The fast expansion of Waymos driverless car service is growing competition for Uber. The companies are also partners.

MacworldApples macOS is a secure operating system, and at the heart of its security is your password: you will need your password whenever you install new software or make changes to macOS via System Settings (known as System Preferences pre-macOS Ventura); youll need it when logging in to you Mac (even if you log into your Mac with an Apple Watch, and even if you use Touch ID to unlock your Mac youll still need to enter your password when your Mac starts up. Sometimes youll even need your password when deleting files.But what do you do if youve lost or forgotten the password, or it doesnt work? Maybe you inherited or bought the Mac secondhand and you dont know the password. Dont panic. In this article were going to look at how to recover and reset a lost Mac password.On a related note, if your Mac is asking you for your iCloud login, or Apple ID, then read about what to do if you forget your Apple ID password. We also have How to find a password on a Mac and tips to make your passwords even stronger.1.View the password hintFoundryIf you are lucky your Macs password has been set up with a hint and you can view this on the log in screen. You need to be in the log in screen to be able to access this optionjust waking your Mac from sleep will not display the ? icon that you need to click on, you need to restart your Mac.Restart your Mac.When you are on the log in screen select the user you wish to log in as. You should see a ? beside the Enter Password field. Click on the ? and you might see a password hint. If this helps you fix the problem excellent. If not we have more ideas below. 2.Change the password from another accountFoundryDo you share the Mac with another person and do they have their own account? Is there an administrator who looks after your work Mac? An IT guy (or girl) who might be able to log on? Or do you have a different user account on the Mac that you do know the password to? The only problem here is that if the other user doesnt have Admin rights on the Mac they will not be able to change the password for you.If you know (or can find out) the password to another account for the Mac you can use this account to reset your password. Follow these steps to reset your Mac password from another account. Note the process is a little different depending on which version of macOS you are using. In Ventura and laterEither restart the Mac, or if it is logged in click on the Apple logo and choose Log Out [name]. Select the account you do know the password to.Enter the password for that account.Open System Settings > Users & Groups.Click on the i beside the account youve forgotten the password for.Click Reset Password.Enter the password you are logged in with.Add a new password and verify it.Add a Password hint (so that it doesnt get forgotten again).Click Change Password.In Monterey or olderEither restart the Mac, or if it is logged in click on the Apple logo and choose Log Out [name]. Select the account you do know the password to.Enter the password for that account.In Monterey or older open System Preferences > Users & Groups.In Monterey or older click the lock icon in the bottom left of the window and enter the password again.Select the account youve forgotten the password for in the sidebar.Click Reset Password.Fill in the New password, Verify and Password hint fields.Click Change Password.You have now changed the password for that account, and you can log into that account using the new password.Note that this doesnt change the password for the Keychain and you will be asked when you log into the account if you want to update the keychain password. To do this youll need the old password (which you have forgotten) so youll have to click Create New Keychain.3.Reset your password using Recovery Assistant and your Apple IDFoundryWhen you start up your Mac and select the user you wish to log in as you should see a ? beside the Enter Password field. Click on the ? and you might see a password hint (as we detailed above).Below the password hint you should see the option to Restart and show password reset options. If you click on this your Mac will restart with Recovery Assistant open. Follow the steps below to reset your password. When you are on the log in screen click on the ? beside the Enter Password box. Click on Restart and show password reset options. Your Mac will restart in the Recovery assistant. Enter your Apple ID email address. Click on Next. Enter your Apple ID password. You will now get an alert on another Apple product that is signed into your Apple ID. Approve the fact that there has been a login attempt (even if the alert says it happened in a completely different part of the country). You will now see a six number code appear on your device, you should enter this on the the Mac you are trying to log in to. Select the user you want to reset the password for. Click on Next. Enter a new password and then verify it. Add a password hint so that you dont forget it again (but make sure that someone else couldnt easily guess it!)If you dont see the ? this could be because you havent started up your Mac from offso switch the Mac off and turn it on again.If you still dont see the ? and Recovery Assistant option at start up move to the next step. 4.Use Recovery mode, Terminal and your Apple ID to reset your passwordFoundryIf you didnt see the option to restart and show password reset options detailed above, you can still enter the Recovery mode and use the Recovery Assistant