Junior C++ Game DeveloperGameloftHo Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City vn1 hour agoApplyJob DescriptionAs a member with programming expertise in a game team, your work consists of:Writing clean, efficient, and maintainable code, with a focus on client and/or server-side functionalities of the game. (Depending on the specific project, the game engine can be Unreal, Unity or Gameloft internal engine).Collaborating with game designers and artists to develop and implement game UI, gameplay features, game events, rewards systems and other mechanics to enhance player retention and satisfaction.Develop and maintain the technical tools and automation solution to streamline the game development and content creation workflow.Optimizing the user experience and performance to ensure smooth experience on many devices (PlayStation, xBox, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS devices, Android phones).Fixing the bugs reported by the testing team to ensure the game quality before releasing to end users.Daily communicating in English with local team members and/or in team members from other Gameloft studios in Montreal, Brisbane, Barcelona… in cross studios project for global markets.Check out some projects at Saigon Studio:QualificationsAdvanced proficiency in modern C++ & OOP knowledge.Passion for game development, good problem-solving and analytical skills.Good self-learning, effective communication and teamwork abilities.English proficiency is an advantageKnowing industry standard game engines as Unreal Engine (C++ & Blueprint), Unity is an advantageUnderstanding rendering API as DirectX12, Vulkan, and OpenGL is a big plusAdditional InformationRecruitment Process:(1) Screening call;Only candidates whose qualifications align with the role will be contacted. We sincerely appreciate your understanding.(2) Test(3) Interview(s)(4) OfferWork Location and Hours:Work location: 26 Ung Van Khiem, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City.Work hours: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM, Monday - Friday.Why Join Gameloft?You want to work in an exceptional industry and create games downloaded more than 1 billion times per year.You want to be part of a talented and supportive team of pioneers who have a passion for creating video games.You want to contribute to a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere.You want to join a global company and meet great people around the world.You will work on an employment contract with competitive remuneration and benefits package.You are looking for a fun place to work in the heart of the city.What We Offer:A hybrid working model (3 days WFO and 2 days WFH).A dynamic workplace environment, with over 18 nationalities, where hundreds of world-renowned game titles were born.A range of well-being events and policies to support employees physically, mentally, and emotionally.An open-space office, a cafeteria, a terrace and a Gaming Area.Various training packages, including internal training, sponsorship training, and e-learning (iLearn, Udemy,...).Opportunities to collaborate and train with Gameloft worldwide experts and develop yourselves.An attractive monthly salary alongside Tet and other performance bonuses.Minimum 12 days of paid annual leave, plus 5 days of paid sick leave, Christmas leave, Birthday leave,...100% coverage of mandatory insurance and extra healthcare insurance.A monthly allowance to support lunch meals and working-from-home electricity and Internet bills.Other benefits from one of the best employers in Vietnam.What's more?Want to know more? Visit our websites:Company DescriptionWelcome to Saigon StudioCreated in 2004, we have been one of the leading studio s in Vietnam’s gaming industry. Our diverse expertise has enabled us to successfully bring Gameloft’s hits to audiences around the world.We are looking for passionate talents with diverse expertise to join our exciting projects ‒ ranging from developing PC, console, and mobile games in collaboration with our fellow studios, to creating new content and features for our live games, bringing joy to our players worldwide. Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

Start SlideshowStart SlideshowScreenshot: Sandfall Interactive / Kotaku, Sandfall Interactive, Bethesda / Kotaku, Ubisoft / Kotaku, Bethesda / Brandon Morgan / Kotaku, Sandfall Interactive, Image: Nintendo / Kotaku, Bethesda, Marvel GamesThis week saw the release of both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and we’ve got tips for getting you started on the right foot regardless of which one you might be playing. We’ll also help you master the meta for Marvel Rivals season 2 and make the most of your hideout in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.Previous SlideNext SlideList slides8 Things To Know Before Starting Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / KotakuPrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesHow Long Of A Journey Are You Signing Up For With Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?Screenshot: Sandfall InteractiveIf you’ve been itching for an RPG that mixes old-school turn-based combat with a penchant for modern flair, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is probably on your radar. Considering its stunning art style, immersive and rewarding combat system, and genuinely compelling narrative, it’s hard to blame you for being