Apple just reported earnings for the all-important holiday quarter. Overall it was Apples best quarter ever, but iPhone sales didnt quite hit expectations, mainly because of China. CEO Tim Cooks key takeaway though: iPhone 16 sales were strongest in countries where Apple Intelligence was available.iPhone 16 sold better in countries with AI support, per CookTheres been a lot of discourse around whether consumers truly care about Apple Intelligence or not.The companys AI and iPhone 16 rollouts were initially praised, but would they drive upgrades?Per CEO Tim Cook to CNBC, it seems that the answer is yes.Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBCs Steve Kovach that iPhone sales were stronger in countries where Apple Intelligence is available. Currently, the software is only available in a handful of English-speaking countries, and it isnt accessible in China or in Chinese.During the December quarter, we saw that in markets where we had rolled out Apple intelligence, that the year-over-year performance on the iPhone 16 family was stronger than those markets where we had not rolled out Apple intelligence, Cook said. Currently, Apple Intelligence isnt available at all in China. Its also unavailable on iPhones or iPads in the EUthat, at least, will change in April with iOS 18.4.China, however, has no announced release date for AI. And its iPhone 16 sales took a hit as a result.Cook told CNBC that there were three factors in the companys China performance. He said that half of the 11.1% decline was due to a change in channel inventory, the fact that Apple Intelligence hasnt launched in the region and that after the quarter ended, China issued a national subsidy that would stimulate some Apple product sales. This last reason at least indicates that there may be an iPhone boost in the upcoming quarter. But if Cooks narrative around AI driving iPhone sales is correct, it may be short-lived growth without an announcement of Apple Intelligence coming to China.What do you think of Cooks correlation of iPhone 16 sales and Apple Intelligence? 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

Not every iPhone launch outperforms launch sales of the prior model. Thats the a problem for the iPhone 16 family, however. Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Susan Li that the latest phones are selling in higher volumes than the iPhone 15 family during the same time last year. Perhaps surprisingly to some is the reason: Apple Intelligence.Thats based on Cook saying that of course those countries that we have launched Apple Intelligence had stronger year over year performance than the countries where we did not. Thats a nice way to say that the iPhone 16 launch did not impress in China where Apple Intelligence is not yet offered.Is the early suite of Apple Intelligence features actually converting into more iPhone 16 sales?Remember that the iPhone 16 lineup originally launched with zero Apple Intelligence features. You wouldnt know that based on the aggressive marketing saying that Apple Intelligence is here.Once Apple did release the first set of Apple Intelligence features focused on improving writing and a new Siri design it still lacked many of the advertised features like Genmoji, image creation, and ChatGPT integration.More recently, Apple has offered most of what Apple Intelligence in year one consists of, but there are still major Siri features promised for iOS 18 that Apple Intelligence doesnt include yet.Meanwhile, Cook says that Apple Intelligence will reach more countries in April. Thats when we expect iOS 18.4 to be ready. That release should include the new Siri features that let the virtual assistant use content in context from your iPhone to complete requests.Separately, Cook somewhat addressed DeepSeek, the Chinese AI firm that has rocked companies like NVIDIA and OpenAI. I think its great that efficiency is a great thing, and innovation that drives efficiency is a great thing. Weve always had this hybrid model on investment, as you know, in the data center space, where we have our own data centers, and then we also use third parties. And so I think were going to continue on that strategy.Hopefully Cook expands on those thoughts on the call with analysts next.Top 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

