ChatGPT will get video-creation powers in a future version – and the internet isn’t ready for it

The web's video misinformation problem is set to get a lot worse before it gets better, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman going on the record to say that video-creation capabilities are coming to ChatGPT within the next year or two.

Speaking to Bill Gates on the Unconfuse Me podcast (via Tom's Guide), Altman pointed to multimodality – the ability to work across text, images, audio and “eventually video” – as a key upgrade for ChatGPT and its models over the next two years.

While the OpenAI boss didn't go into too much detail about how this is going to work or what it would look like, it will no doubt work along similar lines to the image-creation capabilities that ChatGPT (via DALL-E) already offers: just type a few lines as a prompt, and you get back an AI-generated picture based on that description.

Once we get to the stage where you can ask for any kind of video you like, featuring any subject or topic you like, we can expect to see a flood of deepfake videos hit the web – some made for fun and for creative purposes, but many intended to spread misinformation and to scam those who view them.

The rise of the deepfakes

Deepfake videos are already a problem of course – with AI-generated videos of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak popping up on Facebook just this week – but it looks as though the problem is about to get significantly worse.

Adding video-creation capabilities to a widely accessible and simple-to-use tool like ChatGPT will mean it gets easier than ever to churn out fake video content, and that's a major worry when it comes to separating fact from fiction.

The US will be going to the polls later this year, and a general election in the UK is also likely to happen at some point in 2024. With deepfake videos purporting to show politicians saying something they never actually said already circulating, there's a real danger of false information spreading online very quickly.

With AI-generated content becoming more and more difficult to spot, the best way of knowing who, and what, to trust is to stick to well-known and reputable publications online for your news sources – so not something that's been reposted by a family member on Facebook, or pasted from an unknown source on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

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Microsoft reveals new Copilot Pro subscription service that turbo-charges the AI assistant in Windows 11 for $20 a month

Microsoft is taking Windows Copilot to the next level with Windows Copilot Pro and bringing Microsoft 365 Copilot to businesses of all sizes. 

Windows Copilot and 365 Copilot are Microsoft’s newest AI digital assistants to help users with all kinds of tasks and projects that we were introduced to last year, and they’re getting a major boost with higher-tier AI functionality. 

Microsoft is officially debuting Copilot Pro, available for individual users to subscribe to for $ 20 per month (per user) starting today January 16. 

This version of Copilot will allow individuals to upgrade their productivity and user experience with the best Copilot has to offer in terms of AI features, capability, performance speed and being able to access Copilot at peak times. 

This will also grant users with a Personal or Home subscription access to Copilot Pro in Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, OneNote, and available for PowerPoint on PC, Mac and iPad. This is similar to the existing Microsoft 365 Copilot made for enterprise customers, which requires an enterprise subscription, but now these Copilot AI capabilities will be available to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers as well. 

The crème de la Copilot on offer

If you choose to sign up for Copilot Pro, it will grant you priority access to the latest OpenAI models, like the state-of-the-art GPT-4 Turbo from OpenAI, and enable you to build and tailor your own Copilot GPT bot to a topic of your choosing. 

Copilot Pro will give users greater agency in how and what they Copilot Pro by allowing them to toggle between models and try out different options to optimize their experience. 

Users will be able to build and mold these personalized Copilot GPTs in a brand new Copilot GPT Builder (similar to the commercial version launched last year) by answering some straightforward prompts, and Microsoft assures us it’s coming soon. 

You can also look forward to an upgrade to the AI image generation from Microsoft with Image Creator from Designer (formerly known as Bing Image Creator). With Copilot Pro, you’ll get one hundred boosts (accelerated image generation processes), greater image detail and quality, and the landscape image format.

Along with the introduction of Copilot Pro for individual use, Copilot for Microsoft 365 will be available to more types of commercial customers, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses. From now on, there’s no employee minimum, lower prerequisites, and more availability of Copilot subscriptions through Microsoft partners.

