Tag: tech

In an effort to bring more people to the Galaxy Store, Samsung has teamed up with Netflix to offer the app and an exclusive look at Squid Game season 2.

The EU wants everyone to have AirPlay and AirDrop, not just Apple users. Here’s what is going on.

From Chris Hemsworth’s transformative turn in Furiosa to Demi Moore’s career-defining work in The Substance, here are the eight best movie performances of 2024.

Sony has acquired a major stake in FromSoftware’s parent company Kadokawa. This follows reports that Sony was in talks to purchase the company outright. It looks like that isn’t happening, but Sony has boosted its total ownership of Kadokawa up to ten percent after spending around $300 million on more shares. This makes Sony the largest shareholder of the Japanese publisher.

Sony likely made this move to get its hands on some of Kadokawa’s IP, which includes the entire roster of FromSoftware games and franchises created by Spike Chunsoft and Gotcha Gotcha Games. Kadokawa also publishes a boatload of anime and manga. A press release noted that the two companies will now “discuss specific initiatives for collaboration,” which will include “live-action films and TV drama.”

Does this mean that we’ll soon get an Elden Ring or Dark Souls movie? These are some of Kadokawa’s most prominent franchises, so it’s certainly possible. The companies have also promised to promote the “global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games.”

As for console exclusivity, don’t hold your breath. Sony already owns a 14 percent stake in FromSoftware and games like Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are available on PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles and for PCs. To that end, there’s some co-op DLC coming to Elden Ring sometime next year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sony-is-now-the-largest-shareholder-of-fromsoftwares-parent-company-165934956.html?src=rss

There’s no arguing that AI still has quite a few unreliable moments, but one would hope that at least its evaluations would be accurate. However, last week Google allegedly instructed contract workers evaluating Gemini not to skip any prompts, regardless of their expertise, TechCrunch reports based on internal guidance it viewed. Google shared a preview of Gemini 2.0 earlier this month.  

Google reportedly instructed GlobalLogic, an outsourcing firm whose contractors evaluate AI-generated output, not to have reviewers skip prompts outside of their expertise. Previously, contractors could choose to skip any prompt that fell far out of their expertise — such as asking a doctor about laws. The guidelines had stated, “If you do not have critical expertise (e.g. coding, math) to rate this prompt, please skip this task.”

Now, contractors have allegedly been instructed, “You should not skip prompts that require specialized domain knowledge” and that they should “rate the parts of the prompt you understand” while adding a note that it’s not an area they have knowledge in. Apparently, the only times contracts can skip now are if a big chunk of the information is missing or if it has harmful content which requires specific consent forms for evaluation. 

One contractor aptly responded to the changes stating, “I thought the point of skipping was to increase accuracy by giving it to someone better?” 

Shortly after this article was first published, Google provided Engadget with the following statement: “Raters perform a wide range of tasks across many different Google products and platforms. They provide valuable feedback on more than just the content of the answers, but also on the style, format, and other factors. The ratings they provide do not directly impact our algorithms, but when taken in aggregate, are a helpful data point to help us measure how well our systems are working.”

A Google spokesperson also noted that the new language shouldn’t necessarily lead to changes to Gemini’s accuracy, because they’re asking raters to specifically rate the parts of the prompts that they understand. This could be providing feedback for things like formatting issues even if the rater doesn’t have specific expertise in the subject. The company also pointed to this weeks’ release of the FACTS Grounding benchmark that can check LLM responses to make sure “that are not only factually accurate with respect to given inputs, but also sufficiently detailed to provide satisfactory answers to user queries.”

Update, December 19 2024, 11:23AM ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Google and more details about how its ratings system works.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-accused-of-using-novices-to-fact-check-geminis-ai-answers-143044552.html?src=rss

Apple has issued a complaint about Meta regarding the DMA’s mandated interoperability requests, as reported by Reuters. The iPhone maker says that Meta has issued 15 of these requests, which it says could impact the privacy and security of users. Meta disagrees.

First, a quick primer. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires that Apple allow rivals and third-party app developers to inter-operate with its own services or risk a steep fine, as much as ten percent of global turnover. Under the terms of the DMA, Apple must allow other companies to submit interoperability requests for hardware and software that affect iOS and iPadOS devices.

Apple must assess these requests and, if approved, have to design a solution to allow for effective interoperability. Meta has issued 15 of these requests, more than any other company, and Apple says that compliance would give the company extensive access to its technology stack. Apple also says that doing so could put the privacy and security of users at risk.

“If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user’s device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords and more,” Apple wrote in a statement to Reuters.

The company also referred to Meta’s recent privacy issues throughout Europe. Meta has been fined in various countries for data breaches and for tracking users across apps, among other concerns.

Meta, of course, has a different take on things. The social media and VR giant wrote that “what Apple is actually saying is they don’t believe in interoperability. Every time Apple is called out for its anticompetitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality.”

We don’t know if the EU will intervene on behalf of Apple or Meta in this case, but the European Commission recently published preliminary directions on how Apple should open up to rivals. These measures would require Apple to be transparent regarding the different phases, deadlines and criteria involving the completion of interoperability requests.

These proposed measures are open for debate until January 9. In March, a decision is expected as to whether or not Apple has complied with the DMA’s interoperability provision.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-and-meta-are-beefing-over-the-dmas-mandated-interoperability-requests-155851120.html?src=rss

It’s been available for over two years, but Apple’s 10th-generation iPad is still the newest model available for the base iPads. Our choice for best budget iPad is a great option for some last-minute present shopping. That’s especially the case, right now, as the Apple 10th-gen iPad is down to $250 from $349.

The great markdown comes courtesy of a 20 percent discount and a $29 off coupon that you can apply on the product page. It’s available on the Wi-Fi model with 64GB and with a silver finish. The deal also doesn’t include AppleCare+, but, for this great a price, all the specificities might be worth it. 

Apple’s 10th-gen iPad has a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2360x1640p resolution. We gave it an 85 in our review thanks to features like its landscape 12MP Ultra Wide front camera and an updated design from its predecessor. It also offers up to 10 hours of battery and recharges using a USB-C port, so you don’t have to worry about a lightning charger. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-10th-gen-ipad-is-back-on-sale-for-250-143153900.html?src=rss

Will Tencent’s “open source” HunyuanVideo launch an at-home “Stable Diffusion” moment for uncensored AI video?