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Google Chrome’s new customization tools make the browser a lot more fun
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If you've been finding Google Chrome a gray, uninspiring place to be lately, then the browser's new customization tools make it much easier to give it a much-needed lick of paint.

In the latest version of Chrome on desktop, Google has added a new side panel that lets you try out a bunch of new uplifting colors, themes and settings. While many of these options were previously available in Chrome, these new ones are easier to use and actually let you see the changes you're making in real-time.

If you don't have automatic updates turned on, you can update to the latest version by going to the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the toolbar then going to Help > About Google Chrome.

Once you're updated, how do you find Chrome's customization tools? Open a new tab and you'll see a 'Customize Chrome' icon in the bottom right-hand corner. Click that and it'll open up the new sidebar. The main section to fiddle with is the 'Appearance' section at the top.

A video showing where to find the Google Chrome customization settings

(Image credit: Google)

This lets you change two big things – the overall color scheme of your Chrome browser and the background image, which you can set to change everyday. Click on 'Change theme' and you'll see a range of default background options from a selection of artists, or some more subtle ones like 'geometric shapes' if those are too distracting.

If you can't decide on one, then just toggle the 'refresh daily' option within each collection and Chrome will cycle through them. Alongside these themes, you can also pick a background color for your toolbar and tabs, thanks to the grid further down. 

There are 15 default colors to choose from, though you can go super-granular with the eyedropper tool, which lets you enter your own RGB values (just in case you were wondering, the TechRadar logo is R:47, G:110, B:145).

Bigger changes under the hood

Chrome's revamped customization tools are a nice little quality-of-life upgrade for regular users – even if it isn't quite as dramatic as the new AI-powered Opera One browser, which has a built-in chatbot called Aria.

Google has so far been reticent to take that step, preferring to keep its Google Bard chatbot as a separate “experiment” that you open in a browser window. But Bard will soon start appearing more prominently in Google's products, including Chrome and Pixel phones (where the chatbot is rumored to be getting its own widget). 

A video showing how to change the color of your Chrome browser

(Image credit: Google)

Google is also separately making some big changes underneath Chrome's hood, with its plans to turn off third-party cookies moving forwards at a glacial pace. So while Microsoft Edge is now arguably a better browser than Chrome, Google is slowly reinventing its browser under the hood.

If you're looking to customize and tweak Google Chrome even more to go with your new themes, remember that the best Chrome extensions are also a fine way to add new features like tabs that automatically close when they've inactive – as long as you watch out for malicious extensions that can steal your Gmail messages and more.

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MoviePass is back, better, and maybe more confusing than before
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MoviePass has made its long-awaited return as it launches a new subscription service in the United States.

We first saw the service as a limited beta all the way back in September 2022. It looks like the current version is mostly the same as the original although it is a bit more expansive. The way it works is you pay a monthly fee to watch a certain number of movies in theaters without having to buy a ticket. There are four tiers with prices ranging from $ 10 up to $ 40. However, rather than giving people a flat number of films they can watch in a month, MoviePass opts for a credit system with each tier giving users a fixed amount to use.

The $ 10 Basic tier offers the least, with 34 credits that allow people to watch somewhere between one to three movies a month. The $ 20 Standard Plan gives 72 credits for three to seven viewings a month. Premium ($ 30 a month) gives 113 credits for five to eleven films.  

The most expensive plan, the $ 40 Pro, grants 640 credits allowing people to watch up to 30 movies across 30 days. You can think of Pro as the “spiritual successor” to the previous (and disastrous) version of MoviePass. 

MoviePass Plans

(Image credit: MoviePass)

Varying costs

A MoviePass representative told us the cost (in credits) of a single movie is tied to the “day of the week” plus what time you’re watching, although they didn’t provide any further details. A recent report from TechCrunch claims Tuesdays are the cheapest whereas opening weekends are one of the more expensive options. Unused credits do roll over to the next month. Company CEO Stacy Spikes told TechCrunch people “can have up to a maximum of two months of unused credits” on their account.

These prices are for the general user in the US. The plans are more expensive if you live in either Southern California or the New York metropolitan area. Basic is $ 20, Standard is $ 30, Premium is $ 40, and Pro is $ 60 with no option to purchase a cheaper tier, according to a company representative. But users in those areas do get roughly double the number of credits. Standard, for example, offers 140 in Los Angeles instead of 72.

Availability

As for why MoviePass is adopting this system, the company states it lets members “choose the plan that best suits their viewing habits and budget.” The idea is whether you’re a casual theatergoer or a movie nerd, there’s something for everyone.

