Spotify is continuing to add more ways for listeners to directly make purchases within its iOS app. Following on the streaming service's changes to make purchasing subscriptions easier earlier this month, there's now an an option for users to buy audiobooks in Spotify. "Spotify submitted a new app update that Apple has approved: Spotify users in the United States can now see pricing, buy individual audiobooks and purchase additional 'Top Up' hours for audiobook listening beyond the 15 hours included in Premium each month," the company said in its updated blog post. The wave of changes stem from the ongoing court case between Apple and Epic Games surrounding fees for purchases made outside the App Store. While things appear to be swinging in favor of app and service providers, Apple is likely to continue challenging the rulings even as it makes changes to allow for external payment options.This article originally appeared on Engadget at #spotify #ios #users #can #now

Apple needs to strike a deal with Alibaba to remain competitive in China, but it could spell disaster for the company in its home country. #applealibaba #deal #raises #concerns #over

Waymo has received approval from California regulators to expand its driverless ride-hailing service to San Jose and other parts of the Bay Area. #alphabet039s #waymo #wins #approval #expand

With around 1 billion searches on ChatGPT each week, Gen Zers are increasingly turning to AI to solve a daily dilemma: what to wear. Last month, OpenAI announced updates to ChatGPT’s search function, enhancing the shopping experience with personalized product recommendations and direct purchase links. Users have already begun using these features to plan their outfits. “I’m going out to dinner tonight, what should I wear?” one user asked ChatGPT in a TikTok video. The AI suggested a fitted black cami, black trousers, strappy heels, and silver hoops. “Why did ChatGPT kind of slay though?” the creator said. @kalitaku Ok but chatGPT lowkey killed it #ai #chatgpt #personalstylist #styling #kalitaku ♬ Aesthetic Coffee – Febri Handika Another fashion and lifestyle creator prompted ChatGPT with “streetwear,” “blue denim,” and “clean aesthetic.” The resulting outfit, shared on TikTok, was simple yet stylish. Others are uploading images from Pinterest boards or their wardrobes to generate entire shopping lists. @cassieborgie I love that it gave accessories and shoes tips too. Scandinavian aesthetic here I come! #ootd #clothesinspo #chatgpthack #chatgpt #styleinspo #clothesinspo #outfitinspo #findyourstyle #findmystyle ♬ original sound – Cassie✨ While it may be some time before AI-generated outfits appear on runways, OpenAI is embracing its role as personal stylist and shopper. Replacing the group chat, ChatGPT now offers what it calls “conversational shopping,” OpenAI said. “Instead of juggling tabs or scrolling through endless results, you can just have a conversation,” Saguna Goel, product lead on the ChatGPT search team, told Vogue Business. “What’s really exciting is that this movement is being led by shoppers themselves. Gen Z are definitely out front, but people of all ages are getting involved—and stylists and influencers are now following their lead. It’s a fascinating shift, and it’s only just beginning,” she added. For brands, the potential payoff is huge—if they can make themselves discoverable where customers are searching. With no paid placements currently on ChatGPT, AI recommendations level the playing field for small businesses competing with brands that have far larger ad budgets. Still, not everyone is on board. As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, critics say it’s erasing creative jobs in fashion and other industries, and diluting personal style in favor of fleeting micro-trends. If you ask ChatGPT to plan your next date-night outfit, just know: Someone else might show up wearing the same thing. #gen #turning #chatgpt #outfit #advice

