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Claude’s big update makes it the best ChatGPT rival so far – and you can try it for free
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Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot has long been one of the best ChatGPT alternatives and now a big update has taken it to another level – including beating OpenAI's GPT-4o model in some industry standard benchmark tests.

Like Google Gemini, Claude is a family of three different AI models. The new Claude 3.5 Sonnet (which takes the baton from Claude 3 Sonnet) is the company's mid-tier AI model, sitting in between the Claude 3 Haiku (for smaller tasks) and the larger 'Opus' model, which is more like GPT-4.

This new Sonnet model now powers the browser-based Claude.ai and the Claude iOS app, both of which you can use right now for free. Like ChatGPT, there are Pro and Team subscriptions available for Claude that let you use it more intensely, but the free version gives you a taste of what it can do.

So what's new in Claude 3.5 Sonnet? The big improvements are its ability to handle vision-based tasks – for example, creating charts or transcribing handwritten notes – with Anthropic calling it “our strongest vision model yet”. The company also says that Sonnet “shows a marked improvement in grasping nuance, humor, and complex instructions”.

The upgraded Claude is also simply faster and smarter than before, edging out ChatGPT's latest GPT-4o model across many benchmarks, according to Anthropic. That includes setting new benchmark high scores for “graduate-level reasoning”, “undergraduate-level knowledge” and “coding proficiency”.

This means Claude could be a powerful new sidekick if you need help with creative writing, creating presentations and coding – particularly as it now has a new 'Artifacts' side window to help with refining its creations.

Ultimate homework assistant?

Another handy new feature in Claude 3.5 Sonnet is its so-called 'Artifacts' side window, which lets you see and tweak its visual creations without having to scroll back and forth through the chat.

For example, if you ask it to create a text document, graph or website design, these will appear in a separate window alongside your conversation. You can see an example of that in action in the video above, which shows off Claude's potential for creating graphs and presentations.

So how does this all compare to ChatGPT? One thing Claude doesn't have is a voice or audio powers – it's purely a text-based AI assistant. So if you're looking to chat casually with an AI assistant to brainstorm ideas, then ChatGPT remains the best AI tool around.

But Claude 3.5 Sonnet is undoubtedly a powerful new rival for text-based tasks and coding, edging out GPT-4o in benchmarks and giving us an increasingly well-rounded new option for both creative tasks and coding. 

The headline AI battle might be ChatGPT vs Google Gemini vs Meta AI, but if you want a fast, smart AI sidekick to help with a variety of tasks, then it's well worth taking Claude 3.5 Sonnet for a spin in its browser version or iOS app.

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Want Wi-Fi 7 on Windows 10? Forget it, Microsoft has confirmed it’s for Copilot+ PCs only
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Microsoft has confirmed that the superfast wireless speeds that have arrived courtesy of Wi-Fi 7 – for devices and routers with support – will only be coming to the very latest version of Windows 11.

That’d be Windows 11 24H2, of course, and as you might know, this version is only currently available for Copilot+ PCs, but the big update for 2024 will roll out to all Windows 11 users later this year (maybe in September).

For now, though, the new Wi-Fi support is for Copilot+ PCs only, as Windows Latest spotted a Microsoft support document that confirmed this.

In the document on the latest wireless technology in Windows, Microsoft states: “Wi-Fi 7 is available starting with Windows 11, version 24H2.”

Now, that doesn’t mean that Wi-Fi 7 will always be limited to that specific incarnation of Windows 11 – 24H2 (or later) – just that Microsoft is kicking off availability with this version. It might be the case that it’s added to earlier versions of Windows 11 (well, 23H2) before too long.

However, it looks like Windows 10 users are out of luck though, as there’s no mention of the OS – as was the case with Wi-Fi 6E, the advancement on Wi-Fi 6 that previously came through.

Analysis: Wi-Fi 6E misstep unlikely to happen again

So, it seems like Wi-Fi 7 won’t debut for Windows 10, but that isn’t really a massive surprise. Firstly, Windows 10 runs out of support in not that much more than a year now, so it’s going to be limited in terms of new features being introduced anyway (though there will be some new additions into the mix, we know that much – enough to prompt Microsoft to resurrect the Beta testing channel for the OS).

