Category: Technology

Meta is adding a new Message Summaries feature to WhatsApp that uses AI to summarize unread messages in a few bullet points. The feature is built on the Private Processing technique Meta announced at Llamacon in April, and claims to let AI work with content in WhatsApp without exposing any of it to Meta itself.

Once the feature appears in your app, you just tap on the onscreen banner over your unread messages with that says “Summarize privately” to receive a summary from Meta AI. The Message Summaries feature is rolling out to WhatsApp users in the US chatting in English first, but Meta says it hopes to “bring it to other languages and countries later this year.”

The company pitches summaries as an easier way to catch-up on what you missed if you haven’t checked your phone or you’re just in too many chats. AI is by no means foolproof at even simple tasks like this — Apple’s trouble with notification summaries was only a few months ago — but the tool could be appealing to people in particularly large and active chats.

The real novelty of the summaries is how Meta claims to be deploying them without walking back the private nature of WhatsApp chats. The company has a blog post and whitepaper digging into the details of how Private Processing works, but on first blush it sounds similar to Private Cloud Compute, the method Apple uses to call on more demanding AI features without exposing its users’ data. Using end-to-end encryption and a secure cloud environment, WhatsApp messages can be processed without data being accessed while its happening, or saved after the fact.

Importantly, all of this is still optional. Summaries won’t be provided without you asking for them first, and the feature is disabled by default. Meta also says you can exclude chats from being shared with the company’s AI via the Advanced Chat Privacy feature.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/ai-powered-chat-summaries-are-coming-to-whatsapp-191201240.html?src=rss 

Bumble, the makers of the Bumble Dating App and Bumble For Friends, announced Wednesday that the company will be laying off 30 percent of its workforce, or roughly 240 employees. This comes as dating app companies struggle to perform in recent years. Bumble was once a company worth almost $8 billion, but finds itself worth about 90 percent less today.

Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd had briefly stepped down as CEO in early 2024 before returning as CEO this year. The company has posted declining revenues this year as it struggles to attract and maintain paying members. In a statement to CNBC, a Bumble spokesperson said, “Our focus now is on moving forward in a way that strengthens our core business, continues to serve our members effectively, and positions us for future growth.”

Bumble added new safety and verification tools back in March that allow users to upload an image of their government-issued ID and receive a verification badge on their profiles. Users searching through profiles could then filter their search to show only verified users. Trust and safety issues are of paramount concern on dating apps where you meet up with strangers. New features like Share Date on Bumble and double dating on Tinder aim to ease the anxiety of what are normally solo meetups.

The securities filing for the layoffs said that employees were notified today but did not include any details on whether the affected employees were mostly in Bumble’s Austin, TX, headquarters or global in scope. The company has also not shared which teams have been affected.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/bumble-is-laying-off-30-percent-of-its-workforce-165350687.html?src=rss 

Last August, Anthropic released Artifacts. The feature allows Claude users to create small, AI-programmed apps for their own use. Today, Anthropic is making it easier to share Artifacts. At the same time, it’s making the apps you can make with the feature more powerful.

To start, Artifacts now have their own dedicated space you can access from the Claude app sidebar. Here you’ll find a curated selection of projects made by other people to get you started on your own programs. Every Artifact you create will be organized in this space, making them easy to find later.

Once you have an idea of what you’d like to make, creating an Artifact simply involves typing a prompt. “Just tell Claude an idea to instantly create shareable interactive apps, tools, and games with Claude’s intelligence directly embedded, making them independently smart and responsive,” says Anthropic.

When using the feature, the company recommends thinking big. That’s because you can embed Claude’s AI abilities into your creations. For instance, if you’re a student studying for a language exam, instead of asking Claude to create a set of flashcards, prompt it to make a flashcard app. “One request gets you static study materials. The other creates a shareable tool that generates cards for any topic,” says Anthropic.

Notably, Anthropic is making the updated Artifacts experience available to all users, including those with free accounts. Additionally, everyone can share their projects with others for free, with no associated API cost for doing so. All you need to access someone else’s Artifact is a Claude account, free or otherwise.

The new Artifacts experience is available on both mobile and desktop. To access every feature, you’ll need to use your computer. On Android and iOS, you can create, view, interact with and customize Artifacts.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-makes-it-easier-to-create-and-share-claudes-bite-sized-artifact-apps-170022293.html?src=rss 

NASA’S James Webb Space Telescope has captured direct images of a planet outside of our solar system, which is the first time it has accomplished such a feat. This is a very big deal because exoplanets don’t put out much light, so researchers typically discover new planets through indirect methods like keeping track of shadows as they pass across a host star.

