Tag Archives: Consumer Discretionary

The Morning After: Apple’s car project may be dead

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After roughly a decade, multiple leadership changes and a regular spot in Apple rumor reports, the Apple Car project, internally known as Project Titan, could well be dead. A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple has officially canceled the car, breaking the news to nearly 2,000 employees working on it.

Apple will reportedly move “many employees working on the car” to the company’s artificial intelligence division where they will focus on generative AI projects, which Apple is expected to share more about later this year.

Leaks over the years revealed the company’s ambitions to expand into a brand-new product category. At the beginning of the project in 2014, Apple wanted to build a fully self-driving car without pedals or a steering wheel, with a remote command center ready to take over for a driver. More recently, Apple pared down its ambitions, with the most recent reports suggesting Apple’s car would be a more standard electric vehicle.

Now, we may never know. Would you have bought an Apple car?

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Which iPhone should you buy?

Amazon accused of using AI to ‘replicate the voices’ of actors in Road House remake

PlayStation is laying off 900 staff across Naughty Dog, Insomniac and other studios

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Pokémon Legends: Z-A for Switch returns the series to Lumiose City

It could be the first Pokémon game for Nintendo’s next console.

TMA
The Pokemon Company

The Pokémon Company revealed the franchise’s latest Legends entry on Tuesday. Pokémon Legends: Z-A returns the series to Lumiose City, last seen as a region in Pokémon X and Y on the Nintendo 3DS. The Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer — an extended teaser — doesn’t show any gameplay footage, and its shots of Lumiose City use wireframe models to tease a city in mid-development, according to the announcement.

Continue reading.

TikTok is muting more songs following its Universal Music royalties fight

Millions more tracks are likely to vanish.

TikTok is being forced to take down more music from its platform. Universal Music Group (UMG) recently yanked recordings it owns or distributes from TikTok, including tracks from superstars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd. The standoff is now impacting songs published by UMG, with millions more tracks to be muted on TikTok by the end of this week. Due to an issue called split copyrights, if a Universal Music Publishing Group-contracted writer has contributed to a song, that track may have to be removed from TikTok. So artists who have collaborated with Taylor Swift, Adele, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Ice Spice, Elton John, Harry Styles and SZA may see their songs disappear from TikTok too.

Continue reading.

Google is reportedly paying publishers to use its AI to write news stories

What could go wrong?

Google has quietly struck deals with publishers to use new generative AI tools to publish stories. The deals, reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars a year, are apparently part of the Google News Initiative (GNI), a six-year-old program that funds media literacy projects, fact-checking tools and other resources for newsrooms. Adweek says publishers can use the beta tools to create aggregated content more efficiently, indexing recently published reports generated by other organizations, like government agencies and neighboring news outlets, then summarizing and publishing them as a new article.

Publishers in the program are apparently not required to disclose their use of AI nor are the aggregated websites informed that their content is used to create AI-written stories on other sites. Publications like CNET and Sports Illustrated have been widely criticized for attempting to pass off AI-authored articles as written by human staffers.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apples-car-project-may-be-dead-121513763.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Apple’s car project may be dead

Posted on by

After roughly a decade, multiple leadership changes and a regular spot in Apple rumor reports, the Apple Car project, internally known as Project Titan, could well be dead. A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple has officially canceled the car, breaking the news to nearly 2,000 employees working on it.

Apple will reportedly move “many employees working on the car” to the company’s artificial intelligence division where they will focus on generative AI projects, which Apple is expected to share more about later this year.

Leaks over the years revealed the company’s ambitions to expand into a brand-new product category. At the beginning of the project in 2014, Apple wanted to build a fully self-driving car without pedals or a steering wheel, with a remote command center ready to take over for a driver. More recently, Apple pared down its ambitions, with the most recent reports suggesting Apple’s car would be a more standard electric vehicle.

Now, we may never know. Would you have bought an Apple car?

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Which iPhone should you buy?