to change your password. The process will depend on whether you have a Mac powered by an Intel processor or one that uses one of Apples M-series chips, such as the M1 or M2 or later.On a M-series Mac: Restart the Mac and press and hold the power button until you see the startup options. Click on Options > Continue.On an Intel Mac: Restart the Mac and press and hold Command and R until the Apple logo appears. See How to use Recovery mode on a Mac.Once in Recovery you can change the password for the Mac, even if you dont know the password. You just need to know your Apple ID and password. In macOS Recovery either choose a user you know the password for, or click on Forgot all passwords. Now enter your Apple ID email and click on Next. Enter your Apple ID password and click Next.If all is good you will see Authentication successful. You now need to click on Exit to Recovery. When you get the the Recovery screen you dont want any of the options presented to you, such as Restore from Time Machine and Reinstall macOS. Instead click on Utilities in the menu at the top of the screen. Click on Terminal. In Terminal type resetpassword Click on Return. Now the Reset Password options will open on the screen. Choose I forgot my password.Click on Next. Now sign in with your Apple ID email and password. You will see a warning that someone is using your Apple ID flash up on your other Apple devices, approve this and then you will see a six number code. Enter the six number code on the Mac. Choose the user you wish to reset the password for. After you have entered the new password and a hint you can restart your Mac. 5.Use your recovery key to reset your passwordAppleIf your drive is encrypted (either by you or your employer) through FileVault, you will see an option to reset your password using your recovery key. You will of course need that recovery key which is a string of letters and numbers so hopefully you havent lost it. If you have FileVault set up with a recovery key when you restart your Mac you will see Enter your FileVault recovery key as an option. Reset it using your recovery key to use the drives recovery key to reset your login password.If you cant find your FileVault recovery key this may help: How to find your FileVault recovery key in macOS.How to make a Mac password hint appearNow you know your password you might want to make sure that a password hint appears if you forget your password again. Follow these steps to set up a hint: In Ventura or later:Go to System Settings.Scroll down to Users & Groups. Click on the i beside the users name. Click on Change Password. Enter the old password and then a new password, and verify that. Add a password hint that makes sense to you but wont be easily guessed by someone else. In Monterey or older:Open System Preferences. Click on Users & Groups. Click on the lock and enter your password. Click on Login Options.Tick the box that says show password hints.If there is no tip set up click on the user. Click on Change Password. Enter the old password and then a new password, and verify that. Add a password hint that makes sense to you but wont be easily guessed by someone else. FoundryHow to save your passwords so that you dont forget them A good option is to create secure passwords and save them using a Password Manager such as LastPass or 1Password, which are included in our round up of the Best Password Managers for Mac. You will need to remember your master password as thats how the password manager is kept secure, but you can look for any other password you use so you could store your Mac password this way. Apple also offers its own Passwords app that stores your passwords but unfortunately it wont store the password to your Mac.Apples Passwords app can be helpful if you have forgotten your Apple ID though. On an iPhone open the Passwords app search for Apple and you should see one or more Apple ID usernames. Tap on these to find one with a recent date and hopefully that will be the one you are after.Prior to iOS 18 this required iCloud Keychain. So open Settings, find Passwords and search for Apple as above. How to stop someone else resetting your Mac passwordNow you know how to reset your password you may be worried that if you can use Recovery Mode to reset the password, someone else could do the same thing and once a person has got access to your Mac, youve usually lost control over it. There are some steps you can take to protect your data, though.The best way to protect your data is to turn on FileVault encryption. This encrypts the contents of your Mac, and the Password Reset utility will not show until you unlock it with Disk Utility. When you set up FileVault you can choose to receive a Recovery Key (which you should print out) or you can tie it to your Apple ID. Beware that if you forget or you lose these your data will be lost forever.To turn FileVault on follow these steps (slightly different depending on the macOS version).In Ventura or later:Go to System Settings. Click on Privacy & Security.Scroll down to FileVault. Click on Turn OnChoose Allow my iCloud account to unlock my disk, or Create a recovery key and do not use my iCloud account. We advise using iCloud due to the risk of losing the recovery key. Click on Continue.In Monterey or older:Open System Preferences. Go to Security & Privacy. Click on FileVault.Click the lock and enter your password. Choose Allow my iCloud account to unlock my disk, or Create a recovery key and do not use my iCloud account. We advise using iCloud due to the risk of losing the recovery key. Click on Continue.

