A four-pack of Samsung SmartTag 2 trackers is back on sale for $70

Bluetooth trackers are handy little devices that can help you keep track of items you’re worried about losing. Which model you opt for depends on several factors, such as the physical form factor and the phone operating system or brand you use. In any case, a few of our favorite Bluetooth trackers are on sale, including Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag 2. A four-pack is currently $70, which is $30 off and matches a record low. A single tag has dropped from $30 to $21 — just $1 more than the lowest price we’ve seen for it.

The Galaxy SmartTag 2 is our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for folks with Samsung phones. While Samsung perhaps doesn’t have as many smartphones out there as Apple (the Find My network uses every iPhone in the vicinity to track AirTags), it has an extensive enough number of devices in the wild to make its own finding network fairly robust. Unfortunately, the Galaxy SmartTag 2 does not yet work with Google’s Find My Device network, which would allow any compatible Android device to help hunt for a misplaced tag.

That quibble aside, we quite like the SmartTag 2. Setup is a cinch, for one thing. In our testing we were able to quickly find items tagged with one, while the left-behind alerts worked well when a Samsung phone detected that we were moving away from a SmartTag 2. The design is useful, since it’s easy to attach the tracker to a set of keys. It has a louder ring than an AirTag or Tile Pro as well.

The battery will run for about 16 months, according to Samsung, and it’s replaceable. The SmartTag 2 is also IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. While the SmartTag 2 may not be quite as precise as an AirTag for finding a misplaced or stolen item, it’s still a solid Bluetooth tracker option for Samsung users.

If you’re looking for an option that both iPhones and Android devices can help track down, it’s worth considering the Tile Mate. A single tag in white is available for $18, which is $7 off the regular price. This has a Bluetooth range of up to 250 feet and can be easily attached to keys as well thanks to a small hole in one of the corners. The battery is not replaceable, unfortunately, but it will power the tracker for up to three years, Tile says.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-four-pack-of-samsung-smarttag-2-trackers-is-back-on-sale-for-70-145444036.html?src=rss 

Apple Vision Pro features we’d love to see at WWDC 2024

A year since Apple unveiled the Vision Pro, and about four months since its muted launch, the spatial computing headset still feels surprisingly undercooked. Simple features, like the ability to organize icons in the visionOS home screen, are nowhere to be found. Content that truly shows off the Vision Pro’s immersive capabilities is still rare (the recent Marvel experience was just a glimpse of what’s possible).

According to the latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company will show off visionOS 2 at its Worldwide Developers Conference ((WWDC 2024), but the update will mostly focus on polishing the Vision Pro experience. We can expect native Vision Pro versions of Apple software (right now the headset uses iPad versions of many apps), as well as a Passwords app and new environments. Apple’s major AI push will also reportedly be called “Apple Intelligence,” a cheeky way of colonizing the term “AI.”

Beyond minor polishing and bug fixes, here’s what I’d like to see on the Vision Pro at WWDC 2024 (or really, anytime in the next year, Apple!).

iPhone and iPad screen mirroring

Perhaps the most baffling aspect of the Vision Pro is how it refuses to play well with the iPhone. If you ever need to unlock your phone to use an authentication app, or quickly peep a Slack message, you’ll either have to remove the Vision Pro to use FaceID, or type in your PIN and squint through the headset’s middling cameras. Why?!

If Apple can already deliver sharp and lag-free macOS mirroring, it’s not a huge leap to give us something similar for iPhones and iPads. Sure, ideally you’d be able to manage your text messages and other tasks in the Vision Pro without relying on other devices. Realistically, though, the Messages app doesn’t always receive texts as quickly as your iPhone, and its history of texts and contacts often differs too.

Offering a quick pop-up of your iPhone’s screen would erase those issues, and it would keep you within the flow of whatever you’re working on in the Vision Pro. As for the lack of FaceID, Apple could tie authentication of your iPhone together with your Apple ID. You already have to sign into your Vision Pro with a PIN or Optic ID scan, as well as log into your ID itself, so Apple already knows who you are.

Mirror my MacBook Air’s screen inside the Vision Pro.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

When it comes to iPads, screen mirroring could be just as useful as it is on Macs. If you were typing away on a document on an iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard, why shouldn’t you be able to continue doing that on the Vision Pro? Supporting less powerful iPads could also be useful, since they could mirror downloaded media or games. Why burden the headset’s M2 processor when you could tap into an M2 chip on an iPad Air?

