Tag Archives: author_name|Kris Holt

iOS 18 embraces Apple Intelligence, deeper customization and a more useful Siri

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WWDC is always where we learn about the year's biggest updates to Apple's operating systems. Given that the iPhone is Apple's most important product, it's no surprise that iOS takes up a major chunk of the attention each June. WWDC 2024 is no exception, as Apple had a ton of new features and updates to go over, many of which concerned AI (or Apple Intelligence, as the company is calling it).

Apple Intelligence is all over iOS 18, as well as iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. Apple is using a blend of its own tech and capabilities powered by OpenAI (as was widely expected). ChatGPT will be integrated into Apple Intelligence too.

As part of this new era, Siri is getting a major overhaul. The voice assistant will be able to get much more done as it will be more deeply integrated into your apps and have more contextual awareness. You'll be able to use Siri for things like photo editing, rewriting emails and prioritizing notifications. There's the option to type your Siri commands as well, which is a nice accessibility upgrade.

The language models will be able to rewrite, proofread and summarize text for you in apps such as Mail, Notes, Safari, Pages and Keynote, as well as third-party apps. Image generation will be available too in sketch, illustration and animation styles — so you won't be able to generate realistic images using Apple's tech. Image generation is built into apps such as Notes, Freeform and Pages.

Screenshots of a call transcription on iPhone
Apple

You'll be able to use natural language prompts to search for photos of certain people. There's also the promise of more intelligent search in the browser and (at long last!) transcriptions of calls and Voice Memos to catch up to a feature Pixel devices have had for a while.

Although Apple Intelligence will pull from your personal information to make sure the systems are applicable to you, it will be aware of your personal data without collecting it, according to Apple software engineering SVP Craig Federighi.

Apple is employing a blend of both on-device and cloud-based AI processing. Your iPhone will handle as much of the legwork locally as it can, with more complex operations being sent to Apple's processing centers. That raises some questions about privacy, one of Apple's central selling points to would-be customers (especially after Apple openly took digs at rivals that use cloud servers for data processing), but Federighi gave some answers to those. 

For one thing, the company has established something called Private Cloud Compute. Apple says the aim is to wield the power of the cloud for more advanced AI processing while making sure your iPhone data remains safe and secure.

To use these new features on iOS, you'll need a device that has at least an Apple A17 Pro chipset — in other words, an iPhone 15 Pro or one of this year's upcoming models. Apple Intelligence features will be available for free on iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia this fall in US English.

Apple also focused on customization. You'll be able to make the home screen look more like your own vibe than ever. You'll be able to change the colors of app icons, which can automatically get a different look when you have Dark Mode enabled. Your apps won't need to be locked within a rigid grid anymore either. Your home screen can look almost as messy as you want.

Control Center is getting some big changes. You'll be able to access things like media playback and smart home controls from here. Developers will be able to take advantage of this and offer Control Center management for their apps too. It'll be possible to pin custom controls to the home screen for your most frequently used apps and functions (so you'll be able to switch out the flashlight control for something else, for instance). Custom controls can also be mapped to the physical action button as you see fit.

When it comes to Messages, there's another nice update in the form of scheduling. When you're catching up on things late at night, you'll be able to time a message to send in the morning, for instance. Those who use emoji reactions in Messages (aka Tapbacks) are getting a nice update too. You'll be able to choose from any emoji instead of the five basic reactions Apple has offered for years. 

Text effects (the little animations that show up when you type a certain phrase) are getting an upgrade as well. Meanwhile, Apple will offer satellite messaging support on iPhone 14 and later devices. That's a major update, especially for those who go off the grid often, as messaging will be more useful beyond emergencies. You'll be able to send and receive texts, emoji and Tapbacks via iMessage and SMS.

AI-generated emoji in Messages
Apple

There's also a key AI-related change coming to the Messages app. Your iPhone will be able to generate custom emoji based on what you're writing. You might need a PhD in semiotics to decipher some of the "Genmoji" you receive.