There are a couple of things we haven’t mentioned yet. You can’t watch 3D movies with the subscription, although there are plans to include “large format and premium screens” (presumably IMAX) soon. The service is supported by over 4,000 theaters across the country. A full list of every location can be found on the official website. The service is now open – just in time for Memorial Day. This holiday should provide an interesting proving ground for MoviePass.

We asked the same representative if they could provide us with exact numbers on how much it’ll cost to watch a film because that’s the one piece of information strangely missing from all this. And if there are plans for an international launch. This story will be updated at a later time.

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Leaks suggest iOS 17 could make your iPhone way more useful in the home
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Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2023 event is happening soon (June 5, 2023) and like clockwork, the leaks are popping up. The rumors this time suggest iOS 17 will have a new lock screen that will turn your iPhone into a sort of smart display.

What gives this rumor more credence than others is the fact it comes from notable industry insider Mark Gurman from Bloomberg. He claims in a recent report that Apple is looking for a way to “make iPhones more useful when they’re [sitting] on a person’s desk or nightstand.” The tech is reportedly based on the customizable lock screen from iOS 16 which allows “users “to see small snippets of information”. 

Beyond that, not much else is known. Gurman’s anonymous sources state the iOS 17 features function similar to Amazon’s Echo Show displays and it’ll utilize a “dark background with bright text” similar to the Apple Watch's Nightstand Mode.

Smart home expansion

It's been known for a while now the company has been working on growing the smart home side of its business. All the way back in January of this year, rumors were floating around stating the tech giant is planning to launch a low-end iPad as the company’s first official smart home controller. Gurman’s report states it’s been “designed to control things like thermostats” and house lights, as well as “show video”.

It's hard to say whether or not Apple wants the iPhone to play a bigger role in its smart home plans. Sure, a smart display is useful for displaying basic information, but there has to be more to it than that. And we can't help but wonder how this will affect the Matter standard. 

The protocol is in dire need of some support, after all. Matter 1.1 recently launched, and what was supposed to be a major upgrade, but without more device-type support, it's a little underwhelming. Looking at Gurman’s leaks, there isn’t a single word about Matter, which is rather concerning.

Either way, mum's the word for now.  Gurman states that “an Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on [the company's] plans for iOS 17.”

A peek at the future

As for the rest of the report, it mostly consists of previously seen leaks like watchOS 10 getting widgets as part of a major revamp and the world premiere of the company’s VR headset. Some of the more interesting tidbits, however, include “significant changes to the iPhone’s Wallet app” plus an AirPlay upgrade “to make it easier for users to beam [content] to devices they don’t own.” Apparently, Apple spoke to some hotels “that offer TVs and speakers” to make the latter possible.

Be sure to stay tuned for our coverage of WWDC 2023. We do expect to see the official reveal of iOS 17.

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The first iOS 16.6 beta has made iMessage even more secure
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Apple has only just dropped iOS 16.5, but already there’s a public beta for iOS 16.6, the finished version of which will probably land in the next month or so, based on past form. This doesn’t look to be one of the biggest iOS updates ever, but there’s one potentially very useful new feature.

That feature is iMessage Contact Key Verification, which Apple actually announced last year, but is only now activating. If you and the person or people you’re messaging both enable this feature, then you’ll be alerted if Apple detects a potential intrusion – for example, if the cloud servers your messages are carried on appear to have been breached.

Contact Verification Codes can also be compared and verified in person or over a FaceTime call. So, all this is essentially a way of verifying that you’re talking to the person you believe you’re talking to, and that no one is eavesdropping on the conversation.

An image showing the iMessage Contact Key Verification feature

(Image credit: Apple)

This is probably a level of security beyond what most people really need, especially as iMessage is already end-to-end encrypted. Indeed, when Apple announced the feature, it positioned this as something aimed at people facing “extraordinary digital threats,” such as journalists and government officials.

It’s a feature that’s designed to stop “an exceptionally advanced adversary, such as a state-sponsored attacker,” so this isn’t something you should – in theory – need to avoid garden-variety hackers. That said, it’s something anyone can enable, so if you want that extra peace of mind, the option is now there.

Or it will be, anyway – while the feature is now visible, it doesn’t appear to be functional yet, according to BGR.

Few features to find

Presumably, then, Apple is still getting it set up, but with it visible in this iOS 16.6 beta, it seems very likely that the iMessage Contact Key Verification feature will fully launch in the finished version of iOS 16.6.

