Meta’s Threads app now has more than 150 million monthly users, an increase of about 20 million new users since February. Mark Zuckerberg shared the latest user numbers during Meta’’s first-quarter earnings call, saying that the app “continues to be on the trajectory that I hope to see.”
The update suggests Threads is continuing to grow steadily, though at a slower rate than its initial explosive growth. The app racked up more than 100 million downloads in its first week, but later saw a drop-off in engagement. But over the last six months, Threads has seen more consistent growth and Zuckerberg has speculated the service could eventually be Meta’s next billion-user app.
Notably, Threads seems to be out-performing X (formerly known as Twitter) by some metrics. Estimates from analytics firm Apptopia indicated Threads has more daily users in the United States than X, Business Insiderreported earlier this week. (X has claimed 550 million daily users globally.) Threads also scored another significant win recently when Taylor Swift joined the platform to promote her latest album.
Threads is, for now, unique among Meta’s apps in that it doesn’t have advertising so the company doesn’t make money from the app directly. That will likely change at some point provided Threads continues to expand its reach. Zuckerberg has previously said the company would “focus on monetization” only after the app has grown sufficiently.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-has-150-million-monthly-users-215853190.html?src=rss
JetBlue is revamping its in-flight entertainment system, complete with a new branding. It’s now called Blueprint and brings several features that should make your next flight just a teensy-bit less grueling. The biggest news here is a watch party feature that lets customers view the same TV show or film with up to five other people.
This is actually pretty cool, as watching stuff with friends and family during a long flight typically requires the finicky “push play at the exact same time and hope nobody has to go to the bathroom” method. The watch party feature includes functionality that pauses content for all viewers, should one have to take a break to deal with existential panic from being six miles above the ground. It also works no matter where the seats are.
Introducing Blueprint by JetBlue™, a personalized inflight experience, giving you new ways to use your seatback screen with watch parties, the ability to resume your content on your next flight, entertainment recommendations and real-time arrival details.💙 Available on select… pic.twitter.com/KCg5StLNNV
The watch party tool is just one aspect of the revamped in-flight entertainment experience. The system will now provide content recommendations based on previous viewing history, as it will be tied to individual accounts. This means that customers can save their favorite movies and shows for repeat viewings. It also means that people can pick up where they left off from one flight to the next. JetBlue says this can be useful for a connecting layover flight or even a trip months down the line.
JetBlue has a content partnership with Peacock, so customers have access to the streamer’s catalog during flights. Both Twisted Metal and Mrs. Davis are solid in-flight binges. The company also teased more “exclusive entertainment and offers” coming to Blueprint in the future.
As for availability, Blueprint is ready to go on JetBlue aircraft with AVANT seatback touchscreens. This includes the Airbus A321neo, Airbus A321LR (Long Range) and Airbus A220.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jetblues-in-flight-entertainment-system-just-got-a-watch-party-feature-185913233.html?src=rss
Several months after Meta brought WhatsApp passkey logins to Android, it’s doing the same on iOS. The company is rolling out the feature now, and it will be available to all users in the coming weeks.
Passkeys are seen as a more secure login method as (for one thing) it mitigates the risk of scammers convincing users to share their SMS passcode. Instead, you can log in by verifying a passkey using facial recognition, biometrics or a PIN stored on Apple’s passkey manager. Passkeys work by securely storing an authentication credential on your device that pairs with one saved by the service you want to log into.
To turn on passkeys for WhatsApp on iOS, go to the Account section of the app’s Settings, and then tap Passkeys. “Passkey verification will make logging back into WhatsApp easier and more secure. We’re excited to launch this on WhatsApp and give users an added layer of security,” Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s head of product, said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/whatsapp-is-enabling-passkey-support-on-ios-182527962.html?src=rss
Last fall, Qualcomm revealed a major upgrade for its laptop chips with the Snapdragon X Elite. And while we’re still waiting for those processors to make their way into retail devices, today Qualcomm is expanding the line with the Snapdragon X Plus, which I had a chance to test out ahead of its arrival on gadgets later this year.