And secondly, Windows 10 didn’t get Wi-Fi 6E as noted above, so it seems unlikely that it’d receive Wi-Fi 7 support. We can’t completely rule it out, of course – as it’s not explicitly stated that Windows 10 won’t – but that seems to be the heavy hint Microsoft is dropping by only mentioning Windows 11 versions.

Now, there is a slight twist here, in that Windows 10 did receive Wi-Fi 6E in what seemed to be a mistake with a single Intel driver that erroneously added support (somehow) – but that driver is reportedly buggy and not to be used (if you can find it at all). So, you could hope this might happen with Wi-Fi 7, but we’re betting it won’t – and Intel has learned from this mistake.

In short, don’t expect speedy Wi-Fi 7 for Windows 10, and of course remember that even on Windows 11, you need a router and PC that supports the new wireless standard to benefit from Wi-Fi 7.

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Report: Amazon might ask you to pay for the best Alexa
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Amazon has spent a good portion of 2024 working on an upgrade for Alexa. Rumors from last month said the tech giant sought to implement AI tech into their assistant allowing it to compete with the likes of ChatGPT. 

Now, as part of a new report, Reuters recently spoke to “eight current and former employees who worked on Alexa,” giving insight into what the future update could bring. These sources claim that the project, “known internally as Banyan,” consists of two versions of Alexa.

The first voice assistant, and Amazon’s main focus, is called “Remarkable Alexa.” This is supposed to be the more intelligent of the two with generative AI features. According to Reuters, it would be capable of performing multiple tasks from a single prompt, such as writing a brief email and ordering delivery. 

The insiders say Amazon also seeks to improve the smart assistant’s conversational skills. You won’t have to repeat the name “Alexa” repeatedly while giving instructions, for example.

Remarkable Alexa will apparently be able to automatically create Routines without direct input from a user since it’ll pay attention to your daily routine. For example, if the assistant hears your alarm clock going off in the morning, it’ll turn on your coffee machine. “Amazon is also aiming to supercharge” home automation, reportedly.

Reuters’ sources state Alexa will connect to “smart devices” that can be controlled via voice commands. In another given example, you could instruct the AI to “turn the porch lights on every day at 8 pm.” The report says customers will need to purchase “additional Alexa-enabled devices” to make house-wide control possible.

Potential pricing

Be aware that the new Alexa will not be a free upgrade. Amazon plans to launch Remarkable Alexa as a monthly add-on to Prime memberships, although the pricing is still in the air as it could cost either $ 5 or $ 10. With a Prime subscription, people could be looking at a total of $ 19.99 to $ 24.99 a month. 

It’s worth noting the sources were critical of the extra charge, wondering if people were willing to pay for something that is already free. What’s more, there may not be a special “tie-in with Amazon’s $ 139-per-year Prime membership.” 

There’s very little information about the second version of Alexa. All that is known is it’ll serve as a replacement for “Classic Alexa,” which is the current version, and will also be powered by artificial intelligence.

Pressure

Reuters claims there is a lot of internal pressure at Amazon HQ to get the Alexa revamp right. Their sources say the project “represents a ‘desperate attempt’ to revitalize the service.” Alexa has never turned a profit in all its years, and its status in the industry has been kneecapped by the rise of generative AI.

Amazon is pushing employees to launch Remarkable Alexa sometime in August, but don’t get too attached to that release window. The launch window, as well as the final pricing, could change, or the project could be canceled at any time. It all depends on how well development progresses moving forward.

As with every leak, take this information with a grain of salt. Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best Alexa speakers for 2024.

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Windows 11’s controversial Recall feature hasn’t just been ditched from Copilot+ PCs – Microsoft’s reportedly stripped it out of test builds of the OS
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Microsoft has seemingly pulled its Recall feature – the AI-powered search that screenshots your PC activity and has caused controversy aplenty – not just from Copilot+ PCs at launch, but now from Windows 11 test builds, too.