"The service is not mature [enough] to be used with any sensitive data at all."Deep TroubleDeepSeek has already changed the AI game in the days since announcing its latest powerful and cheaply-trained open-source model but that doesn't mean the developers at the Chinese startup are infallible.Researchers at the cloud security company Wiz were poking around the back end of the groundbreaking open-source model's databases when they discovered, "within minutes," that they were able to access a trove of completely unencrypted internal data with ease."This database contained a significant volume of chat history, backend data and sensitive information," Wiz explained in its vulnerability report, "including log streams, API Secrets, and operational details."Even worse, that wide-open back door at the open-source AI company could easily have led to an attack on DeepSeek's systems "without any authentication or defense mechanism to the outside world," the researchers wrote.As Wiz noted in its report on that glaring vulnerability, DeepSeek immediately took action to secure its databases once the security researchers alerted the company to the exposure.In conversations with Wired, however, the cloud security firm admitted that it was difficult to get in touch with anyone at DeepSeek, leaving its employees little recourse but to send LinkedIn messages and and emails to every DeepSeek-related account they could find or guess.Nobody at DeepSeek replied to Wiz's attempts at contact, but within an hour the database was locked down,Wired reports.In other words, you don't have to be competent to shake the world.Open Door PolicyThe security issue doesn't sound particularly obscure, either."Usually when we find this kind of exposure, its in some neglected service that takes us hours to find hours of scanning," Wiz vulnerability research head Nir Ohfeld told Wired. With Deepseek, he said, those glaring security issues were right "at the front door."When accessing DeepSeek's databases, Wiz researchers found out a lot about the way the company's models operate, including that its infrastructure mimics OpenAI's almost exactly.This level of intelligence about a company that's exploded in popularity is relatively safe in the hands of white-hat hackers. But theresearchers told Wired that if anyone else got into the DeepSeek databases before they did an incredibly unchallenging feat, as they indicated repeatedly they could have made away with as much internal data as they wanted with minimal effort."The fact that mistakes happen is correct, but this is a dramatic mistake, because the effort level is very low and the access level that we got is very high," Wiz chief technology officer Ami Luttwak told the magazine. "I would say that it means that the service is not mature [enough] to be used with any sensitive data at all."Share This Article

You might've heard of the hardware guru who crammed the videogame Doom into a pregnancy test. Well, the AI-geek equivalent just figured out how to reproduce DeepSeek's buzzy tech for the cost of a few dozen eggs.Jiayi Pan, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, claims that he and his AI research team have recreated core functions of DeepSeek's R1-Zero for just $30 a comically more limited budget than DeepSeek, which rattled the tech industry this week with its extremely thrifty model that it says cost just a few million to train.Take it with a grain of salt until other experts weigh in and test it for themselves. But the assertion and particularly its bargain basement price tag is yet another illustration that the discourse in AI research is rapidly shifting from a paradigm of ultra-intensive computation powered by huge datacenters, to efficient solutions that call the financial model of major players like OpenAI into question.In an post announcing the team's findings on X-formerly-Twitter, Pan said that the researchers trained their model around the countdown game, a number operations exercise in which players create equations from a set of numbers to reach a predetermined answer.The small language model starts with "dummy outputs," Pan said, but "gradually develops tactics such as revision and search" to find the solution through the team's reinforcement training."The results: it just works!"Pan said.Pan's crew is currently working to produce a paper, but their model, preciously dubbed "TinyZero," is available on GitHub to tinker around with."We hope this project helps to demystify the emerging RL scaling research and make it more accessible," wrote Pan.Though R1-Zero is a small language model at 3 billion parameters compare that to its heavyweight brother R1's 671 billion the team's accomplishment could be a bellwether for open-source developers working on stripped down approachesto AI development.The release of DeepSeek's R1 model has tightened the screws on pie-in-the-sky artificial general intelligence ventures led by the likes of Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft, sending stocks associated with American AI into a trillion-dollar tumble. The Hangzhou-based open-source AI startup contends that its tech can do exactly what those corporate ventures have burned through billions of dollars doing for a fraction of the cost.That's spawned a bevy of questions from investors,leading with why the seven wealthiest tech corporations on earth all walk lockstep in glacier-melting efforts when a more elegant solution may have been there all along?And if reproducing a model like TinyZero can be done with less than $30 and only a few days of work, then what do big tech conglomerates need $500 billion in AI infrastructurefor?More on DeepSeek: Trump Responds After DeepSeek Humiliates His Splashy AI AnnouncementShare This Article

