ZipNada shares a report from ZDNet: Microsoft’s latest research identifies a new type of organization known as the Frontier Firm, where on-demand intelligence requirements are managed by hybrid teams of AI agents and humans. The report identified real productivity gains from implementing AI into organizations, with one of the biggest being filling the capacity gap — as many as 80% of the global workforce, both employees and leaders, report having too much work to do, but not enough time or energy to do it. … According to the report, business leaders need to separate knowledge workers from knowledge work, acknowledging that humans who can complete higher-level tasks, such as creativity and judgment, should not be stuck answering emails. Rather, in the same way working professionals say they send emails or create pivot tables, soon they will be able to say they create and manage agents — and Frontier Firms are showing the potential possibilities of this approach. … “Everyone will need to manage agents,” said Cambron. “I think it’s exciting to me to think that, you know, with agents, every early-career person will be able to experience management from day one, from their first job.”
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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Cybernews: Researchers at Cybernews have uncovered a major privacy breach involving WorkComposer, a workplace surveillance app used by over 200,000 people across countless companies. The app, designed to track productivity by logging activity and snapping regular screenshots of employees’ screens, left over 21 million images exposed in an unsecured Amazon S3 bucket, broadcasting how workers go about their day frame by frame. The leaked data is extremely sensitive, as millions of screenshots from employees’ devices could not only expose full-screen captures of emails, internal chats, and confidential business documents, but also contain login pages, credentials, API keys, and other sensitive information that could be exploited to attack businesses worldwide. After the company was contacted, access to the unsecured database was secured. An official comment has yet to be received.
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Microsoft has announced native PyTorch support for Windows on Arm devices with the release of PyTorch 2.7, making it significantly easier for developers to build and run machine learning models directly on Arm-powered Windows machines. This eliminates the need for manual compilation and opens up performance gains for AI tasks like image classification, NLP, and generative AI. Neowin reports: With the release of PyTorch 2.7, native Arm builds for Windows on Arm are now readily available for Python 3.12. This means developers can simply install PyTorch using a standard package manager like pip.
According to Microsoft: “This unlocks the potential to leverage the full performance of Arm64 architecture on Windows devices, like Copilot+ PCs, for machine learning experimentation, providing a robust platform for developers and researchers to innovate and refine their models.”
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In an era of reusable rockets and near-daily access to space, NASA is still paying more than it did 30 years ago to launch missions into orbit, according to a study soon to be published in the scientific journal Acta Astronautica.
Launch is becoming more routine. Every few days, SpaceX is sending another batch of Starlink Internet satellites to orbit, and other kinds of missions fill up the rest of SpaceX’s launch schedule. SpaceX, alone, has ample capacity to launch the handful of science missions NASA puts into space each year. If supply outpaces demand, shouldn’t prices go down?
It’s not so simple. NASA is one of many customers jockeying for a slot on SpaceX’s launch manifest. The US military is launching more missions than ever before, and SpaceX is about to become the Pentagon’s top launch provider. SpaceX already launches more missions for NASA than any other rocket company.
AI company Perplexity announced in February that it was building its own browser called Comet. In a recent interview with the TBPN podcast, CEO Aravind Srinivas gave some insight as to why the business appeared to be branching out from its artificial intelligence focus: It’s to collect user data and sell them targeted advertisements.
“That’s kind of one of the other reasons we wanted to build a browser, is we want to get data even outside the app to better understand you,” he said. “We plan to use all the context to build a better user profile and, maybe you know, through our discover feed we could show some ads there.”