There's one other big update for Messages in iOS 18: Apple will add support for RCS (Rich Communication Services) to Messages. RCS is a more advanced messaging protocol than SMS. It enables better media sharing, Wi-Fi messaging, group chats and, crucially, better security thanks to end-to-end encryption. It should allow for more secure, media-rich messaging between iPhone and Android devices.

Apple for years refused to support RCS in order to keep iMessage a walled garden. But after persistent pressure from Google — and more importantly, new EU laws coming into force — Apple promised to start supporting RCS sometime this year. Apple, which is never petty about anything ever, almost completely glossed over the addition of RCS in its the keynote, relegating it to a three-word mention.

The Photos app is getting is biggest redesign ever, Apple says. It's getting a visual overhaul and one of the key aims is to help you find your photos more easily (filtering out screenshots should be a breeze, for one thing). Your snaps will be organized around memorable moments. Apple Intelligence will power features like Clean Up, which is effectively Apple's version of Google's Magic Eraser tool.

The Mail app will soon be able to categorize emails — just like Gmail has for years. Apple will also organize emails by sender and make it easy to archive or delete every email you get from a certain company. This will be optional, so you can stick to a single inbox if you wish.

Maps, meanwhile, will offer more detailed topographic maps to bring the app more into line with the Apple Watch. This should be useful for planning routes while hiking. As for the Journal app, it will now show stats for things like a daily writing streak.

Wallet is getting a handy new feature that will allow you to send cash without having to exchange personal details. All you need to do is simply tap your phones together. This could be handy for splitting the bill after dinner with a new acquaintance. Tickets saved to Wallet can now include stadium details, recommended Apple Music playlists and other information.

Calendar can show events and tasks from Reminders app, while the Notes app can automatically solve any math equations you enter. The Home app will offer guest access 

Another welcome change is the introduction of a dedicated Passwords app. This will work across iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and macOS and make it easier to find saved passwords from iCloud Keychain. Even better, there will also be Windows support via the iCloud for Windows app. Hopefully, this will make it easier for everyone to use a password manager and have unique passwords for every single account — something we strongly recommend.

This being Apple, of course it has some new privacy controls for apps in iOS 18. You'll have the option to lock apps behind an authentication method (i.e., your PIN or Face ID) so that when you pass your iPhone to someone to show them your camera roll, they can't go snooping in your Messages. You can also hide apps — perhaps ones you use for dating — in a locked folder too. Elsewhere on the app privacy front, you'll be able to decide which of your contacts an app has access to instead of giving them absolutely everyone's phone numbers and personal information.

Elsewhere, Apple is bringing Game Mode to iPhone. This aims to boost performance by minimizing background activity, while controllers and AirPods should be more responsive. 

During an emergency call, dispatchers will be able to send a request to turn it into a video call or to share media from the camera roll. This, Apple suggests, can help first responders better prepare for an incident. The Health app, meanwhile, has been redesigned to make it easier to access vital info in an emergency.

On the accessibility front, users will be able to navigate their iPhone using eye tracking. You'll be able to set up a custom sound that will trigger tasks using the Vocal Shortcut feature, while Music Haptics aims to give those who are deaf or hard of hearing another way to experience music via the Taptic Engine.

A developer beta of iOS 18 is available today and a public version will roll out in July. As always, iOS 18 will roll out to all eligible iPhones this fall. 

If your device can run iOS 17, you'll be able to install iOS 18. The list of eligible devices includes the iPhone 11 and later lineups, along with iPhone Xs, Xs Max, Xr and the second-gen SE.

Catch up here for all the news out of Apple's WWDC 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-18-gets-a-revamped-control-center-and-loads-of-home-screen-customization-options-172350046.html?src=rss

Apple’s M2 Mac mini drops to a record low of $479

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While we’re not expecting Apple to announce any new hardware at its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, there’s always a chance that the company may have a modest refresh or two up its sleeves. Perhaps Apple is trying to clear out existing stock to make way for new models, which could be the reason why the M2 Mac mini has dropped to a record low of $479. That’s $120 off the regular price of $599.

This lil' desktop machine has eight CPU cores (with a CPU speed of 3.2 GHz) and 10 GPU cores in its M2 chipset, along with 8GB of unified memory, so it should be able to handle basic to moderate tasks with relative ease. It also has 256GB of onboard storage. (The 512GB model is $100 off at $699, with a clippable coupon shaving off another $9.01.)