Similar to the X Elite, the X Plus is based on the same 4nm process and Arm-based Oryon CPU architecture as its sibling. The difference is that the new chip is meant to be used in slightly more affordable mainstream laptops, and as such it only has 10 CPU cores (vs 12 for the X Elite) and reduced clock speeds (3.4Ghz vs 3.8Ghz for the X Elite). This positioning is a lot like what Qualcomm’s rivals have been doing for a while, with the X Elite serving as the flagship chip (like Intel’s Core Ultra 9 series) and the X Plus sitting just below that (which would be equivalent to the Core Ultra 7 line).
Qualcomm
However, one thing that hasn’t changed is that just like the X Elite, the X Plus’ Hexagon NPU puts out the same 45 TOPS of machine learning performance. This is particularly notable as Microsoft recently suggested that laptops would require at least 40 TOPS in order to run various elements of its Copilot AI service on-device. Qualcomm is also making some big claims regarding power efficiency, with the X Plus chip said to deliver 37 percent faster CPU performance compared to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H when both chips are running at the same wattage. And when put up against other Arm-based chips, Qualcomm says the X Plus is 10 percent faster than Apple’s M3 processor in multi-threaded CPU tasks.
Photo by Sam Rutherford
Unfortunately, the X Plus is not expected to show up in retail devices until sometime in the second half of 2024. That said, at a hands-on event, I was able to run a few benchmarks on some early Qualcomm-built reference devices. And to my pleasant surprise, the X Plus performed as expected with multi-core scores in Geekbench of 12,905 and multi-thread performance in Cinebench 2024 of 852. (Note: Because the processor has not been released yet, there’s an error in Cinebench that results in the chip’s GPU incorrectly being listed as from the X Elite instead of the X Plus.)
This is a promising showing for Qualcomm’s second and less expensive chip featuring its Oryon architecture. Though as always, the real test will come when the X Plus starts showing up in proper retail hardware. That’s because even if it boasts impressive benchmark figures, these processors will still need to play nicely with Windows, which has not had nearly as smooth a transition to Arm-based silicon as Apple’s macOS.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
But with renewed support for Windows on Snapdragon PCs and Qualcomm recently working with major players like Google to bring “dramatic performance improvements” in Chrome for devices running its laptop chips, things may be smoother this time.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/qualcomm-is-expanding-its-next-gen-laptop-chip-line-with-the-snapdragon-x-plus-130018288.html?src=rss
It used to be that you could pay for a retail version of Windows 11 and expect it to be ad-free, but those days are apparently finito. The latest update to Windows 11 (KB5036980) comes out this week and includes ads for apps in the "recommended" section of the Start Menu, one of the most oft-used parts of the OS.
"The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps," according to the release notes. "These apps come from a small set of curated developers."
The app suggestions are enabled by default, but you can restore your previously pristine Windows experience if you've installed the update, fortunately. To do so, go into Settings and select Personalization > Start and switch the "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions and more" toggle to "off."
The new "feature" arrives just weeks after it appeared as an Insider beta, showing how quickly Microsoft can implement things when it wants to. It certainly wasn't enough time to receive the kind of user feedback the Insider program is designed for.
The update is bound to rub customers the wrong way, considering that Windows 11 starts at $139 for the Home version. While removing it isn't a huge deal, it may also remind folks of the needless time they spent stripping bloatware from OEM Windows installations. Microsoft previously tested ads in the Windows 11 File Explorer, but ended the experiment shortly afterward.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/windows-11-now-comes-with-its-own-adware-124531977.html?src=rss
The Senate approved a measure that will require ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban, in a vote of 79 to 18. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act next goes to President Biden. The president has already said he’ll sign the bill into law. (Yes, as predicted, I'm writing about this again.)
TikTok has faced the ire of US politicians for a few years now, but this bill has picked up support across both political parties. It sailed through the House of Representatives before being approved (bundled with a package for foreign aid) by the Senate on Tuesday.
The bill states that TikTok would have up to 12 months to divest from its parent company ByteDance, or face a ban in US app stores and web hosting services. The company, naturally, has protested this push, calling the bill unconstitutional and vowing to mount a legal challenge if the bill is signed into law. If it does so, it could bounce around courts for years before any eventual ban, if the company declines to sell. A few years is a long time in social media. Ask Snap, or worse, Vine.
And who would buy TikTok? While many major tech companies might love to grab the social network’s engaged young audience, many politicians would balk at making a Big Tech company even bigger. Steve Mnuchin, who was Treasury secretary in the Trump administration, told CNBC he was putting together an investor group. What could go wrong?
