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Hulu and Max win big at 75th Primetime Emmy’s biggest winners

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Like last week's Golden Globes, the Emmys were very good to streaming services. The 75th Primetime Emmys aired on Monday, January 15 and saw Max, Hulu and Netflix take home the most awards by a solid margin.

Hulu led the pack, winning six Primetime Emmys thanks to its dark comedy, The Bear. The Hulu and FX production won for outstanding overall, along with writing and directing for a comedy series. The cast also continued their award season winning streak. Jeremy Allen White won for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, while Ayo Edeberi won for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series — notably she took best actress (not supporting) at the Golden Globes. Ebon Moss-Bachrach won in the supporting actor counterpart.

Max (formerly HBO Max) also left with six awards, all coming from the final season of Succession. The Television Academy awarded outstanding directing and writing for a drama series for the same episode, "Connor's Wedding" (if you know, you know). The show's three male leads competed for outstanding actor in a drama series, with Kieran Culkin once again taking home the trophy. Sarah Snook won for outstanding actor in a drama series, while Matthew Macfayden received the supporting actor award for that category. Succession also won as a whole for outstanding drama series.

Like its fellow streamers, Netflix's wins all came from the same series: Beef. The show took home five awards, including outstanding limited or anthology series. Its lead actors, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, won for outstanding actor and actress in the same category, respectively. Beef rounded out its awards with outstanding writing and directing wins for two separate episodes across the show's ten parts.

The Emmys were originally scheduled to take place in September, but The Television Academy and Fox postponed it to January due to the writers and actors strikes. The Creative Arts Emmys took place on January 6 and 7, competing with Golden Globes weekend, while the Primetime Emmys took place only a day after the Critics Choice Awards — it's a busy month for Hollywood folks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hulu-and-max-win-big-at-75th-primetime-emmys-biggest-winners-104409101.html?src=rss

Uber shuts down alcohol delivery service Drizly three years after acquiring it

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Back in 2021, Uber purchased Drizly for $1.1 billion shortly after it reported that its food delivery segment kept its losses manageable during the pandemic. Three years later, the company is shutting down the US-based alcohol delivery service, Axios has reported. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber's SVP of delivery, told the publication that the company has decided to close the business and to focus on its "core Uber Eats strategy."

In SEC's announcement of the acquisition, Drizly was described as a service that "works with thousands of local merchants to provide consumers with an incredible selection of beer, wine, and spirits with competitive, transparent pricing." Uber integrated Drizly's offerings into its Eats app, but the alcohol delivery service maintained a separate application of its own. 

"After three years of Drizly operating independently within the Uber family, we've decided to close the business and focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything — from food to groceries to alcohol — all on a single app," Gore-Coty said in a statement. "We're grateful to the Drizly team for their many contributions to the growth of the BevAlc delivery category as the original industry pioneer."

It's unclear if Drizly's cybersecurity issues played a role in Uber's decision. Drizly previously confirmed a data breach in 2020 that exposed the information of 2.5 million customers. After Uber's acquisition, the Federal Trade Commission found that Drizly CEO James Cory Rellas was alerted about the company's security issues way back in 2018. The agency determined that the delivery service failed to implement the proper safeguards to protect its users despite claiming it had done so and that its poor security practices made the data breach possible. It ordered Drizly to destroy any personal data it collected that had nothing to do with its services and to refrain from collecting them in the future. The FTC also required Rellas to implement information security programs at any company he joins or forms where he takes on the role as CEO. Either way, Drizly is gone, but Uber seems to intend to continue delivering alcohol to its customers. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-shuts-down-alcohol-delivery-service-drizly-three-years-after-its-purchase-065818346.html?src=rss

Uber shuts down alcohol delivery service Drizly three years after its purchase

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Back in 2021, Uber purchased Drizly for $1.1 billion shortly after it reported that its food delivery segment kept its losses manageable during the pandemic. Three years later, the company is shutting down the US-based alcohol delivery service, Axios has reported. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber's SVP of delivery, told the publication that the company has decided to close the business and to focus on its "core Uber Eats strategy."

In SEC's announcement of the acquisition, Drizly was described as a service that "works with thousands of local merchants to provide consumers with an incredible selection of beer, wine, and spirits with competitive, transparent pricing." Uber integrated Drizly's offerings into its Eats app, but the alcohol delivery service maintained a separate application of its own. 