Taking this concept a step further, it would also be nice to have Apple Watch mirroring eventually. Imagine lifting up your wrist and having a glanceable view of notifications or media controls while using the Vision Pro. What if you could immediately see a 300-inch version of your Apple TV’s home screen as soon as you sit down on your couch. Apple has the potential to shape reality itself while using its headset, so why not lean into that for its own devices?

Apple

More native Vision Pro apps

Recent rumors suggest we’ll see native versions of Apple’s apps on the Vision Pro (many are just repackaged iPad apps right now), but I’m hoping to see more developers jump on the platform. There still aren’t any Vision Pro apps for Netflix, YouTube or Spotify. If you want to use those services, you’ll have to log into a web browser, or rely on a third-party app like Supercut. This isn’t the seamless spatial computing future I was promised, Apple.

Now I’m sure it’ll be tough for Apple to get YouTube to play nice with the Vision Pro, especially as Google just recently struck a mysterious partnership with the AR headset company Magic Leap. But not being able to get Netflix and Spotify on the headset remains a huge problem for Apple. Without the apps we live with every day, Vision Pro will always seem undercooked.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Cast audio to speakers and home theater systems

The Vision Pro’s built-in speakers are fine, but they lack the depth of a proper pair of bookshelf speakers or Apple’s own HomePod. And they certainly don’t have the low-end kick you’d get from a complete home theater system and subwoofer. So why can’t we just send audio easily to those devices?

Let us AirPlay to HomePods on a whim! Let me sit in my home theater and enjoy the massive speakers surrounding me, while watching Fury Road at near-IMAX scale on the Vision Pro! While I enjoy using AirPod Pros for immersive audio on the go, they can’t hold a candle to the Dolby Atmos-equipped towers in my basement.

I’m sure home theater users aren’t a high-priority consideration for Apple, but at the moment, who else is known for spending way too much money on hardware that isn’t meant for everyone?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-vision-pro-features-wed-love-to-see-at-wwdc-2024-151822925.html?src=rss 

Apple’s AI push will reportedly be called Apple Intelligence, of course

Just a few days before Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC 2024) kicks off, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has delivered his final round of party-spoiling details. The biggest takeaway: Apple will call its long-rumored artificial intelligence play “Apple Intelligence.” (Leave it up to Apple to find some way to redefine the term “AI.”) Don’t expect the company to lean into generative AI features as much as competitors. According to Gurman, Apple’s AI capabilities will focus on features with “broad appeal” — something I read as being more practical than creating psychedelic images on demand.

Apple Intelligence will be powered by a combination of the company’s technology, as well as OpenAI’s. Bloomberg also notes the AI capabilities will be mostly opt-in, and we can expect Apple to tout its security capabilities since it will also rely on a combination of on-device and cloud connectivity. Previously, Apple has bragged about the iPhone’s on-device security being more effective than competitors like Android. 

As previously rumor, Gurman says that Siri will be able to control apps more directly using Apple Intelligence. You could potentially tell the assistant to summarize an article or edit a photo in a certain way. Notably, Apple reportedly plans to open up this capability to third-parties, and allow you to string together multiple commands — but those features won’t be available until next year. 

As for other features, it sounds like Apple is trying to bake in AI smarts where it can. You’ll reportedly be able to create AI emojis that you can customize with text strings, and you can expect to see AI transcriptions in Voice Memos and more AI photo editing capabilities.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-ai-push-will-reportedly-be-called-apple-intelligence-of-course-134840050.html?src=rss 

Finally, I can make my iPhone look like total crap

Apple has been holding its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) for over 30 years and frankly — other than no one calling them out for abbreviating it with two Ws in that span of time — I don’t have strong feelings about them. Launch a new thing. Shovel AI bloatware into whatever. It’s big tech’s world and I’m just as trapped in it as anyone else. Imagine thinking iterative updates to a goddamn computer are a core part of your identity. Couldn’t be me! 

But my world-weary ears perked up when I saw this little tidbit from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman ahead of Monday’s keynote: 

In the latest iPhone operating system — iOS 18, codenamed Crystal — app icons will no longer have to remain in a neat grid. Instead, users will be able to place icons wherever they choose on their home screen. Moreover, icon colors will be customizable for the first time.

