Let’s get streaming! Welcome to io9’s latest edition of the Nerd’s Watch, where we pare down the enormous lists of new films and television shows arriving on all your favorite streaming services into the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles we think you’ll like most. (And sometimes, just the ones that we like most.)
Source: Gizmodo – The Best Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Streaming in December 2023
Ice Universe, a reliable leaker, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the upcoming Samsung S24 will only be available with 8GB of RAM. Ice Universe did not hold back their feelings about this, qualifying it as “Bad News.”
However, the leaks didn’t stop with the S24, as Ice Universe got a hold of the memory configurations from across
Source: Hot Hardware – Samsung Galaxy S24 Lineup Memory Configs Exposed And They Might Surprise You
Google is rolling out a trio of system updates to Android, Wear OS and Google TV devices. Each brings new features to associated gadgets. Android devices, like smartphones, are getting updated Emoji Kitchen sticker combinations. You can remix emojis and share with friends as stickers via Gboard.
Google Messages for Android is getting a nifty little refresh. There’s a new beta feature that lets users add a unique background and an animated emoji to voice messages. Google’s calling the software Voice Moods and says it’ll help users better express how they’re “feeling in the moment.” Nothing conveys emotion more than a properly-positioned emoji. There are also new reactions for messages that go far beyond simple thumbs ups, with some taking up the entire screen. In addition, you’ll be able to change chat bubble colors.
The company’s also adding an interesting tool that provides AI-generated image descriptions for those with low-vision. The TalkBack feature will read aloud a description of any image, whether sourced from the internet or a photo that you took. Google’s even adding new languages to its Live Caption feature, enhancing the pre-existing ability to take phone calls without needing to hear the speaker. Better accessibility is always a good thing.
Wear OS is getting a bunch of little updates. You can control more smart home devices and light groups directly from a watch, which comes in handy when creating mood lighting. You can also tell your smart home devices that you are home or away with a tap. There’s a new Assistant Routines feature that automates daily tasks and an Assistant At a Glance shortcut on the watch face that displays information relevant to your day, like the weather and traffic data.
As for Google TV, there are ten new free channels to choose from, bringing the grand total to well over 800. None of these channels require an additional subscription, but they will have commercials. All of these updates begin rolling out today, but it could be a few weeks before they hit everyone’s inbox.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-latest-android-update-includes-ai-created-image-descriptions-and-animations-for-voice-messages-172522129.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Google’s latest Android update includes AI-created image descriptions and animations for voice messages
An anonymous reader shares a report: Until today, we’d never heard of “Project Boston.” It was Activision Blizzard King’s big plan to earn more money from its mobile games by changing its relationship with Google. And if things had gone differently, it would have given Activision Blizzard its own app store on Android. In late 2019, according to internal emails and documents I saw today in the courtroom during the Epic v. Google trial, the company decided it was going to dual-track two intriguing parallel plans.
The first plan was to build its own mobile game store — either in partnership with Epic Games and Clash of Clans publisher Supercell or all by itself — to bypass the Google Play Store. You’d download it from a website, sideload it onto your Android phone, and then you’d be able to purchase, download, and patch games like Candy Crush, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Diablo Immortal there. In private emails with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, Activision Blizzard CFO Armin Zerza pitched it as the “Steam of Mobile” — a single place to buy mobile games, with a single payment system. Documents suggest the store would charge a transaction fee of 10 to 12 percent, lower than the 30 percent fee Google (and Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Steam) impose on gaming transactions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Activision Blizzard Had a Plan, or Ploy, To Launch Its Own Android Game Store
Enlarge / An artist’s interpretation of what ChatGPT might look like if embodied in the form of a robot toy blowing out a birthday candle. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
One year ago today, on November 30, 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT. It’s uncommon for a single tech product to create as much global impact as ChatGPT in just one year.
Imagine a computer that can talk to you. Nothing new, right? Those have been around since the 1960s. But ChatGPT, the application that first bought large language models (LLMs) to a wide audience, felt different. It could compose poetry, seemingly understand the context of your questions and your conversation, and help you solve problems. Within a few months, it became the fastest-growing consumer application of all time. And it created a frenzy.
During these 365 days, ChatGPT has broadened the public perception of AI, captured imaginations, attracted critics, and stoked existential angst. It emboldened and reoriented Microsoft, made Google dance, spurred fears of AGI taking over the world, captivated world leaders, prompted attempts at government regulation, helped add words to dictionaries, inspired conferences and copycats, led to a crisis for educators, hyper-charged automated defamation, embarrassed lawyers by hallucinating, prompted lawsuits over training data, and much more.
Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – ChatGPT is one year old. Here’s how it changed the world.
Google is rolling out a string of updates for the Messages app, including the ability to customize the colors of the text bubbles and backgrounds. So, if you really want to, you can have blue bubbles in your Android messaging app. You can have a different color for each chat, which could help prevent you from accidentally leaking a secret to family or friends.
With the help of on-device Google AI (meaning you’ll likely need a recent Pixel device to use this feature), you can transform photos into reactions with Photomoji. All you need to do is pick a photo, decide which object (or person or animal) you’d like to turn into a Photomoji and hit the send button. These reactions will be saved for later use, and friends in the chat can use any Photomoji you send them as well.
The new Voice Moods feature allows you to apply one of nine different vibes to a voice message, by showing visual effects such as heart-eye emoji, fireballs (for when you’re furious) and a party popper. Google says it has also upgraded the quality of voice messages by bumping up the bitrate and sampling rate.
In addition, there are more than 15 Screen Effects you can trigger by typing things like “It’s snowing” or “I love you.” These will make “your screen erupt in a symphony of colors and motion,” Google says. Elsewhere, Messages will display animated effects when certain reactions and emoji are used.
On top of all of that, users will now be able to set up a profile that appends their name and photo to their phone number to help them have more control over how they appear across Google services. The company says this feature could help when it comes to receiving messages from a phone number that isn’t in your group chats. It could help you know the identity of everyone in a group chat too.
Some of these features will be available in beta starting today in the latest version of Google Messages. Google notes that some feature availability will depend on market and device.
Google is rolling out these updates alongside the news that more than a billion people now use Google Messages with RCS enabled every month. RCS (Rich Communication Services) is a more feature-filled and secure format of messaging than SMS and MMS. It supports features such as read receipts, typing indicators, group chats and high-res media. Google also offers end-to-end encryption for one-on-one and group conversations via RCS.
For years, Google had been trying to get Apple to adopt RCS for improved interoperability between Android and iOS. Apple refused, perhaps because iMessage (and its blue bubbles) have long been a status symbol for its users. However, likely to ensure Apple falls in line with European Union regulations, Apple has relented. The company recently said it would start supporting RCS in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-messages-now-lets-you-choose-your-own-chat-bubble-colors-170042264.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Google Messages now lets you choose your own chat bubble colors
The year is winding down, which means Spotify Wrapped is here yet again to reveal just how cringe your taste in music really is. Like it does every year, Spotify will show you basic listening stats, like your total listen time, favorite artists, top songs, and top podcasts, if that’s your thing. But this year, there’s more.
For one thing, for the first time you don’t need to use the app to get your Wrapped. You can get it from Spotify’s Wrapped website, as well. Of course, if you open the app, Spotify will show a splash screen, or a banner to guide you through retrieving your Wrapped. If it doesn’t, you’ll find a Wrapped button in the top toolbar.
And along with the usual stats, Spotify Wrapped has a few new surprises: You’ll be assigned both a “Sound Town” and a listening character, each based on your musical habits during the year.
One of Spotify Wrapped’s new hooks is called Sound Town. Basically, Spotify will match you with a city in the world that had similar listening habits or listening activity as you do. It’s fascinating, to say the least.
I live in India, and my two biggest genres were Bollywood, and Atmospheric lo-fi music. And turns out my Sound Town is Leuven, Belgium, whose residents I suspect are bigger fans of atmospheric music, more than the latest Bollywood number. Still, that’s interesting to know.
Spotify is also assigning users a listening character, as it assigned a listening personality last year. I’m apparently a Vampire, because I like listening to atmospheric and sad music. I’m a bit surprised to learn I’m emo, but hey, data doesn’t lie.
Lastly, Spotify is adding a new angle to its list of your top artists: This time, it will tell you when your consumption of a particular artist peaked. I listened to Post Malone a lot in August, and then it dropped off. Summers are weird.
Once your Wrapped is wrapped, you can add your top songs of 2023 to a playlists, and Spotify will make it easy to share your stats on Instagram Stories, and other social media platforms (because that’s the entire reason it exists—to give your friends who use Apple Music or Amazon Music major FOMO).
