The Apple TV is one of the best streaming devices we’ve tested, and it comes in a couple of different configurations, too. But as great as it is, there is one area where it absolutely lets itself down. I’m talking about the terrible remote, and while the latest generation of the Siri Remote is better than those that came before it, it’s still too small and easy to lose. Now, you can replace it with a much better product and save some money at the same time.
That better option is the Function101 Apple TV remote, a product that would normally sell for $30 but is yours today for just $25 as part of StackSocial’s latest discount. That’s a 16% saving, but it’s one that isn’t going to hang around for long, so be sure to get your order in soon.
The remote is much more chunky than Apple’s, which means it’s easier to find and less likely to slide between the cushions on your sofa. It also has all the buttons you’re going to want, including a menu button, navigation arrows and a whole slate of buttons for media playback control.
The Function101 remote works with all Apple TV and Apple TV 4K boxes and will also work with most modern TV sets. The only thing worth being aware of is the lack of a Siri button, but if we’re being honest, that isn’t all that big of a deal. Sorry, Siri.
If the bad remote has been the one thing holding you back from investing in an Apple TV, be sure to check out our collection of the best Apple TV deals before you rush out and get one.
Netflix has struck a new, exclusive deal to bring WWE’s flagship show Raw and other live shows and events to its subscribers starting in January 2025, the company announced Tuesday.
WWE Raw is the number one show on USA Network, with 1600 episodes and 17.5 million unique visitors per year. Netflix will also be home to WWE’s other weekly programs like SmackDown and NXT. WWE live events outside the US, including WrestleMania, Summer Slam and Royal Rumble, will also be exclusively available on Netflix.
The deal is reportedly valued at more than $5 billion, per The Hollywood Reporter. Netflix subscribers in the US, Canada, the UK and Latin America will have access to the shows initially, with more regions and territories to be added over time. The deal is described as “long-term.”
The new partnership marks Netflix’s newest foray into live events, particularly with sports. Its first-ever live sporting event, The Netflix Cup, was held in late 2023, where it brought together some of the most well-known athletes from Formula 1 and pro tennis to compete in a unique golf tournament.
Leaning into live sports programming is an ongoing trend in the streaming space. Services such as Max, Prime Video, Paramount Plus and Peacock are including access to live football, basketball, soccer, golf and international sporting events on their on-demand platforms. In some cases, subscribers must pay an additional fee to watch live sports (Max, for example, will charge $10 per month for its B/R sports add-on), but in other cases, it’s included with the plan. It is unclear whether Netflix plans to raise its prices again or if WWE content will only be accessible on certain subscriptions, but members can expect to see even more in the live sports category.
Netflix subscriptions are available starting at $7 per month in the US.
Samsung already makes some of the best TVs we’ve tested and this model, the Samsung S95C 55-inch 4K OLED TV just so happens to be one of our favorites in terms of great quality on-screen colors. But we all know that buying a great TV can be expensive unless you’re lucky enough to find a deal — and right now is your chance to do just that.
Amazon would normally sell this TV for around $2,198 but if you order yours today you’ll pay just $1,798 — its best price to date — for a TV that has proven popular among owners and reviewers alike. The TV features Samsung’s Infinity One design which means that it’s impossibly thin and sleek which makes it the perfect TV for placing on a wall.
Once mounted viewers will enjoy the Quantum HDR OLED Plus display with support for 120Hz content. The Game Motion Plus feature also goes up to 144Hz when you connect a PC. In terms of connectivity, buyers can expect to find four HDMI inputs with two USB ports as well as the usual Ethernet and RF ports. An optical digital audio output is also available for connecting to a soundbar.
As great as all of that sounds, the Samsung S95C won’t be for everyone. If that includes you we would suggest checking out our collection of the best OLED TV deals before placing an order anywhere else. We update that list regularly to make sure that you won’t miss out on a great deal on all of the biggest brands.
