MacworldApple TV+, the streaming service from Apple, arrived at the end of 2019 so its been here a while now, but its only recently come into its own as more and more people have discovered the shows on offer. Shows including Ted Lasso and For All Mankind, as well as movies like Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks. You can even watch a couple of MLB games every Friday night.Apple TV+ costs $9.99/8.99 (it was $6.99/6.99 until October 2023, and prior to October 2022 it was $4.99/4.99 a month). This is still less than other streaming services, but it also offers less content than many other streaming services, lacking the huge back-catalogues of films and TV shows on offer from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, or Disney+. If you want to learn more about what you can watch on Apple TV+ read everything you can watch on Apple TV+, and our list of the new shows coming to Apple TV+.You might want to watch one of the shows being broadcast by Apple, but signing up for another monthly subscription may not appeal to you. Wondering how you can get Apple TV+ for free? Well run through your options. UPDATE: This weekend (3-5 January) Apple is making Apple TV free for everyone! So if you want to try it out and watch what you like even if you have had a trial before take advantage of this deal! Read more here: The entire Apple TV+ catalog is free to watch this weekend.Throughout the year, Apple offers a free seven-day trial which might be long enough for you to binge a series (if you dont sleep for a week). But there are also longer trials available. Read on to find out how to watch Apple TV for free.Various companies are bundling a free Apple TV+ subscription with their services. For example, there is the option to get a free year subscription to Apple TV+ with T-Mobile (if you live in the US), you can also get three months free Apple TV+ with a PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 4. Find out more about these deals below.How to watch episodes on Apple TV+ for freeThere are a number of ways in which you can watch shows on Apple TV+ for free. Apple offers limited-time trials (discussed below), and the service also allows you to watch the first episode of many shows for free. In fact there are several dozen episodes available to watch for free including the first episodes of Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, See, Trying, and more.Read about What is free on Apple TV+? in our separate article.Apple DealsApple offers various trials so that you can try out Apple TV+ before you subscribe, we detail all the trials you can take advantage of below. Unfortunately, none of these offers are available if you or your Family have previously accepted an Apple TV+ 1 year free offer from when the service first launched.Once the trial period is up the $9.99/8.99 a month subscription will start immediately but you can easily cancel this. See: How to cancel an Apple subscription. To avoid paying you need to cancel the subscription the day before it is due to renew. Get 7 days of Apple TV+ freeIf you want to watch a show, and have plenty of time in the immediate future, you could activate your free seven-day trial and binge-watch it!(There was a short period when Apple stopped offering the 7-day trial in the U.K. and South Africa, but this trial does seem to be running again now). You can subscribe to Apple TV+ on Apples website here, or via the Apple TV app on your device.The 7-day trial will automatically auto-renew into a monthly subscription though, so you will need to be prepared to cancel within the week if you dont want to be out of pocket.The 7-day trial might sound attractive if you think you can watch a whole series in a week. But make sure the whole series is available, as Apple typically adds new episodes on a weekly basis.The easiest way to cancel a subscription go to Settings and click on the Apple ID section on your iPhone. Tap on Subscriptions. Locate Apple TV+ in the Active list and then Cancel Subscription. More details on how to cancel your subscription below. Note that you wont find Apple TV+ in the Active list until the trial ends. See: How to cancel a subscription on iPhone, iPad or Mac for more help.Get 7 days Apple TV+ for freeGet 1 month of Apple TV+ free As long as youve never used the service before, you can actually get a free month if you sign up for the one-month trial of Apple One. That trial will also include free one-month trials for Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and iCloud+.At the end of the months trial, the subscription starts at $19.95/18.95 a month as an individual, but there are different plans available and crucially you can cancel at any time. Read: Apple One: What you need to know.Get 1 month Apple TV+ for free with Apple One (U.S.)Get 1 month Apple TV+ for free with apple one (U.K.)Get 3 months of Apple TV+ for free with an Apple hardware purchase It used to be the case that if you bought a qualifying new Apple product you could get a whole year of Apple TV+ for free.Now that the one year free deal has concluded Apple is offering three months of Apple TV+ for free to anyone with a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac. You can get three months of Apple TV+ when you purchase a iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac from Apple. Apple Watch, HomePod, AirPods, and other Apple devices do not qualify. In short, your device qualifies if its a new Apple device that can actually run the TV app and watch Apple TV+ content.Once the three months is up the $9.99/8.99 a month subscription will start immediately unless you cancel it.It is necessary to claim the deal within 90 days of setting up your new device.Get Apple TV+ free with an Apple Music student subscriptionAnother way to get Apple TV+ for free is to sign up for a student subscription to Apple Music. If you qualify as a student in Higher Education you will be able to get Apple Music for half price, and as an added benefit Apple is bundling free Apple TV+ subscriptions with student subscriptions to Apple Music. You qualify for free Apple TV+ for as long as you subscribe as a student. A student subscription to Apple Music costs $5.99/5.99 a month.Head to this Apple page for more details.Get Apple TV+ free with a Student Apple Music subscription (U.S.)Get Apple TV+ free with a Student Apple Music subscription (U.K.)Get 12 months Apple TV+ for the price of 10 One way to save money is to pay Apple for the year up-front. When you sign up for the