Author: News Room
Apple Music: “What do you want to hear?”Me: “Atmospheric instrumental black metal to write to.”Apple Music: “Here’s three metal songs with vocals, a field recording, an ambient electronic track, and a piece of doom jazz.”I am skeptical of AI’s ability to serve up the music I want to begin with, but even I was caught slightly off guard by how underwhelming Apple’s new Playlist Playground beta is. YouTube Music’s AI playlist generator is far from perfect, but when I gave it the same prompt for instrumental black metal, it wasn’t until the fifth track that it delivered something with lyrics,…
Apple’s iOS 27 update will allow users to choose the AI chatbot they want to link with Siri. That’s according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who says third-party chatbots downloaded from the App Store, like Google’s Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude, will be able to fetch replies for Siri — similar to how the voice assistant already works with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.The new system, reportedly called “Extensions,” will give users the ability to enable or disable the chatbots they want to connect with Siri on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, Bloomberg reports. The upcoming integrations will also work with the…
The most expensive Mac you could get is no longer available on Apple’s website, as 9to5Mac reports that the “cheese grater” Mac Pro workstation has been discontinued. It had been a part of the lineup since replacing the Power Mac G5 in 2006 when Apple shifted from Arm to Intel processors, but it’s had the feeling of a vestigial limb ever since Apple dropped Intel for its own M-series chips.The M2 Ultra edition of the Mac Pro launched three years ago, with Apple hardware exec and possible future CEO John Ternus saying that “for those users who need the versatility…
David Sacks, the venture capitalist and tech billionaire who’d become Silicon Valley’s primary advocate inside the White House and a key architect of its aggressive AI policy initiatives, revealed on Thursday that he was no longer a special government employee — and therefore no longer President Donald Trump’s Special Advisor on AI and Crypto.Sacks’ official status as an SGE allowed him to work simultaneously in the private sector and for the government, but for no more than 130 days, raising questions about why he was still in the job more than a year after his appointment. But in an interview…
A good robovac can save you a surprising amount of time. Luckily, Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is a great time to pick one up, as you can currently find deals on everything from basic, budget-friendly robovacs to high-end models that can mop or pick up objects. Whether you’re looking for a completely hands-free experience or just a little help keeping your floors clean, there are plenty of great options on sale right now, some of which have even dropped to their best price to date.To make finding the right vacuum a little easier, we’ve rounded up the best deals from…
Google is rolling out two new Gemini tools on Thursday which could attract users who are thinking about switching their preferred AI chatbot but don’t want to “retrain” a new AI. Gemini’s new “Import Memory” and “Import Chat History” features help users quickly copy over everything their current AI already knows about them with a couple of pre-written prompts.To use the “Import Memory” tool, users copy and paste a suggested prompt from Gemini into their previous AI, then paste the output from the previous AI into Gemini, which should get Gemini caught up on their preferences. The “Import Chat History”…
Death. Taxes. All your streaming services getting a little more expensive all the time. These are the new certainties in life, it seems.Netflix has raised the cost of its subscription repeatedly in recent years. Disney Plus, Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, Peacock — practically any service you can name — charges more per month than it did a few years ago, and many of them have introduced ad breaks. As customers cancel cable more quickly than anyone expected, the studios and distributors are looking for a way to make up the lost revenue. Good shows, live sports, and movies…
The wearable nails the essentials, accurately tracking basic health and fitness metrics. It’s a fine choice if you only want to track steps, though it can go deeper, offering features such as irregular heart rate alerts, sleep insights, and tools for managing stress. The tracker itself is lightweight and comfortable enough to wear while you sleep (The Verge’s Victoria Song sometimes forgot she was even wearing it). Details are easy to read on its bright OLED display, and the tracker can last up to ten days on a single charge. If you don’t want to wear it on your wrist,…
I was ready to give up on the Galaxy Z TriFold.We had a strong case for getting a refund from the eBay seller — they’d claimed it was the version sold in Taiwan, but the phone that arrived at my door came with a Chinese serial number. That meant no Google services and lots of unfamiliar apps all requesting sensitive permissions. It was weird. Better off just sending this one back and trying again to acquire the US version, I thought. Then Samsung discontinued it.Suddenly, the TriFold on my desk wasn’t just a funny thing that happened on the way…
Speaking from experience, better lighting can completely change how a space feels. Over the years, I’ve filled my apartment with Govee’s color-changing lights, and they’ve made it feel calmer and more cheerful. That’s why it’s worth noting that a couple of its table lamps are on sale as part of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, including the Table Lamp 2 Pro, which has returned to its all-time low of $134.99 ($45 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Govee’s storefront. The more basic, bedside-friendly Table Lamp 2 is also available from Amazon, Best Buy, and Govee for $55.99 ($24 off), nearly matching…
Wikipedia will no longer allow editors to write or rewrite articles using AI. The update, which was added to Wikipedia’s guidelines late last week, cites the tendency for AI-written articles to violate “several of Wikipedia’s core content policies” as the reason for the ban.The change applies to the English version of Wikipedia and will still allow editors to use AI in certain scenarios. That includes using large language models to “suggest basic copyedits” to their writing, but only if it “does not introduce content of its own.” Editors can also use AI to translate articles from another language’s Wikipedia into…
It feels like nearly everything is receiving some sort of discount as part of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale — that is, except for most Apple devices. Don’t worry, though; you’re not completely out of luck if you’re on the hunt for discounted Apple gear. We found several noteworthy Apple deals while sifting through Amazon’s catalog and competing sales events. In fact, Apple’s first-gen AirTags are down to their lowest price to date, as are the latest Apple Watch SE and the M4 iPad Air.Below, we’ve rounded up the best Apple deals you can get, many of which are also available…