Data exposed even briefly can live on in generative AI chatbots long after the data is made private.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Volvo is continuing to drop hints about its upcoming high-tech electric sedan, the ES90, ahead of the EV’s official reveal next month. Today, the Swedish automaker provided new details about the ES90’s range and battery efficiency, calling it “a car that goes further and charges faster than any electric Volvo before.”
That’s mostly thanks to the ES90’s new-for-Volvo 800-volt architecture, putting it on par with other fast-charging EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. The new architecture is an upgrade from previous Volvo EVs, like the $80,000 EX90 SUV, which features a 400-volt system.
Volvo claims that the ES90 will be able to add 300km (186 miles) of range in just 10 minutes when plugged into a 350kW fast-charging station (depending on the outdoor temperature). Moreover, it will offer a driving range of up to 700km (435 miles) under the more generous WLTP testing cycle.
Automakers are increasingly trending toward higher voltage systems in the hopes of luring in more customers who are turned off by slow charging speeds and the prospect of being stuck at a public charging station for 40 minutes or more. Stellantis, parent company of Jeep and Ram, recently announced a new 800-volt flexible architecture for some of its upcoming EVs.
Volvo said it needed to upgrade a number of its components in order to support the higher voltage system, including battery cells, motors, inverters, and thermal parts. The new motors were lighter and more efficient, and the overall system now creates less heat, meaning the battery can be charged at a faster rate without overloading the electrical system.
Volvo also plans to introduce a new, in-house-developed battery management software for the ES90, provided by Breathe Battery Technologies, which also received investments from Volvo’s corporate venture capital arm. The new software will slash the amount of time it takes to charge from 10 to 80 percent by as much as 30 percent, down to 20 minutes.
The ES90 will also feature a slew of recycled materials, including 29 percent of the aluminum, 16 percent of polymers, and 18 percent of steel. Wood panels inside the ES90 are made from FSC-certified wood, Volvo says. The automaker is also introducing a new blockchain-based battery “passport” to track raw materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite used in the battery.
If you know you want an Apple Watch, but aren’t sure which one to get, this guide is here to explain the differences between the three models. The company’s flagship Apple Watch Series 10 has robust fitness tracking and health monitoring, as well as helpful iPhone integrations. We named it the best smartwatch overall. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 packs a few extra features and is geared towards serious athletes and outdoor adventurers — and it’s also the most expensive. The oldest model of the bunch is the budget Apple Watch SE from 2022, which you can often find on sale for under $200. It gives you a surprising number of features for the price. Check out the buying advice below to get the full story on the chips, sensors, features, battery life and price to help you pick the best Apple Watch for your wrist.
The new Apple Watch Series 10 has an S10 SiP (system in a package) chip with a four-core Neural Engine. The Ultra 2 was updated last September with Apple’s S9 SiP. Both chips allow for on-device processing of Siri requests as well as dictation, translation, automatic workout detection and the Double Tap gesture that lets you answer calls or stop an alarm by tapping your thumb and forefinger together twice. It also enables faster machine learning performance for interpreting sensor data, speech recognition and performing other “thinking” tasks. The Apple Watch SE still relies on the S8 SiP, which was also used in the Series 8 and the original Ultra.
Both the Series 10 and Ultra 2 can measure certain vital signs like heart rate, as well as take an ECG. Temperature sensors can help track ovulation, while underwater temperature sensors may come in handy while swimming and snorkeling. Both also support fall-detection and crash-detection as a safety feature. All three models have a compass and altimeter. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has an onboard SOS siren, as well as dive features like a depth gauge. Water features were added to the Apple Watch Series 10, but with a shallower depth rating (just six meters, as compared to 40 meters on the Ultra). The Ultra includes blood oxygen sensors, but a patent dispute has forced Apple to disable that health feature on new models sold in the US and the hardware isn’t present in the new flagship model.
All three models support near field communication (NFC), the chip that enables Apple Pay. Once you set it up using the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, you can pay for stuff at any store that accepts Apple Pay, even if you don't have your phone with you.
