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Microsoft to lay out its ambitious vision for AI integration in Windows 11 – here’s what to expect
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Microsoft is moving full steam ahead with its AI efforts, and could soon present its major plans in a special event. It’s anticipated that the company may take to the stage to announce continuing AI integration into Microsoft products, such as Windows 11, Microsoft 365 services, Surface, and others. 

It’s expected that we could even see this announcement as soon as today, Thursday 21, as Microsoft is due to host an event in New York City, which is widely-expected to focus on new Surface devices. However, The Verge points out that this is closely following the announcement of the resignation of the now former Windows and Surface chief Panos Panay.

The Verge has also gotten hold of a memo where Microsoft’s head of consumer marketing, Yusuf Mehdi, highly praises Panay. He then references today’s “special event” which will expand on Microsoft’s and OpenAI’s existing partnership and that this will be “only the beginning” of Microsoft’s AI-powered vision. 

Mehdi directly references Microsoft’s recent integration of OpenAI’s tech into Edge and Bing, as well as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft’s new AI voice assistant Windows Copilot. These improved tools will come installed on all new Windows 11 PCs, including Microsoft’s own Surface lineup and those of OEM partners (OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer – meaning Microsoft’s partners that also make devices that come with Windows pre-installed, such as Dell). The memo wraps up with Mehdi saying the event “will lay out the vision for what’s ahead.” 

All eyes on the Microsoft event

Microsoft

(Image credit: Unsplash)

Microsoft's internal reshuffling

He went on to indicate that there will be innovations for Microsoft’s Surface, silicon, and devices, headed by Pavan Davuluri.  Interestingly, there have been reports that Microsoft is actively working on its own AI chips that could challenge Nvidia’s chips. 

We could see more information about this at today’s event. The Verge speculates that Microsoft might be trying to convince OEMs to use neural processing unit (NPU) chips that can efficiently handle AI tasks and future Windows versions (such as Windows 12) in their new devices. One model that is expected to debut at the event is the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and it could have one of these new NPU components. 

Mehdi has also spoken on how Microsoft is directing its leadership and organization of its workforce to increase focus on AI and Microsoft Copilot. He is seemingly being pushed by Microsoft as the public face of Windows now that Panay has left, although he doesn’t directly head up any core teams that develop and deliver Windows. The wider leadership approach Microsoft is taking for Windows development and device hardware is spread among three key people: Yusuf Mehdi, Pavan Davuluri, and Mikhail Parakhin, who heads up the team combining Windows, Web, and Services. 

The last of these, Pakhin, is currently Microsoft’s CEO of advertising and web services, and is considered the main engineering leader when it comes to Windows. He’s a less visible public figure, not even putting a profile picture on X (formerly Twitter). Mehdi will be the one to watch for updates about the larger Windows picture, whereas Davuluri and Parakhin will be tasked with making the AI vision for Windows and other devices a reality.

Man tapping a cloud icon

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

What Microsoft products might look like in the future

We’ve already seen the first steps of integrating the newly-improved Bing Search and recently added Bing AI right into Windows menus and the taskbar. It’s expected that this integration of web technologies, AI, and services right into Windows will continue. The Verge suggests that Windows is being pivoted to live fully on the web, and this was seemingly backed up in the FTC v. Microsoft hearing that featured an internal Microsoft presentation. This presentation laid out Microsoft’s plans to move the consumer version of Windows to fully live in the cloud.

Whatever the case is, I think we can expect to see something major, perhaps even a bold new direction, as Microsoft says goodbye to Panay. Mehdi wraps up his memo by putting out a call to action for his and other Microsoft staff, and it’s clear that Microsoft very much has his head in the game, despite the high-profile loss of Panay. Today’s event will certainly be an interesting one for anyone interested in the future of Windows and Windows devices. 

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Adobe’s free version of Firefly finally exits beta – here’s how to access it
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Adobe has announced it is expanding the general availability of its Firefly generative AI tool on the company’s free Express platform. 

More specifically, the Text to Image and Text Effects tools are finally exiting their months-long beta. The former, as the name suggests, allows users to create unique images just by entering a word prompt such as horses galloping or a monster in a forest. The latter lets people create floating text bubbles with fonts sporting special effects. These two are mainly used to create compelling content for a variety of use cases from enhancing plain-looking resumes to marketing material. Apparently the tools were a huge hit with users during the beta.

