The Artphabet explores the diversity of modern art.

From logo design to colour and icons, the hit Netflix show has an unmistakable identity.

MacworldFlagship iPhones, iPads, and Macs typically steal the spotlight when it comes to Apple events and announcements, dominating news coverage and customer interest. However, Apple also offers a wide range of lesser-known products that, while not necessarily as popular or powerful, remain important parts of its ecosystem. Based on the rumor calendar, 2025 is set to be a packed year for Apple hardware, and these six forgotten devices could finally be getting some long-overdue upgrades.iPhone SE 4Despite being the least capable 2025 Apple phone, the iPhone SE 4or iPhone 16Ecould turn out to be a best-seller after it likely launches in March. Compared to its three-year-old predecessor, the fourth-generation budget iPhone is expected to feature an all-new exterior that resembles an iPhone 14 or 15. Thats not to mention supporting Apple Intelligence (thanks to the base A18 chip), adopting Face ID, switching to USB-C, boasting an edge-to-edge OLED panel, and packing a 48MP rear camera.Septembers iPhone 17 phones will undoubtedly intrigue more users with their high-end technical specifications. Nevertheless, given its rumored sub-$500 price, the iPhone SE 4 could convince budget-conscious customers to finally upgrade their worn-out iPhones or mid-range Android phones. After all, it will likely be the first SE model to offer both a modern design and premium internalsand thatll entice numerous undecided buyers to opt for it.Apple Watch SE 3Another outdated SE product rumored to get an upgrade this year is the Apple Watch. Despite being the companys cheapest smartwatch, this model provides a reliable experiencesans some inessential perks currently exclusive to the Series and Ultra models. So, for just $249, users get the same battery life and main set of watchOS apps, excluding support for ECG, an always-on display, and precision finding. This makes it the perfect pick for those seeking to live a more active life but cant justify paying extra for the bonus sensors.In September, the Apple Watch SE 3 is expected to launch with a fresh design, retiring the aluminum chassis in favor of colorful plastic. Consequently, the wearable could potentially drop its price to better compete against cheap fitness trackers and appeal to youngsters. Beyond that, it could pack a faster S-series chipset, bringing faster performance and unlocking more demanding features.The Apple Watch SE hasnt changed much in 5 years.FoundryAirTag 2Released in 2021, the AirTag is arguably the most effective Bluetooth tracker for casual item location. Its powered by Apples vast Find My network, making it discoverable by hundreds of millions of iDevices around the planet. At some point this year, Apple is expected to finally release the coin-sized trackers successor, featuring a newer ultra-wideband chip and added privacy measures.Thanks to the upgraded UWB chip, users will reportedly be able to locate the AirTag 2 with more precision. And since many criminals rely on modified AirTags to stalk their victims, Apple could make removing its speaker more challenging. It certainly wont be 2025s most exciting launch, but given the nature of the product, its a welcome upgrade nonetheless.HomePod mini 2The HomePod mini turns five this year. And, disregarding the superficial color refresh, it has yet to receive its first upgrade. Fortunately, the 2nd-gen model could finally launch in the fall. Based on credible rumors, the HomePod mini 2 will boast a faster processor, Apples in-house wireless connectivity chipset, potential Wi-Fi 6E support, and an enhanced UWB chip for improved Handoff. The speaker could also play a bigger role in Apples HomeKit infrastructure, as the company is about to embrace and take smart home products more seriously. It may not be the most groundbreaking release, but it certainly will maximize the HomePod minis function in peoples houses.Apple TV 4K 4Speaking of homes, the Apple TV 4K could get its first upgrade in three years this fall, too. The fourth-generation model, like the HomePod mini 2, will likely adopt Apples own networking chip, along with a faster A-series brain. Besides potentially expanding its smart home capabilities, its unclear if the Apple TV 4K 4 will bring any other notable features, but expect it to be positioned as a new smart home device thats more than just a silent home hub.The next-gen Apple TV 4K might be more than just a set-top box.FoundryStudio and Pro displaysLaunched in 2019 and 2022, respectively, the Pro Display XDR and Studio Display are overdue for an upgrade. Despite starting at $4,999 and packing industry-leading technology, the former screen could use some improvements. For example, its current refresh rate caps out at 60Hz, so supporting ProMotion (120Hz) would be a great start. It could also borrow some Studio Display features, such as the FaceTime camera and spatial audio speakers. This would turn it into a higher-end variant of the Studio Displayand far more enticing for its $4,999 price tagand maybe include a stand this time.Meanwhile, this years Studio Display could finally switch to mini-LED and improve the bundled webcam. It remains to be seen if Apple has other upgrades in store or plans to drop its $1,599 starting price.In with the newConsidering Apple doesnt upgrade the devices above as frequently as other products, this year will be the perfect entry point for newcomers. Customers looking to get started with the essentials will be able to own an affordable, up-to-date iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirTag. Meanwhile, users migrating their media streaming setup to Apple will appreciate the equally inexpensive Apple TV 4K and HomePod miniwhich can seamlessly output tvOS audio.And while the first-party displays may be relatively niche, their release could accompany new, M4-powered Mac Studio and Mac Pro machines. These would pair well together for professionals seeking high-end configurations.Of course, beyond these six forgotten products, Apple also has a slew of regular updates on tap. These will likely include an M4 MacBook Air and iPad Air, iPad 11 with Apple Intelligence support, M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3, and hopefully some surprises along the way.

