Apple last year deployed a mechanism for identifying landmarks and places of interest in images stored in the Photos application on its customers iOS and macOS devices and enabled it by default, seemingly without explicit consent.Apple customers have only just begun to notice.The feature, known as Enhanced Visual Search, was called out last week by software developer Jeff Johnson, who expressed concern in two write-ups about Apple's failure to explain the technology, which is believed to have arrived with iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 on October 28, 2024.In a policy document dated November 18, 2024 (not indexed by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine until December 28, 2024, the date of Johnson's initial article), Apple describes the feature thus:Enhanced Visual Search in Photos allows you to search for photos using landmarks or points of interest. Your device privately matches places in your photos to a global index Apple maintains on our servers. We apply homomorphic encryption and differential privacy, and use an OHTTP relay that hides [your] IP address. This prevents Apple from learning about the information in your photos. You can turn off Enhanced Visual Search at any time on your iOS or iPadOS device by going to Settings > Apps > Photos. On Mac, open Photos and go to Settings > General.Apple did explain the technology in a technical paper published on October 24, 2024, around the time that Enhanced Visual Search is believed to have debuted. A local machine-learning model analyzes photos to look for a "region of interest" that may depict a landmark. If the AI model finds a likely match, it calculates a vector embedding an array of numbers representing that portion of the image.The device then uses homomorphic encryption to scramble the embedding in such a way that it can be run through carefully designed algorithms that produce an equally encrypted output. The goal here being that the encrypted data can be sent to a remote system to analyze without whoever is operating that system from knowing the contents of that data; they just have the ability to perform computations on it, the result of which remain encrypted. The input and output are end-to-end encrypted, and not decrypted during the mathematical operations, or so it's claimed.The dimension and precision of the embedding is adjusted to reduce the high computational demands for this homomorphic encryption (presumably at the cost of labeling accuracy) "to meet the latency and cost requirements of large-scale production services." That is to say Apple wants to minimize its cloud compute cost and mobile device resource usage for this free feature.With some server optimization metadata and the help of Apple's private nearest neighbor search (PNNS), the relevant Apple server shard receives a homomorphically-encrypted embedding from the device, and performs the aforementioned encrypted computations on that data to find a landmark match from a database and return the result to the client device without providing identifying information to Apple nor its OHTTP partner Cloudflare.Thus, Apple unilaterally began running people's Photos through a locally running machine-learning algorithm that analyzes image details (on a purely visual basis, without using location data) and creates a value associated with what could be a landmark in each picture. That value is then used on a remote server to check an index of such values stored on Apple servers in order to label within each snap the landmarks and places found in Apple's database.Put more simply: You take a photo; your Mac or iThing locally outlines what it thinks is a landmark or place of interest in the snap; it homomorphically encrypts a representation of that portion of the image in a way that can be analyzed without being decrypted; it sends the encrypted data to a remote server to do that analysis, so that the landmark can be identified from a big database of places; and it receives the suggested location again in encrypted form that it alone can decipher.If it all works as claimed, and there are no side-channels or other leaks, Apple can't see what's in your photos, neither the image data nor the looked-up label.Apple claims that its use of this homomorphic encryption plus what's called differential privacy a way to protect the privacy of people whose data appears in a data set precludes potential privacy problems."Apple is being thoughtful about doing this in a (theoretically) privacy-preserving way, but I dont think the company is living up to its ideals here," observed software developer Michael Tsai in an analysis shared Wednesday. "Not only is it not opt-in, but you cant effectively opt out if it starts uploading metadata about your photos before you even use the search feature. It does this even if youve already opted out of uploading your photos to iCloud."Tsai argues Apple's approach is even less private than its abandoned CSAM scanning plan "because it applies to non-iCloud photos and uploads information about all photos, not just ones with suspicious neural hashes."Nonetheless, Tsai acknowledges Apple's claim that data processed in this way is encrypted and disassociated with the user's account and IP address.While there's no evidence at this point that contracts Apple's privacy assertions, the community concern has more to do with the way in which Apple deployed this technology."Its very frustrating when you learn about a service two days before New Years and you find that its already been enabled on your phone," said Matthew Green, associate professor of computer science at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute in the US.Apple gives fanbois The Sweetest Thing: A delete button for that U2 albumFLASHBACKThe Register asked Apple to comment, and as usual we've received no reply. We note that lack of communication is the essence of the community discontent."My objection to Apple's Enhanced Visual Search is not the technical details specifically, which are difficult for most users to evaluate, but rather the fact that Apple has taken the choice out of my hands and enabled the online service by default," said Johnson in his second post.He told The Register that it's unclear whether the data/metadata from your Photos library is uploaded before you even have a chance to disable the opt-out setting."I don't think anybody knows, and Apple hasn't said," Johnson observed.

