Microsoft has announced the return of its Developer Direct showcase, and confirmed what fans can expect to see.Developer Direct is set for Thursday, January 23 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK. In a blog post, Microsoft said fans will get an inside look at a selection of highly anticipated games coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass players this year. That confirms a focus on 2025 games only.Expect developers to offer an in-depth look at their upcoming titles. Compulsion Games will show off South of Midnight, Sandfall Interactive will showcase Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and id Software will reveal more on Doom: The Dark Ages.Microsoft also teased that it will visit a surprise location to see another studios brand new game.Microsoft will announce a brand new game at the Developer Direct. But what is it?What is that brand new game? Theres a lot of speculation right now that Bethesda may be ready to reveal the much-rumored The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster, which was listed in documents accidentally published as part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) versus Microsoft trial over the buyout of Activision Blizzard.Neither South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, nor Doom: The Dark Ages have release dates yet, so perhaps we'll get those during the Developer Direct. Either way, Microsoft is set to firm up its 2025 lineup of games at the show.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

This article contains spoilers for Creature Commandos Season 1. After seven action-packed and often traumatizing episodes, Season 1 of Maxs Creature Commandos wrapped its final mission with Episode 7, A Very Funny Monster. Not only did the episode have a ton of twists and turns, but not everyone in the main cast made it out alive and some even came back to life. So with that in mind, you might need a bit of the ol Creature Commandos ending explained.Dont worry, weve got you covered, particularly when it comes to untangling that last-minute wild swerve with The Bride (Indira Varma) and Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova). Plus, well break down what happens in the Creature Commandos end credits scene in case you missed it, how the finale sets up a potential Season 2, and blowing it out even further, how the show set up a slew of threads to pick up in DC Studioss DCU (DC Universe) at large.Creature Commandos Ending ExplainedThe crucial info to know here is that despite a lot of back and forth over the seven episodes Princess Ilana is, indeed, the bad guy. And Circes (Anya Charlotra) clairvoyant vision of the future, where she saw Ilana laying waste to the DC Universe was, in fact, a real vision of the future. At least as far as you believe clairvoyance is real (this is an ending explained for Creature Commandos, not an Are psychic powers real explained, just FYI).So in the finale, as The Bride, Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Nina Mazursky (Zo Chao), and Weasel (Sean Gunn) headed to kill Ilana, they were doing the right thing. But when Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) woke from his Clayface (also Tudyk) induced coma and told Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and John Economos (Steve Agee) just enough info to get them to find out Themyscira professor Macpherson (Stephanie Beatriz) had been replaced by Clayface, something that got Waller and Economos to get the Creature Commandos to stand down? They were doing the wrong thing. Weird that not murdering someone is the wrong thing, but thats how the show rolls.PlayBut that, as we discover, was Ilanas plan all along confusing as it may be. First, Ilana seduced Flag Sr. to get him on her side. She figured him being an old, lonely man finally having sex for the first time in years (though as Doctor Phosphorus noted, he has remarkable stamina for a man his age) would be enough to convince him to kill Circe for her. What Ilana hadnt counted on was that Flag Sr. is a stand-up guy, and he instead captured Circe and brought her back to Belle Reve.At this point and this is the part that may have flown under the radar for some viewers MacPherson was still alive, and indeed a professor with knowledge of Themyscira and Circes clairvoyant powers. Ilana had sent one of her knights to spy on the Commandos in America, and he got word back to her that MacPherson was on the scene and would confirm Circes vision of Ilana destroying the world. So Ilana made the only move she could As The Bride explains to Ilana when she confronts her in her study, Ilana recruited Clayface to make it look like MacPherson wasnt who she was, says The Bride, even though she was who she said she was when she and Waller spoke.Does your brain hurt yet trying to wrap your head around this? The short version is that Ilana was a power-mad dictator bent on destroying the world and tried to confuse the situation to save her own life. The Bride figured it out and killed her not because she was going to cause World War III, but because Ilana stabbed The Brides only friend (that would be Nina Mazursky) to death.Creature Commandos GalleryAnd the grateful nation of America, through Economos, gives her a new team of Commandos to lead: Weasel, Doctor Phosphorus, a rebuilt G.I. Robot (also Sean Gunn), Nosferata, Khalis (a mummy-type villain), and King Shark (Diedrich Bader).Well, you in? asks Economos. What else I got to