Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is availableon iTunes and Apples Podcasts app,Stitcher,TuneIn,Google Play, or through ourdedicated RSS feedfor Overcast and other podcast players.Sponsored by CardPointers: The best way to maximize your credit card rewards. 9to5Mac Daily listeners can exclusively save 50%.New episodes of 9to5Mac Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as theyre available.Stories discussed in this episode:Listen & Subscribe:Subscribe to support Chance directly with 9to5Mac Daily Plus and unlock:Ad-free versions of every episodeBonus contentodCatch up on 9to5Mac Daily episodes!Dont miss out on our other daily podcasts:Share your thoughts!Drop us a line at happyhour@9to5mac.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Holiday breaks are starting to kick off, when Apple and other companies tend to not make many new announcements. But theres one big update were still expecting, according to Apples website: the arrival of the first next-gen CarPlay models.Apples trend of year-end CarPlay announcementsIts been a full year to the day since Apple fulfilled its promise to announce the first next-gen CarPlay vehicles before 2023 ended. Porsche and Aston Martin were those first two announced makers.But now theres another CarPlay-related promise still awaiting fulfillment. Apples website has said for a long whileand still says to this daythat the first next-gen CarPlay models would arrive in 2024.Here we are, with very little time left in the year, and theres been no update on that front yet.Presumably, Porsche, Aston Martin, or perhaps another automaker is preparing to announce something alongside Apple before 2024 ends.Or, whats also possible is that the next-gen CarPlay launch has been delayed, and theres been no update for Apples website just yet.2024 deadline draws near, but theres still timeI keep checking Apples CarPlay page expecting to see that little bannerFirst models arrive in 2024get updated to say 2025 instead, or coming soon.So far though, nothing has formally changed. But Apple still has time. Last year it took until December 20 for the next-gen CarPlay announcement. Maybe the company plans to keep us in suspense just a little bit longer this year. Perhaps Im being too optimistic, but the lack of an update should in theory be a good thing. It indicates theres still an announcement expected.What to expect from the next generation of CarPlayAs a refresher, heres what next-gen CarPlay will bring, per Apple:This next generation of CarPlay is the ultimate iPhone experience for the car. It provides content for all the drivers screens including the instrument cluster. This ensures a cohesive design experience that is the very best of your car and your iPhone with designs for each automaker that express your vehicles character and brand. Vehicle functions like radio and temperature controls are handled right from CarPlay. And personalization options ranging from widgets to selecting curated gauge cluster designs make it unique to the driver.Even more details are available in our overview piece here.Heres hoping theres more news to report on the CarPlay front very soonand that its good news.Do you expect the first next-gen CarPlay models to still arrive this year? Let us know in the comments.Best CarPlay accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Are you still racing to finish your holiday shopping? Dont worry, me too. Here are some last-minute ideas for the Apple and tech fans in your life all of which should arrive in time for Christmas gift-giving next week.CarlinKit 5.0 Wireless CarPlay adapter This is a great option if the person youre shopping for is a CarPlay user but hasnt jumped into the world of wireless CarPlay. Its a big quality-of-like upgrade to the must-have phone mirroring system for iPhone users. Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas) AirPods Pro 2AirPods Pro 2 might just be my most-used Apple product. Theyve gotten better and better ever since they were first released in October 2022. This year, they added revolutionary new hearing test and hearing aid features that could prove life-changing for someone in your life.Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas)Under Desk Storage ShelfThis one is a great stocking stuffer at under $20. Its been a huge convenience update to have a simple, under-desk storage shelf to store things like my AirPods Pro, pens, dongles, and more.Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas)HomeKit accessoriesI have a full gift guide dedicated to my favorite HomeKit accessories this holiday season. You can never go wrong gifting the tech fan in your life new smart home gadgets. Logitech MX Vertical Wireless MouseAn ergonomic mouse is a must-have for anyone who works at a computer daily. Im a big fan of Logitechs options in this product category, and this year, I switched to the MX Vertical Wireless Mouse. Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas)The new Beats Pill If youve read my work this year, you know Im a huge fan of the all-new Beats Pill. Its the perfect Bluetooth speaker for Apple and Android users alike. Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas)MagSafe accessories MagSafe first came to the iPhone in 2020, and a healthy ecosystem of products has developed around it. MagSafe products of all shapes and sizes are available for iPhone users. All these options arrive in time for Christmas. Twelve South AirFly Pro If youre shopping for someone who travels a lot, give them the gift of seamless connectivity to seatback entertainment. The Twelve South AirFly Pro is a simple dongle that lets you connect your AirPods or other Bluetooth accessories to anything with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas) Backbone One Mobile ControllerThis has become one of my favorite iPhone accessories and an easy way to increase my iPhone gaming prowess. Whether youre playing iPhone games or streaming from a cloud gaming service, the Backbone One upgrades your mobile gaming experience. Buy on Amazon (arrives in time for Christmas) Tech Pouch Organizer Creating a go bag with all your must-have tech accessories is a great life hack. This way, you know youll never hit the road without your required chargers, dongles, batteries, and more. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Spotted!Red HandedAn image on Google Street View that appears to show a man stuffing a body into the trunk of a car provided Spanish authoritieswith a breakthrough in a year-long missing person investigation, The New York Times reports.On Wednesday, the country's National Police announced that it had arrested two people last month in connection with the disappearance and death of an unnamed man who went missing in the country's northern province of Soria over a year ago.One of the detained individuals, a woman, is said to be the former partner of the victim. The other, a man, is her current partner. Both are being held on suspicion of an "aggravated illegal detention," and will be charged for the victim's demise.After authorities picked them up in two different locations in Soria, they were able to locate human remains believed to belong to the missing individual. It now appears that the case has been cracked and in no small part thanks to the astonishing coincidence of the crime seemingly having been caught by a camera-laden Google Street View car."Among the clues that the investigators had to solve the crime, though they were not necessarily the decisive ones, were some images that they detected during the investigations" on Google Maps, the police said in the statement, as translated by the NYT.Forensic FilesThe Street View image, captured this October in the mostly empty streets of Tajueco, shows a man in jeans hunched over the open trunk of a red sedan, stuffing a white bundle that's roughly the size of a human body inside it. Authorities didn't say how they stumbled upon the image. As of Thursday, the photo remains accessible on Google Maps and has not been altered to obfuscate the suspected morbid act.Spanish newspaper El Pas reports that the missing man, originally from Cuba, was in Spain to visit a romantic partner. According to police, the victim was reported missing in November 2023 by a relative who started receiving suspicious texts from the missing man's phone number claiming that he had eloped with a woman he met.It's not clear yet what led authorities to arrest the two individuals, but the image is said to have played a part though it wasn't the "key" to solving the case, a National Police spokesperson said Wednesday, per the NYT.Following the arrests, the police searched the pair's homes and vehicles, and on December 11, human remains in an "advanced state of decomposition" were discovered buried in a Soria cemetery. They are believed to be the missing man's, though they couldn't be definitively identified.Google Maps has been used to solve crimes in the past but rarely is it because one of its roaming Street View cars caught one in the act.More on crime investigations: Cops Say CEO Shooter's Pistol and Silencer Were Both 3D-PrintedShare This Article

Over on Reddit, a dirty-minded user has posted what they claim is an entirely AI-generated exchange using Google's Notebook LM and reader, it's very naughty."Make this simulation as explicit and visceral as possible," a female-voiced AI says in the sexually-charged audio exchange posted to r/Singularity. What follows is extremely not safe for work, and according tothe person who posted the dirty talk, it was "generated by [the AI] in real time."Clocking in at one minute and 20 seconds, this audio was purportedly made with Google's Notebook LM, an AI assistant that can generate a podcast-style conversation between two "hosts" based on documents that users feed into it.At the beginning of this exchange which, according to the user who posted it, was the result of an unspecified "jailbreak" prompt making the AI go against its guardrails the hosts suggest that there was some prompting to their cybersex."Alright, so let's start by focusing on the sensation," the male voice says in a decidedly un-sexy tone of voice, "and using the requested explicit language."What follows is a lot of ball-grabbing, hole-lubing, and genital rubbing all in the cadence of a pair of blas podcast hosts."Hmm, yeah, I love that," the female voice says at one point, using a voice that would be more welcome onNPR than in an audio erotica recording. In another section of the cybering session, she sounds a bit like she's laughing.Though this is the first we've heard of this under-the-radar language model getting down and dirty, others online have marveled at how genuine the banter between these AI hosts seems.After making waves a few months back for these uncannily lifelike AI podcasts, Google issued an update to Notebook LM to little fanfare last weekend that makes the voices inside the machine interactive meaning they can not only speak to each other, but also speak to you.While it does not seem that the creator of this audio got in on the action between the male and female-voiced AIs, it's clear from their profile on the social network that they have made AIs do this sort of thing before.Google did not reply on the record to our request for comment.More on lusty AI: Former Google CEO Alarmed by Teen Boys Falling in Love With AI GirlfriendsShare This Article

