Apple AirTags can help you find your lost items, but what if you need to keep track of more than one or two items, or you want to equip the whole family? The occasional deal on a four-pack can help a ton, especially when it’s down to $67.99 (about $31 off) Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. That’s less expensive than it was on Black Friday, and at $17 per unit, you’re saving a lot compared to buying them individually. However, if you only need one, a single AirTag is on sale for $22.99 (about $6 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart right now.

AirTags are our favorite Bluetooth trackers and remain the first option iPhone owners should consider. That’s because they work with the ultra wideband radios insider newer iPhones, enabling pinpoint precision finding when you’re within Bluetooth range. They also work on the wide and secure Find My network, which uses nearby iPhones to quietly report your item’s last known approximate location so you can easily find it on a map from virtually anywhere.

AirTags can’t be recharged, but they’re some of the only trackers with user-replaceable batteries. They’re also water-resistant and surprisingly sturdy against the occasional drop. Apple continues to enhance their capabilities over time, too, most recently allowing you to share AirTag locations with family and friends, or even with business entities like airlines to help you more easily find lost luggage.

Read our Apple AirTag review.

Other deals worth a shout

• The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE with 128GB of storage is starting at $279.72 (about $170 off) at Amazon in select colors, which is an all-time low price. You can also get it in other colors for around $299.99 (about $150 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. The mid-range tablet has a 10.9-inch LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate and runs on the Exynos 1380, offering a good base for light gaming, entertainment, productivity, and browsing. It ships with an S Pen, too, which makes it an even better value over competing starter tablets like the iPad. You can use the S Pen to initiate Google’s Circle to Search, and enjoy other features that Samsung bakes into its Android-based One UI experience.
• If you want a solid robot vacuum that can mop, the first-gen Dreame L10s Ultra is down to $399.99 ($500 off) at Amazon, matching its all-time low price. That price puts it well under the average price of Dreame’s lineup, but the robovac still offers good cleaning performance with 5,300Pa suction. It also uses dual oscillating mops, which it washes and dries at the base before emptying and refilling itself for up to 60 days without your help. It uses AI navigation with a camera and Lidar, allowing it to automatically detect carpets and objects to adjust its cleaning properties accordingly. You can set routines and zones in the smartphone app and control it with your voice using Alexa commands. The app even lets you view the robovac’s camera feed remotely, allowing it to double as a roaming security cam or pet cam.
• The latest Nothing Ear wireless earbuds are starting at $114 ($45 off) at Amazon, which matches their best price to date. The translucent IP54-rated earbuds offer very good sound quality from their 11mm drivers, plus solid active noise cancellation performance with automatic optimizations based on your ear shape. With all of those tricks enabled, the battery lasts up to five hours, but you can go up to eight hours with ANC disabled. The Nothing Ear also support Android Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, and Bluetooth multipoint, and even have ChatGPT baked in for your AI assistant needs. Read our hands-on.

Major newspapers across the UK today are all on the same page for once. Specifically, their front covers, which feature the same campaign imagery protesting government proposals that could eviscerate copyright protections against artificial intelligence. Brits popping into their local store or newsagents will be greeted by a spread of bright blue pages demanding the same thing: MAKE IT FAIR.

Creative and media industries have teamed up on this “Make It Fair” initiative, calling for readers to help protect British creative industries. The campaign was created to fight government proposals that would allow artificial intelligence companies to train their models on copyright-protected work without permission.

The stunt appears to be carefully timed. A public consultation period — in which anyone can submit their opinions to the UK government — closed today following its launch on December 17th, proposing that exceptions be made to copyright law regarding AI training “for any purpose,” including commercial. Creatives would be able to opt out of the new “text and data mining” process via a so-called “rights reservation” process, but that places greater responsibility and labor requirements on individuals to ensure their works are protected.

“Tech companies use creative content, such as news articles, books, music, film, photography, visual art, and all kinds of creative work, to train their generative AI models,” reads the campaign website hosted by the News Media Association (NMA). “Publishers and creators say that doing this without proper controls, transparency or fair payment is unfair and threatens their livelihoods.”

Members of the NMA trade body include The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, and the Guardian, alongside regional print and digital outlets across the UK. The Make It Right campaign is also backed by the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, described as a “broad group of rights holders, AI businesses, and organizations” seeking to ensure that creatives are protected and fairly compensated under generative AI regulations.

The government’s proposals have been widely criticized over concerns that weakening copyright protections and letting AI companies gobble up whatever data they please could have a devastating impact on the UK’s $152 billion creative industry. The Make It Fair campaign is one of several pushbacks that have rolled out today in protest, including a silent album called “Is This What We Want?” released by more than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush and Damon Albarn.

