The tech sectors ongoing effort to force-feed generative AI features into widely used services continues with updates to WhatsApps ChatGPT integration. There are now more ways to interact with the chatbot in the app. To use it there, you have to add 1 (800) CHAT-GPT or 1 (800) 242-8478 to your contacts.
WhatsApp says users around the world can now upload images to the chatbot, just like they can when using ChatGPT directly. You can also send a voice message to talk to ChatGPT, which will respond using text. In addition, starting today, WhatsApp users can link to their free, Plus or Pro ChatGPT plan to get more usage out of the service in Metas app.
ChatGPT debuted in WhatsApp in December, though text was the only input option at the jump. Metas own AI chatbot is available in the app too. Meanwhile, if youre trying to avoid that stuff as much as possible, its not too late to convince your loved ones to switch to Signal.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/whatsapp-brings-image-and-voice-inputs-to-its-chatgpt-integration-151540677.html?src=rss
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Adobe has updated the Acrobat AI Assistant, giving it the ability to understand contracts and to compare them for you. The company says it can help you make sense of complex terms and spot differences between agreements, such as between old and new ones, so you can understand what you're signing. With the AI Assistant enabled, the Acrobat app will be able to recognize if a document is a contract, even if it's a scanned page. It can identify and list key terms from there, summarize the document's contents and recommend questions you can ask based on what's in it.
Adobe
The feature can also compare up to 10 contracts with one another and be able to check for differences and catch discrepancies. When it's done checking, and if you're satisfied that everything's in order, you can sign the document directly or request e-signatures from your colleagues or clients. Adobe listed a few potential uses for the feature and said you can use it to check apartment leases, to verify out-of-country charges for mobile plans and to compare perks or amenities of competing services. It could be even more useful if you regularly have to take a look at multiple contracts for your work or business.
Of course, you'd have to trust the AI assistant to actually be able to spot important information and catch both small and significant changes between different contracts. If it works properly, then it could be one of Acrobat AI's most useful features, seeing as users (according to Adobe itself) open billions of contracts each month on the Acrobat app. The Acrobat AI Assistant isn't free, however. It's an add-on that will cost you $5 a month whether or not you're already paying for Adobe's other services and products.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/adobes-acrobat-ai-assistant-can-now-assess-contracts-for-you-140058723.html?src=rss
Nintendo is caught between its eight-year-old Switch console and the next-gen Switch 2 a purgatory that usually hits sales. Sure enough, the company announced that it now expects to sell just 11 million consoles this fiscal year instead of the 12.5 million it originally forecast. That's in light of a fairly dismal holiday period that saw sales and profit drop by a third from last year, with consumers likely awaiting the Switch 2 launch sometime next year instead of buying the current lame-duck version.
The company hasn't been able to keep sales momentum with new games either, as revenue in that area is down 24.4 percent compared to the same three-month period last year. The company is only releasing a couple of new titles early in 2025 (Donkey Kong Country Returns, Xenoblade Chronicles X), before its reveal of the Switch 2 on April 2.
That reveal will be done on a special Nintendo Direct event and will be followed up with first-look experience events in cities around the world. The first ones will take place in New York City and Paris from April 4 to April 6, and more cities around North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia will follow. The company hasn't said much about the new model so far, other than that it will be backwardly compatible with current Switch games.
So far, Nintendo investors haven't been too worried about falling sales due to high expectations for the Switch 2. However, Nintendo will have to convince buyers that its next-gen console is a significant upgrade over the current Switch, ensure it has enough stock available to meet demand and keep current Switch owners happy.
That's no easy job, given that Nintendo has sold 150.86 million units since launch and boasts 129 million users playing annually. The Switch should become Nintendo's all-time best selling console later this year when it passes the Nintendo DS, which has the company's all-time sales record of 154.02 million units. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-sees-sales-dip-as-switch-2-debut-looms-130047928.html?src=rss
After President Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Canadian imported goods (and Canada announced its own 25 percent tariff on American imported goods), Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario and a former supporter of President Trump announced the Canadian territory would be ripping up a $100 million contract with Elon Musks Starlink. The contract was signed in November last year.
Musk, boss of Starlink and the richest man in the world, is a close confidant of Trump and has control over the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE (urgh), tasked with cost-cutting and deregulation in government.
Ford believed this was enough to link Musk (and his businesses) to Trumps tariffs. He said Ontario wont do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy and that Musk wants to take food off the table of hard-working Canadians. Ford also commanded the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to remove American-made spirits from store shelves. (Oh no, not the Titos vodka!)
Its since de-escalated. After Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump agreed to pause the tariff standoff for 30 days, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was also pausing the provinces cancelation of its Starlink contract.
Mat Smith
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AI helped The Beatles win a grammy
Let It = Be.
