Category: Technology

AI-powered image generators have been getting most of the press recently. But musical machine learning models have quietly been making great strides in recent years. Holly Herndon has been at the forefront of that revolution. She co-developed (along with partner Mat Dryhurst) Spawn, a singing neural network, for her last album Proto and released Holly+ (in partnership with Never Before Heard Sounds) to the public last year, which allows anyone to use a model of Holly’s voice. Now she’s released a new single, where the only vocals come her digital twin.

This cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” plays it pretty straight at first listen. Yes it’s slower and quieter, but Ryan Norris, who handles the instrumentation, doesn’t take any extreme liberties with the arrangement or sound palette. It simply swaps frantic desperation with plaintive resignation. 

What makes it so arresting is that every vocal sound, right down to the sharp inhales before the harmonies kick in, was generated by Holly+. (That’s right, it “breathes”.) There isn’t a human in sight of a vocal booth here. Some of the phrasing is a little stilted and there are occasional digital artifacts, if you listen closely for them. But on the whole this digital model of the real Holly Herndon’s voice is impressive in its ability to imitate its creator.

Until now, most major artistsexperimentations with AI have focused on creating generative soundscapes or synth melodies. This is (as far as I know) the first time a machine learning model has taken the mic solo in a pop song. 

Herndon previewed the track way back in March at Sonar Festival, but it largely flew under the radar until it received a proper release this week. (BTW: Go watch the presentation from Sonar for some truly wild real-time demonstrations of Holly+ and Never Before Heard Sounds’ technology.) You can attempt to recreate the performance above by recording your own performance of Jolene and uploading it to Holly+, but don’t expect the same fidelity of results through the web app. While it’s definitely a fun diversion, artists who are serious about using AI to further their craft should explore Spawning, an organization launched by Herdon and Dryhurst earlier this year.

 

Elizabeth Warren is calling for more federal oversight of Big Tech. In a letter (PDF link) the Democratic senator sent on Tuesday, she asked the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to look into Google, Apple and Amazon’s expansion into the automotive industry.

Warren claims the three companies are using their positions in mobile and cloud computing to become dominant players within the sector. “This expansion has potentially alarming implications for developers, workers, and consumers,” Warren states. She’s urging FTC Chair Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, to act decisively before it’s too late. “As Chair Khan has written, ‘it is much easier to promote competition at the point when a market risks becoming less competitive than it is at the point when a market is no longer competitive.’ This market finds itself at exactly such a juncture,” Warren warns.

Specifically, the senator calls out the companies for employing “all-or-nothing” bundling tactics. As one example, she points to the terms of Android Automotive. Google’s operating system doesn’t come with Maps or Assistant included. To access one of those services, automakers must purchase a bundle that includes all of them. Warren argues that tactic allows Google to leverage its dominant position in one area to obtain market share in another. In this specific case, she suggests the company is using Maps to grow Assistant.

“These tactics are reminiscent of past Big Tech bundling controversies,” Warren states, drawing a parallel to cases like the Justice Department’s 2001 lawsuit against Microsoft. Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. “Carmakers choose to partner with tech companies to improve the experience for their customers,” a Google spokesperson told Engadget. “There is enormous competition in the connected car space – including Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa, Cerence, TomTom, ChargePoint and many others – and carmakers continue to invest in their in-house solutions simultaneously. At Google, our goal is to enable carmakers and developers across the auto industry to develop software solutions at scale.”

As Vox points out, automakers are partly to blame for the current state of the market. One reason platforms like CarPlay and Android Auto are so popular is that first-party options from car companies have historically failed to meet consumer expectations. In 2019, Ford paid $17 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to its MyFord Touch infotainment system. The platform was known for freezing and crashing while in use.

Warren says ensuring there’s fair competition in the automotive sector should be a priority for the FTC and DOJ. “The FTC and DOJ don’t have to wait until there’s a problem to take action,” she writes. “Now is the time to prevent Big Tech from strangling competition in the automotive industry before it’s too late.”

 

You might not have to jump between your email client and a web browser just to find out if a holiday gift will arrive on time. Google is updating the Gmail app with simple package tracking. If your order email has a supported tracking number (more on that in a moment), you’ll see the shipping status at the top of the message. If your must-have item arrives tomorrow, you may know without having to plug digits into a web link or dedicated app.

