Over the years of true wireless earbuds, Sony has consistently kept its place among the best with its 1000X series. Just when it seems like others may gain ground through software tricks or beefed-up noise-cancellation, the company adds new features or improves audio quality to ensure it continues to dominate.
Engadget
With this year’s WF-1000XM5 true wireless earbuds, there’s a notable caveat: At $300, these are the most expensive earbuds yet from Sony – and a chunk of change above rival headphones. These earbuds are undoubtedly the company’s best and most comfortable design in its premium model so far, which was one of the few remaining riddles Sony needed to solve – aside from the complicated, unmemorable name, the WF-1000XM5. Not exactly AirPods, is it? If you can afford them, the buds launch on August 4th and are available to pre-order now. And check out the full review right here.
– Mat Smith
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Microsoft is promoting the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem movie by giving away a limited batch of pizza-scented Xbox controllers. Apart from the built-in scent diffuser, though, these are otherwise stock Xbox controllers with TMNT style, in four variants that reflect the four ninja turtles. To win one – they won’t go on sale – you’ll have to follow Xbox Game Pass on Twitter X and retweet a post before August 13th. If you absolutely must operate a pizza-scented controller, these will be out and about at Microsoft’s Experience Center on New York’s Fifth Avenue for an August 2nd promo event.
It’s long been rumored Musk is keen to bring fintech features to Twitter.
Twitter’s rebrand to X is officially underway, and CEO Linda Yaccarino has offered some new clues about what it may mean for the company. In a memo reported by CNBC, Yaccarino suggested payments and banking features could feature prominently in Elon Musk’s new vision. Back in January, the Financial Times reported he wanted “to offer fintech services such as peer-to-peer transactions, savings accounts and debit cards” to users.
Is it time to replace your notebook with something high-tech? There’s been a boom in e-ink tablets to replace your myriad notebooks with something that can connect to the internet, detect your handwriting and more. We tested a bunch of the most popular e-ink tablets available – and we have recommendations.
A Premium Single subscription is going from $10 to $11 a month.
Hot on the heels of price bumps at Peacock, Apple Music and YouTube, Spotify is the latest to inch up the prices of its services. Spotify has announced it’s raising the price of all its Premium plans. In the United States, this means a Premium Single subscription is going from $10 a month to $11 a month — its first increase since Spotify launched over a decade ago. Its Premium Family and Student plans are also going up by a dollar, now costing $17 and $6 per month, respectively. Premium Duo has the largest bump, going up two dollars per month from $13 to $15.
Apple is now making its Vision Pro developer kits available. If you qualify, you’ll get a loaned mixed reality headset as well as help with setup, expert “check-ins” and extra support requests beyond what developers normally get. You’re submitting an application, not buying a product like the old Apple Silicon Developer Transition Kit, so you’ll need to detail your existing apps and overall team talent. The company will favor creators whose app “takes advantage” of the Vision Pro’s features. Apple also demands developers keep the Vision Pro in a secure workspace only authorized team members can access.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-sonys-newest-noise-canceling-earbuds-111504008.html?src=rss
The Debian Project announced today that the RISC-V (riscv64) hardware architecture is now officially supported by the Debian GNU/Linux operating system.
Samsung’s refreshed M8 Smart Monitor is currently on sale at $100 less than retail, and you can get one right now for $600 if you’re looking for a multi-functional display. It’s the new version of the monitor Samsung launched at CES in 2022, which comes with both smart TV and internet of things (IoT) features. Like its predecessor, you can use the new M8 to stream content like you would on any other smart TV from services like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
But you can also use it to edit documents, browse the web and do other things you’d do on a computer without needing to plug it into a separate PC, since it comes with Microsoft 365 programs. The upgraded Workmode feature lets use the monitor to access other computers, as well, in case the documents or programs you need are on another PC. And if you have a Samsung phone or tablet, you can use Samsung DeX on the display to link to them as well.
Unlike most of Samsung’s other smart TVs, though, the M8 comes with an IoT hub that will let you control your smart home products with SmartThings. You can switch off the lights or set the thermostat temperature right from the display. The M8 monitor ships with a detachable SlimFit Cam, which captures images in full HD and can track and focus your face to follow you around during video calls. Finally, the product comes with built-in Alexa support, so you can issue voice commands from across the room.