Source: LifeHacker – How to Find Your Sound Town and Listening Character in Spotify Wrapped 2023
The GPU news coming out of China continues to accelerate in stunning developments. The recent U.S ban on certain graphics cards used in AI seems to have spawned a plethora of new tactics to alleviate the stress on the Chinese market. It seems like scooping up aging NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GPUs when the GeForce RTX 4090 became rare, was just
Source: Hot Hardware – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Dragon GPU Aims To Breath Fire In China With US Approval
Gmail plans to start permanently deleting inactive accounts on December 1. Since November is almost over, we decided to give you one final urgent reminder to log into your old burner accounts to make sure they survive the Great Google Purge.
Source: Gizmodo – Your Old Gmail Account Will Be Deleted Tomorrow If You Don’t Sign in Now
The president of tech giant Microsoft said there is no chance of super-intelligent artificial intelligence being created within the next 12 months, and cautioned that the technology could be decades away. From a report: OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman earlier this month was removed as CEO by the company’s board of directors, but was swiftly reinstated after a weekend of outcry from employees and shareholders. Reuters last week exclusively reported that the ouster came shortly after researchers had contacted the board, warning of a dangerous discovery they feared could have unintended consequences.
The internal project named Q* (pronounced Q-Star) could be a breakthrough in the startup’s search for what’s known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), one source told Reuters. OpenAI defines AGI as autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks. However, Microsoft President Brad Smith, speaking to reporters in Britain on Thursday, rejected claims of a dangerous breakthrough. “There’s absolutely no probability that you’re going to see this so-called AGI, where computers are more powerful than people, in the next 12 months. It’s going to take years, if not many decades, but I still think the time to focus on safety is now,” he said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Microsoft President Says No Chance of Super-Intelligent AI Soon
The Marvels is likely going to end up one of Marvel Studios’ worst-performing films in a considerable period of time—and at a time when people are largely questioning the direction of a franchise that has dominated cinema for 15 years, that’s not an ideal bit of publicity. Also not ideal? The weirdly public way Disney…
Source: Gizmodo – Damn, What Does Disney Have Against Nia DaCosta?
There is a part of my heart that will forever belong to a simple chip and dip, that loves a taquito, that will happily dig into a cheese ball. Simple is great. On the other hand, it’s … simple. Occasionally, I want to put on a show and impress people. Luckily, beautiful appetizers don’t have to be expensive or take long. Here are a few that’ll take no time, have only a few ingredients, aren’t expensive, and will leave an impression.
Ingredients
1 bunch radishes
½ stick salted butter, room temperature (you can substitute vegan butter)
2 tablespoons fresh dill
1 teaspoon flaky salt (optional)
Trim the radishes so only a tiny bit of green stem shows. Trim off the root, just below where the radish becomes a point. Wash the radishes really well, allow them to dry, and then cut radishes in half the long way, through the green stem and radish point.
Place the butter in a mason jar or container with the dill. Using a stick blender, combine the two until the dill is completely incorporated. You’ll have a pale green whipped butter.
Use a butter knife to place a swipe of butter on each radish.
Sprinkle on additional dill or flaky salt if you’d like.
Ingredients
½ baguette, or one package of prepared crostini
24 ounces of marinated artichoke hearts in oil
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
Drain the artichoke hearts and set aside.
Slice the baguette into slices, no more than ½ inch thick. Rub each slice with the garlic clove and place into oven, on a cookie sheet, at 350 degrees for 4-5 minutes, or just until the bread is lightly golden.
Blend half of the artichoke hearts, cheese and the rest of the garlic clove, using a stick blender, food processor, or regular blender. You want a consistent, well-blended texture.
Spoon a tablespoon of the blended mixture onto each crostini, and spread out. From the remaining half, place one artichoke heart on top of each crostini. If they’re particularly large, slice them in half.
Season with salt and pepper.
Ingredients
12 precooked shrimp, medium to large
¼ pound very rare deli roast beef, medium thickness
1 English cucumber, or 2 small-circumference long cucumbers
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh dill or chives to garnish (optional)
Slice the cucumber into long rounds, cutting diagonally, ¼-½ inch thick. Lay out the cucumber rounds on your serving dish. You should aim for 24 rounds, total.
In a bowl, mix the sour cream and mayonnaise together, combining well. Spoon a small dab of the mixture onto each cucumber round with a spoon.