It can supposedly respond similarly to models 10 times its size.
Microsoft has unveiled its latest light AI model, called the Phi-3 Mini, for smartphones and other local devices. The aim is to provide a cheaper alternative to cloud-powered large language models (LLMs), allowing smaller organizations to adopt AI, with presumably lower energy burdens and without heady processing costs. According to Microsoft, the new model handily outperforms its previous Phi-2 small model and is on par with larger models like Llama 2. In fact, the company says the Phi-3 Mini responds close to the level of a model 10 times its size. The trick is apparently in the data Microsoft used to train its tiny model.
The feature would be available in the Tesla app ‘in the future.’
Tesla teased ride-hailing features coming to its app ahead of an August robotaxi unveiling. The company released mock-ups of the upcoming feature, which showed the ability to “summon” a ride from the Tesla app. The company has been promising self-driving taxi services for years. Tesla didn’t offer many details, but it seems to have Uber-like functionality and the ability to remotely set the car’s temperature before arrival.
After a few months of testing, Meta is bringing multimodal AI to its smart glasses. Multimodal AI means the system can process multiple types of information, including photos, videos, text and audio. You might have seen feature showcases of AI-connected devices that can view what a device is looking at and offer extra information — that kind of thing. Meta also announced hands-free video call integration with WhatsApp and Messenger and a few more frame designs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-senate-passes-the-bill-that-could-ban-tiktok-111556543.html?src=rss
A bill that could ban TikTok is now all but certain to become law. The Senate approved a measure that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban, in a vote of 79 - 18. The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” will next head to President Joe Biden, who has said he would sign the bill into law.
While it’s far from the first effort to force a ban or divestment of the social media app, the bill managed to draw far more support than previous attempts. The bill was introduced in March and sailed through the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan agreement. A slightly revised version was approved as part of a package of foreign aid legislation on Saturday.
Under the updated terms, TikTok would have up to 12 months to divest from parent company ByteDance or face a ban in US app stores and web hosting services. The company has called the bill unconstitutional and indicated it would mount a legal challenge to such a law, which could further delay an eventual sale or ban.
The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
TikTok has long been viewed with suspicion by lawmakers and the intelligence community. Ahead of votes in the House and Senate, members of Congress were briefed by intelligence officials on the alleged national security threat posed by the app. The exact nature of those concerns is still unclear, though some members of Congress have asked for details from the briefings to be declassified.
At the same time, some lawmakers have expressed skepticism, saying that the alleged threat posed by TikTok is largely hypothetical. Free speech and digital rights groups also oppose the bill, noting that comprehensive privacy legislation would be a more effective way of protecting Americans’ personal data. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has made a similar argument, telling Congress last year that a forced sale wouldn’t resolve data concerns about the app.
But TikTok’s recent efforts to muster opposition to the bill may have backfired. Lawmakers rebuked the company for sending in-app notifications to users about the bill after the alerts resulted in a flood of calls to Congressional offices. And the app may have drawn even more suspicion when Politicoreported last week that Chinese diplomats were lobbying Congressional staffers to oppose the bill. Officials in China have condemned the measure. A Chinese law, passed in 2020, could prevent ByteDance from including TikTok’s recommendation algorithm in a sale of the app.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senate-passes-bill-that-could-ban-tiktok-014124533.html?src=rss
Roland has a new on-the-go podcasting setup with an eye-catching price. The company’s Go:Podcast studio includes a USB condenser mic (with support for four polar patterns) and a companion app that can stream to platforms like YouTube, Twitch and Facebook.
The company describes the Go:Podcast as “the simplest way to do high-quality live streaming with a mobile device.” For $140, you get the USB microphone and access to the companion app (iOS and Android), which supports live streaming, including dual-camera setups. The latter can work simultaneously with your smartphone’s front and back cameras, or you can pair a second “satellite” camera to complement your phone’s. It also supports wireless screen sharing for things like live-streaming mobile gameplay.
The microphone’s polar pattern options include cardioid (best for one person speaking), omni (multi-directional) and stereo (best for two people or musical performances). A fourth option lets you flip the stereo channels to match your video.
Roland
Somewhat confusingly, many of Roland’s product photos (like the one above) show a mini smartphone tripod and V-Moda headphones alongside the mic, but those accessories aren’t included. A Roland spokesperson clarified to Engadget that those were meant to illustrate an example of a complete mobile podcasting system with the mic and app at its center.