service rather than choosing to pay monthly (which has the benefit of being able to cancel at any time) opt to pay yearly. That will cost you $99.99/89 up-front, which works out at $8.33/7.41 a month, rather than the standard $9.99/8.99 a month. Or $9.99/8.99 a month for 10 months instead of 12. On your iPhone, go to Settings and click on your Apple ID info at the top. Tap on Subscriptions. Beside Apple Music tap on See All Plans. Switch to Individual Plan to save money (you wont be able to cancel this subscription until the end of the 12 months though). Get two months free with a year's subscriptionOther Apple TV+ DealsIts not only Apple that offers free Apple TV+ trials. Some third parties offer even longer deals than Apple does. Youll find U.S. and U.K deals below. Just remember that at the end of the trial you may need to cancel with Apple if you dont want the subscription to start. Get Apple TV+ for free with PlayStation 5There is a 3 month Apple TV free deal with PlayStation 5 (there was a six-month deal, but that deal ended on July 31, 2023.) PlayStation 4 users can also apply for the deal.Get Apple TV+ for 3 months with Sony Playstation 5U.S. Apple TV+ deals Get Apple TV+ for free with T-Mobile T-Mobile offers Apple TV+ for free on a couple of its smartphone plans. The GoG5 Next and GoG5 Plus plans both offer Apple TV+ as well as Netflix for customers, while the Next option adds Hulu as well. Prices start at $90 a month for one line. Details here. Get Apple TV+ for free with T-Mobile Go5G Next or Go5G plusGet Apple TV+ for 6 months with T-Mobile Go5G plan Get 3 months of Apple TV+ for free through Best BuyYou can get three months of Apple TV+ for free through Best Buy, without even making any special qualifying purchase. Just go to the Best Buy Apple TV+ promo page, hit Add to Cart, and check out. Follow the prompts to access your digital download, which is a code you can enter for three free months when you first sign up for Apple TV+. The code will work for new or qualifying returning subscribers.This code has to be used during signup, so its probably the one you should use first, before redeeming other offers like the free 3 months for a qualifying Apple product.Get Apple TV+ for 3 months with Best BuyGet Apple TV+ for free with RokuRokus deal means you can get three months Apple TV+ for free. This deal ends on February 3, 2025. They are also offering three months Apple Music for free. You need to redeem the deal on your Roku device.U.K. dealsGet 6 months of Apple TV+ for free with EE New subscribers and existing customers can get up to 6 months free Apple TV+. If you are an existing Apple TV+ member you will still be able to take advantage of the deal, but you will need to cancel your existing subscription with Apple.Customers only need to text TV PLUS to 150 and EE will send an activation code. Alternatively, log into the EE website or app and go to Plan & Add-ons > Add-ons >Apple TV+. Along with having an Apple ID with payment information on file, you will need to prove you are a Barclaycard customer. To do so you need to fill in a form with your name, date of birth and postcode and Barclays will confirm if you are a customer and will send you a link to get the Apple TV trial. After the six months is up customers will be billed 8.99 a month as per Apples usual Apple TV+ cost.EE does note that you may get the error message that: This subscription is being used with another Apple ID and they suggest that you change the Apple ID associated =with the subscription to solve this. Get 6 months free Apple TV+ with EEGet 6 months of Apple TV+ for free with EE TVEE is also bundling Apple TV+ with EE TV. An Apple TV set top box is included in the deal. EE TV includes over 70 Freeview channels including BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Also included are Sky channels from NOW, Netflix, TNT Sport, discovery+ and more. Apple TV+ is available to new EE TV customers with a six-month free trial. Get 6 months free Apple TV+ with EE TVGet 3 months of Apple TV+ for free with VodafoneYou can get a 3-month Apple TV+ subscription if you sign up to a Vodafone Xtra Broadband plan.After your broadband has been connected, Vodafone will send you an email within 14 days with a link to redeem your subscription. Youll also get an Apple TV box. Sadly a deal that ran until September 4, 2024 gave customers 24-months free Apple TV!Get 3 months free Apple TV+ with VodafoneGet 3 months of Apple TV+ for free with Sky TV in the U.K.AppleTheres a great deal in the UK right now for Sky TV subscribers, although its not as good as it has been in the past. You caa grab three months of Apple TV+ for free (sadly, not that long ago this was six months).The offer is open to both new and existing Apple TV+ subscribers. Youll need an iCloud account to sign up for Apple TV+. Existing subscribers can redeem the offer and their subscription automatically states that the next renewal is six months later. To get VIP, log into the My Sky app on your iOS or Android device. Then click on the Sky VIP star on the bottom right-hand corner, tap giveaways and scroll down to the bottom of the page.Sky VIPs can redeem this offer through the VIP section of the MySky app under the Gifts & Discounts category. All UK-based Sky subscribers can become Sky VIPs if they have one or more active Sky TV, Broadband, Talk and/or Sky Mobile products.Get 3 months Apple TV+ with Sky TVGet 4 months of Apple TV+ for free with CurrysScreenshotFoundryFor Black Friday 2024, Currys gave all tech shoppers four months of Apple TV+. The deal was available to anyone shopping online or in store. Get 4 months free Apple TV+ with CurrysThroughout the yea, Currys has a deal where you can get three months of Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and Apple Fitness if you buy an eligible product from the store, which includes all audio products over 49, all laptops, desktops, games consoles, tablets, TVs, smart home, smart watches, mobile or any Apple product over 99. After five days you should receive an email from Currys including the link to get three months of Apple services for free.Sign up for the Currys Perks Loyalty Scheme to qualify. Get 3 months free Apple TV+ with CurrysHow to claim your free trial of Apple TV+ from AppleHaving made a qualifying purchase, or decided to try out the free 7-day trial, all you need to do is:Make sure the device is running the latest software.Open the TV app on your new Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.Sign in to