Google has delayed a series of top-secret artificial intelligence (AI) events that were set to showcase the company’s Gemini generative AI tool, according to The Information. If true, it's another blow to Google’s efforts to compete with the likes of ChatGPT in the AI world – although Gemini is still expected to launch soon.
As detailed in a paywalled report from The Information, the Gemini event was due to take place just days from now, with the first one kicking off next week. Yet Google CEO Sundar Pichai has apparently taken the decision to push it back to January 2024, according to “two people with knowledge of the of the decision.”
The reason for the delay? Google was not confident that Gemini was able to “reliably handle some non-English queries,” The Information claims. Google wants to ensure its AI tool works well in a number of languages, and it’s clearly not quite there yet.
The events – due to be held in California, New York and Washington – would apparently have been “Google’s most important product launch of the year” owing to how keen Google is to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That means that delaying them could be a sizable blow to Google, even if they do ultimately take place in early 2024.
In ChatGPT’s shadow
(Image credit: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash)
Despite their imminent dates, Google hadn’t done much promotion for the events (perhaps due to concerns over Gemini’s abilities). In the end, that meant the company managed to avoid an embarrassing retraction or cancellation of already-announced events.
Yet Google isn’t likely to be very happy with the situation. The delay demonstrates how much the company is struggling to get on level terms with OpenAI, despite its vast wealth and engineering abilities. It’s also the second time in recent weeks that Google has reportedly had to delay its Gemini events.
It comes shortly after OpenAI reportedly had a major breakthrough with its own generative AI efforts. This tool is supposedly able to solve problems it has not been trained on, something that AI has traditionally found difficult, thereby ramping up the pressure on Google to hit back.
Google is likely to weave Gemini’s AI capabilities into its other products, such as Search, Google Assistant, Google Docs and more, The Information believes, so keep an eye out for AI updates if you regularly use the company’s apps. Just don’t expect to see these changes until early next year.
If you were about to start delving into the world of AI chatbots, then we have some bad news: signups for ChatGPT Plus have been paused as demand has spread beyond the capacity of OpenAI, the organization behind the chatbot/language model.
For the uninitiated, ChatGPT Plus provides priority access to ChatGPT and faster response times for the artificial intelligence-powered language model, as well as priority access to new features and improvements all for some $ 20 a month.
But with new subscriptions now paused, you won't be able to get access to the likes of the GPT-Turbo – a supercharged version of the ChatGPT AI model – and custom GPTs that can be tailored to particular tasks.
we are pausing new ChatGPT Plus sign-ups for a bit :(the surge in usage post devday has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience.you can still sign-up to be notified within the app when subs reopen.November 15, 2023
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The base ChatGPT is still available for free and people can still sign up and use it, it’s just the premium tier is basically out of reach for new subscribers for the time being. So that means you can still use ChatGPT to come up with answers to all manner of queries, or finesse your CV, or even give you dating advice. Just don’t expect it to be super fast or especially accurate – while ChatGPT can be a powerful tool, it’s not quite up to the same level of intelligence as a garden-variety human.
As for the surge in subscribers for ChatGPT Plus, that may have come from OpenAI’s recent developer conference DevDay, which was held on November 6. This may have seen a spate of developers get a dose of inspiration and move to sign up for ChatGPT Plus.
“The surge in usage post-DevDay has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.
So the flipside of this subscription pause could deliver a better overall service once OpenAI catches up.
Rise of the chatbots
So what can we infer from this surge? Well, it would be a good indication of the continued appetite to embrace ChatGPT and other AI tools and chatbots.
And as a result, we could see more apps and services come with ChatGPT-powered features, likely chatbots to provide a quick way to answer user queries or provide the core experience of a smart service.
Well, the Apple Vision Pro isn’t even available yet, and Apple is already looking to the future (well, the further future) to consider how to make the follow-up model even better. Or, in this case, even cheaper: according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple wants its second headset to cost less.
Apple might get rid of that horrible external display! Yes, the EyeSight feature that I heavily criticized when the headset was first revealed might be cut from future Vision models in order to save on costs. It makes a lot of sense; adding an external screen to show the user’s eyes is a ridiculous feature that no doubt costs a lot of money, adding extra (entirely unneeded) OLED display tech to every single headset. The screen even has lenticular glass to create an illusion of depth.