On the first night of CES 2025, Kirin Holdings, a Japanese company known for its beer and beverages, showed off its new electronic spoon that makes your food taste saltier. The company says its spoon uses a weak electric current to concentrate sodium ion molecules in your food, adding a stronger umami and salt flavor to low-sodium foods.A limited supply of the Electronic Salt Spoon went on sale in Japan in 2024 for roughly $127 in American dollars, but Kirin hopes to sell the device around the globe in the coming years. The company claims this device can noticeably increase the saltiness of your food, without adding any additional sodium.A crowd of people tried some soup using Kirins spoon at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas. TechCrunch did not try it ourselves, because theres something about a communal tech conference spoon that just isnt that appetizing. One of the biggest crowds on the first night of CES 2025 was people trying to taste Kirins new spoonWhile the spoon seems too good to be true, theres some convincing research behind it that suggests it may be legit. The product launch of Kirins spoon marked the first commercialization of technology that won the 2023 Ig Nobel prize, a satirical award for unusual scientific research. The researchers behind it first published their thesis in 2011, but have since made spoons, forks, and chopsticks that pass electric currents into food.Kirin says it created the spoon to help people consume less salt. This problem is especially relevant in Japan, where the countrys adult population eats more than double the World Health Organizations recommended intake.

The Omnia is still very much in concept mode a phenomenon popular in the automotive world that has since spilled over into consumer electronics. That is to say that Withings splashiest product of CES 2025 may never be a product. Among other things, a body-scanning smart mirror would likely be cost prohibitive for consumers.According to Withings, Omnia is not just a product its a transformative experience that reimagines digital health possibilities. Certainly the notion of a daily full-body health scan is appealing to many potential customers. It does, however, come on the heels of a decade of failed smart mirror projects.The conceptual product would offer 360-degree body scans, offering up user insight into weight, along with heart and lung health. Other metrics like sleep, activity, and nutrition would presumably come from a connected wearable.The mirror itself would be interactive via touch, coupled with the inclusion of a voice assistant. The Omnia could also serve as a telemedicine portal to healthcare professions, who would gain access to user metrics and offer advice accordingly.Withings says the system is currently in development, pending things like clinical reviews and additional AI features. It does add, however, that some of the above features will be available in some form via the Withings app at some point later in 2025.

Have you ever watched a food scene on TV and thought, wow, I wish I could cook that at home? Maybe it was the il timpano in Big Night, or the beef bourguignon in Julie & Julia. Whatever your show-inspired craving, youre in luck if you buy a 2025 Samsung TV, that is.During its CES 2025 press conference in Las Vegas on Monday, Samsung announced Samsung Food, a new feature on its TVs that leverages the companys AI processor to recognize food on your screen and find a recipe for it.If Samsung Food sounds familiar, thats probably because the brand has been around a while. Samsung bought the food app Whisk in 2019, and rebranded it to Samsung Food in 2023. Today, the Samsung Food app for iOS and Android, which offers tools like a meal planner and AI-guided cooking steps, can also suggest recipes based on a picture if you fork over $7 per month for the premium version.The Samsung Food experience built for TV is a bit more limited in what it can do, unsurprisingly. But in addition to recommending recipes based on what it sees, Samsung Food on TV can show the progress of grocery and takeout deliveries you place through the Samsung Food mobile app. In a press release, Samsung calls out the apps ability to build a shopping list for ingredients based on whats in your fridge. Its truly the ultimate AI sous chef, the company boldly proclaims. Samsung Foods screen-to-recipe tool is intriguing. But well have to see if it lives up to the marketing hype. Recipe app SideChefs AI tool to turn photos into recipes leaves something to be desired, and popular AI summarizers and chatbots like ChatGPT dont perform much better. (Glue pizza, anyone?)Then theres the fact that AI wont do the actual cooking for you. As someone whos too lazy to meal prep these days, much less cook an as-seen-on-TV dish, thats probably a dealbreaker. But if baking the kouign amann from The Great British Bake Off floats your boat, these may just be the TVs for you.Youll find Samsung Food on Samsungs upcoming QN90F, QN80F, and QN70F models.

Samsung's latest HW-Q990F and HW-QS700F lineup debuts with the latest audio technologies and AI-powered dialogue features.

More than a dozen TVs will be a part of Samsung's 2025 lineup, including the company's biggest-ever consumer display

Changes to how you see and connect to Samsung's QN990F and QN900F keep the Korean giant at the front of the 8K TV race.