Amazon accused of using AI to ‘replicate the voices’ of actors in Road House remake

PlayStation is laying off 900 staff across Naughty Dog, Insomniac and other studios

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Pokémon Legends: Z-A for Switch returns the series to Lumiose City

It could be the first Pokémon game for Nintendo’s next console.

TMA
The Pokemon Company

The Pokémon Company revealed the franchise’s latest Legends entry on Tuesday. Pokémon Legends: Z-A returns the series to Lumiose City, last seen as a region in Pokémon X and Y on the Nintendo 3DS. The Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer — an extended teaser — doesn’t show any gameplay footage, and its shots of Lumiose City use wireframe models to tease a city in mid-development, according to the announcement.

Continue reading.

TikTok is muting more songs following its Universal Music royalties fight

Millions more tracks are likely to vanish.

TikTok is being forced to take down more music from its platform. Universal Music Group (UMG) recently yanked recordings it owns or distributes from TikTok, including tracks from superstars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd. The standoff is now impacting songs published by UMG, with millions more tracks to be muted on TikTok by the end of this week. Due to an issue called split copyrights, if a Universal Music Publishing Group-contracted writer has contributed to a song, that track may have to be removed from TikTok. So artists who have collaborated with Taylor Swift, Adele, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Ice Spice, Elton John, Harry Styles and SZA may see their songs disappear from TikTok too.

Continue reading.

Google is reportedly paying publishers to use its AI to write news stories

What could go wrong?

Google has quietly struck deals with publishers to use new generative AI tools to publish stories. The deals, reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars a year, are apparently part of the Google News Initiative (GNI), a six-year-old program that funds media literacy projects, fact-checking tools and other resources for newsrooms. Adweek says publishers can use the beta tools to create aggregated content more efficiently, indexing recently published reports generated by other organizations, like government agencies and neighboring news outlets, then summarizing and publishing them as a new article.

Publishers in the program are apparently not required to disclose their use of AI nor are the aggregated websites informed that their content is used to create AI-written stories on other sites. Publications like CNET and Sports Illustrated have been widely criticized for attempting to pass off AI-authored articles as written by human staffers.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apples-car-project-may-be-dead-121513763.html?src=rss

The Apple Car project is reportedly dead

Posted on by

Ten years, billions of dollars, multiple leadership changes, and dozens of rumors later, the Apple Car project is dead. A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple has officially canceled the car, breaking the news to nearly 2,000 employees who had been working on it on Tuesday.

As part of the change, Apple will move “many employees working on the car” to the company’s artificial intelligence division where they will focus on generative AI projects, which Apple is expected to share more about later this year, according to a statement by CEO Tim Cook on the company’s earnings call earlier this month. But the car team also included hundreds of hardware engineers and car designers, some of who, Bloomberg reports, will be able to apply for jobs in other divisions of the company. The rest are likely to be laid off.

Apple has never spoken publicly about its efforts to build a vehicle, internally known as Project Titan. But a number of leaks over the years revealed the company’s ambitions to expand into a brand new product category it had no experience in. At the beginning of the project in 2014, Apple wanted to build fully self-driving car without pedals or a steering wheel with a remote command center ready to take over for a driver. But in recent years, Apple reportedly pared down its ambitions. As recently as last month, new reports suggested that Apple’s car, which could debut in 2028, would be an electric vehicle more akin to a Tesla than something completely new.

Project Titan also went through multiple leadership shakeups. In 2021, Apple appointed Kevin Lynch, the executive who previously oversaw Apple Watch development, to head the car division after Doug Field, Project Titan’s previous head, left for Ford.

Apple had reportedly considered pricing the car at around $100,000, in the ballpark of a high-end Tesla Model X. But Apple executives were reportedly concerned about profit margins at that price. The move is a rare setback for the company, which according to Bloomberg worked on “powertrains, self-driving hardware and software, car interiors and exteriors, and other key components” over the years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-car-project-is-reportedly-dead-203012885.html?src=rss

The Apple Car project is reportedly dead

Posted on by

Ten years, billions of dollars, multiple leadership changes, and dozens of rumors later, the Apple Car project is dead. A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple has officially canceled the car, breaking the news to nearly 2,000 employees who had been working on it on Tuesday.