After being nominated in November 2024 for two Grammys, Now and Then won Best Rock Performance. When the song, as a demo, was first recorded, John Lennons singing and piano were on the same audio track, and separating them was impossible. Fortunately, AI can now do that with zero effort. The surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, were able to complete the song by recording new bass and drum parts and released it almost 30 years later. Sean Ono Lennon, the son of the late Beatle, accepted the trophy in his fathers stead. Now and Then was also nominated for Record of the Year.
Continue reading.
The Python-esque 'PBJ The Musical' launches March 26
Silly musical gaming snack.
The absurdist PBJ The Musical (first previewed at Day of the Devs 24) heads to the App Store on March 26. Its a collaboration between studio founder Philipp Stollenmayer and English musician and comedian Lorraine Bowen, famous for The Crumble Song and a former semi-finalist of Britains Got Talent. Kamibox says the games happy ending involves (spoilers) the creation of the beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which might be a welcome salve to often bleak and harrowing AAA gaming.
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Ankers Eufy E20 is a robot vacuum that transforms
A multipurpose vacuum.
Announced at CES 2025, Ankers Eufy E20 is a first-of-its-kind robot vacuum that turns into a cordless stick vacuum, with attachments, plus a self-emptying base. It even comes in at a mid-range price of $550. Sure, it works best as a robot, but the transformers-style design will make this a tempting buy for those who dont want to rely solely on a robovac. It transforms quickly between modes, and while the stick vac certainly isnt the strongest, it does the job for emergency cereal spills and muckier spots.
Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121534913.html?src=rss
Opera is introducing Opera Air, a new web browser designed around mindfulness. The app has a minimalist Scandinavian design and frosted glass accents, which blend well with the mindfulness concept. While pretty, Opera Air has features for relaxation, concentration, resting, and more, which you normally only see in meditation apps.
There are four break modes: breathing, neck exercises, meditation and full body scan. Breathing exercises and meditation can help calm you down by lowering stress levels, while neck exercises help loosen sore neck muscles. The full body scan is a different type of meditation that involves focusing your attention on various body parts and the sensations that arise. These breaks can be as short as three minutes or as long as 15. Breaks can be taken voluntarily or by setting a timer.
Opera Air also incorporates binaural beats as boosts. Binaural beats are an audio illusion created when two slightly different frequencies are played in each ear, tricking the brain into hearing a third frequency. Opera Air has several boosts that improve creativity, help with focus and induce relaxation, among others. Opera even claimed that one can help users recall dreams.
According to Senior Director of Product at Opera Mohamed Salah, the web is beautiful, but the company wants to look at science-based ways to help users navigate chaotic (and sometimes hostile) internet content. While mindfulness apps like Headspace exist, Opera Air packs those features in the app many people use most frequently.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/operas-new-air-browser-will-encourage-you-take-breaks-from-the-internet-090040693.html?src=rss
Below is a short list of well-known broadcast journalists who (at least on a major platform like Twitter) have built a larger personal following than the main account of the network or program that employs (or recently employed) them. Social media numbers, of course, change over time, so consider these snapshots rather than static facts. […]
Earlier today, third-party app store AltStore PAL, announced that a porn app called Hot Tub was now available to iOS users in the European Union. The marketplace, which enables people in the EU to sideload apps outside of Apples App Store, described it as the first Apple-approved porn app.
Now, Apple says its deeply concerned about Hot Tub, which as TechCrunch noted, is the first time a porn app has been available natively for the iPhone. We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids, an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world. Contrary to the false statements made by the marketplace developer, we certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store.
As Apple has pointed out, its notarization guidelines state that app makers shouldnt suggest or imply that Apple is a source or supplier of the App, or that Apple endorses any particular representation regarding quality or functionality. AltStores statements would seem to go against that guidance.
An image shared on AltStore's Mastodon account.AltStore
But in a statement to Engadget, AltStore creator Riley Testut denied making "any false statements. Hot Tub, he says, was submitted to Apples own notarization process where it was then approved by Apple employees for distribution with alternative app marketplaces such as AltStore PAL. He said it was this approval that AltStore was referencing in its marketing. The DMA also does not require that Apple approves apps for distribution, they have chosen to do so themselves, he added, referring to the EU's Digital Markets Act.
Apple has made little secret of its frustration with the DMA, which requires it to allow third-party app stores in Europe. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed by marketplace operators like AltStore and Epic who may not share our concerns for user safety, the company said in its statement about Hot Tub on Monday.
In addition to AltStore, Fortnite maker and longtime Apple foe Epic, recently announced plans to bring third-party mobile games to its Epic Games app in the EU. Though AltStore Pal and Epic arent officially affiliated, Epic gave the alternative app store a MegaGrant last year to help fund the core technology fees third-party app stores are required to pay Apple.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-is-deeply-concerned-about-altstores-porn-app-005013457.html?src=rss