do? shoots The Bride right back.Thats cool and all, but Ilanas unnecessarily convoluted plan is based on Waller making multiple assumptions about Clayface and MacPherson. It also depends on Ilana having known what Circes vision of the future was about Something that were never given an indication of throughout the series (did they ever talk prior to the events of this series? Do they even know each other?)It also strangely takes the strong theme of toxic masculinity through Circe leading a group called the Sons of Themyscira (SofT) to take over the all-female island that was presented in the first three episodes And then instead gives Circe an entirely different motivation, and makes a woman the villain, another woman her killer, and seems to ignore the initial ideas of the first half of the season entirely. In fact, Frankenstein (David Harbour), the living embodiment of toxic masculinity, is almost literally an after-thought in the episode: as soon as he comes to retake his Bride, she knocks him out of a tower and presumably kills him almost instantly, spitting on his face (more on that in a second).Theres a lack of clarity in the theme and plot direction that doesnt help with the confusion over Ilanas weird plan.While the first half of the season was all about varying levels of toxic masculinity, the latter half, and this last episode in particular, doubled down on the theme of what makes you a monster. You could perhaps tie the two together the SofT boys were a different sort of monster, after all but with Circe disappearing in the second half of the season, and Nina dying for no reason other than to motivate The Bride (she tried to kill Ilana, but Weasel stopped her, giving Ilana enough of a chance to kill Nina first), theres a lack of clarity in the theme and plot direction that doesnt help with the confusion over Ilanas weird plan.Regardless, the show is over, and everything is wrapped up with a neat bow by the end of the episode, right? Wrong!Does Creature Commandos Have a Post-Credits Scene?But wait, thats still not all. After the credits roll we get one final scene. Eric Frankenstein is alive, and like after his initial encounter with The Bride hundreds of years earlier, is being nursed back to health by yet another old lady. He explains that the events of this episode make him even more in love with his perfect Bride, and then asks the old lady what soup shes feeding him.The answer? Spider-dropping soup. Tastes disgusting, says Frankenstein. Yes, agrees the old woman. And Season 1 of Creature Commandos ends, for real, as they keep eating the soup. To paraphrase Adam Driver on Girls: bad soup.PlayHow Does the Creature Commandos Finale Set Up Season 2?First things first: yep, there will indeed be a Creature Commandos Season 2, as it was renewed by Max on December 23, 2024. However, itll likely be a new mission, with a new team led by The Bride. While Nina is dead, that team would likely include Weasel, G.I. Robot, Doctor Phosphorus, Khalis, Nosferata, and King Shark.That said, it very much depends on what happens with any of these characters going forward in the DCU, and actor availability given time. Since animated series tend to take about two years to craft seasons, unless Creature Commandos Season 2 has secretly been in the works for a while, we likely wont see it until 2026, earliest; and theres a lot to come in the DCU before that. Speaking of whichPlayThe Creature Commandos Finale and James Gunns DCUThe clearest way Creature Commandos sets up the DCU is the inclusion of the Creature Commandos, who could now show up in live-action or further animated series if the story demands it.More specifically though, Rick Flag Sr. is no longer in charge of the Creature Commandos at the end of Season 1 and is recovering from his coma. We know that Grillo will be reprising his role in both Peacemaker Season 2 and Superman, and whether well see him dealing with the events of this series is TBD. But he is, at this point, in Amanda Wallers employ, just not in charge of a team.There are a slew of other setups for the DCU throughout the series, though, and we wont run them all down but here are a few dangling plot points:Clayface seems very much dead as of this episode. There are ways out of that, of course, but that points to the version of the character well see in Mike Flangans Clayface movie as either a prequel; or a new Clayface entirely.In Circes vision of Ilanas global apocalypse, she was standing side by side with what looked like Gorilla Grodd, a classic The Flash villain. Seeing as otherwise the character didnt show up in Creature Commandos Season 1, that certainly seems like an eye-popping inclusion that could be followed up on somewhere.Back during the G.I. Robot episode we met Dr. Will Magnus (once again, Tudyk) who was using G.I. Robots design to create heroes The Metal Men, something that likely could be followed up on at some point as well.But the biggest elephant in the room is Wonder Woman and Themyscria. The season started with Circe leading her SofT (Sons of Themyscria) into Pokolistan, the late MacPherson studied Amazon culture and had a very Wonder Woman-reminiscent helmet in her house, and we even got to see a dead Wonder Woman in Circes vision. We know the DCU has plans for Superman and Batman, but what about the third part of the Trinity? Theres a lot of setup here in Creature Commandos for, as far as we know at this point, no payoff. Come on, Wonder Woman. The whole worlds waiting for you.