The wide-angle OLED display on the Apple Watch 10 lets you see the always-on display from more angles. The Ultra 2 also has an always-on display, but you’ll have to lift your wrist to tell time or read notifications on the SE. The SE can reach a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, the Series 10 can get as bright as 2,000 and the Ultra 2 hits 3,000 nits. Both higher-end screens can dim to a single nit, making them less distracting in the dark.
The Apple Watch Series 10 came with a new finish and case material — a glossy anodized jet black finish on the aluminum model and the option for a titanium case. The Ultra 2 also got a new finish, satin black, that utilizes a PVD (physical vapor deposition) process to apply the color.
As for case sizes, the SE is available in 40 or 44mm. The Series 10 increased in size from the prior generation and now has a choice of a 42 or 46mm case. The Ultra 2 comes in just one size measuring 49mm. You also get the opportunity to pick the length and style for watch bands. The SE and Series 10 come in small/medium or medium/large and the Ultra 2 gives you the choice of small, medium or large.
Battery life
Since it’s the largest wearable, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 sports the biggest battery and can last for a claimed 36 hours on a charge. That number jumps up to 72 hours if you turn on low power mode. Both the Apple Watch 10 and the SE are rated by Apple to go for 18 hours before they need a visit to the charger, and longer when using battery saver mode. That means if you want to use either of those models regularly for sleep tracking, you may need to recharge them a bit before bed.
Believe it or not, all three Apple Watches have similar fitness tracker chops. The Activity app uses three “rings” to keep tabs on how much you’re moving in a day: The Move ring tracks your active calories; the Exercise ring monitors the minutes you’ve spent walking, running, doing yoga and so on; and the Stand ring tells you how many hours in a day you’ve stood up and moved around for at least one minute.
Different internal sensors detect those activities, for example the accelerometer senses when you’re moving versus sitting still, and the optical heart rate sensor judges how hard you're working out and how many calories you’ve burned. You can set your goals for each ring and you’ll earn badges and animations when you hit them.
The Workout app lets you start and track an exercise session. The sensors can even auto-detect when you’re working out, tapping your wrist to suggest you track the activity. Apple Watches will integrate with Apple’s Fitness+ subscription, displaying real time heart rate and calorie burn data on your iPhone, iPad or even Apple TV 4K as you take a class. Fitness+ also includes audio-guided walks and runs with just your watch and Bluetooth earbuds. All three models support the Activity and Workout apps for free. The Fitness+ app also works with all Apple Watches, but costs $10 per month.
New features enabled with watchOS 11 include Training Load that gauges your body’s response to workouts over time, which could help athletes better prepare for events like marathons. Users can also now skip a day (or more) from fitness tracking metrics when they need to rest or aren’t feeling up to the challenge of closing their rings. The new OS also supports offline maps, which could prove useful when hiking far from cellular coverage.
You can get the weather, start a workout, identify a song and dictate a text just by asking Siri. All Apple Watch models support the Raise to Speak feature that bypasses the need to say “Hey Siri” and will instead listen for your request when you lift your wrist near your mouth.
Both the Series 10 and the Ultra 2 utilize onboard processing of Siri requests. That means executing simple requests like starting workouts and timers are quicker, as they won’t need to access external networks. However, requests like sending texts or getting weather forecasts still need to communicate with Wi-Fi or cellular, so you’ll need to have your phone nearby if you have a GPS-only model.
The Apple Watch Series 9 with the aluminum case was the company's first carbon neutral product. Apple defines its carbon neutral products as those that use "100 percent clean electricity for manufacturing and product use, 30 percent recycled or renewable material by weight and 50 percent of shipping without the use of air transportation." Combined, Apple says those changes reduced the emissions by around 75 percent, and the company will use credits so make up for the remaining emissions.
Currently, the Apple Watch Series 10 in either aluminum or titanium with the sport loop band, braided solo loop or Milanese loop, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the trail loop or alpine loop bands are designated as carbon neutral products.
There’s a $550 difference between the cheapest and most expensive Apple Watches. For $250 (and often on sale for less), you can get the 40mm Apple Watch SE with GPS-only connectivity; adding cellular connectivity ups the price by $50. The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 for the 42mm, non-cellular model in aluminum and goes as high as $749 for the 46mm titanium case (which is only available with GPS and cellular). The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has just one price: $799 for a titanium 49mm case with both GPS and cellular power.
