Author Archives: Mariella Moon

Acer refreshes its Swift and Aspire laptops with Intel Core Ultra and dedicated Copilot keys

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Acer has debuted its latest laptops for its Aspire and Swift line of products at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. While the new devices each have their own features to offer, most of them have a couple of things in common: They're powered by Intel's new Core Ultra processors, the company's first chips with neural processing units that can accelerate AI tasks, and they come with dedicated keys that can summon Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant.

One of the models now powered by Intel Core Ultra 7 processors is the Acer Aspire Vero, which is partly made from recycled materials, such as ocean-bound plastic for its 16-inch 2,560 x 1,600 screen. It can last for up to 10.5 hours on a single charge, has Wi-Fi 7 compatibility and has two USB-C ports. The laptop ships with Windows 11 that comes integrated with Copilot, which can be quickly accessed with the device's dedicated key. The model will be available in North America in April with prices starting at $750, and in Europe by March for at least €1,199. 

The new Acer Aspire Go 15 and Aspire Go 14, on the other hand, now come with Intel Core i3 N-Series processors, though the latter can be equipped with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series chips instead. They both have the new dedicated Copilot keys and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, though the smaller model has a WUXGA display, while the bigger one has an FHD screen. The 15-inch and the 14-inch laptops are coming out in February with prices starting at $250. 

Acer has also announced its updated Swift laptop line, starting with the new Swift Go 16 and Swift Go 14 models powered by Intel Core Ultra processors and Intel Arc built-in GPUs. Acer calls them "AI PCs" with dedicated Copilot keys and AI-boosted video conferencing features, such as background blur and automatic framing. The 16-inch model has a 3.2K OLED display, while the 14-inch Swift Go has a 2.8K OLED screen. They can both be opened up to 180 degrees and can support LPDDR5X memory up to 32GB in size and SSDs up to 2TB. The models are coming out in the North America in March and will set buyers back $750 and up. 

Finally, the Acer Swift X 14 now comes with Intel Core Ultra H-Series processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, a 2.8K OLED display and, of course, a dedicated Copilot key. The model was designed for heavy tasks, including 3D rendering, video editing and high-quality live streaming. Similar to the Swift Go laptops, it has AI-augmented video conferencing features and supports memory up to 32GB in size, but users will have to make do with 1TB SSDs. It will be available starting in February for at least $1,400. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acer-refreshes-its-swift-and-aspire-laptops-with-intel-core-ultra-and-dedicated-copilot-keys-170029734.html?src=rss

More non-fiction authors are suing OpenAI and Microsoft

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In November, a group of non-fiction authors filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI and Microsoft of using other people's intellectual property without permission to train the former's generative AI technology. Now, more non-fiction writers are suing the companies for using their work to train OpenAI's GPT large language models (LLM). Journalists Nicholas A. Basbanes and Nicholas Gage are accusing the defendants of "massive and deliberate theft of copyrighted works" by writers like them in a proposed class action lawsuit. 

Professional writers "have limited capital to fund their research" and "typically self-fund their projects," they said in their complaint. Meanwhile, the defendants have "ready access to billions in capital" and "simply stole" the plaintiffs' "copyrighted works to build another billion+ dollar commercial industry," they allege. Using copyrighted works is a "deliberate strategy" by the companies, the complaint reads, and not paying writers give the defendants "an even higher profit margin." The plaintiffs added that the companies could've explored alternative financing options, such as profit sharing, but have "decided to steal" instead. 

Basbanes and Gage are seeking "to represent a class of writers whose copyrighted work has been systematically pilfered" by the defendants. They're seeking up to $150,000 per infringed work in damages, as well as a permanent injunction "to prevent these harms from recurring." Basbanes is a "renowned authority on the history of books and book culture." Gage, according to the CNBC, had previously worked for the Times and The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI is contending with a growing list of lawsuits filed by creatives accusing it of using their work without permission to train its LLMs, including one by fiction authors George R.R. Martin, John Grisham and Jodi Picoult. In late December 2023, The New York Times sued the company and its biggest backer, Microsoft, for using the newspaper's articles for AI training. An OpenAI representative told us at the time that both parties were engaged in "productive conversations" and that the lawsuit was unexpected.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/more-non-fiction-authors-are-suing-openai-and-microsoft-103046599.html?src=rss

SpaceX sues NLRB in an attempt to interrupt unfair labor case

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing eight employees who wrote an open letter criticizing Elon Musk's behavior on social media, as well as the company's response to it. Now, according to Bloomberg, SpaceX is trying to stall the complaint's progress by suing the labor board. The company reportedly argues in its lawsuit that the complaint should be dismissed because the NLRB's structure is "unconstitutional." 