As part of the change, Apple will move “many employees working on the car” to the company’s artificial intelligence division where they will focus on generative AI projects, which Apple is expected to share more about later this year, according to a statement by CEO Tim Cook on the company’s earnings call earlier this month. But the car team also included hundreds of hardware engineers and car designers, some of who, Bloomberg reports, will be able to apply for jobs in other divisions of the company. The rest are likely to be laid off.

Apple has never spoken publicly about its efforts to build a vehicle, internally known as Project Titan. But a number of leaks over the years revealed the company’s ambitions to expand into a brand new product category it had no experience in. At the beginning of the project in 2014, Apple wanted to build fully self-driving car without pedals or a steering wheel with a remote command center ready to take over for a driver. But in recent years, Apple reportedly pared down its ambitions. As recently as last month, new reports suggested that Apple’s car, which could debut in 2028, would be an electric vehicle more akin to a Tesla than something completely new.

Project Titan also went through multiple leadership shakeups. In 2021, Apple appointed Kevin Lynch, the executive who previously oversaw Apple Watch development, to head the car division after Doug Field, Project Titan’s previous head, left for Ford.

Apple had reportedly considered pricing the car at around $100,000, in the ballpark of a high-end Tesla Model X. But Apple executives were reportedly concerned about profit margins at that price. The move is a rare setback for the company, which according to Bloomberg worked on “powertrains, self-driving hardware and software, car interiors and exteriors, and other key components” over the years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-car-project-is-reportedly-dead-203012885.html?src=rss

Pokemon Legends: Z-A for Switch returns the series to Lumiose City

Posted on by

In celebration of Pokémon Day (the first games launched on February 27, 1996), The Pokémon Company revealed the franchise’s latest “Legends” entry on Tuesday. Pokémon Legends: Z-A returns the series to Lumiose City, last seen as one of the regions in Pokémon X and Y on the Nintendo 3DS. The game arrives on Switch in 2025.

Developed by Game Freak, Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s trailer and press materials only provide a minimal glimpse at the upcoming title. The Pokémon Company describes it as “an exciting new adventure” and “an ambitious new entry” as the company tries to wrestle the narrative back from its guns-blazing off-brand counterpart Palworld. (That fast-growing title has already gotten the attention of The Pokémon Company’s legal team.)

Pikachu prances in wireframe animation. Trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
A prancing Pikachu in wireframe minimalism.
The Pokémon Company

The trailer teases an urban redevelopment plan in a mysterious metro area, finally revealed as Lumiose City. Within the game world, a renovation project strives to help humans and Pokémon live together in the sprawling urban landscape. The trailer even teases Mega Evolutions, initially introduced in Pokémon X and Y.

The Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer below — largely an extended teaser — doesn’t show any gameplay footage, and its shots of Lumiose City use wireframe models, suggesting an incomplete nature (or at least surprises reserved for another day). The game will have a simultaneous global launch when it arrives next year.

Pokémon Day also saw the announcement of a new digital trading card game. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is a new mobile app (Android and iOS) set to arrive later this year. It will allow players to “enjoy the thrill of opening booster packs and collecting cards,” which will include “immersive cards” and visual effects unique to the app (in addition to classic artwork). The app’s trailer showcases a satisfying ripping animation when “opening” the digital packs (gotta get you hooked!).

Players using the app will receive two free booster packs daily. The company hasn’t officially announced the availability of additional packs through in-app purchases. However, the Pokémon Company’s language describing the app as “free-to-start” may provide a hint about its plans. The app will support trades and “quick battles,” using streamlined rules based on the card game’s battle system.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-for-switch-returns-the-series-to-lumiose-city-174208223.html?src=rss

Pokemon Legends: Z-A for Switch returns the series to Lumiose City

Posted on by

In celebration of Pokémon Day (the first games launched on February 27, 1996), The Pokémon Company revealed the franchise’s latest “Legends” entry on Tuesday. Pokémon Legends: Z-A returns the series to Lumiose City, last seen as one of the regions in Pokémon X and Y on the Nintendo 3DS. The game arrives on Switch in 2025.