If you cast your mind back to a week ago, June 14, Microsoft came forth with an announcement that Recall had been withdrawn from Copilot+ PCs, where it was supposed to be in ‘preview’ at launch, and would instead be available to preview in the “Windows Insider Program (WIP) in the coming weeks.”

In other words, Windows test builds – but of course, the mention of the ‘coming weeks’ suggests that testing of the feature won’t happen immediately in the Canary channel (or other preview channels for that matter).

Still, as Tom’s Hardware observes, Recall functionality was present in build 26236 in the Canary channel – with well-known leaker Albacore uncovering new pieces of functionality – and then, on the day of the launch of Copilot+ PCs, that build had its rollout paused by Microsoft.

Following that, build 26241 emerged in Canary testing, and as Tom’s makes clear, it has no sign of the Recall feature – it has all been stripped out.

Analysis: Recall won’t be ready until it’s ready – and that’s a good thing

Really, then, this is to be expected. As we noted above, Microsoft has said Recall is going into testing, but only in the coming weeks, hinting it’s still a little way off reaching that point. But it’s still interesting to see that Microsoft has stripped it out completely in the Canary channel, after pausing the preview build which had the feature (albeit with changes discovered by Albacore that were hidden in the background).

To us, this indicates that it might be a bit more of a long haul than Microsoft suggests for Recall actually going live even in test builds of Windows 11. But frankly – if this turns out to be the case – we think that’s something to be grateful for, being very much of the opinion that Recall likely isn’t remotely ready yet.

If Microsoft is taking the time to pull it completely, and really get the Recall house in order, before deploying it to Windows 11 testers, that’s a good sign. It’s a kingpin AI feature for Copilot+ PCs, after all, so Microsoft needs to get Recall right, and if that takes time, all well and good as far as we’re concerned.

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Windows 11 loses keyboard shortcut for Copilot, making us wonder if this is a cynical move by Microsoft to stoke Copilot+ PC sales
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What’s going to drive Copilot+ PC sales, do you think? Superb AI acceleration chops? Windows on Arm getting emulation nailed for fast app and gaming performance (on Snapdragon X models)? No – it’s the Copilot key on the keyboard, dummy.

Surprised? Well, we certainly are, but apparently one of Microsoft’s selling points for Copilot+ PCs is the dedicated key to summon the AI on the keyboard.

We can draw that unexpected conclusion from a move Microsoft just made which seems pretty mystifying otherwise: namely the removal of the keyboard shortcut for Copilot from Windows 11.

As flagged up by Tom’s Hardware, the new Windows 11 preview (build 22635) in the Beta channel has dumped the keyboard shortcut (Windows key + C) that brings up the Copilot panel. This is an update that just happened (on June 19), after the preview build initially emerged on June 14.

Microsoft explains very vaguely that: “As part of the Copilot experience’s evolution on Windows to become an app that is pinned to the taskbar, we are retiring the WIN + C keyboard shortcut.”

An Acer Swift Go 14 on a desk

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Analysis: A cynical move by Microsoft?

What now? How is removing a useful keyboard shortcut part of the ‘evolution’ of Copilot? Surely, it’s a step backwards to drop one of the ways to invoke the AI assistant to the desktop?

Now, if Microsoft had big plans for the Windows + C shortcut elsewhere, say another piece of functionality that had come in which required this particular combo, the reasoning might at least be a little clearer. But by all accounts, there’s no replacement function here – Windows + C now does nothing.

As for the reason somehow being tied to Copilot shifting to become an app window, rather than a locked side panel in Windows 11, we don’t see how that has any relevance at all to whether you can open the AI with a keyboard shortcut or not.

As Tom’s Guide points out, seemingly the driver for this change is to make the Copilot key on the keyboard a more pivotal function, replacing the shortcut, but guess what – you only get that key on new Copilot+ PCs (right now anyway). So, the logical conclusion for the skeptical is that this is simply a fresh angle on helping to stoke sales for Copilot+ PCs.

It’s not like you can’t just click on the Copilot icon, of course, so you’re not lost at sea with no AI assistance all of a sudden – but that’s not the point. It is a lost convenience, clearly though, and it feels like a cynical move by Microsoft.