interested. - Billy Givens Read MorePrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesHow To Master The Persuasion Minigame In Oblivion Remastered To Talk Your Way Out Of (Most) TroubleScreenshot: Bethesda / KotakuThe world of Oblivion Remastered allows for a lot of leeway in how you approach situations, whether you’re sneaking by guards, sword fighting like a swashbuckler, slinging magic spells, or, perhaps, talking your way out of situations. The latter often proves the most challenging for one reason: the persuasion minigame. It can be an absolute pain—unless you have a ton of gold to bribe every character. But worry not; we’re here to help! Here’s how the persuasion minigame in Oblivion Remastered works! - Brandon Morgan Read MorePrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesEnhance Your Power With The Best Hideout Upgrades In Assassin’s Creed ShadowsScreenshot: Ubisoft / KotakuRecent titles in the Assassin’s Creed franchise offered something extra besides stealthy assassinations and roaming exploration. In between stabby murders, you could expand a base. Valhalla had a settlement you could expandand now in Assassin’s Creed Shadows introduces a hideout you can customize to your liking. It’s a fun way to earn a sense of belonging within the game world while taking advantage of unique buffs. You won’t spend too much time at your hideout, but learning how to upgrade it in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is still a welcome reprieve! - Brandon Morgan Read MorePrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesFive Tips To Kick Off The Ultimate Oblivion Remastered AdventureImage: BethesdaThe moment you exit the sewers in Oblivion Remastered, you’re greeted by a sprawling open world filled with unique points of interest, enemies that want to do you harm, and quests that take place inside of paintings, task you with delving into dungeons, or send you on murderous missions. It’s a lot to sort through for a new player. To help you gain your footing, we’ve compiled a few tips on what to do first in Oblivion Remastered! - Brandon Morgan Read MorePrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesMarvel Rivals: Breaking Down The Season 2 MetaImage: Marvel GamesSeason 2 of Marvel Rivals is here, and there are quite a few balance changes and additions to mark its arrival. A new battle pass, the Flower of Krakoa, is here alongside an incredible new character, Emma Frost. Let’s go over what’s changed in the meta for this wildly popular superhero shooter. - Brian Barnett Read MorePrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesYo, You Can Score A Horse For Free Early On In Oblivion RemasteredScreenshot: Bethesda / Brandon Morgan / KotakuThe world of Oblivion Remastered features one of the greatest fantasy adventures in gaming. But with a world of this size, how does one traverse vast expanses of land without succumbing to goblins and bandits along every twist and turn? Fast travel is nice, but then you miss out on all the lush detail added into this new version of the game. It’s tough, but a fully armored and highly nimble mount should do the trick! Here’s how to get your first horse in Oblivion to make travel a bit more luxurious! - Brandon Morgan Read MorePrevious SlideNext SlideList slides4 Essential Tips to Survive Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Brutal First Hours4 Essential Tips to Survive Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Brutal First Hours Share SubtitlesOffEnglishClair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a (mostly) traditional turn-based role-playing game and your first few hours are pretty importantPrevious SlideNext SlideList slidesGrab These Skills First In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Screenshot: Sandfall InteractiveClair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a deep and lengthy role-playing adventure with multiple characters, each with skill trees to flesh out. So, of course, as you advance through the game and unlock new skills, you’ll find that you can optimize your characters’ synergy with one another. - Billy Givens Read More

Back in the fall of 2022 we launched the e-book Level up your code with game programming patterns, together with a GitHub repository with sample code. We also released a five-part video tutorial series to accompany the e-book and sample project.We've received great feedback from you on these resources, with many of you asking us to cover additional design patterns. Thank you for sharing your feedback. My team and I follow your comments closely and we really appreciate it. Today, I’m excited to announce that an updated edition of the e-book, Level up your code with design patterns and SOLID, is now available, with an updated version of the design patterns sample project, which you can download from the Unity Asset Store.Both the e-book and the sample project are now based on Unity 6 and include more examples and patterns. The sample project also includes more features from UI Toolkit, including an example that demonstrates databinding, a popular request from the community.Note: Unity 6 will be available later this year. If you want to follow along with the examples in the guide, and the accompanying demo project, make sure to download Unity 6 Preview.Before diving into the new content in the e-book, some of you who are less familiar with the concepts might wonder: Why