New upgrades to Copilot and a new Copilot app

Copilot imagery from Microsoft

(Image credit: Microsoft)

For those users that want to continue experimenting with Copilot for free, there’s something to watch out for as well. The free version of Copilot is getting Copilot GPTs that allow you to customize and tailor a Copilot that you can discuss a particular topic of your choosing. Today you should be able to see some of the topics already available, such as fitness, travel, cooking and more.

Along with these developments, Copilot is getting an iOS app and an Android app, and Copilot is coming to the Microsoft 365 mobile app. With these new apps, you’ll be able to have a single AI run across your devices, able to analyze information from your web usage, your PC use, and the apps you use to make its help more context-specific.  

The Copilot app is equipped with the same powerful tools that the PC version benefits from, such as GPT-4, Dall-E 3’s image creation capabilities, and the ability to input your own images into Copilot and have it respond to them

Copilot will be added to the Microsoft 365 app on both iOS and Android devices over the course of the next month for users who have a Microsoft account, and these users will be able to export the content that they generate as a Word or PDF document. Microsoft’s vision for this is that you’ll be able to summon Copilot almost instantly, as soon as you need it, and no matter what device you're currently using.

Microsoft is just getting started

It also looks like there are plenty more Copilot Pro features in the pipeline – similar to how we’ve seen multiple improvements to the standard version of Copilot in Windows 11. Divya Kumar relayed this while speaking to The Verge, referring to Microsoft’s recent release schedule as a “rolling thunder.” 

With Copilot Pro, Microsoft is aiming to catch the attention of “power users like creators, researchers, programmers and others” that might be interested in the latest innovations that it, with its collaborator OpenAI, has to offer. 

Microsoft has recently overtaken Apple as the most valuable company in the world, and it’s not showing signs of losing steam. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, claims that Copilot empowers “every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” If there’s a reason that you might want or even need assistance or advice digitally, it’s clear how eager Microsoft is to be there to meet it.

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CoPilot Pro leak suggests Microsoft will soon make you pay for its ChatGPT Plus features

Microsoft has spent billions on integrating ChatGPT into its Copilot AI assistant for Edge, Bing and Windows 11 – and a new code leak suggests it could be planning to claw back some of that investment very soon.

As spotted by Android Authority, some new Edge browser updates for Android contain several code references to a 'Copilot Pro' tier that isn't yet available. Right now, Copilot (previously called Bing Chat) is completely free and, as Tom's Guide recently noticed, even gives some access to the latest ChatGPT model, GPT-4 Turbo.

But those days could be numbered if Copilot Pro does become a reality. The code contains references to a “pay wall upsell” option, which suggests that Microsoft is planning its equivalent of ChatGPT Plus. The latter currently costs $ 20 / £16 / AU$ 28 per month.

Those strings of code discovered in Edge also give us hints of what kind of features a Copilot Pro subscription might give us. These include access to the newest AI models (in other words, ChatGPT's GPT-4 Turbo), priority server access, and “high-quality” image generation.

While it seems likely that a free Copilot tier will continue to be available, the days of Microsoft giving us quite so many free AI perks, then, could be drawing to a close.

Plus points

Copilot in Windows

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The arrival of a ChatGPT Pro subscription has always been a matter of when rather than if, when you consider how much its costs to run an AI assistant on the scale of Microsoft Copilot. In the case of ChatGPT, some estimates suggest the computer hardware costs could be as high as $ 700,000 a day.

This is why ChatGPT launched its Plus subscription in February 2023 – and, a year on, it looks like Microsoft Copilot Pro could soon be following in that paid model's footsteps. 

Unfortunately, that could mean the free version of Copilot becoming a bit dumber, as that version currently gives you access to ChatGPT's latest models and also Dall-E 3 image generation. 

Hopefully, some of Copilot's current restrictions, like being limited to 300 conversations per day, will also be eased in the Pro version. While we don't yet know when this Copilot Pro tier might launch, it looks like we could find out very soon.

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An Apple Vision Pro Pencil could be on the way, based on a new patent

We now know that the Apple Vision Pro is going to be available to buy from February 2, with preorders opening on January 19, but a newly discovered patent suggests that Apple engineers are busy looking to the future of the mixed reality headset.