If youre a Microsoft 365 subscriber with a Personal or Family subscription, Microsoft just flipped a switch and activated Copilot AI features for your account. Its a new part of your subscription, along with that 1TB of OneDrive storage and access to Office apps like Word and Excel. But there are some big catches including a price hike and some limits.Microsofts latest changes follow in Googles footsteps, with AI features appearing in the standard subscription for much less than youd pay for those AI features separately but with the standard subscription price also going up at the same time.Lets dive into how Microsoft just transformed some of the worlds most popular productivity apps, what you can do now and how you can avoid paying more.Want to keep track of the latest Windows and Office developments in just a few minutes each week? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Plus, get free Windows Field Guide downloads as a bonus when you sign up!How Copilot works in Microsoft 365 plansFirst things first, the basics: Microsoft announced that all Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family plans now include Copilot features as of Jan. 16 in most markets worldwide. This wont affect you when using a Microsoft 365 plan provided by a workplace businesses still have to pay separately for AI features but it will affect your individual plans. And plenty of professionals do pay for their own Microsoft 365 subscriptions. (I should know; Im one of them!)In other words, if you pay for Microsoft 365 and use apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook, youll now find the Copilot button popping up in these applications. Previously, you had to pay $20 per month for a Copilot Pro subscription to unlock these features.Heres the first big catch: The newly expanded paid 365 plans dont give you unlimited access to Microsofts AI features. Instead, you get a monthly allotment of credits that Microsoft says should be enough for most subscribers. In practice, that appears to be 60 credits per month meaning you can use AI features 60 times per month. After that, youll need to pay for a $20-per-month Copilot Pro subscription to keep using those AI features.Youll see an informational pop-up window the first time you open an app like Word.Chris Hoffman, IDGNote: These AI credits are actually shared across various other Microsoft apps including for AI image generation in Designer, Paint, and Photos and text-editing work in Notepad. Theyre not just for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.Plus, again, Microsoft is raising its 365 subscription prices, with Copilot bundled into the mix. Theyre going up by $3 per month in the US, though the exact price increase will vary by country. For the yearly plans in the US, Microsoft 365 Family goes from $100 to $130 per year, and Microsoft 365 Personal goes from $70 to $100 per year.This is the first time Microsoft has raised prices since launching the subscription service originally called Office 365 back in 2013. While its true that Microsoft is using these AI features as a way to hike prices, these subscriptions were overdue for a price increase anyway, and its nice to at least get something out of it. (In my opinion, between the 1TB of OneDrive storage and access to Office apps, its still a good value.)Its worth noting that this Copilot change is only for Microsoft 365 plans. If you buy a more traditional one-time purchase version of Office like Office 2024, your setup isnt changing and you wont have access to these newer AI features.Using Copilot AI in Microsoft 365 appsWith the new adjustments in place, Copilot AI is easy to find in Office apps: Youll find a Copilot icon on the ribbon, or you can also select some text and click the little Copilot icon that appears next to it, or just press Alt+i. Then you can prompt Copilot to write or rewrite text in a document for you. You could also ask it questions about the document youre viewing from the Copilot sidebar.For more information on exactly how Copilot works in these Office apps, check out my Copilot Pro review from last year. The new built-in