The feature isn’t even that helpful; it projects the eyes of your uncanny-valley FaceTime avatar onto the exterior screen when you’re looking through the headset’s external cameras, or displays an opaque color when you’re immersed in something that blocks out your surroundings. In other words, it tells other people if a Vision Pro user can see them or not – something that could’ve probably been achieved with a single LED.
Get ready for the Apple Vision… something
Apple is reportedly targeting a $ 1,500-$ 2,000 price range for its more affordable Vision headset, which sounds a lot more accessible than the current $ 3,499 price tag. Given that some other popular VR headsets – like the new Meta Quest 3 – are a lot cheaper, many potential users are likely to give the first-gen Vision Pro a pass.
A cheaper model was likely always going to happen given the name Apple chose for its headset – Vision Pro implies the (future) existence of a standard Apple Vision headset, in keeping with Apple’s naming conventions for its other products. Just look at the iPhone 15 Pro and the MacBook Pro – hey, maybe the cheaper headset will be called the Apple Vision Air?
Apple is also reportedly developing a second high-end version of the headset (a Vision Pro Max, perhaps?), and it’s enough to make me wonder if the first-gen model will even be worth buying at all. The Vision Pro represents Apple’s first step into an entirely new market, and it wouldn’t even surprise me if it gets hit with delays – after all, it’s suspected that issues with chip manufacturer TSMC could delay M3 MacBook Air models until the middle of next year, and the Vision Pro features not just the M2 chip but also a new dedicated R1 chip for mixed-reality workloads.
In any case, I’ll be happy to see a less expensive headset from Apple. I still remember the noise the crowd made at WWDC 2023 when the price was unveiled… and let’s face it, EyeSight is a feature nobody really needs.
At Meta Connect 2023 we finally got a full look at the new Meta headset the Meta Quest 3 – a headset the company has called its most powerful yet. Best of all it’s available to preorder right now starting at $ 499.99 / £479.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed by Meta), with the headset set to ship on October 10
While this Oculus Quest 2 successor costs slightly more than Quest 2 did at launch – it was just £299 / $ 299 / AU$ 479 for its cheapest 64GB model and was later the same price for a 128GB headset – the Quest 3 comes with a whole host of upgrades to help justify its price.
The star of the show is the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, which offers a two-and-a-half times better graphical performance compared to the Quest 2’s XR2 Gen 1 chip. Plus with its now 8GB of RAM this means VR experiences can offer more realistic physics and lighting, as well as fuller environments for you to explore and interact with.
These improved graphics will be shown on a new and improved pair of LCD displays which now boast 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye (up from the Quest 2’s 1,920 x 1,832 pixels per eye). Best of all this display has a variable refresh rate that can get as high as 120Hz.
The Meta Quest 3 and its charging station (which is sold separately) (Image credit: Meta)
You’ll also find the design has been given a few upgrades. Not only is the headset 40% slimmer which should help to make it more comfortable to wear but it’s easier to adjust the headset to suit your needs. There’s a lens adjustment scroll wheel that you can turn while wearing the headset so you can set the lens to perfect spacing apart and a built-in adjustable spacer that makes room for glasses if you’re wearing a pair.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the Meta Quest 3 is a mixed reality-focused device with new full-color passthrough capabilities and a depth sensor to make it better than Meta’s previous headsets at mapping out your real-world space. Mixed reality has always felt a little gimmicky, but with its improved capabilities and new features like Augments – these sort of mixed reality widgets – the Meta Quest 3 might finally make us care about MR as much as VR.
As I mentioned above, preorders are live now with the new Meta headset set to ship on October 10, 2023. You can pick up the base 128GB version for $ 499.99 / £479.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed by Meta), or you can buy the 512GB Quest 3 for $ 649.99 / £619.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed by Meta). You can also pick up a range of accessories including a Quest 3 Elite Strap, and the one I’m most excited about, the charging dock (as the Quest Pro charging station was a massive help).
To help incentivize you to make a preorder, Meta will give anyone who orders a Meta Quest 3 before January 27 a free copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2. If you order the 512GB model you’ll also get a six-month subscription to Meta Quest Plus – a service that gives you new free VR games and apps every month that you can play as long as you’re subscribed.
What I thought of the Meta Quest 3
You can read my full hands on Meta Quest 3 review for a more in-depth rundown of my initial Quest 3 reaction, but the TL;DR is this device seems like a major step forward compared to what Meta has produced before and I think it could be the best VR headset out there.