The patent, spotted by Patently Apple, shows what looks like a giant Apple Pencil. The idea is that the implement could be used to write or draw in virtual space, or to select and manipulate items that exist in virtual or augmented reality.

“A handheld controller with a marker-shaped housing may have an elongated housing that spans across the width of a user's hand and that can be held like a pen, pencil, marker, wand, or tool,” reads part of the patent application.

And while a “head-mounted device” like the Vision Pro is extensively referenced in the documentation, this peripheral could also be used with phones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, and other devices, according to the patent.

Apple Vision Pro Pencil patent diagram

Like the Apple Pencil… but bigger (Image credit: USPTO/Apple)

Virtual paint brushes

One of the cool little tricks that this implement might offer, as per the patent, is being able to display a range of “brush heads” that are only visible in AR – so it could change from looking like a paintbrush to a spray can inside the Vision Pro headset, for instance.

We've got minions of swipes and waves and shakes, as well as writing and drawing, so there's clearly lots of potential for whatever this device is. All these movements would be measured via sensors built into the pencil itself.

Apple has made a point of saying that you only need your fingers and hands to manipulate the software environment inside the Vision Pro headset, but we've also seen other patents that suggest other input methods are currently being worked on.

The usual patent disclaimers apply here: these filings give us some ideas about the tech that companies are developing and thinking about, but at the same time there's no guarantee that an actual product will result from them.

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The 5 best VR headset and AR glasses announcements at CES 2024

Every January, the Las Vegas convention centers are full to the brim with exciting new tech for CES, and that’s no different for CES 2024. And what tech is more exciting than the best VR headsets and AR glasses?

We scoured CES 2024 for the best VR and AR tech announcements. We drove in AR-powered cars, tested a bunch of different glasses, and even subjected ourselves to a haptic suit.

It was all worth it, though, to find five fantastic gadgets for this CES 2024 round-up. 

If you want to check out more of the awesome tech showcased at CES, we’ve got a guide to the 20 best gadgets of CES 2024 and the best wearable and fitness tech of CES 2024.

1. New Qualcomm XR2+ chip

This isn’t a VR headset, and, technically, it was revealed before CES, but we’re including it here because Qualcomm gave us a more in-depth look at the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 at the Las Vegas tech convention. This chipset is going to feature in a number of the best VR headsets we see released in the next few years.

Key Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 specs, including that it has support fo 4.3k displays, 8x better AI performance, and 2.5x better GPU performance

(Image credit: Qualcomm)

This powerful successor to the XR2+ Gen 1 found in the Meta Quest Pro will power the next generation of enterprise headsets. This includes the Samsung VR headset being developed in partnership with Google.

In practical terms, the chipset can support displays up to 4.3K resolution per eye running at 90Hz, boasts a 2.5x better GPU performance than the XR2 Gen 2 found in the Meta Quest 3, and has 8x better AI performance. It can also support Wi-Fi 7 and full-color mixed reality passthrough.

Qualcomm is currently the name in the XR chipset game, and we expect the XR2+ Gen 2 will only further cement its position. And it might help rival XR gadgets prove they're just as capable as the Apple Vision Pro.

2. Asus AirVision M1 glasses 

Speaking of Apple, this year’s CES prize for the gadget that sounds most like a knockoff Apple product goes to the AirVision M1 glasses from Asus.

A mannequin wearing the Asus AirVision M1 while looking at AR spreadsheets floating in front of them

(Image credit: Asus)

The name might be reminiscent of the Vision Pro – sprinkling in aspects of the iPad Air and Apple’s M1 chipset found in some iPads and Macbooks – but is almost completely unrelated to Apple’s hardware. The only minor similarity is that these specs are a wearable AR display. 