MacworldApple on Tuesday introduced a new app called Invites that lets users create custom invitations and share them with family and friends along with photo albums and playlists. But while the app might have been a surprise, it wasnt a pleasant one for everyone.Over on X, the makers of event app Partiful posted a screenshot of section 4.1(a) of the App Review Guidelines, which refers to Copycats. The section reads, Come up with your own ideas. We know you have them, so make yours come to life. Dont simply copy the latest popular app on the AppStore, or make some minor changes to another apps name or UI and pass it off as your own. In addition to risking an intellectual property infringement claim, it makes the AppStore harder to navigate and just isnt fair to your fellow developers.The screenshot is a thinly veiled shot at Apple Invites somewhat derivative concept and interface. Partiful was a 2024 finalist for Apples Cultural Impact award, so it was clearly on Cupertinos radar. While there are differences, its hard not to see distinct similarities between the Apple Invites and Partiful interfaces.Of course, Apple is no stranger to copycat cries. Over the years, the concept of Sherlocking has become something of an annual tradition, as Apple releases another app, service, or feature that makes some standalone apps irrelevant. The term gets its name from Apples Sherlock 3 app introduced with Mac OS X Jaguar, which all but made the popular Watson app irrelevant with a similar feature set.In a reply to Partifuls post, Sunshine app founder and former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer chimed in with similar claims: At@sunshine, we also took a look at these guidelines today. Gen AI invites and integrated photo sharing, hmmThese accusations are unlikely to matter as even Apples developer guidelines dont explicitly ban copying and iPhone users will gravitate toward the app due to its integration with Photos and Apple Music. Apple Invites is a free app for the iPhone, but to unlock event creation you need to subscribe to iCloud+, which starts at $0.99 a month.

Less than a week after Chinese start-up DeepSeek rocked the tech industry, leading generative AI (genAI) model providers are scrambling to shore up their market foothold and find ways to emulate the newcomers tech efficiencies.Last week, DeepSeeks eponymous chatbot hit Apples App Storeand Google Play Store and downloads almost immediatelyexceeded those of OpenAIs ChatGPT. In short order, the DeepSeek-R1 AI model changed the genAI market, erasing $600 billion in market capitalization the largest intraday decline in history before markets began to recover.The aftershocks have continued, but experts and industry watchers say DeepSeeks marketplace entry will challenge every other leading genAI model maker to do better with less. In the meantime, those leaders are scrambling to hold ground in a fast-evolving market.Within days of DeepSeeks release, Microsoft announced that users of the free version of Copilot will be able to use OpenAIs o1 reasoning model. OpenAI then released its new o3-mini reasoning modeland said that even users of free ChatGPT will have (limited) access to it.I think Microsofts and OpenAIs announcements are definitely and largely in response to the challenges from DeepSeek, said Avivah Litan, a distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner Research. This is especially true of OpenAIs announcements.With a development cost of just $5.5 million compared to OpenAIs $5.4 billion annual budget DeepSeeks model outperforms current open-source language models, which are now on the defensive.US genAI providers are rushing ahead with changes to their pricing models to shift the focus away from DeepSeek, though it likely wont make much of a difference, according to Litan.The competition between DeepSeek and its genAI counterparts is good for the industry, Litan said. Open-source models were always the main competition to frontier model providers, but DeepSeek has now accelerated the race. It will ultimately depend on where top data scientists and AI engineers want to work at a closed, non-transparent company or with a small, agile team focused on fast, collaborative innovation.Im not saying DeepSeek has no issues in fact there are several from a privacy and bias perspective, Litan said. But the fat frontier model companies can no longer rest on their laurels and keep their systems closed. And thats a good thing overall.One concern is that DeepSeek stores user data, including chat messages, on servers in China, raising concerns about Chinese government access and data security. Its privacy policy allows sharing data with advertisers and law enforcement, leading to questions about its ability to protect user information, according to Atalia Horenshtien, head of AI practice for North America at tech consultancyCustomertimes.Censorship and bias are also concerns. The model might restrict sensitive topics, especially those