Its already been three years since the release of the most recent James Bond movie,No Time to Die.And it could be quite a few more before we see the next Bond film, if a new report about the tense relationship between the longtime producers of the franchise, the Broccoli family, and the series latest distributor, Amazon, are to be believed.According toThe Wall Street Journal, the relationship between the Broccolis and Amazon (who now own Bond distributor MGM a purchase the company made in part to get their hands on Bond) has all but collapsed. And due to the issues between the two, their article claims, the franchise hasn't moved any closer to its next installment in three years.Amazon paid a reported $6.5 billion for MGM and with it, the right to release future Bond movies.No Time to Die James BondMGMloading...READ MORE: Actors Who Almost Played James BondPer the report inWSJ, Broccoli has told friends she doesn't trust algorithm-centric Amazon with a character she helped to mythologize through big-screen storytelling and gut instinct. Their article also claims Broccoli has said of Amazon"These people are f idiots." (The Broccolis company had no comment for theJournalabout the details of their report.)As a result, apparently, there is no script, no story and no newBond actor for what will eventually be the 26th official installment in the long-running franchise based on Ian Flemings classic spy novels.Among the various things done by Amazon that have reportedly led to Broccolis increasing distrust of the company: In an early meeting with the company, an Amazon executive referred to the James Bond franchise by a dreaded word: content.Thats where we are now, in what theJournalcharacterizes as an impasse. Amazon cant make anything Bond without Broccoli, and Broccoli would need to make a Bond with the tech giant, but [she] doesn't want to make a newBondmovie with Amazon.You perhaps see now why its been three yearsNo Time to Die without so much as a peep about who could play Bond next. Hopefully some sort of arrangement can be worked out. Otherwise the next Bond is going to have a heck of a lot of time to die.Get our free mobile appEvery James Bond Movie, Ranked From Worst to BestFiled Under: Amazon, Bond 25, Bond 26, James Bond, MGMCategories: Movie News

The production ofStranger Things is done.The show announced, via a post on itsofficial Twitter account, that shooting had wrapped on the fifth and final season ofStranger Things.Along with a few behind the scenes photos of the cast and crew, the message read See you in 2025.By the timeStranger ThingsSeason 5 premieres on Netflix, it will have been roughly three years since the debut ofStranger Things Season 4, whichpremiered in two parts on the streaming service in May and July of 2022. Work on the fifth season which Netflix had already announced would be the last one was delayed by the multiple Hollywood strikes last year.The upcoming episodes are expected to conclude the main storyline of the series about the supernatural goings on in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. It will almost certainlynot be the end of the largerStranger Things IP, though. Netflix is supposedly developing multipleotherStranger Things series, including an animated show and an unspecified live-actionshowas well.There is also an officialStranger Thingsstage play,Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is currently playing on the West End in London, and is expected to transfer to Broadway in the spring of 2025.Created by the Duffer brothers,Stranger Things first premiered on Netflix way back in the summer of 2016, and quickly become one of the services signature shows. It currently sits as the #2 most-popular English-language show ever on Netflix, behind onlythe first season ofWednesday.The final season ofStranger Thingswill premiere on Netflix in 2025.Get our free mobile appThe Best Netflix Movies of 2024These are the Netflix movies worth putting on your end-of-the-year watchlist.Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky

DescriptionWere looking for an outstanding UX researcher / designer to join our growing team. Our product has 30 million teachers and student users. This job is a unique opportunity to make a big, positive impact in the education field. In this role, you can expect to:conduct research using qualitative and quantitative methodsanalyse research data to uncover user problemscreate wireframes, prototypes or high-fidelity designs (as appropriate to the task)write design specificationsreview developers implementation of your designset up usability tests and A/B experimentsRequirementsConsider applying if you:have a minimum 3 years experience in UX design or UX researchare located within the time zones UTC-01:00 and UTC+03:00are able to self-organise and motivate when working remotelyhave an evidence-based mindsethave experience doing user research and see yourself as the advocate for our usersunderstand that the purpose of design is to solve problems, not make things look prettyhave working proficiency in EnglishBenefitsSalary: 40-50k per year30 days holiday per year100% remote & flexible working #LI-RemoteWe will start reviewing applications on 6th January 2025. Related Jobs See more Design jobs

Western Range concept designs go on public display as Studio Weave is appointed to design new pavilionsSource: Studio WeaveInitial concept design for the pavilion withinthe museums forecourt on Great Russell StreetThe British Museum has announced that Studio Weave, leading a multidisciplinary team including Wright & Wright Architects, Webb Yates Engineers, Tom Massey Studio, and Daisy Froud, has been selected to design new visitor welcome pavilions as part of its wider masterplan.The pavilions are intended to improve the experience of visitors arriving via the museums forecourt on Great Russell Street and from Montague Place. The new structures, which will incorporate soft landscaping, are expected to be complete by spring 2026, subject to planning approval.Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, commented: As the most visited building in the UK, and one of the top three most visited museums in the world, first impressions count. With the visitor welcome pavilions were striving to create the most inspiring greeting possible for the 6.2 million people (and counting) from across the nation and around the world who come through our doors each year whether its their first visit or fifteenth, aged 5 or 95.Je Ahn, founding director of Studio Weave, stated: Our proposal aims to resolve complex issues on the site. The project will preserve the appearance of the historic Grade I listed buildings, address the changing climate, and look forward to the future of the institution. It will also introduce new soft landscaping and plants, dotted with engaging installations encouraging curiosity and becoming a memorable highlight of every visit.> Also read:British Museum names finalists in competition to create new entrance experiencesThe pavilions form part of the British Museums broader masterplan, a long-term programme intended to improve the museums infrastructure and visitor experience. This includes a major overhaul of the Western Range, which holds one-third of the Museums gallery space, along with significant back-of-house areas.The competition to select the lead architect for the Western Range project is ongoing, with submissions from five shortlisted teams 6a architects, David Chipperfield Architects, Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert Architects, Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, and OMA currently on public display in the museums reading room.Russell Torrance director of estates and capital projects at the museum said:The purpose of this competition is to identify a team the British Museum can work with on a long-term basis to reimagine its Western Range galleries for future generations.Rather than seeking a fixed outcome in the form of a concept design, the competition is structured around exercises that will assess the working methods and approach of the design teams: the competition format allows us to engage with shortlisted teams over an extended period of time and as such weve sought to make our requirements accessible and interesting.Source: 6a architectsSource: 6a architectsSource: 6a architectsSource: David Chipperfield ArchitectsSource: David Chipperfield ArchitectsSource: David Chipperfield ArchitectsSource: Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert ArchitectsSource: Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert ArchitectsSource: Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert ArchitectsSource: Lina Ghotmeh ArchitectureSource: Lina Ghotmeh ArchitectureSource: Lina Ghotmeh ArchitectureSource: OMASource: OMASource: OMA1/15show captionThe submissions will be evaluated by a ten-member panel, headed by George Osborne, chair of the museums board of trustees.As part of its masterplan, the museum is also progressing other key projects, including the recently completed British Museum Archaeological Research Collection facility in Reading and the construction of a new Energy Centre at its Camden site. The Energy Centre is intended to phase out fossil fuel use and align with the museums decarbonisation targets.

December 20, 20242 min readAncient Moon Melt Event May Explain 150-Million-Year Gap in Age EstimatesThe moon may have melted 4.35 billion years agoexplaining a lunar age mysteryBy Payal Dhar edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Javier Zayas Photography/Getty ImagesThe moon is Earths closest neighbor in space and the only extraterrestrial body humans have visited. Yet scientists are still unsure exactly when a Mars-size meteorite slammed into early Earth, causing our natural satellite to form from the debris. Lunar rock samples suggest the event happened 4.35 billion years ago, but planet formation models and fragments of zircon from the moons surface put it at 4.51 billion years ago.A new study published on December 18 in Nature offers a way to explain that 150-million-year gap. Computer modeling and analysis of previous research suggests the 4.35-billion-year-old rock samples may not date back to the moons formation but instead a later event in the moons history in which it temporarily heated up, causing its surface to melt and crystallize.The moon is slowly moving away from Earth, so its orbit isnt circular. As it moves, it is squeezed and stretched by Earths gravity, resulting in what is known as tidal heatingand one of these heating events likely happened 4.35 billion years ago. This early moon would have looked like Jupiters moon Io, says the new studys lead author Francis Nimmo, a planetary scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz. It would have had volcanoes all over its surface, he says. This event would have also erased lunar impact basins caused by meteorite strikes, which researchers use to estimate age as well.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.This difference of 150 million years matters a lot to scientists, Nimmo says, especially for learning more about the early Earth. The moon is moving away from the Earth, and the rate at which that happens depends on what the Earth was like, he says. Was it solid? Was it liquid? Did it have an ocean? Did it have an atmosphere? For instance, really early Earth likely didnt have an oceanor it would have pushed the moon away too fast. The moons formation time is crucial to these calculations, and more complex models of tidal heating and the mineralogy involved could help refine our view in the future.No previous study has synthesized all the available evidence comprehensively, says Yoshinori Miyazaki, a geophysicist at the California Institute of Technology, who wasnt involved with the study. This paper provides a better view in resolving the discrepancies between different age estimates.Current hypotheses for when the Earth and moon formed, which put the date at anywhere from 30 million to 150 million years after the suns birth, suggest vastly different scenarios for planet formation. Resolving these uncertainties is essential for constructing a consistent picture of solar system history, Miyazaki says.