AppleMagazine #584

Apple is wrapping up development of its long-rumored, long-delayed mixed reality headset and is gearing up for a launch as soon as early this year, according to Mark Gurman. Recent job listings posted by Apple suggest that the company is seeking to fill content creation roles for the device, suggesting that the core technology is set enough that developers, producers, artists, and the like work confidently with it. That’s in contrast to the product’s state not that long ago, when differing opinions about the product’s feature set, specs, and design led to shifting goalposts that would have been a headache for content creators. Apple’s mixed-reality headset is still on track and its future operating system has a new name, according to a report published last week. Bloomberg claims the name of the operating…

Drone advances in Ukraine have accelerated a long-anticipated technology trend that could soon bring the world’s first fully autonomous fighting robots to the battlefield, inaugurating a new age of warfare. The longer the war lasts, the more likely it becomes that drones will be used to identify, select and attack targets without help from humans, according to military analysts, combatants and artificial intelligence researchers. That would mark a revolution in military technology as profound as the introduction of the machine gun. Ukraine already has semi-autonomous attack drones and counter-drone weapons endowed with AI. Russia also claims to possess AI weaponry, though the claims are unproven. But there are no confirmed instances of a nation putting into combat robots that have killed entirely on their own. Experts say it may be only a matter…

Elon Musk is trying to slash expenses at Twitter as close to zero as possible while his personal wealth shrinks — and this apparently has included falling behind on rent payments at the company’s offices. Twitter owes $136,260 in overdue rent on its offices on the 30th floor of a building in downtown in San Francisco, according to a lawsuit filed by the building’s landlord last week. The landlord at 650 California St., which is not Twitter’s main San Francisco headquarters, served a notice to the social media company on Dec. 16 informing it that it would be in default if it didn’t pay within five days. The five days elapsed without payment, according to the lawsuit. The landlord, Columbia REIT 650 California LLC, is seeking damages totaling the back rent, as well…

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits on his cryptocurrency trading platform as a judge set a tentative trial date for October. Bankman-Fried, 30, denied charges accusing him of illegally diverting massive sums of customer money from FTX to make lavish real estate purchases, donate money to politicians and make risky trades at Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm. Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, announced his client’s plea, saying: “He pleads not guilty to all counts.” Afterward, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan set a tentative trial date of Oct. 2, saying he might move it forward or backward a day or two. A prosecutor estimated it would take the government a month to present its case to a…

2022 was the “Year of AI,” with a McKinsey Global Survey suggesting adoption has doubled since 2017. With brands offering access to mind-blowing tech, platforms like ChatGPT and Dall-E are now household names, introducing us to a new world of creativity and possibility. CHANGING THE WAY WE SPEAK - AND WRITE - WITH CHATBOTS If you’ve spent any time on TikTok over the past two months, the chances are that you’ve heard of artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT, which OpenAI developed. The tool was even praised by Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who wrote, “ChatGPT is scary good. We’re not far from dangerously strong AI” in December 2022 after the software went viral online. The software allows users to type questions using natural language and receive conversational responses, which are generated using vast…

The supply chain shortage continues to tamp down automotive production and sales, but that hasn’t stopped automakers from introducing new and redesigned models. Electric vehicles are the next hot trend, but gas-powered and hybrid vehicles aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and there are plenty of new ones hitting the market this year. The latest models try to sway buyers with more power, the latest tech and fashionable looks. But which are the most impressive? Experts round up five of the most noteworthy vehicles, sorted by price, hitting dealerships this year. 2023 TOYOTA PRIUS When Toyota removed the wraps off the redesigned Prius, most were taken aback by its stylish looks. Gone are the awkward styling and the underpowered hybrid engine. The new powertrain produces almost 200 horsepower — a gain of over…