On the connectivity front, the M2 Mac mini has dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, gigabit ethernet support and a headphone jack. You'll still need to add on peripherals such as a mouse, keyboard and monitor to get it up and running, but the M2 Mac mini is a nice Mac desktop for the price.

Those looking for some more power, however, may be more interested in the M2 Pro Mac mini. It's $150 off at $1,150 (be sure to redeem the $50 clippable coupon!). We reviewed this model in early 2023 and gave it a score of 86. We liked the performance, design, quiet operation and array of ports (you get an additional pair of USB-C slots here). However, upgrading beyond the base model is expensive, while we found having to reach around to the back to plug anything in somewhat cumbersome.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-m2-mac-mini-drops-to-a-record-low-of-479-142921001.html?src=rss

An all-digital Xbox Series X is coming this holiday season

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Toward the end of the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft unveiled a refreshed console lineup. For the first time, the company will offer an Xbox Series X with no disc drive in a robot white colorway. It comes with 1TB of storage and will cost $450. The MSRP of the original Series X is $500, but it often goes on sale (Microsoft itself is currently selling the console for $450).

A Xbox Series X without a disc drive had long been expected. A leak in March suggested that an all-digital robot white model was in the works. As with the PS5 refresh Sony released last year, perhaps Microsoft will offer a disc drive attachment for folks who later decide they want to play physical games on their Series X too.

A special edition Xbox Series X will also soon be available. This model, in galaxy black, does have a disc drive and double the internal storage of the regular Series X at 2TB. It will come with a matching controller and cost $600. 

The Xbox Series S is getting a more modest update. Microsoft released a 1TB model in carbon black last year, and a version with the same storage and original colorway is in the pipeline. The 1TB robot white option will be offered in select markets and cost $350. The company notes that the black model will be available "while supplies last," indicating it's phasing that variant out.

More details on availability and regional pricing will be revealed soon. Microsoft says it also has plans for controller designs to match certain games and more Xbox Series X console wraps.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-all-digital-xbox-series-x-is-coming-this-holiday-season-184539660.html?src=rss

Perfect Dark reboot trailer shows Joanna Dark hunting bad guys in a near-future Cairo

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It's been a long, long time since we learned that a Perfect Dark reboot was in the works, and there are finally some fresh signs of life. A gameplay trailer was shown during the Xbox Games Showcase, though there's no release date or window as yet.

Xbox is billing the reboot as a "first-person secret agent thriller in a near-future world" that includes immersive sim and stealth-action elements. Based on this first look, co-developers The Initiative and may have nailed the brief. 

The clip shows Joanna Dark dropping into a near-future version of Cairo in search of a bad guy who possesses a radioactive device. She's able to capture goons' voice prints to open voice-activated door locks, and she can kick off walls to clamber up drain pipes and gain extra distance for jumps. Along with blasting enemies with guns, Joanna has some hand-to-hand combat skills too.

According to an Xbox Wire blog post, you'll have a range of traversal abilities and gadgets at your disposal, so you'll be able to choose how to complete missions. I'm just a little bummed that there was no sign of a laptop gun. 

The blog post also notes that "at the widest level, Perfect Dark will be a single-player experience." That could be a hint that there will be multiplayer modes too. I have my fingers crossed for that, as the original Perfect Dark was a better multiplayer shooter than Goldeneye 007.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/perfect-dark-reboot-trailer-shows-joanna-dark-hunting-bad-guys-in-a-near-future-cairo-180150819.html?src=rss

Fallout 76’s next free expansion drops on June 12

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It seemed like a missed opportunity for Microsoft and Bethesda to not have a new Fallout game ready to capitalize on the TV adaptation's success. However, Bethesda does have Fallout 76 up its sleeve at least, and the latest expansion of the multiplayer RPG is just a few days away.