critical of China, and its training data and instructions are not publicly available, making bias hard to assess.Hayley Sutherland, a research manager at IDC, agreed with Litan, saying that while DeepSeeks work is still being verified, the potential for high-performing models at a fraction of the current cost has created a massive stir in the tech industry and related markets.Microsoft, OpenAI, and other major providers of foundation models were already innovating at a rapid pace, but this adds significant pressure for such providers to show that their AI innovations can be scalable and affordable for a much wider swath of businesses, Sutherland said.According to Sutherland, genAI tool users should expect rapid industry R&D focused on more efficient AI and clearer, more advanced reasoning essentially, having genAI show its work. Meanwhile, providers like AI-powered search provider Perplexity and chipmaker Nvidia have partnered to offer DeepSeeks model with US data sovereignty and no Chinese media restrictions.This isnt a winner-takes-all chatbot war, Sutherland said.Foundation model innovations, especially open-source ones, show theres room for diverse providers to advance genAI for different businesses and consumers. However, the leaders will be those optimizing models for valuable, responsible, and scalable business outcomes, according to Sutherland.Mike Gualtieri, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, said companies such as OpenAI, Cohere and Anthropic were already headed for failure as they are unable to monetize their AI products.GenAI-based chat apps are valuable, but most users will likely get them for free from companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and X, which monetize through ads, Gualtieri noted. For enterprises, genAI will become an expected feature in software from companies like Adobe and Microsoft, making premium charges temporary.An AI model is not a business model. Money will be made at the application layer, Gualtieri said.DeepSeek is a game-changer, he said, because its showing that no company or country will hold a monopoly, and governments cant regulate or ban the math behind AI, which runs on computers.Having said that, every AI model company is inspired by the DeepSeek R1 model optimizations and will follow suit. This will accelerate AI research, Gualtieri said. This doesnt change much for enterprise AI strategy, CIOs already knew that they cannot lock into one model. They already saw the pace of AI innovation. It was fast. Now it is faster.

Hey, remember the Apple Vision Pro? For a while there, everyone was talking about Apples $3,499 headset being the future of productivity. Youd strap a headset to your face and work on large monitors floating in a mixed reality world.Well, that vision has now officially arrived on Windows PCs, and its more than 10 times cheaper. For a mere $299, you can pair a Meta quest headset with a Windows 11 PC and work in a mixed-reality world with floating monitors around you.So lets set aside the pricey Apple headsets and skip the wait for Googles latest attempt at VR. Heres what its like to use the new Windows Mixed Reality with an inexpensive Meta headset for productivity. After all: With Microsofts HoloLens discontinued, this is the closest thing were going to get.Want to stay up to date on the latest and greatest PC features? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Plus, get free Windows Field Guide downloads as a special welcome bonus!What you need for Windows Mixed Reality LinkTo try this out, youll need a Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S headset, the companys latest VR headsets. Again, theyre a lot cheaper than an Apple Vision Pro and probably a lot cheaper than that upcoming Project Moohan headset that will run Googles new Android XR, too! I tested this out with a Meta Quest 3 headset. (Unfortunately, it doesnt work with previous-generation Quest 2 headsets.)Youll also need a PC running Windows 11. You dont need the absolute latest hardware, but you do need something at least somewhat recent. I used Microsofts latest Surface Laptop. (You can find a complete list of requirements on Microsofts website.)If you have the hardware and if you already have a recent Meta Quest headset lying around youre good to go, and you can set this up very quickly.How to link your Windows PC and Meta Quest headsetHere at the start of 2025, this feature is still a little experimental. That means youll have to go out of your way to activate it. Meta offers detailed instructions, but these quick steps should be all youll need to get going:On your Windows 11 PC, install the Microsofts Mixed Reality Link app from the Microsoft Store.On your Meta Quest headset, open the Settings app, select Advanced, and activate the Pair to PC with Mixed Reality Link setting.Then, while wearing the headset and using passthrough (Mixed Reality) mode, you can just look at a Windows 11 PC, and youll see a floating Pair