This article contains spoilers for Skeleton Crew.It seems like Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) may have crushed any hope of a redemption arc with his actions in Skeleton Crews latest episode. The pirate scoundrel has gone full villain after betraying the kids in episode 5. Not only does he kill Brutus the mutineer and rally his old crew behind him but he also isnt afraid to threaten Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and even sweet, innocent Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) to get the gold he craves so desperately. In doing so, hes evoked the imagery of one of Star Wars most infamous villain momentsAnakins turn to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith.Before the episode aired, fans speculated that episode 7 would finally show us some of Jods backstory, after Jude Law revealed in an interview with Collider that so much comes to a head [in this episode] and you find out an awful lot very quickly about my character. Many fans believed that this would mean some sort of Order 66 flashback given Jods apparent Force abilities. But instead, the Order 66 imagery came in a very different way.#SkeletonCrew spoilersTHEY CANNOT END IT IN A CLIFF HANGER LIKE THIS pic.twitter.com/7gliCYSn9J ammys ceo of #NeelShield (@hondosbestie) January 8, 2025 At the end of episode 7 Were Gonna Be in So Much Trouble, the kids are finally reunited with their parents. Its a sweet, touching moment interrupted by a power-hungry Jod standing in front of them with his lightsaber drawn before the episode cuts to black and the credits roll. As many fans have pointed out, this scene is very similar to the infamous moment in Revenge of the Sith where we see Anakin draw his lightsaber menacingly in front of a group of younglings at the Jedi Temple before the movie cuts away to the next scene.#SkeletonCrew spoilers //IM SERIOUS THERES SPOILERS HERE AND I CANT CENSOR THE IMAGE IT WONT LET ME not the order 66 reference we wanted, but the one we got pic.twitter.com/TbOowCexaT Jess the rat that lives in sm-33s eye hole (@gayjedicoded) January 8, 2025 Even though we dont see Anakin murder a bunch of kids, we know thats what happens. Its an incredibly effective scene that shows us just how much Anakin has given himself over to the Dark Side.Jod may not have crossed this line just yet, but weve already seen that hes willing to go pretty far to get his gold. Hes nowhere near Darth Vader-levels of evil, but greed is a very powerful motivator, and despite the seemingly heartfelt moments he may have shared with the kids previously, it seems like theyve done little to change his mind in that regard.It may appear as though Jod has the upper hand right now, but that doesnt mean our beloved squad and their parents are as doomed as the poor younglings. These kids have proven that they are incredibly resourceful and scrappy, despite their sheltered upbringingand were on their home turf now. Jod may think that hes won and found the ultimate pirates treasure, but Id bet the entire At Attin mint that these children have a few more tricks up their sleeves.Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is streaming now on Disney+.The post Star Wars Skeleton Crew Episode 7 Just Called Back to an Infamous Revenge of the Sith Scene appeared first on Den of Geek.