Nothing says I love you like a heart-shaped pizza.Okay, maybe you couldshow a little more love by throwing in some heart-shaped donuts.More chain restaurants are leaning into Valentines Day promotions even if they aren't exactly the first choice among those seeking fine dining options when celebrating.Instead, they big-name chains are creating fun, heart-shaped versions of their menu items or offering completely different twists on fan favorites.Bojangles Bo Berry Valentine's BiscuitsBojangles/Canvaloading...It isnt just about heart-shaped pizzas any more. Although, there are plenty of options for getting a special pie just for Valentines Day.READ MORE: 15 Fast-Growing Chain Restaurants Poised To Be Everywhere In 2025This year, your favorite chain restaurants are stepping up with heart shaped meat,biscuits and more. Here is a look at 10 adorable heart-shaped offerings at big-name chain restaurants this Valentine's Day.10 Heart-Shaped Foods Your Favorite Chain Restaurants Are Serving For Valentine's DayHere is a look at 10 adorable heart-shaped offerings big-name chain restaurants are rolling out for Valentine's Day this year.Gallery Credit: Rob CarrollGet our free mobile appThe Most Anticipated Movies of 202520 movies we cant wait to see in 25.Filed Under: Chain Restaurants, Fast Food, RestaurantsCategories: Original Features

Time zones: SBT (UTC +11), GMT (UTC +0), CET (UTC +1), EET (UTC +2), MSK (UTC +3)About the RoleAs a Data Engineer, youll play a key part in building and maintaining the platform that powers our products. By collaborating with backend engineers, data analysts, and other engineers, youll build and own new features, modules, and extensions of our systems. Were seeking an action-oriented and collaborative problem solver who thrives in ambiguity and can take on new challenges with optimism in a fast-paced environment. We value team members who are not only skilled in their area of expertise but are also perpetual learners who are committed to growth and contributing to our collective success.In this role, you will:Craft high-quality code for scale, availability, and performanceDesign, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and processes to extract, process, and transform large volumes of data, both real-time and batched (ELT/ETL)Build and maintain integrations with data providers using various data transfer protocolsDrive engineering projects from start to finish with a high level of ownership and autonomyEnsure the quality of our products and data through both manual and automated testing, as well as code reviewsWere looking for someone with:8+ years of software engineering experience with an emphasis on Data EngineeringBachelors degree or higher in Computer Science or related technical discipline (or equivalent experience)Advanced experience with complex SQL queries and database/lakehouse technologies such as Redshift, Apache Iceberg and PostgresDeep experience with big data technologies and frameworks such as Apache Spark, DBT, as well as data quality tools, like DBT (test)Familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure, and common data-related services (e.g. S3, Redshift, EMR, Glue, Kinesis, Athena)A bias for action, where no task is too small, and an eagerness to learn and grow with our industryNice to have:Experience with real-time streaming frameworks like Apache KafkaExperience with Great Expectations and/or SodaComfort and/or past experience working and managing big data and ELT pipelinesComfort and/or past experience working with Temporal, Apache Airflow or similar orchestration toolsExperience working in high-growth, venture-backed startup(s) Related Jobs See more DevOps and Sysadmin jobs

About the Role:A rare opportunity to be part of a growing sales team in a well-funded SaaS startup with great customer traction. You will work closely with sales as their technical partner in all the phases of the sales process from evangelizing and demonstrating the technology to prospects, to defining and executing Proof of Concepts (POCs) and answering technical questions around StarTree's service and how it solves customer's real time analytics problems. Solutions Architects are also relied upon for various post-sales tasks, including implementations, optimizations, and helping ensure a high level of service for our customers. StarTree offers a fast-moving, dynamic, and challenging work environment, with the opportunity to make a direct impact on customers.ResponsibilitiesProvide technical leadership in sales opportunities with existing customers and prospectsResearch customers key requirements and execute Proof of ConceptsHelp customers in post sales implementations and support them through their use of the StarTree serviceEvangelize best practices, architecture patterns, and use cases internally and externallyAdvance expertise and technical excellence in Apache PinotCollaborate with Product and Engineering teams by providing customer feedback to help shape the product roadmapLiaison with Marketing to help build customer case studies and reference materialsQualifications2-4 years of experience in Pre/Post-Sales or Customer facing rolesExperience with big data technologies such as Spark, Hadoop and Presto is a plusExperience with distributed software applications architecturesExperience developing or using open-source technologiesExcellent communication, presentation, and demonstration skills, as well as a good understanding of the sales and post sales processesStrong problem solving and troubleshooting skillsStrong grasp of cloud infrastructure patterns and services in at least one of the three pubic clouds - Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureGood understanding of OLAP technologies as well as SQLBonus points: Certification in Solutions Architecture in one or more of the three public clouds - Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureBonus points: Masters degree in Computer Science with a major in Data related field (Data Science, Data Engineering, or Data Analytics)What it Takes to ThriveA desire to learn and adapt in a rapidly growing and changing environmentYou must be a self-starter who thrives on complexity and independenceBeing highly organized and detail-orientedStrong written and oral communication skillsAbility to learn quicklyStrong team player