Webb, however, didn’t have to do all that. It has directly captured images of a planet called TWA 7 b. Scientists believe the planet is around the mass of Saturn and is located 100 light years away from Earth.

The planet is much further away from its star than Earth, so it has a wider orbital period that lasts several hundred years. The planetary system is thought to be around 6 million years old, so we are really getting a snapshot into the early stages of its development. Our sun is considered to be middle-aged and is around 4.6 billion years old.

TWA 7 b is ten times smaller than any previous exoplanet to be directly observed with a telescope, according to The Guardian. Typically, planets of this size can’t be seen by telescopes, as the light from the host star masks direct observation.

The research team, led by Dr. Anne-Marie Lagrange, got around this by making a telescopic attachment that mimicked the results of a solar eclipse. This reduced much of the light emanating from the star to make it easier to observe surrounding objects. 

The process allowed the team to spot the planet, which appears as a bright source of light with a narrow ring of debris. Lagrange and her team do note that there’s still a “very small chance” the images show a background galaxy, but the evidence “strongly points” to the source being a previously undiscovered planet. 

The first exoplanet was first discovered in 1992. Since that time, nearly 6,000 more have been spotted. Again, the vast majority of these have not been captured with direct imaging.

This is just the latest stunning discovery by our good friend James Webb. It recently captured a cosmic phenomenon called an “Einstein Ring,” which is when light from one galaxy is bent around the mass of another. Last year, the telescope found the most distant galaxy ever observed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-has-captured-its-first-direct-image-of-an-exoplanet-172346802.html?src=rss 

Apple is rolling out a notable update for its Sports app. Just ahead of the Wimbledon Championships getting under way, Apple is adding point-by-point tennis scores to Sports. You’ll be able to get live updates from Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000-level matches and view details like the results of a player’s previous matches in the tournament.

Also in the 3.0 version of Apple Sports, baseball fans can view pitcher and batter matchups at the top of every MLB scoreboard. On the home screen, you’ll now be able to see a list of upcoming events by league. You can rearrange the order that leagues are shown in, though your favorite teams will always appear at the top.

In recent months, Apple has added NASCAR and F1 to Sports, along with support for more soccer competitions. Other recent additions include rankings on league pages, highlighted goal scorers at the top of NHL games and a new way to share game details with friends and family via Messages and social media platforms so they can stay up to date as well.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-apple-sports-app-now-offers-tennis-scores-just-in-time-for-wimbledon-155439959.html?src=rss 

YouTube is increasing the minimum age required for its users to live stream to 16. In a message uploaded to the YouTube Help support page, it was confirmed that as of July 22, creators will need to be 16 or older to stream unaccompanied on the platform. Previously, YouTube stipulated that children under the age of 13 had to be visibly accompanied by an adult if they wanted to post live content, but going forward this rule will extend to anyone between anyone aged 13-15.

YouTube warns that anyone who isn’t 16 or older and is continuing to live stream without an adult present beyond July 22 risks having their live chat disabled, along with access to other features temporarily revoked. YouTube adds its eventual intention is to remove live streams found to be breaking the rules, and anyone whose account is hit with restrictions will be forbidden from live streaming using a different channel. Doing so could ultimately lead to a terminated account. The TeamYouTube account said on X that creators impacted by the rule changes will be notified by email if their streams are taken down.

Creators under the age of 16 who want to continue live streaming will be able to grant an adult access to their channel as an editor, manager or owner, which allows them to start a stream from the account linked to their channel. Previously, this had to be done from YouTube’s Live Control room. YouTube said adults co-creating with someone younger than 16 will have to be “visibly present” and clearly just as much a part of the live stream.

We’ve reached out to Youtube for more details, as the post doesn’t offer an explanation for why it has decided to make these changes now. But it will no doubt come as a blow for younger creators with a large existing audience.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/youtube-will-increase-the-minimum-age-for-live-streaming-to-16-163315489.html?src=rss 

Apple’s F1 movie opens in theaters on June 27, and the company really wants you to know about it.