If that all sounds familiar, it could be become Google’s Chrome browser has taken a similar approach. In fact, Comet is built on Chromium, the open-source browser base from Google. That’s not to say Perplexity wouldn’t take the chance to go straight to the source and acquire Chrome in the aftermath of Google’s recent monopoly court ruling regarding online search. In the ongoing hearings about Google and its potential sale of Chrome, Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko said he thought Perplexity would be able to continue running the browser at its current scale. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t too keen on OpenAI acquiring the property.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/perplexity-is-building-a-browser-in-part-to-collect-customer-data-for-targeted-ads-230132091.html?src=rss
AMD has open-sourced its “GPU-IOV Module” for enabling SR-IOV-based virtualization on Instinct accelerators using the Linux kernel and KVM hypervisor, with features like GPU scheduling and VF/PF management. Notably, AMD plans to extend this virtualization support to client Radeon GPUs. Phoronix reports: The AMD GPU-IOV Module is for the Linux kernel and for providing SR-IOV based hardware virtualization in conjunction with the KVM hypervisor. GIM provides the GPU IOV virtualization, virtual function (VF) configuration and enablement, GPU scheduling for world switch, hang detection and FLR reset, and PF/VF handshake capabilities. Initially the AMD GIM driver is for the Instinct MI300X hardware and tested atop Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with ROCm 6.4. Those interested can find the AMD GIM code currently via GitHub. It’s not laid out in the repository or any other public communications I’ve seen what any upstreaming plans are for this GIM driver to get it into the mainline Linux kernel.
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Many, but far from all, otherwise mobile-only applications are available on the Mac App Store for Macs with an Apple silicon processor. Such Macs can hypothetically run any iPhone or iPad application, though individual developers can choose whether or not to offer that functionality. There are multiple reasons why a company might not offer their iPhone app on Mac—maybe they don’t want to optimize it for a bigger display, maybe it’s broken in some way, or maybe they just aren’t interested in supporting another platform.
You might disagree with that decision, though, and wondering whether it’s possible to use those apps on your Mac anyway. And it is, sort of: PlayCover is an app capable of running any iPhone application you can think of, at least in theory. The problem is, there’s no straightforward way to get versions of the applications that will work with it.
Apple encrypts the applications offered in the App Store, meaning you can’t just download and install them directly—you have to go through the storefront. The main workaround requires you to jailbreak an iPhone and use software designed to decrypt applications. In this way, you can create .ips files from the apps you’ve downloaded or purchased that you can open in PlayCover.
You could also, in theory, download the .ips files from a third party—there are a few websites out there that offer them. The issue there is that this method requires trusting software from internet strangers that you’re then installing on your computer, which is hard to recommend for a bunch of security reasons. (You never know what malicious software may be hidden in those files.) There’s also the question of piracy, as these sites let you bypass the App Store encryption, which is typically a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
With all of these caveats in mind, I did manage to get the iPhone version of Duolingo running on my Mac. This is ideal, because the web version is missing all kinds of features, but it still isn’t a like for like experience, as I won’t get automatic updates like I would on an actual iPhone.
Beyond Duolingo, a few other iPhone applications and games I tried to open on my Mac either wouldn’t launch, or couldn’t reach the login screen. And because the games you’re playing are effectively outside the Apple ecosystem, you won’t have access to any of your in-app purchases, or even the ability to make new ones. It’s an imperfect solution in many ways, with one main upside—running software you otherwise couldn’t—and lots of potential downsides.
All of these points aside, I have to say that PlayCover has some clever features built in that allow you to control games optimized for touch. You can use your keyboard to emulate a gamepad, for example, making it possible to play supported games using your keyboard. If that doesn’t work, you can assign keys to simulate screen taps, so your key presses select the corresponding on-screen buttons to control games. It takes a little bit of work on your part, but it makes it possible to play games designed for a touchscreen using keyboards.
Thanks to Apple silicon, the iPhone, iPad, and Mac truly are related platforms. There’s nothing stopping you from running any iPhone application on your Mac, at least in theory. But for most people, it’s probably a good idea to stick to the iPad applications you can find in the Mac App Store.
The software-as-a-service industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation, abandoning the decades-old “per seat” licensing model in favor of usage-based pricing structures. This shift, Business Insider reports, is primarily driven by the astronomical compute costs associated with new “reasoning” AI models that power modern enterprise software.
Unlike traditional generative AI, these reasoning models execute multiple computational loops to check their work — a process called inference-time compute — dramatically increasing token usage and operational expenses. OpenAI’s o3-high model reportedly consumes 1,000 times more tokens than its predecessor, with a single benchmark response costing approximately $3,500, according to Barclays.
