Tag Archives: author_name|Mariella Moon

Apple’s M4 iMac is already on sale in an early Black Friday deal

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If you weren't able to buy Apple's latest iMac in time to get it on its release day on November 8, here's your chance to get a discount on the all-in-one computer. The company is already selling it for $85 off at Amazon before the Black Friday frenzy even begins. Apple's refreshed computer has a list price of $1,299, but you can now get its silver version for just $1,214. Meanwhile, the blue and the green versions will set you back $1,249. Nothing huge, but it's always nice to get a brand new device for almost $100 off its original price. 

The 2024 iMac model is powered by the company's M4 chip, its latest silicon that enables the computer to run up to 1.7 times faster for daily tasks and up to 2.1 faster for more demanding activities, such as gaming, than the M1-powered model. It has 16GB of RAM, compared to its predecessor's 8GB, and you can choose to upgrade it to 24GB or 32GB. When it comes to storage, you have quite a few options. You can get the base model with a 256GB SSD or any of the upgraded ones with 512GB, 1TB and 2TB storage. It's the base unit that's currently on sale, with 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. 

The computer has an aluminum unibody design with a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display and a 12MP Center Stage camera. You'll also have access to two Thunderbolt USB-C ports on the base model, and you'll get a Magic Keyboard with Lock Key, as well as a Magic Mouse, with the iMac itself. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-m4-imac-is-already-on-sale-in-an-early-black-friday-deal-110029171.html?src=rss

Apple’s M4 iMac is already on sale in an early Black Friday deal

Posted on by

If you weren't able to buy Apple's latest iMac in time to get it on its release day on November 8, here's your chance to get a discount on the all-in-one computer. The company is already selling it for $85 off at Amazon before the Black Friday frenzy even begins. Apple's refreshed computer has a list price of $1,299, but you can now get its silver version for just $1,214. Meanwhile, the blue and the green versions will set you back $1,249. Nothing huge, but it's always nice to get a brand new device for almost $100 off its original price. 

The 2024 iMac model is powered by the company's M4 chip, its latest silicon that enables the computer to run up to 1.7 times faster for daily tasks and up to 2.1 faster for more demanding activities, such as gaming, than the M1-powered model. It has 16GB of RAM, compared to its predecessor's 8GB, and you can choose to upgrade it to 24GB or 32GB. When it comes to storage, you have quite a few options. You can get the base model with a 256GB SSD or any of the upgraded ones with 512GB, 1TB and 2TB storage. It's the base unit that's currently on sale, with 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. 

The computer has an aluminum unibody design with a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display and a 12MP Center Stage camera. You'll also have access to two Thunderbolt USB-C ports on the base model, and you'll get a Magic Keyboard with Lock Key, as well as a Magic Mouse, with the iMac itself. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-m4-imac-is-already-on-sale-in-an-early-black-friday-deal-110029171.html?src=rss

TSMC will reportedly stop making advanced AI chips for Chinese companies

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has suspended the production of advanced AI chips for Chinese companies, according to the Financial Times. The Taiwanese semiconductor chip manufacturer has reportedly notified its clients from China that it will stop producing AI chips for them, particularly models 7 nanometers and smaller, starting this Monday. If a Chinese company orders products that fall within that category, they'll have to go through an approval process that'll likely involve the US government. 

The manufacturer's new policy could be a direct result of its discovery that Huawei had used its chips in AI accelerators without its knowledge. A Canadian research firm called TechInsights was the one that notified the company that it discovered the presence of TSMC-manufactured products in Huawei's hardware. It was a violation of the trade sanctions the US Commerce Department had imposed against Huawei way back in 2020 that prevented it from acquiring chips made by foreign firms. More recently, it revoked its licenses that allowed Intel and Qualcomm to manufacture chips for its devices.

TSMC reported TechInsights' findings to the US Commerce Department, which is now investigating how it had happened. The company denied any working relationship with Huawei and also stopped selling its chips to the client it believes had been illegally forwarding them to the Chinese brand. The Times' sources said that TSMC made the decision to suspend the production of AI chips for Chinese clients altogether, because it wants to show the US government that it's "not acting against US interests." Its new policy could have a big impact on the AI efforts of its Chinese clients. Baidu, for instance, had plans to build hardware for its AI business powered by a series of chips made by TSMC.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/tsmc-will-reportedly-stop-making-advanced-ai-chips-for-chinese-companies-143029506.html?src=rss

TSMC will reportedly stop making advanced AI chips for Chinese companies

Posted on by

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has suspended the production of advanced AI chips for Chinese companies, according to the Financial Times. The Taiwanese semiconductor chip manufacturer has reportedly notified its clients from China that it will stop producing AI chips for them, particularly models 7 nanometers and smaller, starting this Monday. If a Chinese company orders products that fall within that category, they'll have to go through an approval process that'll likely involve the US government. 