This seems to be the only feature that has been found in this iOS 16.6 beta, and handily Apple hasn’t provided any release notes for the beta. So, there may be more features lurking in there, and there may be additional features added in subsequent betas or the finished iOS 16.6 release.

But as we’re not aware of any functional changes in this current build, there’s probably no need to download it. And while it will definitely be worth grabbing the finished version, we might not see many new features until iOS 17.

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Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing AI gets smarter with more local knowledge
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Microsoft’s Bing AI just got some more improvements, including one that should make the chatbot considerably more helpful when it comes to providing tailored recommendations based on your local area.

In a blog post introducing the latest changes, Microsoft acknowledged that it had received feedback telling the company that the ChatGPT-powered Bing needed to do better with local-related queries.

In other words, specific requests such as asking for the whereabouts of a store in your neighborhood, for example.

Microsoft informs us that it has bolstered Bing’s chops in this regard, so it’ll deliver “better answers if you’re trying to find a park, a store, or a doctor’s office near you.”

Other tweaks Microsoft recently applied to its Bing chatbot include increasing the limit of the max turns you can take (queries) in a single conversation from 15 to 20. Based on the allowance of 10 daily sessions, that gives you a limit of 200 turns per day in total.

Image and video search capabilities are also integrated in the chatbot now. These will pop up as answer cards, allowing the user to click ‘see more’ to dive into further detail with a Bing image search.

Analysis: Pushing forward and besting Bard

Obviously beefing up the performance of the Bing AI to do better with local queries is an important move to make. It’s no good having an all-singing and dancing AI (you have asked the chatbot to sing to you already, right?) if it falls down embarrassingly when it comes to making basic recommendations about locations and services near you.

Mind you, the enhanced performance for these kind of queries sounds like it’s in the early stages of getting a good coat of polish. As Microsoft puts it: “Expect us to make further improvements in local grounding based on your feedback.”

Like everything with Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered AI, then, it’s very much a work in progress. Still, the amount of progress being made is impressively sure and steady, which has got to be a worry for Google.

Google’s rival AI, Bard, has been notably slow off the starting blocks. Indeed, it feels like Google forced Bard onto the starting blocks before it had even laced its trainers, because the firm felt like the new Bing couldn’t be left unanswered, seeing as the ChatGPT-powered AI is already boosting traffic to Microsoft’s search engine.

We’re told that Bard will become more capable, and will receive improvements to its reasoning skills later this week, and it’s clear enough that Google recognizes it needs to move faster with its rival AI. At the same time, it can’t afford any missteps as seen with Bard’s launch (and to be fair, with the Bing AI’s launch too, although Microsoft seems to have recovered pretty well from the mishaps Bing encountered early on).

Our main worry about Microsoft is that the success of the Bing chatbot – so far – could go to the company’s head. There’s already worrying talk of jamming adverts into Bing AI, which we very much hope won’t happen. That’s probably a forlorn hope, and if it turns out that way, this could be an area that Bard could turn to its advantage. That said, it’s not like Google won’t be surveying every avenue of monetization down the line, too – it’d be pretty naïve to think otherwise.

Both companies would do well to remember that these AIs must be perceived as helpful friends, though, and not ones with a hidden agenda. Or, more to the point we suppose, a poorly hidden agenda which becomes painfully transparent…

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The 5 most exciting AI tools coming to Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, and more
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Google has just announced a huge set of new AI tools that could change the way we use some of its most popular apps, including Gmail, Google Docs and more.

In both an official blog post and video (below) the tech giant revealed several new AI tools that will be coming to its most popular apps. The first ones will initially only come to select group of testers in Gmail and Google Docs, but we've also been given a tantalizing preview of the ones coming to Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Meet, too.

The move is most likely to rival competitors in the AI space like Microsoft's ChatGPT-powered Bing and Microsoft 365. Since AI has grown in popularity, Google has been scrambling to match its rivals' moves in the market, going so far as rushing out an announcement of its own Google Bard chatbot, which still isn't open to the public. There was also an underwhelming presentation that even had its own employees rolling their eyes.

Still, the results from what we've seen in this demonstration look far more practical and promising than the AI tools Google has announced so far. They've been integrated into Google Workspace, so users will soon be able to use generative AI in several writing features. For now, only trusted testers will have access to these new tools but after that, they'll be rolled out to all Google users.

So, in no particular order, here are all the best AI tools coming to Google's line of products.