"After three years of Drizly operating independently within the Uber family, we've decided to close the business and focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything — from food to groceries to alcohol — all on a single app," Gore-Coty said in a statement. "We're grateful to the Drizly team for their many contributions to the growth of the BevAlc delivery category as the original industry pioneer."

It's unclear if Drizly's cybersecurity issues played a role in Uber's decision. Drizly previously confirmed a data breach in 2020 that exposed the information of 2.5 million customers. After Uber's acquisition, the Federal Trade Commission found that Drizly CEO James Cory Rellas was alerted about the company's security issues way back in 2018. The agency determined that the delivery service failed to implement the proper safeguards to protect its users despite claiming it had done so and that its poor security practices made the data breach possible. It ordered Drizly to destroy any personal data it collected that had nothing to do with its services and to refrain from collecting them in the future. The FTC also required Rellas to implement information security programs at any company he joins or forms where he takes on the role as CEO. Either way, Drizly is gone, but Uber seems to intend to continue delivering alcohol to its customers. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-shuts-down-alcohol-delivery-service-drizly-three-years-after-its-purchase-065818346.html?src=rss

OpenAI lays out its misinformation strategy ahead of 2024 elections

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As the US gears up for the 2024 presidential election, OpenAI shares its plans on suppressing misinformation related to elections worldwide, with a focus set on boosting the transparency around the origin of information. One such highlight is the use of cryptography — as standardized by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity — to encode the provenance of images generated by DALL-E 3. This will allow the platform to better detect AI-generated images using a provenance classifier, in order to help voters assess the reliability of certain content.

This approach is similar to, if not better than, DeepMind's SynthID for digitally watermark AI-generated images and audio, as part of Google's own election content strategy published last month. Meta's AI image generator also adds an invisible watermark to its content, though the company has yet to share its readiness on tackling election-related misinformation.

OpenAI says it will soon work with journalists, researchers and platforms for feedback on its provenance classifier. Along the same theme, ChatGPT users will start to see real-time news from around the world complete with attribution and links. They'll also be directed to CanIVote.org, the official online source on US voting, when they ask procedural questions like where to vote or how to vote.

Additionally, OpenAI reiterates its current policies on shutting down impersonation attempts in the form of deepfakes and chatbots, as well as content made to distort the voting process or to discourage people from voting. The company also forbids applications built for political campaigning, and when necessary, its new GPTs allow users to report potential violations.

OpenAI says learnings from these early measures, if successful at all (and that's a very big "if"), will help it roll out similar strategies across the globe. The firm will have more related announcements in the coming months.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-lays-out-its-misinformation-strategy-ahead-of-2024-elections-022549912.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s Copilot Pro is a $20 monthly subscription for advanced AI features

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Almost a year since Microsoft launched its ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat — which is now just called Copilot — the company is announcing its next major AI moves. First, it's launching Copilot Pro, a $20 monthly subscription that gives power users access to the latest ChatGPT releases, as well as access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps and other new features. Additionally, the Copilot iOS and Android apps are now available to everyone, following a limited launch last month.

And that's not all! Microsoft also introduced Copilot GPT, a new feature that will let you tweak Copilot around specific topics like "fitness, travel, cooking and more," according to Microsoft EVP and Windows head Yusuf Mehdi. Copilot Pro users will also be able to create their own Copilot GPTs eventually. (And yes, the name is certainly confusing, but this appears to be Microsoft's version of OpenAI's standalone GPTs.)

Microsoft says that Copilot Pro users will have access to GPT-4 Turbo at peak times starting today, and eventually they'll be able toggle between different GPT models. The subscription also grants you better AI image creation, which will be faster and deliver higher image quality, with optional landscape formatting. It's also worth noting that Copilot Pro is $20 a month per user — plan to shell out more if multiple people in your household need access. 

While Copilot and Microsoft's onslaught of AI announcements throughout 2023 led to plenty of publicity — it actually made us care about poor old Bing again! — it remains to be seen if it actually ends up being useful to general users. That may explain the rush to monetize Copilot for power users so quickly. Copilot queries are expensive, both in terms of computation power and energy use, so Microsoft needs a way to actually recoup some of those costs from its most aggressive users. The company also needs to make good on its $13 billion investment in OpenAI, which gave it a 49 percent stake in the AI firm (and once again raised regulatory scrutiny).

