This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra is all about the cameras. The tech giant spent a good chunk of its launch event last week flaunting how well its new cameras can capture more colorful photos and cinematic videos. Veteran movie director Ridley Scott even made an appearance in Samsung’s promotional clip.
I’ve only spent a day with the $1,200 ( 1,249, AU$1,949)Galaxy S23 Ultra so far, but some of the camera upgrades are already noticeable. Portraits taken in low light, for example, seem more vibrant and flattering.
Now playing:Watch this:One Day With Samsung’s New Galaxy S23 Ultra
Here’s a look at what has stood out the most in my first 24 hours with Samsung’s new phone.
Galaxy S23 Ultra: Great low-light portraits
Bobby Oliver/CNET
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has four cameras just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but the main sensor has an upgraded resolution of 200 megapixels instead of 108. There’s also a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and two 10-megapixel telephoto lenses, one with 3x optical zoom and the other with 10x.
Behind-the-scenes upgrades to dynamic range should also result in more accuracy when capturing the light and dark areas in video recordings. But it seems like these improvements are noticeable in photography, too.
My biggest takeaway so far is the way the S23 Ultra takes flattering portraits in low light. The photo below of my colleague Claire Reilly was taken in a very dim podcast studio in CNET’s San Francisco office. It was her favorite of the bunch when compared to similar photos I took of her with the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra.
She said the lighting and color in the S23 Ultra’s photo made her face look “radiant” and is comparable to the way she looks in CNET videos that she films on a Sony ZV-1 camera with a professional lighting setup. The Pixel 7 Pro’s photo, by comparison, made her skin tone look muddier. The sequins on her sweater also look more colorful in the S23 Ultra’s photo than in pictures taken with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro. (Note: The Galaxy S23 Ultra photos below aren’t displayed at their full 200-megapixel resolution because of the large file sizes.)
The Galaxy S23 Ultra also excelled under mixed lighting and captured vibrant photos, as shown in the image below taken in CNET’s kitchen. But whether the photo is better than pictures taken on the Pixel 7 Pro or Galaxy S22 Ultra depends on your preference. For example, Claire said the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s bolder colors made the photo look less natural than the Pixel 7 Pro’s, despite the Pixel’s image having harsher contrast and more severe shadow lines in the face.
When it comes to selfies, Samsung says the phone should have better dynamic range and object segmentation. That means the camera should be smarter about separating the subject from the background, as well as distinguishing other fine elements like strands of hair. You can also access manual controls for the front camera in pro mode or take selfies with the Expert Raw app. Raw capture saves full, unretouched versions of images and should offer more flexibility when editing.
So far, I haven’t noticed a huge difference in selfie quality. In fact, I prefer the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s selfie over the S23 Ultra’s in the images below. That said, the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s selfie is much brighter than the Pixel 7 Pro’s photo. I also intentionally took this photo in challenging lighting conditions to see how it handles a mix of dim indoor lighting and natural light.
Keep in mind that these are just a few early camera examples. Our full review will have more photos and videos.
Galaxy S23 Ultra design: Just as big, and just as beautiful
Bobby Oliver/CNET
The Galaxy S23 Ultra looks almost identical to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It has the same boxy shape, which sets it apart from the regular Galaxy S23 and other Android phones. The only major aesthetic difference is its color; the Galaxy S23 lineup is available in cream, green, lavender and black, while its predecessor came in burgundy, green, white and black, in addition to a few Samsung-exclusive colors. I’ve been using the cream version so far, which looks sleek and eye-catching.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 6.8-inch screen that seems just as bright and vibrant as its predecessor’s, although it’s a tad large for my taste. It’s too soon to tell how long the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery will last on a single charge, but my review unit dropped to roughly 90% around lunchtime after starting the day at 100%.
Now playing:Watch this:Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Lineup Is Here With Big Camera Upgrades
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Overall, the Galaxy S23 Ultra seems promising, particularly for photographers and videographers, but I have to put it through more testing to know for sure. I’ll have more details on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera, battery life and performance in our full review.
Google released its own AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT on Monday called Bard.
“Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models,” Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai tweeted Monday. “It draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses.”
Bard will be made available on Monday to selected testers and will be available to the public in the coming weeks..
Google didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
Bard uses a lightweight version of LaMDA, according to a blog post by CEO Sundar Pichai. This model uses less computing power, allowing it to scale to more people and allowing additional feedback. Pichai pressed that feedback will be critical in meeting Google’s “high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information.”
Don’t expect Google rival Microsoft to stand still. CEO Satya Nadella is announcing “progress on a few exciting projects” at a press event at the company’s headquarters on Tuesday, according to an invitation. Microsoft plans to integrate ChatGPT into its technology, and this event could be where details are announced.
AI technology already is all around us, helping in everything from flagging credit card fraud to translating our speech into text messages. The ChatGPT technology has elevated expectations, though, so it’s clear the technology will become more important in our lives one way or another as we rely on digital assistants and online tools.
Google AI subsidiary DeepMind also is involved. Chief Executive Demis Hassabis told Time that his company is considering a 2023 private beta test of an AI chatbot called Sparrow.
Google detailed transformers in 2017, and it’s since become a fixture of some of the biggest AI systems out there. Nvidia’s new H100 processor, the top dog in the world of AI acceleration at least in terms of public speed tests, now includes specific circuitry to accelerate transformers.