Rinse and dry the precooked shrimp by setting them on a dry paper towel. Once dry, season them each with salt and pepper, lightly.
Place one shrimp atop 12 of the cucumber rounds. On the remaining 12 rounds, place half of a folded piece of roast beef.
You can garnish each with a chive or two, or a sprig of dill.
These appetizers can satisfy every possible kind of guest—and all are finger food, requiring nothing more than a napkin.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Patch #5 is bringing more reasons than ever to go back to Larian Studios’ excellent RPG with new modes and, more importantly, a new epilogue that takes place six months after the main game.
Source: Kotaku – Baldur’s Gate 3’s New Patch Is The Best Reason Yet To Play More
Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks awesome, right? The much anticipated action role-playing game about dragons and pawns came out swinging with a hefty new gameplay showcase on November 28, showing off the impressive character creator and some spectacular combat and officially revealing a March 24, 2024 release date. One thing…
Source: Kotaku – Dragon’s Dogma 2 Joins A Divisive Gaming Trend
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)
Despite the fact that most of us generally drive short distances when we get in our cars, the time it takes to fast-charge an electric vehicle remains of paramount importance to potential EV buyers. It’s hard to blame them—for more than a century, motorists have come to expect short refueling stops, and until someone actually lives with an EV for a while, it can be hard to make that paradigm shift. And of course, not everyone has the ability to slow-charge an EV at home or at work, your author included.
So with that in mind, the consumer advice publication Edmunds decided to test a whole bunch of EVs to find out which one adds the most miles of range in the fewest minutes possible.
Working with the automotive consultancy P3, Edmunds tested 43 different EVs, running down their batteries on its EV range-testing route to calculate the car’s efficiency, then fast-charged them from 10 to 80 percent, measuring peak and average charging power and calculating charging losses in the process. Edmunds says it did this because automakers are inconsistent in advertising fast-charging times—some list charge times from 10 to 80 percent, while others simply say their cars can add 100 miles (160 km) of range in a given time.
Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Hyundai Ioniq 6 tops list of fastest-charging EVs; Chevy Bolt ranks last
If you’ve long dreamed of watching a very small number of vehicles roll off an assembly line, today’s your chance. Tesla is holding a livestream event to highlight deliveries of its long-awaited Cybertruck. The company has only managed to manufacture ten of them so far, despite a 2019 reveal, so that’s what we’ll be watching.
You can catch the Texas-based livestream on X, of course, but the event is also available via Tesla’s website. It all goes down at 3PM EST. Being as how there will only be ten trucks to show off, the livestream should also go over pertinent details regarding battery range, towing capacity, up-to-date pricing and, of course, general availability. Tesla plans on ramping up production in 2024 for the cute lil dystopian wonder cars.
It’s easy to make jokes at the automaker’s expense, given the recent history of its CEO, but this is something of a big deal. It’s Tesla’s first truck, despite looking nothing like a classic pickup. The aesthetics are absolutely wild, with it resembling something out of a 1970s sci-fi flick instead of something you’d spot at a tailgate party. As for performance, it remains to be seen if the Cybertruck can compete with rival vehicles in the off-road market.
Tesla’s Cybertruck has been plagued with issues from inception. During its 2019 product debut, Elon Musk crowed about the unbreakable glass window and invited a customer to try to break it by hurling a bowling ball. Well, it shattered, leading to a muttered curse from the embattled CEO. Despite that embarrassment, the company still says the vehicle boasts a “nearly impenetrable” exoskeleton that resists dents, damage and long-term corrosion. We shall see. There have been multiple delays and a redesign back in 2020.
There’s also the matter of price. When it was first revealed, the Cybertruck was set to cost around $40,000. However, the company’s been fairly silent on the subject since then and a lot has changed since 2019. You can reserve a vehicle right now from Tesla by plopping down $100, but who knows when actual shipments will start. Despite that, Musk recently told investors that it has accrued more than one million reservations. Those folks will be waiting a while, as even generous estimates allow for Tesla to manufacture around 200,000 Cybertrucks each year.