Given how strongly linked they are, it's no wonder Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was instrumental in getting OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman re-instated as CEO, following a dramatic battle with the company's board of directors.

Alongside Copilot Pro, Microsoft says that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now widely available to small companies with its "Business Premium" and "Business Standard" subscriptions. The pricing hasn't changed from its earlier enterprise launch, though: It's still $30 a month per person (except now you can buy between 1 and 299 seats).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-copilot-pro-is-a-20-monthly-subscription-for-advanced-ai-features-234847522.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s Copilot Pro is a $20 monthly subscription for advanced AI features

Posted on by

Almost a year since Microsoft launched its ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat — which is now just called Copilot — the company is announcing its next major AI moves. First, it's launching Copilot Pro, a $20 monthly subscription that gives power users access to the latest ChatGPT releases, as well as access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps and other new features. Additionally, the Copilot iOS and Android apps are now available to everyone, following a limited launch last month.

And that's not all! Microsoft also introduced Copilot GPT, a new feature that will let you tweak Copilot around specific topics like "fitness, travel, cooking and more," according to Microsoft EVP and Windows head Yusuf Mehdi. Copilot Pro users will also be able to create their own Copilot GPTs eventually. (And yes, the name is certainly confusing, but this appears to be Microsoft's version of OpenAI's standalone GPTs.)

Microsoft says that Copilot Pro users will have access to GPT-4 Turbo at peak times starting today, and eventually they'll be able toggle between different GPT models. The subscription also grants you better AI image creation, which will be faster and deliver higher image quality, with optional landscape formatting. It's also worth noting that Copilot Pro is $20 a month per user — plan to shell out more if multiple people in your household need access. 

While Copilot and Microsoft's onslaught of AI announcements throughout 2023 led to plenty of publicity — it actually made us care about poor old Bing again! — it remains to be seen if it actually ends up being useful to general users. That may explain the rush to monetize Copilot for power users so quickly. Copilot queries are expensive, both in terms of computation power and energy use, so Microsoft needs a way to actually recoup some of those costs from its most aggressive users. The company also needs to make good on its $13 billion investment in OpenAI, which gave it a 49 percent stake in the AI firm (and once again raised regulatory scrutiny).

Given how strongly linked they are, it's no wonder Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was instrumental in getting OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman re-instated as CEO, following a dramatic battle with the company's board of directors.

Alongside Copilot Pro, Microsoft says that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now widely available to small companies with its "Business Premium" and "Business Standard" subscriptions. The pricing hasn't changed from its earlier enterprise launch, though: It's still $30 a month per person (except now you can buy between 1 and 299 seats).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-copilot-pro-is-a-20-monthly-subscription-for-advanced-ai-features-234847522.html?src=rss

Ubisoft+ now comes in two flavors and costs up to $18 per month

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Ubisoft is revamping its games subscription service by offering a premium multi-platform plan and adding a less-expensive tier on PC. The company is merging Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access into Ubisoft+ Premium. The new PC tier is called Ubisoft+ Classics. Ubisoft says there will be no automatic changes for existing PC Access subscribers, whose plan will remain the same at current pricing.

Ubisoft+ Premium will run you $18 per month (that's $1 more per month than Game Pass Ultimate, fact fans). It includes access to the premium versions of Ubisoft games, all expansions and monthly rewards. Most importantly, you'll be able to play new Ubisoft games on the day they drop. Select games will be available in early access too. For instance, if you sign up now, you can immediately check out Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which Ubisoft won't officially release until January 18.

What's more, an Ubisoft+ Premium subscription works across Xbox, PC and Amazon Luna. So you might chip away at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on your PC during the work day (we won't tell your boss), continue where you left off on your Xbox after dinner and then wind down for the day by flying around on the back of an ikran on your phone when you're in bed.

Alongside the Ubisoft+ Premium shake up, the company has unveiled Ubisoft+ Classics on PC. This includes access to a collection of "popular back-catalog and live games" for $8 per month. Titles available include Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs: Legion. It's worth noting that PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers have access to the Ubisoft+ Classics lineup at no extra cost.

Ubisoft's head of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, says that Ubisoft+ has outperformed the publisher's expectations in terms of membership numbers. "We've seen millions of players since launch, and they've enjoyed over 600 million hours of play," Tremblay told the Ubisoft blog. Tremblay added that the company decided to introduce Ubisoft+ Classics as "we think it's a strong offer at the price point, and the catalog will only grow as we keep adding games to it as time goes on, so players can discover even more of our worlds.”