The large language model (LLM) revolution in AI that resulted is useful for language-specific systems like ChatGPT, Google’s LaMDA and newer PaLM, and others from companies including AI21 Labs, Adept AI Labs and Cohere. But LLMs are used for other tasks, too, including stacking boxes and processing genetic data to hunt for new drugs. Notably, they’re good at generating text, which is why they can be used for answering questions.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.
Virtual reality does a lot more than just games. It can be an amazing escape, a workout or even both. For the best of everything, gaming and otherwise, you can try the VR headset, the Quest 2
(previously the Oculus Quest 2, now the Meta Quest 2 after Facebook’s name change to Meta). While it doesn’t have as many VR games as other game consoles, new titles keep coming in, even a few years into the Quest 2’s release.
After years of testing games and apps across the Meta app store, there are some that I love more than others, and several that I recommend to friends and family. Some of these games also work with the original Quest, but a growing number of apps are now exclusive to the Quest 2. Note that to access top PC VR games like Star Wars: Squadrons or Half-Life: Alyx, you’ll need to connect to a gaming PC, either wirelessly or with a USB cable.
We’ll continue to update this list as new options become available.
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What The Golf? is one of my family’s absolute favorite indie games. Its spiritual sequel has arrived for VR with What The Bat? and it’s the type of whimsical, random fun I wish VR had more of. It’s about living life with baseball bats for hands, and everything else is best left as a surprise to discover. Expect lots of rapid-fire, clever-weird puzzle challenges — the average quick experience here is much shorter than the typical hole in What The Golf?
Ever dream of being Iron Man? This game will have you hovering around in a jetpack, using your hands to aim and blast through a series of missions that are surprisingly kinetic and fun. Iron Man was originally a game on the PlayStation VR, but the move to Quest 2 is far more fun because there are no wires to worry about getting tangled in.
Moss was one of my very favorite VR games, and has been a classic on Quest for a while. There’s a sequel now, and its graphics look even better on Quest 2 headsets. The gameplay, which involves moving a sword-bearing mouse hero named Quill on a quest to save her world, is mostly the same: Move through massive miniature worlds and solve puzzles. It’s a great sit-down-and-play experience, and fun to share with family.
Devolver’s adorable VR game turns you into a sea monster living near a seaside town. Your hands are tentacles. The sensation of bodily transformation works wonderfully, and you’ll find yourself flip-flopping your sucker-filled arms to grab things and try to help your little cartoony townspeople as you navigate a dollhouse-sized world all around you.
A bunch of wild VR instruments you’ve never seen before, recording tools and the ability to multitask — Virtuoso isn’t just a toy, it’s a music platform in VR. It’s soothing and fun to play for fun on the fly, but digging deeper is surprisingly rewarding, too. Setting up drums, a weird VR xylophone, and a Theremin-like music cube side by side to jam with is really cool.
Instead of sculpting or drawing in 3D like many VR art apps do, Vermillion focuses on the canvas. It feels uncanny to paint with a palette and an easel, even more so if you use the mixed-reality mode to make the painting feel like it’s sitting in your home. Bringing up video tutorials while you paint feels like a preview of our AR-overlaid future and can feel surprisingly calming.
I had no idea how a VR jigsaw puzzle would feel or whether I’d care to play one. While I don’t love this game’s limited number of puzzles or its strange interface, its 3D environments that you can piece together (with up to hundreds of pieces per puzzle) are weirdly hypnotic. More, please!
Playing the classic Resident Evil 4 in VR feels like a whole new game. The ability to use your hands, holster weapons and actually walk into creepy settings is transformative. Other than 2D cut-scenes, this feels like a native VR game. Resident Evil 4 is a Quest 2 exclusive, so original Quest owners can’t play it. But this is an excellent game to show off how good stand-alone VR has become.
VR is a great format for escape room experiences. I Expect You To Die is a game you can play seated, leaning over desks and flipping switches, using telekinetic powers to control items from afar. The puzzle designs can be as challenging as any escape room I’ve ever been in. Try the original game and this one for double the challenge.
My overall favorite VR game just might be mini-golf. Walkabout’s multiple golf courses are brilliantly designed, with extra-hard challenge modes and hidden golf balls to collect. The game’s golf physics are perfect. The multiplayer modes are great for having friends join in online. A number of increasingly-good courses keep arriving as DLC, from one based on Jim Henson’s Labyrinth to a series of Jules Verne courses. Every time a new course comes out, I get excited. Seriously, you have no idea how good VR mini-golf is.
Demeo is a miraculous four-player online RPG that captures the feel of collaborative play, but in VR. The 3D map, the characters and your hovering hands, holding cards that can be played in-game, feel like a session of D&D that’s animated into reality. A recent update adds more free content; games are randomized a bit each time to keep the excitement going indefinitely.
Sometimes, I really miss Wii Sports. Or real bowling alleys. ForeVR Bowl is the best simulation of both, with online play and solo challenges, and a mix of realistic and weird environments. The ball physics is more realistic than Wii Sports could have ever dreamed of, but it’s also forgiving enough to have fun. Just leave some arm room in your home play area… you need a bit more free space than you think.