The real question. Will Joe Rogan be one of the ten lucky golden ticket holders? We just might find out at 3PM EST.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-will-deliver-the-first-cybertrucks-today-at-3pm-et-160932259.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Tesla will deliver the first Cybertrucks today at 3PM ET
Google will start to sweep away cobweb-collecting Gmail accounts this week. If you have an email address you haven’t touched in a couple of years, it might soon be gone. From a report: The tech giant on Friday will start deleting personal Google accounts that have remained inactive for at least two years — and going forward, it will continue killing accounts that reach two years of disuse. Once deleted, the accounts and any items in them can’t be recovered. This could mean the end of personal emails, cherished documents and candid photos and videos tucked away in old Gmail accounts, Google Drives and other nooks in Google’s servers.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Your Unused Gmail Account May Be Permanently Deleted Friday
Apple has announced the winners of its 2023 App Store Awards, with the winner of the iPhone App of the Year telling its competition to take a hike (somewhat literally). The 14 App Store Award winners were chosen from nearly 40 finalists that all delivered what Apple called “exceptional technical innovation, user experience, and design.”
The
Source: Hot Hardware – Apple’s iPhone App Of The Year Winner Tells The Competition To Take A Hike
In a nice little end-of-the-year twist, one of the more surprising hits of 2023 just stealth-dropped onto Game Pass—and there are some other great games still coming to the Netflix subscription service in the weeks ahead. Soulslike shooter Remnant II is now on the service alongside the first game and just in time for…
Source: Kotaku – Game Pass Ends 2023 With Soulslike Shooter Remnant II And Tons More Games
The holiday travel season is in full swing and more people are hitting the roads than ever, so if you haven’t already reserved your own rental car, it’s time to do so.
We’ve written before about why you should book your rental car early to lock in your rate, because you can (usually) cancel and rebook with no penalty if prices drop. But regardless of when you reserve and how rates fluctuate, there are a number of strategies for saving money on both base rates and fees (such as upcharges for young or additional drivers) when you book so you don’t wind up blowing your whole travel budget on your rental car.
You should obviously compare prices across rental companies to get the cheapest option, especially if you aren’t a member of any loyalty programs, and include rental car alternatives like Turo and Getaround. AutoSlash tracks rental car rates—for free—so you can set up an alert for your reservation.
But go one step further than just comparing companies. your rental company has multiple locations in your area—both in-town and at the airport, for example—check for price differences if you pick up and drop off at one versus another. Downtown pickup is cheaper on average than airport locations, according to NerdWallet. However, you should also factor in convenience (taking a rideshare to a location further away could offset any savings) and business hours, as well as available inventory and one-way fees if you pick up at one location and drop off at another.
AAA is perhaps the best-known auto club to offer car rental discounts, but there are a handful of membership programs with similar perks:
AARP: up to 30% off base rates
BJ’s: up to 30% off base rates
Costco: up to 30% off base fares
USAA: up to 25% off
Sam’s Club: up to 25% off
Each of the above contracts with certain rental car companies to offer discounts to their members, so if you prefer a specific provider, you should check the specifics before joining. Note that other than USAA (which offers membership only to military service members and their families), these clubs have fees to join that range from $12 to $110, and you may have to book your rental through the club’s portal to take advantage of your discount.
But if you use this perk (and others) often, the money you save could quickly offset the price of admission.
As The Points Guy lays out, there are a handful of travel credit cards—the Chase Sapphire Reserve, The Platinum Card from American Express, and the United Club Infinite Card, for example—that have solid rental car benefits, such as discounts, waived fees, free upgrades, and priority service.
Another potential perk of using a travel credit card to book your rental is that insurance coverage such as damage waivers may be included, so you don’t have to purchase costly coverage from the rental company or file a claim with your personal insurance in the event of a collision. (Obviously, you should check what’s covered with your card before declining any additional insurance options.)
Hotel and airline loyalty program members may be able to score rental car discounts with partner companies and earn bonus points or miles on the booking. For example, Alaska Air offers 35% off Avis and Budget rentals and up to 1,250 miles for its Mileage Plan customers who use their membership number when booking, while Marriott has a partnership with Hertz to offer discounts to Bonvoy members.
If you use rental cars frequently and/or have a preference for a certain provider, you may want to consider joining their rewards program, which can earn you points that can be redeemed for rate discounts and upgrades.
Ask your employer about a corporate code for rental car discounts (just be sure you understand any restrictions, such as using it for personal vs. business travel). Similarly, some universities have partnerships with rental companies to offer discounts and perks to students and alumni. Union members may also have access to car rental benefits through UnionPlus.
Note that you may have to show proof of employment, enrollment, or membership to qualify for your discount.
Source: LifeHacker – These Are The Best Ways to Save Money When Renting a Car