The Go:Podcast app includes perks like overlaying text and images, playing video clips and audio tracks, picture-in-picture and split screen. It has free-to-use background music tracks (which hopefully sound better than I imagine) along with stock photos and videos.
Roland’s $140 Go:Podcast studio will arrive in early May. You can learn more (and look out for more specific availability as its launch date approaches) at Roland’s website.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rolands-mobile-podcasting-studio-gives-you-a-mic-and-streaming-app-for-140-193359879.html?src=rss
What is multimodal AI? Simply put, it’s a toolset that allows an AI assistant to process multiple types of information, including photos, videos, text and audio. It’s an AI that can view and understand the world around you in real time. This is the underlying concept behind Humane’s maligned AI Pin. Meta’s version is more conservative with its promises and, honestly, we came away impressed during our initial hands-on.
Multimodal Meta AI is rolling out widely on Ray-Ban Meta starting today! It's a huge advancement for wearables & makes using AI more interactive & intuitive.
Excited to share more on our multimodal work w/ Meta AI (& Llama 3), stay tuned for more updates coming soon. pic.twitter.com/DLiCVriMfk
Here’s how it works. The glasses have a camera and five microphones, acting as the AI’s eyes and ears. With this in mind, you can ask the glasses to describe anything you are looking at. Do you want to know a dog’s breed before you go up and give it a good pet? Just ask the glasses. Meta says it can also read signs in different languages, which is great for traveling. We enjoyed exclaiming “Hey Meta, look at this and tell me what it says” and listening as it did just that. There’s even a landmark identification feature, though that wasn’t available to test.
There are some other potential use case scenarios, like staring at loose ingredients on a kitchen counter and asking the AI to whip up a relevant recipe. However, we need a few weeks of real people running the tech through its paces to gauge what it's actually good at. Real-time translation is going to be something of a killer app, particularly for tourists, but here's hoping it keeps the hallucinations to a minimum. Mark Zuckerberg has shown the AI picking out clothes for him to wear but, come on, that’s about as pie in the sky as it gets.
Multimodal AI wasn’t the only update for the smart glasses announced today. Meta revealed hands-free video call integration with WhatsApp and Messenger. There are also some new frame designs for the fashion-conscious. These new styles can be fitted with prescription lenses and are available for preorder right now. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses start at $300, which isn’t chump change but is certainly better than $700 for a clunky pin.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses-do-the-ai-thing-without-a-projector-or-subscription-175403559.html?src=rss
Both Amazon and Best Buy are selling unlocked models of Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra with 256GB of storage for $200 off the list price. That brings the smartphone down to $1,100 and marks the lowest price we've seen yet (outside of trade-in and carrier offers). Last month, all three handsets in the S24 lineup were on sale, with the base model going for $100 off and the S24+ and S24 Ultra both getting $150 discounts. This time, the top-end Ultra has an even bigger price cut and the S24+ is the same $150 off. The base model Galaxy S24 is only nine percent off, however, which is about $25 more that it was during that last sale.
We named the S24 Ultra the best premium Android smartphone in our guide and gave it a review score of 89 when it came out at the beginning of this year. This generation got a new titanium frame, one upgraded camera and, like everything else in 2024, a whole bunch of AI accoutrements. It has a snappy Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and a battery that lasted through 24 hours-plus of continuous video playback in our rundown tests and went for a good two days of regular use.
The four rear cameras stayed much the same as on the S23 Ultra, with the exception of the old 10x lens getting replaced with a 5x optical zoom and a higher-res 50-MP sensor, a move we found created a lens that was more practical in a wider variety of situations. The AI tools can proofread your texts, edit images and transcribe recordings. The display is one of the sharpest and brightest we've tested. Plus the built-in stylus is handy.
But even with a $200 discount, the S24 Ultra remains a very expensive phone. Our overall pick for an Android smartphone, Google's Pixel 8 Pro, starts at $999, and is currently 20 percent off at Amazon and directly from Google, making it just $799. Engadget's Sam Rutherford gave the Pixel 8 Pro a score of 93 upon its debut last October, praising its bright screen, speedy performance and "genuinely useful AI features."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-s24-ultra-is-on-sale-for-its-lowest-price-yet-at-amazon-and-best-buy-173023101.html?src=rss