Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Today — 14 January 2025Tech News

ChatGPT becomes more Siri-like with new scheduled tasks feature

14 January 2025 at 14:08

OpenAI is making ChatGPT work a little more like older digital assistants with a new feature called Tasks, as reported by TechCrunch and others.

Currently in beta, Tasks allows users to direct the chatbot to send reminders or to generate responses to specific prompts at certain times; recurring tasks are also supported.

The feature is available to Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers starting today, while free users don't have access.

Read full article

Comments

© Benj Edwards / OpenAI / Getty Images

Parallels is testing x86 emulation on Apple silicon Macs

By: Wes Davis
14 January 2025 at 13:39
Picture of an M4 MacBook Pro.
Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Parallels has added support for x86 emulation in Parallels Desktop 20.2, product manager Mikhail Ushakov wrote in a blog post last week. The “early technology preview” will let you emulate Intel-based hardware on an M1-or-greater Mac, a first for Parallels since Apple’s Arm transition in 2020 — but don’t expect stellar performance.

Parallels says users will be able to:

Run existing x86_64 Windows 10, Windows 11*, Windows Server 2019/2022, and some Linux distributives with UEFI BIOS via Parallels Emulator.

Create new Windows 10 21H2 and Windows Server 2022 virtual machines.

Screenshot of a Windows virtual machine running in macOS. Image: Parallels

However, performance will be “really slow,” with up to seven-minute boot times, Ushakov says. Other limitations include no external USB device support, Windows 11 24H2 isn’t supported, and you can only emulate 64-bit operating systems, though Ushakov says you can run 32-bit apps.

He writes that the option to start one of these VMs is hidden for now “to avoid false expectations” from those who don’t need x86 emulation.

Parallels has a longer list of caveats in a separate article.

Screenshot showing Microsoft Powerpoint running on a Windows virtual machine. A right-click menu is visible, with “Writing Tools (Mac)” highlighted at the bottom. Image: Parallels
Parallels now puts Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in the Windows context menu.

Version 20.2 brings some other changes, including support for automatic time and time zone syncing in macOS virtual machines on Apple silicon. It also adds Apple’s AI-powered Writing Tools to the Windows right-click menu in Word, Powerpoint, and the classic version of Outlook. Before, you had to use a keyboard shortcut or the macOS menu bar’s Edit menu.

Sonos’ chief product officer is leaving the company

14 January 2025 at 13:33
Vector illustration of the Sonos logo.
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

A day after Sonos announced a CEO transition, the company is making more moves. Chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin will also be leaving his position. Some employees have told me that Bouvat-Merlin shares a significant amount of blame for the brand damage that Sonos has endured over the last year after deciding to release an overhauled mobile app well before it was ready for customers. There have been reports that top executives at the company ignored warnings from engineers and app testers that the new software wasn’t up to par ahead of its May rollout. Those alarms didn’t stop it from shipping.

In an email to staff, interim CEO Tom Conrad — who himself has plenty of product experience — said the CPO position is now “redundant” and that Bouvat-Merlin’s job is being eliminated. “I know this is a lot of change to absorb in two days and I want to thank you for being resilient,” Conrad wrote.

“Max’s tenure represents an iconic era for Sonos products, including the award-winning Sonos One, Beam, Move, Ace, Arc, and Arc Ultra, establishing Sonos as the world leader in home theater audio and setting the foundation for our next chapter,” Conrad’s email reads.

Bouvat-Merlin will serve as an adviser to Conrad before fully exiting the company. These major changes within Sonos’ ranks suggest that the company is taking its effort to win back trust and right the wrongs of its previous leadership quite seriously.

Conrad’s full email follows below:

Team,

Earlier this morning, I committed to you to share the truth. In that spirit, I want to share some changes I am making to simplify our leadership structure and flatten our Product organization.