button you can click to pair your headset with your PC.The first time you pair, youll be asked to press Windows+Y. Your PC will show a QR code, and your headset will scan it and then, the two devices will be linked. From that point forward, you can just look at the PC while wearing the headset and select Pair.The pairing process is fast and quick, and itll only get easier when this feature is no longer experimental.Chris Hoffman, IDGA Windows desktop, floating in front of your faceWhile paired, youll see your PCs desktop pop up as a floating window in passthrough mode (just like other apps in the Meta Quests Horizon OS). You can type on your computers keyboard normally and use its mouse to control Windows and your applications.It works better than you might expect! There isnt much latency despite the wireless connection, its a very responsive interface that feels great to use.You can use theater mode to expand the desktop to take up more of your vision, if you like. That lets you place the desktop somewhere you want it in space, walk away, then walk back to it.Productivity aside, this has the potential for all sorts of engaging entertainment use for mid-work-day breaktimes or moments of travel. If you enjoy the thought of watching a movie on a big virtual screen while wearing a headset, you can definitely do that with this setup. I pulled up YouTube, switched to full-screen mode, and toggled theater mode for the whole experience. It was more than a little impressive to see the entire video filling my field of vision. Similarly, you could play PC games while wearing the headset or, of course, watch official work-related demo videos and presentations. Its a very different experience from using a small laptop display.The only real downside is having to wear a headset the entire time youre watching.You can resize the floating desktop window and reposition it around you in Mixed Reality.Chris Hoffman, IDGHow does Mixed Reality Link work for productivity?So the $1 million question: Does Microsofts Mixed Reality Link and a Meta Quest headset really make you more productive?The biggest benefit is the ability to add extra virtual displays beyond what youd have in the physical world. I used my Surface Laptop, which didnt have any external monitors connected. With a few presses of buttons on the Meta Quests controllers, I was able to add two extra displays that floated off to the sides of my main display, giving myself some extra virtual space for working. Im able to enjoy a spacious three-display setup in the Mixed Reality interface, although I just have the one small physical screen.Ill be honest, though: Ive never fully understood why I would want to do my productivity-oriented work with a headset strapped to my head. That was my big concern about Apples Vision Pro, and its my big challenge here. I do think Metas Quest headset is neat for VR games and workout apps. But were not talking about using VR with a sense of presence here were talking about using a two-dimensional Windows desktop interface floating in space.The ability to have multiple virtual displays and make them as big as you want is the most interesting productivity feature here.Chris Hoffman, IDGThats one of the most significant downsides to this setup that were talking about a two-dimensional desktop. You wont be using an immersive VR application like Google Earth VR over Windows Mixed Reality link. Youll just get access to the same standard two-dimensional applications you use on your Windows desktop. (There are other solutions for using PC VR apps with a Quest headset, but Mixed Reality Link doesnt simplify the process.)Compared to other mixed-reality headset platforms, the fact that youre just dealing with your PCs desktop is also an advantage. Theres no need to set up your productivity workflow on a new device youre just getting access to the desktop interface you already use. So, if you do want this sort of interface for productivity or PC desktop use in general, good news: Its here, and you can get it today for a few hundred bucks!Personally, Ive been writing this entire article with Microsoft Word floating in front of my face while wearing the headset. And, while it worked really well, Im looking forward to removing the headset and giving my face a break.Of course, this is just version one of this experience. In the future, we might eventually see incredibly lightweight and comfortable smart glasses that are easier to wear for extended periods of time. Perhaps thats the future of computing a floating Windows desktop on our smart glasses.Or, perhaps not. But, with Apple and Google making big bets on mixed-reality headset experience, its nice to know that theres a version of that spatial computing experience already available for us Windows PC users, too.Lets stay in touch! Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter today. Youll get three new things to try every Friday and free in-depth Windows Field Guides as a special welcome gift.