While the pricing of the respective services may be off putting for some, it's worth bearing in mind that Microsoft sold the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft in an attempt to appease regulators (it worked). Back in August, Ubisoft said the agreement meant that its subscribers will eventually be able to stream Activision Blizzard games. Ubisoft hasn't yet shared a timeline for adding those titles to its service. "We're working on the offering right now to make sure it's the best possible experience for our subscribers, and we'll have more to share later," Tremblay said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-now-comes-in-two-flavors-and-costs-up-to-18-per-month-210443888.html?src=rss

Ubisoft+ now comes in two flavors and costs up to $18 per month

Posted on by

Ubisoft is revamping its games subscription service by offering a premium multi-platform plan and adding a less-expensive tier on PC. The company is merging Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access into Ubisoft+ Premium. The new PC tier is called Ubisoft+ Classics. Ubisoft says there will be no automatic changes for existing PC Access subscribers, whose plan will remain the same at current pricing.

Ubisoft+ Premium will run you $18 per month (that's $1 more per month than Game Pass Ultimate, fact fans). It includes access to the premium versions of Ubisoft games, all expansions and monthly rewards. Most importantly, you'll be able to play new Ubisoft games on the day they drop. Select games will be available in early access too. For instance, if you sign up now, you can immediately check out Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which Ubisoft won't officially release until January 18.

What's more, an Ubisoft+ Premium subscription works across Xbox, PC and Amazon Luna. So you might chip away at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on your PC during the work day (we won't tell your boss), continue where you left off on your Xbox after dinner and then wind down for the day by flying around on the back of an ikran on your phone when you're in bed.

Alongside the Ubisoft+ Premium shake up, the company has unveiled Ubisoft+ Classics on PC. This includes access to a collection of "popular back-catalog and live games" for $8 per month. Titles available include Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs: Legion. It's worth noting that PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers have access to the Ubisoft+ Classics lineup at no extra cost.

Ubisoft's head of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, says that Ubisoft+ has outperformed the publisher's expectations in terms of membership numbers. "We've seen millions of players since launch, and they've enjoyed over 600 million hours of play," Tremblay told the Ubisoft blog. Tremblay added that the company decided to introduce Ubisoft+ Classics as "we think it's a strong offer at the price point, and the catalog will only grow as we keep adding games to it as time goes on, so players can discover even more of our worlds.”

While the pricing of the respective services may be off putting for some, it's worth bearing in mind that Microsoft sold the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft in an attempt to appease regulators (it worked). Back in August, Ubisoft said the agreement meant that its subscribers will eventually be able to stream Activision Blizzard games. Ubisoft hasn't yet shared a timeline for adding those titles to its service. "We're working on the offering right now to make sure it's the best possible experience for our subscribers, and we'll have more to share later," Tremblay said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-now-comes-in-two-flavors-and-costs-up-to-18-per-month-210443888.html?src=rss

Apple will remove Blood Oxygen app from Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 to evade US import ban

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It seems that Apple will be able to bypass an import ban on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 devices and once again sell those products in the US after dropping a key feature. According to a letter to an appeals court judge from Masimo, a company that's been involved in a patent dispute against Apple, the latter can skirt the ban by removing the Blood Oxygen app from Apple Watch units it sells in the US going forward.

Per the letter, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determined that "Apple’s redesign falls outside the scope" of the International Trade Commission's (ITC) import ban on the two devices. Apple told CBP that its "Redesigned Watch Products definitively do not contain pulse oximetry functionality.” Other details related to the CBP decision are confidential and, as things stand, "no public version of the decision exists," Masimo's letter states.

According to Reuters, however, the CBP decision may be upended if the ITC disagrees. Apple is said to already have shipped modified Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 units to its US locations, but stores were reportedly told not to open or sell the new versions until getting the green light from higher ups.

The Apple Watch Series 9 on a person's wrist in front of some gym equipment, showing the Exercise page of the Move rings app.
Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

In October, the ITC upheld a prior ruling that Apple violated Masimo patents concerning blood oxygen functions on the Apple Watch. The ruling led Apple to pause sales of the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US through its own website and Apple Stores by Christmas Eve. An emergency interim stay of the ITC ruling in late December enabled Apple to start selling the wearables again in the US.

