Apple is now letting developers try more Apple Intelligence features. The company has released the first developer beta of iOS 18.2, and it adds tools like the ability to generate emoji with Genmoji and images with Image Playground, more AI-powered writing features, integration with ChatGPT, Visual Intelligence to search with your camera on iPhone 16 phones, and more.
Anxious users need to be reassured: ChatGPT doesn't just "turn on" by default and no data is sent to OpenAI just by turning on your iPhone with Apple Intelligence (at least that's what Apple promises). Instead, it is a separate switch in the system settings that must be explicitly activated – along with the extensive information dialog. "If the iPhone works with ChatGPT, it can do more for you," it says.
To begin using ChatGPT in iOS 18.2, you will need to become a member of the Apple developer beta program. Once you have done that, you will need to download and install the update. From there, enabling ChatGPT is simple, just go back to your Settings. Open Settings and go to Siri & Search.
Turn on Apple Intelligence and navigate to the ChatGPT toggle to activate the feature. Once ChatGPT is enabled, it’s accessible through Siri, allowing users to engage in intelligent conversations, get visual insights, generate images, and more without additional apps.
I was curious I should cancel my ChatGPT Plus subscription. Like, was ChatGPT + Siri somehow a better or more powerful version than ChatGPT Plus? The short answer is no; if you’re a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, simply link your OpenAI account in the settings section so you can still access the premium features.
As mentioned, ChatGPT is addressed via Siri – this can be done by voice or "Text to Siri". If you want, you can switch off Siri's requests that something should go in the direction of ChatGPT. If you want to use ChatGPT a lot, you can do this, but you are putting yourself more in the hands of OpenAI. It is even possible to send all requests to ChatGPT by default by simply saying "Ask ChatGPT". The image generator DALL-E 2 is also integrated. This means you can now use Siri to create AI images – Interestingly, even before Apple itself has released its Image Playground including Genmoji and image wall function, as many beta users are currently still on hold. ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 also generate photorealistic images, which Apple does not provide.
In the Writing Tools, ChatGPT now allows you to create completely new texts. Previously, Apple's own tools could only rewrite existing content, "translate" it into other formats and check for errors. Now there is a "Compose" button that uses ChatGPT. In practice, it still takes a little longer for ChatGPT to respond. Apple has apparently not created a "fast lane" to the OpenAI servers as part of the developer beta. Incidentally, Apple is not planning to integrate ChatGPT (even) more deeply into the operating system – New Siri functions such as the use of the user context (e.g. emails, address book, appointments) will be reserved for Apple technology and will also largely run locally on the user's own device when they are released in the coming months.
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Google introduced Application-Bound (App-Bound) encryption in July (Chrome 127) as a new protection mechanism that encrypts cookies using a Windows service that runs with SYSTEM privileges.
The goal was to protect sensitive information from infostealer malware, which runs with the permissions of the logged user, making it impossible for it to decrypt stolen cookies without first gaining SYSTEM privileges and potentially raising alarms in security software.
"Because the App-Bound service is running with system privileges, attackers need to do more than just coax a user into running a malicious app," explained Google in July.
"Now, the malware has to gain system privileges, or inject code into Chrome, something that legitimate software shouldn't be doing."
However, by September, multiple information stealers had found ways to bypass the new security feature and provide their cybercriminal customers the ability to once again steal and decrypt sensitive information from Google Chrome.
Google responded by saying that it was expected, and added that it was happy the changed forced a shift in attacker behavior.
"This matches the new behavior we have seen. We continue to work with OS and AV vendors to try and more reliably detect these new types of attacks, as well as continuing to iterate on hardening defenses to improve protection against infostealers for our users."
Now, security researcher Alexander Hagenah built and shared a tool on GitHub he called ‘Chrome-App-Bound-Encryption-Decryption’ which does the same as these infostealers, BleepingComputer reports.
"This tool decrypts App-Bound encrypted keys stored in Chrome's Local State file, using Chrome's internal COM-based IElevator service," the project page reads. "The tool provides a way to retrieve and decrypt these keys, which Chrome protects via App-Bound Encryption (ABE) to prevent unauthorized access to secure data like cookies (and potentially passwords and payment information in the future)."
Commenting on all of the above, Google essentially said it was satisfied, since crooks now need higher privileges to pull off the attacks:
"This code [xaitax's] requires admin privileges, which shows that we've successfully elevated the amount of access required to successfully pull off this type of attack," Google said.
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Samsung recently launched the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, exclusively in South Korea. And now, the company is gearing up to expand its foldable lineup as the reports that say that Samsung is working on two models by codenames “Q7” and “Q7M”. These recent leaks hint that company is developing two variants of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.
Galaxy Club claims that the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is likely to be released next summer, has been codenamed “Q7”, while the Galaxy Z Flip 7 has been given the working title of “B7”. But there is a codename for one more unknown device: “Q7M”.
Galaxy Club doesn’t have any more details about the mysterious device, but the name suggests that it is a variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung has repeatedly demoed different foldable concepts at tradeshows over the years, recently showing off rollable displays, slide-out screens and laptops that double as giant tablets.