On Tuesday morning, Wallet users noticed an Apple Pay notification that was both a coupon and an advertisement for the racing film. It offered “$10 off 2+ tickets to F1 The Movie at Fandango.” When they clicked “Get tickets now,” they were taken to a dedicated Fandango link that instructed them to use the promo code “APPLEPAYTEN” as well as use Apple Pay to receive their discount.

Not everyone likes being advertised to in such a forceful manner, and while it’s not nearly as bad, it’s reminiscent of the U2 album fiasco. In 2014, Apple pushed U2’s album Songs of Innocence to the devices of every iTunes user in the world. Over 81 million users received the free album, and it did not go over well.

The budget for F1 was, by some reports, as high as $200 to $300 million, though its lead producer and director have both disputed that figure. This is Apple’s first real attempt at making a summer blockbuster, and the company is pulling out all the stops from aggressive ads to a haptic trailer just for iPhones.

For those planning to see the movie anyway, the discount runs through June 29, and $10 off is nothing to sneeze at. That being said, I hope it doesn’t become a trend. After all, if I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket, opened it to grab a $20 bill, and saw that someone stuck a coupon for a movie inside it, I’d be a little miffed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/apple-shoves-f1-movie-ad-into-wallet-144539300.html?src=rss 

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will be released for PS5 on August 12. We knew the port was coming this summer, and now we have an actual date. Ninja Theory says the title will be optimized for both the standard-issue PS5 and the more powerful PS5 Pro. This is a real homecoming for the franchise, as Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was originally released for PS4 back in 2017.

That PS5 release date coincides with the cross-platform launch of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced. This version includes a performance mode that pushes the frame rate up to 60FPS. Ninja Theory says this results in smoother gameplay that’s “especially noticeable during combat and fast-moving moments.” This mode won’t be available for Xbox Series S.

The PC version is getting a new “Very High” preset to push the settings to the max and the update includes optimizations to make the game Steam Deck Verified. We love to see it.

Hellblade II Enhanced also includes a new gameplay mode that significantly amps up the difficulty, complete with perma-death. Beyond that, there’s a developer commentary track and a refreshed photo mode. These features arrive as a free update. The PS5 version of the game will cost $50, though there’s a Deluxe Edition available for $70 that also includes the soundtrack and an optimized version of the original Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

For the uninitiated, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a third-person adventure that first hit the Xbox and PC in 2024. The brutal and gorgeous game is set in Iceland during the 10th century. We called it an outstanding “interactive brutality visualizer” in our original review, going on to call out the game’s “extended, extremely anxious and violent vibe.” Let’s hear it for simulated violence!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/senuas-saga-hellblade-2-hits-ps5-on-august-12-151731215.html?src=rss 

Sony has revealed the PS Plus Monthly games for July as the subscription service is about to reach its 15th anniversary. Between July 1 and August 4, members on all tiers will be able to add Diablo IV (PS5 and PS4), The King of Fighters XV (PS5 and PS4) and Jusant (PS5 only) to their collection. The monthly games for June — NBA 2K25, Alone in the Dark (2024), Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Destiny 2: The Final Shape — are available to claim until July 1.

Diablo IV is the clear headliner this time around. The 2023 action RPG from Blizzard is just about to get a big update too, including the expansion of endgame dungeons and the addition of keyboard and mouse support on consoles. Don’t Nod’s Jusant is a really lovely, narrative-based climbing game, a fairly relaxing way to spend a few hours. SNK’s The King of Fighters XV, meanwhile, retains the series’ 3 vs. 3 tag fighting format and it includes rollback netcode to minimize lag while playing online.

Meanwhile, June 29 marks the 15th anniversary of PS Plus. Sony is marking the occasion by offering free multiplayer to non subscribers this weekend, adding a couple of game trials (WWE 2K25 and Monster Hunter Wilds) for Premium members and offering discounts on games and Sony Pictures Core movies. The company says that, throughout the lifespan of PS Plus, it has made more than 500 monthly games available for subscribers to keep in their collection as long as they maintain their membership.

Sony still isn’t sharing PS Plus subscriber numbers, though it told Game File that the Premium tier has grown by 18 percent over the last year. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino recently said that PS Plus price increases are “partly a result of increasing value we bring to the players” and that they hadn’t slowed down subscriptions. The company still has no plans to offer its own games on the service on their release date, unlike Xbox does with Game Pass, though it will continue to add some third-party games to PS Plus on day one.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/ps-plus-monthly-games-for-july-include-diablo-4-and-jusant-142438637.html?src=rss