SpaceX's lawsuit attacks the way the labor board conducts its hearings. The NLRB uses its own administrative judges for its proceedings, and the company says that deprives it of its "constitutional right to trial by jury." Companies can appeal rulings by agency judges to NLRB members in Washington, and they could even go as far as to escalate their appeal to federal court. SpaceX apparently told the court that the case against it should be put on hold to prevent the company from having to go through "protracted administrative proceedings before an unconstitutionally structured agency."

The open letter at the center of this case called Musk's behavior on social media "a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment." It called out the executive's "harmful Twitter behavior," including a tweet wherein he made a joke about the sexual misconduct allegation made against him. The letter asked the company to hold all leadership accountable for their actions and to condemn harmful behavior. SpaceX fired a total of nine employees over the letter, the NLRB's complaint said, which means they were illegally fired for "engaging in protected concerted activity at work."

In its lawsuit, SpaceX said the open letter "caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees around the country" and that it fired the employees involved "for violating numerous company policies." As Reuters notes, the private space corporation used a similar tactic in the past to block the US Department of Justice from pursuing an administrative case that accused the company of discriminatory hiring practices. SpaceX also filed a lawsuit protesting the fact that the Justice Department's administrative judges have powers reserved for President-appointed officials even though they were only appointed by the US attorney general. The company successfully convinced the judge to pause the administrative case against it while its own lawsuit was ongoing. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacex-sues-nlrb-in-an-attempt-to-interrupt-unfair-labor-case-115553497.html?src=rss

Google has started disabling third-party cookies for Chrome users

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Google has just disabled third-party cookies for one percent of Chrome users, years after it first introduced its Privacy Sandbox project. The company announced late last year that it will kick things off by disabling cookies for a random one percent of Chrome users globally on January 4. Chrome owns more than half of the worldwide browser market share, and according to Gizmodo, that means Google has killed cookies for 30 million users. 

People included in this rollout will see a notification when they launch their browser telling them they're one of the first to experience Tracking Protection. It also explains that Tracking Protection limits sites from using third-party cookies to track them as they browse. Since this rollout is bound to break a few websites that have yet to adapt to a change that will affect most people who go on the internet, Google will allow users to temporary re-enable third-party cookies. They can do so by clicking on the eye icon that's now on their browser bar to toggle off the new feature. 

Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative, just like its name implies, was designed to be an alternative to cookies that will allow advertisers to serve users ads while also protecting their privacy. It assigns users to groups according to their interests, based on their recent browsing activities, and advertisers can use that information to match them with relevant ads. The system is supposed to be less invasive than cookies — all data and processing take place on the device itself, and Google says it will store user interests for three weeks. The project has caught the attention of regulators over concerns that it will make the company even more powerful than it already is. But if all goes well, Google will continue rolling out Tracking Protection over the next few months until it has disabled third-party cookies for all Chrome users by mid-2024. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-has-started-disabling-third-party-cookies-for-chrome-users-060955481.html?src=rss

Clicks wants to make physical iPhone keyboard cases a thing again

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A UK-based company called Clicks is introducing a new iPhone accessory at CES 2024 in Las Vegas that you might like if you loved BlackBerry phones. It's a case and a full physical keyboard in one that you can attach to the iPhone if you want a more tactile typing experience, which kinda brings back memories of Ryan Seacrest's Typo Keyboard from a decade ago. The company's creator keyboard sits at the bottom of the case and doesn't cover any part of the screen or any part of the device at all other than its back and edges. Instead, it extends the phone's length, giving you full view of whatever is on the display even while you're typing. 

That keyboard connects to the iPhone through its Lighting or USB-C port, depending on what model you have, and allows you to charge your phone as usual. It doesn't have a Bluetooth connection, but that also means it's not powered by a battery you'll need to charge. You can switch on its backlight if you want to use it at night or in the dark, and you can use a bunch of keyboard shortcuts if you want to navigate your device without using the touchscreen. To scroll down web pages, for instance, you can press the space bar. That said, its keys do look terribly small, and you may find yourself having a difficult time typing if you have larger hands and fingers. 