Looking for the most recentregular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.Today'sConnections: Sports Editionmight be tough. How closely do you follow the NFL draft? If you're an avid follower, no matter what team you root for, you might do well today. Read on for hints and answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle.For now, the game is in beta, which means the Times is testing it out to see if it's popular before adding it to the site's Games app. You can play it daily for now for free and then we'll have to see if it sticks around.Read more: NYT Has a Connections Game for Sports Fans. I Tried ItHints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groupsHere are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.Yellow group hint: Played on a tableGreen group hint: School sports conference membersBlue group hint: Up-and-coming athletesPurple group hint:Lady sings the...Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groupsYellow group: Billiards termsGreen group: ACC schoolsBlue group: First names of last four No.1 NFL draft picksPurple group:BluesRead more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English WordsWhat are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan 31, 2025, #130. NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is billiards terms. The four answers are break, cue, English and scratch.The green words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is ACC schools. The four answers are Cal, Duke, Miami and Virginia.The blue words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is first names of last four No.1 NFL draft picks. The four answers are Bryce, Caleb, Travon and Trevor.The purple words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is blues. The four answers are Chelsea, France, St. Louis and Vida.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer?Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Connections puzzles.Todays NYTStrandspuzzle is a silly one. If there's a baby in your life, or there ever was, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding the words. If you need hints and answers, read on.Also, I go into depth about therules for Strands in this story.If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visitCNET's NYT puzzle hints page.Read more:NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So FarHint for today's Strands puzzleToday's Strands theme is:Baby talkIf that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Goo-goo!Clue words to unlock in-game hintsYour goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:DRAM, FIAT, MOLE, FADS, SMARM, STORE, BOWS, MARM, BONE, FIRM, BLOW, STORK, FIRS, RODE, RODSAnswers for today's Strands puzzleThese are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you've got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:DADA, MAMA, MINE, MORE, KITTY, YUCKY, BOTTLE, BYEBYEToday's Strands spangramToday's Strands spangram isFIRSTWORDS.To find it, start with the F that's four letters to the right on the top row, and wind down. The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Jan 31, 2025, #334. NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Capcom games showcase coming next week, with a Monster Hunter Wilds stream right afterThe Seikret's out.Image credit: Eurogamer/Capcom News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 30, 2025 Capcom's clearly in a sharing mood. It's announced it's airing not one but two showcases next week - one being Monster Hunter Wilds themed and the other focusing on a number of other upcoming games, including Onimusha Way of the Sword.And if that sounds like your kind of night, things get underway at 10pm GMT/2pm PT next Tuesday, 4th February. First up is Capcom's Spotlight showcase. This lasts around 20 minutes and covers three titles on the publisher's slate: Onimusha Way of the Sword, Capcom Fighting Collection 2, and Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection Arcade Classics.Onimusha Way of the Sword was announced in December and isn't expect to arrive until next year (some 20 years after the series' previous entry, Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, released), so it's perhaps a little surprising it has more to say so soon. As for Capcom Fighting Collection 2, it hasn't yet been given a release date beyond 2025, so we can probably expect one - and we'll likely also get a release date for Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics on Xbox, after a bit of a faff around last year.Capcom Spotlight + Monster Hunter Wilds Showcase teaser.Watch on YouTubeAnd once Capcom's Spotlight is done, it'll immediately be time for a 20-minute update on Monster Hunter Wilds, which'll be just weeks away from its 28th February launch by then. We can probably expect a couple of monster reveals, a new biome, and me squealing giddily if they announce they're bringing back sea-squirting Cthulhu cuttlefish elder dragon Namielle.So that's that; next Tuesday, 4th February at 10pm GMT/2pm PT for all your latest Capcom news. The publisher hasn't actually said where you'll be able to watch its showcase yet, but YouTube seems like a fair bet. And we'll have all the news from the event right here too, if you'd rather catch up at a less indecent time over a nice cup of beans.