The publisher revealed the Skyline Valley expansion during the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday. The DLC expands the map for the first time into a new region called Shenandoah. The telethon-themed trailer offers a peek at some of what's in store. For instance, you'll be able to explore the remnants of Vault 63 and try to discover what happened to its dwellers. As you might expect, there will also be Ghouls to contend with. The trailer ends on a spicy tease, as starting early next year, you'll actually be able to play as a Ghoul.

Fallout 76 had a rough debut, but by all accounts the game has gotten much better over time (following in the footsteps of some other Bethesda games). As with other Fallout titles, it had a huge surge in players in the wake of the Prime Video show. On Steam alone, the average number of concurrent players shot up nearly fivefold from 5,975 in March to 25,673 in April.

With so many new and returning players enjoying the game, it’s nice that they won’t have to wait long for more things to see and do. Skyline Valley, which is free for Fallout 76 players on all platforms, will arrive on June 12.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fallout-76s-next-free-expansion-drops-on-june-12-172003045.html?src=rss

Innersloth is spending all its Among Us money on indie games

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The massive success of Among Us changed the lives of the developers at Innersloth. Now, the team is paying that forward by helping to fund a bunch of other indie games under its new label Outersloth (perfect name, zero notes).

Among the projects that Outersloth has backed so far are Mars First Logistics (a Mars rover building sim that went into early access last year), card battler RPG Battle Suit Aces, exploration game Mossfield Archives, single-button boss rush title One Btn Bosses and space dog fighting roguelike Rogue Eclipse. Strange Scaffold (An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs) and Visai Games (the fantastic Venba) are getting a hand from Outersloth too.

Outersloth is also funding the next project from Outerloop Games, the team behind the acclaimed Thirsty Suitors. It's in the very early stages of development and it's called Project Dosa. It will see you exploring the world in an upgradable mech, cooking for a community, fending off bad guys and much more.

It's very cool to see Outersloth giving indie developers another way to finance their games beyond the traditional publisher approach, relying on crowdfunding or going into early access. Meanwhile, Summer Game Fest Live included the first peek at the Among Us animated TV show.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/innersloth-is-spending-all-its-among-us-money-on-indie-games-224010763.html?src=rss

Aloy is getting the Lego treatment in Horizon Adventures

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The Summer Game Fest Live showcase started with a bang — depending on how much you enjoy both Aloy and Lego games. Lego Horizon Adventures, a spinoff of Guerrilla Games' Horizon series, is coming to PS5 and PC this holiday season. Oh, and it'll be available on Nintendo Switch too.

For the first time, you'll be able to play a Horizon game in co-op, either locally or online. It seems that this version will retell some of the story of the mainline games too, albeit with lots of digital bricks. While Aloy is often funny in the two mainline Horizon series, she's usually deadpan. It'll be interesting to see how that squares with the typically offbeat humor of Lego games.

Lego stalwart Traveller's Tales isn't involved here. Instead, Guerilla is working on Horizon Adventures with Studio Gobo, a team that's helped out on games as varied as Hogwarts Legacy and For Honor. 

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/aloy-is-getting-the-lego-treatment-in-horizon-adventures-212512320.html?src=rss

Microsoft moves to resolve privacy concerns over its Recall feature

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Microsoft has attempted to soothe privacy concerns regarding Recall, an upcoming Windows feature that’s said to help users resurface just about anything they’ve previously done or looked at on a Copilot+ PC. That naturally involves keeping tabs on how you use your computer in one way or another, which has raised privacy concerns over data storage and access. In an attempt to resolve those, Microsoft is making changes before it starts rolling out Recall later this month.

Recall will be opt-in, meaning that the feature won’t take snapshots (i.e. screenshots) of what you’re doing every few seconds or log your activity without your explicit permission. Microsoft will ask whether you want to enable Recall when you set up a Copilot+ PC, which is a positive move.

In addition, those who want to use Recall will need to use a Windows Hello authentication method such as facial recognition or a fingerprint scan. Authentication will be required before Recall allows a user to scroll through or search the activity timeline. But this measure won't necessarily make Recall super secure — all it takes is for someone to know your PIN and they can access it.

On top of that, Microsoft is adding more protections to the Recall snapshots. It will employ “just in time” decryption protected by Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security. Snapshots will only be decrypted and available after user authentication. The search index database is encrypted too.