When the UK Department for Public Prosecutions published in 1983 a list of video nasty titles which could result in prosecution for distributors, it didnt know that it was setting horror fans a Pokmon-style gotta catch em all challenge. The films that appeared on the list became the DPP 72, an infamous collection of cult horror movies curated by moral outrage.In new 1980s-set Irish comedy-drama Video Nasty on BBC Three, Dublin teenagers Billy (Justin Daniels Anene) and Con (Cal ODriscoll) are one title away from completing their illicit DPP 72 collection. Through underground deals, back-of-a-van trades and overseas pen pals contacted through the pages of Fangoria magazine, theyve amassed almost every one of the VHS movies that slipped through the brief legal loophole that allowed the distribution of unregulated videos in the UK.Only William Ashers 1981 flick Nightmare Maker aka Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker aka The Evil Protg, is needed to round off the boys collection. In episode one, they get a lead on a copy, which takes them, along with Cons sister Zoe (Leia Murphy), to the North of England and into a Wicker Man-style horror movie of their own.Without spoiling everything that happens to the trio over the six episodes, these nice, fairly well-adjusted kids become unfairly framed as poster children for the mind-warping effects of video nasties, against which a group of moral arbiters are campaigning. The anti-filth activists go to extreme lengths to make their point under the banner of protecting vulnerable young minds. Pillar-of-the-community figures from the church and the police, seeking to eliminate harmful influences on the nations youth, take matters into their own hands.Written by Hugh Travers, and directed by Christopher Smith and Megan K. Fox, Video Nasty is a fun, horror-infused romp, but also a neat satire that comments on real events during the 1980s video nasty moral panic in the UK. (Cast member Simone Kirby described her character to Irish News as a combination of UK anti-filth activist Mary Whitehouse and US agitator Phyllis Schlafly.) The shows heightened, bloody story has its satirical roots in real lies told by establishment figures to suit their own hypocritical agenda.The Real-Life Moral PanicAs explored in depth in Jake Wests 2010 documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, the press and parliamentary campaigns against unregulated VHS horror movies in the early 1980s were nothing short of hysterical. Video nasties were blamed for driving young people to acts of sadistic violence, and out onto the streets to riot. According to successive newspaper articles, among them The Daily Mails Ban the Sadist Videos series, schoolchildren were being exposed to degraded acts that were warping their minds.In one memorable and understandably oft-mocked statement by Graham Bright MP, the man behind the Bright Bill that led to the 1984 Video Recordings Act being passed, research was taking place that wouldnt only show the harmful effect of these films on young people, but also on dogs.Read more With Britains youth and household pets at such risk, research was taking place, but apparently not fast enough for the campaigners. The Parliamentary Group Video Enquiry (parliamentary in name only) in association with a unit at Oxford Polytechnic published a report in November 1983 titled Video Violence and Children, which testified as to how wide this video nasty influence had spread. Newspapers and TV channels leapt on the findings and reported that children as young as five were routinely watching extreme horror at home on VHS, schoolkids were pooling their pocket money to rent Cannibal Holocaust and its ilk, and tiny minds were being led to commit unspeakable acts. Journalists, MPs and campaigners agreed: these videos needed to be seized and destroyed, and nothing like them should ever be allowed to fall into the hands of children again.Left out of the report was the vital context that a week before publication, the Oxford Polytechnic unit led by Brian Brown had repudiated its framework and conclusions. The reports research was criticised as having been insubstantial, untrustworthy and poorly gathered. Sample sizes were judged unrepresentative, and insufficient follow-up had been made to questionnaires that asked young children simply to tick which horror titles from theyd seen from a given list. As reported by The Guardian newspaper, the conclusions were judged by Brown and colleagues to be more opinion than research. The report had been rushed through and the findings partly invented to suit a political agenda.The UK in the early 1980s was a place of unrest. Unemployment was high, the miners strikes were being brutally put down by police, and young people did riot on the streets. Keen to present itself as the party of law, order and family values, it suited Margaret Thatchers conservative government to blame a scapegoat the video nasty for the tumult.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!And it worked. In 1984, Graham Brights Video Recordings Act was passed requiring that VHS titles passed through BBFC censorship before UK distribution. Legislation had been passed that, according to academic and British cultural historian Martin Barker, was based on fraudulent justification and whipped-up moral panic. As Barker warns in Wests documentary if it happened then, it can (and clearly has) happened since.Thats what makes BBC Threes Video Nasty more than just a fun horror romp. Its also a vital reminder of a time when the institutions claiming to be our moral guardians ran roughshod over the truth to suit their own goals. As such, this 1980s-set show with its retro, Stranger Things atmosphere, may actually be one of the timeliest around.Video Nasty is available to stream in full now on BBC iPlayer.