The 5 most useful AI tools coming to Google apps

1. Gmail: instant summaries of long conversations

a screenshot of an AI generated email

(Image credit: Future)

If you've ever opened up your work email only to find an extremely long and confusing email chain, this tool could be for you. This particular AI tool allows you to quickly summarize long email conversations, pulling out the most pertinent information and laying it out in a neat box.

From what we've seen from this demo, it even adds the names of those involved in the conversation, giving the summary even more context and clarity. And it drafts a response based on all the information gathered. Of course, it remains to be seen how accurate this tool will be, as any missing information from said summary could be detrimental to your work.

Most likely, it'll use machine learning to improve its quality of work, which should mean it doesn't skip important information as it's used more often.

2. Gmail and Google Docs: time-saving drafts when you type in a topic

a screenshot of an AI generated summary in google docs

(Image credit: Future)

Out of all the AI tools showcased in Google's presentation, this AI writing and brainstorming feature looks to be the most promising. As demonstrated in the demo, a prompt that states “Help me write” followed by the request “Job post for a regional sales rep” results in an instantly drafted job post.

From there of course the human user would edit and refine the document, but having a draft instantly created saves plenty of time and effort. You can also use the tool to add certain tones to your document depending on the situation, like whimsical or formal.

There's a lot of flexibility in this AI tool, and the fact that it works for both drafting documents and emails should make it even more valuable.

3. Google Slides: AI-generated presentations with imagery

a screenshot of an AI generated images in a presentation

(Image credit: Future)

This is easily the most controversial of the new batch of Google's AI tools. The core of the concept, creating slides for a presentation in Google Slides, is a smart one that could save a lot of time and energy in terms of creating layouts instantly. However, unlike the other tools that use text already written by either you or coworkers, this tool creates images, audio, and video, then inserts it into your presentation.

But where does that media come from? A database gathered by Google's AI of course. But then where does the AI pull the references from to generate this content? That's the problem and something Google will likely need to address.

As it stands, there's been a lot of misuse of this tech to the point of even plagiarism, and it remains to be seen if Google is using a personal database or pulling from the internet to create this content.

4. Google Meet: capture notes through AI

a screenshot of AI generated notes in google meet

(Image credit: Future)

This is another AI feature that could potentially save a lot of time and effort. This tool captures notes from conference calls and other meetings with audio, then takes “notes” of that meeting, summarizing the most important points in an easy-to-parse format.

Judging from the demo, the most impressive part of this note-taking tool is how it organizes the notes, using complex formattings like bullet points, calendar icons to indicate an important date, headings, and more. It not only looks incredibly organized but works at a far faster rate than a human could.

This tool would leave time and energy for everyone to focus on the meeting itself and not need to devote a person to take these notes. Meaning that everyone can participate.

5. Google Sheets: auto-fill data entry with AI

a screenshot of AI generated entries in google sheets

(Image credit: Future)

Data entry can be repetitive and boring at times, or even confusing when dealing with extremely large sets of data. This AI tool would be especially handy in parsing dense amounts of information, then converting that information into data charts.

The demo showed the command “Personalize messages for our client” and then next to each entry created a unique message for each of them, most likely as a mailing list. A task that would take a human a long time to accomplish was done in an instant. 

Of course, a human would have to edit each message to ensure quality, but having the drafts done is an incredibly useful and time-saving first step.

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Windows 11’s ChatGPT-powered Bing AI taskbar is nothing more than a pointless ad
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Microsoft released a new Windows 11 update on Wednesday, March 1, and all everyone is talking about is how the update emphasises putting artificial intelligence first… and how it falls short of that rather severely. 

The AI-powered search box is now set up in the taskbar by default, which may or may not be helpful depending on your disposition towards AI and ‘helpful’ chatbots. The update to the taskbar is amongst many other improved features that are packaged in with the recent Windows 11 update, so it’ll be hard to avoid or ignore if you’re not a fan of ChatGPT. 

ChatGPT is the AI-powered chatbot developed by OpenAI that allows users to interact with the bot and ask it to do anything from brainstorm recipes, breakdown complex ideas, writing and edit large copies of text or just having a little chat. The bot uses machine learning to analyze prompts given by users and respond using data input by the user and information from its database. Microsoft launched its collaboration with ChatGPT early last month and has had its share of meltdowns and inaccuracies since then.

It’s a little too early to get a grasp on how successful this new Windows 11 update has been with integrating ChatGPT-powered AI search, but so far it doesn't seem like the taskbar update has been well received.  In fact, I would argue it’s just a heavy-handed advertisement for Bing, Microsoft’s largely unloved search engine, and takes away consumer autonomy to decide whether or not they want to dabble in AI. This is not to bash ChatGPT and its fans, but more a finger wag at the mass implementation that takes away the ability to choose.