should I learn about design patterns, and how do they fit into Unity game development?Coming back to your feedback, while the fundamentals of object-oriented programming are familiar to many, applying these principles in your own code can sometimes feel abstract and overly academic.Think of it this way: For every software design issue you face, countless developers have encountered similar challenges before you. Although you can’t always ask them directly for advice, you can learn from their solutions through design patterns.Design patterns offer general solutions to common problems in software engineering. They aren’t ready-made templates to copy and paste into your code, but rather tools in your toolbox to draw upon when needed. Some patterns are more intuitive than others, but each one can be useful in each context.We created this guide for those who are new to design patterns or just need a refresher. It outlines common scenarios in game development where these patterns can be applied. If you're transitioning from another object-oriented language like Java or C++ to C#, you'll find practical examples of how to adapt these patterns specifically for Unity.At their core, design patterns are simply ideas. They won’t apply to every situation, but when used correctly, they can help you build scalable applications. Integrating them into your projects will enhance code readability and maintainability. As you become more familiar with these patterns, you'll identify opportunities to streamline your development process.In short, our guide is designed to elevate your coding skills and create better Unity projects and establish an understanding of general industry best practices that you can carry with you throughout your career.Let’s look at the key new additions to the design patterns resources:An expanded section on how to implement SOLID principlesThe five core principles from SOLID now each have actionable code examples implemented in the sample project that are explained in the e-book. As a reminder, SOLID is a mnemonic acronym for five core fundamentals of software design – think of them as five basic rules to keep in mind that can help you keep object-oriented designs understandable, flexible, and maintainable.As a quick reminder SOLID stands for:Single-responsibility principle: A class should have only one reason to change, meaning it should only have one job or responsibility.Open-closed principle: Classes should be open for extension but closed for modification, allowing them to be extended without changing existing code.Liskov substitution principle: Objects of a superclass should be able to be replaced with objects of its subclasses without affecting the correctness of the program.Interface segregation principle: Clients should not be forced to depend upon interfaces that they do not use. It promotes the creation of specific interfaces over a single, general-purpose interface.Dependency inversion principle: High-level modules should not depend on low-level modules, but both should depend on abstractions.The key takeaway from diving into the examples is that following the principles can help you achieve the following benefits in your game development:Readability: Clear and well-organized code facilitates efficient comprehension of project functionality. Adhering to SOLID principles can enhance code readability; when your code standards are consistent, you boost the chance of smooth collaboration between game programmers on a team. Scalability: Implementing SOLID principles fosters maintainable code, which is crucial for projects that you want to scale. By adhering to these principles, changes made in one part of the codebase are less likely to introduce unexpected issues elsewhere. This approach ensures code remains flexible and adaptable to evolving requirements.Velocity: Ultimately, SOLID principles contribute to improving game development workflows. Modular code, a key aspect emphasized by SOLID, involves breaking down systems into smaller, manageable components. This modular approach facilitates easier testing, debugging, and code reuse across projects, reducing development time and enhancing productivity.The updated e-book and project include four new patterns, bringing the total to 11. Here’s a quick rundown of each one:Factory pattern: A classic use case is when you have powerups (such as speed boosts, shields, or extra lives), which share several attributes yet have different functionality. Here the factory pattern can be used to create instances of these different powerup classes derived from a common interface or base class, enabling flexible addition of new power ups without modifying existing client code.Object Pooling: Some would refer to this as a performance optimization technique rather than a design pattern. In any case, think of it as a way to improve performance by reusing objects instead of creating and destroying them frequently. In our sample scene you will find an example of a gun turret firing large amounts of bullets at rapid speed. Rather than instantiating them (and cleaning up once they served their purpose at significant performance cost) each time we use the pattern to recycle them over and over.Singleton: The singleton is likely one of the common patterns in game development – chances are you are already using it today. It’s useful if you need to have one object that coordinates actions across the entire scene. For