Firefly’s text features are available in over 100 different languages from Spanish, French, Japanese, and of course, English. What’s interesting is Adobe tells us the AI is “safe for commercial use.” Presumably, this means the model won’t generate anything inappropriate or totally random. What it does generate will fit the prompt you entered. 

How to use Firefly

Using the generative AIs is very easy to do. It honestly takes no time at all. First, head on over to the Adobe Express website, and then create an account if you haven’t done so already. Scroll down a little on the front page, and you’ll see the creation tools primed and ready to go.  

Adobe Express website

(Image credit: Future)

Enter whatever text prompt you have in mind, give Adobe Express a few seconds to generate the content, and you’re set. You can then edit the image further if you’d like via the kit on the left-hand side.

Adobe Firefly

(Image credit: Future)

Future updates

The rest of the Firefly update is mainly geared towards an entrepreneurial audience. Subscribers to either Adobe Creative Cloud or Express Premium will begin to receive Generative Credits that can be used to have Firefly create content. Additionally, the AI is being integrated into an Adobe asset library for businesses. There aren’t any new features for everyday, casual users – at least not right now. 

Adobe states it has plans to expand its Express platform within the coming months. Most notably, it wants to bring the “latest version” to mobile devices. So we might see the Firefly AI on smartphones by the end of the year. We reached out to Adobe for clarification. This story will be updated at a later time.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best AI art generators for 2023. Any one of these is a good alternative for Firefly.

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Meta Quest 3 gets new launch teaser – here’s what to expect at Meta Connect
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The Meta Quest 3 has appeared in a new teaser that confirms it'll be announced at the Meta Connect event alongside news on “AI, virtual, mixed and augmented realities”.

This year's Meta Connect will take place on September 27 and will be a two-day virtual event, with Mark Zuckerberg's keynote taking place on that first day. This keynote has previously seen hardware announcements such as the Meta Quest Pro, alongside upgrades to the virtual social network Horizon Worlds.

So what are we expecting this year? Judging by the launch teaser below, the Meta Quest 3 – which was announced on June 1 in the days before Apple's WWDC 2023  – will be the star of the show. And while we already know a lot about the headset, Zuckerberg said there would be more announcements at Meta Connect 2023.

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The teaser doesn't reveal a great deal more that we didn't see already, in the original announcement in June, but again focuses on the three cameras/sensors on the front of the Quest 3 headset. These are likely to consist of two color passthrough cameras, plus an IR (infra-red) projector to help map your surroundings.

The main benefit of this full-color passthrough will be that the Quest 3 will be able to show the real world in color, rather than using the black-and-white passthrough seen on the Quest 2. 

The video also shows the headset's redesigned Touch Plus controllers, which are apparently more comfortable to hold than the Quest 3's and will have improved haptic feedback. This could, for example, adjust the level of feedback you feel when doing virtual boxing.

The Meta Quest 3 VR headset and controller

(Image credit: Meta)

But Meta Connect will also need to give us a glimpse of the software and mixed-reality experiences that will be possible with the Quest 3. And while the teaser doesn't give us a peak at any of those, the official Meta Connect page is promising a broader look at VR, AR and mixed realities.

The page also mentions AI, which could be referring to the rumored announcement of some new AI chatbots with different personalities, which are also expected in September.

Meta Connect: what to expect

Despite Meta making increasingly loud noises about its moves into AI – including developing its own AI chip and a speech-generating AI tool that's apparently too dangerous to release – we're still expecting the Quest 3 to be the main focus of Connect, and this teaser seemingly confirms that.

The main things we already know about the Quest 3 are that it'll offer full-color passthrough, have twice the graphical performance of the Quest 2, and be 40% thinner than its predecessor. That said, some leaks have suggested that it may also be marginally heavier than the Quest 2.

We also know that the Meta Quest 3 will cost $ 499 / £499 / AU$ 829 when it becomes available for pre-order, most likely immediately after Meta Connect on September 27. But the main thing that Meta needs to nail at Connect are the new software experiences that'll convince existing Quest 2 owners to upgrade.