“The ‘Make It Fair’ campaign opposes the government’s proposal in its consultation to weaken copyright law and allow tech firms to run rampant over creative content,” NMA CEO Owen Meredith told The Verge. “This extraordinary show of unity from the news media industry shows the time has come for the government to wake up and recognise the existential threat posed by unchecked exploitation of our creative industries.”

During its consultation period, the UK government invited “anyone with an interest in these issues” to share views and evidence regarding the potential economic impact the copyright protection changes may have. There’s no clear timeline for what will happen next, but the UK government said it will use the consultation responses to “help design the best possible policy” to achieve its objectives around expanding AI — suggesting that at least some changes will be on the horizon.

“We see AI as a powerful tool and a partner to creativity, but a partnership should be on fair and equal terms,” Meredith said. “Tech firms need creative content, and up-to-date professional journalism, to power AI — if they want to use our content, they must also be willing to compensate creators fairly, just as any responsible business would.”

The BBC, Britain’s publicly funded media service, also issued its own statement today saying that the proposal “is currently unworkable.”

“To be clear, we support the Government’s ambition to grow the creative and AI sectors,” said Rhodri Talfan Davies, Director of Nations at the BBC. “But we do not believe securing these goals requires changes that weaken how content is protected under the UK’s Intellectual Property regime.”

Microsoft has decided to delay the release window of its upcoming Fable game to 2026. The Xbox maker originally said last year that Fable would arrive at some point in 2025, but now Xbox Game Studios chief Craig Duncan has provided an update on the game during an appearance on the official Xbox podcast.

“We previously announced the date for Fable as 2025, we are actually going to give Fable more time and it’s going to ship in 2026 now,” says Duncan. “While I know that’s not maybe the news people want to hear, what I want to assure people of is that it’s definitely worth the wait. I have unequivocable confidence in the Playground team.”

We got to see some early gameplay footage of Fable at last year’s Xbox summer showcase, which was largely focused on the characters and story of the fantasy game. Fable will be centered on a hero named Humphry, who “will be forced out of retirement when a mysterious figure from his past threatens Albion’s very existence.” Microsoft provided a little more gameplay footage today, too.

Playground Games is the developer behind this latest Fable installment, best-known for their work on the Forza Horizon series. “What they’re bringing to the Fable franchise, just think of the visuals of what you expect from Playground Games, plus amazing gameplay, British humor, and Playground’s take… in quite frankly the most beautifully realized version of Albion that you’ve ever seen,” says Duncan.

Microsoft still has a busy year of Xbox games ahead, including South of Midnight, id Software’s Doom: The Dark Ages, The Outer Worlds 2, and potentially even Gears of War: E-Day.

A venture capital-backed “AI performance monitoring system for factory workers” is proposing what appears to be dehumanizing surveillance of factories, where machine vision tracks workers’ hand movements and output so a boss can look at graphs and yell at them about efficiency.

In a launch video demoing the product, Baid and Mohta put on a skit showing how Optifye.ai would be used by factory bosses. 

The YC deleted video for sweatshop startup Optifye pic.twitter.com/vCJvm2HTce

— Adam Lerman (@AdamLerman5) February 25, 2025

“Ugh, it’s workspace 17. Workspace 17 is the bottleneck. The worst performing workspace here,” one of the bosses says, while watching a video of a man making clothing in a factory. “Hey number 17, what’s going on man? You are in red,” he says. “I have been working all day,” the person playing the worker says. “Working all day?” the line boss replies. “You haven’t hit your hourly output even once today. And you have 11.4% efficiency, this is really bad!” 

“It’s just been a rough day,” the “worker” replies. “Rough day?” the boss says, looking at a calendar full of red days. “More like a rough month.” 

Optifye.ai, launched by Duke University computer science students Vivaan Baid and Kushal Mohta, is backed by Y Combinator, according to the company’s site. On their Y Combinator company profile, they write that both of their families run manufacturing plants, where they’ve been exposed to factory working conditions since they were children. “I've been around assembly lines for as long as I can remember,” Baid wrote. 

Mohta wrote, “My family also runs several manufacturing plants in various industries, which has given me unrestricted access to assembly lines since I was 15.” 

They hope to sell cameras to factory owners to use on assembly lines, their website says, and “use computer vision to tell supervisors who's working and who's not in real-time.”

Y Combinator deleted its recent Linkedin and X posts congratulating the company on launching.

On their Y Combinator profile, Baid and Mohta outline who gets what out of installing micromanaging AI surveillance on assembly lines. Owners gets “accurate real-time factory, line, and worker productivity metrics,” production heads get “line-wise and worker-wise metrics,” shopfloor supervisors get to “identify who/what is causing inefficiency in the line and fix the problem on the go.” For the workers? They get the tantalizing benefit of being “held accountable for good or bad performance.” 