You have no idea how surprisingly intense VR rock climbing can be until you’ve tried The Climb 2. This sequel to a classic VR game (also on Quest) uses your hands to reach up and grab ledges, grab ropes and zipline. It sounds easy, and yet discovering ledges, holding the right grip and keeping focus can be a real challenge. It’s also absolutely beautiful.
This isn’t Overcooked, but Cook-Out is a charming and really immersive cooking game where you race to put sandwiches together using a grill and tools right in front of you. Other players can join in, up to four players at once. At full speed it feels like a theme park attraction created in VR just for you.
Cyan Worlds’ new version of Myst is the same game you’ve probably played a million times, but the environments here are really beautiful to move through. Consider this a puzzle game that doubles as meditative escape. Read our Myst VR hands-on.
I missed my chance to go to Disney and see Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but ILMxLab’s Batuu-themed game is the next best thing. It’s not exactly a tour of Black Spire Outpost, but the incredible character acting, world design and intense blaster battles are an impressive feat. It’s over too soon, but this Quest game still costs less than most Disney souvenirs. The $10 expansion pack is worth getting to complete the storyline. (Also check out Vader Immortal, ILMxLab’s previous lightsaber-wielding adventure involving Darth Vader.)
The multiplayer battle royale experience of Population One is very Fortnite-like. In fact, it’s extremely Fortnite-like. That’s a good thing. There are few large-scale multiplayer VR games right now, and this is one of the best. Dropping down from above, navigating the shrinking map, climbing and hunting for supplies, and excellent controls make this a must-play team shooter. Plus, there are constant season updates.
It’s expensive, and the file size can get up to 8GB on the Quest 2, but this is console-quality VR shrunken down into a portable headset. Saints & Sinners was already an acclaimed PC VR game, and the transition to the Quest keeps its polish and RPG-like feel. It’s freaky, but it’s also deep. There’s a lot more going on than simple shooting.
A lot of Quest games are expensive, but a surprising number are free. Rec Room is a social hub that’s also a doorway to tons of social games, with a seemingly limitless set of possibilities. Sometimes it feels a bit like Wii Sports or VR Roblox. There are mini-adventures, paintball games and more. I just want there to be improved parental-control features (there seem to be a lot of parents letting kids into Rec Room lately).
This is the Quest’s killer app, and if you want to get moving, love lightsabers, or just want a fun dance challenge, this is it. There are plenty of tracks to keep you busy, the lightsaber tracking is fantastic, and there are extra music packs to buy if you feel compelled. I’m still exhausting myself trying to beat my nephew’s high scores.
Bullet time, grab the gun, wait — the faster you move, the faster everything else moves. Get it now? Superhot was one of the first games that hit the Quest, and it’s still amazing. Runner-up pick: Pistol Whip. (Sorry, I still like Superhot more.)
Seriously, ping-pong in VR is so good. The table physics, the size of the play area, the way VR matches what you need perfectly — who knows? You can play online with real people, and the gameplay is shockingly unforgiving.
If you’re up for a creepy dive into mysterious puzzle boxes, this unique VR game from the makers of the hit game series called The Room is a fantastic and spooky mental challenge (it’s not great for kids, though). There are lots of other escape room games on Quest, including the excellent I Expect You To Die 2 (listed above), and a ticketed live multiplayer escape-room experience from Adventure Labs, too.
I can’t explain The Under, really. Nightmare cabaret? Apocalyptic playground? There’s stuff to explore, and secrets to find, and real actors who perform in it from time to time. There’s a ticketed performance of an immersive theater version of The Tempest. There’s a variety show. You’ll find other people who can’t speak, and neither can you. But somehow, it all ends up feeling magical and strange.
The synesthetic Tetris Effect was one of the best games of 2018, and the Quest version is mostly as good. It’s intense, the music is amazing, and even though the levels are frantic, it’s also weirdly zen. This is a perfect way to unwind.
Oculus’ zero-gravity ultimate frisbee game is a relentless three-on-three VR experience that gave me vibes of Rocket League, but in VR. The controls, which rely on your hands to catapult around, are brilliant. The open beta is free until Nov. 30, and it’s great. But expect to lose.
With other people in your home, VR can be a solitary disconnect. Keep Talking involves others by having people not in VR handle a bomb-defusing manual while the person in VR tries to communicate and stop the bomb in time. It feels like a weird board game, which is something most VR games never succeed at.
An endless and randomly generated set of castle enemies meet you every time you play, and this roguelike game uses a bow and arrow as your only method of navigation and attack. The mechanics feel great, and being surrounded by enemies you’re firing arrows at can be incredibly intense.
Talk about a game that never seems to get old. While Space Pirate Trainer has been around since the launch days of the HTC Vive, the simple arcade design is perfect. You stand still, shoot at aliens and shield yourself. Survive as long as you can. It’s perfect.
Want to revisit ’90s games, including the experience of sitting on the floor with a controller playing games on a TV? You can do that already with a little retro 16-bit console, but Pixel Ripped pulls it off uncannily in VR. You’re a kid in a house, playing games that don’t exist. Then you enter the pixel world, and it gets stranger. The original ’80s-set Pixel Ripped 1989 is now inside as add-on DLC, too.
