March 6th marks a long-awaited moment of change: it’s the deadline for tech’s biggest “gatekeepers” to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, or DMA. The DMA requires powerful companies to allow more interoperability and avoid preferencing their own digital services. It’s generated disputes over which services should be …
Read More »Logitech’s new MX Brio is a $200 4K webcam with ‘AI-enhanced image quality’
Logitech’s MX Brio is a new $199.99 (£219.99 / €229) 4K webcam aimed at everyone from remote workers to streamers. Key specs include the ability to stream in 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, an aperture of f/2.0, and an aluminum unibody design that kind of looks a little …
Read More »OpenAI says Elon Musk wanted ‘absolute control’ of the company
OpenAI has responded to Elon Musk’s lawsuit by saying that he at one point wanted “absolute control” of the company by merging it with Tesla. In a blog post published on Tuesday, OpenAI said it will move to dismiss “all of Elon’s claims” and offered its own counter-narrative to his …
Read More »OpenAI, Sam Altman, and the home of ChatGPT: everything you need to know
The negotiations to bring Sam Altman back to OpenAI slowly continue. Here’s a brief update on where things stand with OpenAI today, after an explosive weekend and a very confusing Monday which saw the news of Sam Altman going to Microsoft slowly fade into Satya Nadella not seeming so sure …
Read More »Spotify will show pricing options outside its iOS app in the EU — if Apple lets it
Spotify isn’t going to launch the in-app purchases it previously planned for the European Union, at least right now. Instead, if Apple approves a newly submitted update, it’s going to try to do the next best thing: provide pricing information within the app and link users to its subscription options. …
Read More »The Nintendo DS emulator Drastic is now free as Yuzu lawsuit fallout begins
The developer of popular Nintendo DS emulator Drastic just made its app completely free on Android (previously $4.99), and it intends to pull it down for good. Exophase wrote on its official Discord that “I want to make it clear that I don’t have any kind of financial incentive” and …
Read More »The Mill food waste bin is now available to buy without a subscription, for $999
Last year when I reviewed Nest co-founder Matt Rogers’ new project, the Mill smart trash can, I was impressed with its food-grinding prowess. But I disliked its monthly subscription and that it wasn’t actually making chicken feed out of my food waste as promised. A year later, the company is out with …
Read More »Microsoft invokes VCRs in motion to dismiss The New York Times’s AI lawsuit
The Times sued Microsoft for allegedly copying its stories and using that data to mimic its style, but Microsoft’s lawyers are now arguing that OpenAI’s large language models are just the latest in a long line of technologies that are considered legal despite their potential for copyright abuse. “Despite The …
Read More »The Pixel 8a may get a 256GB storage boost — and a price hike
The Pixel 8a phone is getting a new 256GB tier, at least according to rumblings heard from retailers by the usually reliable German tech news site WinFuture. The site’s sources also say it will come in four colors, like the $499 Pixel 7a, but it will cost a quite a …
Read More »Twitter’s music label legal trouble might have legs
The music labels suing Twitter — now X — for copyright infringement can move forward with parts of their lawsuit. In a filing on Tuesday, US District Judge Aleta A. Trauger partially denied X’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it’s still not clear “to what extent X Corp. may …
Read More »TikTok introduces Creator Rewards for users making longer videos
A year ago, TikTok introduced a new way for creators on the platform to make money: make longer videos. The invite-only Creativity Program, then in beta, required TikTokers to post clips longer than a minute to qualify for monetization, demonstrating a shift in how the company wanted people to use …
Read More »Meta’s Quest 2 and Pro headsets now have a lying down mode
Owners of Meta’s Quest 2 or Pro headsets can turn on a setting that allows their headset to work while lying down, thanks to the v63 software update that’s starting to roll out. Meta tested lying down mode in a public preview early last year but removed the feature before …
Read More »Apple Podcasts now includes transcripts
Apple Podcasts will auto-generate transcripts for podcasts beginning today, thanks to the 17.4 update for iPhones and iPads. Transcripts will automatically appear for new podcast episodes shortly after their publication, while Apple will transcribe podcast back catalogs over time. The podcast transcripts are searchable, allowing users to type in a …
Read More »How to create and save Chrome tab groups
I usually have at least half a dozen or more projects going at once: I can be writing or updating several short pieces, editing one or two others, getting ready for Apple or Google or some other company to announce their latest and greatest tech, or dealing with some other …
Read More »IOS 17.4 update opens up Apple’s walled ecosystem in Europe.
Apple’s iOS 17.4 update is now available, introducing new emoji and a cryptographic security protocol for iMessage, alongside some major changes to the App Store and contactless payments for the iPhone platform in Europe. Apple is making several of these changes to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), …
Read More »Waze is getting a bunch of updates in 2024 including new hazard alerts
Waze announced several new features, including an alert for stopped first responders, for its already busy driving directions map. That feature is out now, but others, like new road hazard warnings and updated routing info, will be available on iOS and Android phones this month, with still others planned for …
Read More »These GE Appliances smart ovens can now know what they’re cooking
If you have a smart GE Appliances wall oven, it’s about to get smarter. Cookcam AI is a new feature that uses artificial intelligence to recognize what you put in the oven and figure out the rest for you, so you don’t need to hover over it and worry about …
Read More »Tidal’s subscription is getting simpler and cheaper — yes, you read that right
Tidal seems to have decided that there just aren’t enough people willing to pay upward of $20 per month for the highest-possible audio fidelity. So starting April 10th in the US, the company will combine its existing HiFi and HiFi Plus plans into a single subscription tier that will simply …
Read More »Max is getting in on the big streaming password crackdown
Wired reports that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is gearing up to implement a new set of restrictions designed to prevent subscribers from sharing their passwords with people who aren’t paying for the service themselves. Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom conference on Monday, WBD head of global streaming …
Read More »Lawmakers introduce bill that would punish app stores for hosting TikTok
After a long reprieve from serious congressional scrutiny, lawmakers are taking another crack at getting TikTok to sever ties from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. If enacted, the bill would impose a civil penalty on app stores and web hosting services that distribute TikTok and other covered services, unless the …
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