Worker surveillance is already happening across industries. After the rise of remote work, companies started tracking workers’ productivity based on mouse movements, so workers started using “mouse jigglers” so they could walk away from their computers and use the bathroom in peace. In Amazon warehouses, workers are tracked and punished for not meeting grueling expectations and bathroom breaks are timed, resulting in more injuries and less safe working conditions. Optifye.ai’s approach and pitch, however, stands out because of the way its founders seem to embrace cruelty to workers in the name of productivity.

Optifye.ai and Y Combinator did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Recruitment is a mess—too many inefficiencies, skill gaps, and outdated processes bog down hiring teams. It’s no surprise that 88% of HR leaders say they’re struggling to find the right candidates. A new AI startup thinks it has the fix. […]

The post AI startup Perfect lands $23M to solve hiring bottlenecks and cut recruitment time by 75% with AI first appeared on Tech Startups.

Ahead of a fast-approaching launch, Google’s Pixel 9a keeps on leaking, with the latest report including prices for the mid-range device in Europe and the UK.

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Apple’s newest iPhone comes with a key component many years in the making: the C1 modem. The idea of a new modem may not sound very exciting on the surface, but already with this first version it’s become clear why Apple spent so long developing it. There are cost benefits to ditching Qualcomm, but also user-facing improvements. Here are two killer features Apple’s new C1 enables.

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Is your Mac running low on local storage? Try this new app before you start sacrificing files.

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Green groups say it’s a “clear admission” that plastic cups aren’t recyclable.

Musk's 'Wall of Receipts' includes a long list of contracts that have already been paid out and won't save the government, or the taxpayer, any money.

The Philips Hue Sync app is now available for many LG televisions, allowing synchronization between smart lights and TV screens. This eliminates the need for one of those dedicated sync boxes, as everything gets handled through the app.

For the uninitiated, Philips Hue smart lights dynamically adjust color and brightness to match the content playing on-screen. The app, along with an associated Hue lighting system, works with content from set-top boxes, streaming sticks, platforms like Netflix and, of course, gaming consoles. You haven’t really played Balatro until you’ve played it with matching lighting effects.

The Philips Hue Sync TV app supports multiple image formats, including 8K, 4K, HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. It uses a “proprietary syncing algorithm” to create “the ultimate surround lighting experience.” It’s available worldwide for compatible LG smart TVs right now. Just make sure the TV is running webOS 24 or later.

There’s a major caveat here. This is one expensive app. It costs around $130 (depending on where you live) and that only covers a single TV. However, folks can opt for a monthly subscription of $3 that can handle up to three televisions. That’s a bit more palatable.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/philips-hue-sync-now-available-on-lg-smart-tvs-eliminating-the-need-for-a-control-box-162004241.html?src=rss

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© Signify/Philips

British creatives are speaking out against the government's proposed changes to copyright law. Take Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Ben Howard, who join over 1,000 musicians in releasing a protest album called Is This What We Want?. 

Currently, AI developers must follow the same copyright laws as anyone else, meaning they can't use creative material to train models without permission. However, the December 2024 proposal would provide them with a copyright exemption that requires creatives to "opt out" of their materials being used. Tuesday, February 25 is the government's last day seeking views on the change. 

"The musicians on this album came together to protest this," reads the release statement. "The album consists of recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, representing the impact we expect the government’s proposals would have on musicians’ livelihoods." 

The album consists of 12 songs with their titles spelling out, "The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies." The record's profits go toward UK-based charity Help Musicians. 

Tuesday also saw the UK News Media Association and publications including The Guardian protest the copyright exemption proposal through the Make It Fair campaign. "The creative works of British artists, authors, journalists, illustrators, photographers, film-makers, scriptwriters, singers and songwriters are being scraped from the internet by tech companies, big and small, to build and maintain AI products that have the potential to reshape our world," the campaign argues. "Without fair reward, our creative industries simply won’t survive. The government must stand behind its creative industries. It’s time to fairly compensate the creators."

On Monday, a range of creatives wrote an open letter to The Times in protest. "There is no moral or economic argument for stealing our copyright. Taking it away will devastate the industry and steal the future of the next generation," it stated. Signatories included Paul McCartney, Elton John, Dua Lipa, Helen Fielding and Ed Sheeran. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/uk-creatives-protest-ai-copyright-law-changes-with-silent-album-and-campaign-160555065.html?src=rss

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© Is This What We Want?

One of the big advantages of electric vehicles is their greater freedom when it comes to packaging. Batteries go where it makes the most sense in terms of stability and safety. Electric motors are compact and don't need much cooling compared to a combustion engine, and there's no exhaust to worry about.

Putting the motors close to the wheels makes sense—in the wheel itself if possible—and it seems that a startup called Donut Labs may have solved some of the problems hub-mounted motors have faced in the past.