example, you might want one game manager in your scene to direct the main game loop. However, there are some pitfalls to watch out for when using the singleton pattern, which we explain in the guide.Command Pattern: You’ve likely seen the command pattern at work if you’ve played a game that uses undo/redo functionality or keeps your input history in a list. It’s a pattern you can leverage for a strategy game, for example, where the user can plan several turns before actually executing them in the order the input was given.State Pattern: This allows an object to change its behavior when its internal state changes, which simplifies the management of complex state-dependent behavior in game characters or UI elements. Think of an enemy NPC that has different behaviors such as “idle”, “patrolling”, or “attacking” which depends on different game scenarios such as where the player is on the map.Observer Pattern: This pattern helps you implement an efficient event system where objects can subscribe, and react, to events dynamically. One use case is that of a player collecting ammo in an action game that triggers different events such as playing a sound, updating the UI, and playing an animation.Model View Presenter (MVP): At its core this pattern is about decoupling the display of state from the actual state, enabling a reactive design where views automatically update in response to model changes, making it a common pattern in UI programming. The model is the data, the view the user interface, and the presenter a mediator which handles the logic for the view and synchronizes the data from the model.Model-View-ViewModel (New): Like the name indicates this one is related to the MVP pattern but expands it by adding runtime data binding which simplifies how UI elements are updated. In our example we leverage the new data binding feature in UI Toolkit and Unity 6 Preview.Strategy Pattern (New): This pattern defines a family of algorithms by encapsulating each one, to make them interchangeable, allowing the algorithm to vary independently from clients that use it. This is a useful pattern for implementing different movement behaviors in game AI, for example.Flyweight Pattern (New): Use this pattern to optimize memory usage by sharing as much data as possible with similar objects. The basic idea is that you centralize the shared data among objects.Dirty Flag (New): This pattern is useful for optimizing performance by marking objects as "dirty" when they change, so they are only recalculated or updated when necessary. This pattern can help you manage costly updates in game loops or in some UI rendering cases.The sample project mirrors the e-book by demonstrating each of the 11 patterns in action. You can download the project from The Asset Store and follow along with the corresponding scenes to see these patterns applied in real-world scenarios. Note that the project requires Unity 6 Preview or later.Before you jump into the project, there are a few helpful tips to keep in mind.Start with the Bootstrap scene. This scene configures the demo and provides access to the main menu (you can learn more about the concept of SceneBootStrapper in the e-book). From the main menu, you can navigate to the appropriate sample. Each scene demonstrates a different SOLID principle or design pattern.Please note that there may be minor differences between the sample project and the code examples in the guide. To enhance clarity and readability, some examples feature simplified code like public fields.Your team might prefer a coding style different from the conventions used in this guide or the sample project. We recommend creating a C# style guide tailored to your specific needs and following it consistently across the team. Check out our e-book on how to create your own style guide to learn more.Consider the examples provided and determine which design pattern aligns best with your project needs. As you familiarize yourself with these patterns, you'll discover their potential to streamline and improve your development workflow.Both the e-book and sample project on the use of design patterns are available to download for free:Happy coding!

مكتبة مذهلة هتوفرلك وقتك في البرمجة والتصميم

For sword wielders and assassins brandishing daggers, the Blade Skill in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered determines how much damage players will deal with these bladed weapons. As players level it up with the hope of maxing it out at 100, they will unlock new passive effects on top of the increased damage.

The day action fans have been waiting over four years for has finally arrived: The Raid franchise mastermind Gareth Evans’ new action movie, Havoc, has finally dropped. The Netflix original — made under Evans’ deal with the streamer, which also resulted in the Dan Stevens-starring horror-mystery Apostle — stars Tom Hardy and is already, in my view, the standout in a strong crop of 2025 action movies. It’s also a slight stylistic departure for Evans, although the motivated camera movement, visceral violence, and ambitious long takes that helped make the Raid movies so iconic are still very present. While large portions of the Raid movies featured essentially nonstop action, Havoc more closely follows the “heroic bloodshed” model that late-1980s Hong Kong action movies employed. Heroic bloodshed movies typically emphasize gunplay over hand-to-hand combat, feature