If you’re looking to upgrade your laptop, but need something that will work well without busting your budget, you won’t want to miss this deal. Right now Best Buy has knocked the cost of the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 to just $400 — that’s a 50% discount on its usual $800 price. But you’ll need to act soon if you’re interested. This offer expires tonight, Jan. 23, at 11:59 p.m. CT, so be sure to get your order in soon if you want to score one at this price.
This Lenovo laptop offers a solid 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, along with a 15.6-inch IPS touchscreen with 1,920×1,080 full high-definition resolution. It also comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5000 Series Pro processor, which means not only can this laptop can handle surfing the web and streaming your favorite content, but it should allow for plenty of multitasking, along with some creative projects and even basic gaming. It’s not going to compete with the pricier, premium models out there, but it’s a solid choice for budget buyers needing a little more power.
Whether you’re staying productive or connecting with friends, you’ll appreciate the built-in HD webcam for video calls, which comes with a privacy shutter and smart noise canceling to combat any background noise in your environment. It also has Dolby Atmos speakers for quality sound. With up to 10 hours of battery life per charge, you can get a lot done. It weighs in around 3.5 pounds, so it is a little heavier than some models out there, but it’s also just 0.7 inches thick, which makes it a little more portable when you’re on the go.
If this Lenovo isn’t quite what you’re looking for, be sure to check out our roundup of the best laptop deals happening now for more bargains.
If you’d like to buy a new TV, then one of the best brands is Samsung, and more specifically, the Q60 lineup is pretty well-priced while packing a ton of features under the hood. While the deal we’ve found today is on the Q60C, the Q60B has appeared on our list of best TVs, so you know the TV on offer today is in good company. In fact, you can grab it now from B&H Photo for just $448 instead of the usual $648 using the automatically applied coupon. Just be aware that the deal ends tonight, so grab it as soon as you can.
There’s a lot to love about the Q60C. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll be happy to know that it has HLG HDR, a standard that a lot of sports broadcasters use. Combine that with the solid 50-inch size, and you get an immersive experience that makes this an ideal Super Bowl TV. Unfortunately, the base refresh rate is only 50Hz, but at least it has motion-smoothening technology if you’d like to go that route.
On the other hand, if you prefer watching older shows and films, the Q60C comes with a Quantum Processor chip that can help upscale your content up to 4K, although the end result will depend a lot on the source material. Luckily, it does come with HDR 10 Plus if you want to watch modern content, and with the Tizen smart TV platform, you have access to all your favorite streaming apps.
So, if you’re looking to score a new TV, then this is probably one of the best deals you’re going to find this week in terms of bang for your buck, so grab it while it still lasts. Otherwise, if this still doesn’t tickle your fancy, check out some of these other great TV deals.
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.Reviews ethics statement
Andrew LanxonEditor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
Andrew is CNET’s go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.Read how we test products and services.
OnePlus 12
7.8/10 CNET Score
7.8/ 10 SCORE
OnePlus 12
Pros
Extremely powerful processor
Stellar battery life
Hyperfast charging
Big, vibrant display
Cons
Disappointing camera performance
Rivals offer longer software support
The OnePlus 12 is packed with potent tech from its supercharged processor to its glorious screen. In my time testing it, I found its battery life is great and it charges in lightning-fast time. It’s a phone that works hard to justify its flagship title. But then it needs to, as its $800 starting price (with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage) makes it more expensive than last year’s OnePlus 11. The higher-end model I reviewed (16GB RAM, 512GB storage) comes in at a princely $900.
At a time when purse strings are still tight and competition from rivals is fierce, upping the price of its phones is a risky strategy for OnePlus. In the UK, things are worse, with the top-of-the-line model costing 999, or 150 more than the fully maxed-out OnePlus 11. A direct currency conversion of OnePlus 12’s $900 price comes out to 708 at the time of writing, or about 850 including tax. That’s a 150 premium, making this phone a very different value proposition for UK shoppers.
In the US, it still manages to undercut its chief rival, Google’s Pixel 8 Pro, which starts at $999 ( 999) with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. In some ways, the OnePlus 12 punches harder than the Pixel, with better processor performance and, in my testing, better battery life. But the Pixel 8 Pro has a generally better camera, and it gets at least seven years of software and security updates, easily besting the OnePlus 12’s four years of software and five years of security updates.