When Samsung launched the new M8 in May, Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics, said: “We are raising the bar for Smart Monitors globally with our new lineup and especially our enhanced M8 model. Within a single monitor, users can enjoy the best of entertainment and gaming, productivity, design and personalized convenience and comfort.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-refreshed-smart-monitor-m8-gets-a-100-discount-104153448.html?src=rss
By 1983 there were a whopping 2,000 pieces of software for Apple’s pre-Macintosh computer, the Apple II — more than for any other machine in the world. It turns out this left a trail for one historian to understand The Apple II Age: How the Computer Became Personal.
The new book (by New York University academic Laine Nooney) argues that it was the first purchasers of that software who are the true overlooked pioneers during the seven years before the Macintosh. And (as this reviewer explains, with quotes from the book), collectively they form the most compelling story about the history of Apple:
It’s about all those brave and curious people, the users, who came “Not to hack, but to play… Not to program, but to print…” And you can trace their activities in perfect detail through the decades-old software programs they left behind. It’s a fresh and original approach to the history of technology. Yes, the Apple II competed with Commodore’s PET 2001 and Tandy’s TRS-80… [But] this trove of programs uniquely offers “a glimpse of what users did with their personal computers, or perhaps more tellingly, what users hoped their computers might do.”
Looking back in time, Nooney calls the period “one of unusually industrious and experimental software production, as mom-and-pop development houses cast about trying to create software that could satisfy the question, ‘What is a computer even good for…?'” The book’s jacket promises “a constellation of software creation stories,” with each chapter revisiting an especially iconic program that also represents an entire category of software…
[T]he book ultimately focuses more heavily on the lessons that can be learned from what programmers envisioned for these strange new devices — and how the software-buying public did (or didn’t) respond… The earliest emergence of personal computing in America was “a wondrous mangle,” Nooney writes, saying it turned into an era where “overnight entrepreneurs hastily constructed a consumer computing supply chain where one had never previously existed.”
Vice republished an excerpt in May which describes the “roiling debate” that took place over copy protection in 1981.
Loongson Binary Translation (LBT) support for the Chinese LoongArch CPU architecture is slated for introduction in the upcoming Linux 6.6 cycle. Loongson Binary Translation aims to help speed-up and handle ARM / x86 / MIPS binary translation on LoongArch more efficiently with capable LoongArch processors…
While the EROFS Linux read-only file-system already supports LZ4 and microLZMA support, Zlib DEFLATE support is also being worked on and could be introduced in the next Linux kernel cycle…
The first beta is out of FreeRDP 3.0, the open-source Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) implementation of that proprietary Microsoft protocol for remote desktop/GUI handling…
An anonymous reader writes: The US biofuel program is probably killing endangered species and harming the environment in a way that negates its benefits, but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is largely ignoring those problems, a new federal lawsuit charges. The suit alleges the EPA failed to consider impacts on endangered species, as is required by law, when it set new rules that will expand biofuel use nationwide during the next three years, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), which brought the litigation.
The agency has twice ignored court orders to study the impacts and is probably dodging the requirements because ethanol production “props up” the corn industry, which has a politically powerful lobby, Hartl added. “The Biden administration failed to even modestly reform this boondoggle and crumbled again in the face of political pressure from powerful special interests,” Hartl said. “Our streams and rivers will choke with more pollution and coastal dead zones will continue to expand.” The EPA said in a statement that it does not comment on ongoing litigation. About 40% of all corn grown in the US is used for ethanol production, and nearly half is used as animal feed.
CNN reports that “There is a ‘gravity hole’ in the Indian Ocean — a spot where Earth’s gravitational pull is weaker, its mass is lower than normal, and the sea level dips by over 328 feet (100 meters).”
This anomaly has puzzled geologists for a long time, but now researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India, have found what they believe is a credible explanation for its formation: plumes of magma coming from deep inside the planet, much like those that lead to the creation of volcanoes. To come to this hypothesis, the team used supercomputers to simulate how the area could have formed, going as far back as 140 million years. The findings, detailed in a study published recently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, center around an ancient ocean that no longer exists.