Copilot features are exactly the same as what you get with Copilot Pro; the only difference is that youre limited to 60 uses per month in the 365 setup.If you run out of credits, Microsoft will encourage you to upgrade to Copilot Pro. In a way, then, these AI features are a bit of a trial for Copilot Pro.To check how many credits you have left, you can click the little menu icon in the Copilot sidebar in an Office app and then click AI credit balance. This will take you to your Microsoft 365 account subscription page, where you can see a running balance of the AI credits youve used.Your AI credit balance is just a few clicks away.Chris Hoffman, IDGGenerating images with Microsoft DesignerThe same credit system also applies to Microsoft Designer, which is a useful AI image-generation tool. (At our newsletter-focused small business The Intelligence, we use Microsoft Designer to create some feature image illustrations for our articles were writers, not visual artists!)That means with any paid Personal or Family 365 plan, you can opt to use your 60 monthly AI image credits directly within Designer, too. This is actually quite a downgrade: Previously, everyone got 15 credits per day for AI image generations. Now, subscribers get a total of 60 credits per month, while free accounts only get 15 credits per month.If you need more than that, you can upgrade to the $20-a-month Copilot Pro plan, which gives you many more AI image generations in Designer and beyond. (Microsoft says you get at least 10x more credits for Designer with Copilot Pro, compared to the 15-credits-per-month free setup so roughly 150 credits per month, then, compared to the 60 monthly credits in the base 365 subscription.)AI tools are expensive to create and operate, and companies have lost a lot of money on them. Its no surprise to see many AI tools offering less for free and looking for more payment from their users; thats whats happening here.How to avoid the AI features (and costs) entirelyThere are ways to avoid the Microsoft 365 subscription price increases, if you dont anticipate using them and dont want to pay for them. (The price increase doesnt take effect until your next subscription renewal, by the way.)If you already have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can keep your old subscription price and opt out of the AI features for a limited time. Microsoft says you can switch by canceling your subscription and choosing one of the Classic plans during the cancelation process. Here are Microsofts instructions.You could also buy perpetual licenses of Office instead of using the more prominently offered subscriptions. In other words, with a one-time purchase of Office 2024, you could use Office for a few years for that one-time purchase price. Its not as good a deal as it sounds that one-time purchase price will only get you access to Office apps like Word and Excel on a single computer, and you wont have access to the 1TB of OneDrive storage. (Plus, while your license will be good in perpetuity, Microsoft will stop delivering security updates for Office 2024 in October 2029.)You can also buy Microsoft 365 subscription keys from other retailers. Without getting into the weeds too far here, its worth noting that days after Microsoft implemented the subscription price increase, Amazon is still selling Microsoft 365 Personal subscriptions for $70 and Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions for $100 the old prices. But these are the standard plans and include those AI features. Thats a bargain.Of course, you could also turn to other office suites the web-based Google Docs, the open-source LibreOffice, or the Apple-focused iWork suite but Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are the business standard for a reason. And even with these AI-adding price increases, getting that 1TB of OneDrive storage at those prices is still a great deal.Want more insights and helpful tips? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter! Youll also get three new things to try every Friday and free copies of Paul Thurrotts Windows Field Guides as a special welcome gift.

