Monday, October 23, 2023

Tinder rolls out Tinder Matchmaker, which lets loved ones view and recommend potential matches, in the US, the UK, and 13 others ahead of a global launch soon (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Tinder rolls out Tinder Matchmaker, which lets loved ones view and recommend potential matches, in the US, the UK, and 13 others ahead of a global launch soon  —  If you're the kind of person who asks friends and family for help with your love life, Tinder is aiming to make things a little easier …



Uber plans to let users in Turkey's touristic Cappadocia region buy a €150 air balloon ride; ~10% of Turkey's 44.6M visitors in 2022 stayed in the region (Patrick Sykes/Bloomberg)

Patrick Sykes / Bloomberg:
Uber plans to let users in Turkey's touristic Cappadocia region buy a €150 air balloon ride; ~10% of Turkey's 44.6M visitors in 2022 stayed in the region  —  - New service follows Tuk-Tuks in India and boats in Greece  — Unesco-listed Cappadocia is one of Turkey's top attractions



Apple may launch a HomePad with an LCD screen

Apple is reportedly working on prototypes of a HomePod with an LCD screen, according to leaked images shared on social media. The touchscreen on the prototype is said to be larger than the current HomePod panel, and Apple is actively working on the design, suggesting it may be released soon. The company has been rewriting some tvOS apps to make the display operational. https://ift.tt/q4mXewy

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Sources: Apple was caught off guard by the generative AI fever and is on course to spend ~$1B/year to deploy the tech across iOS 18, Siri, Music, and other apps (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple was caught off guard by the generative AI fever and is on course to spend ~$1B/year to deploy the tech across iOS 18, Siri, Music, and other apps  —  But the company is now preparing its response and plans to develop features for its full range of devices.



The Global Times: China launches an investigation into Foxconn over tax and land use and inspects multiple sites; Foxconn plans to cooperate (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
The Global Times: China launches an investigation into Foxconn over tax and land use and inspects multiple sites; Foxconn plans to cooperate  —  Tax authorities said to have inspected a number of the Apple supplier's sites in provinces  —  China has launched an investigation …



Martin Goetz, holder of the first US software patent, died on October 10 at 93; Goetz was awarded a patent for data-sorting software for mainframes in 1968 (Richard Sandomir/New York Times)

Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Martin Goetz, holder of the first US software patent, died on October 10 at 93; Goetz was awarded a patent for data-sorting software for mainframes in 1968  —  “I knew at some point in time the patent office would recognize” computer software, he said.  It happened in 1968, helping to ignite the software market.



Saturday, October 21, 2023

Sources: Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, and most other G7 leaders plan to skip UK's Bletchley Park AI summit in November, denting the profile of the event (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, and most other G7 leaders plan to skip UK's Bletchley Park AI summit in November, denting the profile of the event  —  - Scholz, Trudeau don't plan to attend UK AI summit, people say  — Premier wants nations to brand AI capable of catastrophic harm



Paddy Cosgrave steps down as CEO of Web Summit, which plans to appoint a new CEO and the show, due to start on November 13 in Lisbon, will go ahead as planned (Amy Thomson/Bloomberg)

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Paddy Cosgrave steps down as CEO of Web Summit, which plans to appoint a new CEO and the show, due to start on November 13 in Lisbon, will go ahead as planned  —  Paddy Cosgrave has stepped down from his role as chief executive officer of Web Summit after his remarks following attacks …



A look at the Allen Institute for AI's plan to build "open" generative AI model OLMo; the nonprofit research center is led by former Apple ML leader Ali Farhadi (Steve Lohr/New York Times)

Steve Lohr / New York Times:
A look at the Allen Institute for AI's plan to build “open” generative AI model OLMo; the nonprofit research center is led by former Apple ML leader Ali Farhadi  —  The nonprofit Allen Institute for AI, led by a respected computer scientist who sold his company to Apple, is trying to democratize cutting-edge research.



A look at Discord's new Warning System, which limits users' behavior based on their violation instead of relying on strikes, and avoids permanent bans (Casey Newton/Platformer)

Casey Newton / Platformer:
A look at Discord's new Warning System, which limits users' behavior based on their violation instead of relying on strikes, and avoids permanent bans  —  Most platforms ban their trolls forever.  Discord wants to rehabilitate them  —  Today, let's talk about how the traditional platform justice system …



OpenAI pauses the use of the Sky voice in ChatGPT after users said it sounded too much like Scarlett Johansson, says voice was not chosen to be an "imitation" (Amy Thomson/Bloomberg)

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg : OpenAI pauses the use of the Sky voice in ChatGPT after users said it sounded too much like Scarlett Johansson,...