Humans are used to thinking about Earth as a perfect sphere, but that’s far from the truth. “The Earth is basically a lumpy potato,” said study coauthor Attreyee Ghosh, a geophysicist and associate professor at the Centre for Earth Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science. “So technically it’s not a sphere, but what we call an ellipsoid, because as the planet rotates the middle part bulges outward.” Our planet is not homogeneous in its density and its properties, with some areas being more dense than others — that affects Earth’s surface and its gravity, Ghosh added. “If you pour water on the surface of the Earth, the level that the water takes is called a geoid — and that is controlled by these density differences in the material inside the planet, because they attract the surface in very different ways depending on how much mass there is underneath,” she said. The “gravity hole” in the Indian Ocean — officially called the Indian Ocean geoid low — is the lowest point in that geoid and its biggest gravitational anomaly, forming a circular depression that starts just off India’s southern tip and covers about 1.2 million square miles (3 million square kilometers).
Since the introduction of ChatGPT in November last year, it has rapidly attracted hundreds of millions of users within a short span of a few months. While the rapid expansion of ChatGPT has also brought about some severe criticism and questioning, it is undeniable that artificial intelligence technology has been widely accepted and has sparked a frenzy of interest in the AI industry. People have keenly realized that ChatGPT merely represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of the application prospects of AI technology, and it has a vast stage in the future. For instance, the integration of artificial intelligence and digital asset trading services is an exciting and limitless future trend, and this trend has been keenly captured and applied by Aibit.
What is Aibit?
Literally, one might mistakenly assume that Aibit is a chatbot-like tool similar to ChatGPT, but that is not the case. Aibit aims to accomplish much more. It is understood that Aibit is a Singapore-based digital asset derivatives trading platform that focuses on providing comprehensive digital financial asset services to investors, including futures trading, spot trading, fiat trading, and various wealth management products. By deeply integrating artificial intelligence with blockchain technology, Aibit is committed to opening up a new era where everyone can easily participate in the digital economy and enjoy the convenience and value growth brought by digital assets.
Great ideas may initially carry an incredible hue that is difficult for the world to believe. However, nothing is impossible once standing at the forefront of a trend. Looking back just five years ago in 2018, how many people could have anticipated that Compound, which had just emerged at the time, would trigger a widely watched “DeFi Summer” in 2020? Going back a few more months to the end of 2017, when players were crazily chasing after CryptoKitties, it is unlikely they would have imagined that something called “NFTs” would make such a passionate comeback three years later.
The Rising Power of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Assets Amidst Skepticism
No revolutionary new entity has ever grown without facing skepticism. Today, artificial intelligence finds itself in a situation similar to Bitcoin’s 13 years ago. Both faced extensive doubts and emerged amidst a bleak global economic environment. This coincidence is not only striking but also destined.
In the ever-changing landscape of the enigmatic digital asset market, the only constant is change. Particularly, exchanges, which serve as crucial infrastructure within the digital asset market, abide by the iron rule of “innovate or perish.” If we define the Mt. Gox era as CEX 1.0, which provided simple matching services to users, and the era represented by platforms like Huobi and Coinbase offering banking and futures/options market services as CEX 2.0, will the exchange sector witness a new revolution and enter the era of CEX 3.0 before the next bull market? It is not impossible. The rapid development of artificial intelligence has shown us new directions. And between envisioning and accomplishing, Aibit has already taken the first step.
As a secure and transparent digital asset trading platform, Aibit aims to build a comprehensive ecosystem and achieve inclusive finance in the digital age, making digital assets an essential part of the mainstream economy. However, let’s not forget that every exchange claims to be “secure and transparent” these days. Can this relatively unknown platform live up to its claims? In fact, a glimpse of Aibit’s difference from the current CEX giants can be seen in its name itself: “AI+BIT.” By empowering digital asset exchanges with AI technology, managing code with smarter techniques, and eliminating human weaknesses in the trading process through artificial intelligence, Aibit aims to promptly identify and seize market opportunities. It strives to provide every user with secure, efficient, and convenient digital asset trading and management services, becoming a bright path towards the Web3 era. Just as its slogan says, “The Future of Web3 is here, with AI and Blockchain,” Aibit emerges with a mission, riding the wind of change.