The Asus glasses don’t function on their own; you need to plug them into a compatible phone or computer with a USB-C display port (meaning it can output video and audio through USB-C). These kinds of gadgets are admittedly a lot of fun, but our experience with them is that they’re still pretty pricey for what you get. The resolution is only full-HD, and you often need to buy several not-so-optional add-ons to get the most out of your experience – raising the price above the usual $ 400 / £400 / AU$ 600  price you already pay for smart spectacles.

We haven’t yet tried the Asus AirVision M1 glasses – nor do we know what regions they’ll be available in or when the launch date is – so we’ll reserve judgment on them for now. But if you’re after a pair of specs that lives up to what you expect from “AR glasses” the next item on this list might be a better pick.

3. Xreal Air 2 Ultra 

The Xreal Air 2 Ultra floating in front of a black background wqith the word 'Xreal' below them in red

(Image credit: Xreal)

Xreal makes some of our favorite smart glasses – you can find out more about the AR specs it made before in our Xreal Air review and Xreal Air 2 Pro review – and at CES 2024, it debuted something that promises to be even better than what we’ve seen from it in the past.

The Xreal Air 2 Ultra goes beyond simply projecting an AR screen in your real-world space like its predecessors. It’s a proper spatial computer complete with a camera – so the device can track your hands and identify real-world objects that virtual elements can interact with. 

However, while the glasses sound a lot like the Apple Vision Pro there’s one downside – you need an external device to power them. Specifically, Xreal lists only the Samsung Galaxy S22, the Samsung Galaxy S23, and a “custom computing unit” that is yet to be released as the gadgets fit for the job. If you aren’t interested in spatial computing you could use them as a wearable full-HD display for any gadget with a USB-C display port.

On the flip side, even if you buy a new Samsung phone, you could get a whole Xreal spatial computing package for around $ 1,000 / £1,100 if you can find a Galaxy S22 on sale. This is less than a third of the price of the $ 3,499 Apple Vision Pro – though it is a lot pricier than the $ 499.99 / £479.99 / AU$ 799.99 Meta Quest 3.

We don’t yet know how well this Air 2 Ultra experience compares to its rivals, but if it can deliver a solid experience Xreal could be on to a winner.

4. AR glasses in a car 

BMW AR Experience

My ride. (Image credit: Future)

BMW has been finding ways to bring XR tech to cars for a while. We’ve previously seen its efforts to bring VR offices and entertainment on your travels so car passengers can do more with their journey, but its CES 2024 demo centered on drivers.

Thanks to a pair of Xreal Air 2 glasses, we saw AR directions that guided us through the streets of Las Vegas (for the demo, we were in the passenger seat while someone else drove). We could also see warnings about upcoming potholes, stop signs, and how much charge the electric vehicle had left.

This was all just a very well-made research pilot to help inform the future of driving tech. But the BMW AR experience sold us on the idea, so we hope this kind of tech isn’t too far from being more than just a prototype. 

5. Sony’s enterprise headset 

Siemens Sony headset

(Image credit: Siemens)

Most people think of entertainment when they think of VR, but there’s a huge push to bring more XR gadgets to industry – a trend that the newly announced Sony XR headset continues.

Created in partnership with Siemens, the device is designed to help companies bring more stages of production – in particular, design and prototyping – into the metaverse. Using the headset, they can produce and analyze 3D models of their designs and diagnose any issues before investing in real-world prototypes.

In general, the headset looks pretty standard, but it does feature an odd pair of handsets. One is a more traditionally shaped VR controller, while the other is a ring. The advantages of this setup are that you have a hand free to more easily interact with real-world objects, and you can get hands-on with virtual objects while still having the convenience of buttons on a controller.

There’s not much more to say about the headset for now, but given its standalone design maybe it’ll pave the way for a successor to the PSVR 2 headset that’s no longer tethered to a PlayStation console.

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What exactly is the Rabbit R1? CES 2024’s AI breakout hit explained

We were first introduced to the Rabbit R1 in January 2024, at CES 2024, but what exactly is it? The charming sidekick (designed by Teenage Engineering) is promising to take pocket gadgets to the next level – offering something like a smartphone, but with an intuitive, unified, AI-driven interface that means you (theoretically, at least) need to interact with individual apps and websites.