Samba de Amigo on the Quest 3 is silly fun (Image credit: Meta)
Visually, the Quest 3’s graphics look almost night and day compared to the Oculus Quest 2. The most obvious improvement is for text – it’s actually really easy to read words on documents you find in-game now – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Shadows and reflections behave much more realistically, and objects have a crisper look to them that helps the world feel significantly more real than they did on Quest 2.
Mixed reality has received a massive bump up too. Passthrough footage of the real world is more color-accurate and less grainy than with the Meta Quest Pro. It’s still not life-like but it's a leap in the right direction. This higher quality makes mixed reality feel less gimmicky – I loved the mixed reality experiences I tried for Stranger Things VR and First Encounters, and I’ll definitely be trying out more MR content when I get my hands on the Quest 3 again.
The performance also feels solid. While booting up Assassin’s Creed Nexus did take a while, once the game had loaded the Italian city I explored as Ezio felt alive with characters and interactable props without any noticeable stuttering to break my immersion.
As for the design and comfort, again the Quest 3 excels. The headset has an IPD wheel so you can gradually adjust the lens spacing while wearing the headset – saving a lot of hassle compared to the Quest 2, since you no longer have to keep taking the headset on and off to make changes. The slim design also seems to help with comfort. Generally, the Meta Quest 3 feels less bulky compared to the Quest 2, though I wasn’t using it for a super long time and didn’t get a true sense of how easy it would be to wear it for a long stretch of time.
Mixed reality is a blast on the Quest 3 (Image credit: Meta)
I’ll need to spend longer than a roughly 30-minute demo with the headset to know how impressive the Meta Quest 3 really is, but there is certainly a lot to love about the headset.
Previously I’ve always recommended people buy Meta’s Quest 2 because of the value for money it offers – and it is still a solid value option. But if you can afford to splash out a little more (or are happy to wait longer to save up) the Meta Quest 3 looks like a worthy successor and a VR gadget that more than justifies its higher cost. I can’t wait to try it out again.
Meta is planning to meet, if not surpass, the powerful GPT-4 chatbots designed by OpenAI with its own sophisticated artificial intelligence bot. The company is planning on training the large language model (LLM) early next year, and likely hopes it will take the number one spot in the AI game.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta has been buying up Nvidia H100 AI training chips and strengthening internal infrastructure to ensure that this time around, Meta won’t have to rely on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to train its new chatbot.
The Verge notes that there’s already a group within the company that was put together earlier in the year to begin work building the model, with the apparent goal being to quickly create a tool that can closely emulate human expressions.
Is this what we want? And do companies care?
Back in June, a leak suggested that a new Instagram feature would have chatbots integrated into the platform that could answer questions, give advice, and help users write messages. Interestingly, users would also be able to choose from “30 AI personalities and find which one [they] like best”.
It seems like this leak might actually come to fruition if Meta is putting in this much time and effort to replicate human expressiveness. Of course, the company will probably look to Snapchat AI for a comprehensive look at what not to do when it comes to squeezing AI chatbots into its apps, hopefully skipping the part where Snapchat’s AI bot got bullied and gave users some pretty disturbing advice.
Overall, the AI scramble carries on as big companies continue to climb to the summit of a mysterious, unexplored mountain. Meta makes a point of ensuring the potential new LLM will remain free for other companies to base their own AI tools on, a net positive in my books. We’ll just have to wait for next year to see what exactly is in store.
Windows 11 has reportedly run into problems with its latest cumulative update, with the upgrade failing to install for some folks, and breaking Microsoft Defender in other cases.
Windows Latest has rounded up the latest batch of complaints regarding a cumulative update for Windows 11, in this case KB5029263, which is the mandatory upgrade for August.
As mentioned, some users are reporting installation failures with KB5029263, and the other annoyance here is that the failed update keeps offering itself over and over, constantly lurking as a red dot (update pending warning) on the taskbar (system tray).
Readers of Windows Latest have complained directly to the tech site about this, and there are affected Windows 11 users venting on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub.
On the Feedback Hub there are also scattered complaints of some more serious gremlins in the works with this August update. That includes the update getting stuck before it completes (and getting stuck again on subsequent installation attempts), and also File Explorer failing to work (meaning you can’t explore folders on the desktop).
KB5029263 is apparently also messing with Microsoft Defender, Windows 11’s built-in security app – which now ranks pretty highly among the best free antivirus – in some cases. Some users are seeing the following error when opening the app: ‘Unable to log into Microsoft Defender.’