MIT Technology Reviews Whats Next series looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here.For every technological gadget that becomes a household name, there are dozens that never catch on. This year marks a full decade since Google confirmed it was stopping production of Google Glass, and for a long time it appeared as though mixed-reality productsthink of the kinds of face computers that dont completely cover your field of view they way a virtual-reality headset doeswould remain the preserve of enthusiasts rather than casual consumers.Fast-forward 10 years, and smart glasses are on the verge of becomingwhisper itcool. Metas smart glasses, made in partnership with Ray-Ban, are basically indistinguishable from the iconic Wayfarers Tom Cruise made famous in Risky Business. Meta also recently showed off its fashion-forward Orion augmented reality glasses prototype, while Snap unveiled its fifth-generation Spectacles, neither of which would look out of place in the trendiest district of a major city. In December, Google showed off its new unnamed Android XR prototype glasses, and rumors that Apple is still working on a long-anticipated glasses project continue to swirl. Elsewhere, Chinese tech giants Huawei, Alibaba, Xiaomi, and Baidu are also vying for a slice of the market.Sleeker designs are certainly making this new generation of glasses more appealing. But more importantly, smart glasses are finally on the verge of becoming useful, and its clear that Big Tech is betting that augmented specs will be the next big consumer device category. Heres what to expect from smart glasses in 2025 and beyond.AI agents could finally make smart glasses truly usefulAlthough mixed-reality devices have been around for decades, they have largely benefited specialized fields, including the medical, construction, and technical remote-assistance industries, where they are likely to continue being used, possibly in more specialized ways. Microsoft is the creator of the best-known of these devices, which layer virtual content over the wearers real-world environment, and marketed its HoloLens 2 smart goggles to corporations. The company recently confirmed it was ending production of that device. Instead, it is choosing to focus on building headsets for the US military in partnership with Oculus founder Palmer Luckeys latest venture, Anduril.Now the general public may finally be getting access to devices they can use. The AI world is abuzz over agents, which augment large language models (LLMs) with the ability to carry out tasks by themselves. The past 12 months have seen huge leaps in AI multimodal LLMs abilities to handle video, images, and audio in addition to text, which opens up new applications for smart glasses that would not have been possible previously, says Louis Rosenberg, an AR researcher who worked on the first functional augmented-reality system at Stanford University in the 1990s.We already know Meta is definitely interested in AI agents. Although the company said in September that it has no plans to sell its Orion prototype glasses to the public, given their expense, Mark Zuckerberg raised expectations for its next generations of Metas smart glasses when he declared Orion the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made. Hes also made it clear how deeply invested Meta is in bringing a highly intelligent and personalized AI assistant to as many users as possible and that hes confident Metas glasses are the perfect form factor for AI.Although Meta is already making its Ray-Ban smart glasses AI more conversationalits new live AI feature responds to prompts about what its wearer is seeing and hearing via its camera and microphonefuture agents will give these systems not only eyes and ears, but a contextual awareness of whats around them, Rosenberg says. For example, agents running on smart glasses could hold unprompted interactive conversations with their wearers based on their environment, reminding them to buy orange juice when they walk past a store, for example, or telling them the name of a coworker who passes them on the sidewalk. We already know Google is deeply interested in this agent-first approach: The unnamed smart glasses it first showed off at Google I/O in May 2024 were powered by its Astra AI agent system.Having worked on mixed reality for over 30 years, its the first time I can see an application that will really drive mass adoption, Rosenberg says.Meta and Google will likely tussle to be the sectors top dogIts unclear how far we are from that level of mass adoption. During a recent Meta earnings call, Zuckerberg said 2025 would be a defining year for understanding the future of AI glasses and whether they explode in popularity or represent a longer grind.He has reason to be