Companies including Bolt.new, Vercel, and Monday.com have already implemented usage-based or hybrid pricing models that tie costs directly to AI resource consumption. ServiceNow maintains primarily seat-based pricing but has added usage meters for extreme cases. “When it goes beyond what we can credibly afford, we have to have some kind of meter,” ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott said, while emphasizing that customers “still want seat-based predictability.”
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Several hit Paramount+ shows are returning with new seasons in May. The seventh installment of The Chi, Lena Waithe’s drama about life on the South Side of Chicago, will premiere on May 16. Original crime series Criminal Minds: Evolution (May 8) is returning for its 18th season, along with season three of medical drama SkyMed (May 15), which follows medics and pilots flying air ambulances in Northern Canada, and season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (May 9).
Paramount+ will also broadcast the American Music Awards (AMAs)—hosted by Jennifer Lopez—on May 26, along with a live studio show hosted by football star David Beckham. Beckham & Friends Live is an altcast of CBS Sports’ coverage of UEFA Champions League semi-final games on May 6 and 7 and the final on May 31.
Here’s everything else coming to the service in May. Note that titles with an asterisk are exclusive to Paramount+ With Showtime; everything else is also available to subscribers on the ad-supported plan. Those with two asterisks are available to Paramount+ With Showtime users streaming live on CBS and to all subscribers the following day.
The Comeback Trail*
Beckham & Friends Live, premiere
Criminal Minds: Evolution, season 18 premiere
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, season 10 premiere
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars: Untucked, new episodes
Hard Truths*
SkyMed, season 3 premiere
The Chi,* season 7 premiere
Couples Therapy,* season 4 new episodes
American Music Awards** hosted by Jennifer Lopez
PAW Patrol: Aqua Pups special
Everybody Still Hates Chris (season 1)
Air Disasters (season 21)
First Wives Club (season 1 and 2)
The Family Business (seasons 1-3)
Tyler Perry’s Sistas (season 4)
Tyler Perry’s The Oval (season 4)
Dora the Explorer: Mermaid Adventures! special
American Gangster: Trap Queens (season 1 and 2)
Tyler Perry’s Zatima (season 1 and 2)
Rock Paper Scissors (season 1)
A Very Brady Sequel
Addams Family Values (1993)
Aeon Flux
Atlantic City
Awake*
Black Rain
Book Club*
Bound
Bride & Prejudice
Bruce Lee, The Legend
Charlotte’s Web (2006)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Clueless
Crocodile Dundee
Crocodile Dundee II
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Cursed
Days of Thunder
Dreamland*
Drillbit Taylor
Duplex
Erin Brockovich
Extraordinary Measures*
Finding Neverland
Flight Of The Intruder
Frank Miller’s Sin City
Freedom Writers
G.I. Jane*
Gandhi
Green Book*
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
Hostage
Hotel for Dogs
I.Q.
In Her Skin*
In The Bedroom
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Just Friends
Just Like Heaven
Kate & Leopold
Kingpin
Last Vegas
Life of Pi
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mercy*
Minari
Monster Trucks
Nebraska
Norbit
Oldboy
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in The West
Parasite
Patriots Day*
Paycheck
Pride
Private Parts
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown
Rango
Rio Grande
Romeo Must Die
Sahara
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Some Kind of Wonderful
Son of Rambow
Southside of You
Spell
Stardust
Terminator: Dark Fate
Texas Rangers
The Addams Family (2019)
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
The Brady Bunch Movie
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Edge of Seventeen*
The Four Feathers
The Ghost and the Darkness
The Last Airbender (2010)
The Last Castle
The Mist*
The Prince and Me
The Queen
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
The Two Jakes
The Weather Man
Things We Lost In The Fire
Top Five
Trading Places
We Were Soldiers
Yours, Mine & Ours
Assassin Club
After a flurry of leaks, Motorola has unveiled its 2025 foldable lineup. This will be the first cycle with three Motorola Razr flip phones, ranging from the relatively inexpensive base model Razr to the lavishly expensive Razr Ultra. All three phones have a slick foldable design, a stronger hinge, and big screens—and they come in a collection of snazzy Pantone colorways.
