gear - CybAI news

26 Jul

California Supreme Court upholds classification of gig workers as independent contractors

stp2y0 CommentsNewscalifornia, doordash, gear, gig workers, Lyft, news, uber

Ride-share companies scored a victory in the California Supreme Court, allowing them to continue classifying gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig-economy companies invested around $200 million in the passage of Proposition 22, which voters approved in 2020. The state’s highest court rejected a legal challenge from a drivers’ group and a labor union, ending their quest to bring full employee benefits to the state’s gig workers.The California Supreme Court ruling affirms the state’s definition of drivers and other gig workers as independent contractors. Proposition 22, which received the support of 59 percent…

25 Jul

Sonos apologized for messing up its app and has offered a roadmap for fixing everything

stp2y0 CommentsNewsapp, gear, news, patrick spence, Sonos, speakers

Sonos seriously stepped in it a couple of months back when it released an overhauled first-party mobile app that shipped with a number of missing features. These included core functions like sleep timers and alarms. Many of the company’s speakers would not appear as a pairing option and it became extremely difficult to precisely adjust the volume level of a paired speaker.Additionally, music search and playback were both negatively impacted by the change, leading to numerous customer complaints.Now, the company has apologized for releasing the half-baked app. CEO Patrick Spence whipped up a blog post to address the “significant problems”…

25 Jul

AI video startup Runway reportedly trained on ‘thousands’ of YouTube videos without permission

stp2y0 CommentsNewsai, gear, generative ai, news, youtube

AI company Runway reportedly scraped “thousands” of YouTube videos and pirated versions of copyrighted movies without permission. 404 Media obtained alleged internal spreadsheets suggesting the AI video-generating startup trained its Gen-3 model using YouTube content from channels like Disney, Netflix, Pixar and popular media outlets.An alleged former Runway employee told the publication the company used the spreadsheet to flag lists of videos it wanted in its database. It would then download them without detection using open-source proxy software to cover its tracks. One sheet lists simple keywords like astronaut, fairy and rainbow, with footnotes indicating whether the company had found…

25 Jul

Google gives free Gemini users access to its faster, lighter 1.5 Flash AI model

stp2y0 CommentsNewsgear, gemini, generative ai, google, news

Google is making its Gemini AI faster and more efficient across the board. You now have access to 1.5 Flash, its generative AI model designed to be able to generate responses more quickly and efficiently, even if you're not paying for Gemini Advanced. The company says you'll notice improvements in latency, as well as the tool's reasoning and image understanding, on both the web and mobile.In addition, it's expanding the AI assistant's context window, so that you can have longer conversations with it and ask it more complex questions. In the near future, Google will also give you the ability…

25 Jul

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is back on sale for only $40

stp2y0 CommentsNewsCommerce, engadgetdeals, gear, news, shopping, streamshopping, thebuyersguide

Pretty much every TV is a smart one these days. But perhaps you're still rocking an older model without built-in streaming functions, you don't have an external device with such capabilities or you simply don't like the interface of your smart TV. As such, a dedicated streaming device might be of interest to you. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a decent option and, best of all, it's currently 33 percent off. That brings the price down to , or only $5 more than the record low it was selling for .The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is…

25 Jul

Apple’s M3 iMac is down to a record-low price

stp2y0 CommentsNewsamazon, apple, Commerce, engadgetdeals, gear, imac, Mac, macbook, news, shopping, streamshopping, thebuyersguide

MacBooks are great, but if you're like me, then having to hunch over one brings back and neck pain. An iMac is a perfect though costly solution, but right now, it's a bit more affordable (emphasis on a bit). Apple's 2023 iMac with an M3 chip is down from $1,299 to $1,149 — a return to its record-low price. The 12 percent discount applies to the Green, Blue and Silver models with an 8-core CPU and 256GB.Apple released its latest iMac in late 2023 and garnered an 86 in our review. The big difference between this model and its 2021…

25 Jul

AMD delays Ryzen 9000 chip release for up to two weeks to address quality issues

stp2y0 CommentsNewsAMD, CPUs, delay, gear, news, processors, Ryzen 9000, Zen 5

Last month, AMD unveiled the Ryzen 9000 series Zen 5 desktop processors including the 16-core 9950 it called "the world’s most powerful desktop consumer processor." Those chips were set to be released on July 31st, but AMD SVP Jack Huynh announced on X that they'll be delayed up to two weeks "out of an abundance of caution."The company found that initial production units didn't meet quality expectations, so it plans to replace them with fresh units. "The Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X processors will now go on sale on August 8th and the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9…

25 Jul

Apple Maps is now available on the web in beta

stp2y0 CommentsNewsapple, apple maps, browser, gear, internet, news, web

Apple Maps is expanding beyond its app. Just like with Google Maps, the service is now available on the web, albeit in beta form at the jump.There are some limitations for now. Availability will vary by region and Maps is only available in English on the web at the outset. As things stand, you can access Apple Maps from Safari and Chrome on Mac and iPad. Windows PC users can access the service via Chrome and Edge. Apple says it will expand the web experience to other languages, devices and browsers over time, but for now at least, iPhone users…

25 Jul

Meta needs updated rules for sexually explicit deepfakes, Oversight Board says

stp2y0 CommentsNewsgear, meta, news, oversight board

Meta’s Oversight Board is urging the company to update its rules around sexually explicit deepfakes. The board made the recommendations as part of its decision in two cases involving AI-generated images of public figures.The cases stem from two user appeals over AI-generated images of public figures, though the board declined to name the individuals. One post, which originated on Instagram, depicted a nude Indian woman. The post was reported to Meta but the report was automatically closed after 48 hours, as was a subsequent user appeal. The company eventually removed the post after attention from the Oversight Board, which nonetheless…

25 Jul

The best Android phones for 2024

stp2y0 CommentsNewsbest tech, Commerce, evergreen, feature, gear, shoppable, smartphones, streamshopping, thebuyersguide

There’s one clear perk that Android has over iOS and that’s variety when it comes to the phones you have to choose from. Apple has made the iPhone is the only game in town for iOS, but with Google’s operating system, there are dozens of choices out there from manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus and others. But that also means it can be difficult to decide which device is best for you when it comes time to upgrade, or if you want to switch from iPhone to Android in the new year. If you’re looking for a new phone and…