If you're curious about the Rabbit R1 and the ways in which it might change the course of personal computing – or at least show us how next-gen smartphone voice assistants might work – we've gathered together everything you need to know about it here. From what it costs and how it works, to the AI engine driving the R1 experience, all the details of this potentially revolutionary device are here.

The first batches of the Rabbit R1 are due to start shipping to users later in 2024, although it seems availability is going to be rather limited to begin with – so you might have to wait a while to get your very own Rabbit R1.

Rabbit R1: one-minute overview

Rabbit r1 device

The r1 (Image credit: Rabbit)

The Rabbit R1 is a lot like a phone in terms of its looks, and in some of its features: it has a camera and a SIM card slot, and it supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. What's different, and what makes the Rabbit R1 special, is the interface: instead of a grid of apps, you get an AI assistant that talks to your favorite apps and does everything for you.

For example, you could get the R1 to research a holiday destination and book flights to it, or queue up a playlist of your favorite music, or book you a cab. In theory, you can do anything you can already do on your phone, just by asking. That said, there remain a lot of questions over exactly how it works and protects your privacy in the way it describes.

We've seen next-gen personal assistants depicted in movies like Her, and the R1 is trying to make that a reality – leveraging the latest AI capabilities to replace the traditional smartphone interface with something a lot more intuitive and slick.

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Another way to think about the Rabbit R1 is as an evolution of the Amazon Echo, Google Nest, and Apple HomePod smart speakers. The voice-controlled digital assistants on these devices can do some rudimentary tasks – like check the weather or play music – but the R1 wants to go way beyond what they're capable of.

Rabbit says the R1 is “the future of human-machine interfaces”, and you can check out its pitch for the device in its very Apple-flavored CES 2024 keynote below.

Rabbit r1: release date and price

The first batch of 10,000 units of the Rabbit R1 were made available to preorder at the same time as the device was announced at CES, on January 9, 2024. Those units quickly sold out, as did a second batch of 10,000 units made available shortly after.

Rabbit says that the people who got their preorders in should start having their devices shipped to them in March and April 2024. At the time of writing, there's no indication yet when another batch of units will be made available to preorder, or when we might see the r1 go on sale more widely.

What we do know is that the price of the Rabbit R1 starts at $ 199, which works out at around £155 / AU$ 300. To begin with, the Rabbit R1 is available to order in the US, Canada, the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, and Japan, from the Rabbit website.

What's more, unlike rival AI devices such as the Humane AI Pin, there's no ongoing subscription fee that you have to pay out.

Rabbit r1: hardware

Rabbit r1 device

The r1 comes in a distinctive color (Image credit: Rabbit)

The Rabbit r1 is square, and bright orange, and comes with a 2.88-inch color touchscreen on the front. It's quite a compact device, almost small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, and it weighs in at 115 grams (about 4 oz). There's only one design, for now – you can't pick this up in multiple colors.

We know there's a far-field mic embedded in the R1, as well as built-in speakers. There's an integrated 360-degree camera here too, which is apparently called the Rabbit Eye. You can interact with elements by touching the screen, and there's an analog scroll wheel at the side of the device as well, if you need it.

Rabbit r1 device

The r1 camera (Image credit: Rabbit)

On the right of the Rabbit R1 is a push-to-talk button, which you make use of whenever you want to talk to the AI assistant on the device. There's no need for any “hey Google” or “hey Siri” wake command, and it also means the assistant doesn't have to be constantly listening out for your voice. Double-tapping the button activates the on-board camera.

Under the hood we've got a 2.3GHz MediaTek Helio processor, and Rabbit says the device offers “all day” battery life. That battery can be charged with a USB-C charge cable and power adapter, but it's worth bearing in mind that these aren't included in the box, so you'll have to use ones you've already got.

Rabbit R1: software

With its bright orange casing, the Rabbit r1 looks kind of cute, but it's the software that really makes it stand out. If you've used something like ChatGPT or Google Bard already, then this is something similar: Rabbit OS is fronted by an AI chatbot, capable of both answering questions and performing tasks.