“At Aibit, Unlock Your Web3 World”
Although the industry has not yet reached a unified consensus on Web3, everyone has their own visions and expectations for it. So, where does one start their journey into the Web3 world? This is undoubtedly a practical question. Even for residents accustomed to the Web2 world, taking the first step into the Web3 realm is not an easy task. It involves not only the issue of entry barriers but also concerns about asset security and privacy. Fortunately, Aibit has swiftly recognized and addressed these concerns. Leveraging the advantages of artificial intelligence technology, Aibit strives to provide a simple, transparent, and trustworthy Web3 gateway for the world, the digital asset industry, and users investing in digital assets.
Since the last bull market, there have been many unexpected events in both the digital asset market and traditional financial markets. The collapse of the FTX tower and the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, ranked 16th in the United States, have raised deep concerns about financial service providers. People ask themselves: Where can I safely store my assets? The answer lies in transparency, as platforms operating in the sunlight are the safest. But how can transparency be achieved? The key is to minimize human influence and entrust asset management, trade matching, and investment to intelligent programs. Aibit, for example, has developed an all-in-one transparent platform relying on artificial intelligence technology for automated trading, risk control, personalized services, and security guarantees. It provides users with intelligent algorithms for automated trading, significantly reducing the risks associated with human errors and allowing for faster response to market changes. It also helps the platform monitor market anomalies in real-time, issuing timely alerts for abnormal price fluctuations and trading volume changes in certain digital assets, ensuring comprehensive asset security for users.
Aibit, Advancing Step by Step
Undoubtedly, as an important gateway to the Web3 world, Aibit brings more changes to digital asset exchanges. With the support of artificial intelligence technology, users can enjoy personalized services on Aibit based on their trading history and preferences. Moreover, Aibit integrates its customer service system deeply with artificial intelligence, providing high-level professional services such as intelligent Q&A and automated support 24/7. Aibit firmly believes in the idea that expertise creates value, offering users an unprecedented trading and service experience.
It is understood that Aibit is currently focusing on brand upgrades and further product iterations. Important functionalities concerning user trading security and experience, such as contract performance optimization, spot data structure upgrades, asset service technology improvements, and optimization of asset center functions, will be unveiled in a new form after this iteration. Let us eagerly anticipate these advancements.
Aibit, Breaking Through Challenges
Although Aibit has positioned itself at the forefront of the industry by combining the advantages of riding the wave and integrating artificial intelligence technology to provide users with innovative trading products and experiences, it still faces the same scrutiny as any new platform entering the world of digital assets. Why should it compete with giants like Huobi and Coinbase?
Let’s not forget that Binance, which now sits comfortably as the leading CEX, rose to prominence within a few short months. Competition in the digital asset industry is not about size but about direction and speed. Looking back at the past decade, many once-flourishing giants have fallen, while new forces have seized opportunities and risen.
The concept of empowering digital asset trading with artificial intelligence, which Aibit firmly adheres to, undoubtedly taps into the current zeitgeist. Change and self-innovation have been the most important driving forces for the digital asset industry since the birth of Bitcoin. As the digital asset exchange sector, especially with the current practical application stage of artificial intelligence technology, enters a phase that requires internal self-renewal, Aibit enters the scene as a disruptor carrying a mission.
Where does Aibit find its opportunity? According to CoinGecko’s Q1 2023 cryptocurrency industry report, the trading volume in the digital asset industry reached $2.8 trillion in the first quarter, with a quarter-on-quarter growth of 18.1%. In the second quarter, the total market capitalization of the digital asset market approached $1.5 trillion. This is a significant milestone. In terms of global stock market capitalization rankings, even in a bear market, the digital asset market would rank 36th, surpassing Poland’s $1.77 trillion. This represents a significant foundation for Aibit.