your Apple ID.Click on the show you want to watchyou should see the option to Enjoy Three Months Free. Note: This will only appear if you have purchased a new device, otherwise you will only see the 7-day trial offer.Click Continue.Confirm that you want to activate the free trial.You will see a message that the free trial will commence immediately and will run until the end of the trial at which point it will renew for a monthly subscription. If you want to cancel the subscription you can do so.You have 90 days from buying a new device to start the free years subscription, so as long as you purchased your new Apple product recently then you should be ok to activate your trial. Also, if you stop the free trial before it ends you cant restart it.What if you are thinking of buying a new Apple device later? Will you be able to switch from a subscription to the free trial? We think that the way to do this would be to cancel your subscription before signing up again via the three-month trial.How to share an Apple TV+ subscription with your familyYou can also share a subscription to TV+ with six family membersyourself and five others.To do this you all need to be part of the same Family Sharing group.By linking your Apple accounts together under the Family Sharing group you will all be able to:Share music purchased from the iTunes StoreShare access to Apple Music (as long as you have a family Apple Music subscription)Share apps bought from the App Store (in app purchases cant be shared though)Share Apple BooksAccess games on Apples Arcade gaming platform (with a subscription)Share a News+ subscriptionShare an iCloud storage planOne of your family members will need to be the family organizer, who basically chooses who joins the group, and has to put up their bank details to pay for any purchases.Its supposed to be family members in the same household. While you could set this up with other family members we think the frustration of having all the payments for everything going through the organisers bank account could make this a hard sell. However, if does at least mean that you and your partner dont both have to subscribe to the service in order to watch shows on both of your iPhones.How to cancel an Apple TV+ subscriptionSo thats a few ways to get Apple TV+ for free, at least for a short time, or by sharing a subscription with a family member.However, we think the best way to get access to Apple TV+ is to subscribe as usual but just cancel at any time. You could watch everything you want this month and then stop subscribing next month and it would only cost you 6.99/$6.99. Sign up for Apple TV+ here.To cancel your Apple TV+ subscription follow these steps:Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.Tap on the Apple ID section at the top with your name.Tap on Subscriptions.Now tap on any subscription you wish to cancel (in this case Apple TV+).On the next page tap on Cancel Subscription.

MacworldAt a glanceExpert's RatingProsStyle magazine looksCharges iPhone, Watch, AirPods15W Qi2 iPhone chargingFast charge Apple WatchGuiding lightConsOur Verdict If you value your home dcor and dont want an out-of-place ugly charger sitting by your bed or on your minimalist desk, the Journey Nova offers style-magazine looks alongside the fastest wireless charging speeds.Price When ReviewedThis value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefinedBest Pricing TodayWe have reviewed a lot of MagSafe and compatible magnetic chargers ever since the first wireless iPhone 8 and later magnetic wireless iPhone 12. Check them out in our best MagSafe chargers roundup. Some have been useful as phone stands, some have folded into pocketable travel companions, while others have included built-in power banks to save you on the road.But few have been able to grace a bedroom nightstand or designer desk without incongruously looking exactly like something there do charge your devices. Thats where the Journey Nova stands out.DesignThe Journey Nova looks like no other wireless charger and is sure to grace the pages of your favorite home-style magazine. Journey has directly tried to find an anti-tech aesthetic that it believes will complement decors much like a vase, chair, or pot plant might.Dominik Tomaszewski / FoundryIts 6-inch vertical hollow block gives it a feeling of both weight and lightness while taking up little space with its small footprint: 3.2 x 3.6 inches (8 x 9.2cm). The split-materialwith either wood grain or what Journey calls Sparkle Gray below a matte white material that reminds one of Corianlook gives it a Skandi design identity. The look wont be for everyone, but theres no denying the striking pose it cuts on a desk or table.The iPhone magnetically connects to the 15W Qi2 wireless charging space above the hollow 5W Qi pad for AirPods charging. Inside that hollow is a guiding night light that can be switched on or off with a light touch under the roof.Dominik Tomaszewski / FoundryAt the back you can flip out the 5W Apple Watch charger module, keeping it both hidden and protected when not in use. That means each device gets as fast a wireless charge as can be got outside of Apples unique (iPhone 16-only) 25W MagSafe Charger. Additionally, the Apple Watch module is certified by Apple for fast Watch charging, and 5W is plenty for a swift AirPods power-up.If there anyone out there who owns an Apple Watch and AirPods but an Android phone (unlikely given the Watch doesnt play well with Android and AirPods work best with an iPhone), Journey includes a magnetic ring to update non-MagSafe smartphones to work with Qi2.JourneyPriceThe Journey Nova costs $139.99 / 119.99 / AU$189.99. This is not a huge extra expense on some of our favorite 3-in-1 wireless chargers such as the Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe, which is more flexible but looks utilitarian in comparison to Nova.There are certainly cheaper 3-in-1 chargers but none would grace the style section of the Sunday newspapers with the possible exception of the squatter but still lovely Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock.What you get is a bold, dcor-friendly look allied with top-end charging tech that features just one white cable to power all your mobile and wearable gadgets in a style sympathetic to the smartest homes.JourneyVerdictIf you value your home dcor and dont want an out-of-place ugly charger sitting by your bed or on your minimalist desk, the Journey Nova offers style-magazine looks alongside the fastest wireless charging speeds.