crime and gangster-focused storylines, and have tons of blood, but are also notable for their deeply emotional themes and character arcs. Havoc really feels like Evans’ John Woo movie, which is exactly as good as it sounds. It’s shockingly well-constructed emotionally, touching on themes of redemption and love, while also delivering on the hard-hitting action you want from an Evans project. And no surprise, when the director shared on an Instagram story about nine of the movies that deeply inspired Havoc, multiple all-time Woo classics made the cut. (That IG story is no longer up, but you can see Evans and Hardy talk more about Havoc influences with Letterboxd.) Here are some of the movies that influenced Havoc and where to watch them. Hard Boiled Where to watch: YouTube or a physical copy A stone-cold heroic bloodshed classic that influenced dozens of action movies that followed, Hard Boiled is a jazzy, stylish entry in the vaunted history of John Woo/Chow Yun-fat collaborations. It was one of the first John Woo movies I ever watched (although it was his last in Hong Kong before taking his talents to Hollywood), and while I personally prefer A Better Tomorrow (which you can find on Dailymotion), there’s no denying the thrills and influence of Hard Boiled, including one of the most impressive extended takes in action movie history. The Killer Where to watch: Hopefully you have a physical copy A few years before Hard Boiled, Woo and Chow teamed up for The Killer, a moody masterpiece strongly influenced by Le Samouraï. Chow plays a professional assassin who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer during a job, and decides to devote himself (and his skills) to pay for her medical treatment. You may notice that many of these movies aren’t available on traditional streaming services, but The Killer in particular is nearly impossible to find. It isn’t available to digitally rent or stream anywhere; The Criterion Collection’s version is out of print; and the last physical copy released in the States was a 2010 DVD on The Weinstein Company’s Dragon Dynasty label. Thankfully, Shout! Studios purchased the worldwide rights to 156 Hong Kong movies from this era in January, including Woo’s movies, and digital restorations are planned, so hopefully that situation will change soon. Woo remade The Killer for Peacock in 2024, putting a fresh spin on the story while retaining his singular sense of action design. It doesn’t match up to the original, but nothing really can, and it is a fun watch if you’re looking for a new version of Woo’s heroic bloodshed. Full Contact Where to watch: The Internet Archive or a physical copy Here’s a bloody crime story about betrayal, vengeance, and a weapons heist gone wrong where Chow Yun-fat teams up with the other major heroic bloodshed director of this era of Hong Kong action, Ringo Lam. Like with Woo, Chow worked on many movies with Lam, and Full Contact is a stellar entry in their partnership. In many ways, Lam’s heroic bloodshed movies are a mirror image of Woo’s — darker, sleazier, and unabashedly loud when contrasted with the elegance of Woo’s gun battles. But both directors are in the upper, upper echelon of the pantheon of great action directors when it comes to an innate understanding of space and precise depictions of extreme violence. My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Where to watch: Criterion Channel A Hong Kong actioner with a more romantic spin, My Heart Is That Eternal Rose comes from director/editor Patrick Tam (a collaborator of Hong Kong legends Wong Kar-wai and Johnnie To). It follows a young couple who are forced to part ways after a job gone wrong, and what happens when they stumble upon each other again years later. Tony Leung Chiu-wai won Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his turn in this one, which was co-shot by legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love). Beast Cops Where to watch: The Internet Archive or a physical copy Beast Cops follows the complicated friendship between a police officer (Anthony Wong) and a gangster (Michael Wong). Like Havoc, it has a dark and gritty focus on the criminal underworld, and how that world easily intersects with that of the police. Beast Cops won a ton of Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor. The Longest Nite Where to watch: YouTube or a physical copy Tony Leung plays a corrupt cop who lives a secret life as a gang enforcer, now attempting to negotiate terms between faction leaders in the midst of a gang war. A bleak crime thriller co-directed and written by the great Johnnie To, The Longest Nite brings the noir influences of this era of Hong Kong cinema to the forefront. Hong Kong Godfather Where to watch: Dailymotion or a physical copy Former Shaw Brothers star Wang Lung-wei moved to directing in 1985, and the bloody gangster drama Hong Kong Godfather was one of his first projects behind the camera. In this one, a retired gangster seeks revenge when his former boss is betrayed and killed and his daughter is kidnapped. While many movies from this era prioritize gunplay over martial arts, this one leans more into the latter (and both are present in Havoc). The Wild Bunch Where to watch: For digital rental/purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at Home As the one non-Hong Kong movie on this list, The Wild Bunch stands out, but it is arguably the movie that most