Microsoft's Build conference kicked off overnight with a 150 minute keynote and like Google I/O, it was covered in AI. Copilot Studio, so businesses can create AI agents to handle "IT help desk service tasks, employee on-boarding, and much more". Real-time audio translation of video content in Edge. Advanced Paste added to the PowerToys suite that "can convert your clipboard content on the fly with the power of AI" (this one's actually kinda cool). The Microsoft Copilot X account even posted an example of how you could use it in real-time to assist with tasks in Minecraft. There really is no area Microsoft won't jam AI into. Qualcomm will sell a desktop dev kit featuring the new Snapdragon X Elite SoC and 32GB of RAM for US$899 if you wanna see the fuss about Copilot+ but don't want a laptop/tablet. Meanwhile, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office is "contacting Microsoft for more information" about its Recall feature coming to Windows 11, so it can "understand the safeguards in place to protect user privacy".
Google seems desperate to avoid a jury trial in their monopoly case against the US DoJ, sending a cashier's cheque to the US government that it claims covers "every dollar the United States could conceivably hope to recover". They're hoping that because they already paid any damages they think the US government could ever get out of them, this invalidates the need for a jury trial and the matter can be decided by a judge alone. Dunno how big that cheque is, but it's in the range of US$100m - US$300m according to "legal experts". It's unclear if it'll actually work, but it is clear why Google would want to avoid having to explain to a group of laypeople how it's convoluted advertising system works. Nobody will understand it and they'll just presume they're up to something dodgy due to how confusing it is. The optics of giving a big pile of money to the government hoping it'll make the problem go away, is incredible.
Sonos has headphones now. The "Ace" headphones look like and has very similar features to Sony's WH-1000XM5 or Apple's AirPods Max. Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX, active noise cancellation with ambient/hear-through, can do phone calls, Dolby Atmos/spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, can be used wired either via 3.5mm or USB-C and supports lossless audio over USB-C or Bluetooth. A cool feature is being able to connect the Ace to the Arc soundbar and listen to the TV and get Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio like on the AirPods - but without needing an Apple TV. The Ace headphones go on sale June 5th and will have an RRP of $699. I haven't seen any impartial (i.e: people that weren't hand picked by Sonos PR) opinions of audio quality, so I'll wait for Audio Science Review's take, but I've always liked Sonos gear if you just want something that's practical and sounds good, so I expect the headphones to be no different.
Someone over on Hacker News is showing off "pls fix", a website where you can bribe a Big Tech employee to fix whatever annoying thing is happening to your account that you can't resolve, because none of these megacorps have a functioning support team. The going rate for a Meta employee to restore your Instagram account because you lost your 2FA device - US$200. Amazon suspended your seller account with no recourse? Cough up US$400 and someone at Amazon will push it internally for you. It's literal bribery, but an excellent example of how these businesses have turned into kleptocracies that require kickbacks to get anything done.
Collection of posters from Westpac (National Library of Australia)
📻 Christina - Oblivians
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