Clicks is founded by content creators Michael Fisher (MrMobile) and Kevin Michaluk (CrackBerry Kevin), who said that the iPhone keyboard was designed by "a dream team of tech industry veterans." Michaluk added: "We labored over every decision from exactly how the buttons should feel to the keyboard layout, ensuring it would be intuitive for iPhone users." You can order the Clicks creator keyboard from the company's website right now for $139, but shipping won't begin until February 1. 

Hands typing on a phone keyboard
Clicks

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/clicks-wants-to-make-physical-iphone-keyboard-cases-a-thing-again-180001724.html?src=rss

NLRB accuses SpaceX of illegally firing workers for criticizing Elon Musk

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against SpaceX, accusing it of unlawfully firing eight employees involved in writing a letter that called Elon Musk's behavior on social media "a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment." According to the filing, the company committed an unfair labor practice when it fired the workers for "engaging in protected concerted activity at work." It also accused SpaceX of interrogating at least one employee about the letter, as well as about the identities of their colleagues and the nature of their "concerted protected activity."

In addition, the complaint said SpaceX created an "impression of surveillance" by showing an employee screenshots of a Signal group chat several employees were a part of. The open letter at the center of this case was calling out Musk's "harmful Twitter behavior" before he acquired the website now known as X. In particular, the employees raised concerns about the crude jokes he made on X about the sexual misconduct accusations against him, which SpaceX settled for $250,000. The letter asked the company to hold leadership accountable for their actions and to condemn harmful behavior.

The employees involved in writing the letter circulated it within the company in mid-2022. According to The New York Times, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell reprimanded them within a few hours of sending it out and told them to "stop flooding employee communication channels immediately." Five employees were reportedly fired the next day, and four others were fired over July and August. Only one of them didn't take part in filing the unfair labor practice complaint. "At SpaceX the rockets may be reusable, but the people who build them are treated as expendable," Paige Holland-Thielen, one of the fired employees, told The Times. "I am hopeful these charges will hold SpaceX and its leadership accountable for their long history of mistreating workers and stifling discourse."

The case is slated to go before an administrative judge on March 5, though the company could settle before it takes place. If the NLRB decides that the company has violated labor laws, it can order SpaceX to reinstate workers and to give them appropriate backpay. SpaceX could appeal the decision to the board and then to a federal court, though, so it could be a long journey for the employees involved. 

Musk has been at odds with the NLRB for years through his other companies. The board previously accused X of illegally firing an employee who pushed back against his return-to-office policy. Meanwhile, Tesla has dealt with several NLRB complaints, including one accusing the automaker of illegally terminating employees in retaliation for union activity.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nlrb-accuses-spacex-of-illegally-firing-workers-for-criticizing-elon-musk-075244828.html?src=rss

Pornhub blocks Montana and North Carolina as their age verification laws take effect

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In the US, Montana and North Carolina have been leading the list of states with the highest number of searches for "VPN" over the past few days. That's most likely because their new age verification laws have gone into effect on January 1, and adult websites are now either requiring a copy of visitors' government IDs or have blocked access in the regions altogether. As 404Media reports, Pornhub has chosen to block people in both states from accessing its website instead of asking for verification. The other websites owned by its parent company Aylo (formerly MindGeek), including Brazzers, Redtube and YouPorn, are also no longer accessible. 

If anybody in Montana and North Carolina tries to access an Aylo website, they'll see a video message from performer Cherie DeVille, explaining that giving a copy of their ID to adult platforms puts their children and their privacy at risk. "We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification," DeVille added. 

That's the same video message users from other states with similar age verification laws see when they visit Pornhub. Montana and North Carolina are but the latest states to require adult platforms to verify visitors' ages: Louisiana started the trend in early 2023, and since then, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, Virginia and Texas have passed their own versions. In North Carolina's case, the rule was approved as part of legislation that requires high school students to take computer science classes. 