VR can turn your sense of reality inside out, and A Fisherman’s Tale is the best type of out-of-body experience. A room with puzzles to solve also has a dollhouse, which is a perfect model of the room you’re in. You can reach into your own space and as you do, a larger hand from above enters your room. It’s like living in your own weird puzzle dollhouse universe, and it’s fantastic.
Red Matter was one of the best-looking Oculus Quest games, and an update for the Quest 2 pushes the graphics even further. The puzzle-solving, atmospheric, brooding adventure is set in an alternate-timeline Cold War in space. Your tool-filled space suit glides around and grapples with the brilliantly evoked world, which often has Half-Life vibes. There’s also a sequel now, Red Matter 2, which is also worth getting.
There are lots of ways the Quest can be a surprisingly good fitness device, provided you’re OK with sweating with a headset on (buy silicone face covers for the Quest 2, or replacement foam inserts). Beat Saber is still a classic, but Supernatural is the best subscription-based Peloton-type experience, and it uses the Apple Watch to track heart rate. Meta’s connecting its fitness tracking in VR to Apple Health now, too.
Is the Quest appropriate for kids?
I still wouldn’t recommend a Quest 2 for kids unless you’re occasionally sharing games with them in a place where you can watch them play and make sure they’re playing safely, but Meta is starting to address parental controls in VR. The Quest still doesn’t officially allow you to create an account for kids under 13, though, and any game or experience with voice chat should be avoided, orif possible, disable voice chat if the game involves play with strangers.
Is a Quest 3 coming soon?
Yes, it’s been confirmed that the Quest 3 is coming this year, probably in the fall. The price is expected to be the same as the Quest 2. New features could include better color passthrough cameras, a more compact design, and better graphics. The Quest 2 is still great, but you might also want to wait a year and see what happens.
Have you ever found yourself trawling through endless pages of results on a search engine to find the answer to a complex question? Say you want to find out if a vegetarian diet is suitable for your dog. Your research journey might begin by hopping onto Google and typing “is a veg diet good for dogs” into the search box and then having to make sense of the legion of generated links. By the time you find an answer, you’ve sunk way more time than you’d budgeted into poring through articles, reports and their sources.
In the not-so-distant future, finding the answer to a complex question might not be such a tedious process. Microsoft is reportedly integrating a more advanced version (GPT-4) of the AI tech that underlies the headline-grabbing ChatGPT into its Bing search engine in a move that could transform search as we know it. More specifically, Bing might have the potential to serve up a search experience that’s superior to Google, according to AI researchers, and potentially usurp the search giant’s decades-long dominance.
“ChatGPT is the first new technology in more than a decade that may really transform search and that could, at least in principle, upend Google’s market dominance,” said Anton Korinek, an AI researcher and professor of economics, at the University of Virginia. “What the technology does is that it allows consumers to interact with their computer in a much more natural and conversational form than traditional search.”
At this point, we don’t know what Bing’s AI-driven search results might look like exactly (although some people have seen the new version of Bing appear briefly before vanishing). Microsoft declined to comment for this story. However, AI researchers expect a meaningful departure from the status quo in terms of how a search engine presents an answer and how users interact with it. After all, ChatGPT is not designed to browse the internet for information (like a search engine). Instead, the chatbot uses information studied from vast swaths of training data to generate a response.
“ChatGPT can answer its users with a single clear response compared to the myriads of links of traditional search engines. It also has capabilities that are far beyond traditional search engines, like [the ability] to generate new text, explain concepts, have a back-and-forth conversation between the user and the system, and so on,” said Korinek. “People still find emergent capabilities that even the creators of ChatGPT were not aware that the system had.”
Microsoft announced plans in January to invest more resources into OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to the tune of $10 billion. The deal would help keep both companies at the cutting edge of what’s known as generative AI, a tech used in ChatGPT that can learn from copious amounts of data to create virtually any content format (text, images, music and so on) simply from a text prompt.
Search is just one in a suite of consumer-facing products in Microsoft’s stable that could potentially change meaningfully for customers in the coming years. According to a report by The Information, the Seattle-based tech giant also has plans to integrate ChatGPT’s AI tech into long-established products like Word, PowerPoint and Outlook in an endeavor that could change how more than a billion people work and accomplish daily tasks. For instance, integrating it into Outlook could mean simply prompting the email application to write a message about a specific topic.
“Microsoft will deploy OpenAI’s models across our consumer and enterprise products and introduce new categories of digital experiences built on OpenAI’s technology,” the company said in a press release announcing the expanded partnership.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, in July 2019.
Scott Eklund
Conversational search
For its part, Google and its cutting-edge subunit DeepMind have been working on similar systems for years. In fact, Google pioneered the AI technology known as a transformer that’s used in ChatGPT, GPT-3 and GPT-2. The search giant chose not to release them to the public, though, in part over concerns about unethical behavior and how chat systems sometimes break social norms.
However, in the wake of ChatGPT’s viral success, Google says it’s gearing up to release its challenger to ChatGPT imminently.
“In the coming weeks and months, we’ll make these language models available, starting with LaMDA, so that people can engage directly with them,” CEO Sundar Pichai said on a call detailing Alphabet’s fourth-quarter financial results in early February.