The current state of the Quest Store suggests that few games and experiences are managing to break through to become widely-acclaimed hits. Still, new games for Meta's social VR app Horizon Worlds, like Super Rumble (above), suggest that Meta is retooling the platform to help it offer improved graphics and more sophisticated games.

With a smartphone version of Horizon Worlds also apparently en route for those who don't have a VR headset, plus a rumored new Smart Guardian feature to make it easier for Quest 3 owners to map their room, we can expect improvements across the board.

But exactly how much the $ 21 billion hit Meta's Reality Labs has seemingly taken in the last 18 months affects the Quest 3 is something we'll have to wait until September 27 to find out.

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ChatGPT lands on Android in the United States – here’s how to use it
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After a short pre-registration period, ChatGPT on Android is going live in select countries as developer OpenAI finally ends the head start given to iOS users. 

If you live in either the US, India, Bangladesh, or Brazil, you can now install the app from the Google Play Store onto your phone. Everyone else will have to wait a bit. The official OpenAI Twitter account states that its Android service will roll out to other global regions within the coming week.

The first thing you may notice upon downloading the app is it functions pretty much like ChatGPT on desktop or on iPhones. It’s the same generative AI service where you can ask it whatever question you may or ask for some pieces of advice. There are two ways to interact with the ChatGPT, either through typing in a text prompt or saying a voice comment through the in-app speech recognition feature. 

You can create a new login for the mobile AI, but you can sign in with a previously made account if you wish. All of your past prompts and history with ChatGPT will be found on the Android version. So don’t worry about missing a beat. 

ChatGPT on Android

(Image credit: OpenAI)

Features

The Settings menu does contain a couple of notable features that we should mention. Under Data Controls, users can select to share their chat history with the company to train their AI or deny the developer permission. There’s a way to export data into a separate file so you can then upload the information onto another account. Also, it’s possible to wipe out your chat history as well as delete your account.

It appears there are plans to one day introduce ChatGPT Plus to Android. This is a subscription service offering a number of things such as priority access during times of high demand to new features like access to the more advanced GPT-4 model. It’s unknown when ChatGPT Plus will arrive. We reached out to OpenAI for more info. This story will be updated at a later time.

ChatGPT on Android

(Image credit: OpenAI)

There isn’t much in the way of restrictions for ChatGPT on Android. At the very least, your device does need to be running Android 6, which came out in 2015. So as long as you own a phone made within the last decade or so, you can try out the app.

Major milestone

This launch is a very important milestone for the company as Android is actually the world’s most popular operating system. As of June 2023, Android makes up a little over 40 percent of the total OS market share followed by Windows at 28 percent then iOS at nearly 17 percent. It is nothing short of a behemoth in the industry. 

With the release, we can’t help but wonder how this will affect people’s lives. OpenAI is potentially introducing a transformative (yet controversial) piece of tech to people who’ve never used it before. 

On one hand, the chatbot can help vast amounts of users learn new topics or get advice based on information pulled from experts. It’s a more conversational and relaxed experience compared to figuring out how to get the response you want from a search engine. However, you do run into the risk of people becoming misinformed about a topic due to a hallucination. AIso, outputting false information remains the elephant in the room for much of the generative AI industry. The major players are making an effort to solve this problem; although it's unknown when hallucinations will finally become a thing of the past.

To get an idea on ways AI can help us, check out TechRadar’s list of the best AI tools for 2023. 

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Google Messages update could be a game changer for messaging apps – here’s why
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We may soon live in a world where large messaging platforms will be able to seamlessly communicate with each other. Google is taking the first step into this new world, announcing this week it will support the Message Layer Security (MLS) standard with plans to incorporate the protocol into its Messages app.

As Google points out in its Security Blog announcement, one of the annoyances concerning messaging apps is the lack of interoperability. Each platform has differing opinions on what they consider to be robust end-to-end encryption for texts. Developers don’t want to lower their “security standards to cater for the lowest common denominator and raise implementation costs”. If they did, the result would be, as Google puts it, “a spaghetti of ad hoc middleware” potentially endangering user information. MLS, however, aims to be a universal standard for everyone. It could be the solution these tech companies need.

Better interoperability

Google claims MLS “enables practical interoperability across services and platforms”. It goes on to say the protocol is “flexible enough… to address emerging threats to… [user] security”. Imagine being able to contact someone on WhatsApp and then shooting a text over to a friend on Telegram right from your messaging app of choice. You won’t need five different apps on your smartphone to stay in contact with people and you won't have to worry about a lack of security.