Developed by Game Freak, Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s trailer and press materials only provide a minimal glimpse at the upcoming title. The Pokémon Company describes it as “an exciting new adventure” and “an ambitious new entry” as the company tries to wrestle the narrative back from its guns-blazing off-brand counterpart Palworld. (That fast-growing title has already gotten the attention of The Pokémon Company’s legal team.)

Pikachu prances in wireframe animation. Trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
A prancing Pikachu in wireframe minimalism.
The Pokémon Company

The trailer teases an urban redevelopment plan in a mysterious metro area, finally revealed as Lumiose City. Within the game world, a renovation project strives to help humans and Pokémon live together in the sprawling urban landscape. The trailer even teases Mega Evolutions, initially introduced in Pokémon X and Y.

The Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer below — largely an extended teaser — doesn’t show any gameplay footage, and its shots of Lumiose City use wireframe models, suggesting an incomplete nature (or at least surprises reserved for another day). The game will have a simultaneous global launch when it arrives next year.

Pokémon Day also saw the announcement of a new digital trading card game. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is a new mobile app (Android and iOS) set to arrive later this year. It will allow players to “enjoy the thrill of opening booster packs and collecting cards,” which will include “immersive cards” and visual effects unique to the app (in addition to classic artwork). The app’s trailer showcases a satisfying ripping animation when “opening” the digital packs (gotta get you hooked!).

Players using the app will receive two free booster packs daily. The company hasn’t officially announced the availability of additional packs through in-app purchases. However, the Pokémon Company’s language describing the app as “free-to-start” may provide a hint about its plans. The app will support trades and “quick battles,” using streamlined rules based on the card game’s battle system.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-for-switch-returns-the-series-to-lumiose-city-174208223.html?src=rss

PlayStation is laying off 900 staff across Naughty Dog, Insomniac and other studios

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It’s another bleak day for the gaming industry as there’s more news of mass layoffs. This time around, its PlayStation that’s gutting its studios. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) says it’s laying off around 900 staff from its PlayStation division, roughly 8 percent of that department’s headcount.

Insomniac (Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank), Naughty Dog (The Last of Us) and Guerrilla (Horizon) are all affected by the cuts. Those studios are behind some of PlayStation's most important franchises. For instance, within three and a half months, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 had sold 10 million units.

Sony's London Studio, which had been working on a co-op multiplayer game for PlayStation 5, is shutting down entirely, while Firesprite will also lose some staff. In addition, PlayStation will lay off workers from its Technology, Creative, and Support teams.

PlayStation employees in the US who are losing their jobs will be informed today. Sony will adhere to local laws and regulations for carrying out layoffs in other territories — the company says people in all of its global regions will be affected.

"After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company," outgoing SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan told staff in an email. "We had to step back, look at our business holistically, and move forward focusing on the long-term sustainability of the company and delivering the best experiences possible for our community. The goal is to streamline our resources to ensure our continued success and ability to deliver experiences gamers and creators have come to expect from us."

Meanwhile, Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, said that SIE leadership evaluated its studios and portfolio and looked at projects that are in various stages of development. Some of those projects have now been canceled. Hulst didn't provide more details, but the projects that have been canned surely include the one that London Studio was working on. According to Bloomberg, a live-service Twisted Metal game that was in early development at Firesprite is among the canceled projects.

"I want to be clear that the decision to stop work on these projects is not a reflection on the talent or passion of team members," Hulst wrote in a memo. "Our philosophy has always been to allow creative experimentation. Sometimes, great ideas don’t become great games. Sometimes, a project is started with the best intentions before shifts within the market or industry result in a change of plan."