In an interview with TM Roh, Samsung’s head of mobile hinted to CNBC that the company is working on new foldable shapes. "At the time when the hardware completeness and software and content integrity, the ecosystem comes to full maturity, we'll be forced to introduce very satisfying and very almost perfect foldable new form factors in new product categories" Roh said.
Rumors suggest that Samsung has developed a tri-fold smartphone (a device that can be folded twice) to compete with Huawei’s Mate XT. According to ZDNet Korea, the device has been developed and it is ready to be mass-produced, but the company hasn’t made a decision on whether it will be released.
The Q7M codename may represent Samsung’s first tri-fold phone, but the recent release of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 SE seems a more likely explanation. Samsung has released an updated version of the Fold 6 with an improved 200MP camera, a bigger screen, 16GB of RAM and a lighter, slimmer design. This “special edition” phone is only available in China and South Korea.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 SE release in select markets could be a test run for the long-rumored Ultra Fold variant. Galaxy Fold fans have long called for a bigger screen and a camera that competes with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The QM7 could be the device that gives fans what they want, while introducing a new product into Samsung’s line-up without taking a big gamble on a tri-folding phone.
Google's Pixel Watch 5 might get a custom Tensor chip, giving up on Qualcomm as a supplier. This makes sense since Google is also using Tensor chips for its Pixel smartphones, but interestingly the switch will only happen in 2026, so the Pixel Watch 4 will presumably still use a Qualcomm SoC.
That said, the roadmap document that this leak is based on is itself from early 2023, which means a lot could have changed from then and up until now, keep that in mind.
The rumor comes courtesy of Android Authority, which cites leaked documents from Google’s gChips division. According to the leaked plans, the wearable Tensor chip, codenamed NPT, sports a core configuration of an ARM Cortex A78 and two Arm Cortex A55s. These are older CPU cores, but that’s a fairly typical move with wearable processors. Other than that, details are scant and it’s currently unknown which process node technology the planned wearable Tensor chip might have.
Chips aren’t usually as heavy a focus for smartwatches as they are for smartphones. So long as performance is snappy, smartwatch makers tend to focus on ways to prolong battery life without sacrificing smart features. But this is a potentially interesting development given that chip stagnation has historically been a huge obstacle for Android smartwatches.
Both Samsung and Qualcomm use older cores in their smartwatch chips - the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 has Cortex-A53 cores (which launched in 2012), while the Exynos W1000 has one Cortex-A78 and four Cortex-A55, thus being the most similar to Google's intended design. That makes us think this wearable Tensor might just be a tweaked Samsung chip - in the same way as all of the smartphone Tensor chips so far have been.
What isn't known is what process technology this new Tensor chip will use, but it could be 3nm. Another unknown is the modem that will be used.We’ll have to see how things shake out, hopefully this is a sign that it can keep it going.
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When the Mac Mini was first introduced in early 2005, it was pitched as a compact “stripped-down” desktop — and the most affordable Mac in Apple’s lineup. Steve Jobs referred to it as a “BYODKM” system: you’d bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse, and the Mini would provide a dependable computing experience with all the benefits of macOS.
The Mac Mini has carried on ever since. There have been periods where the Mini has been sidelined and ignored by Apple for long stretches of time. But the debut of Apple Silicon gave it a new lease on life. Even if the overall design didn’t change much in the transition from Intel to Apple’s in-house chips, the Mini’s potential soared.
But now, that design is about to change. And if the rumors prove accurate, it’s going to be a radical makeover. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that the M4-powered Mac Mini will shrink in size so significantly that its footprint will resemble that of an Apple TV. The new Mac Mini will be anything but a stripped-down Mac.
Instead, it’ll likely be the most visually impressive example yet of what Apple is capable of in this new era, where the incredible efficiency of its chips allows for all sorts of hardware designs that were technically unfeasible a handful of years ago.
Gurman has said that the 2024 Mac Mini — at least the M4 Pro variant — will include a total of five USB-C ports, with two on the front of the machine.It’ll still have an HDMI port for those of you who’ve integrated Apple’s smallest Mac into your home theater setups. USB-A is said to be a goner, but... it’s time.
Within the Mac family, the Mini still holds an important spot. The iMac is the visual stunner; the MacBook Pro delivers tremendous power on the go; and the Mac Pro and Mac Studio are both geared at professionals and creatives. But the Mini remains the line’s unassuming overperformer at a compelling price for anyone who wants a Mac that “just works.”
No matter its size, the Mini’s BYODKM remains one of its best attributes. Apple might not be planning a 27-inch iMac, but we’re about to have an astonishingly compact desktop that can be paired with any screen you want. And the software outlook is also excellent: the revamped Mini arrives shortly after macOS Sequoia, which added useful features like iPhone mirroring and (long overdue) window tiling.
As of now, the Studio easily wins out in CPU and GPU performance, and it has other bonuses, like an SD card slot and faster ethernet. I’d expect those advantages to remain true whenever the M4 model arrives.
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