The three models have similar overall designs, but the specs are notably different. The base model phone again relies on a MediaTek chip, while the Plus and Ultra are Snapdragon-based. The Ultra has the same processor seen in Samsung’s latest flagship phones, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. As Moto points out, it’s the fastest chip available in a foldable.
The 2025 Razr in the Spring Bud colorway.
Credit:
Motorola
Motorola’s Pantone partnership, which was recently featured in the 2025 Moto G Stylus, is used to great effect here. All three phones are available in some stunning colors with various materials and finishes. The Razr comes in Spring Bud (above), Gibraltar Sea, Parfait Pink, and Lightest Sky. The Razr+ gets Mocha Mousse, Midnight Blue, and Hot Pink (below). The Ultra comes in Rio Red, Scarab, Cabaret, or Mountain Trail, with a wood body that harkens back to the days of Moto maker. It’s refreshing to get so much choice when most phones are only available in a couple of boring tones.
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The Pixel 9 is the latest series of the Google Pixel phone lineup. They were released late last summer along with the 9 Pro and Pro XL, while the budget Pixel 9a came out earlier this year. If you’re looking for the latest middle-of-the-pack Pixel, the 128 GB unlocked Pixel 9 is just $639.99 (originally $799) after a $160 discount, the second-lowest price it has been since its release, according to price-tracking tools.
The Pixel 9 comes with 12GB of RAM, starts with 128GB of memory storage, a maximum 120 HZ refresh rate, and the Android 14 operating system. Lifehacker’s associate tech editor Michelle Ehrhardt deemed the Pixel 9 so good that you likely won’t miss the Pro. It’s important to note that the AI features still had hiccups, but AI features will keep improving over time; the most important thing to get right is the hardware, and Michelle says this is the best smartphone Google has made so far.
The battery life can last almost 12 hours, according to PCMag’s “excellent” review. The main camera has a 50MP shooter, a 48MP ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree field of view, same as the Pro models, but it has a single-zone laser detect autofocus (LDAF) sensor (the pro has multi-zone LDAF).
If you have the Pixel 8, you might not notice a huge upgrade in this model. However, if you’re upgrading from an older version or doing a switch from a non-Pixel phone, the 9 has a lot to offer. One of my favorite things about Pixel phones is the ongoing support for many years. My Pixel 6A still gets all of the updates and tons of AI features that make the phone feel fresh many years later, with the latest ones dropping last month (if you have a GoPro, you can control it with your Pixel). With the Pixel 9, you’ll be getting a quality phone with software updates for quite a while—as long as seven years.
After the battery woes surrounding the Pixel 4a and the promise of an eventual reduction in battery capacity for the Pixel 9a, Google is now proactively tackling any future battery issues that Pixel 7a owners may face. In a support document, the company said it has now determined that some Pixel 7a devices may experience battery swelling, and is offering a free battery replacement to everyone impacted by this issue. Here’s everything you need to know about the problem and how to get a free battery replacement for your Pixel 7a.
One major limitation of lithium-ion batteries is degradation. Over time, these batteries experience reduced capacity to hold a charge and eventually have to be replaced. This is a technological limitation that generally applies irrespective of the brand of the smartphone you’re using, since a majority of modern smartphones use lithium-ion batteries. However, some phones can be more susceptible to this than others, depending on which batteries they use, as evidenced by Google’s concern about the Pixel 7a. If you have a Google Pixel 7a, look for one of the following symptoms to know if your phone needs a battery replacement:
Your phone runs out of charge fairly quickly even when you’re not using it that much
The Pixel 7a appears to be visibly swollen
Your Pixel 7a’s cover is separating from the device because it appears to be bulging
If your device exhibits any of these signs, visit this Google support page to see if your Pixel 7a is eligible for a free battery replacement. Just follow the on-screen steps and Google will tell you how to proceed. Note that your device may not qualify for a battery replacement if it has liquid damage or other forms of physical damage. Google also said that battery replacement is only available while stock lasts, and only in the following regions:
United States
India
Germany
Canada
United Kingdom
Singapore
Japan
Additionally, of the above regions, only the United States and India offer a mail-in repair option. Users located elsewhere must either take their phone to a walk-in repair appointment or claim another form of appeasement, mentioned below.