With my stepping in as CEO, the Board, Max, and I have agreed that my background makes the Chief Product Officer role redundant. Therefore, Max’s role is being eliminated and the Product organization will report directly to me. I’ve asked Max to advise me over the next period to ensure a smooth transition and I am grateful that he’s agreed to do that.

Max’s tenure represents an iconic era for Sonos products, including the award-winning Sonos One, Beam, Move, Ace, Arc and Arc Ultra, establishing Sonos as the world leader in home theater audio and setting the foundation for our next chapter. These achievements are a testament to the talent, passion, and creativity that define our Product team, and Max has been a leading part of all of that.

I shared this news openly with the Sonos leaders yesterday with the intention that these leaders would share the update as needed with their teams. Unfortunately this news quickly made its way outside the organization. While this is frustrating for all of us, I will not let the possibility of a leak change our ability to communicate openly with one another. So I’m going to keep telling you the truth.

I know this is a lot of change to absorb in two days and I want to thank you for your resilience, continued commitment to Sonos and support of each other during this time.

Tom

Netflix’s new animated Witcher spinoff movie sets sail this February

14 January 2025 at 13:21
A bard standing and a warrior in armor standing next to each other and looking down out of a broken window.
Netflix

Though the fourth season of Netflix’s live-action Witcher series still doesn’t have a concrete release date, Netflix has finally announced when we’ll see yet another animated take on Geralt of Rivia.

Originally, Netflix intended for The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep to debut some time late last year, but the steamer revealed today that the movie is now set to premiere on February 11th. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s short story “A Little Sacrifice” from Sword of Destiny, Sirens of the Deep tells the tale of how Geralt of Rivia (Doug Cockle) and Jaskier (Joey Batey) get caught up in an age-old conflict between humans and merpeople.

In a new trailer for the movie, things seem simple enough to Geralt as he’s first hired to put his special skills to good use. It makes sense that humans would want a witcher’s help to deal with a deadly series of sea monster attacks. The gig’s also easy money for Geralt and a solid way to keep his mind off Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra). There’s something nefarious at the root of the interspecies war, though, and by the time Geralt realizes he might have gotten things wrong, he can only do but so much to stop the bloodshed.

Compared to the live-action series, Sirens of the Deep looks like it’s going for a more spectacular (in the sense that the action’s big) depiction of Geralt’s adventures. And while it might not connect directly to the events of Netflix’s last animated Witcher movie or the live-action Witcher’s fourth season, it should make the wait a little more bearable.

Why Vision Pro is Apple’s best reason yet to bring Touch ID back to iPhone

14 January 2025 at 13:41

Apple introduced Face ID on iPhone all the way back in 2017, and Touch ID quickly became absent from all but the budget iPhone SE. Now, the SE is about to lose it too. But I think it’s actually the perfect time to bring Touch ID back across the entire iPhone lineup, and Vision Pro is why.

more…

Nintendo Switch 2 could be announced this week: The rumors (and facts) so far

14 January 2025 at 13:47

With CES 2025 finally in the rearview, it’s time to move on to the next round of big hardware announcements. Rumors have emerged over the last few weeks, pointing to an imminent announcement for the next-generation of Nintendo’s wildly successful hybrid Switch console. In particular, word from industry stalwart Eurogamer (among others) pegs a January […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Intel spins off its corporate venture arm, Intel Capital, into a standalone fund

14 January 2025 at 13:45

Intel says that it plans to spin off its corporate venture arm, Intel Capital, into a standalone fund, with Intel as an “anchor investor.” In a press release on Tuesday, Intel said that the move will “[enable] greater autonomy” and “the flexibility to attract external capital.” Intel expects Intel Capital to begin operating independently in […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Meta execs obsessed over beating OpenAI’s GPT-4 internally, court filings reveal

14 January 2025 at 13:41

Executives and researchers leading Meta’s AI efforts obsessed over beating OpenAI’s GPT-4 model while developing Llama 3, according to internal messages unsealed by a court on Tuesday in one of the company’s ongoing AI copyright cases, Kadrey v. Meta. “Honestly… Our goal needs to be GPT-4,” said Meta’s VP of Generative AI, Ahmad Al-Dahle, in […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Hackers are exploiting a new Fortinet firewall bug to breach company networks

14 January 2025 at 13:25

Security researchers say "tens" of Fortinet devices have been compromised so far as part of the weeks-long hacking campaign.