Hulst also noted that SIE is re-assessing its approach to delivering the kinds of expensive blockbuster single-player games that PlayStation has become known for over the last decade or so, and balancing that out with its desire to create long-tail multiplayer games. "Delivering the immersive, narrative-driven stories that PlayStation Studios is known for, at the quality bar that we aspire to, requires a re-evaluation of how we operate," Hulst wrote. "Delivering and sustaining social, online experiences — allowing PlayStation gamers to explore our worlds in different ways — as well as launching games on additional devices such as PC and mobile, requires a different approach and different resources."

Sony is working on multiple live-service games and had planned to release 10 of them by 2026. At least one of those — The Last of Us Online — was shelved. However, the company has seen some success on the live-service front, with Helldivers 2 becoming one of the biggest hits of the year so far.

However, it emerged this month that Sony doesn't plan to release any sequels for its major first-party franchises until at least April next year. It's relying on third-party titles such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the Elden Ring expansion to help cover the gaps in its own pipeline. The company also lowered its PS5 sales forecast for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31. It expects to sell 21 million consoles in fiscal 2023, down from the previous estimate of 25 million.

This slate of layoffs brings the total number of job losses in the games industry so far this year to more than 7,000 (we haven't even reached March yet). That's on top of the more than 9,000 people who were laid off from the industry in 2023.

Microsoft conducted sweeping cuts in its gaming division in January, laying off around 1,900 people. Riot Games, Unity, Twitch (which is games-adjacent instead of a gaming company), Supermassive Games, Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive and Sega of America are also among those who have carried out layoffs.

Update 2/27 10:53AM ET: Added a note about a Twisted Metal project reportedly being one of the canceled games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-is-laying-off-900-staff-across-naughty-dog-insomniac-and-other-studios-145323606.html?src=rss

PlayStation is laying off 900 staff across Naughty Dog, Insomniac and other studios

Posted on by

It’s another bleak day for the gaming industry as there’s more news of mass layoffs. This time around, its PlayStation that’s gutting its studios. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) says it’s laying off around 900 staff from its PlayStation division, roughly 8 percent of that department’s headcount.

Insomniac (Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank), Naughty Dog (The Last of Us) and Guerrilla (Horizon) are all affected by the cuts. Those studios are behind some of PlayStation's most important franchises. For instance, within three and a half months, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 had sold 10 million units.

Sony's London Studio, which had been working on a co-op multiplayer game for PlayStation 5, is shutting down entirely, while Firesprite will also lose some staff. In addition, PlayStation will lay off workers from its Technology, Creative, and Support teams.

PlayStation employees in the US who are losing their jobs will be informed today. Sony will adhere to local laws and regulations for carrying out layoffs in other territories — the company says people in all of its global regions will be affected.

"After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company," outgoing SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan told staff in an email. "We had to step back, look at our business holistically, and move forward focusing on the long-term sustainability of the company and delivering the best experiences possible for our community. The goal is to streamline our resources to ensure our continued success and ability to deliver experiences gamers and creators have come to expect from us."

Meanwhile, Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, said that SIE leadership evaluated its studios and portfolio and looked at projects that are in various stages of development. Some of those projects have now been canceled. Hulst didn't provide more details, but the projects that have been canned surely include the one that London Studio was working on. According to Bloomberg, a live-service Twisted Metal game that was in early development at Firesprite is among the canceled projects.

"I want to be clear that the decision to stop work on these projects is not a reflection on the talent or passion of team members," Hulst wrote in a memo. "Our philosophy has always been to allow creative experimentation. Sometimes, great ideas don’t become great games. Sometimes, a project is started with the best intentions before shifts within the market or industry result in a change of plan."

Hulst also noted that SIE is re-assessing its approach to delivering the kinds of expensive blockbuster single-player games that PlayStation has become known for over the last decade or so, and balancing that out with its desire to create long-tail multiplayer games. "Delivering the immersive, narrative-driven stories that PlayStation Studios is known for, at the quality bar that we aspire to, requires a re-evaluation of how we operate," Hulst wrote. "Delivering and sustaining social, online experiences — allowing PlayStation gamers to explore our worlds in different ways — as well as launching games on additional devices such as PC and mobile, requires a different approach and different resources."