Beyond the foundation, Aibit’s trump card to break through the challenges is undoubtedly artificial intelligence. The rapid development of AI technology today may far exceed our imagination. Therefore, the upgrades and iterations Aibit can undertake based on artificial intelligence technology are full of imagination. Throughout history, those who have enjoyed the dividends of being at the forefront of advantages in their time are the most capable of exploring new directions for future development. However, weighing the pros and cons, they often end up representing conservative forces. The first step to breaking away from the old world and moving towards a new one is often taken by newcomers without historical baggage. Under the wave of artificial intelligence, the current operational model of digital asset exchanges will inevitably be impacted. Rather than passively adapting to these changes, it is better to take the initiative. Aibit has already taken this important step. Its goal is not to challenge giants like Coinbase or Huobi, but to open up a new path in front of them and relentlessly forge ahead on that path towards a broader future, giving this world the courage to explore and create.
Kontron revealed this month two motherboards in mini-STX form-factor and equipped with i3 processors and N-Series processors. These devices are designed to continuously operate 24/7 and target medical, kiosks, digital signage and other commercial/industrial applications. The product page specifies that the K3921-N mSTX can be configured with any of the following processors: N50 […]
Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao and the crypto exchange’s former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim plan to seek the dismissal of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawsuit. From a report: The response to the CFTC complaint is due July 27 and the defendants intend to submit motions to dismiss, according to a court filing on Monday. They also sought permission to exceed a 15-page limit on supporting briefs, citing the complexity of the case and the number of arguments they anticipate making. The CFTC in March alleged that Binance and CEO Zhao, also known as CZ, routinely broke US derivatives rules as the firm grew to be the world’s largest digital-asset trading platform.
Binance should have registered with the agency years ago and continues to violate the CFTC’s rules, the regulator said at the time. The crypto platform previously described the CFTC lawsuit as “unexpected and disappointing.” The US Securities & Exchange Commission last month accused Binance and Zhao of mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, and breaking securities rules. Binance has said that it intends to defend its platform “vigorously.”
Git is a distributed version control system used in software development to track changes in source code, facilitating collaboration and efficient code management. This guide explains different methods to install Git on Pop!_OS.
Microsoft’s Bing Chat is no longer exclusive to the Edge browser, as it’s now rolling out to Chrome and Safari, The Verge reported. “We are flighting access to Bing Chat in Safari and Chrome to select users as part of our testing on other browsers,” a Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge. “We are excited to expand access to even more users once our standard testing procedures are complete.”
It seems to be more than a small test, as a number of users (including myself on Chrome but not Safari) have gained access. There are a few limitations, though. You have to be logged into your Microsoft account, and prompts are limited to 2,000 characters compared to 4,000 on Edge. Conversations reset after five queries rather than 30, and it constantly prompts you to download Edge (never change, Microsoft).
Bing Chat is powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4, giving users access to the latter’s features without the need to pay. There are some differences, though, as Bing Chat has access to Bing Search while ChatGPT-4 by itself doesn’t, so can provide more up-to-date information and sources for responses. However, OpenAI’s chat generally provides more detailed responses. Recently, a paper came out claiming that ChatGPT-4’s capabilities have declined, but some experts have downplayed the conclusions.
On top of releasing it for other browsers, Microsoft also introduced a dark mode for Bing Chat. To use it, click on the hamburger menu at the top right and select “Appearance/Dark.” That function may not yet be available for all users.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bing-chat-powered-by-openai-tech-is-rolling-out-to-chrome-and-safari-035228266.html?src=rss
In this tutorial, we will learn how to develop a Python plugin for GIMP, a popular open-source image editing software. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to create your own custom plugins to extend the functionality of GIMP using Python.
Movie stars make millions, but many working actors struggle to make ends meet—an issue that’s gotten more awareness thanks to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. While union members fight Hollywood studios for fair contracts, one of the most famous performers in the world is sharing some of his good fortune.
Lately we’ve demonstrated the explosive growth of GNU/Linux or just Linux in Africa, based on some firm’s Web-derived data. Here’s one way to present this data for all countries, based on July’s numbers.
A new report suggests that the lax content moderation policies of Mastodon and other decentralized social media platforms have led to a proliferation of child sexual abuse material. Stanford’s Internet Observatory published new research Monday that shows that decentralized sites have serious shortcomings when it comes…