The manufacturer's new policy could be a direct result of its discovery that Huawei had used its chips in AI accelerators without its knowledge. A Canadian research firm called TechInsights was the one that notified the company that it discovered the presence of TSMC-manufactured products in Huawei's hardware. It was a violation of the trade sanctions the US Commerce Department had imposed against Huawei way back in 2020 that prevented it from acquiring chips made by foreign firms. More recently, it revoked its licenses that allowed Intel and Qualcomm to manufacture chips for its devices.

TSMC reported TechInsights' findings to the US Commerce Department, which is now investigating how it had happened. The company denied any working relationship with Huawei and also stopped selling its chips to the client it believes had been illegally forwarding them to the Chinese brand. The Times' sources said that TSMC made the decision to suspend the production of AI chips for Chinese clients altogether, because it wants to show the US government that it's "not acting against US interests." Its new policy could have a big impact on the AI efforts of its Chinese clients. Baidu, for instance, had plans to build hardware for its AI business powered by a series of chips made by TSMC.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/tsmc-will-reportedly-stop-making-advanced-ai-chips-for-chinese-companies-143029506.html?src=rss

OpenAI wins first round against Raw Story and AlterNet copyright case

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OpenAI is facing multiple lawsuits over its use of several publications' and books' content to train its large language models without explicit permission or proper compensation. A judge has just dismissed one of them. New York federal judge Colleen McMahon has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Raw Story and AlterNet, which accused the company of using their materials for AI training without consent. As VentureBeat notes, though, their complaint didn't argue that OpenAI infringed on their copyright like other publications' lawsuits do. Instead, it focused on the DMCA provision that protects "copyright management information."

The publications argued that OpenAI removed the author names, titles and other metadata identifying their copyright from the articles it used to train its LLMs. McMahon explained that the plaintiffs failed to show that they suffered "a cognizable injury" from those actions and that the harm they had cited was "not the type of harm that has been elevated" to warrant a lawsuit. The judge also said that "the likelihood that ChatGPT would output plagiarized content from one of [their] articles seems remote." She added that the plaintiffs are truly seeking redress for the use of their articles "to develop ChatGPT without compensation" and not for the removal of their copyright management information. 

Raw Story and AlterNet don't intend to back down, based on what their lawyer told Reuters. Matt Topic, their attorney, said they're "certain [they] can address the concerns the court identified through an amended complaint."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-wins-first-round-against-raw-story-and-alternet-copyright-case-130027681.html?src=rss

OpenAI wins first round against Raw Story and AlterNet copyright case

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OpenAI is facing multiple lawsuits over its use of several publications' and books' content to train its large language models without explicit permission or proper compensation. A judge has just dismissed one of them. New York federal judge Colleen McMahon has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Raw Story and AlterNet, which accused the company of using their materials for AI training without consent. As VentureBeat notes, though, their complaint didn't argue that OpenAI infringed on their copyright like other publications' lawsuits do. Instead, it focused on the DMCA provision that protects "copyright management information."

The publications argued that OpenAI removed the author names, titles and other metadata identifying their copyright from the articles it used to train its LLMs. McMahon explained that the plaintiffs failed to show that they suffered "a cognizable injury" from those actions and that the harm they had cited was "not the type of harm that has been elevated" to warrant a lawsuit. The judge also said that "the likelihood that ChatGPT would output plagiarized content from one of [their] articles seems remote." She added that the plaintiffs are truly seeking redress for the use of their articles "to develop ChatGPT without compensation" and not for the removal of their copyright management information. 

Raw Story and AlterNet don't intend to back down, based on what their lawyer told Reuters. Matt Topic, their attorney, said they're "certain [they] can address the concerns the court identified through an amended complaint."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-wins-first-round-against-raw-story-and-alternet-copyright-case-130027681.html?src=rss

No Man’s Sky gets cross-platform saves and PS5 Pro enhancements

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When No Man's Sky was launched in 2016, Hello Games made it available on the platforms available at the time, namely the PC, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Over time, it was also released for the PS5, the Xbox Series X and S consoles, the Nintendo Switch, the PS VR1 and 2, as well as other virtual reality devices for computers. Now, the developer is rolling out cross-saves and cross-plays to all those platforms so fans can pick up from where they left off even if they switch devices. 

Hello Games said adding the ability to transfer saves has been especially difficult for its team, since No Man's Sky players can spend thousands of hours exploring worlds and building elaborate bases. It likened cross-saves to moving houses — the "longer people have lived there the more complicated it is to move them," the developer explained. The company said it's been introducing the technology to the game little by little over the past six months to make it possible to launch the feature today. Players can link their accounts right now through the game's official cross-save page, but only a "subset of users" will see the option to select saves from multiple devices on the in-game save screen. The feature will be available to all players over the coming weeks. 