Sony is working on multiple live-service games and had planned to release 10 of them by 2026. At least one of those — The Last of Us Online — was shelved. However, the company has seen some success on the live-service front, with Helldivers 2 becoming one of the biggest hits of the year so far.

However, it emerged this month that Sony doesn't plan to release any sequels for its major first-party franchises until at least April next year. It's relying on third-party titles such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the Elden Ring expansion to help cover the gaps in its own pipeline. The company also lowered its PS5 sales forecast for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31. It expects to sell 21 million consoles in fiscal 2023, down from the previous estimate of 25 million.

This slate of layoffs brings the total number of job losses in the games industry so far this year to more than 7,000 (we haven't even reached March yet). That's on top of the more than 9,000 people who were laid off from the industry in 2023.

Microsoft conducted sweeping cuts in its gaming division in January, laying off around 1,900 people. Riot Games, Unity, Twitch (which is games-adjacent instead of a gaming company), Supermassive Games, Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive and Sega of America are also among those who have carried out layoffs.

Update 2/27 10:53AM ET: Added a note about a Twisted Metal project reportedly being one of the canceled games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-is-laying-off-900-staff-across-naughty-dog-insomniac-and-other-studios-145323606.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Why Google’s Gemini image generation feature overcorrected for diversity

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After complaints that Google’s image generator built into its Gemini AI was (ugh) woke, Google explained why it may have overcorrected for diversity. Prabhakar Raghavan, the company’s senior vice president for knowledge and information, said Google’s efforts to ensure a wide range of people generated in images “failed to account for cases that should clearly not show a range.”

Users criticized Google for depicting specific white figures or historically white groups of people as racially diverse individuals. In Engadget’s tests, asking Gemini to create illustrations of the Founding Fathers resulted in images of white men with a single person of color or woman among them. When we asked the chatbot to generate images of popes through the ages, we got photos depicting Black women and Native Americans as the leader of the Catholic Church. The Verge reported that the chatbot also depicted Nazis as people of color, but we couldn’t get Gemini to generate Nazi images. “I am unable to fulfill your request due to the harmful symbolism and impact associated with the Nazi Party,” the chatbot responded.

Raghavan said Google didn’t intend for Gemini to refuse to create images of any particular group or to generate historically inaccurate photos. He also reiterated Google’s promise to improve Gemini’s image-generation abilities.

However, that entails “extensive testing” before the company switches the feature back on.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander tipped over at touchdown, but it’s still kicking

Some Apple Vision Pro units reportedly developed a similar hairline crack on the front glass

Amazon to pay $1.9 million to settle claims of human rights abuses of contract workers

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The first phone reveal at MWC 2024 is this official Barbie Flip Phone

C'mon Barbie let's go party.

TMA
HMD

MWC 2024 kicks off this week, and while Engadget is covering it all remotely — no tapas for Mathew — this is one we’d be unlikely to book a meeting for. HMD (or Human Mobile Devices) has been making Nokia phones for the past few years and announced at MWC it’ll release an official Barbie Flip Phone this summer, in partnership with Mattel. It’ll be pink, obviously, with a dash of “sparkle.” It’ll be a feature phone, not a smartphone, with HMD marketing it as an accessory geared toward “style, nostalgia and a much-needed digital detox.” That also means it should be cheap.

Continue reading.

Samsung’s Galaxy Ring gets officially revealed at MWC

It’ll be on display alongside its Galaxy AI mobile experience.

TMA
Samsung

Samsung has put its Galaxy Ring on public display for the first time at its booth at MWC, which starts today. The health and wellness device, available in platinum silver, gold and ceramic black, will go on sale later this year. The company said little about the Galaxy Ring when it first displayed a render of the device at Unpacked last month. We learned that it would be a wellness-oriented wearable to rival Oura, and it would have a suite of unknown sensors.

