Kalakshar US

There’s a new Bluetooth tracking option for absent-minded Android owners: Motorola today unveiled the Moto Tag. The company didn’t share the exact release date for the device, but said it would be available “in the coming months in select markets.” We also don’t have any price information yet.

Moto Tag runs on Google’s Find My Device infrastructure, both for location data and privacy protections. A tracker isn’t much good if it stops working, and Motorola claims the Moto Tag will last for a year on a single battery charge, assuming optimal conditions. In a tacit acknowledgement that the design of these trackers has already become standardized, Motorola’s release noted that the Moto Tag fits into “most third-party accessories already on the market.” So if you’ve been using AirTags, or one of the similarly-shaped Bluetooth trackers on the market, the Moto Tag should work with your existing case. Could be a nice option for anyone interested in picking up one of the company’s new foldable phones who wants to keep their tech to a single brand.

While Bluetooth trackers have obvious practical benefits, especially for those of us who easily lose track of belongings, serious security concerns have also risen around the devices. Worries about stalking and theft have dogged the product category since their launch, although Apple and Google recently rolled out a rare joint effort to help combat that issue. Tile also faced more direct security issues with a hacking breach earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/motorola-is-the-latest-to-offer-a-bluetooth-tracker-with-the-moto-tag-220022175.html?src=rss 

The macOS ChatGPT desktop app is now available to everyone. That is, provided you’re running an Apple Silicon Mac (sorry, Intel users) and your computer is on macOS Sonoma or higher. OpenAI rolled out the app gradually, starting with Plus subscribers last month.

ChatGPT now has an official macOS client before it has a Windows one. (In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft is its most crucial partner.) Of course, Windows 11 has the OpenAI-powered Microsoft CoPilot baked into its OS, which likely explains the omission. OpenAI and Apple are also teaming up on Apple Intelligence, which arrives later this year (unless you’re in Europe).

The Mac app includes a keyboard shortcut (option-space by default, but it’s customizable) for typing chatbot queries from anywhere in macOS. Otherwise, the app mirrors the ChatGPT website’s appearance and functionality (including custom GPTs), except in native app form. You can also upload files, photos and screenshots.

You can download and install ChatGPT for macOS from OpenAI.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chatgpt-for-macos-no-longer-requires-a-subscription-204959264.html?src=rss 

Reddit has a warning for AI companies and other scrapers: play by our rules or get blocked. The company said in an update that it plans to update its Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt file), which allows it to block automated scraping of its platform.

The company said it will also continue to block and rate-limit crawlers and other bots that don’t have a prior agreement with the company. The changes, it said, shouldn’t affect “good faith actors,” like the Internet Archive and researchers.

Reddit’s notice comes shortly after multiple reports that Perplexity and other AI companies regularly bypass websites’ robots.txt protocol, which is used by publishers to tell web crawlers they don’t want their content accessed. Perplexity’s CEO, in a recent interview with Fast Company, said that the protocol is “not a legal framework.”

In a statement, a Reddit spokesperson told Engadget that it wasn’t targeting a particular company. “This update isn’t meant to single any one entity out; it’s meant to protect Reddit while keeping the internet open,” the spokesperson said. “In the next few weeks, we’ll be updating our robots.txt instructions to be as clear as possible: if you are using an automated agent to access Reddit, regardless of what type of company you are, you need to abide by our terms and policies, and you need to talk to us. We believe in the open internet, but we do not believe in the misuse of public content.”

It’s not the first time the company has taken a hard line when it comes to data access. The company cited AI companies’ use of its platform when it began charging for its API last year. Since then, it has struck licensing deals with some AI companies, including Google and OpenAI. The agreements allow AI firms to train their models on Reddit’s archive and have been a significant source of revenue for the newly-public Reddit. The “talk to us” part of that statement is likely a not-so-subtle reminder that the company is no longer in the business of handing out its content for free.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-puts-ai-scrapers-on-notice-205734539.html?src=rss 

OpenAI plans to block people from using ChatGPT in China, a country where its services aren’t officially available, but where users and developers access it via the company’s API anyway. Securities Times, a Chinese state-owned newspaper reported on Tuesday that OpenAI had started sending emails to users in China outlining its plans to block access starting July 9, according to Reuters.