deeply influenced this era of Hong Kong cinema. An extremely controversial movie when it was released in 1969 because of its amoral cast of characters and unabashedly graphic violence, The Wild Bunch is filled with massive, bloody shootouts and groundbreaking use of slow motion and quick-cut editing techniques. There’s a lot of John Woo in this movie, and by extension, a lot of Havoc. City on Fire Where to watch: The Internet Archive or a physical copy We talked about Full Contact earlier, but City on Fire is The Chow Yun-Fat/Ringo Lam collaboration you have to see. Chow plays an undercover cop torn between allegiances to the police department, his girlfriend, and his newfound friends in the gang he’s been infiltrating. It’s got all the heroic bloodshed staples: shocking violence, deeply felt love (both romantic and platonic), and a stylish sense of cool that just oozes off the screen. Along with A Better Tomorrow, City on Fire propelled Chow to international stardom, and it’s easy to see why. Few people have ever looked better on the big screen.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.The Pixel 9 is the latest series of the Google Pixel phone lineup. They were released late last summer along with the 9 Pro and Pro XL, while the budget Pixel 9a came out earlier this year. If you're looking for the latest middle-of-the-pack Pixel, the 128 GB unlocked Pixel 9 is just $639.99 (originally $799) after a $160 discount, the second-lowest price it has been since its release, according to price-tracking tools. Google Pixel 9 (128 GB) Storage: 128 GB, Battery: 24 hours, Display: 6.3", RAM: 12 GB, Refresh Rate: 120 Hz. $639.99 at Amazon $799.00 Save $159.01 Get Deal Get Deal $639.99 at Amazon $799.00 Save $159.01 The Pixel 9 comes with 12GB of RAM, starts with 128GB of memory storage, a maximum 120 HZ refresh rate, and the Android 14 operating system. Lifehacker's associate tech editor Michelle Ehrhardt deemed the Pixel 9 so good that you likely won't miss the Pro. It's important to note that the AI features still had hiccups, but AI features will keep improving over time; the most important thing to get right is the hardware, and Michelle says this is the best smartphone Google has made so far.The battery life can last almost 12 hours, according to PCMag's "excellent" review. The main camera has a 50MP shooter, a 48MP ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree field of view, same as the Pro models, but it has a single-zone laser detect autofocus (LDAF) sensor (the pro has multi-zone LDAF).If you have the Pixel 8, you might not notice a huge upgrade in this model. However, if you're upgrading from an older version or doing a switch from a non-Pixel phone, the 9 has a lot to offer. One of my favorite things about Pixel phones is the ongoing support for many years. My Pixel 6A still gets all of the updates and tons of AI features that make the phone feel fresh many years later, with the latest ones dropping last month (if you have a GoPro, you can control it with your Pixel). With the Pixel 9, you'll be getting a quality phone with software updates for quite a while—as long as seven years.

If you’ve performed a Google search lately, you’ve undoubtedly come across an AI Overview in your search results. This tool, powered by Google’s Gemini, tries to save you some clicks by aggregating information from the links populated in your search results and succinctly delivering what it believes to be the information you’re looking for. The accuracy of these overviews, however, often leaves a lot to be desired, and the tool has been plagued with hallucinations since its launch (with varying degrees of hilarity). Now Google is bringing the tool to YouTube, testing a video version of AI overviews for a small number of YouTube Premium members in the US across limited English search queries. While Google search results show LLM-generated text summaries, YouTube’s AI overviews will function as something of a highlight reel for certain videos. In a post on YouTube Community forums, Google said that, "This new feature will use AI to highlight clips from videos that will be most helpful for your search query…This is most likely to show when you search for more information about products you’re shopping for (such as 'best noise cancelling headphones'), or when you search for more information about locations or things to do in those locations (such as 'museums to visit in San Francisco')." This raises some questions about the revenue model for creators on YouTube and how AI-generated clip reels would affect their incomes. A major concern with AI overview in search is Google’s own summary absorbing traffic that would otherwise have gone to the publications shown in the search results. Bringing these tools to YouTube is likely to raise the same concerns for video content creators. Google will be collecting feedback on these overviews from Premium members, who can vote with a thumbs up or thumbs down on the AI-generated highlight clips. Google hasn’t said how long this pilot will run for, or whether Google intends to expand YouTube’s AI overview to anyone beyond Premium subscribers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/youtube-is-testing-its-own-version-of-ai-overviews-145353147.html?src=rss

Managers trust AI for tasks, not decisions, but employees still fear job loss, even as leaders shift toward using AI to support, not replace, them.