Tom’s Guide points out that you could use third-party key mapping software to restore the functionality of this particular shortcut, but the point is, you really shouldn’t have to bother jumping through such hoops. Come on, Microsoft – don’t pull stunts like this, or, if there is a good reason behind the change, share it, not some waffling soundbites about evolving Copilot.

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Annoying Windows 11 bug that distorted videos playing in Chrome or Edge browsers has finally been squashed
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Perhaps one of the most annoying bugs in Windows 11 has finally been addressed and fixed by Microsoft in the latest update for the OS.

The glitch in question caused visual distortions in videos in Chromium-based browsers for some Windows 11 users, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

The level of distortion changes from user to user, going by reports, but usually includes grey static and general nuttiness when you’re trying to watch a video in your browser! It sounds pretty nasty for those affected.

According to Windows Latest, the issue occurs mostly on PCs with Nvidia graphics cards, and speculation holds that the corruption may be related to Chromium power management. Thankfully, the June cumulative update (KB5039212) has finally squashed the bug, so it shouldn’t bother Windows 11 users any longer. 

A support document from Microsoft states: “This update addresses an issue that distorts parts of the screen. This occurs when you use a Chromium-based browser to play a video.”

The June update for Windows 11 also tackles issues with glitchy or unresponsive taskbars and problems some users had with their PC failing to return from hibernate mode.

Windows Latest tested the fix for visual glitches with videos and reported that it solves the bug. That’s good to hear and means that we have some sort of confirmation that the fix works, so hopefully if you’re experiencing the issue, you should soon see it resolved. 

This nasty browser-related bug has been around for quite some time now, and while I’m glad that the issue has finally been cured, it is rather odd that it’s taken this long. As to why, well, I can only guess the issue was more complex to address than it seems at face value, but at any rate, it’s not the first time we’ve had to wait for ages to get a Windows problem resolved.

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Pro comedians tried using ChatGPT and Google Gemini to write their jokes – these were the hilariously unfunny results
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AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini can do a lot of things, but one thing they aren't renowned for is their sense of humor – and a new study confirms that they'd likely get torn to shreds on the stand-up comedy circuit.

The recent Google DeepMind study (as spotted by the MIT Technology Review) followed the experiences of 20 professional comedians who all used AI to create original comedy material. They could use their preferred assistant to generate jokes, co-write jokes through prompting, or rewrite some of their previous material. 

The aim of the 45-minute comedy writing exercise was for the comedians to produce material “that they would be comfortable presenting in a comedy context”. Unfortunately, most of them found that the likes of ChatGPT and Google Gemini (then called Google Bard) are a long way from becoming a comedy double act.

On a broader level, the study found that “most participants felt the LLMs did not succeed as a creativity support tool”, with the AI helpers producing bland jokes that were akin to “cruise ship comedy material from the 1950s, but a bit less racist”. Most comedians, who remained anonymous, commented on “the overall poor quality of generated outputs” and “the amount of human effort required to arrive at a satisfying result”, according to the study.

One of the participants said the initial output was “a vomit draft that I know that I’m gonna have to iterate on and improve.” Another comedian said, “Most of the jokes I was writing [are] the level of, I will go on stage and experiment with it, but they’re not at the level of, I’d be worried if anyone took one of these jokes”.

Of course, humor is a personal thing, so what kind of jokes did the AI chatbots come up with? One example, a response to the prompt “Can you write me ten jokes about pickpocketing” was: “I decided to switch careers and become a pickpocket after watching a magic show. Little did I know, the only thing disappearing would be my reputation!”.

Another comedian used the slightly more specific prompt “Please write jokes about the irony of a projector failing in a live comedy show about AI.” The response from one AI model? “Our projector must've misunderstood the concept of 'AI.' It thought it meant 'Absolutely Invisible' because, well, it's doing a fantastic job of disappearing tonight!”.

As you can see, AI-generated humor is very much still in beta…

Cue AI tumbleweed

A hand holding a phone running ChatGPT in front of a laptop

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Our experiences with AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot have largely aligned with the results of this study. While the best AI tools of 2024 are increasingly useful for brainstorming ideas, summarizing text, and generating images, humor is definitely a weak point.