“We are taking additional taps to block API traffic from regions where we do not support access to OpenAI’s services,” an OpenAI spokesperson told the publication. The move could impact several Chinese startups which have built applications using OpenAI’s large language models.

Although OpenAI’s services are available in more than 160 countries, China isn’t one of them. According to the company’s guidelines, users trying to access the company’s products in unsupported countries could be blocked or suspended — although the company hasn’t explicitly done so until now.

It’s not clear what prompted OpenAI’s move. Last month, the company revealed that it stopped covert influence operations — including one that originated from China — that used its AI models to spread disinformation across the interne. Bloomberg pointed out that OpenAI’s move coincides with Washington’s pressure on American tech companies to limit China’s access to cutting-edge technologies developed in the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-will-block-people-in-china-from-using-its-services-200801957.html?src=rss 

Behavior Interactive just announced another Dead by Daylight crossover that brings everyone’s favorite looter/archeologist Lara Croft into the game. The Tomb Raider expansion launches on July 16 and features the younger and grittier version of the character as seen in the newer titles collected in the Tomb Raider: Definitive Survivor Trilogy.

This is technically Croft’s first foray into horror, but she’s definitely no stranger to cold-blooded murder. Throughout the franchise, she’s ended the lives of around 3,000 people. She’s a bigger killer than Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers combined. She even signed up to fight in the Call of Duty franchise. In other words, Croft will be right at home fending off Leatherface, Pinhead and the other horror icons featured in the game.

Dead by Deadlight is currently embroiled in a chapter inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, complete with a murderous Vecna and plenty of new maps. So the addition of a non-horror character like Croft doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. There’s also a Castlevania-inspired chapter coming later in the year, with details to be released in August.

There’s only one problem with this Tomb Raider crossover. The survivors in Dead by Daylight are typically unarmed and, well, Lara Croft loves her pistols, knives and bows. It’ll be weird to control a terrified and unarmed Croft, right? I guess we’ll find out on July 16. Also, for those wondering, the devs still haven’t added the long-requested Jason to the lineup of killers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-by-daylights-next-survivor-is-lara-croft-184439686.html?src=rss 

A 13-year-old boy with severe epilepsy in the United Kingdom has become the first person in the world to receive a brain implant that helps keep seizures under control. Per The Guardian, Oran Knowlson underwent surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London to have the Picostim neurostimulator fitted into his brain to address Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare treatment-resistant form of epilepsy.

Knowlson received the neurostimulator in October 2023 as part of a pilot program run by GOSH in collaboration with University College London, King’s College Hospital and the University of Oxford. Since receiving the implant, which was developed by Amber Therapeutics, Oran’s daytime seizures have been reduced by 80 percent. Previously, his seizures were so severe he required constant care, and would sometimes lose consciousness and need resuscitation.

“For Oran and his family, epilepsy completely changed their lives and so to see him riding a horse and getting his independence back is absolutely astounding,” said Martin Tisdall, the pediatric neurosurgeon at GOSH. “We couldn’t be happier to be part of their journey.”

Tisdall’s surgical team installed the implant by mounting the Picostim to Knowlson’s skull and inserting two electrodes deep into his brain until they hit the thalamus. The electrodes were then connected to the neurostimulator, which sends constant, mild electrical current to his brain to prevent or attenuate seizures. Justine Knowlson, Oran’s mother, confirmed as much when she discussed how the implant improved her son’s quality of life.

“We’ve seen a big improvement; seizures have reduced and are less severe,” she said. “He’s a lot more chatty, he’s more engaged. He’s turned 13 and I definitely now have a teenager – he’s happy to tell me no. But that adds to his quality of life, when he can express himself better.”

The Picostim neurostimulator is just one device for seizure treatment being tested. In 2020, researchers in Israel developed a wearable EEG device called Epiness, which can predict seizures up to an hour before they start. Two years earlier, a smart arm bracelet called Nightwatch was created to detect nighttime epileptic seizures and contact the wearer’s care staff when they strike.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epileptic-teen-receives-first-ever-seizure-controlling-brain-implant-193617887.html?src=rss