Generation Beta (years 2025 to 2039) are arriving. They will be digital natives and what I call AI Naturals. AI, AGI, and ASI will be in their lives. Here's the scoop.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Wow, what a difference a year makes.Last year at CES, Samsung debuted its first 3D gaming monitor as a prototype. It worked, completely glasses-free, and it certainly impressed me at the time. But it was far from perfect, and you could tell it was still early in development.Recommended VideosBut this year, its becoming a real product, and I tried out this new version at CES 2025. The hardware hasnt changed, but the optimization on the software front represents a huge step forward from where it was last year. I played a preview of the upcoming game The First Berserker, which look absolutely stellar. One second, snow was falling from above, scattered around my view of the characters and the next, sparks were flying toward my eyes from an attack by a nearby enemy. That description sound clich, but words fails with this type of thing. It needs to be experienced firsthand to be appreciated. The major improvement this year has to with the sweet spot. In fact, the idea of there being a sweet spot for the 3D effect to work has basically been thrown out. Thats something Acer SpatialLabs monitors still struggle with, which I was reminded of earlier today when I took another look at the current SpatialLabs 27 gaming monitor at Acers product demonstration.Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsBut with the Odyssey 3D, it was all quite seamless. I tried moving my head left to right, scooting forward and backward in the chair, and even sitting up higher versus moving my head down. And still, that immersive 3D effect stayed intact. That means you can sit comfortably or not worry about your positioning at all and still enjoy the 3D effect. It didnt make me dizzy, either it just added an enhanced sense of closeness to the game world completely free of glasses or headsets.RelatedIt may never be one of the best gaming monitors that everyone will own in even a few years, but the quality of the demo at least convinced me that 3D monitors could grow into more than just a gimmick or impressive product demo.Theres one problem, though. While The First Berserker demo looked fantastic, its only one game. And right now, its the only confirmed game to launch on the product when it releases sometime in the second quarter of 2025. Yes, it has the ability to convert 2D content to 3D, but right now, it only works on full-screen videos in a web browser. For The First Berserker, Samsung had to work directly with the developers of the game to really optimize it for the Odyssey 3D. As we all know, anything that demands extra time from game development teams can be difficult.Meanwhile, Samsungs primary competitor in 3D gaming monitors, Acer, has been building out an ecosystem of supported games for years now. There are hundreds of titles to try out in 3D at this point. None of them might look as immersive as The First Berserker on the Odyssey 3D, but the vast library of supported games is impressive. Clearly, Acers approach to partnering with developers through its efforts with SpatialLabs is working but its taken years to get to this point.After speaking with Samsung representatives, however, I got some more details on the companys approach to getting more supported content for the monitor. First of all, I was told that over 10 titles will be supported by the time of launch and that includes Lies of P. Thats not a bad start, and if some momentum builds, that could rapidly expand by the end of the year. But if youre buying this monitor on day one for what I assume is a lot of money that might be fairly disappointing.Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsWithout the ability to rapidly bring titles over, the Odyssey 3D monitor could be doomed to fail. Samsung told me that its exploring the ability to convert 2D games directly to 3D without the input of a developer, though its not currently promising such a feature. That was good to hear. That kind of content would likely never look as good as my demo appeared, but its what may be needed if Samsung hopes to create any momentum with the Odyssey 3D.After all, the idea of game development teams working up implementations for specific monitors feels like a tough sell. Thatll only get more difficult if (and when) other manufacturers throw their hats in the ring. Samsung likely has more sway in the industry than Acer, but developers are always going to want to know how that development time actually helps the success of the game. As with all new things, its a problem of the what comes first the chicken or the egg?If Samsung can build enough support behind the Odyssey 3D by the time the release date rolls around, I think it has the potential to really become an exciting development in the world of PC gaming and monitors. But with only one official game suppported so far, theres definitely a long road ahead.Editors Recommendations

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" As if a 500Hz OLED wasnt enough, Samsung has two other monitors its showing at CES 2025, both of which are fairly unique. The headliner is a 4K display that clocks in at 37 inches, which, even after putting my eyes on literally hundreds of gaming monitors, Ive never encountered before.That might not sound like a big deal, but if you look at gaming monitors above 32 inches, you start to realize that it is. When looking at a typical 16:9 display, the vast majority of monitors top out at 32 inches. Above that, you jump straight to 40 or 42 inches, with TV panels repurposed into gaming monitors thats the case with my own KTC G42P5.Recommended VideosSamsung is splitting the difference here. You can find monitors above 32 inches, but the vast majority of them are 21:9 displays. Now, gamers finally have an option when 32 inches isnt quite big enough, but a full-on TV is too much.Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsThe other monitor Samsung showed off is a bit different. The Odyssey G7 is a 21:9 monitor, but it comes with a 5K resolution. Its similar to LGs 5K2K display, which we learned about a few weeks back, but without an OLED panel under the hood.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Still, its quite the display. With a 5,120 x 2,160 resolution and a size of 40 inches, the Odyssey G7 clocks in at a pixel density of 139 pixels per inch. Thats high. Most monitors aim for a pixel density of 100 pixels per inch, so the Odyssey G7 is quite a bit ahead. Its not as high as the pixel density I recently saw on the Asus ROG PG27UCDM, but its close.RelatedOutside of the pixel density, the Odyssey G7 comes with a 180Hz refresh rate and a 1ms gray-to-gray response time, according to Samsung. It also comes certified with VESAs DisplayHDR 600 and Samsungs own HDR10+ Gaming standard, which uses dynamic metadata for HDR in games.As is typical with Samsungs new monitors at CES, we dont have any pricing or release date details yet. Samsung is generally a bit slower to release new monitors compared to enthusiast-focused brands like MSI and Asus, so I suspect well see the monitors toward the middle of the year. Thats just a guess right now, though.Editors Recommendations