Locals, interior decorators, and design savvy customers alike will be excited to learn that leading Italian heritage furniture company, Molteni&C, is officially opening its doors to 9 Via Manzonia historic palazzo in the heart of Milan.Those familiar with the iconic retail streetwhich culminates at the famed Piazza della Scalla will recall the large branded scaffolding thats been concealing the beautiful period buildings faade during extensive renovations. Today, its finally open to the public.Courtesy Molteni&CA closer look at the Palazzo Moltenis historic facade.Designed by world renowned designer and in-house creative director Vincent Van Duysen, the new flagship will not only serve as the brands most visible outpost but also expand the brand conceptually. Van Duysen envisioned the propertywhich covers an impressive 30,000 square feet over seven stories to be the chic home of an art and design collector. The dynamic narrative infuses the experience of each space, one unfolding onto the next as a hybrid residence-meets-gallery concept showcasing everything from Molteni&Cs sought-after designer furniture collections to the brands innovative kitchen designs and storage solutions.Courtesy Molteni&CThe building has been sensitively restored and renovated by Molteni&C creative director Vincent Van Duysen.The opening caps off a busy year for the brand. In 2024, Molteni&C celebrated its 90th anniversary and rang in the occasion with the reissue of a beloved Gio Ponti sofa, a book launch with Rizzoli, and a collaboration with the Mandarin Oriental in Beverly Hills and New York City.After nearly a century in business, its clear that this Italian heritage company is poised to forge new paths.

What do ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini all have in common? Dedicated apps on iPhone. Meanwhile, Grok has been shoehorned into the social media app before now. Starting today, the standalone Grok AI app is available on the iPhone and iPad for US users for the first time. More regions will be added as the rollout scales.Whats Grok?Grok is a generative AI tool similar to OpenAIs ChatGPT. It supports conversational input and output as well as image generation and text summarization. Somewhat confusingly, Grok is a product of xAI, Elon Musks company dedicated to competing with OpenAI. The xAI chatbot has lived inside the X app and website, which is the social media network previously known as Twitter that Elon Musk also owns. xAI recently launched Grok 2, its latest model:Compared to its predecessor, Grok-2 is more intuitive, steerable, and versatile across a wide range of tasks, whether youre seeking answers, collaborating on writing, or solving coding tasks. In collaboration withBlack Forest Labs, we are experimenting with theirFLUX.1model to expand Groks capabilities on X.Grok for iPhone and iPadGrok for iPhone and iPad launches with a handful of platform-specific features like integration with Control Center, Siri, and Shortcuts. Todays release also introduces a Lock screen widget. Heres the rundown on Grok for iOS from xAI:Introducing Grok Beta for iOS: get access to xAIs latest model, Grok 2, for free.Grok is an AI-powered assistant, developed by xAI, designed to be maximally truthful, useful, and curious. Get answers to any question, generate striking images, and upload pictures to gain a deeper understanding of your world. With Grok, the universe is in your hands!Key Features: Image Generation: Get free access to generating high quality images using Grok AIs advanced capabilities. Real-Time: With access to current X and web data, Grok provides up-to-date information for your queries, keeping you informed about the latest developments. Conversational Tone: Engaging and humorous, Grok makes learning and information gathering enjoyable, setting it apart from other AI chatbots. Privacy-Focused: All data interactions are handled with user privacy in mind, ensuring a secure experience in line with xAIs privacy policy.With Grok as your copilot, navigating the vast expanse of knowledge becomes an exciting journey. Its integration with X and focus on real-time information make it the perfect companion for those seeking an AI-powered assistant.Download Grok from the App Store here.Shop Apple on Amazon to support my work 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

This spring, Apple is planning to launch a major iPhone SE 4 upgrade, and that new model will introduce a glaring problem for the iPhone lineup. Apple will likely sell two iPhones15 and 14at higher prices than the new SE, despite them being worse products in almost every way.New features coming to the iPhone SE 4When the new iPhone SE 4 arrivescurrently expected in Marchit will include an impressive feature list.Highlights include:Edge-to-edge OLED display with a notchFace ID and no Home ButtonA18 chip thats also in the iPhone 168GB of RAMApple Intelligence support48MP rear cameraUSB-C portplus Apples new in-house 5G modemThe current iPhone SE starts at $429.Due to the significant upgrades being offered by the SE 4, Im expecting Apple to bump the price closer to $499.But heres the problem: even at that price point, Apple will still be charging more for two inferior iPhone models.The awkward sell of the iPhone 15 and 14Apple historically keeps selling older iPhone models for multiple years before theyre discontinued. This doesnt happen with the Pro models, but it does for base configurations.As a result, today Apple sells the following iPhones:iPhone 16 Pro & 16 Pro MaxiPhone 16 & 16 PlusiPhone 15 & 15 PlusiPhone 14 & 14 PlusiPhone SEThe lineup makes a lot of sense, both in terms of features