Other adult websites not owned by Aylo are using third-party providers to authenticate users' ages in lieu of blocking whole regions altogether. Pornhub uses Louisiana's digital driver's license wallet app to verify local users' identities, but not all states have ID apps that work with its system. The website told us that its traffic in Louisiana dropped by 80 percent when the state started enforcing its age verification law. That makes this new development another potential blow to Aylo after it was slapped with a $1.8 million fine in December for hosting and profiting from pornographic content that featured sex trafficking victims.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pornhub-blocks-montana-and-north-carolina-as-their-age-verification-laws-take-effect-033830719.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot app arrives on iOS

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A few days ago, Microsoft released a standalone Android app for Microsoft Copilot, giving you a quick way to access the AI assistant. Turns out the iOS and iPad versions weren't far behind, because they're now available from Apple's App Store. Just like in Copilot on desktop and other AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, you can type in your question and wait for responses generated by artificial intelligence. In Copilot's case, you'll get responses spun by OpenAI's GPT-4, the company's latest large language model. The free version of ChatGPT, in comparison, is powered by the older ChatGPT-3.5, and you'll need to pay for ChatGPT Plus to get access to the newer model. 

In addition, Copilot on iOS has the capability to turn your words into images. That particular feature is powered by OpenAI's DALL-E 3 text-to-image AI system, which the company previously said is "significantly better" at being able to grasp the final product you want to achieve with the text prompt you type in. DALL-E 3 was also designed to be better at rendering the elements its predecessors were having trouble with, such as human hands. 

This is but the latest Copilot product Microsoft has released since it rebranded Bing Chat. The company also brought Copilot to Windows 10 and then to Windows 11, giving around a billion devices — based on the platforms' user numbers — access to the AI chatbot. With these mobile rollouts, Microsoft is expanding Copilot's reach even more, especially since the apps are free to use. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-copilot-ai-chatbot-app-arrives-on-ios-112559129.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot app arrives on iOS

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A few days ago, Microsoft released a standalone Android app for Microsoft Copilot, giving you a quick way to access the AI assistant. Turns out the iOS and iPad versions weren't far behind, because they're now available from Apple's App Store. Just like in Copilot on desktop and other AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, you can type in your question and wait for responses generated by artificial intelligence. In Copilot's case, you'll get responses spun by OpenAI's GPT-4, the company's latest large language model. The free version of ChatGPT, in comparison, is powered by the older ChatGPT-3.5, and you'll need to pay for ChatGPT Plus to get access to the newer model. 

In addition, Copilot on iOS has the capability to turn your words into images. That particular feature is powered by OpenAI's DALL-E 3 text-to-image AI system, which the company previously said is "significantly better" at being able to grasp the final product you want to achieve with the text prompt you type in. DALL-E 3 was also designed to be better at rendering the elements its predecessors were having trouble with, such as human hands. 

This is but the latest Copilot product Microsoft has released since it rebranded Bing Chat. The company also brought Copilot to Windows 10 and then to Windows 11, giving around a billion devices — based on the platforms' user numbers — access to the AI chatbot. With these mobile rollouts, Microsoft is expanding Copilot's reach even more, especially since the apps are free to use. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-copilot-ai-chatbot-app-arrives-on-ios-112559129.html?src=rss

Google agrees to settle $5 billion lawsuit accusing it of tracking Incognito users

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In 2020, Google was hit with a lawsuit that accused it of tracking Chrome users' activities even when they were using Incognito mode. Now, after a failed attempt to get it dismissed, the company has agreed to settle the complaint that originally sought $5 billion in damages. According to Reuters and The Washington Post, neither side has made the details of the settlement public, but they've already agreed to the terms that they're presenting to the court for approval in February. 

When the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit, they said Google used tools like its Analytics product, apps and browser plug-ins to monitor users. They reasoned that by tracking someone on Incognito, the company was falsely making people believe that they could control the information that they were willing to share with it. At the time, a Google spokesperson said that while Incognito mode doesn't save a user's activity on their device, websites could still collect their information during the session. 

The lawsuit's plaintiffs presented internal emails that allegedly showed conversations between Google execs proving that the company monitored Incognito browser usage to sell ads and track web traffic. Their complaint accused Google of violating federal wire-tapping and California privacy laws and was asking up to $5,000 per affected user. They claimed that millions of people who'd been using Incognito since 2016 had likely been affected, which explains the massive damages they were seeking from the company. Google has likely agreed to settle for an amount lower than $5 billion, but it has yet to reveal details about the agreement and has yet to get back to Engadget with an official statement. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-agrees-to-settle-5-billion-lawsuit-accusing-it-of-tracking-incognito-users-042435935.html?src=rss