform last August as part of her and owner Elon Musk’s plan to create an “everything” app. Of course, the perks that come along with their grand plan, including placing audio and video calls, are primarily available only to premium subscribers. However, any users can receive calls, whether or not they help fund Musk’s dreams (which will cost you $8 per month or $84 annually). 

If WhatsApp, Zoom, Teams and more are enough for you, it’s easy to turn calls off on X. Go into settings and click privacy and safety, then direct messages. There, you’ll see an option that says enable audio and video calling, which you can make sure is switched off. Alternatively, you can control who can call you on X. Limits include people in your address book, verified users and people you follow. These restrictions can be helpful to avoid unwanted calls, as the person on the other end of the line doesn’t need your phone number to contact you. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-introduces-audio-and-video-calls-for-android-users-104015500.html?src=rss 

When the earliest users of Apple’s Vision Pro get their headsets in February, they’ll find a few of the most popular entertainment apps missing from its system’s app store. According to Bloomberg, Google’s YouTube and Spotify don’t have any plans to develop an application for visionOS, the device’s platform, at the moment. A YouTube representative also told the publication that it’s not going to make its iPad app available for download on the headset for now. “YouTube users will be able to use YouTube in Safari on the Vision Pro at launch,” the spokesperson said. As for Spotify, a source told the publication that it doesn’t intend to make its iPad app downloadable on the Vision Pro, as well. 

As MacStories noted in a report listing popular apps that will be compatible with the headset at launch, apps for the iPhone and iPad will automatically show up on the device’s store by default. Developers have to opt out of making their apps downloadable on the Vision Pro. It’s unclear why YouTube and Spotify have chosen not to make their apps available on the headset, but they’re not the only ones. Bloomberg previously reported that Netflix won’t be releasing a dedicated app for the Vision Pro either. In addition, Netflix told the publication that subscribers will have to access its service from a browser on the device, which means its iPad app won’t be downloadable. Based on MacStories‘ report, Meta’ Instagram and Facebook might also be missing from the Vision Pro’s app store. 

These companies may have chosen to wait and see whether it’s worth dedicating resources towards creating a dedicated app for the $3,500 headset. They may also be worried about having to deal with potential issues that Vision Pro users could encounter if they use the iPad versions of the apps on a device that’s from a totally different category. That said, the first Vision Pro users will still have a lot of entertainment apps to choose from, including Disney+, which is giving users access to special immersive environments that can serve as backdrops for its shows. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-vision-pro-wont-have-access-to-youtube-and-spotify-apps-at-launch-083434306.html?src=rss 

The Rabbit R1 launch at CES left many questions unanswered, but earlier today, the brand finally shed light on which LLM (large language model) will be powering the device’s interaction with us mere mortals. The AI provider in question is none other than Perplexity, a San Francisco-based startup with ambitions to overtake Google in the AI space, which is no wonder that it has already received investments from the likes of NVIDIA and Jeff Bezos.

Perplexity will be providing up-to-date search results via Rabbit’s $199 orange brick — without the need of any subscription. That said, the first 100,000 R1 buyers will receive one year of Perplexity Pro subscription — normally costing $200 — for free. This advanced service adds file upload support, a daily quota of over 300 complex queries and the ability to switch to other AI models (GPT-4, Claude 2.1 or Gemini), though these don’t necessarily apply to the R1’s use case.

The Rabbit R1, designed by Teenage Engineering, features a 2.88-inch touchscreen, a scroll wheel, two mics, a speaker, a rotational camera and a “Push-to-Talk” button. By leveraging its Large Action Model (LAM), this dedicated gadget can perform tasks like booking rides, finding recipes based on the ingredients you have, identifying people and objects (including items in, say, your fridge), or just fact checking — which we now know will rely on Perplexity’s real-time search engine. The R1 is available for pre-order now ahead of shipment in March or April.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-rabbit-r1-will-offer-up-to-date-answers-powered-by-perplexitys-ai-031313883.html?src=rss 

Microsoft is rolling out Reading Coach as a standalone app, which will expand its tools for educators in Microsoft Teams. The new app will be part of its Reading Progress suite designed to help students improve literacy in the classroom and at home. The tool will use artificial intelligence to provide users with personalized feedback on how to improve reading scores as well as specific suggestions for how to improve things like pronunciation. It will be free to any users that have a Microsoft account.

With prolonged use, the AI tool will flag specific words that a reader frequently mispronounces or misunderstands during reading sessions. To keep students engaged, the program will also ask a reader to choose prompts that can change a storyline as they progress.