optimistic, though: Meta is currently ahead of its competition thanks to the success of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glassesthe company sold more than 1 million units last year. It also is preparing to roll out new styles thanks to a partnership with Oakley, which, like Ray-Ban, is under the EssilorLuxottica umbrella of brands. And while its current second-generation specs cant show its wearer digital data and notifications, a third version complete with a small display is due for release this year, according to the Financial Times. The company is also reportedly working on a lighter, more advanced version of its Orion AR glasses, dubbed Artemis, that could go on sale as early as 2027, Bloomberg reports.Adding display capabilities will put the Ray-Ban Meta glasses on equal footing with Googles unnamed Android XR glasses project, which sports an in-lens display (the company has not yet announced a definite release date). The prototype the company demoed to journalists in September featured a version of its AI chatbot Gemini, and much they way Google built its Android OS to run on smartphones made by third parties, its Android XR software will eventually run on smart glasses made by other companies as well as its own.These two major players are competing to bring face-mounted AI to the masses in a race thats bound to intensify, adds Rosenbergespecially given that both Zuckerberg and Google cofounder Sergey Brin have called smart glasses the perfect hardware for AI. Google and Meta are really the big tech companies that are furthest ahead in the AI space on their own. Theyre very well positioned, he says. This is not just augmenting your world, its augmenting your brain.Its getting easier to make smart glassesbut its still hard to get them rightWhen the AR gaming company Niantics Michael Miller walked around CES, the gigantic consumer electronics exhibition that takes over Las Vegas each January, he says he was struck by the number of smaller companies developing their own glasses and systems to run on them, including Chinese brands DreamSmart, Thunderbird, and Rokid. While its still not a cheap endeavora business would probably need a couple of million dollars in investment to get a prototype off the ground, he saysit demonstrates that the future of the sector wont depend on Big Tech alone.On a hardware and software level, the barrier to entry has become very low, says Miller, the augmented reality hardware lead at Niantic, which has partnered with Meta, Snap, and Magic Leap, among others. But turning it into a viable consumer product is still tough. Meta caught the biggest fish in this world, and so they benefit from the Ray-Ban brand. Its hard to sell glasses when youre an unknown brand.Thats why its likely ambitious smart glasses makers in countries like Japan and China will increasingly partner with eyewear companies known locally for creating desirable frames, generating momentum in their home markets before expanding elsewhere, he suggests.More developers will start building for these devicesThese smaller players will also have an important role in creating new experiences for wearers of smart glasses. A big part of smart glasses usefulness hinges on their ability to send and receive information from a wearers smartphoneand third-party developers interest in building apps that run on them. The more the public can do with their glasses, the more likely they are to buy them.Developers are still waiting for Meta to release a software development kit (SDK) that would let them build new experiences for the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. While bigger brands are understandably wary about giving third parties access to smart glasses discreet cameras, it does limit the opportunities researchers and creatives have to push the envelope, says Paul Tennent, an associate professor in the Mixed Reality Laboratory at the University of Nottingham in the UK. But historically, Google has been a little less afraid of this, he adds.Elsewhere, Snap and smaller brands like Brilliant Labs, whose Frame glasses run multimodal AI models including Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Whisper, and Vuzix, which recently launched its AugmentOS universal operating system for smart glasses, have happily opened up their SDKs, to the delight of developers, says Patrick Chwalek, a student at the MIT Media Lab who worked on smart glasses platform Project Captivate as part of his PhD research. Vuzix is getting pretty popular at various universities and companies because people can start building experiences on top of them, he adds. Most of these are related to navigation and real-time translationI think were going to be seeing a lot of iterations of that over the next few years.

