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Amid a barrage of Amazon-branded tablets and Alexa-powered tech, Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services, announced the companys digital assistant will soon tap into a purpose-built large language model (LLM) for almost every new Echo device. Amazon set out to design the LLM based on five foundational capabilities. One of these is ensuring interactions are conversational, and the company claimed it studied what it takes to make a great conversation. Its not just words; its body language, its understanding who youre addressing, its eye contact and gestures. Still waiting on Amazon to add eyes and hand gestures to its Echo devices. Has anyone seen Astro recently? Based on the demos at Amazons showcase, however, its got some work to do. When Limp asked Alexa to compose a quick message to invite friends over for BBQ, the assistant requested his friends attendance for BBQ chicken and sides which is how we invite humans over for dinner, right? Alexa also outright ignored the Amazon SVPs requests at points during the presentation, but Ill put those issues down to the fraught nature of voice assistant demos in a live setting. Weve pulled all of Amazons announcements together right here. Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth hands-on: Broader horizons and deeper combat Amazons new Echo Frames promises longer battery life and better audio All the hilarious corporate BS you might have missed in the Xbox leaks Apples new FineWoven iPhone 15 MagSafe cases are already discounted Apple Watch Series 9 review Freedom from touching your screen. Engadget With the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple is introducing a new method of interaction: Double Tap. Its also rolling out on-device Siri processing, which will let you ask the assistant for your health data and to log your daily stats. When both hands, or at least your watch hand, are occupied, Double Tap will obviously not be helpful. Youll need to have at least your thumb and index finger available to pinch. But when Engadgets Cherlynn Low is cleaning her apartment, holding a side plank, raising a single dumbbell or reading a book, it makes her life easier. Also, its worth noting that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are the companys first carbon-neutral products. Read on for our full verdict. Continue reading. MGM says its hotels and casinos are back up and running But the full damage of the attack remains unclear. All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company. The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, using a bit of LinkedIn knowledge and a short phone call to access crucial systems across casinos. Worryingly, the attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta and at least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, according to a Reuters report. Continue reading. Amazon debuts Eye Gaze accessibility features on the Fire Max 11 tablet Its also bringing on-screen translations to Alexa calls on its smart displays. Amazon Amazon announced two new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year. First is Eye Gaze on Alexa, which will let those with mobility or speech disabilities use their gaze to perform preset actions on the Fire Max 11 tablet. This is the first time Amazon has worked on gaze-based navigation of its devices, and it will use the camera on the Max 11 to keep track of where a user is looking. The preset actions include smart home controls, media playback and making calls. Eye Gaze will be available on the Max 11 later this year at no additional cost, although the company did not otherwise elaborate on how Eye Gaze actually works. Amazon is also adding a new Call Translation feature that will transcribe Alexa calls on Echo Show devices. It can convert them into over 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The feature will also launch later this year. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-amazon-turns-alexa-into-a-more-conversational-chatbot-for-your-home-111539413.html?src=rss
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With the big switch to USB-C on the iPhone 15, Apple also made the same change to its latest AirPods Pro wireless ANC headphones, with a USB-C charging case. They only just came out over a week ago, but you can already grab them on sale for $200 at Amazon a very solid 20 percent discount. The switch to a USB-C charging case for the AirPods Pro was telegraphed well in advance thanks to various leaks, and we even saw a homemade version from the same guy who adapted an older iPhone to USB-C. The update should (eventually) eliminate a lot of cable clutter, and you can even charge the earbuds directly from an iPhone 15. Along with the new port, Apple also upgraded both the case and earbuds weatherproofing, boosting the rating from IPX4 to IP54 with dust protection. The new model carries the same H2 chip as the Vision Pro headset, so it will support low-latency lossless audio in that device when it launches next year. That did create some controversy, though, as the previous AirPods Pro with a Lightning charging case won't work with Vision Pro. Otherwise, they're much the same as the previous 2nd-generation version. Compared to the first-gen AirPods Pro, they offer better audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC) performance. They have the most natural-sounding transparency mode of any we've tested, meaning you can hear yourself so well you don't need to shout, and at times, it sounds like you aren't even wearing them. Conveniences like hands-free access to Siri, seamless switching between iCloud-connected devices and the added volume control also come in handy. If you already have the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro it's probably not worth getting these. But if you're in the market for a new pair, $50 off is a stellar deal for such a new product but the sale probably won't last long. 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-new-airpods-pro-with-usb-c-charging-case-are-already-50-off-104504086.html?src=rss