In addition to giving players the ability to play the same game across platforms, Hello Games is also rolling out the enhanced version of No Man's Sky for the PlayStation 5 Pro, which is coming out today. The console's AI-powered tech called the "PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution" upscales the game to 4K at 60 fps, though players can choose to explore worlds in 8K resolution at 30 fps instead. This enhanced version also comes with improved lighting, ultra quality reflections and higher quality ambient occlusion in all modes. All those features are making their way to the PS VR2 headset, as well. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/no-mans-sky-gets-cross-platform-saves-and-ps5-pro-enhancements-150011474.html?src=rss

No Man’s Sky gets cross-platform saves and PS5 Pro enhancements

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When No Man's Sky was launched in 2016, Hello Games made it available on the platforms available at the time, namely the PC, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Over time, it was also released for the PS5, the Xbox Series X and S consoles, the Nintendo Switch, the PS VR1 and 2, as well as other virtual reality devices for computers. Now, the developer is rolling out cross-saves and cross-plays to all those platforms so fans can pick up from where they left off even if they switch devices. 

Hello Games said adding the ability to transfer saves has been especially difficult for its team, since No Man's Sky players can spend thousands of hours exploring worlds and building elaborate bases. It likened cross-saves to moving houses — the "longer people have lived there the more complicated it is to move them," the developer explained. The company said it's been introducing the technology to the game little by little over the past six months to make it possible to launch the feature today. Players can link their accounts right now through the game's official cross-save page, but only a "subset of users" will see the option to select saves from multiple devices on the in-game save screen. The feature will be available to all players over the coming weeks. 

In addition to giving players the ability to play the same game across platforms, Hello Games is also rolling out the enhanced version of No Man's Sky for the PlayStation 5 Pro, which is coming out today. The console's AI-powered tech called the "PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution" upscales the game to 4K at 60 fps, though players can choose to explore worlds in 8K resolution at 30 fps instead. This enhanced version also comes with improved lighting, ultra quality reflections and higher quality ambient occlusion in all modes. All those features are making their way to the PS VR2 headset, as well. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/no-mans-sky-gets-cross-platform-saves-and-ps5-pro-enhancements-150011474.html?src=rss

Striking New York Times tech workers made their own versions of Wordle and Connections

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The New York Times Tech Guild asked the publication's readers not to play its games, including Wordle and Connections, in solidarity when it announced that it was going on strike on November 4. Now, the guild has released its own versions of the The Times' games so that readers can still play without crossing its digital picket line. Of course, the workers' versions won't be able to keep your Wordle streak running, but they're pretty much the same games you've been playing on the publication's website. 

The guild is made up of over 600 unionized tech workers that include software engineers, product managers, data analysts and designers — the people behind the publication's games, as well as The Times' Cooking app. In the guild's GoFundMe for the strike, it said it's been bargaining for its first contract over the past two years, but the The Times' management "dragged its feet" and even allegedly committed unfair labor practices by implementing return-to-office mandates without bargaining and trying to intimidate members who were going on strike. 

The guild explained that it's pushing for The Times to address racial disparities in its workers' pay and to ensure real job security. Apparently, the publication's management had fired someone days before a major brain surgery in the past and had used performance review plans as a pretense to fire employees. The guild is also accusing management of disproportionately targeting women and POCs with its "arbitrary disciplinary process."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/nyt-tech-workers-on-strike-made-their-own-versions-of-wordle-and-connections-130047922.html?src=rss

Call of Duty: Mobile passes 1 billion downloads

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Call of Duty: Mobile has been downloaded over one billion times around the world since it became available, Activision has announced along with the rest of the game's fifth anniversary offerings. The game was released back in 2019 for Android and iOS and reached 270 million downloads within its first year of availability. Despite the game's success, Microsoft told the UK's Competition and Markets Authority in a filing for its Activision Blizzard acquisition that "Call of Duty: Mobile is expected to be phased out over time" with the launch of Warzone Mobile. 

In response to fans' concerns after that information came out, Activision said that it plans to continue supporting the game and that it has a "robust roadmap" of new content and updates "for the long haul." It didn't directly address Microsoft's revelation, however, and it didn't say when the game will be phased out. Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile rolled out on March 21st.

The Season 10 — 5th Anniversary update for CoD: Mobile is going out today, November 6, at 5PM Pacific time/8PM Eastern time. It will include a new Battle Royale map for a location called Krai, which is described as a "dense urban landscape at the base of the Ural Mountain." Each character gets one respawn in the map, and they drop a scannable dog tag if they're eliminated a second time. Their squad will need to reach it and scan it before they can get back in. Players will also be able to buy new passes to get anniversary-related content, such as new operator skins, weapon blueprints and calling cards. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/call-of-duty-mobile-passes-1-billion-downloads-133012839.html?src=rss