Journalists weren’t allowed to photograph it, but some additional images from Samsung show it to be a chonky, concave ring about the same size as the Oura. The extra girth isn’t surprising, given the electronics cached inside. The company described the Galaxy Ring as “a new health form factor that simplifies everyday wellness, supporting smarter and healthier living via a more connected digital wellness platform.” So, a smart ring then?

Continue reading.

Let’s talk about Xbox

This week’s gaming news.

No one is suggesting Microsoft should stop making video-game hardware. But should Microsoft keep making generationally distinct consoles in the traditional hardware cycle? Does Xbox need a box? The company calls its cloud game streaming service xCloud for a reason, right?

Watch here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-why-googles-gemini-image-generation-feature-overcorrected-for-diversity-121506687.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Why Google’s Gemini image generation feature overcorrected for diversity

Posted on by

After complaints that Google’s image generator built into its Gemini AI was (ugh) woke, Google explained why it may have overcorrected for diversity. Prabhakar Raghavan, the company’s senior vice president for knowledge and information, said Google’s efforts to ensure a wide range of people generated in images “failed to account for cases that should clearly not show a range.”

Users criticized Google for depicting specific white figures or historically white groups of people as racially diverse individuals. In Engadget’s tests, asking Gemini to create illustrations of the Founding Fathers resulted in images of white men with a single person of color or woman among them. When we asked the chatbot to generate images of popes through the ages, we got photos depicting Black women and Native Americans as the leader of the Catholic Church. The Verge reported that the chatbot also depicted Nazis as people of color, but we couldn’t get Gemini to generate Nazi images. “I am unable to fulfill your request due to the harmful symbolism and impact associated with the Nazi Party,” the chatbot responded.

Raghavan said Google didn’t intend for Gemini to refuse to create images of any particular group or to generate historically inaccurate photos. He also reiterated Google’s promise to improve Gemini’s image-generation abilities.

However, that entails “extensive testing” before the company switches the feature back on.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander tipped over at touchdown, but it’s still kicking

Some Apple Vision Pro units reportedly developed a similar hairline crack on the front glass

Amazon to pay $1.9 million to settle claims of human rights abuses of contract workers

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The first phone reveal at MWC 2024 is this official Barbie Flip Phone

C'mon Barbie let's go party.

TMA
HMD

MWC 2024 kicks off this week, and while Engadget is covering it all remotely — no tapas for Mathew — this is one we’d be unlikely to book a meeting for. HMD (or Human Mobile Devices) has been making Nokia phones for the past few years and announced at MWC it’ll release an official Barbie Flip Phone this summer, in partnership with Mattel. It’ll be pink, obviously, with a dash of “sparkle.” It’ll be a feature phone, not a smartphone, with HMD marketing it as an accessory geared toward “style, nostalgia and a much-needed digital detox.” That also means it should be cheap.

Continue reading.

Samsung’s Galaxy Ring gets officially revealed at MWC

It’ll be on display alongside its Galaxy AI mobile experience.

TMA
Samsung

Samsung has put its Galaxy Ring on public display for the first time at its booth at MWC, which starts today. The health and wellness device, available in platinum silver, gold and ceramic black, will go on sale later this year. The company said little about the Galaxy Ring when it first displayed a render of the device at Unpacked last month. We learned that it would be a wellness-oriented wearable to rival Oura, and it would have a suite of unknown sensors.

Journalists weren’t allowed to photograph it, but some additional images from Samsung show it to be a chonky, concave ring about the same size as the Oura. The extra girth isn’t surprising, given the electronics cached inside. The company described the Galaxy Ring as “a new health form factor that simplifies everyday wellness, supporting smarter and healthier living via a more connected digital wellness platform.” So, a smart ring then?

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Let’s talk about Xbox

This week’s gaming news.

No one is suggesting Microsoft should stop making video-game hardware. But should Microsoft keep making generationally distinct consoles in the traditional hardware cycle? Does Xbox need a box? The company calls its cloud game streaming service xCloud for a reason, right?

Watch here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-why-googles-gemini-image-generation-feature-overcorrected-for-diversity-121506687.html?src=rss