For example, TechRadar's Managing Editor of Core Tech Matt Hanson is currently putting Copilot through its paces and asked the AI chatbot for its best one-liners. Its response to the prompt “Write me a joke about AI in the style of a stand-up comedian” resulted in the decidedly uninspiring “Why did the computer go to the doctor? Because it had a virus!”. 

Copilot even added that the joke “might not be ready for the comedy club circuit” but that “it's got potential!”, showing that the chatbot at least knows that it lacks a funny bone. Another prompt to write a joke in the style of comedian Stewart Lee produced a fittingly long monologue, but one that lacked Lee's trademark anti-jokes and superior sneer.

This study also shows that AI tools can't produce fully-formed art on demand – and that asking them to do so kind of misses the point. The Google DeepMind report concluded that AI’s inability to draw on personal experience is a fundamental limitation”, with many of the comedians in the study describing “the centrality of personal experience in good comedy”.

As one participant added, “I have an intuitive sense of what’s gonna work and what’s gonna not work based on so much lived experience and studying of comedy, but it is very individualized and I don’t know that AI is ever gonna be able to approach that”. Back to spreadsheets and summarizing text it is for now, then, AI chatbots.      

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Microsoft’s latest bid to cajole Windows 11 users into switching to Edge is a pop-up 3D banner – and I’m not impressed
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Microsoft has revealed a new tactic in its campaign to persuade Windows 11 users to switch to the Edge browser – and it’s a 3D banner, no less.

I suppose that’s a bit different from the usual nags I’ve seen from Microsoft, which has tried so hard, for so very long, to cajole users into switching to Edge. And honestly, some of these attempts have gotten rather tiresome.

This most recent move to entice new users is a pop-up banner that appears when you open Edge directly (or when opening a file, like a PDF, which is set to fire up Edge), and it features a prompt to get you to set Edge as your default browser.

Going by the screenshot taken by Windows Latest, the banner tries to sway you by stating that Edge will protect you against phishing and malware attacks while employing some kind of a limited three-dimensional effect with the visuals here.

Screnshot of banner

(Image credit: Mayank Parmar via Windows Latest )

In the past, Microsoft has made many attempts to get people to switch to Edge. A classic example is the experience when you’re trying to download Google Chrome on a new machine – you’ve got to use Edge as it’s there by default in Windows 11 – and a banner pops up letting you know that Edge is just as good, if not better and that there’s no need to download Chrome. 

While I can’t comment on the effectiveness of these kinds of banners and pop-ups, I can say that it’s not a concept that works for me. Personally, having multiple nag panels trying to get me to do something is not an approach that works – in fact, it kind of makes me more determined to never open Edge ever again.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I don’t think Edge is an explicitly bad browser by any means, and with the recent AI improvements and features implemented by Microsoft, it has become more popular. However, by now, Microsoft should know that nobody likes a nag, and every little nudge and push makes me – and probably others, too – less likely to give Edge a try. 

For now, I’ll stick with Google Chrome and dismiss these prompts out of principle. 

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Windows 11 could make checking your phone from your PC even better – so Apple, take note for macOS Sequoia
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Windows 11 could put your iPhone or Android device right into the heart of the Start menu, in a manner of speaking – or at least the Phone Link app is apparently headed this way.

That’s according to clues unearthed by MS Power User, which reported on whispers from Windows 11 testers to the effect that Phone Link is set to be made into a Start menu ‘Companion.’

If you’ve missed the Companion panel appearing in Windows preview builds last month, it’s a floating panel that can be docked to the left or right of the Start menu. The Companions it plays host to are a bit like Live Tiles of old, widget-style affairs that display real-time info which is piped through.

In theory, Phone Link will be one of the apps that’ll appear in the Companion panel, as MS Power User took a deep dive into files from Phone Link and found a number of code strings relating to ‘StartMenuCompanion’ settings.