As stated earlier, Google Messages will one day support the new encryption protocol. In addition to the update, the company will open-source its MLS implementation into the “Android codebase.” This could result in developers having an easier time incorporating MLS into their software – if they choose to adopt it, of course. Right now, Google is the only brand that we’re aware of announcing its support. Mozilla has posted a sort-of rallying cry to its blog calling MLS an “internet standard”, but it doesn’t appear the Firefox developer plans on adding it to its browser.

Cost of doing business

There is one line in the post that we found particularly interesting. Google says it is “strongly supportive of regulatory efforts [requiring] interoperability for large end-to-end messaging platforms.” As 9To5Google points out in their report, this could be a reference to the Digital Markets Act, a law passed by the European Union last year demanding tech corporations increase the “level of interoperability between messaging services” among other things. And if they don’t comply, the violators “could be fined up to 20 percent” of global revenue for repeated offenses.

Google is willing to play by the new rules. It’s even willing to help other Android devs by open-sourcing its future MLS code. But what about Apple? Will iMessage support the protocol?

Honestly, who knows? We doubt Apple will ever want to play nice with others. It has repeatedly rebuffed Google’s advances to put RCS (Rich Communication Services) on iOS. It’s even willing to “pull iMessage from UK iPhones rather than weaken its security”. Sure, the massive EU fine could change Apple's mind or it might simply accept it as a cost of doing business in Europe. 

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Google Bard just got a super-useful Google Lens boost – here’s how to use it
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Google Bard is getting update after update as of late, with the newest one being the incorporation of Google Lens – which will allow users to upload images alongside prompts to give Bard additional context.

Google seems to be making quite a point of expanding Bard’s capabilities and giving the chatbot a serious push into the artificial intelligence arena, either by integrating it into other Google products and services or simply improving the standalone chatbot itself.

This latest integration brings Google Lens into the picture, allowing you to upload images to part, identify objects and scenes, provide image descriptions, and search the web for pictures of what you might be looking for.

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Screenshot of Bard

(Image credit: Future)
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Asking Google Bard to show me a kitten

(Image credit: Future)

For example, I asked Bard to show me a photo of a kitten using a scratching post, and it pulled up a photo (accurately cited!) of exactly what I asked for, with a little bit of extra information on why and how cats use scratching posts. I also showed Bard a photo from my phone gallery, and it accurately described the scene and some tidbits of interesting information about rainbows.

Depending on what you ask Bard to do with the image provided, Bard can provide a variety of helpful responses. Since the AI-powered chatbot is mostly a conversational tool, adding as much context as you possibly can will consistently get you the best results, and you can refine its responses with additional prompts as needed. 

If you want to give Bard's new capabilities a try, just head over to the chatbot, click the little icon on the left side of the text box where you would normally type out your prompt, and add any photo you desire to your conversation. 

Including the image update, you can now pin conversation threads, get Bard to read responses out loud in over 40 languages, and get access to easier sharing methods. You can check out the Bard update page for a more detailed explanation of all the new additions.

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China’s Baidu AI is better than ChatGPT – here’s why
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ChatGPT has quickly become the gold standard that other AI chatbots have been striving to reach – and defeat. Now, according to a bold statement from Chinese tech giant Baidu, another AI has apparently done so.

Baidu announced that its latest version of the ‘Ernie’ AI model, Ernie 3.5, has already beaten ChatGPT in several key metrics, according to Business Today. Baidu, the leading search engine in China, stated that Ernie 3.5 beats out ChatGPT in both comprehensive ability scores and general performance in Chinese language tasks. 

It supports these claims by citing a test from state newspaper China Science Daily, which used datasets from AGIEval and C-Eval – two benchmarks for AI performance, essentially. ChatGPT creator OpenAI has apparently not responded to Business Today concerning these claims as of this writing.

Baidu also stated that its latest Ernie model features enhanced training and inference efficiency, which it claims will make the AI faster and more cost-efficient later down the line. Lastly, the new model will support plugins, add-on applications that can perform additional tasks – like summarising lengthy text or generating more accurate answers.

TechRadar has also reached out for comment concerning Baidu’s claims against OpenAI’s ChatGPT and will update this story if and when we hear back.

