Kalakshar US - Page 703 of 3339 - Best of Tomorrow...Today!!!

Trump Mobile drops its ‘made in the USA’ claims

The Trump Organization announced a cellular brand earlier this summer, and its main selling point for Trump Mobile was that its T1 smartphone was “made in the USA.” It seemed highly unlikely that those claims about the phone were possible. Now, the website for the device has removed all language indicating that it was manufactured in the US. Instead, there is broader language such as “designed with American values in mind” and “Premium Performance. Proudly American.”

The Verge also noticed that some of the specs for the ostentatious gold smartphone have changed. The listed screen size has shrunk from 6.78 inches to 6.25 inches, and there’s no longer any information about RAM. The phone is also offering a more general “later this year” availability time frame rather than promising to arrive in September. Despite walking back the loud promises made about the device, it seems unlikely the changes will matter to anybody who wants to buy this thing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/trump-mobile-drops-its-made-in-the-usa-claims-193917169.html?src=rss

What do Google’s Gemini privacy changes actually mean?

A Google email about Gemini privacy is causing quite the stir. The alarm came from a change in what the chatbot can access when your history is turned off. However, the update’s implications are far less sensational than initially feared.

Here’s the heart of the email that set off the hubbub in the otherwise sleepy summer tech press. “Gemini will soon be able to help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” (Emphasis is ours.) The email also noted that the change starts rolling out automatically on July 7. So, that bold part sounds pretty bad, right? Gemini is just rifling through our texts, no matter what we say??!

In this case, the change is no more concerning than, well, anything else AI companies do with your data. Before this update, Gemini’s Apps Activity Setting had to be on to use those extensions. If you wanted to let Gemini handle tasks like making calls or sending texts, you need to save your conversations. If not, you couldn’t use Gemini’s Phone, Messages, WhatsApp or Utilities extensions.

In other words, you had to store your chats on Google’s servers to get Gemini’s full power. (Google still stores them for 72 hours even when it’s off. But that mandatory period has been in place since Gemini was still called Bard.) That also meant your interactions could be used to train Google’s AI models.

What’s happening now appears to be better for privacy. Now, you can leave the chatbot’s history off and still use those features. You still don’t have to use the extensions. If you do, Google won’t train on them or store them for more than three days if your Apps Activity is off.

Google

The update is likely a case of Google paving the way for Gemini to replace Google Assistant on Android. (That happens later this year.) Those are the kinds of tasks a phone’s default assistant will need to handle. Gemini is already the de facto assistant on Pixel handsets.

In a statement sent to Engadget, Google helped to clarify the confusion. “This update is good for users: they can now use Gemini to complete daily tasks on their mobile devices like send messages, initiate phone calls, and set timers while Gemini Apps Activity is turned off. With Gemini Apps Activity turned off, their Gemini chats are not being reviewed or used to improve our AI models. As always, users can turn off Gemini’s connection to apps at any time by navigating to https://gemini.google.com/apps.”

So, this appears to be a storm in a teacup among a tech press eager for something interesting to cover during slow season. But you know what? I’m cool with that. It’s good to be concerned about AI privacy. You’d better be if you’re using these services. If some of our competitors jumped the gun in declaring this an emergency when it wasn’t, well… that’s much better than shrugging these things off.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/what-do-googles-gemini-privacy-changes-actually-mean-200819778.html?src=rss

The Switch 2 is coming to Walmart tonight at 9PM ET — but there’s a catch

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Walmart has confirmed that the Switch 2 will be available on its site tonight at 9PM ET, but the first hour of availability will only be open to paid Walmart+ members. So, in order to potentially add the new Nintendo console to your cart, you’ll need to be a full Walmart+ member (free trial members aren’t eligible).

The good news? That privilege will only cost you $13 per month (or $98, if you want to take the plunge for a full year). That’s not bad when you consider that opting for the Switch 2 from third-party retailers on Walmart will set you back almost $800. And in addition to granting early access to hard-to-find items like the Switch 2, Walmart+ includes several perks including free delivery (including grocery and pharmacy items), discounts on gas purchases and even a complementary Paramount+ subscription.

Walmart

Walmart will be offering both the baseline $449 Switch 2 and the $499 Mario Kart World bundle. If you’re interested in taking the plunge, we’d recommend getting the Walmart Plus sign-up out of the way now, and then returning to the site 10 minutes before the clock hits 9PM (6PM Pacific). Of course, you can wait around to see if any are still available by 10PM, but we wouldn’t hold our breath.

If you’re looking for other Switch 2 vendors, check out our full Switch 2 retailer roundup.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-switch-2-is-coming-to-walmart-tonight-at-9pm-et–but-theres-a-catch-203129228.html?src=rss

AI-powered chat summaries are coming to WhatsApp

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

Dolly Parton Las Vegas Residency 2025: How to Get Tickets, Prices & Tour Dates

She works 9 to 5 — and then late at night! Get all the details about Dolly’s upcoming Vegas residency at the Caesars Palace Colosseum.