Google will focus on responsible AI, Pichai said, an important point given the problems with bias and wrong answers the technology can produce, among others. For instance, in 2016 Microsoft created a chatbot called Tay that it was forced to take offline after it spewed out hate speech. Even ChatGPT, which has rules to create positive and friendly content, can be manipulated into producing upsetting responses using the right prompts.
Google has also recently invested $300 million dollars into ChatGPT rival Anthropic, according to a Financial Times report.
“A competing system that is currently conducting beta tests is Anthropic’s Claude, which (or perhaps I should say who) has a very different personality from ChatGPT and is really a pleasure to interact with —it is so refined, cultured and polite,” said Korinek.
It’s no secret that Google search has become more conversational in general over the years. The company has made progress in this area with the Google assistant and with knowledge panels in search, and for years has pitched conversation as the future of search, demoing its AI systems LaMDA and MUM at its 2021 I/O developer conference.
Leveraging OpenAI’s artificial intelligence seems to be how Microsoft is attempting to edge out Google at its own game. In the wake of ChatGPT’s release, Google management issued a “code red,” according to The New York Times. The report said internal teams had been reassigned to kickstart work on AI between now and an expected company conference in May.
Still, Google’s search engine today remains the undisputed market leader as it has for decades, commanding 84% of global search market share, compared to Bing’s 9% (although it has grown in recent years) in 2022, according to Statista.
Chatbots got a lot more complex with OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool.
Carol Yepes / Getty Images
How smart is ChatGPT?
As you’ve probably heard by now, ChatGPT is a sophisticated chatbot that went viral globally after its consumer release in late November as a free online tool accessible to anyone with an internet connection. The AI-powered chatbot made headlines thanks in part to its ability to churn out delightful poetry, generate meal plans and provide authoritative answers to complex questions within seconds after being prompted. The tech underlying it isn’t exactly brand new, but no chatbot had yet managed to capture mainstream fascination in the way that ChatGPT did. That’s largely because OpenAI built a snazzy user experience around the GPT-3.5 language model, and that’s the phenomenon we know as ChatGPT.
GPT-3.5 is an improved version of GPT-3, which debuted in 2020 and which learned from vast tracts of data and code to help it achieve its abilities. According to researchers at Stanford University, GPT-3 was trained on 570 gigabytes of text and has 175 billion parameters. (Google’s Dale Markowitz, meanwhile, put it at 45 terabytes of text data, “including almost all of the public web.”) For comparison, its predecessor, GPT-2, was over 100 times smaller, at 1.5 billion parameters.
“This increase in scale drastically changes the behavior of the model — GPT-3 is able to perform tasks it was not explicitly trained on, like translating sentences from English to French, with few to no training examples. This behavior was mostly absent in GPT-2,” researchers from Stanford‘s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence wrote in a 2021 post.
“The current version of ChatGPT probably already knows more about the world than any individual human, and it can present that knowledge in digestible form,” said Korinek.
For all the promise ChatGPT holds, there are nearly as many limitations. Critics of ChatGPT say it’s not always clear where the chatbot is pulling information from, which can make it difficult for people to trust the results. Skeptics also point out that ChatGPT will always remain undermined by the imperfect nature of the data it was trained on, including biased information or misinformation.
OpenAI has acknowledged the chatbot’s weaknesses in its current form. CEO Sam Altman said in a December post on Twitter that the product struggles with “robustness and truthfulness” and that it would be “a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now.”
But don’t look for the AI bandwagon to slow down.
“There will be a number of new systems like ChatGPT that will enter the market in 2023, and the main implication of the resulting competition is that consumers will have more choice and, hopefully, better products for consumers,” added Korinek.
GPT-4, which is under development, is reported to have 100 trillion parameters. But a release is not expected to take place until OpenAI is “confident we can [release] it safely and responsibly,” Altman said in an interview with StrictlyVC in early January.
Altman also attempted to manage expectations of that fourth iteration of GPT, the sophisticated language model that underpins ChatGPT, saying “we don’t have AGI.” AGI stands for artificial general intelligence, or a technology with its own emergent intelligence as opposed to relying on the deep learning models currently used by OpenAI. It’s the kind of intelligence that has been dramatized in science fiction stories for more than a century and was popularized in recent years by the award-winning dystopian show Westworld.
“I think [AGI] is sort of what is expected of us,” Altman said in the same interview, adding that GPT-4 is “going to disappoint” people who hold out that hope.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.
Apple makes some of the best tablets on the market, but they don’t come cheap. While budget tablets from Amazon and others might plug the gap for some folks, the user experience is often lacking when it comes to performance, app availability or build quality. Right now at Best Buy, you have the opportunity to score a recent iPad model for just $250. Over there, the ninth-gen iPad is $79 off its retail price and down to a new record low.
If you’ve been eyeing a new tablet to help you stay productive on the go (or entertained on a comfortable couch), now’s the time to pull the trigger on what is one of the best iPad deals available right now. Apple’s 10.2-inch tablet may not be the latest model anymore — having been superseded by the 10th-gen iPad, which ditched the home button — or the most capable when it comes to raw power, but it has plenty of great features. It’s equipped with the still-capable A13 Bionic chip, an 8-megapixel wide-angle rear camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide front camera with Center Stage technology and more. The Retina display has been upgraded from previous models and now has True Tone technology, which adjusts the screen for comfortable viewing in any light.