Microsoft says teachers can integrate its program in classrooms through learning platforms starting in the Spring. But the tool is available to educators this month in preview. Teachers will be able to track how student’s feel about assignments using the Reflect tool within the program. This kind of feedback might help an educator determine what assignments students feel most excited about and which lessons might not be working. Beyond tracking student performance, the new features for Microsoft’s Teams for Education suite will help teachers generate content for lessons, such as passages and assignments for a student to engage with.

Microsoft also introduced new features for its Teams for Education app, which is designed to help educators tailor content for digital learning platforms. The Classwork tool will use AI to emphasize particular messages in an assignment’s instructions, according to an educator’s particular goals for that lesson. The Assignments tool will use AI to streamline the rubric generating process. Outlines can be tailored by a teacher based on grade level, evaluation scale or other factors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-tool-for-ai-reading-lessons-is-now-a-standalone-app-230520756.html?src=rss 

Meta is reorganizing its AI teams as it joins the growing ranks of companies trying to create artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Mark Zuckerberg, who has been increasingly focused on the company’s AI research, said the change would help the company “accelerate” its research and, eventually, improve the metaverse.

Meta currently has two teams pursuing AI research: the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, started in 2013, and a team solely focused on generative AI experiences for users of its apps. With the change, Zuckerberg said, the company would bring the two “closer together” as it looks to expand both groups. Meta’s CEO didn’t say how many workers it might add to its AI efforts, but the expansion is notable considering the company has shed more than 20,000 jobs since 2022.

In a video posted to Threads, Zuckerberg said the changes would “support our long-term goals of building general intelligence, open sourcing it responsibly, and making it available and useful to everyone in all of our daily lives.” The change is also the latest way that Zuckerberg is trying to position Meta as a leading AI company in an increasingly crowded field of buzzy generative AI companies and projects.

Creating AGI, a type of AI often compared to human-level intelligence, has become a particular fascination for many of these companies, including Elon Musk’s x.ai, OpenAI and Google. Now, Zuckerberg is throwing Meta’s vast resources at the effort. “We’re building a massive amount of infrastructure,” Zuckerberg wrote. “At the end of this year, we’ll have ~350k Nvidia H100s — and overall ~600k H100s H100 equivalents of compute if you include other GPUs.”

At the same time, Zuckerberg made it clear he has no plans on giving up on the metaverse, which he says will also benefit from AI advancements. “The two major parts of our vision — AI and the metaverse — are connected,” he wrote.

Linking the company’s AI work to the metaverse isn’t a new strategy for Zuckerberg, who spent much of last year’s Connect event hyping generative AI. Still, it could be a risky one. Zuckerberg’s metaverse is still not widely understood, or especially popular. But Zuckerberg seems to think that may change as the company improves its smart glasses and the AI embedded in them. “By the end of the decade, I think lots of people will talk to AIs frequently throughout the day using smart glasses like what we’re building with Ray Ban Meta,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mark-zuckerberg-is-the-latest-billionaire-who-wants-to-create-artificial-general-intelligence-210820789.html?src=rss 

As promised, Xbox offered the first details on MachineGames’ Indiana Jones project during its Developer Direct stream on Thursday. It also confirmed the game’s title — Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — and revealed that it’s coming to Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming later this year.

No prizes for those who guessed that it’s an action-adventure game that will see Indy try to stop some bad guys who are in pursuit of a mysterious power. The story takes place in 1937, between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The McGuffin powerful force in question is connected to something called The Great Circle — a perfect circle around the globe that links human-built ancient sites of “great spiritual significance.” 

The first gameplay trailer shows Indy from a first-person perspective as he explores the pyramids of Egypt, traverses snowy mountain tops, sneaks around enemy strongholds and generally tries to stay alive in the face of mortal doom. He also uses his whip to trip up a bad guy (who lets out a Wilhelm scream in the process), punches some Nazis in the face and leaps from one airborne biplane to another. 

In cutscenes and some platforming sequences, the camera will pull back to let you get a better look at the legendary archaeologist. The game uses Harrison Ford’s likeness, but video game stalwart Troy Baker provides the character’s voice.

It’s early days but MachineGames, with the help of Bethesda’s Todd Howard as executive producer, seems to have gotten the look, feel and sound of an Indiana Jones adventure just about right. We’ll find out just how well they’ve pulled off that tough task when the game comes out later this year, but Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has just become one of my most anticipated games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-is-coming-to-xbox-and-pc-later-this-year-212759483.html?src=rss