Long before Grab rides and GPS directions, getting around in parts of Southeast Asia meant relying on human muscle and mechanical poetry. In Penang, that poetry rolled down the cobbled streets of George Town in the form of the trishaw, a three-wheeled chariot that was less about speed and more about spectacle. With the driver perched behind the passenger, pedaling like a stagehand moving the lead actor across a set, these vibrant vehicles blurred the lines between transport, craft, and theater. Their lineage traces back to 19th-century Japan, where the jinrikisha – literally “human-powered vehicle” – first emerged. Designed by Izumi Yosuke around 1869, it was a utilitarian marvel born out of necessity and swiftly adopted across Asia. When this mode of transport made its way to Malaysia, it evolved with local flair. Penang’s version added canopies, floral decorations, and a peculiar but charming reverse layout where the passenger faces backwards, getting a clear view of the city rather than of the rider. An addition of a third wheel turned the jinrikisha into a trike, replacing the hand-pulling operation with simple pedalling. As cars and scooters took over, trishaws faded from daily life, becoming nostalgic footnotes or tourist novelties… but now, a LEGO builder is turning them into a gorgeous brick-based collectible. Designer: WYCreation The trishaw’s gradual descent into obsolescence is precisely why WYCreation’s LEGO Penang Trishaw build feels so necessary. It doesn’t just document a cultural icon – it reconstructs it in 1,000 meticulously selected bricks, scaled to a commanding 1:8 model measuring 42cm long, 24cm wide, and 27cm tall. It’s bulky in all the right ways, capturing the vehicle’s ornamental charm and structural oddities with uncanny finesse. The curved canopy is especially arresting, made even more expressive by a bold reinterpretation: a LEGO flower used as its umbrella that acts as decor, a symbol of the trishaw, as well as a sun and rain-guard for the rider. Technically, this wasn’t an easy one. Trishaws, with their sloping profiles and offset balance, aren’t friendly to LEGO’s rectangular system. WYCreation spent weeks iterating designs, especially the wheel assembly, a notoriously difficult challenge due to its thin profile and structural integrity. Drawing inspiration from LEGO designer Đặng Hoàng, who previously used similar techniques in his own MOCs, the wheels here strike a rare balance between fragility and fidelity. What makes the build special isn’t just the execution, though. It’s the way it preserves atmosphere. From the flared fenders to the slightly tilted passenger seat, every element echoes a larger story, the kind you can almost hear through the rhythmic ring of a brass bell and the creak of aging pedals on asphalt. You’re not looking at a LEGO model. You’re seeing a street scene from 1970s Penang, filtered through brickwork. The Penang Trishaw is currently a submission on the LEGO Ideas forum – an online community where LEGO builders make and share their own creations, as well as vote for their favorites. Top-voted designs get vetted by LEGO’s internal team and then turned into box sets that anyone can buy. You can vote for WYCreation’s MOCon the LEGO Ideas website here.The post Penang’s Iconic Backward Trishaw Gets a Brilliant LEGO Makeover first appeared on Yanko Design. #penangs #iconic #backward #trishaw #gets

The latest suite of plugins from an image-editing titan. #this #8plugin #package #has #transformed

The Take It Down Act requires platforms to remove instances of “intimate visual depiction” within two days. Free speech advocates warn it could be weaponized to fuel censorship. #trump #signs #controversial #law #targeting

The decision affects relatively few vehicles because the vast majority that General Motors sells there are made in that country. #stops #exporting #cars #china

Microsoft writes on its blog that neither Azure nor the company’s AI technology has been used to harm people in Gaza. After allegations surfaced that these Microsoft products were being used by the Israeli military to harm civilians in Gaza, the company conducted internal and external reviews. “We have found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza,” the tech giant stated.The company noted that it has a relationship with the Israeli Ministry of Defensebut that this is designed as a typical commercial relationship. None of the reviews found evidence that the Israeli Ministry of Defense violated Microsoft’s terms of use or code of conduct. At the same time, Microsoft stated that it has limited visibility into how its software is used on its customers’ own servers or devices. #microsoft #evidence #our #technology #has

If you need good coffee and want ultimate control over your brew, the xBloom Studio home coffee maker is an iPhone app-connected way to do the job very well — if you're willing to pay the entry price.xBloom Studio review: Device unpacked on a countertop, ready to goHaving freshly-brewed coffee whenever you want is a problem that has pretty much been solved, thanks to the introduction of coffee pods. But, while this does give you coffee that can't really be called good by any means at a touch of a button at home without too much effort, there's always room for improvement.Much improvement. Those coffee pods can be pretty bad. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums #xbloom #studio #review #coffee #those