Apple launched its highly anticipated Vision Pro spatial computing headset last Feb. 2 amid significant hype and hopes it could finally push virtual or mixed reality into mainstream use.But with a price tag of $3,499 and a staggered rollout to countries outside the US, the idea of widespread adoption was always optimistic; fewer than 500,000 of the devices have been sold to date,according toBloomberg. (Others have provided similar estimates for first-year sales, though Apple itself declined to comment.)When you get right down to it, the numbers arent terrifically huge I wouldnt consider that something to jump up and down about, said Ramon Llamas, research directorforIDCs Devices and Displays team.He described the Vision Pro as a first iteration that, like other first-gen Apple devices, will take some time to find a broader audience.Youve got to start somewhere, and Apple swung for the fences, Llamas said. They did a very good job in terms of UI and also in terms of display. So, do I consider it a flop? Absolutely not.JLStock / ShutterstockDespite shortcomings the high price and a paucity of use cases, chief among themits too early to write off the device or Apples broader strategy around augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), according to Llamas. Apple is very quick to iterate and improve, such that a Gen. 2 or Gen. 3 Vision Pro is going to make the current device look quaint, he said.Vision Pro sales represent a small fraction of the number of iPhones sold each year (passing 200 million annually in recent years). The same goes for other devices in Apples line-up: iPads, Macbooks, and Apple Watches sell in the tens of millions a year. But those are well-established products, whereas the market for AR/VR devices is in its infancy: around 6.8 million devices were sold globally in 2023, according to thelatest IDC data available, compared to more than1billion smartphones. (IDC expected about 9.7 million AR/VR devices to be sold in 2024.)IDC expects continued growth for AR/VR devices during the next few years.IDCIt could be more than a decade before widespread adoption occurs, said Tuong Nguyen, director analyst and part of Gartners Emerging Technology and Trends team. So, a few hundred thousand [Vision Pro devices sold], I think thats plenty good, he said. Its a great start to a long journey.Vision Pros growing painsReviews of the Vision Pro at launch pegged it as an impressive feat of engineering with significant drawbacks that preclude regular use. Those issues includeda lack of content, short battery life, the neck-straining weight, and perhaps the biggest drawback the price. Most saw it more as a glimpse at the future of computing rather than a mainstream device.Nearly a year since launch, the Vision Pro remains a devise still in search of identity, with a key use case that has so far remained elusive.There was a lot of hype when the Apple Vision Pro was first announced, said Avi Greengart, president and founder of Techsponential. And that hype hasnt quite been matched with a killer app, or a set of killer apps, that have made people say: Forget the cost or the comfort, I must have this device. But thats how platforms evolve VisiCalc didnt show up on day one, or Excel. So, it will take time.Apple has cast a broad net in offering up potential uses for the headset.Entertainment has been a prominent one, and the Vision Pro has been praised for its immersive albeit solitary entertainment experience. But Apple has struggled to cultivate an ecosystem of apps and content that can keep users returning to the headset. AWall Street Journal reportin October highlighted the difficulty in attracting developers to the platform, with native apps from big names such as YouTube and Netflix missing, though HBO Max and Disney+ are available.Some of the most remarkable entertainment experiences are already available for the Apple Vision Pro, but they tend to be relatively short, said Greengart. We dont yet see regular sports or music content that you can experience, like a subscription to your favorite NBA or NFL team where you get 50-yard line seats.The slow uptake has put some consumer-facing companies off creating Vision Pro apps, said Jan Solecki, head of product strategy and growth at Nomtek, a software development agency that focuses on mobile and AR/VR apps. Theyre just waiting to see how the platform will perform: theyre not rushing to launch, he said. Nomtek talked to a number of meditation app providers that considered the Vision Pro and decided, We dont really have that user base there, he said.Aside from video and virtual environments, one notable feature in the VisionOS 2.0 release is the ability to turn old photos into spatial 3D images; its a relatively simple addition, yet hasproven popular with users.Google Trends shows interest in the Vision Pro peaked around the time it launched, then flatlined after.GoogleThough gaming is often a primary use for virtual of mixed reality devices, but its not one Apple seems particularly interested in pursuing. Apples eye detection and hand gesture inputs are well suited to some tasks, but most games require a controller and the Vision Pro is hampered by a lack of hardware support. To perhaps remedy that, Apple is reportedly partnering with Sony to enable the use of its PlayStation VR hand controllers.Personal productivity is another potential use, and one Apple has leaned into in its marketing materials. Work apps available on the Vision Pro include Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint alongside Apples own productivity tools.VisionOS updates in recent months have made it easier to use the headset in conjunction with a Macbook laptop, including the ability to connect a Bluetooth mouse and view a Macbook keyboard while in a virtual setting. Theres also wide-screen mode (and with the VisionOS 2.2 release an ultrawide screen option). You can array windows all around your space, physical space, and create the equivalent of a six-monitor setup, and thats pretty exciting, said Greengart.AppleThe weight of the device about 1.3 pounds makes it harder for people to use it for long periods. But replacement head straps developed by third-party vendors do promise some relief, said Greengart.One of the things that has made the biggest improvement is not a software update, but a hardware one, he said, pointing to options from the likes of Annapro and medical device manufacturer ResMed.Still, neither of them can completely negate the fact that this is still a rather heavy computer youre strapping to your face, he said. That is one of the biggest constraints of the device today. It is not the most comfortable thing to wear over long periods of time. srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?quality=50&strip=all 1394w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=300%2C233&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=768%2C597&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=1024%2C796&quality=50&strip=all 