Analysis: Defender fix is inbound, apparently
On the last point, Windows Latest reckons that this error could be the result of a clash between the security fixes in the August update, and a separate new update for Microsoft Defender.
While Microsoft hasn’t officially acknowledged any of the above problems, including the apparent cases of Defender coming off the rails, Windows Latest claims it talked to a support engineer at the company. That Microsoft employee confirmed the issue and said it will be fixed by an update soon. (An update to either Defender, or one applied to the OS via Windows Update, but one way or another, a cure is seemingly in the pipeline).
The mentioned installation failures are nothing new, and it seems to be depressingly commonplace these days that some Windows 11 PCs will fail to successfully run the update process. This may be a small minority affected, but it’s a frustrating situation to be caught in – as you are, of course, left without all the latest security fixes. Those are important to say the least.
The other vital element provided by KB5029263, at least for those who have been affected by the issue, is the fix for a bug causing huge slowdowns with some SSDs (or at least this cures the majority of cases, it seems). You might own one of the fastest, best SSDs out there, but with its performance levels cut in half (potentially), it won’t look so clever. And if you can’t install the August patch to (hopefully) smooth over the issue, that’s going to be pretty irritating.
Nearby Share on Android has received a major upgrade, giving you the ability to send entire folders to other devices.
This feature was recently discovered by industry insider and tech journalist Mishaal Rahman who shared his findings on X (or Twitter, if you prefer the older, less obtuse name). Rahman states you’re able to transfer folders from one Android phone to another as well as to Chromebooks and Windows PCs via the Files by Google app. He says that all you have to do is long-press any folder within Google Files and then select the Nearby Share icon on-screen. From there, you will see all of the connected devices which can accept the transfer. Pretty simple stuff.
Neat: You can send an entire folder from your Android device to other Android devices, Chromebooks, or Windows PCs from the Files by Google app! Just long-press on any folder in the Files app and then tap the Nearby Share icon in the top right. pic.twitter.com/yk7epVxojhJuly 31, 2023
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There are some limitations to be aware of. Tom’s Guide states in their report, “Nearby Share has a 1,000-file limit”, so folders can’t be too big. Another piece from Android Police reveals the upgrade is exclusive to Google Files as it doesn’t seem to work properly with Samsung’s own file manager. Files will still be shared on Samsung's app, but it won’t retain the folder structure, according to Rahman.
What’s interesting is there’s a good chance you already have this feature if your device has Google Files. Rahman says that Nail Sadykov, another notable industry insider, claims “the earliest he saw someone mention it was back in May” of this year. It’s just that no one knew about it until very recently. Apparently, Google didn’t give anyone the heads-up.
So, if you have Google Files on your phone and haven’t updated it in a while, we recommend downloading the patch to get the boosted Nearby Share.
Closing the gap
Admittedly, it’s a small update, but an important one as it allows Nearby Share to close the gap a bit between it and Apple’s AirDrop. Android users will save a lot of time since they won’t be forced to transfer files one by one. It’s a function iPhone owners have enjoyed for many years now. It’s hard to say exactly when AirDrop first gained the ability to send folders to Macs. The oldest instance we could find was one of our How-to guides from 2015.
However, Nearby Share still has a long way to go before it can be considered a proper rival to AirDrop. For iOS 17, Apple plans on further enhancing its wireless file transfer tool by introducing new features like Contact Posters for friends plus improved security for unsolicited images.
Microsoft’s Bing chatbot and Bing search on desktop have just got dark mode, a feature that many folks have been keenly awaiting for some time.
Jordi Ribas, Microsoft’s CVP, Head of Engineering and Product for Bing, made the announcement on Twitter.
We are starting to roll out desktop dark mode for Bing over the next few days. We heard the requests for dark mode and are excited for everyone to experience this feature in Bing Search and Chat. pic.twitter.com/waz6dScRLXJuly 26, 2023
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As you can see, dark mode is rolling out over the next few days, so everyone should have it before the weekend.
Indeed, going by feedback to the tweet, many people are already using dark mode when chatting to the Bing AI (or using the Bing search website) on their desktop PC.
If you’re not sure whether you have the ability to turn on dark mode, just go to the Bing site, click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines, top-right), and go to Appearance, where you’ll find light and dark modes (if available). There’s also an option to automatically use whatever system-wide choice you’ve made for the light or dark theme.
Analysis: Folks are over the dark side of the moon
This has happened earlier than expected, which is always good. Last week, we were told that dark mode was inbound for Bing AI (and search), but we were informed it would be here in a couple of weeks. It only took one week to appear, then, so Microsoft moved a bit faster than anticipated.