Bumble is laying off 30 percent of its workforce

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

Anthropic makes it easier to create and share Claude’s bite-sized Artifact apps

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 its first direct image of an exoplanet

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.

A never-before-seen planet! 🪐

This is Webb’s first discovery of a planet using direct imaging. With a mass similar to Saturn, it’s also the lightest exoplanet yet seen using this technique! https://t.co/ptWcXlFfmW pic.twitter.com/XTGwIqgH8n

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) June 25, 2025

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

The Apple Sports app now offers tennis scores, just in time for Wimbledon

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

M3GAN 2.0 review: The AI camp queen pulls a Terminator 2

M3GAN was an unexpected hit, and for good reason: It was the best killer toy horror film since Child’s Play, combining comedy and camp with a meme-worthy android lead. For the sequel, writer/director Gerard Johnstone (working off a story from him and the first film’s writer Akela Cooper), have taken a few notes from Terminator 2. This time around, there’s an even more evil android on the scene (Amelia, played by Ivanna Sakhno) who wants AI to rule the world. And there’s only one somewhat less evil android that can stop her: M3GAN.

If that setup sounds silly and campy to you, well… it is. That’s the point. More so than the first film, M3GAN 2.0 leans into the sheer silliness of its premise and is all the more fun for it. It’s also not really a horror movie this time, it’s a full-on action film with tons of gunplay, hand-to-hand combat and one wingsuit infiltration sequence that would be right at home in a Mission: Impossible film.

Universal Pictures

Speaking of Mission: Impossible, it’s hard not to notice that M3GAN 2.0 features practically the same AI takeover plotline that bogged down The Final Reckoning. The difference here is that it’s actually somewhat well-informed — M3GAN 2.0 isn’t just about “evil AI,” it also explores (however briefly) the notion of AI autonomy, technology regulation and ethics. (For God sakes, there’s a killer Section 230 joke that only tech-savvy readers would understand.)

M3GAN 2.0 once again centers on Gemma (Allison Williams), the engineer who originally created M3GAN, and her niece Cady (Violet McGraw). Following the events of the first film, Gemma was briefly sent to jail but reemerges as a technology critic. (Isn’t it funny how many “tech critics” pop up after making bank from Big Tech?) She then teams up with a tech ethicist (Aristotle Athari) to push governments for stronger technology regulation, especially when it comes to AI.

The existence of Amelia seems to prove her point. In the opening of M3GAN 2.0, we watch as she goes on a covert mission to rescue a military scientist, only to disobey her programming and kill him instead. It turns out Amelia was built on the bones of M3GAN’s design, and for some reason she’s aiming to kill everyone involved with her creation. That mission inevitably leads back to Gemma and Cady, of course.

Universal Pictures

It’s not a spoiler to say that M3GAN didn’t really die at the end of the first movie. Turns out, she backed herself up to the cloud and has been watching Gemma and Cady via their smart home devices. After a set piece involving inept FBI agents, M3GAN convinces Gemma that she needs some sort of physical body to stop Amelia. Funnily enough, her first new outfit is the not at all fictional Moxie child companion robot I tested a few years ago. (Embodied, the startup behind Moxie, folded last year, leaving its handful of customers with a dead robot. That may be why Moxie M3GAN is allowed to swear.)

M3GAN gets her wish and, like the Six Million Dollar Man, receives a fully upgraded body, one that’s better, faster and stronger. (And also one that’s more befitting of Amie Donald, the talented young actress who plays her.) And at that point, the movie turns into a full-on action fest as M3GAN infiltrates a tech lab to save Cady. Thankfully, MEGAN 2.0 understands the assignment: Fight scenes are energetic and well-choreographed, and Johnstone makes sure that everything is easily legible. The multitude of Steven Seagal references also makes it clear he’s a fan of schlocky action cinema.

Universal Pictures

Johnstone is also clearly a tech nerd: the film is filled with references to places like Xerox PARC, one of the early R&D labs that developed concepts like the GUI (graphical user interface) and mouse. There’s an Elon Musk analog, played by the great Jemaine Clement, who has an over-inflated ego and an obsession with brain interface devices. And the film pokes fun at anti-tech crusaders, who sometimes push back against any sort of technological advancement as inherently evil.

M3GAN 2.0 balances a smart view of tech alongside sheer summer movie fun. And while it runs close to two hours, it never feels like a slog like the nearly three-hour long The Final Reckoning. Both movies are about the impending doom of an AI apocalypse, but M3GAN 2.0 manages to do it without being too self-serious and far more well-informed. Now that it seems like we’re just a few clicks away from some sort of tech apocalypse, poking fun at it just seems like a better way to cope.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/m3gan-20-review-the-ai-camp-queen-pulls-a-terminator-2-160049818.html?src=rss