1024w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=896%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 896w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=216%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 216w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=108%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 108w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=617%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 617w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=463%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 463w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ANNAPRO-AVP-Strap-for-Vision-Pro.jpg?resize=321%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 321w" width="1024" height="796" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">ANNAPRO says its AVP Strap for Vision Pro can reduce facial pressure by about 60%-90%.ANNAPROOf course, those complaints can leveled at all mixed-reality headsets, and Apple has been lauded for the Vision Pros interface.Theres no question that the price and the weight are inhibitors, but the user experience you get on an Apple Vision Pro is as of yet unmatched by anything else on the market, said Greengart.Apple targets the enterpriseApple alsosees the Vision Pro as an enterprise tool,and has pitched as being useful for collaboration, employee training, and remote assistance for frontline workers.I would say they focus more on enterprise than they usually do with other products theyve launched in the past, at least early on, said Nguyen.With a less-than-expected consumer interest in the Vision Pro, Nomtek shifted its attention to developing apps for business customers. Very early on, we noticed a switch in Apples strategy to move more towards the enterprise customer. With that in mind, weve been also following this strategy and targeting enterprises, said Solecki.The company has worked on a variety of business-focused projects, including developing a Vision Pro app that provides step-by-step guidance and training for maintenance technicians at a jet manufacturer firm. A building material manufacturer is also exploring the development of a Vision Pro app to aid machinery maintenance for hundreds of factories around the world, Solecki said.The arrival of VisionOS 2.0 helped broaden the number ofpotential enterprise use cases, he said, with a set ofenterprise APIs.One API opens access to the main camera feed, allowing developers to create an anomaly detection app for a production worker to detect faulty components, according to Apple. Another enables QR code scanning and detection; that could beuseful for a warehouse worker scanning bar codes to verify packages have the correct item without the need for a hand-held scanner. Its also now possible for developers to exceed the default limits on the Vision Pros processors to handle more demanding scenarios, such as rendering a high-fidelity, mixed-reality display of a race car. (That kind of use, however, can reduce battery life and increase fan noise.)Teams users can join meetings using their Persona via the Vision Pro.MicrosoftTheaddition of device management capabilitiesearlier this year also made it easier for enterprises to deploy multiple Vision Pro headsets, said Solecki, with more parameters to manage and restrict usage. We are looking to implement this for an airline as an in-flight entertainment solutionwe can really narrow down what they can do and they cannot do, to only access the apps that weve approved, he said.More generally, the Vision Pro launch served to reignite business interest in mixed reality.Regardless of the actual sales of Apple Vision Pro, it has been very good for the XR scene as a whole industry, said Solecki. One company that came to us and wanted to build something on Vision Pro said: We tried HoloLens years ago, and we didnt like it and we just dropped it, but now Apple has released [the Vision Pro] and we want to try it. People got excited again by an XR headset.As with consumer adoption, business demand has been cautious. An IDC survey of US-based IT managers with responsibility for purchasing AR/VR devicesshowed thatonly around a third of respondents are keen on acquiring the Vision Pro for their organization.I think Apple has a lot to do on both a software and hardware front before the Vision Pro will become a must have device, even at a pilot level, at the typical US business, Lewis Ward, senior research analyst at IDC and the report author, toldComputerworldlast year.Some industry sectors, such as finance and healthcare, remain more bullish, however.The interest is there [from businesses], but there are still many hurdles that need to be overcome to make it viable for an enterprise, said Nguyen. One [is] price; two, well just call it content: what can I do with this to make it worth this investment?If Vision Pro is just the start, whats next?Almost as soon as the Vision Pro launched, rumors of follow-up devices began to spread, including talk of a lower-priced version that strips out some premium features, such as the front-facing EyeSight display.A cheaper version could help attract a wider audience of users (and developers), at least until a killer app arrives that convinces people to invest serious money in a headset. I dont know if they will release something cheaper, but I will say theyneedto in order to get any meaningful adoption beyond what theyve gotten already, saidNguyen.Image: CCS Insight slideTheres also talk of Apple developing lightweight augmented reality glasses the Holy Grail for Apple and others.But, similar to Metas Project Orion prototype, anyaugmented reality glasses from Apple are likelyyears away from release.In the meantime, the existence of the Vision Pro and Apples presence in the market could spur wider innovation. It reinvigorated the competition said Greengart, pointing to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who publicly talked up his companys devices as a more affordable rival to the Vision Pro.In addition, Google recently announced its Android XR operating system, which will be used in a new Samsung headset due to launch this year. The device and OS bear a resemblance to Apples own hardware and software, with mixed reality pass-through and a multi-screen interface.Android XR places greater emphasis on the use of artificial intelligence a strategy Apples likely to pursue, too, with potential to integrate Apple Intelligence into the mixed reality headset.The competitive environment is what fosters the innovation, said Nguyen. Thats an opportunity for you to improve your product, your solution, your offering, whatever it happens to be.One thing that all can agree on is that the Vision Pro has given the market a much-needed boost. The announcement and launch advanced us a few steps closer to creating the conditions necessary for meaningful adoption growth.