It also features a Lightning connector and gets up to 10 hours of battery life per charge. Plus, this 2021 iPad supports the first-gen Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, which are sold separately, but can help you create and work more easily, so they may be worth the investment.
Playing Hogwarts Legacy is a reminder that few fictional worlds are as bewitching as Harry Potter’s. In 1998, my Mum handed me a copy of Philosopher’s Stone — Sorcerer’s Stone in the US — and that first chapter sucked me right in its magical universe. I was hooked for life.
Or so I thought. After the core book series wrapped up and there were no more movie adaptations coming, my emotional connection diminished. The overstuffed spinoffs, along with the controversy surrounding author J.K. Rowling, sucked the remaining fun out of the franchise, and I guessed it was time to move on.
All that baggage fell away as soon as I started Hogwarts Legacy, which hits PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on Friday. (It’ll come to other consoles in the coming months.) This open-world action RPG game, developed by Avalanche Software, is designed to let us live out our fantasy of enrolling at the iconic School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a new student.
Having played the PS5 version for 10 hours, it captures the wonder of the early books, with an intriguing original narrative, engagingly varied gameplay and intricately designed world to explore.
Back to basics
The game sidesteps the narrative restrictions of Harry’s story by jumping way back in the timeline, to the 1890s. After creating your character, you’re whisked off on a brief opening adventure before reaching the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Even though you’re a new student, you’re starting your magical career a little late and enroll as a fifth year. That’s presumably because having a wide-eyed first year, just 11 years old, explore dangerous caves, learn dangerous spells and battle dark wizards would feel kinda weird.
The customization options are a key element in living out your wizarding world fantasy, and they’re a joy. You can choose your character’s gender and appearance. Then you’ll pick and alter your wand (don’t worry, the one you start the game with is a loaner) and broom.
You also get sorted into Hogwarts house (Slytherin FTW) based on a series of questions you’ll answer shortly after arriving at the school, but you can have a do-over if the initial selection isn’t to your liking.
Choosing your wand is an awesome moment, and you can customize it throughout the game.
Warner Bros Games
The house you end up in doesn’t seem to change much beyond the common room, your uniform and some throwaway lines. Though teachers mention house points in some classes, you won’t actually be competing for them in the game.
Your education is occasionally interrupted by the main story, which focuses on your connection to mysterious ancient magic and a sinister dark wizard in league with the intense leader of a goblin rebellion — these baddies sport the excellent names of Victor Rookwood and Ranrok, respectively. It’s an intriguing narrative that expands this universe’s lore nicely, especially when it hints at events further back in the timeline.
Living in a wizarding world
The development team’s love for Harry Potter is apparent in every aspect of Hogwarts Legacy, but shines most brightly in the world and its characters. Every teacher, student and location feels distinct and real, with a peppering of familiar names like Weasley and Black to make fans feel comfortable.
Each character is richly written, cleverly voiced — Simon Pegg plays the unpleasant headmaster — and visually diverse, so talking to them and learning about their backgrounds is fascinating. (It’s frustrating that you can’t pause during cutscenes though.) This characterisation is woven through the main story and its side quests, which range from investigating one of the castle’s mysteries and sneakily grabbing potion ingredients to wandering into a dangerous cave.
Hogwarts is full of characters to meet and secrets to discover.
Warner Bros Games
These are varied and fun in terms of gameplay, exploration and puzzle-solving, but feel even more worthwhile since they present opportunities to learn more about the quest-givers and world. And teenage tomfoolery. like sneaking into the library in the dead of night with the help of an invisibility charm, just feels like vintage Harry Potter.
Your customized avatar’s voice acting is solid, but occasionally a bit flat — like you’re overly polite or reserved. That’s preferable to listening to a realistic teenager, though. The character models are convincing enough, but the eyes sometimes move unnaturally and feel unnerving.
The world is sumptuously designed too, particularly in the beautifully gothic Hogwarts, with its moving paintings, chatty gargoyles and fascinating student banter. Every inch is begging to be explored, with heaps of collectibles and Easter eggs to discover — you hear a satisfying hint of the John Williams theme when you pick up certain items. The nearby village of Hogsmeade isn’t quite as big, but it’s still densely packed with fun diversions.
There’s lots to explore outside the school as well, but it isn’t as densely packed.
Warner Bros Games
The colorful rolling hills, plains and hamlets that make up the rest of the world can feel a little bland by comparison, despite their Elder Scrolls vibes.
The game’s technical limitations are occasionally evident as you dash around the environment too; sometimes assets will load at the edge of your screen and doors will appear to be stuck as the area beyond loads. It never felt game-breaking, but might briefly shake your sense of immersion.
Tricks of the magical trade
The multifaceted nature of your wizarding unfolds gradually through Hogwarts Legacy’s early hours. Your character starts out with the most basic dueling skills and spells, but the way you flick out spells with your wand gives combat a unique, kinetic flow.
You block incoming attacks with a magical shield and dodge bigger ones. The combat is similar to that seen in the Batman: Arkham and Spider-Man games, but with a sorcery aesthetic. It’s immediately gratifying, to the point where you’ll be hankering for magical battles.
Potions class opens up plenty of fun options, and has one of the coolest teachers.