Reader, it’s time to make your home screen look like a complete disaster. 

Sure, there’s a version of this new freedom where someone could really maximize their productivity on Apple devices (ew) or achieve a unique aesthetic that spits in the face of Apple’s sanitized design language (closer, but still no). Instead, lets bask in the glory of letting our apps resemble a teenager’s bedroom. Give me an overstuffed closet of defunct weather software. An unfinished homework pile of workout trackers. An unmade bed of Temple Run clones pressed uncomfortably close to a junk drawer of ad-laden Maps alternatives. 

Of course you could “make all [your] social media apps blue or finance-related icons green” as Gurman suggests. Or you could turn ever app the same shape and color, rename them all to ‘Gmail’ and spend part of every day trying to solve the awful puzzle you’ve turned your user experience into. 

I’m told this is the sort of functionality Android users have had for a while. If so, why haven’t you people been taking advantage of this?? None of us enjoy using these horrible things. Let disarray delight you.

Why do we climb mountains? For the same reason we stick the cup under every single spout in the soda machine and see what they taste like together. The purest of human instinct guides them both.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/finally-i-can-make-my-iphone-look-like-total-crap-141038012.html?src=rss 

Whistleblower claims Amazon violated UK sanctions by selling facial recognition tech to Russia

An ex-employee has accused Amazon of breaching UK sanctions by selling facial recognition technology to Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, The Financial Times reported. 

Charles Forrest alleged that he was unfairly dismissed in 2023 after accusing Amazon of wrongdoing on a number of issues between November 2022 and May 2023, according to the article. The allegations were presented to a London employment tribunal as part of a hearing this week. 

Forrest said that Amazon closed a deal with Russian firm VisionLabs to provide access to its Rekognition facial recognition technology. It did that “through what appears to be a shell company based in the Netherlands,” according to the tribunal filings. He also accused the company of breaking its self-imposed moratorium on police use of facial recognition tech implemented after the murder of George Floyd.

Amazon denied the allegations. “We believe the claims lack merit and look forward to demonstrating that through the legal process,” a spokesperson told the FT. “Based on available evidence and billing records, AWS did not sell Amazon Rekognition services to VisionLabs.”

Forrest was let go for “gross misconduct” after refusing to work his contractual hours and failed to respond to emails or attend meetings, Amazon alleged. It denied that Forrest made the sorts of disclosures that would entitle him to whistleblower protections. 

Amazon appeared to acknowledge that it had breached its ban on police use of facial recognition tech, while adding that it didn’t break any laws. “A self-imposed moratorium does not amount to a legal obligation,” it said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/whistleblower-claims-amazon-violated-uk-sanctions-by-selling-facial-recognition-tech-to-russia-125001230.html?src=rss 

Amazon Freevee adds terrifying AI-generated men to 12 Angry Men poster

The classic movie 12 Angry Men is titled as such because, well, it’s about a jury comprised of 12 men. But viewers have noticed recently that the image Amazon uses for the movie has more than 12 characters in it. Further, their melting, inhuman faces look like they could be somebody’s sleep paralysis monsters. The terrifying quality to the characters’ faces is just one of the elements indicating the use of AI to generate the image. Their deformed and claw-like hands are another, along with the other obvious AI artifacts in the photo. 

That’s the Freevee version. They’re just getting that from them. Prime’s 12 angry men is the poster

— Drek (@drek77107) June 6, 2024

Upon checking, Amazon didn’t use the AI-generated image for the Prime Video version of the classic film. Some viewers pointed out that one could only see the AI version of the film’s poster on Freevee, Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming service. According to AV Club, the company used a different poster on Freevee due to licensing issues. Apparently, Freevee got its license to stream 12 Angry Men from a third party, which also provided images for the film. It’s not quite clear why the third party didn’t provide any of the film’s official posters for use, but Freevee is reportedly working to get the AI-generated one replaced. 

Viewers also previously called out Amazon for using what looked like AI images to tease its Fallout TV show. Seeing as the use of generative AI could potentially save companies money — and they are, as we all know, driven by profit — we may have to get used to seeing TV and film posters and marketing materials that range from odd to nightmare fuel and beyond.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-freevee-adds-terrifying-ai-generated-men-to-12-angry-men-poster-120011551.html?src=rss 

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