Inhabitants of the Marshall Islandsa chain of coral atolls in the center of the Pacific Oceanrely on sea transportation for almost everything: moving people from one island to another, importing daily necessities from faraway nations, and exporting their local produce. For millennia they sailed largely in canoes, but much of their seafaring movement today involves big, bulky, diesel-fueled cargo ships that are heavy polluters.Theyre not alone, of course. Cargo shipping is responsible for about 3% of the worlds annual greenhouse-gas emissions, and at the current rate of growth, the global industry could account for 10% of emissions by 2050.Marshallese shipping represents just a drop in the ocean of global greenhouse-gas pollution; larger, more industrially developed countries are responsible for far more. But the islands have been disproportionately experiencing the consequences of human-made climate change: warming waters, more frequent extreme weather, and rising sea levels.All this has created a sense of urgency for people like Alson Kelen, who lives and works in Majuro, the islands capital. Hes the founder of Waan Ael, a Marshallese canoeing organization that is focused on keeping the regions ancient and more environmentally sustainable maritime traditions alive. In doing so, he hopes to help his nation fully decarbonize its fleets. Efforts include training local youths to build traditional Marshallese canoes (to replace small, motor-powered speedboats) and larger sailboats fitted with solar panels (to replace medium-size cargo ships). He was also an advisor on construction of the Juren Ae, a cargo sailboat (shown at right) inspired by traditional Marshallese vessels, which made its maiden voyage in 2024 and can carry 300 metric tons of cargo. The Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation hopes it offers a blueprint for cleaner cargo transportation across the Pacific; relative to a fuel-powered cargo ship, the vessel could decrease emissions by up to 80%. Its a beautiful big sister of our little canoes, says Kelen.Though hyperlocal, Kelens work is part of a global project from the International Maritime Organization to reduce emissions associated with cargo shipping to net zero by 2050. Beyond these tiny islands, much of the effort to meet the IMOs goals focuses on replacing gasoline with alternatives such as ammonia, methane, nuclear power, and hydrogen. And theres also what the Marshallese people have long relied on: wind power. Its just one option on the table, but the industry cannot decarbonize quickly enough to meet the IMOs goals without a role for wind propulsion, says Christiaan De Beukelaer, a political anthropologist and author of Trade Winds: A Voyage to a Sustainable Future for Shipping. If you take time into consideration, wind is indispensable, he says. Studies show that deploying wind power on vessels could lower the shipping industrys carbon dioxide emissions by 20%. What wind does is it effectively cuts out a few uncertainties, says De Beukelaervariables such as the fluctuation of fuel prices and the costs from any carbon pricing scheme the industry may adopt. The IMO is technology agnostic, meaning it sets the goals and safety standards but lets the market find the best ways to attain them. A spokesperson from the organization says wind propulsion is one of many avenues being explored. Sails can be used either to fully power a vessel or to supplement the motors as a way of reducing fuel consumption for large bulk carriers, oil tankers, and the roll-on/roll-off vessels used to transport airplanes and cars worldwide. Modern cargo sails come in several shapes, sizes, and styles, including wings, rotors, suction sails, and kites.If weve got five and a half thousand years of experience, isnt this just a no-brainer? says Gavin Allwright, secretary-general of the International Windship Association.Older cargo boats with new sails can use propulsive energy from the wind for up to 30% of their power, while cargo vessels designed specifically for wind could rely on it for up to 80% of their needs, says Allwright, who is still working on standardized measurement criteria to figure out which combination of ship and sail model is most efficient.There are so many variables involved, he saysfrom the size of the ship to the captain steering it. The 50th large vessel fitted with wind-harnessing tech set sail in October 2024, and he predicts that maritime wind power is set to boom by the beginning of 2026.COURTESY OF OCEANBIRDHard wingsOne of the more popular designs for cargo ships is a rigid saila hard, winglike structure that is placed vertically on top of the vessel.Its very much like an airplane wing, says Niclas Dahl, managing director of Oceanbird, a Swedish company that develops these sails. Each one has a main and a flap, which creates a chamber where the wind speed is faster on the outside than the inside. In an aircraft, that discrepancy generates lift force, but in this case, says Dahl, it propels the ship forward. The wings are rigid, but they can be swiveled around and adjusted to capture the wind depending on where its coming from, and they can be folded and retracted close to the deck of the ship when it is nearing a dock.One of Oceanbirds sailsthe 40-meter-high, 14-meter-wide Wing 560, made of high-strength steel, glass fiber, and recycled polyethylene terephthalatecould help cargo ships reduce fuel use by up to 10% per trip, according to the companys calculations. Oceanbird is installing its first set of wings on a cargo vessel that transports cars, which was scheduled to be ready by the end of 2024.Oceanbird, though, is just one manufacturer; by late 2024, eight cargo vessels propelled by hard wings were cruising around the world, most of them generalized bulk carriers and oil tankers.COURTESY OF CARGOKITEKitesOther engineers and scientists are working to power cargo vessels with kites like those that propel paragliders. These kites are made from mixtures of UV-resistant polyester, and they are tethered to the ships bow and fly up to 200 to 300 meters above the ship, where they can make the best use of the constant winds at that altitude to basically tug the boat forward. To maximize lift, the kites are controlled by computers to operate in the sweet spot where wind is most constant. Studies show that a 400-square-meter kite can produce fuel savings of 9% to 15%.The main reason for us believing in kites is high-altitude winds, says Tim Linnenweber, cofounder of CargoKite, which designs micro cargo ships that can be powered this way. You basically have an increasing wind speed the higher you go, and so more