Warner Bros
Once you get to Hogwarts, you’ll learn new spells and skills in classes like Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Herbology. Crucially, the flow of quests gives you time to get comfortable with each new ability before introducing another — you’ll attend a class and then use what you’ve learnt in a few story missions or side quests.
The game encourages you to use every tool in your arsenal, instead getting comfortable with a few basic combos and relying on them to get through every battle. You’ll be playing for a few hours before the skill trees are unlocked, but you’ll likely have a sense of your preferred combat style by then. Pretty much everything you do gives you experience points too, so you’ll level up at a steady clip.
You’ll have plenty of options for attack and defense when you take on dark wizards.
Warner Bros Games
There’s also a constant flow of new gear that’ll enhance your attack and defense, in addition to changing your character’s look. You can also apply the appearance of any previous clothing to new ones, so you aren’t stuck looking ridiculous just because a certain item has higher stats.
Annoyingly, inventory limits add needless friction to exploration — you can find new gear but be unable to pick it up. It’s irritating to have to fast travel to Hogsmeade to sell off excess items while wandering around the castle. You can increase your inventory with certain side quests, at least.
A joyous school reunion
Thankfully, Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t lean too hard into its school setting — you won’t have to adhere to a rigid schedule. Instead, you attend class to advance the narrative and add new gameplay elements rather than going because you have to.
The world opens up in a big way once you finish your first flying lesson and get your own broom. There’s a bit of a learning curve to soaring above it all, but it’s exhilarating and highlights the scope of the playing area.
Hogwarts Legacy evokes the same magic as the first book’s opening chapter, letting you explore a beautifully realized world, meet a fascinating cast of characters and embark on your own wizarding career. It’s the Harry Potter game fans have been dreaming of for decades.
Harry Potter NYC in photos: A slice of Hogwarts tucked away in Manhattan
This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2023, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Apple’s most popular product.
Apple released iOS 16 less than a week after its September “Far Out” event, when the company announced the next line of iPhones, Apple Watches — including the Apple Watch Ultra — and the AirPods Pro. We put together this cheat sheet to help you learn about iOS 16 and how to use the new features it brings to your iPhone.
Unveiled last fall, the Apple Watch Series 8 is the latest smartwatch from the Cupertino company and, despite being under six months old, we’ve already seen some stellar Apple Watch Series 8 deals — but none compare to the price cuts on offer right now at Best Buy. Over there, you can save $70 across a whole range of Series 8 configurations, offering new all-time low prices on many different models. Prices start at $329 for the entry-level device, though the discount also applies to cellular-enabled devices and stainless steel variants. Select discounts are being matched at Amazon.
Though it’s not a complete revolution over the previous-gen model, the new Apple Watch Series 8 sports some upgrades over the Series 7 like a temperature sensor and ovulation tracking and is definitely a great smartwatch, particularly if you are getting a smartwatch for the first time or are leveling up from one a few generations old.
It can track your workouts and sleep, has safety features like fall detection and allows you to get calls, notifications and reminders right on your wrist. Plus, you can use Apple Pay at the checkout line. And while it may not have all the ruggedness of the Apple Watch Ultra, the Series 8 is crack-resistant, IP6X-rated dust-resistant and swimproof with WR50 water-resistance.
Monitor fitness goals without breaking the bank.
We’ll help you find the best deal on your next smartwatch or fitness tracker.
Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most anticipated games of 2023, and it’s extremely close to launch. The open-world RPG is set in the Harry Potter universe, and it seems like the game many fans of the books have been hoping for.
The new game from developer Avalanche Software lets playersexperience the famed school of witchcraft and wizardry as a student in the 1800s, before the events of the Harry Potter books. Here are some basic things to know about Hogwarts Legacy, including when you can snag a copy depending on your platform.
What’s the story?
Hogwarts Legacy players will “embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world,” according to the game’s website. You’ll explore Hogwarts Castle, where you’ll be able to attend classes. You’ll also go beyond it to new and familiar locations, per the site.
You’ll be able to customize your character, choose a Hogwarts house and grow your magical abilities by brewing potions, mastering spells and taming beasts. Hogwarts Legacy sticks to the lore but doesn’t adapt the Harry Potter books and films.
What systems can I play Hogwarts Legacy on?
PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC versions of the game launch on Feb. 10. Those looking to play the PS4 and Xbox One versions will, unfortunately, need to wait until April 4.
Nintendo Switch users will have to hang on even longer, until July 25, to play Hogwarts Legacy.
The game was first announced in 2020, and its release dates have changed three times. It’s published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label.
Is there early access?
If you really can’t wait to get your hands on the game, the Deluxe Edition for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC includes 72 hours of early access.
Those buying the Digital Deluxe Edition for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S will be able to start playing on Feb. 7 at midnight in their region. Those buying the Digital Deluxe Edition for PC will be able to start playing on Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
Buying the physical Deluxe Edition for PS5, Xbox Series X|S or PC? Early access still applies. The Hogwarts Legacy Twitter account says, “Please contact your chosen retailer for when physical editions will be available for pickup or delivered.”
The PS4 and Xbox One versions won’t have an early access period.
How do I preorder Hogwarts Legacy?
If you want to buy the Standard Edition, you can preorder the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions from stores including GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy for $70 (about 57, AU$99). Same goes for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions, but it costs $10 less to preorder. The PC version is available to preorder for $60 (roughly 49, $AU85) at Steam and the Epic Games store.