As you may recall, Bing AI also got the full rollout of Visual Search last week, so everyone now has that, too. This feature allows you to fling an image at the chatbot, and then get a reply imparting info on the pic (for example, if you have a picture of a historical building, Bing will tell you what – and where – it is).
You can combine that function with the chatbot’s image creation capabilities, too, and ask it to compose a similar image. (Say you’ve got a picture of a wolf in daylight, you could ask Bing to create something just like it, but at night with a full moon).
There’s an increasing amount of neat tricks that Bing AI can perform, though Google is speeding up its progress on Bard, too. The chatbot arms race is in full swing, for sure.
Windows 11 21H2 is about to run out of road for support, so if you’re still on this version of the operating system, then you need to upgrade very soon.
Bleeping Computer highlighted an end-of-servicing announcement Microsoft issued pertaining to Windows 11 Home, version 21H2 (and Pro versions, too, including Windows 11 Pro Education).
Microsoft reminded us: “These editions will no longer receive security updates after October 10, 2023.”
What does that mean? Feature updates are one thing – upgrades that add new capabilities and refine the interface of Windows 11 in one way or another – but security updates are the really important bit.
They patch up vulnerabilities that have been discovered in Windows 11, and if not fixed, could be exploited by attackers to compromise your system in some way (usually with dire results).
If you’re still running Windows 11 21H2 – which is the version of the OS from 2021, as the name suggests – then you need to upgrade to 22H2, and do so before October arrives.
Analysis: Get going on that upgrade
Upgrading to Windows 11 22H2 is an easy process. Just head to Windows Update (in Settings), and click the ‘Check for updates’ button, whereupon the upgrade should show up with the option to install it.
Not sure what version of Windows 11 you have? You can find out simply by typing ‘winver’ into the search box on the taskbar and clicking on ‘Run command’. Winver stands for Windows Version and will pop up a panel telling you if you are currently running Windows 11 21H2 or 22H2 (or whatever flavor of Microsoft’s OS you’ve got for that matter, if it’s another).
Windows 10 users have already seen their 21H2 version pushed out of support, which happened last month – the June cumulative update contained the final round of security patches for that incarnation of the OS. That means Windows 10 users should already have upgraded to 22H2, and indeed Microsoft is forcing the upgrade on folks (to ensure they stay protected).
Microsoft has also been forcing upgrades to Windows 11 22H2 for the same reason over the course of 2023, and as the final October deadline for 21H2 support approaches, more users are going to get an automatic upgrade coming into play, again to ensure their PC continues to receive security fixes.
Microsoft has finally fixed a thorny problem with Windows 11 and Windows 10 that messed with the Start menu and search bar (as well as some UWP – Universal Windows Platform – apps).
You may recall that these problems first surfaced back in January (as we reported last month), and they affected devices with certain apps that are integrated with Windows, Microsoft Office, or Outlook.
And while it’s taken some time, Microsoft has managed to untangle this one at last, and the fix is in new updates for both Windows 11 (KB5027303) and Windows 10 (KB5027293).
The bug is marked as resolved in OS dashboard health updates for both of these operating systems. Note that the mentioned updates carrying the resolution are in preview, so you’ll find them as optional updates (in Windows Update).
Installing them might mean you encounter another (different) bug, as with anything still in its preview or testing phase, but at this point, they’re on the last hurdle before release – and any problems may be far more minor than the glitches that they (hopefully) cure.
Analysis: Fix was much-needed given that badly fudged workaround
This rather nasty bug – that affects the operation of core parts of the Windows interface, like the Start menu, and search – has been hanging around for six months now.
So it’s good to see Microsoft put paid to it, even if it has taken a while – but we could guess it would from the software giant’s updates on the matter. Indeed, we expected to be waiting longer, in all honesty.
If you recall, we were previously given a workaround by Microsoft, but it wasn’t much of one. Indeed, it was a far from ideal fudge of the situation whereby Microsoft advised uninstalling the problematic apps – the obvious issue with that being that you can no longer use them (and they might be important pieces of software for you).
Elsewhere, Microsoft has been busy waving its bug fixing wand on the gaming front, banishing a very unpleasant gremlin that was causing some PC games to crash. That fix was piped through in the (preview) Moment 3 update for Windows 11, but sadly, Windows 10 gamers aren’t getting this fix (at least not yet).
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