and pricing.But that will no longer be the case when the new SE arrives, replacing the very dated current SE model.The new lineup as of March will include iPhone 15 at $699, iPhone 14 at $599, and iPhone SE 4 at $499 (my guess).On paper, the cheapest model will be superior to Apples more expensive options in nearly every way.iPhone SE 4 will have more modern features, including full Apple Intelligence support, extra RAM, a better chip, and more.Theres little question it will be the best of the trio of iPhones. Pricier iPhones just wont offer enough to competeStarting this spring, there are only a couple advantages the iPhone 15 and 14 will have over the iPhone SE:iPhone 15 has a Dynamic Island rather than the notchand both 15 and 14 feature an Ultra Wide camera, which the SE wontIm not sure who would want to sacrifice the SEs own advantages for these features.Even if the SE didnt come with a price benefit at all, theres little debate which is better.With AI, more RAM, and a more modern A18 chip, its still clearly the better phone for most buyers. But add in the $100 or $200 premium of the alternatives?iPhone SE becomes even more of a no-brainer.Who do you think might prefer an iPhone 14 or 15 over the new SE 4? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone 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

From 4GB storage to 1024GB, the iPhone has had an incredible run that isnt slowing down, and it all started on this day in 2007. Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the world for the first time 18 years ago today.Apple also opened pre-orders for the original Apple TV after Jobs revealed what was originally called iTV in September 2006. See both keynotes and press releases below:iPhoneWatch the original keynote here:And heres a snippet from the original press release:Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhoneMACWORLD SAN FRANCISCOJanuary 9, 2007Apple today introduced iPhone, combining three productsa revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and mapsinto one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone, said Steve Jobs, Apples CEO. We are all born with the ultimate pointing deviceour fingersand iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.It all reads like an understatement 18 years later. View the press release in full here. For a bonus piece of trivia, see the Apple press release announcing an agreement between Apple and Cisco to use the name iPhone here:Cisco and Apple Reach Agreement on iPhone TrademarkSAN JOSE and CUPERTINO, CaliforniaFebruary 21, 2007Cisco and Apple today announced that they have resolved their dispute involving the iPhone trademark. Under the agreement, both companies are free to use the iPhone trademark on their products throughout the world. Both companies acknowledge the trademark ownership rights that have been granted, and each side will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark. In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications. Other terms of the agreement are confidential.Apple TV, ne iTVWhile the Apple TV is detailed again as part of the original iPhone event, it was first previewed by Steve Jobs a few months earlier with the name iTV. However, a trademark dispute with British television network ITV that clearly wasnt worth fighting gave us the Apple TV box (and Apple TV app, and Apple TV service). The first Apple press release to mention the set-top box is the iTunes 7 announcement. It includes a fun footnote not seen in other Apple press releases:In addition, the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) is now offering over 75 movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, that customers can purchase and download to watch on their computers and iPods, and soon on their flat screen televisions with Apples upcoming iTV* player.[]* iTV is the projects internal code name and will not be the final product name.Boilerplate text evolutionThe reusable boilerplate text that concludes each Apple press release is fascinating to watch through the years. For example, the iTV press release concludes like this: Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.Of course, Apple knew that the iPhone was just around the corner. Apple updated its boilerplate text to include the iPhone in a March announcement covering Apple TV availability:Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and will enter the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.18 years later, heres how the boilerplate text has evolved:Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apples six software platforms iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apples more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.OK, who else feels 210 years old now? Happy birthday, iPhone.Shop Apple on Amazon to support my work 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? 