In the CES keynote demo, Rabbit founder and CEO Jesse Lyu showed the R1 answering philosophical questions, checking stock prices, looking up information about movies, playing music on Spotify, booking an Uber, ordering a pizza, and planning a vacation (complete with flights and hotel reservations).

Rabbit r1 software

The r1 runs Rabbit OS (Image credit: Rabbit)

To get some of this working, you need to connect the Rabbit OS with your various apps and services, which can be done through a web portal. From the demo we've seen, it looks as though Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Expedia, Uber, eBay, and Amazon will be some of the services you can connect to.

Rabbit is keen to emphasize that it doesn't store any of your login details or track you in any way – it simply connects you to the apps you need – though the specifics of how it does this via the cloud are still unclear. 

Rabbit's privacy page gives us a few more details, stating that “when you interact with rabbit OS, you will be assigned a dedicated and isolated environment on our cloud for your own LAM [large action model]. When our rabbits perform tasks for you, they will use your own accounts that you have securely granted us control over through our rabbit hole web portal”.

It also adds that “we do not store your passwords for these services. Rabbits will ask for permission and clarification during the execution of any tasks, especially those involving sensitive actions such as payments.” Exactly how Rabbit provides each user with a “dedicated and isolated environment” in its cloud isn't yet clear, but we should find out more once it lands with its first early adopters.

We've also been told the R1 can handle communication, real-time translation, and analyze images taken with the camera – show the R1 what's in your fridge, for example, and it could up with a dish you can cook.

The Rabbit R1 promises speedy responses too, quicker than you'd get with other generative AI bots. You can converse with the R1 as you would with Siri or Google Assistant, or you can bring up an on-screen keyboard by shaking the device. It calls its on-board AI a Large Action Model or LAM, similar to a Large Language Model or LLM (familiar from bots like ChatGPT), but with a lot more agency.

Rabbit r1 keynote

The r1 wants to take over multiple phone tasks (Image credit: Rabbit)

On top of all this, Rabbit says you can teach the R1 new skills. So, if you showed it how to go online and order your groceries for you, the next time it would be able to do that all by itself. In the CES demo, we saw the Rabbit R1 learning how to create AI images through Midjourney, and then replicating the process on its own.

Interestingly, Rabbit says it doesn't want the R1 to replace your phone – it wants to work alongside it. The R1 can't, for example, browse YouTube, check social media or let you organize your email (at least not yet), so it would seem that the humble smartphone will be sticking around for a while yet.

While some of the specifics about how the Rabbit R1 works and interacts with your favorite apps and services remain unclear, it's undoubtedly one of the most exciting pieces of AI hardware so far – as shown by the rapid sell-out of its early stock. We'll bring you more first impressions as soon as we've got our hands on one of 2024's early tech stars. 

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Microsoft forges ahead with adding new features to Windows 10 as the OS gets another Windows 11 capability

Remember when Microsoft said Windows 10 wouldn’t get any more features, and was effectively on ice, with the exception of minor tweaks? Well, the reversal of that policy is clear enough now, as another inbound feature for Windows 11 is also coming to its predecessor OS.

Namely a ‘richer weather experience’ – including dynamic, interactive weather updates – on the lock screen.

This is something that’s already been spotted in testing for Windows 11, and is now in the latest preview build for Windows 10 (version 19045.3992).

It means that when you hover over the weather on the lock screen, further info is revealed. On top of that, if you click the weather card, you get the MSN website weather forecast popping up (in Microsoft’s Edge browser, as you might guess).

This will be the default setup for the lock screen if its status is set to ‘none’ Microsoft explains, but you will be able to turn it off if you wish.


Analysis: Thawing the feature freeze

Okay, so this is no big deal as a feature, but nonetheless it is a new piece of functionality, and not a minor tweak. Of course, the other addition since Microsoft announced that feature freeze for Windows 10 was the introduction of Copilot – and you couldn’t get a more major move than that.