Engadget has been reviewing Apple Watches since the first one came out in 2015. Since then, we’ve tested every subsequent model Apple has released, including the Ultra and SE models, spending at least a few days or even a couple weeks with one strapped to our wrists. During that time, we run, hit the gym, go on hikes and wear it while sleeping, all the while gauging how it tracks various metrics, integrates with the iPhone and performs every other trick Apple claims its smartwatches can do.
Since we also review smartwatches from other companies, such as Samsung and Google, our editors can compare Apple Watches not just to previous generations, but also to other wearables on the market. Our buying guides and recommendations rely on first-hand testing by Engadget staff.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/best-apple-watch-160005462.html?src=rss
©
© Engadget
Commerce media is having a moment — and with a market expected to exceed $112 billion in 2025, according to the Winterberry Group, it’s easy to see why. But people keep mixing up retail media and connected commerce, casually swapping one buzzword for the other. They share some DNA, but conflating them is like mistaking the cashier for the entire store.
Here’s why commerce media is its own beast, and how marketers are finally waking up to it.
Connected commerce is the holy grail of seamless shopping, blending online and offline experiences so shoppers can browse and buy wherever they are. Think of it as a fully integrated ecosystem: tying together everything happening on the retailer’s site or app with the behind-the-scenes data and tech driving transactions, then layering that into the in-store experience right down to the cooler screens and promotional offers.
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
Away from headlines discussing the fissures between government and Big Tech, particularly those with a trans-Atlantic bent, representatives of the digital ad industry are attempting to woo policymakers by underlining their economic impact on the region.
Google is poised to face fresh charges, this time for breaching the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The news comes hot on the heels of antitrust authorities in Germany investigating Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework. Both investigations’ primary concern is whether Apple and Google’s policies favor their own technologies over those of third parties.
In Germany, authorities have asked if Apple’s ATT treats third-party data differently from its own, granting itself advantages in the ad market while enforcing stricter restrictions on competitors. Meanwhile, the pan-European investigation will reportedly probe if it favors its vertical search engines, such as Google Shopping, Google Flights, and Google Hotels, over rivals.
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
Podcast subscription businesses are maturing. As podcasters continue to develop this revenue stream, they face a challenge that publishers have grappled with for years: churn.
It was a topic that came up at last week’s On Air Fest podcast business summit. More podcast subscription offerings are hitting annual milestones, meaning more data is coming in, and podcasters can start tracking how many subscribers they’re able to retain year over year.
Churn is “certainly becoming an increasing priority, particularly for some of our longer-lived subscriptions,” said David Stern, founder and CEO at Supporting Cast, Slate Group’s podcast subscription hosting business.
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
Liner, a South Korean AI search engine, has been testing ads in the U.S. and Europe using a traditional cost-per-click model. But unlike Perplexity, which is working to attract advertisers with a cost-per-mille (CPM) model, Liner thinks CPC is more measurable.
The company is testing three formats: ads that show up above and below an AI-generated answer and another ad format called “generative ads” that shows up within an answer. Tests for ads began last year in the U.S., with generated ad tests since earlier this year.
“We had this kind of hypothesis,” Liner founder and CEO Luke Kim told Digiday. “In digital ads, there are search ads and display ads. Search ads are a good business because the conversion rate is high. Display ads are a good business because it has a lot of impressions and a lot of views because you can put banners anywhere. Maybe we can create some kind of third category, which is AI search ads.”
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
Voice AI company ElevenLabs is now letting authors publish AI-generated audiobooks on its own Reader app, TechCrunch has learned and the company confirmed. The announcement comes days after the company partnered with Spotify for AI-narrated audiobooks. ElevenLabs, which raised a $180 million mega-round last month, started inviting authors to try out their publishing program through […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Proxima Fusion, a two-year-old, German nuclear fusion startup, has published plans for a working fusion power plant in a peer-reviewed journal, in what is being touted as a step-change in the race to generate limitless energy. Today’s nuclear fission reactors create radioactive waste, whereas nuclear fusion releases vast amounts of energy, with zero carbon emissions and […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