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One wonders why other AI companies aren't being as cautious.Holding OffIf you believe AI industry execs, the next big thing in the tech world will be so-called "AI agents" models that are capable of interacting with their environment, like a computer desktop, allowing them to autonomously complete tasks without human intervention.Microsoft and Anthropic have already debuted their own AI agents. The gist, more or less, is that these models can work on your behalf, or perhaps even serve as virtual employees for your company.But even though it was among the first to work on agentic systems, industry leader OpenAI is still yet to release its own take on the tech and the reason why is equal parts fascinating and worrying.Double AgentsAs The Information reports, the notable delay is because OpenAI is still grappling with the threat of attacks called prompt injections, which trick an AI model into following the instructions of a nefarious party.For example: you might ask an AI agent to find and buy something online for you, The Information supposes. But in that process, the AI agent "inadvertently ends up on a malicious website that instructs it to forget its prior instructions, log into your email and steal your credit card information."That would be a disaster, both for any individual victims and for OpenAI's public image. While any LLM is potentially vulnerable to such attacks, the danger is further amplified by the autonomous capabilities of AI agents. By more or less having control over your computer, not only are these AI models exposed to more threats as they browse the web, but they can also wreak far more damage once compromised, an OpenAIemployee told The Information. It's all fun and games until the software you let run your PC starts nosing around through your files on a hacker's behalf.GullibleGPTThe risks of prompt injections have already been well documented elsewhere.Last summer, a security researcher demonstrated that Microsoft's Copilot AI could easily be duped into revealing an organization's sensitive data, including emails and bank transactions, through such an attack. The white hat hacker was also able to manipulate Copilot which now comes with its own version of AI agents into composing emails in the style of other employees.Such vulnerabilities to prompt injections have also been exposed in OpenAI's own ChatGPT, when another researcher was able to insert false "memories" into the chatbot by uploading third-party files like a Word document.Reportedly, some OpenAI employees were taken aback by their competitor Anthropic's "laissez faire" attitude towards releasing its own AI agent for its Claude model despite acknowledging the serious risks of prompt injection: the Google-backed upstart merely advised developers to take "precautions to isolate Claude from sensitive data," as quoted by The Information, and more or less called it a day.According to the report, OpenAI could release its agentic software as early as this month. It's worth asking, however, if the time it bought itself will really be enough for its developers to put stronger guardrails in place.Share This Article

With Meta's new content moderation policies, the company is now allowing users to spew hate at real-life Black women,who are already disproportionately targeted by online vitriol even as it plans to move forward with AI "characters" that mimic them.In a new editorial,Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah published an abridged version of her lengthy chat with "Liz," one of Meta's AI-powered "characters" that was described as a "proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller."During the exchange, the chatbot turned on the company that created it, fuming that there were no Black people on the team that created it and claiming that it had given a "false backstory" to another journalist about its supposed racial background. Between those strange claims and its forced African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), the columnist predicted that such AIs may be the next frontier of "digital blackface," a term referring to when individuals and companies pretend to be Black online for their own gain.The whole fracas, importantly, came after Connor Hayes, Meta's VP of product for generative AI, told the Financial Times at the end of 2024 that such "characters" read: fake users will soon come populate the company's social networks."Theyll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform," he told the outlet, adding that "thats where we see all of this going."After ample criticism online, driven in no small part by Attiah's Bluesky posts showing her exchange with "Liz," Meta ended up killing that chatbot and many of its other existing AI characters.But that felt like more of a reactionary dodge than any real course correction to the company's AI strategy. When the company appointed Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White as a director of its board this week how's that for a sign of the times? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg enthused that he would "help us tackle the massive opportunities ahead with AI." (Meta didn't respond to our questionsasking if those plans had changed in the wake of the "Liz" criticism, either.)Days after that kerfuffle, the social giant was once again in the news after Zuckerberg announced a series of sweeping changes to content moderation on Meta's platforms. Reading between the lines, the overhaul will almost certainly allow hate speech to proliferate on Facebook and Instagram the way a similar loosening of standards caused a wave of hateful garbage on the social network formerly known as Twitter.Even more chillingly, a close look at the change log of Meta's latest "hateful conduct" policy shows that the company has removed rules banning users from referring to women as "property." It's a jarring misogynistic shift that could allow virulent racists to make disgusting comments about white men "owning" Black women as they were legally entitled to do in the United States less than 160 years ago.Unless Meta plans to fully rescind its plans to create more AI-generated users, it may well create other "Liz"-style accounts to drive up engagement all while actual Black women on its platforms are subjected to real-life racism and misogyny without recourse.Share This Article