Its happened yet again this time to Apple.Apple recently had to disable AI-generated news summaries in its News app in iOS 18.3. You can guess why: the AI-driven Notification Summaries for the news and entertainment categories in the app occasionally hallucinated, lied, and spread misinformation.Sound familiar?Users complained about the summaries, but Apple acted only after a complaint from BBC News, which told Apple that several of its notifications were improperly summarized.These were major errors in some cases.The generative AI (genAI) tool incorrectly summarized a BBC headline, falsely claiming that Luigi Mangione, who was charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. It inaccurately reported that Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts Championship hours before the competition had even begun and falsely claimed that Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.Apple summarized other real stories with false information: The tool said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested, Pete Hegseth had been fired, that Trump tariffs had triggered inflation (before Donald Trump had re-assumed office), and spewed dozens of other falsehoods.Apple rolled out the feature not knowing it would embarrass the company and force a retreat which is amazing when you consider that this happens to every other company that tries to automate genAI information delivery of any kind on a large scale.Microsoft Starts travel section, for example, published an AI-generated guide for Ottawa that included the Ottawa Food Bank as a tourist hotspot, encouraging visitors to come on an empty stomach.In September 2023, Microsofts news portal MSN ran an AI-generated obituary for former NBA player Brandon Hunter, who had passed away at the age of 42. The obituary headline called Hunter useless at 42, while the body of the text said that Hunter had performed in 67 video games over two seasons.Microsofts news aggregator, MSN, attached an inappropriate AI-generated poll to aGuardianarticle about a womans death.The poll asked readers to guess the cause of death, offering options like murder, accident, or suicide.During its first public demo in February 2024, Googles Bard AI incorrectly claimed that the James Webb Space Telescope had taken the first pictures of a planet outside our solar systemsome 16 years after the first extrasolar planets were photographed.These are just a few examples out of many.The problem: AI isnt humanThe Brandon Hunter example is instructive. The AI knows enough about language to know that a person who does something is useful, that death means they can no longer do that thing, and that the opposite of useful is useless. But AI does not have a clue that saying in an obituary that a persons death makes them useless is problematic in the extreme.Chatbots based onLarge Language Models(LLMs) are inherently tone-deaf, ignorant of human context, and cant tell the difference between fact and fiction, between truth and lies. They are, for lack of a better term, sociopaths unable to tell the difference between the emotional impact of an obituary and a corporate earnings report.There are several reasons for errors.LLMs are trained on massive datasets that contain errors, biases, or inconsistencies. Even if the data is mostly reliable, it may not cover all possible topics a model is expected to generate content about, leading to gaps in knowledge. Beyond that, LLMs generate responses based on statistical patterns using probability to choose words rather than understanding or thinking. (Theyve been described as next-word prediction machines.)The biggest problem, however, is that AI isnt human, sentient, or capable of thought.Another problem: People arent AIMost people dont pay attention to the fact that we dont actually communicate with complete information. Heres a simple example: If I say to my neighbor, Hey, whats up? My neighbor is likely to reply, Not much. You?A logic machine would likely respond to that question by describing the layers of the atmosphere, satellites, and the planets and stars beyond. It answered the question factually as it was asked, but the literal content of the question did not contain the actual information sought by the asker.To answer that simple question in the manner expected, a person has to be a human who is part of a culture and understands verbal conventions or has to be specifically programmed to respond to such conventions with the correct canned response.When we communicate, we rely on shared understanding, context, intonation, facial expression, body language, situational awareness, cultural references, past interactions, and many other things. This varies by language. The English language is one of the most literally specific languages in the world, and so a great many other languages will likely have bigger problems with human-machine communication.Our human conventions for communication are very unlikely to align with genAI tools for a very long time. Thats why frequent AI chatbot users often feel like the software sometimes willfully evades their questions.The biggest problem: Tech companies can be hubristicWhats really astonishing to me is that companies keep doing this. And by this, I mean rolling out unsupervised automated content-generating systems that deliver one-to-many content on a large scale.And scale is precisely the difference.If a single user prompts ChatGPT and gets a false or ridiculous answer, they are likely to shrug and try again, sometimes chastising the bot for its error, for which the chatbot is programmed to apologize and try again. No harm, no foul.But when an LLM spits out a wrong answer for a million people, thats a problem, especially in Apples case, where no doubt many users are just reading the summary instead of the whole story. Wow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arrested. Didnt see that coming, and now some two-digit percentage of those users are walking around believing misinformation.Each tech company believes they have better technology than the others.Google thought: Sure, that happened to Microsoft, but our tech is better.Apple thought: Sure, it happened to Google, but our tech is better. Tech companies: No, your technology is not better. The current state of LLM technology is what it is and we have definitely not reached the point where genAI chatbots can reliably handle a job like this.What Apples error teaches usTheres a right way and a wrong way to use LLM-based chatbots. The right way is to query with intelligent prompts, ask the question in several ways, and always fact-check the responses before using or believing that information.Chatbots are great for brainstorming, providing quick information that isnt important, or being a mere starting point for research that leads you to legitimate sources.But using LLM-based chatbots to write content unsupervised at scale? Its very clear that this is the road to embarrassment and failure.The moral of the story is that genAI is still too unpredictable to reliably represent a company in one-to-many communications of any kind at scale.rrorSo, make sure this doesnt happen with any project under your purview. Setting up any public-facing content-producing project meant to communicate information to large numbers of people should be a hard, categorical no until further notice.AI is not human, cant think, and it will confuse your customers and embarrass your company if you give it a public-facing role.