I also prefer the Pixel’s software. Overall, it’s tough to choose between them, but it comes down to what you want from your phone. If you’re a keen photographer, go for the Pixel. More into mobile games? The OnePlus is for you.
OnePlus 11 and 12 pricing
Phone, RAM + storage
US price
UK price
Australian price
OnePlus 11, 8GB + 128GB
$700
729
NA
OnePlus 11, 16GB + 256GB
$800
799
AU$1,399
OnePlus 12, 12GB + 256GB
$800
849
Converts to AU$1,640*
OnePlus 12, 16GB + 512GB
$900
999
Converts to AU$1,930*
*Australian prices for the OnePlus 12 have yet to be announced. These conversions are from the UK price, which like in Australia includes 20% VAT.
A familiar design
Visually, the OnePlus 12’s design doesn’t stray far from the OnePlus 11’s. It features an almost identical circular camera unit set into a curving glass back with a glossy aluminum frame. The 12’s glass back is frosted now though, with my green review model featuring a wavy pattern that I rather like. It’s good to hold, with a solid, luxurious feel that I think is more premium than the slippery glossy back of the OnePlus 11.
That said, I took the phone to the pub and several of my friends thought that it looked, and felt, like “the plasticky laminate coating found on cheap kitchen work surfaces in student housing.” Like anything, aesthetics are subjective, so maybe try to check one out in the flesh before spending your cash.
I like that the volume buttons have been moved to the same side as the power button, which makes them easier to use with one hand, while the characteristic OnePlus toggle switch now occupies its own spot on the left side. The front glass is Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and the back is made from toughened Gorilla Glass 5. The phone is IP64-rated to keep it safe from spilled drinks or if you take calls in the rain.
Using the phone when it’s raining should be a bit easier too, as the phone’s screen has been designed to recognize touch inputs, even when wet. I sprinkled the screen with tap water and while it was noticeably less accurate than when dry, it was still usable, with almost no incorrect inputs recognized. I tried sprinkling a similar amount of water onto the screen of my iPhone 15 Pro Max and found it to be almost unusable. A win for the OnePlus here.
An incredibly bright, vibrant display
At 6.82 inches, the OnePlus 12’s display is big enough to give you plenty of room for videos and mobile games, while its high resolution means that all content is pin-sharp. Colors are extremely vibrant too, doing justice to all the colorful Netflix shows or neon-toned mobile games you could want.
It has a variable refresh rate from 1 to 120Hz to give better performance during more intense tasks like gaming, and OnePlus says it’s the brightest display ever on a phone, with a whopping 4,500-nit peak brightness. Theoretically, that makes it brighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and about twice as bright as the iPhone 15 Pro Max. But those are lab-based figures. Side by side, the difference between the iPhone and OnePlus 12 isn’t that big. There is a difference, however, and there’s no question that the phone is exceptionally bright, which makes it great for outdoor use.
Powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor
The OnePlus 12 runs the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 3 chip at its core, backed up by either 12GB or 16GB of RAM (as reviewed). As the most cutting-edge chip from Qualcomm, it’s safe to expect it to be something of a powerhouse, but OnePlus also boasts that its “Trinity Engine” optimizes the CPU, RAM and storage for a faster and more stable experience.
Often these claims are best taken with a pinch of salt, but the OnePlus 12 does feel extremely swift in use. The action RPG Genshin Impact played at maxed-out settings with incredibly smooth 60-frames-per-second gameplay with absolutely zero lag or stuttering seen at any point. Battle royale shooter PUBG was also buttery smooth. Ditto for racer Asphalt 9: Legends.
OnePlus 12 performance compared
OnePlus 125,066Galaxy S24 Ultra4,415iPhone 15 Pro Max4,193
Note: Longer bars equal better performance
On 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme graphics benchmark, it beat both the new Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max’s scores. In fact, its score was the second highest I’ve ever seen on that test, beaten only marginally by the new Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, which is also powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
General navigation around the phone and multitasking is extremely zippy and, in fact, I struggled to find anything that seemed to slow it down at all. Clearly, the combo of potent chip and software optimization is doing its part. OnePlus reckons that the bigger benefit is that it will remain smooth over time, even as your phone fills up with apps and files. I’ve only had the phone a week, so this is something I’ll have to continue testing over the coming months.