As Windows Central (Zac Bowden), which spotted this latest development, points out, late last year, when Copilot was announced for Windows 10, Microsoft did say it was revisiting its decision to halt features for the older OS, and planned to make ‘additional investments’ in the operating system. It appears that this is happening, then, and we can likely expect further features to be bolted on to Windows 10 as 2024 rolls onwards.

Furthermore, Bowden has heard on the grapevine that Microsoft will be reopening the Windows 10 Beta channel for testers, which is a clear suggestion that more features will be on the way for the operating system – as they’ll need to go through a full testing process.

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Windows 11 could get next-gen USB4 Version 2.0 support with speeds of up to 80Gbps

Windows 11 could soon benefit from super-fast USB devices, as Microsoft is currently testing support of a new 80Gbps USB standard.

This will be the successor to USB4, capable of delivering data transfer speeds of up to 80 Gbps (doubling USB4’s speed) and is known as USB4 Version 2.0. The preview was released through Microsoft’s Dev Channel in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft’s own community for professionals and Windows enthusiasts to try out new features and versions of Windows OSs and provide feedback.

The testing will be constrained to a very, very limited number of users for now because to facilitate this USB speed standard, your PC will have to have one of Intel’s most cutting-edge processors, the Intel Core 14th Gen HX-series mobile processors. 

This line up of processors was only just announced at CES 2024 on January 8, so very few users will have access to them in the present. 

As Microsoft details in its Windows Insider Blog, this is the first substantial update to the USB4 standard, doubling USB transfer speeds from 40Gbps to 80Gbps. Here’s what Microsoft had to say, expanding on what this development will mean for future devices: 

This is the first major version update of the USB4 standard and increases performance to 80Gbps from 40Gbps. It enables the next generation of high-performance displays, storage, and connectivity. It is fully backwards compatible with peripherals built for older generations of USB and Thunderbolt and works alongside all other USB Type-C features.

Microsoft Teams copilot

(Image credit: Microsoft Teams)

What else Microsoft is testing out right now?

The Windows 11 Preview Build 23615 offers testers a crop of new features including USB4 Version 2.0. One other introduction besides the USB speed upgrade that Microsoft is looking into is launching Copilot automatically when Windows 11 starts up, specifically for widescreen devices (no specifying exactly what qualifies as wide enough for this). Windows observers don't seem so hot on this prospect, and it seems like Microsoft knew this was likely and provided instructions on how to disable it: Settings > Personalization > Copilot. 

In this build, Microsoft also added apps that you can share URLs directly to via the Windows share window, namely WhatsApp, Gmail, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. If you’d like to try this in Microsoft Edge, for instance, you do have to first enable the Share button as it’s disabled by default. You can do this by going to the three dot icon in the top right of Edge, going to Settings, scrolling down to “Select which buttons to show on the toolbar:” and toggling on for the Share button to be displayed.

Then, you’ll need to highlight or copy the link you want to share, and then click the Share button to the right of the address bar (which will be grayed out at first but then darken when you’ve selected a link).

While the above build is still being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, these new features will also be made available through a gradual rollout in Beta build 22635.3061 via the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program.  Users who install this build will need to turn the toggle on to enable the new features if they’d like to try them. Thurott.com has detailed this and more features and preview build versions that have just been released that Windows Insiders can try out now. 

It’ll be a little while before we start seeing the effects of the USB4 Version 2.0 standard and you’ll have to get one of the newest Windows PCs available to see it for yourself. It sounds very promising and will likely improve users’ experiences when USB4 Version 2.0 devices and accessories start to roll out.

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Microsoft is planning to make Copilot launch when Windows 11 starts – and it could spark the next user backlash

It looks like Microsoft is going to make Copilot, its new AI assistant, start up automatically on PCs with ‘wide screens’ running suitable versions of Windows 11. As it happens, most PC screens are wide, so it seems like Microsoft wants to get Copilot in front of as many users as possible. 