The now almost four month-long ban on sales of the iPhone 16 in Indonesia may be lifted "very, very soon," according to a government minister.iPhone 16 Pro modelsIndonesia banned sales of the iPhone 16 in October 2024, just weeks after it was launched. It was because of the country's laws about locally-sourced components, and also because Apple had fallen short on its investment commitments.According to Bloomberg, the long negotiation between Apple and the country may be about to be resolved. There are no specific details of any deal with Apple, and the company has not commented, but a local minister has said the conclusion is in sight. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Spending on nonresidential buildings will see gains of only 2.2% in 2025 and 2.6% in 2026, according to the AIAs latest Consensus Construction Forecast. Despite increasing by 20% in 2023 and 6% in 2024, the AIA expects spending on commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities to slow dramatically in the coming two years.Across key sectors, the AIA expects commercial spending to grow 1.7% this year, with office spending increasing 3.6% and institutional spending increasing 6%. Of all typologies, data centers will see the largest spending increase at 21.9% while warehouses will see the largest decrease with a 2% decline.Extract from the AIA's latest Consensus Construction Forecast. The interactive data is available to view here.The modest outlook is partly based on a few expected headwinds to building activity, including potential tariffs on imports, said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. There is also policy concern around how the construction labor force might be impa...

NetherRealm Studios Mortal Kombat 1 has sold over five million units since launching in September 2023, up from the four million-plus announced last August. Series co-creator and game director Ed Boon revealed this in a recent Twitter thread alongside recent data from Circanas most-played PS5 games in the United States.From the weeks ending December 14th, 2024, until January 4th, 2025, the fighting game ranked in the top 15. The numbers werent revealed, while it fell behind Sonic Frontiers in the week ending December 21st. However, the increased player count for the latter is likely due to joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog on December 17th.Mortal Kombat 1 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Kombat Pack 2 and Khaos Reigns expansion owners recently received early access to Conan the Barbarian, who goes live on January 28th for all players.Despite the sales milestone, the reported poor sales of Khaos Reigns allegedly led to the cancellation of Kombat Pack 3 and a second story expansion. Head here for more details.(4 of 7) With over 5 million games sold, seeing Mortal Kombat 1 still in the top 15 most played Playstation 5 games makes us very grateful to Mortal Kombat fans. Thanks for continuing to support NetherRealm Studios games! pic.twitter.com/1BvH5gVLOW Ed Boon (@noobde) January 21, 2025

As promised, S-Game has released a new gameplay trailer for Phantom Blade Zero, showcasing extensive uncut footage of a boss fight. Known as the Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars, its a fight against a chief puppet and his cronies. Check it out below.The objective is pretty straightforward target the Chief Disciple but coordinated attacks from the other puppets make this challenging. However, things get even hairier when the second phase begins. The surviving puppets control the ringleader for some unpredictable melee and ranged attacks.Nevertheless, its eventually slayed, though the identity of the puppeteer is unknown. We get some quick glimpses at a few weapons at the end, including the Soft Snake Sword, White Serpent and Crimson Tiger (the dual blades), and an unnamed battle axe. S-Game also confirms that the games release date will be announced this year, so stay tuned.Phantom Blade Zero is coming to PS5 and PC. Its allegedly targeting a Fall 2026 launch.

UK games jobs vacancies fell by 8% in January 2025Number of studios hiring fell 7% compared to last monthImage credit: Adobe News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 22, 2025 The number of available jobs in the UK games industry has decreased by 8% to 696 positions in January 2025.This is according to the latest Games Jobs Live report, which highlights key observations and trends in the industry.It noted that layoffs have continued into the new year, including cuts at Splash Damage and Rocksteady, with the number of studios hiring having fallen by 7% compared to December 2024.There are currently 609 permanent contracts available in the UK games job market, alongside 87 fixed term contracts. Nine companies currently have 20 or more open roles.24% of jobs are open to any working practice that being onsite, hybrid, or remote. The majority (73%) require some onsite presence, while 11% are fully remote.Most sectors saw a reduction in open roles, with the exception of analytics which saw a 11% increase in role availability.Jobs in AA and mobile increased slightly this month, while the number of overall positions at service companies fell by 31%. Roles at AAA studios also saw a decline of 11%.Managerial positions fell another 22% in January, whereas senior roles decreased by 3%.