Ben Bajarin, chief executive and principal analyst at Creative Strategies, said that in a recent survey he conducted, most respondents said they were willing to spend between $250 and $499 on a headset, and the next-largest group were only willing to spend $100 to $249. Of the people he surveyed, 20 percent were open to… Continue reading Meta’s Quest 3 VR Headset and Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Now Serve Up a Bigger Dose of Reality
Author: Wired Magazine
SoundThinking, Maker of ShotSpotter, Is Buying Parts of PredPol Creator Geolitica
SoundThinking, the company behind the gunshot-detection system ShotSpotter, is quietly acquiring staff, patents, and customers of the firm that created the notorious predictive policing software PredPol, WIRED has learned. In an August earnings call, SoundThinking CEO Ralph Clark announced to investors that the company was negotiating an agreement to acquire parts of Geolitica—formerly called PredPol—and… Continue reading SoundThinking, Maker of ShotSpotter, Is Buying Parts of PredPol Creator Geolitica
Amazon’s All-Powerful ‘Buy Box’ Is at the Heart of Its New Antitrust Troubles
Anyone who has shopped on Amazon will have seen the Buy Box with its peppy yellow and orange Add to Cart and Buy Now buttons. The US Federal Trade Commission has seen it too, and made it central to an antitrust case filed against Amazon today. The long-anticipated government complaint, joined by 17 state attorneys… Continue reading Amazon’s All-Powerful ‘Buy Box’ Is at the Heart of Its New Antitrust Troubles
The 7 Best Conspiracies About Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
First thing’s first: Misinformation and disinformation are bad. False tweets that go viral, government conspiracy theories, lies about vaccines—these are all huge problems online, and they’re poised to get worse thanks to generative AI. There are a few exceptions, though. The best of these came to light over the weekend when Taylor Swift showed up… Continue reading The 7 Best Conspiracies About Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Risk of a US Government Shutdown Is Fueled by Very Online Republicans
“Congress is in charge of money and everything for the government, and Congress should be in charge of funding special counsels. Those are my red lines,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican, told a group of congressional reporters. Greene’s other top demand is impeaching President Joe Biden. McCarthy has already launched an inquiry. With Trump… Continue reading Risk of a US Government Shutdown Is Fueled by Very Online Republicans
Getty Images Plunges Into the Generative AI Pool
Earlier this year, the stock-photo service provider Getty Images sued Stability AI over what Getty said was the misuse of more than 12 million Getty photos in training Stability’s AI photo-generation tool, Stable Diffusion. Now Getty Images is releasing its own AI photo-generation tool, which will be available to its commercial customers. And it’s bringing… Continue reading Getty Images Plunges Into the Generative AI Pool
The Booking.com Decision Shows the True Scope of the EU’s Big Tech Crackdown
When the European Union issued new rules for the internet earlier this year, officials in Brussels envisioned a system that would stop US Big Tech from growing out of control. But the bloc’s latest antitrust decision sent a message that it’s not only American tech giants that will be subject to increasing scrutiny, but European… Continue reading The Booking.com Decision Shows the True Scope of the EU’s Big Tech Crackdown
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom Vetoes State Ban on Driverless Trucks
California governor Gavin Newsom worked late last night, vetoing a law that would have banned self-driving trucks without a human aboard from state roads until the early 2030s. State lawmakers had voted through the law with wide margins, backed by unions that argued autonomous trucks are a safety risk and threaten jobs. The bill would… Continue reading California’s Governor Gavin Newsom Vetoes State Ban on Driverless Trucks
The iPhone 12 Isn’t the Only Phone to Fail France’s Radiation Test
Last week, Apple’s iPhone 12 was banned by a French regulatory body. The charge? The phone emits too much radiation. If you browse the German or UK versions of Amazon, you’ll find plenty of iPhone 12s. But on the French branch you’ll see a black hole surrounded by iPhone 11s and iPhone 13s, among other… Continue reading The iPhone 12 Isn’t the Only Phone to Fail France’s Radiation Test
The Shocking Data on Kia and Hyundai Thefts in the US
Mandiant researchers published findings this week about a newly revealed Chinese espionage operation that used Sogu malware to spy on the African operations of both European and US organizations. The campaign is significant for the scope of its victims, but also because attackers used a classic malware distribution method: thumb drives. The attacks are the… Continue reading The Shocking Data on Kia and Hyundai Thefts in the US