consistent, more reliable, more steady winds.COURTESY OF BOUND4BLUESuction sailsInitially used for airplanes in the 1930s, suction sails were designed and tested on boats in the 1980s by the oceanographer and diving pioneer Jacques Cousteau.Suction sails are chubby metal sails that look something like rotors but more oval, with a pointed side. And instead of making the whole sail spin around, the motor turns on a fan on the inside of the sail that sucks in wind from the outside. Cristina Aleixendri, cofounder of Bound4Blue, a Spanish company building suction sails, explains that the vent pulls air in through lots of little holes in the shell of the sail and creates what physicists call a boundary layera thin layer of air blanketing the sail and thrusting it forward. Bound4Blues modern model generates 20% more thrust per square meter of sail than Cousteaus original design, says Aleixendri, and up to seven times more thrust than a conventional sail.Twelve ships fitted with a total of 26 suction sails are currently operating, ranging from fishing boats and oil tankers to roll-on/roll-off vessels. Bound4Blue is working on fitting six ships and has fitted four alreadyincluding one with the largest suction sail ever installed, at 22 meters tall.COURTESY OF NORSEPOWERRotor sailsIn the 1920s, the German engineer Anton Flettner had a vision for a wind-powered ship that used vertical, revolving metal cylinders in place of traditional sails. In 1926, a vessel using his novel design, known as the Flettner rotor, crossed the Atlantic for the first time.Flettner rotors work thanks to the Magnus effect, a phenomenon that occurs when a spinning object moves through a fluid, causing a lift force that can deflect the objects path. With Flettners design, motors spin the cylinders around, and the pressure difference between the sides of the spinning object generates thrust forward, much like a soccer player bending the trajectory of a ball.In a modern upgrade of the rotor sail, designed by the Finnish company Norsepower, the cylinders can spin up to 300 times per minute. This produces 10 times more thrust power than a conventional sail. Norsepower has fitted 27 rotor sails on 14 ships out at sea so far, and six more ships equipped with rotor sails from other companies set sail in 2024.According to our calculations, the rotor sail is, at the moment, the most efficient wind-assistive power when you look at eurocent per kilowatt-hour, says Heikki Pntynen, Norsepowers CEO. Results from their vessels currently out at sea suggest that fuel savings are anywhere between 5% to 30% on the whole voyage.Sofia Quaglia is a freelance science journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, and New Scientist.

With Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 reaching the halfway point in its roadmap, Saber Interactive has outlined what to expect from the third-person shooter in the coming months.Patch 7.0 is first up, adding a new PvP map featuring a closed environment with many narrow passages and custom lobbies. Players can adjust the number of players, time and score limits, and even add modifiers. You can also remove any class restrictions, meaning six of the same on a single team.Horde Mode is set for later this year, with Saber promising more updates before its release. In the meantime, Season 3 will introduce Prestige Rank, new Operations and enemy types, and a new difficulty level with even more rewards. Furthermore, the next Champion for PvE and PvP will be The Salamander, who acts as a sniper.Players can also look forward to other customization elements, including the Mark VI Corvus, to represent more iconic Chapters and the arrival of the Datavault in the Battle Barge. The Datavault will provide a new area where players can unlock additional information on enemies and other elements using a special currency earned from in-game achievements. More details will arrive at the beginning of the year, so stay tuned.Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC check out our review where we gave it a nine out of ten. Its sold over five million copies since its launch.

After reaching 30 million sales in February 2024, ConcernedApes Stardew Valley closed the year with a massive new milestone. As of December, its sold over 41 million units, per Barone in a new press release. PC leads the pack with over 26 million sales, followed by Nintendo Switch with 7.9 million.Stardew Valley had an eventful year with Update 1.6, adding eight-player multiplayer, festivals, new end-game content, balance changes, a new farm type, and more. Another patch would add 40 new layouts for mines alongside additional fairy styles, mystery boxes, and fish frenzies. The free updates follow Barones pledge for free post-launch support.His next project, Haunted Chocolatier, is currently on hold while the developer focused on Stardew Valley (despite the promise to resume after Update 1.6). Whether this means more new content for the latter remains to be seen.Stardew Valley is available on iOS, Android, PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

SNK opens new studio for fighting game IPs | News-in-briefKOF Studio will focus on the continuation of franchises including Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown, and The King of FightersImage credit: KOF Studio News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 2, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:SNK opens new studio for fighting game IPs

DoubleU Games acquires Paxie Games for up to $67mDeal expected to close in Q1 2025Image credit: Paxie Games News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 2, 2025 DoubleU Games has acquired Turkish studio Paxie Games for up to $67 million.The South Korean firm has obtained a 60% stake in the Merge Studio: Fashion Makeover developer for $27 million.The remaining 40% will be acquired over the next three years for up to $40 million, according to Pocket Gamer.The deal will be financed through cash and treasury shares, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025."We believe the acquisition of Paxie Games represents a significant move to secure an expanded portfolio of new mobile gaming titles, driving growth and unlocking new opportunities," said DoubleU Games CFO Jay Choi.Paxie Games CEO Diren elik added: "Through our full-scale collaboration with DoubleU Games, we are set to achieve even greater growth by expanding our portfolio with exciting games, reaching a broader audience, and further growing our business."By leveraging DoubleU Games' established marketing network in the US, we plan to drive substantial growth and expand our reach."

Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks has officially relaunched as Tango Gameworks Inc. under the stewardship of new parent company Krafton."We're excited to continue crafting games that bring joy to players around the world," reads a post on X. "Thank you for your continued support as we embark on this new journey."It's a moment that marks a fresh start for the studio. Tango was shuttered by former owner Microsoft in May 2024 amid layoffs and closures at the Xbox maker, which also resulted in the demise of Alpha Dog Games and Arkane Austin.Tango was deemed surplus to requirements by the company despite launching Hi-Fi Rush a year earlier. The title was called a "break out hit" by one Xbox exec, but that couldn't save the studio from closure.It was, however, granted a second chance by PUBG maker Krafton, which acquired the Japanese company from Microsoft in August 2024months after Tango looked dead in the water.At the time, Krafton said it intended to "maintain continuity at Tango Gameworks, allowing the talented team to continue developing the Hi-Fi Rush IP and explore future projects."Speaking to Game Developer about the acquisition a few weeks later, Krafton CEO Changhan 'CH' Kim said the move was about preserving the legacy of Tango Gameworks and described it as a "last minute deal."Kim acknowledged that projects like Hi-Fi Rush might not rake in cash, but suggested studios like Tango should be encouraged to experiment with new ideas regardless."We wanted to maintain their legacy," said Kim. "Although they did not have a big success in their games, we saw many creatives worth pursuing. That's why we wanted to work with that organization."Krafton acquired the Hi-Fi Rush franchise alongside Tango, and a sequel is very much on the cards. Discussing how Tango would look under Krafton, Kim claimed the studio would look to hire "a minimum of 100 people," including many former employees."Perhaps they'll need a bigger team. We haven't decided on that, but we don't plan to reduce the size of the team at all," added Kim. "They have to work on new projects as well, so there is a great possibility the team will scale up even further."

Graph Neural Networks GNNs have become a powerful tool for analyzing graph-structured data, with applications ranging from social networks and recommendation systems to bioinformatics and drug discovery. Despite their effectiveness, GNNs face challenges like poor generalization, interpretability issues, oversmoothing, and sensitivity to noise. Noisy or irrelevant node features can propagate through the network, negatively impacting performance. To address these challenges, dropping strategies have been introduced, which improve robustness by selectively removing components such as edges, nodes, or messages during training. While methods like DropEdge, DropNode, and DropMessage rely on random or heuristic-based criteria, they lack a systematic approach to identify and exclude components that degrade model performance. This highlights the need for principled methods that prioritize explainability and reduce over-complexity during training.Recent work has explored explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) as a foundation for improving GNN-dropping strategies. Unlike existing random or heuristic-based methods, XAI-based approaches leverage instance-level explainability techniques to identify and exclude harmful graph components. These methods use saliency maps or perturbation-based explanations to pinpoint noisy or irrelevant nodes, ensuring that the retained graph structure aligns with meaningful contributions to the models predictions. XAI-based methods have significantly improved performance and robustness compared to traditional dropping techniques. This framework integrates seamlessly with gradient-based saliency methods but is adaptable to various explainability techniques, providing a more principled and effective approach for enhancing GNN training and generalization.Researchers from the University of Trento and the University of Cambridge have introduced xAI-Drop, an explainability-driven dropping regularizer for GNNs. xAI-Drop identifies and excludes noisy graph elements during training by leveraging local explainability and over-confidence as key indicators. This approach prevents the model from focusing on spurious patterns, enabling it to learn more robust and interpretable representations. Empirical evaluations on diverse benchmarks demonstrate xAI-Drops superior accuracy and improved explanation quality compared to existing dropping strategies. Key contributions include integrating explainability as a guiding principle and showcasing its effectiveness in node classification and link prediction tasks.The XAI-DROP framework enhances the training of GNNs by selectively removing nodes or edges based on explainability and confidence. For node classification, nodes with high prediction confidence but low explainability (measured by fidelity sufficiency) are identified and assigned dropping probabilities using a Box-Cox transformation. A Bernoulli distribution determines whether these nodes and their edges are removed, producing a modified adjacency matrix for training. The approach can also target edges for link prediction, evaluating edge-level confidence and explainability. XAI-DROP effectively reduces noise during training, improving model performance in transductive and inductive settings.The experimental results show that XAI-DROP consistently surpasses random and XAI-based strategies across all datasets and GNN architectures. It effectively identifies and removes noisy components within graphs, improving performance. XAI-DROPNODE achieved the highest test accuracy and explainability for node classification tasks compared to other methods. Similarly, XAI-DROPEDGE demonstrated superior AUC scores and enhanced explainability for link prediction tasks. These outcomes underline the methods robustness and effectiveness in optimizing GNN performance across diverse scenarios.In conclusion, XAI-DROP is a powerful framework for graph-based tasks that combines predictive accuracy and interpretability. Its ability to enhance explainability through saliency maps while maintaining or improving classification and prediction performance sets it apart from existing approaches. XAI-DROP proves its versatility by excelling across various datasets, architectures, and tasks, offering a promising solution for tackling challenges in graph-based learning applications.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Sana Hassan+ postsSana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions. [Download] Evaluation of Large Language Model Vulnerabilities Report (Promoted)