If you live outside of the United States and India, then you may be able to claim a one-time payment instead of a battery replacement. If your device is out of warranty, Google is offering either $200 (or an equivalent amount in your local currency) or $300 in Google store credit, which will be applicable towards the purchase of another Pixel phone.
If your device is in warranty and you choose to claim the one-time settlement amount, Google says it will pay you $456 or its equivalent in your local currency. Visit Google’s support page to confirm the terms of the settlement and to check what you’re eligible for, since these terms may not be applicable for purchases from certain regions.
This is a video from Brick Technology (previously) of a quaint LEGO town being destroyed by various LEGO war machines. It begins with a battering ram, but as the town ramps up its defenses in the form of a ravine, a bridge-crossing machine is built, followed by a crossbow and catapult. It was a fun watch. Would I spend a weekend doing this? No, but only because I don’t have the engineering or building skills. “The last time he assembled a LEGO set he got a minifig head stuck in his nose.” Honey! “What?” To my credit I did stick it in there on purpose with the intention of shooting it out like a cannon, I just misloaded and panicked.
Google is offering free repairs and (in some countries) payments to remedy Pixel 7a battery issues. 9to5Google spotted a Google support page detailing an extended repair program in 40 countries. If your Pixel 7a is visibly swelling or its battery drains faster than usual, you may get a battery replacement on the house.
The company says it’s “determined that certain Pixel 7a phones may experience unexpected battery swelling.” Telltale signs include the phone appearing thicker than usual, a bulging back cover, visible gaps or openings along its edges or faster-than-expected battery drain.
Google faced complaints on social media about the Pixel 7a issue before taking action. For example, in December, u/Eszence08 posted in the Pixel subreddit that, after failing to get help from Google support about the battery swelling issue, they only got a solution from the company after posting about it on Reddit. Their conclusion: “Make a post; Google is more helpful on Reddit than their chat support.”
Even if your device exhibits one or more symptoms, it still needs to pass a check before moving forward. You can start by visiting Google’s eligibility page, which will walk you through the steps to determine eligibility for your specific device. After that, a repairperson will inspect it before proceeding.
That last step is necessary because unrelated damages, including liquid damage, exposure to sharp objects or excessive force, will void the repair. (Most of those precautions sound like “we need to make sure you didn’t pry your phone open to get a free battery.”) In addition, out-of-warranty damage like display or cover glass cracks will incur a repair cost, for which Google will provide an estimate before starting.
When we get to the country-by-country breakdown, things get more complicated. You have two options in the US and India: Mail your device to Google or take it to an authorized walk-in repair center. In-person repairs are also available in Canada, the UK, Germany, Japan and Singapore. (Those countries don’t offer mail-in fixes.)
The program also extends to those who bought their device in Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Switzerland and EEA countries. If your country isn’t listed, you get nothing.
However, for countries without a mail-in option (all but the US and India), Google offers alternate “appeasement options,” i.e., payouts or store credit. If your Pixel 7a is out of warranty, you can claim $200 converted to your local currency or $300 (also converted locally) in a Google discount code toward purchasing another Pixel phone on the Google Store. If it’s still under warranty, you can get a healthier $456 payment converted to your local currency.
If you think your Pixel 7a is eligible, you can head to Google’s support page to get started.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-launches-a-battery-replacement-program-for-swollen-pixel-7a-handsets-162204629.html?src=rss
A Government Accountability Office report released this week reveals generative AI systems consume staggering amounts of water, with 250 million daily queries requiring over 1.1 million gallons — all while companies provide minimal transparency about resource usage. The 47-page analysis [PDF] found cooling data centers — which demand between 100-1000 megawatts of power — constitutes 40% of their energy consumption, a figure expected to rise as global temperatures increase.
Water usage varies dramatically by location, with geography significantly affecting both water requirements and carbon emissions. Meta’s Llama 3.1 405B model has generated 8,930 metric tons of carbon, compared to Google’s Gemma2 at 1,247.61 metric tons and OpenAI’s GPT3 at 552 metric tons. The report confirms generative AI searches cost approximately ten times more than standard keyword searches. The GAO asserted about persistent transparency problems across the industry, noting these systems remain “black boxes” even to their designers.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