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Indeed Vet Jessica Jensen is LinkedIn’s Latest CMO

14 January 2025 at 13:31
Jessica Jensen, who served as Indeed's CMO since March of 2021, has been named Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for LinkedIn, the company announced today. Charged with overseeing global marketing, brand and corporate strategy, Jensen will report to COO Dan Shapero when she assumes her new role on January 21. Jensen replaces Melissa Selcher, who...

Week of Jan. 8 Morning News Ratings: Today Leads the First Full Week of 2025

14 January 2025 at 12:46
The first full week of 2025 saw such breaking news events as the Los Angeles wildfires, former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral, and the departure of a popular morning show co-host. Not surprisingly, all three morning news shows posted double-digit gains in total viewers and the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo during the busy week of...

Driving Growth Through Consumer-Centric Strategies With Newell Brands

In this episode of the Brave Commerce podcast, Kris Malkoski, CEO of learning and development at American manufacturing giant Newell Brands, joins Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter to share her approach to driving transformation and growth. Drawing from her extensive experience as a business leader, Kris explains her four key operating principles for building successful...

How Advertisers Can Tap a $175B Opportunity By Breaking Away from Walled Gardens

14 January 2025 at 12:38
This post was created in partnership with Outbrain Consumers are wandering from "walled gardens" like Google and Meta to the open internet's sprawling landscape of streaming, audio, and news platforms. Advertisers who follow them can unlock a $175 billion opportunity. To get there, publishers will have to "break down walls" that are holding back brands...

OpenAI launches ‘Tasks’ to let you schedule reminders and to-do lists within ChatGPT

14 January 2025 at 12:57

ChatGPT users have something new to celebrate. The popular chatbot can now handle reminders and to-do lists for you. OpenAI announced on Tuesday the launch of a new feature called ‘Tasks’, available to paid subscribers on Plus, Team, and Pro […]

The post OpenAI launches ‘Tasks’ to let you schedule reminders and to-do lists within ChatGPT first appeared on Tech Startups.

North Korea linked to crypto heists of over $650 million in 2024 alone

14 January 2025 at 12:54
Illustration of a digital coin on fire.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Hackers in North Korea stole a total of $659 million in crypto across several heists in 2024, according to a joint statement issued today by the US, Japan, and South Korea. The report specified five such incidents, like the $235 million theft from the Indian crypto exchange WazirX that is being newly attributed to the Lazarus Group. That organization is estimated to have stolen billions across previous attacks over the last decade, including $625 million stolen from Axie Infinity in 2022.

Of the 2024 incidents, Japan’s DMM Bitcoin suffered the biggest loss, with $308 million stolen, ultimately resulting in the exchange’s closure.

As recently as September 2024, the United States government observed aggressive targeting of the cryptocurrency industry by the DPRK with well-disguised social engineering attacks that ultimately deploy malware, such as TraderTraitor, AppleJeus and others. The Republic of Korea and Japan have observed similar trends and tactics used by the DPRK.

A warning issued by the FBI last September noted that their methods to gain access for delivering these payloads include “individualized fake scenarios,” such as enticing victims with prospective jobs and business opportunities. All three countries advised businesses in the industry to check out the latest warning to reduce their risk of “inadvertently hiring DPRK IT workers,” as described in this recent report by CoinDesk.

They’ve also used long-time common phishing tactics against employees of crypto firms, such as convincing impersonations of trusted contacts or prominent people of interest in related industries, with realistic photos and information likely lifted from public social media accounts of known connections.

❌
❌