Baidu competing against ChatGPT…and Google? 

It’s important to note that while there’s no official English release for Ernie, Baidu’s main search engine platform itself is available in English language. The fact that it has English versions of its other services could suggest that it would be interested – and certainly capable – of bringing its Ernie AI model to the West.

Such a move would be intriguing, not only to see how well its Ernie 3.5 would actually fare against ChatGPT, but also to see how the company would deal with another rival — Google.

Google is the world’s most popular search engine, with an overwhelming market share of more than 90%. Naturally, it’s leveraging that reach to power up its own AI model, Bard, by integrating it into its search results – not to mention including elsewhere it in its Google Workspaces suite, beefing up the software’s capabilities with AI.

Baidu is China’s answer to Google (they even have Baidu Maps), and could easily do the same, leveraging its AI model to complement its search engine and drive interest in Ernie as a standalone AI service.

Of course, this would also put it in direct opposition with Google, which could result in some very intense competition – but competition can only help consumers in the end, so I welcome the idea with open arms.

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Don’t ask ChatGPT or Google Bard for a Windows 11 key – here’s why
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There’s been a flurry of reports of ChatGPT and Google Bard providing users with serial keys for Windows 11 (or Windows 10), but as you might guess, these don’t appear to be fully functional (and neither is it a good idea to seek out this method of getting an OS up and running – we’ll come back to why later on).

Neowin reported on some of these incidents, as flagged up on Twitter by Sid, who posted about Windows 10 Pro keys being provided by both ChatGPT (which powers Bing AI) and Google’s Bard chatbot.

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Sid also posted about successfully getting an upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro using the same method (which we also witnessed nabbing Windows 7 keys previously, last week – as discovered by Enderman).

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Indeed, we’ve seen a post on Reddit that a code requested for Windows 7 Ultimate actually worked for Windows 11 Pro (add seasoning with all these claims, of course – it’s not hard to find further reports along such lines across various online forums).

Analysis: Don’t be tempted…

So, what’s going on here? For starters, as you can see if you sift through these various threads, a large number of these keys don’t work anyway. However, some folks are having success with at least a small number of the provided serial keys, and they’re getting Windows 10 or 11 to install (or firing up an upgrade to Pro).

The advice given to those who can’t get one to work is simply to keep trying, but even if you do stumble upon one that’s good for starting the installation of the OS, that isn’t the end of the story.

The thing is these appear to be generic installation keys, meaning they allow for installation of a given Windows version, but crucially, not activation. These generic keys are freely available and designed for anyone who wants to, for example, try out an OS on their machine to make sure it works, or get a flavor of it.

In other words, going ahead with the installation (or upgrade process, in some cases) with one of these keys that seems to work at first glance might well end in heartache when you realize it can’t be activated – and you'll eventually have to revert your PC back to how it was. In short, you’ll be going through a lot of hassle for nothing.

What the chatbot is seemingly doing is pulling generic keys off a website somewhere (these aren’t hard to find, all you need to do is a simple web search). As Neowin informs us, when it tried the same stunt, Bard even pointed out that the key was from an old PC (and, amusingly, ChatGPT said that keys were for “personal use only and should not be used for any illegal activities”).

Even if, somehow, one of these keys does work and turns out to be valid for activation – which admittedly there are reports of too (here, have the salt shaker) – we still think that at some point, you’ll inevitably pay the price for circumventing paying for a product, which after all is piracy. Blaming it on a chatbot giving you the code is not going to be a credible defense – you’ve still gone ahead and knowingly done something illegal.

To sum up, then, you’re best off ignoring these whisperings of free serial keys, and we’d be surprised if you got one that works for actual validation (and continues to work going forward – because there are no guarantees with a key obtained via dodgy means). Is it worth living under the shadow of the potential of your OS installation going defunct at some stage down the line thanks to that key? In our book, no, it isn’t – and as we’ve already said, this is illegal, anyway. Steer well clear…

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WhatsApp beta now lets you send video messages – here’s how to enable it
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WhatsApp is currently rolling out several new features to beta testers across different platforms – chief among them are video messages that will be available exclusively to mobile devices. 

You read that right. On top of sending audio recordings, WhatsApp will soon let you send video messages as well.