You can see where the name came from—the motors look like metal donuts. That originally had me thinking they used axial flux technology, as some hybrid supercars do, but I was mistaken. These are radial flux motors, just ones that make a lot of torque considering their size and mass.

Read full article

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© Donut Labs

Not one, not two, but seven planets are due to line up in the night skies later this week in a relatively rare planetary parade.

Hims & Hers on Monday released fourth-quarter results that disappointed on gross margin and sparked concerns about the future of its weight loss business.

Looking for an accessory that can keep up with your busy lifestyle? Nik Bentel Studio has created a leather purse with a remote control car built into its base.

The battery-powered RC Car Bag is four wheel drive, and while its rubber tires can handle minor obstacles like discarded napkins and crumbs while zipping across a dining table, its tiny wheels mean it’s unfortunately not going to be much of an off-roader. Its creators claim the bag has a top speed of nine miles per hour, and it includes a stack of tiny orange pylons if you want to set up an obstacle course and test your driving skills after dinner while you wait for your server to bring the check.

The included pistol grip style controller has a range of about 30 feet, and while’s there room inside the purse to store the remote, it doesn’t look like it leaves space for much else. That could make the RC Car Bag’s $295 price tag a tough sell, but fashion doesn’t always have to be practical, does it?

A little more storage capacity would be a welcome upgrade, but adding Bluetooth compatibility and the option to control the RC Car Bag using a mobile app on a smartphone would also let you leave the cumbersome remote control at home on date night. The bag is also only available in black, but other color options, including something close to Ferrari’s iconic Rosso Corsa red, would potentially help broaden the appeal of the accessory to racing fans.

Although Nik Bentel Studio might not be the most recognizable name in fashion, it’s created a collection of fun tech-inspired accessories including slim wallets that look like real-life versions of Windows and macOS’ folder icons.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Andrew Ferguson urging the FTC to require that companies admit when you’re not really buying an ebook or video game. 

Wyden’s letter, shared with The Verge, requests guidance to “ensure that consumers who purchase or license digital goods can make informed decisions and understand what ownership rights they are obtaining.”

Wyden wants the guidance to include how long a license lasts, what circumstances might expire or revoke the license, and if a consumer can transfer or resell the license. The letter also calls for the information “before and at the point of sale” in a way that’s easily understandable. “To put it simply, prior to agreeing to any transaction, consumers should understand what they are paying for and what is guaranteed after the sale,” Wyden says.

Frequently, when you buy digital copies of things like movies, games, music, or books, you don’t actually own that thing — just a license to access it. As a result, you might unexpectedly lose access to games because of PlayStation Network account bans or no longer be able to download and transfer Kindle books to your computer over USB because of an Amazon change. 

Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law banning digital stores from using words like “buy” or “purchase” unless they disclose that you’re just licensing the content they sell, and shortly after, Valve updated its Steam checkout screen to note just that.

“The shift from physical to digital goods presents some complex legal questions,” Wyden says in the letter. “One thing is clear, however: consumers deserve transparency about their ownership rights in digital goods. Guidance from the FTC on this issue will help ensure that digital goods sellers are aware of best practices and that American consumers can make informed buying decisions.”

We’ve reached out to the FTC for comment.

Starting May 12th, YouTube says it will show fewer mid-roll ads that it thinks will interrupt sentences or action sequences, and more at “natural break points” like pauses or transitions, according to a help page on the change. The company says it’s also inserting “additional, automatic ad-slots at natural break points” into older videos with manually-placed slots, a change creators can opt out of.

YouTubers can decide to use automatically chosen ad slots instead of manual, or a mix of both. Those who prefer to keep things manual can check whether their chosen mid-roll slots “are considered interruptive” using a YouTube Studio feedback tool the company is rolling out. YouTube says that this will ensure creators are picking slots “where ads are likely to be served.”

The company says it found in an experiment last year that videos using a mix of automatic and manual ad slot placement averaged five percent more revenue than those with only manually placed slots. Creators can opt out of letting YouTube place slots for them in the Earn tab in YouTube Studio, but YouTube says “videos with interruptive mid-roll ad slots may earn less revenue” after the May change.

YouTubers will still control if they want to pick where ads are shown, but it’s not clear if doing so means they’ll risk some of those ads simply not being shown, and YouTube didn’t immediately respond to our request for clarification. The company has removed some of creators’ control over ad placement before, like with a late 2023 change that took away creators’ ability to choose when ads are skippable or whether they’re placed at the beginning or the end of a video.

Chicago, Illinois, 25th February 2025, Chainwire

The post Hemi Launching Mainnet on March 12, Uniting the Bitcoin and Ethereum Ecosystems Into a Single Supernetwork first appeared on Tech Startups.

The OnePlus 13R is getting a routine update that aims to fix a few stability issues on the company’s latest budget device. The update does include on unique improvement to the recycle bin function.

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