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Uber Eats will finally catch up with its peers and start accepting food stamps as payments for grocery deliveries. Starting next year, users will be able to pay for fresh groceries using their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from right within the app. The service is also working with Managed Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans so that people with flexible spending account (FSA) and Flex cards can use them to pay for eligible items, such as fruits and other healthy foods. It also sounds like Uber is adding more "relevant waiver payment" methods nearer launch. By accepting these forms of payment, Uber Eats is making fresh produce and other quality food items more accessible. It could especially benefit seniors and other people who have mobility issues, as well as those who live outside town centers and don't have ready access to transportation. Uber Eats is just the latest restaurant and grocery delivery service accepting SNAP payments, though. Instacart has been accepting food stamps since 2020, starting with a partnership with the grocery chain Aldi. In June, DoorDash announced that it was also accepting SNAP payments in partnership with 4,000 groceries and convenience stores across the US. Uber Eats Before these new payment methods become available, Uber Eats will launch a new AI-powered assistant later this year. Users will be able to chat with the assistant to discover new cuisine, find deals on restaurants and groceries, as well as to quickly reorder meals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-eats-will-begin-accepting-food-stamps-for-grocery-deliveries-in-2024-095521987.html?src=rss
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With its latest Instax camera, Fujifilm has separated the camera from the printer. The Instax Pal is a tiny palm-sized 4.9-megapixel (MP) camera that takes digital photos, then lets you print them to the bundled Instax Mini Link 2 printer with a variety of effects via the new Instax Pal app. Designed for users 13 and up, the idea is to "capture life's spontaneous moments for photo printing," the company says. The camera is automatic, but aperture and shutter settings cover a wide range of shooting conditions, from interior to exterior. It's equipped with a wide angle lens and flash, and lets you shoot in a variety of ways. You can capture images by pushing the large shutter button on the back, or trigger it remotely using the Pal app. It supports interval shooting to capture scenes with 3, 6, 11 or 21 continuous images at three-second intervals. Fujifilm There's a detachable ring for use as a finger strap, simple viewfinder (lol) or a camera stand for remote shooting. Other features include a speaker for audio prompts, a USB-C port for charging, a microSD card slot (the internal memory can hold 50 images) and even a screw mount for a tripod. Via Bluetooth, the Instax Pal app gives you a view through the camera's lens for composing images and triggering the shutter. Images are then automatically copied to the app. You can adjust the exposure by +/- 2 EV and choose two between two quality settings, Rich mode (vivid, with more detail) and Natural mode. When you're ready to print, there's a bundle of effects that includes sepia, cool, vivid and soft, along with controls for brightness, contrast, rotate, crop, text, stickers, emojis and more. Fujifilm Printing from the app is possible, but unfortunately requires a second Fujifilm app for the printer. It lets you print Instax Mini pictures (2.13 x 3.4 inches) in about 15 seconds, with a 1.5-minute development time. Quality is about the same as you'd get with an Instax Mini camera like the SQ40, since the process is the same the only difference is that the Pal's camera is separated from the printer. The advantage to the second app is that you can also print photos from your smartphone's camera reel. Photos can also be sent to friends via the Pal app, or posted to social media all fitting for a camera marketed to teens. The only challenge is that it isn't cheap. The Instax Pal bundle arrives in late October (along with the app) for $200, while the new Soft Lavender Instax film designed for the bundle is $15.75 for a 10 pack (regular Instax film is about $13 for a ten pack). If you only need physical photos, other Instax Mini models are far cheaper at less than $100 but the Pal does support both physical and digital photos, while giving you a smartphone printer to boot. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fujifilms-instax-pal-is-a-tiny-digital-camera-that-lets-you-print-later-091509085.html?src=rss
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OpenAI is gearing up to roll out the third version of DALL-E, its text-to-image AI system, which reportedly improves its predecessor's capabilities and can generate results within the ChatGPT app. The company demonstrated how the new iteration integrates with ChatGPT to The Verge, and it showed the publication how users can ask the chatbot to write a lengthy and detailed prompt the image AI can use. OpenAI told Axios that DALL-E 3 is "significantly better" at being able to grasp a user's intention, especially if the prompt is long and detailed. If a user can't articulate what they want in a way that can maximize the image generator's abilities, then ChatGPT can help them write a comprehensive prompt for it. In the demo to The Verge, DALL-E produced four results for a prompt asking for a ramen restaurant logo in the mountains within ChatGPT. DALL-E 3 was also designed to be better at creating elements its predecessors and other AI generators are having trouble with, such as depictions of hands and texts in images. And it's supposed to have better security measures the company said it trained the new DALL-E ignore certain words in prompts that could lead to explicit or hateful images. In addition, OpenAI has implemented measures that could prevent future potential lawsuits. The current version of DALL-E can generate images in the style of living artists, but the next version was designed to decline requests asking it to mimic their work. Artists will also be able to submit work they own through a form on the website and ask for it to be removed. OpenAI plans to release DALL-E 3 next month to ChatGPT Plus and enterprise customers. The new image generator will then make its way to OpenAI's research labs and API customers sometime this fall, but the company has yet to announce its general public availability. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-dall-e-will-be-able-to-generate-results-within-chatgpt-063833672.html?src=rss
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