You can view more ways to purchase Hogwarts Legacy (including how to buy the Deluxe Edition) on the game’s website. The Collector’s Edition has already sold out, but you may be able to find it online for a markup. The official site breaks down what comes with each edition.
J.K. Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy
The game’s connection to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has led her critics to call for a boycott, according to The Week. Over the past few years, Rowling has repeatedly made comments that mocked transgender individuals and infuriated trans advocates.
The Hogwarts Legacy website notes that Rowling isn’t involved in the creation of Hogwarts Legacy. But her writing is the foundation for the project.
Steam is a popular gaming platform that has about 120 million active monthly users, according to Finances Online. Steam lets you play PC games alone or with friends, and it’s compatible with third-party controllers. Plus, there are always sales on games, so you never run out of something fun to play.
If you know where to look, the service has more to offer than a massive selection of games and bundle deals. Here are a few tips and tricks every Steam user should know to get the most out of the platform.
Share your library with friends
If you have a massive gaming library through Steam, it’s possible to share with friends and family. You can select up to five users who can access and use your library across 10 devices that you’ve authorized.
Open the Steam app and click Steam in the top left corner of the screen. Select Settings (Windows) or Preferences (Mac) and choose Family in the side menu. Click the box that says Authorize Library Sharing on this computer.
You can also revoke access by clicking your username in the upper right corner of the Steam app and choosing Account Details in the drop-down menu. From there, scroll down to Family Settings and click Manage Family Library Sharing. Under Sharing Status, click Revoke on any devices or accounts you no longer wish to have access.
Turn on Steam Guard and two-factor authentication
Steam Guard can add an extra layer of security to your account.
Steam/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Steam Guard can serve as a useful tool to provide an additional level of security against unauthorized access. To set it up on the desktop app or browser, click your username in the top right corner. Click Account Details in the drop-down menu and choose Manage Steam Guard under Account Security.
When Steam Guard is enabled, you can have codes sent to your phone or email, as well as deauthorize other computers or devices other than the one you’re currently using that might have saved your login information. Steam recommends sending Guard Codes to your phone to also serve as two-factor authentication.
Set up Family View
Family View can serve as a useful tool for adults who share an account with younger users. The feature lets families customize which parts of Steam are accessible to other users. To get started, log into the Steam account that your child will use, click the Steam menu in the top left corner and choose Settings (Preferences on Mac). Choose the Family tab and click Manage Family View.
Choose what the protected account can access in Family View like Only Games I Choose or All Games, as well as online content and social features. Once you’re satisfied with your choices, click Next.
If you selected Only Games I Choose, Steam will generate a list of all your games and you can individually click which games you want PIN-protected.
Click Next, verify your recovery email address and click Next again.
Create, enter and re-enter your PIN and click Next. Steam will send a verification code to your recovery email, enter that code when prompted and click Next to finalize the process.
To turn off Family View, return to Manage Family View and click Disable Family View.
How to use Remote Play Together
If you set up Remote Play Together, this is what it’ll look like.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Steam’s Remote Play feature lets you play local multiplayer games with friends and family. One player owns and runs the game, and up to four players can join in. To find a list of compatible Remote Play games, open the Steam app, click Categories and choose Remote Play under Special Sections.
To start a session, launch your game, make sure your friends are logged in to Steam from their devices and open Steam Overlay in-game. Find your friends list and right-click the names of the people you want to play with, then click Remote Play Together. You can start playing after all your invitees have accepted.
How to make a Library Collection
Steam collections can help organize your library.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Steam keeps your games in alphabetical order on the left-hand side of the screen, but if you’ve got a massive library or want even more organization, you can create a Collection. In the Steam app, click Library and choose Collections. Name your collection and choose Create Collection. From there, just drag and drop any games you want to include. The collection will save automatically. Those games will be organized under the name of your collection in the left-hand side menu instead of the larger alphabetical list.
You can also choose Dynamic Collection by following the same steps. Dynamic Collections use filters to create collections that continuously update as you add more games to our library.
Add and play non-Steam games
You can play games that aren’t native to Steam on the platform pretty easily. To add a non-Steam game to your library, open the Steam app and click Add Game in the lower left corner of the screen. From there, click Add a Non-Steam Game.
Since I added Myst as a non-Steam game, there’s no information on its main page.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Steam will open a window that lists all the games found on your device. Check the box next to the game you want to add and click Add Selected Programs. If you don’t see the game you want, click Browse and Steam will expand your search results. Find the program you want and click Open. Make sure the program or game is checked in the Add a Game window and click Add Selected Programs.
You should then be able to see the game or program you added in your alphabetical library list on the left side of the screen. When you click the game, the page will likely have little to no information since it’s not native to steam.
Customize bandwidth
You can adjust the bandwidth to make Steam work faster or slower.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Because Steam uses the internet to download games, getting your gameplay going can take little to no time. But if your internet connection is slow, Steam downloading a game likely won’t leave any download speed for anything else. So, if you want to multitask during a download, you can limit Steam’s download speed.
Click Steam in the top left corner of the app and choose Settings (Preferences on Mac). Click Downloads and then check the box next to Limit Bandwidth To. From there, you can type in your preferred download speed and click OK. You can adjust or remove the limits at any time.