This potential development has been discovered in a Windows preview build that’s just been released in the Dev Channel of the Windows Insider Program. The Windows Insider program is Microsoft’s official community of professionals and Windows enthusiasts who can access previews of new Windows features and versions. Windows Copilot’s interface opening automatically when a PC boots up is being trialed as part of preview build 23616, and it’s worth pointing out that this feature is still in the testing stages and may not end up being included in a finalized Windows 11 update that’s rolled out to all users. 

The feature is already being called controversial, which I understand – I get very annoyed when apps and features are sneakily enabled to start up automatically when I turn on my laptop. Also, in a Microsoft Windows Blog post, it does emphasize that users can turn off this feature, which will probably be the case if it makes it into a final Windows update version. Even Windows Insiders who are in the Dev Channel may not see it at the moment, as the rollout of the preview build is ongoing.

Here’s what Microsoft has to say about this Copilot change: 

We are trying out opening Copilot automatically when Windows starts on widescreen devices with some Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This can be managed via Settings > Personalization > Copilot. Note that this is rolling out so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see this right away.

Screenshot of Windows Copilot in use

(Image credit: Microsoft)

A frosty reception so far

Microsoft didn’t specify which widescreens will qualify for this automatic feature – specifically what aspect ratios will be eligible. Windows Central asks if “widescreen” means common 16:9 and 16:10 screens, or ultrawide monitors with 21:9 ratios.

So far, this is being received as unnecessary and possibly annoying, especially as Copilot currently is pretty limited in what it’s able to do. Windows Central speculates that this update could be laying the groundwork for a more substantial Copilot update, suspected to be in development for the next iteration of Windows (unofficially known as “Windows 12”). 

When Microsoft presented its vision for Copilot, it was presented as an AI assistant that would work across a multitude of apps and could enhance users’ productivity. When it becomes something that’s more familiar (and popular) like Microsoft hopes, maybe there’s a case for Copilot opening up as soon as your PC turns on. 

At present, Copilot isn’t there yet – and this move will probably just end up rubbing users the wrong way, especially if it ends up slowing down the time it takes for their PCs to load Windows 11. 

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Google Assistant is slated to ditch 17 features in the coming weeks

Google Assistant is going to be shedding some weight as at least 17 “underutilized” features will be removed in the coming weeks.

In a recent announcement post, the tech giant says it wants to focus on the parts of its digital assistant that people actually use, so it will be getting rid of the ones that see little interaction. A list of upcoming dropped features can be found on the Google Help website. They include playing audiobooks on Google Play Books via voice command and asking for information about your contacts. For every feature being removed, the company recommends workarounds you can use to replicate the same action. For example, even though users won’t be able to control audiobooks with their voice, they can still cast them from a mobile device.

Pulling the plug

Not everything will receive an equivalent workaround. Google Assistant’s integration with Calm is getting axed, and there’s nothing you can do to duplicate the service. Google instead recommends playing a meditation video on YouTube. 

It’s worth pointing out that although the Help page lists 17 features, the wording implies more will be removed. We reached out asking for details regarding the exact number of deprecated features. This story will be updated at a later time.

It’s unknown exactly when the company will shut everything down. The announcement post states that beginning on January 26, Google Assistant will send a notification telling you a feature “won’t be available after a certain date” if you ask for it. That day officially remains a mystery. However, 9To5Google claims in its report the date is February 26 for most features. The Nest Hub Commute Tiles and Google Maps App Launcher will go offline a little earlier on February 7.

Upcoming tweaks

In addition to all of the removals, Google will be making a few tweaks to its mobile app. 

Using the microphone icon will now activate “Search results in response to your queries”. But you'll no longer be able to use said microphone for certain Google Assistant actions, like turning on the lights or sending texts. This deprecation extends to the search bar on Pixel phones. On the smartphone, tapping the icon will activate Voice Search instead of Assistant.

The company admits these changes may be jarring for some. If there are issues, they ask that you say “Hey Google, send feedback” to Google Assistant and share your thoughts. 

If you're in the market for an AI assistant to help with your daily routine but don't know where to start, check out TechRadar's list of the best smart speakers for 2024.

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