The feature will be available in the US in the “coming weeks,” and will support most large shipping providers. It’s strictly opt-in, so Google won’t look up your tracking numbers unless you want it to. In the months ahead, Gmail will also watch for delays and surface the order email with a label indicating the problem. You may know about a delivery setback before you’ve even received an official notification.

The timing is convenient, of course. Google is hoping to get ahead of the holiday shopping rush and make Gmail your go-to app for tracking packages. That could help keep you in the company’s ecosystem. All the same, it should be a genuinely useful feature — particularly if you shop smaller stores that don’t always have their own apps.

 

Last week, Elon Musk officially completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. But Musk’s path from Twitter super-user to Twitter owner and CEO was anything but straightforward.

While he’s long been known as a prolific tweeter, it was a surprise to most that he was interested in exterting an even bigger influence on the platform. After quietly acquiring a majority stake in the company, he offered to buy the whole thing — even though it wasn’t for sale.

Twitter’s board seemed hesitant at first, but Musk’s money was hard to turn down. In a matter of days, the company agreed to alter its path entirely. Then Musk changed his mind… multiple times. First, the deal was “on hold.” Then, he wanted out entirely. Twitter sued, kicking off a massive legal battle in a Delaware court. But just before the trial was scheduled to begin, Musk said he would honor the deal after all.

Now, there are fresh questions about what exactly Twitter will look like under Musk. He’s proposed numerous changes, including changing Twitter’s moderation rules and reversing permanent bans. He also has a new plan to charge for verification. These decisions are only just beginning to play out, but have already caused massive upheaval both within the company and on the platform itself. Watch the video above for the full story.

 

Google Play Games has arrived on PC in more countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. The app, which is available in beta, allows you to play a selection of Android games on your PC with a mouse and keyboard. Google started testing the app in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan in January (and later in Australia and Thailand) after promising at the tail end of last year that Google Play Games would come to PC in 2022.

To try the app, Google says you’ll need a rig with Windows 10 or later, a solid state drive with 10GB of free space, at least an Intel UHD Graphics 630 or comparable GPU, a CPU with four physical cores and 8GB of RAM. Your progress will sync between Android and PC, so you can continue playing your game on another device.

There are 85 titles on Google Play Games, as The Verge notes, though Google plans to add more. The lineup includes Cookie Run: Kingdom, WWE SuperCard and Just Dance Now. Those are somewhat notable games, but you’ll perhaps find heavier hitters on Apple Arcade and Netflix.

Bringing Google Play Games to Windows is a separate effort from Microsoft’s push to offer Android apps on Windows 11 (which features apps from the Amazon Appstore). For one thing, Google built the Google Play Games app. Perhaps this gaming effort will go more smoothly for Google than Stadia has.

 

Workers at an Apple Store in Glasgow, Scotland, voted on Wednesday to unionize. The vote came after “several” months of negotiations that eventually saw Apple agree to recognize the ballot voluntarily. According to The Herald, employees at the company’s Buchanan Street location, one of two stores Apple operates in Scotland’s most populous city, voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of joining the GMB Union. With the historic vote, the retail location is now on track to become the first unionized Apple Store in the United Kingdom.

Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. “We have long been committed to providing an excellent experience for our customers and teams,” the company told The Herald. “Apple is one of the highest paying retailers in Scotland and we’ve regularly made enhancements to our industry-leading benefits as a part of the overall support we provide to our valued team members.”

The outcome is expected to prompt Apple Store workers at other retail locations across the UK to push forward with their own labor drives. “This is an absolutely historic vote and is a tribute to the hard work of activists and workers in Apple Glasgow,” said GMB Organizer John Slaven.

According to The Herald, organizers in Glasgow described negotiations with Apple as “consistently positive.” In the US, the company has been accused of employing union-busting tactics. In October, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the company, saying it had found merit in claims from the Communications Workers of America. The union accused Apple of interrogating staff at its World Trade Center store in New York City and subjecting them to mandatory anti-union meetings. More recently, organizers at the company’s Towson Town Center location, the first Apple Store in the US to unionize, said the company was withholding benefits from its I AM CORE members.

 

Say hello to Xumo, the new branding for Comcast and Charter’s recently announced joint streaming venture. It’s an evolution of the previous Xumo, the ad-supported streaming service Comcast bought two years ago, that’s aiming to be “an entire entertainment ecosystem inclusive of streaming devices, content, and a platform for partners to reach audiences at scale,” according to the companies. Comcast’s Flex streaming device will now be called Xumo Stream Box, while XClass TV, the company’s push to bring its technology into Hisense-made televisions, will be rebadged as Xumo TV. You can expect to see the first Xumo devices distributed by Charter, Comcast and Walmart next year.