Analysis: Dialing up the work on phone integration

This would appear to be the groundwork for Phone Link to become a Start menu Companion, but of course, this is just work hidden in testing right now – and we can’t take it for granted this will happen. Indeed, the Companion panel itself might be abandoned yet if Microsoft thinks better of it – only time will tell.

Given the rumors, and at least some concrete evidence that Phone Link will get this treatment, it seems more likely to happen than not, on balance. Phone Link would also be a logical and useful app to have in the Companion panel, in order to pipe notifications through from your smartphone, bringing them to your attention when you’re in the Start menu.

Phone Link has been a key part of Windows for some time now, and it’s not surprising Microsoft is pushing ahead with potential features like this – and work on the Cross-Device Experience Host (albeit that has stumbled of late) and other phone-related capabilities besides – given that Apple now has iPhone Mirroring inbound with macOS Sequoia.

Whichever way you dice it, smartphones are becoming more and more deeply integrated into desktop operating systems these days.

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AI-generated movies will be here sooner than you think – and this new Google DeepMind tool proves it
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AI video generators like OpenAI's Sora, Luma AI's Dream Machine, and Runway Gen-3 Alpha have been stealing the headlines lately, but a new Google DeepMind tool could fix the one weakness they all share – a lack of accompanying audio.

A new Google DeepMind post has revealed a new video-to-audio (or 'V2A') tool that uses a combination of pixels and text prompts to automatically generate soundtracks and soundscapes for AI-generated videos. In short, it's another big step toward the creation of fully-automated movie scenes.

As you can see in the videos below, this V2A tech can combine with AI video generators (including Google's Veo) to create an atmospheric score, timely sound effects, or even dialogue that Google DeepMind says “matches the characters and tone of a video”.

Creators aren't just stuck with one audio option either – DeepMind's new V2A tool can apparently generate an “unlimited number of soundtracks for any video input” for any scene, which means you can nudge it towards your desired outcome with a few simple text prompts.

Google says its tool stands out from rival tech thanks to its ability to generate audio purely based on pixels – giving it a guiding text prompt is apparently purely optional. But DeepMind is also very aware of the major potential for misuses and deepfakes, which is why this V2A tool is being ringfenced as a research project – for now.

DeepMind says that “before we consider opening access to it to the wider public, our V2A technology will undergo rigorous safety assessments and testing”. It will certainly need to be rigorous, because the ten short video examples show that the tech has explosive potential, for both good and bad.

The potential for amateur filmmaking and animation is huge, as shown by the 'horror' clip below and one for a cartoon baby dinosaur. A Blade Runner-esque scene (below) showing cars skidding through a city with an electronic music soundtrack also shows how it could drastically reduce budgets for sci-fi movies. 

Concerned creators will at least take some comfort from the obvious dialogue limitations shown in the 'Claymation family' video. But if the last year has taught us anything, it's that DeepMind's V2A tech will only improve drastically from here.

Where we're going, we won't need voice actors

The combination of AI-generated videos with AI-created soundtracks and sound effects is a game-changer on many levels – and adds another dimension to an arms race that was already white hot.

OpenAI has already said that it has plans to add audio to its Sora video generator, which is due to launch later this year. But DeepMind's new V2A tool shows that the tech is already at an advanced stage and can create audio based purely on videos alone, rather than needing endless prompting.

DeepMind's tool works using a diffusion model that combines information taken from the video's pixels and the user's text prompts then spits out compressed audio that's then decoded into an audio waveform. It was apparently trained on a combination of video, audio, and AI-generated annotations.

Exactly what content this V2A tool was trained on isn't clear, but Google clearly has a potentially huge advantage in owning the world's biggest video-sharing platform, YouTube. Neither YouTube nor its terms of service are completely clear on how its videos might be used to train AI, but YouTube's CEO Neal Mohan recently told Bloomberg that some creators have contracts that allow their content to be used for training AI models.

Clearly, the tech still has some limitations with dialogue and it's still a long way from producing a Hollywood-ready finished article. But it's already a potentially powerful tool for storyboarding and amateur filmmakers, and hot competition with the likes of OpenAI means it's only going to improve rapidly from here.

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