Following the introduction of trade tariffs by the US, China is said to be considering an antitrust investigation into Apple's App Store practices.Tim Cook (left) and Trump (right)The new US trade tariffs ostensibly imposed on China will be paid by US businesses and consumers, not China or any other foreign country. But they mean higher prices for Americans, which will mean a decrease in sales, so China has been announcing retaliatory measures.According to Bloomberg, those measures may now also include China launching an investigation into Apple's App Store fees and practices. This is despite the country having already investigated the App Store and concluding in May 2024 that Apple was not abusing its market position. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

As promised, Capcom has released a benchmark tool for Monster Hunter Wilds on PC, allowing one to test their hardware ahead of launch. Its about 29 GB to download and requires some set-up after installation. PC players will then be able to tweak various settings, enabling different upscaling options, ray tracing and even Frame Generation.Upon running it, the benchmark will initiate a cutscene and shift to real-time gameplay in the Windward Plains. After concluding, it will assign a score based on your hardwares performance, ranging from Excellent (20,000) to Difficulty Playing (5,999). A score of 10,250 to 12,999 is playable, though anything between 7,000 and 10,249 means you should probably change some settings.Capcom also clarifies that the benchmark score will be slightly lower with Frame Generation enabled, even if provides a smoother frame rate. So dont get too hung-up on the score. Also remember that youre not guaranteed the same performance in the full game as the benchmark.Monster Hunter Wilds launches on February 28th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Its next beta starts on February 6th and includes features like Private Lobbies, a Training area in Base Camp, and a quest to take on Arkveld. Head here for more information on the title, or check out the latest trailer (which showcases returning monsters like Gore Magala).

As the second-largest museum in the world, it is also one of the most visited and home toa reported three million objects. W. Bulach via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0With exhibitions spanning nearly 720,000 square feet, Russias State Hermitage Museum is home to one of the largest known art collections. But the museum, which first opened its St. Petersburg doors to the public on February 5, 1852, originated with one woman with a powerful interest in the arts.The museums origins date back to Russian Empress Catherine the Great, a lover of the arts who wrote plays and childrens literature. In 1764, nearly a century before the State Hermitages public opening, she founded the museum with an initial collection of paintings that included Rembrandts Descent From the Cross and Frans Hals Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Glove. These paintings317 in totalprompted the empress to expand the Winter Palace, a building significant in its own right for housing Romanov family leaders, to make room for her growing collection.Catherines collection soon ballooned as the empress amassed 4,000 paintings, 38,000 books, 10,000 engraved gems, 10,000 drawings, and 16,000 coins and medals. She also added to the museums physical footprint. The State Hermitage Museum now consists of six main buildings including the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, Hermitage Theater and the New Hermitage. Construction on the New Hermitage, designed by Leo von Klenze, ended in 1851. The museum officially opened its doors just a few months later. It is now home to a reported three million objects.Though the name hermitage refers to the home of a recluse, the museum is anything but isolated. As the second-largest museum in the world, it is also one of the most visited. Visitors can study Iron Age artifacts from the Caucasus territories, an exact replica of the Gallery in Romes Papal Palace and one of the worlds largest collections of paintings from Flemish artists like Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens.Other noteworthy objects on display include the Kolyvan Vasea 19-ton sculpture of solid jade that took 770 workers to installand James Coxs Peacock Clock, a lavish automaton featuring life-size gilded birds.The Hermitage may be home to thousands of historical artifacts, but it is also home to more modern art and experimental temporary exhibitions. In 2013, for instance, the museum hosted From Guercino to Caravaggio to cater for more refined tastes of both the masses and the gourmets with works from famous Italian artists but also an exploration of a British collector of Italian art, Denis Mahon.Thanks to another Russian empress, the museum has something else to offer: cats. Years after Catherine turned the Winter Palace into the palatial museum it is today, the empress Elizabeth I decreed that cats be brought from Kazan, nearly 1,000 miles southeast of St. Petersburg, to catch mice in its basement. Now, hundreds of years later, at least 50 cats remain under the care of Hermitage staff. The museum employs veterinarians and even a feline-focused press secretary. For some visitors, the elusive cats are far more interesting than the art itself, under the care of Hermitage staff. The museum employs veterinarians and even a feline-focused press secretary. For some visitors, the elusive cats are far more interesting than the art itself.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Art, European History, Fine Arts, Museums, On This Day in History, Russia

Activision raises $1.6m for LA wildfire relief | News-in-briefProceeds from Call of Duty LA Fire Relief Pack will go directly towards the LAFD Foundation and Direct Relief in Southern CaliforniaImage credit: Activision News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Feb. 5, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Activision raises $1.6m for LA wildfire relief