The way it currently works on beta, according to WABetaInfo, is users will have to tap the microphone button next to the chat bar where it'll turn into a new camera icon. Pressing that button lets you record a short 60-second clip, which can be shared with a contact for quick communication. 

Once the other person receives the clip, they have to tap the file to enlarge it if they “want to listen to the audio”. Otherwise, it just plays the clip muted. Basically, WhatsApp is working on introducing its version of Snapchat, but unlike Snapchat, it’s unknown if the clips will automatically delete themselves after a certain amount of time has passed or not.

WABetaInfo’s post hints at they will get deleted soon after being sent, though the post also states the videos won’t be sent under view once mode. So there may be some flexibility in how clips are sent. Like a lot of other WhatsApp content, video messages will be protected by the service’s end-to-end encryption ensuring total privacy. Be aware it won’t be possible to forward video messages to other users. They're for your eyes only.

WhatsApp video messages

(Image credit: WABetaInfo)

How to download the beta

To try out video messages, Android users will need to install the beta by joining the Google Play Store Beta Program and downloading the latest update. If you don’t get it, keep an eye for future patches. Only a handful of testers have access at this moment, but Meta will reportedly release the feature to more people over the coming weeks. Oh, and your recipients need to be a part of the program too; otherwise, the video messages won’t work.

The beta is available to iPhone users, but the iOS program is closed to new entrants. If you’re not already a part of Apple’s TestFlight service for WhatsApp, you’ll just have to wait for the official launch. 

Coming to Windows

Besides the smartphone update, WhatsApp is also rolling out some new additions to its beta app on Windows. For one, the desktop version is getting screen-sharing for video calls, something that was first seen on Android. From the looks of it, the Windows rendition functions pretty much the same way with the bottom control panel having a new screen-sharing icon. In addition, WhatsApp is introducing a call-back button for quickly returning missed calls – rather small upgrade, but still a helpful one. 

To try out these two features, all you have to do is install WhatsApp Beta from the Microsoft Store. It's that simple. 

Speaking of added convenience, it appears WhatsApp is planning on giving people the ability to have multiple accounts on a single Android device in a similar fashion to Instagram. Be sure to check out TechRadar's coverage on the future update.

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YouTube is making it easier for creators to make money — here’s how
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In a surprising move from the massive video platform, YouTube has announced that it would be lowering the requirements for its YouTube Partner Program, which will make it easier for content creators to monetize their content.

Under these new requirements, YouTubers will be eligible to apply for partnership at 500 subscribers, a 50% cut from the previous 1,000 needed. Other requirements will also be lowered, such as creators only needing 3,000 valid watch hours instead of 4,000, as well as 3 million YouTube Shorts views compared to 10 million before.

According to The Verge, the site is also “opening up a handful of monetization methods to smaller creators, including paid chat, tipping, channel memberships, and shopping features.”

The shopping affiliate program is especially interesting. It was previously only available by invitation to select creators, but thanks to these sweeping changes, YouTube Partner Program participants in the US with at least 20,000 subscribers can now apply to it.

These changes will be initially rolling out in the US, UK, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea, with plans to increase the number of regions later on.

YouTube is actually doing some good (TikTok too!) 

YouTube has been rolling out some pro-creator and user-friendly changes to its site as of late. Some of these include retiring overlaying banner ads on the desktop version, YouTube Premium for iOS getting better quality videos, and harnessing the power of AI to create real-time translations for its videos.

While some changes have been well received, like the feature that lets viewers see the most-watched parts of a video via a clear graph, others, like the site's continuous attempt to block ad-blockers, have been less popular.

Regardless, it’s good to see that YouTube is working to actively improve the experience. And it’s not only YouTube, as other social media platforms like TikTok have been working to make similar quality-of-life changes. 

For instance, The Verge details how TikTok’s “video paywall feature, Series, would be available to creators with more than 10,000 followers but that users with 1,000 followers who met other requirements could also apply to participate in the program.”

It’s good to see some positive news surrounding these sites, and fingers crossed that YouTube doesn’t end up in some serious hot water soon after this announcement. I’m afraid it’s a little too late for TikTok, though.

If you want to see how to make money using YouTube, or how to create a YouTube channel, we have you covered! Also, make sure you check out our best webcams guide as well.

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