While it may seem a bit late to launch an entirely new streaming company, the joint initiative could be a smart way for Comcast and Charter to modernize their technology and reach consumers outside of their normal regions. The focus on free, ad-supported content (or FAST, in industry terms), is also a clear shot against Roku’s offerings. Even though we’re being inundated with increasingly expensive streaming services, it turns out many people don’t mind watching a few ads to see some of their favorite shows. And that’s easy money for any company offering ad-based content.

 

A former Apple employee has pled guilty to defrauding the company out of over $17 million. Dhirendra Prasad, who spent most of his decade at Apple working as a buyer in the Global Service Supply Chain department, admitted to “taking kickbacks, inflating invoices, stealing parts and causing Apple to pay for items and services never received,” according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. Prasad started these schemes in 2011 and continued them until 2018. 

In one scam, Prasad shipped motherboards from Apple’s inventory to CTrends, a company run by a co-conspirator, Don M. Baker (who previously admitted to taking part in the fraudulent schemes). Baker harvested components from the motherboards, then Prasad organized purchase orders for those parts. After Baker shipped the components back to Apple, CTrends filed invoices for which Prasad arranged payment. In the end, the pair got Apple to pay for its own components and they split the proceeds of the scam.

In addition to fleecing Apple, Prasad confessed to engaging in tax fraud. He directed payments from Robert Gary Hansen (another co-conspirator who has admitted to taking part in the schemes) straight to his creditors. In addition, Prasad arranged for a shell company to send sham invoices to CTrends with the aim of covering up illicit payments Baker made to him. This enabled Baker “to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars of unjustified tax deductions,” the US Attorney’s Office said. All told, prosecutors claim that the scams resulted in the IRS losing over $1.8 million.

Prasad will be sentenced in March. He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Prasad also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which has a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. Moreover, Prasad agreed to forfeit around $5 million worth of assets he accrued as a result of his criminal actions, including real estate properties.

 

Tidal has already been closing gaps with the competition by adding a free tier and similar upgrades, but its latest improvement may be one of the most important. The streaming music service has finally introduced user profiles that let you easily share your playlists. Make a playlist public and Tidal users can discover your musical tastes through search, or share that track listing through links. You could technically share before, but it was much more difficult until now.

Profiles (and thus playlist sharing) are available now through Tidal’s Android, iOS, desktop and web apps. They replace the “My Collection” saved content section in the mobile app. Don’t worry about having to start from scratch — your existing saved material will still be available after you create a profile.

Tidal is free to use with ads, although it’s limited to a 160Kbps bitrate and doesn’t support offline tracks or unlimited skips. Pay $10 per month for Tidal HiFi and you’ll remove the ads and restrictions while jumping to a much higher 1,411Kbps quality. At $20 per month, the HiFi Plus plan offers “master quality” 9,216Kbps audio for some songs and direct payouts to the artists you listen to most often.

The addition is arguably overdue when Apple Music, Spotify and other services have had playlist sharing for years. This might not do much to help Tidal grow beyond a small slice of the market. However, you might have a stronger incentive to stick around. The feature will not only let you see what your friends enjoy, but might help you find a new running mix or workday soundtrack.

 

Etsy has begun testing visual search. The company suggests the feature is ideal for those situations where you’re not quite sure how to describe something. Whereas in the past you had to rely on keywords and a bit of luck, you can now tap the new camera icon in the search bar and snap a photo of a product in hopes of finding similar items.

In my testing, the feature works surprisingly well. I first took a photo of my keyboard, a Drop Ctrl with GMK Rainy Day keycaps. Not only did the app return with suggestions for keycaps, but it also narrowed in on ones that featured gray and blue tones like my set. I then snapped a photo of an artwork in my office I bought from a local Toronto artist. Etsy’s software successfully identified the piece as a line drawing and pointed me to stylistically similar artworks. I need to use the feature more to get a better sense of its limitations, but it does feel that it could be useful in exactly the way Etsy envisions it.

You can experiment with visual search on your own starting today if you have access to an iOS device. According to Etsy, the feature will soon come to Android.