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Apple is banking on privacy to set its smart glasses apart

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Meta’s AI glasses have been the focus of controversy. | Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge According to Mark Gurman , Apple is planning to reveal its first smart glasses at WWDC next June, with an expectation that they'll launch by the end of 2027. Part of the hold-up may be around the company's efforts to get its privacy features and messaging in order. Smart glasses in general, and Meta's in particular, have ignited controversy over their ability to stealthily capture photos and videos. As Gurman points out: The company has spent more than a decade making privacy one of its defining product messages. Simply entering the same category as Meta risks undermining that reputation, regardless of how Apple's approach differs. Apple … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/971101/apple-smart-glasses-privacy

The US is charging an American citizen for wiping his phone at the border

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The government is prosecuting US citizen Sam Tunick for allegedly providing authorities with a " duress password " that wiped his phone when they tried to seize it at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport on January 24th, 2025. Federal agents detained Tunick at the airport, allegedly questioning him about child exploitation images. However, a motion filed by Tunick's lawyers argues this was simply "a pretext for a fishing expedition into Mr Tunick's connections" to the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta. The government is turning to a little-known and rarely-used statute that makes it illegal to destroy or damage property to stop authorities fr … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/policy/971097/us-charging-american-citizen-wiping-phone-duress-password

You can get three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for almost half off

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Subscribing to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on a recurring basis has been tough to justify recently, even after Microsoft reduced the monthly cost from $29.99 to $22.99. But you can get a better deal on a three-month subscription (valued at $69) by grabbing a digital code at Eneba that costs $39.01 at the time of publication. Game Pass Ultimate grants you access to the full Game Pass library on Xbox (compared to a more limited slice with Premium), including first-party titles and online multiplayer access. The subscription also gives PC gamers access to Microsoft’s catalog of Game Pass games through the Xbox app, though the selection differs a bit between console and desktop. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Where to Buy: $69 $39.01 at Eneba You don’t need me to tell you why deals like these are nice. The costs of subscriptions generally only go in one direction over time, and it is becoming more rare to find worthwhile discounts that give you a break. If you...

Marvel announces Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider, a new Black Panther, and more

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Ryan Gosling on stage at Comic-Con | Image: Marvel Studios While perhaps less dramatic than in years past, Marvel nonetheless had some big reveals lined up for Comic-Con. The highest profile was certainly the announcement that Ryan Gosling would be joining the MCU as Ghost Rider, with the Shawn Levy-directed ( Deadpool & Wolverine ) standalone feature set to drop sometime in 2028. The studio also brought out Ryan Coogler, who officially confirmed Black Panther III is slated for release on December 15th, 2028. He also introduced David Jonsson ( The Long Walk , Alien Romulus ) as T'Chala's son and the new Black Panther in the franchise. Marvel also showed off a new Avengers: Doomsday trailer and seemed t … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/971071/marvel-ryan-gosling-ghost-rider-black-panther-comic-con

The vertical video takeover is here

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This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on all things vertical video, follow David Pierce . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started For a while, every social and media platform had its own identity. YouTube was for clips of TV shows and movies, and the home of so many members of a burgeoning creator community. Instagram was mostly pictures. Netflix was trying to be the on-demand HBO. Facebook was about friends. Twitter was about news. Snapchat was a messaging app. All these apps did have one important … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/column/970756/vertical-video-tiktok-youtube-instagram-streaming-facebook

Google basically confirms the Pixel 11 is getting a price hike

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Google's Vice President of Devices and Services, Shakil Barkat, all but confirmed in an interview with 9to5 Google that its next Pixel phone would cost more than the Pixel 10. Considering the ongoing RAM supply issues due to the explosion of AI data centers, the rumored price hike is not a complete surprise. Companies from Apple to Nintendo , Microsoft to Roku , have all raised their prices in response to the soaring cost of memory. Barkat said that Google had "shielded our consumers from supply fluctuations for as long as possible," but that the "economics have fundamentally shifted and we're not immune to that." He went on to tell 9to5 tha … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/971041/google-confirms-pixel-11-price-hike

Meta is making its AI chatbot more like an assistant

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Meta says its AI chatbot is going beyond just answering questions and generating images. | Image: Meta Meta is upgrading its AI chatbot with new productivity features in a bid to compete with rivals like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude. The update will allow Meta AI to tap into your calendar to help you plan events and generate daily briefings, as well as perform in-depth research that you can steer as it progresses. In a blog post, Meta says this update marks its "next step toward personal superintelligence," something CEO Mark Zuckerberg has touted as the future of AI . Meta is powering the update with its newly released Muse Spark 1.1 model , which the company says will allow its chatbot to go beyond its current capabilities of answering questi … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/970570/meta-ai-chatbot-productivity-update