Say you were a sceptic or someone who didn’t know much about ChatGPT or Bing AI, you don’t really have a choice on whether or not you want access to Bing AI and there doesn’t seem to be a way to get rid of its addition to your Windows 11 desktop.

The announcement from Microsoft gives off the impression that the entire search experience on Windows 11 will now be supercharged by AI, but that’s far from the case. 

There’s no quick search in the taskbar that’ll spit out intelligently thought-out results. Fans or curious users looking to use Bing’s AI search engine don’t have integration within Windows 11 in the capacity seemingly promised by yesterday's announcement. The scale with which AI integration has been promised compared to what we've actually got doesn't match up.

Instead, users now have the ability to launch Bing’s new chatbot without actually having to type ‘bing.com’ into a web browser first. That’s it. The blog post says users have “ the amazing capabilities of the new AI-powered Bing directly into the taskbar “ which is not true at all. You get a banner for Bing on the Windows search page and two prompts to help suggest what to do when you click on any of the related buttons and get whisked off to Microsoft's Edge browser, in what feels like a calculated attempt to force more people to use it. 

Once Microsoft Edge is open, you can use Bing as you please if you’re registered. I was taken to the login/registration page since I was yet to make an account, but it‘s incredibly annoying to be sold the idea of having access to Bing AI’s chatbot from the comfort of your immediate desktop and instead being taken to a new program and webpage instead. Windows isn’t doing anything AI related, since Microsoft hasn’t added AI to search on Windows in the new feature drop as you may think, which makes the ChatGPT-powered version of Bing in Windows 11 just feel like an empty advertisement. 

Analysis: Who is this for? 

This definitely feels like a manifestation of something a lot of people were worried about when Microsoft announced its partnership with ChatGPT and implemented it into Bing: essentially, another way for Microsoft to try to force people into using Bing and Edge in favour of the software they actually use. 

We’ve all seen the pathetic little banners that come up on Edge while you’re setting up your PC and trying to download Chrome or Firefox, and this definitely feels like Microsoft has put the metaphorical foot down and made sure that if you want to use your taskbar search or try out Bing AI, you’re going to have to do it on their terms. 

Regardless of how you feel about AI chatbots or just AI technology in general, there’s no denying the update to the taskbar is less than useful. There are a lot of more interesting, and useful feature updates that have been overshadowed by the glaring blip of the Bing AI taskbar update.  

The lack of a clear opt-out option does seem to solidify the idea that not only is the ‘shortcut to Bing AI’ here to stay, but it’s only to be accessed on Microsoft’s terms.

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Chats in Google Messages are about to get even more secure
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Google has announced that it's bringing end-to-end encryption to group chats in the Google Messages app. The security upgrade is heading to beta users first before being rolled out more widely.

End-to-end encryption means no one, not even Google, can read the content of messages. It's already supported in the Google Messages app for one-to-one chats, but now (via The Verge) it's going to be added to group conversations as well.

“End-to-end encryption is starting to roll out for group chats and will be available to some users in the open beta program over the coming weeks,” Google says. “This shouldn’t even be a thought – just an expectation and something anyone texting should not have to worry about.”

From SMS to RCS

In the same announcement blog post, Google revealed that the ability to quickly react to a message with any emoji is coming to Google Messages soon as well. At the moment, only a selection of emojis can be used as reactions.

Alongside a mention of these new features, Google also continued to push hard for RCS (Rich Communication Services) to become the new standard for everyone – the technology, an upgrade on SMS, is now widely available but has yet to be adopted by Apple on its iPhones.

Google's post also acknowledged the 30th anniversary of the SMS, a milestone which emphasizes how old the technology is as well as how overdue we now are for a standard that can fully replace it.

Analysis: SMS should really be history

The arrival of SMS three decades ago helped to transform the way that we communicate with each other – even if the messages were limited in terms of characters, and many phones could only store a limited number of texts at any one time.

Now, apps like WhatsApp and Slack have taken us far, far beyond those limitations. Messages can be much longer and include photos, videos or audio, and we can even tell when recipients have opened up the messages we send them.

It's benefits like these that make RCS a worthwhile upgrade, improving the security of messages and making features such as group chats much better. Google didn't create the standard, but it is heavily promoting it.

However, whenever an iPhone user texts an Android user, SMS is still the protocol used. Google wants that to change, but it's unlikely that Apple ever will – Apple knows that iMessage is one of the key reasons that people stick with iPhones.

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