According to 9to5 Mac, Apple's concession won't affect those who already have an Apple Watch with pulse oximetry features. Apple has offered the Blood Oxygen app on its wearables since it released the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020. It's possible that Apple will roll out a new version of the Blood Oxygen app to affected units once it resolves the patent problem.

Soon after Apple said it would stop selling the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 to adhere to the ITC's order, it was reported that the company's engineers were working feverishly on a software update. Those efforts were said to focus on changes to the Blood Oxygen app and its algorithms to ensure the devices violated Masimo's patents.

That said, according to Bloomberg, nixing the app altogether was seen as the quickest (and likely easiest) way to avoid having the ban reinstated, though removing what was once a highly touted feature of the Apple Watch is a significant concession. A federal appeals court could hear an Apple motion to extend the stay (which was granted pending an appeal) on the ban as early as this week.

In a statement, a Masimo spokesperson told Engadget that "Apple's claim that its redesigned watch does not contain pulse oximetry is a positive step toward accountability. It is especially important that one of the world's largest and most powerful companies respects the intellectual property rights of smaller companies and complies with ITC orders when it is caught infringing."

Masimo has claimed that Apple hired its former employees and used its pulse oximetry tech in Apple Watch devices. Apple countersued Masimo, arguing that the company's own smartwatch copies patented Apple Watch features.

Update, January 15, 5:10PM ET: This story was updated after publish to include a statement from Masimo.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-remove-blood-oxygen-app-from-watch-series-9-and-ultra-2-to-evade-us-import-ban-194517839.html?src=rss

Apple will remove Blood Oxygen app from Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 to evade US import ban

Posted on by

It seems that Apple will be able to bypass an import ban on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 devices and once again sell those products in the US after dropping a key feature. According to a letter to an appeals court judge from Masimo, a company that's been involved in a patent dispute against Apple, the latter can skirt the ban by removing the Blood Oxygen app from Apple Watch units it sells in the US going forward.

Per the letter, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determined that "Apple’s redesign falls outside the scope" of the International Trade Commission's (ITC) import ban on the two devices. Apple told CBP that its "Redesigned Watch Products definitively do not contain pulse oximetry functionality.” Other details related to the CBP decision are confidential and, as things stand, "no public version of the decision exists," Masimo's letter states.

According to Reuters, however, the CBP decision may be upended if the ITC disagrees. Apple is said to already have shipped modified Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 units to its US locations, but stores were reportedly told not to open or sell the new versions until getting the green light from higher ups.

The Apple Watch Series 9 on a person's wrist in front of some gym equipment, showing the Exercise page of the Move rings app.
Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

In October, the ITC upheld a prior ruling that Apple violated Masimo patents concerning blood oxygen functions on the Apple Watch. The ruling led Apple to pause sales of the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US through its own website and Apple Stores by Christmas Eve. An emergency interim stay of the ITC ruling in late December enabled Apple to start selling the wearables again in the US.

According to 9to5 Mac, Apple's concession won't affect those who already have an Apple Watch with pulse oximetry features. Apple has offered the Blood Oxygen app on its wearables since it released the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020. It's possible that Apple will roll out a new version of the Blood Oxygen app to affected units once it resolves the patent problem.

Soon after Apple said it would stop selling the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 to adhere to the ITC's order, it was reported that the company's engineers were working feverishly on a software update. Those efforts were said to focus on changes to the Blood Oxygen app and its algorithms to ensure the devices violated Masimo's patents.

That said, according to Bloomberg, nixing the app altogether was seen as the quickest (and likely easiest) way to avoid having the ban reinstated, though removing what was once a highly touted feature of the Apple Watch is a significant concession. A federal appeals court could hear an Apple motion to extend the stay (which was granted pending an appeal) on the ban as early as this week.

In a statement, a Masimo spokesperson told Engadget that "Apple's claim that its redesigned watch does not contain pulse oximetry is a positive step toward accountability. It is especially important that one of the world's largest and most powerful companies respects the intellectual property rights of smaller companies and complies with ITC orders when it is caught infringing."

Masimo has claimed that Apple hired its former employees and used its pulse oximetry tech in Apple Watch devices. Apple countersued Masimo, arguing that the company's own smartwatch copies patented Apple Watch features.

Update, January 15, 5:10PM ET: This story was updated after publish to include a statement from Masimo.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-remove-blood-oxygen-app-from-watch-series-9-and-ultra-2-to-evade-us-import-ban-194517839.html?src=rss