If you’ve followed Apple for any length of time, you’ve no doubt come across the notion that the company doesn’t rush into adopting cutting-edge technology; instead, it waits until it can do it right. “We don’t feel an impatience to be first,” CEO Tim Cook told Bloomberg in 2017. “Our thing is to be the best and to give the user something that really makes a difference in their lives.” But I’m starting to wonder if something else is going on. Sure, a lot of Apple’s Android competitors have sometimes been accused of throwing features at the wall. These days, though, I think their hardware is often just markedly better—and it hits the market earlier. There have certainly been times when Apple has waited and knocked it out of the park with its own implementation of a new component or product category. Touch ID was far faster and more reliable than any previous fingerprint reader. Apple Pay was a comprehensive use case for Near Field Communication that worked seamlessly compared with prior solutions. The Apple Watch might not have been perfect at launch, but it was (and is) light years ahead of other smartwatches. Other examples fall into a gray area. Take wireless charging. “Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated,” Apple senior VP Phil Schiller said in 2012. Five years later, the iPhone X and 8 launched with Qi charging that worked the exact same way, without any particular special sauce. Today, Apple has by far the most convenient setup with its MagSafe ecosystem, and it has set the bar for the new Qi2 standard. But that doesn’t change the fact that it was years behind on the basic functionality. More recently, there have been cases in which Apple is simply late. AI is an obvious example, but camera hardware is more pertinent.  For many years, Apple could and did lay claim to having the best phone camera around. But it’s impossible to make that case today if you have any experience with the top Android phones on the market. Some of that comes down to software tuning, but hardware plays an equally big role. In fall 2023, Apple introduced its “tetraprism” camera to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, upping the focal length from 3x to 5x. Apple presented this as a new approach to lens design, and in some ways it is; it doesn’t have the characteristic rectangular shape of “periscope” telephoto lenses on other Android phones, although the principle is the same. But Apple couldn’t claim any major performance breakthrough, except over itself. Take the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, released at the start of that year; its 5x telephoto lens was paired with a bigger sensor, and the difference in clarity was stark. Apple had been rumored to be lining up suppliers for periscope telephoto cameras since 2020, and even had filed patents on the technology in 2016, but it doesn’t seem to have gained anything by waiting so long to bring the concept to market. Huawei and Oppo, meanwhile, were shipping impressive periscope cameras back in 2019. It was a similar situation with 48-megapixel image sensors, the main new feature on the iPhone 14 Pro camera in 2022. Again, it’s not clear what took Apple so long to introduce this—the first 48-megapixel sensors made their way to Android phones in early 2019, and they worked the exact same way by combining four pixels into one for better 12-megapixel shots. In recent years, the state of the art in Android phones has been 1-inch image sensors, the same size you’ll find in enthusiast compact cameras like Sony’s RX100 line. Once you’ve used one, it’s hard to go back; these phones take photos that just don’t look like they came from a phone. The technology is mature, but at least from the outside, Apple does not seem all that interested in keeping up. It’s possible that Apple’s scale makes it harder for the company to secure cutting-edge components in the quantities it requires for each launch. The first tetraprism lens was only available on the iPhone 15 Pro Max before making it to the smaller iPhone 16 Pro the following year, for example. Android OEMs ship so many more individual models that it’s easier for them to reserve high-end parts for certain flagships. I’ve been thinking about this dynamic lately when reading reports of Apple’s belated entry into folding phones, a category Samsung kicked off in 2019—albeit with some well-publicized hiccups. Last month Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple plans to use technologies from a slimmer iPhone this year in a folding phone that could land “as early as 2026.” I’m not sure this checks out. According to Gurman, the 2025 “iPhone Air“ will be around 2 millimeters thinner than current models; the iPhone 16 Pro is 8.3 millimeters thick. The thinnest folding phone out there today is Oppo’s Find N5, which has a near-invisible crease in its display and is just 4.2 millimeters thick when unfolded. At this point, what could Apple really be learning by producing a phone closer in thickness to the iPhone 16 Pro? The Find N5 isn’t just impressive hardware—it’s a phone that makes you wonder how much thinner it could even be. Make it a fifth of a millimeter thicker, and I’m not sure it would still fit its USB-C port. (Gurman does note that Apple also plans to investigate the possibility of port-free iPhones.)  But more to the point, the Find N5 is already on the market. At this point, I would not expect Apple’s first attempt at a folding phone to break new ground on a technical level. Six years on from the original Galaxy Fold, it seems unlikely that foldable hardware is going to get meaningfully better than what’s out there right now.  Apple’s software is broadly excellent and its ecosystem is unparalleled, which is why I continue to buy iPhones myself. The Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch really are the best products available in their given categories, so I’ll always want a phone that works well with them. But something is going on with the iPhone. It’s simply no longer the case that Android companies can’t compete on hardware or design. If Apple ever wants to dazzle the world with mobile devices again—or at least hardware obsessives like me—the window may be closing.