Microsoft says snapshots will remain on-device (locked to a user account) and won’t be used to train AI models. You can block Recall from snapshotting specific apps, and pause or delete snapshots. The AI processing that powers Recall takes place on-device too.

Recall was designed to help users find something they've done on their Copilot+ PC based on whatever they can remember. So if they remember a shirt they looked at a few weeks earlier and now think they might want to buy, they can describe the item. Recall might do a better job of finding the shirt than you can by scrolling through your the web browser history. 

Recall will be able to unearth details from chats, productivity apps, emails and so on. Microsoft has described it as effectively a photographic memory for your PC. A preview of Recall will be available on Copilot+ PCs, which will start shipping on June 18.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-moves-to-resolve-privacy-concerns-over-its-recall-feature-170318905.html?src=rss

A four-pack of Samsung SmartTag 2 trackers is back on sale for $70

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Bluetooth trackers are handy little devices that can help you keep track of items you're worried about losing. Which model you opt for depends on several factors, such as the physical form factor and the phone operating system or brand you use. In any case, a few of our favorite Bluetooth trackers are on sale, including Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 2. A four-pack is currently $70, which is $30 off and matches a record low. A single tag has dropped from $30 to $21 — just $1 more than the lowest price we've seen for it.

The Galaxy SmartTag 2 is our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for folks with Samsung phones. While Samsung perhaps doesn't have as many smartphones out there as Apple (the Find My network uses every iPhone in the vicinity to track AirTags), it has an extensive enough number of devices in the wild to make its own finding network fairly robust. Unfortunately, the Galaxy SmartTag 2 does not yet work with Google's Find My Device network, which would allow any compatible Android device to help hunt for a misplaced tag.

That quibble aside, we quite like the SmartTag 2. Setup is a cinch, for one thing. In our testing we were able to quickly find items tagged with one, while the left-behind alerts worked well when a Samsung phone detected that we were moving away from a SmartTag 2. The design is useful, since it's easy to attach the tracker to a set of keys. It has a louder ring than an AirTag or Tile Pro as well.

The battery will run for about 16 months, according to Samsung, and it's replaceable. The SmartTag 2 is also IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. While the SmartTag 2 may not be quite as precise as an AirTag for finding a misplaced or stolen item, it's still a solid Bluetooth tracker option for Samsung users.

If you're looking for an option that both iPhones and Android devices can help track down, it's worth considering the Tile Mate. A single tag in white is available for $18, which is $7 off the regular price. This has a Bluetooth range of up to 250 feet and can be easily attached to keys as well thanks to a small hole in one of the corners. The battery is not replaceable, unfortunately, but it will power the tracker for up to three years, Tile says.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-four-pack-of-samsung-smarttag-2-trackers-is-back-on-sale-for-70-145444036.html?src=rss

Apple’s Studio Display is $300 off right now

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If you have one of Apple's non-iMac desktops or a MacBook you’d like to plug into a monitor, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade (or to buy a dedicated display in the first place). As it happens, Apple’s Studio Display is on sale right now. The price has dropped by $300 to $1,300 for the VESA mount and tilt-adjustable models, marking a record low for both. It's worth noting that the discount applies to the variants with standard glass, not nano-texture glass.

We gave the Apple Studio Monitor a score of 80 in our review in 2022. We appreciated the quality of the build and the audio, as well as the bright and color-accurate screen. On the downside, restricting the monitor to single-zone backlighting was a disappointment, as were the 60Hz refresh rate (which is becoming increasingly paltry) and the lackluster webcam. The lack of HDR in such an expensive monitor is a bummer too.

Still, for those heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, this is a solid 5K LCD monitor. The 27-inch, 2,880p display supports 1 billion colors and the P3 wide gamut. The six-speaker array supports spatial audio and there's a triple-mic setup for calls and voice recordings. On the connectivity front, there's a Thunderbolt 3 port and three USB-C slots. The Studio Monitor can also deliver a 96W charge to your MacBook.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-studio-display-is-300-off-right-now-175108626.html?src=rss