The OnePlus 12 runs on Android 14, with OnePlus’ Oxygen OS laid over the top. I quite like the interface — it’s neat and easy to operate. Android novices are just as well catered to here as experienced Android veterans. OnePlus offers four years of software updates and an additional fifth year of security updates. That’s the same as on the OnePlus 11 and, while that was decent then, companies like Google and Samsung now offer seven years of support.
Longer support periods mean your phone will be safer to use over time, which is better for you and better for the planet. While five years isn’t bad, it’s still disappointing not to see OnePlus try to up its game here, and it’s a key way that the phone lags behind the competition.
More annoying still is that OnePlus has given longer support to the OnePlus 12 than it has the cheaper OnePlus 12R, which gets one year less of both software and security support. It’s a frustrating stance to take here, as it suggests that sustainability is a premium offering reserved only for shoppers who can afford it.
Notable by its absence, though, is any major push for generative AI on the OnePlus 12. AI features have been big parts of Google’s Pixel phones for several generations now, and AI was a major part of Samsung’s launch for the Galaxy S24 series. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip powering the OnePlus 12 is even designed with AI skills in mind. Yet, OnePlus hasn’t spoken about AI, and there are no notable generative AI-based features baked into the software.
Personally, I find this a refreshing stance from the company. I haven’t found any AI features on other phones (like the wallpaper generator on the Pixel 8 Pro) to be especially useful, and I’m pleased that OnePlus hasn’t jumped on a bandwagon here, adding redundant features simply so that it can boast that it has them. Perhaps I’ll be singing a different tune for the OnePlus 13.
OnePlus 12: Powerful Performance With Room to Step Up
The other aspect to OnePlus’ software optimizations is power efficiency, which — together with the capacious 4,500-mAh battery (dual 2,700-mAh batteries) — allows the OnePlus 12 to deliver excellent battery life. After an hour of streaming a YouTube video on Wi-Fi at max brightness, the phone hadn’t dropped below 100%. After a second hour, it still showed as 100%, and it was only after the third hour that it dropped to 95%, which is one of the best efforts I’ve seen on this test.
By comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra dropped from full to 95% after the first hour and went down to 82% after the third hour. Similarly, the iPhone 15 Pro Max had dropped to 87% remaining after three hours of streaming. Even after almost an hour of intense gaming at max settings, the OnePlus 12’s battery had dropped only 10%.
In short, I’m very impressed with the phone’s power management, and I’m confident you’ll easily be able to get a full day of even demanding use. With more cautious use, you could probably get most of the way through a second day for those occasions when you forgot to give it a charge overnight.
If you do happen to need to top the juice up, the phone’s fast-charging makes that a super quick task. In the US, the OnePlus 12 supports 80-watt fast charging, which should take the phone from empty to full in a little over 30 minutes. My UK model takes that even further, with 100-watt wired charging allowing for a full recharge in 26 minutes, or from empty to half full in only 11 minutes.
Fast charging is one of my favorite battery innovations in any phone, as it means you don’t need to worry quite as much about your battery running out later in the day. If you’re heading out for a big night out and forgot to charge your phone, you can just give it a quick boost while you wait for your Uber to arrive and it’ll keep you going for hours.
The phone also has wireless charging — something not seen on the OnePlus 11 — which supports up to 50-watt speeds, as long as you can find a compatible high-speed wireless charger.
Disappointing cameras
OnePlus phones have typically offered excellent processor performance but only OK imaging skills, and that’s very much the case here. The OnePlus 12 comes with three rear cameras. They include a 50-megapixel main camera with a larger image sensor and wide f1.6 aperture, a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 32-megapixel telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom.
In daylight, shots from the main camera are decent. Exposure is generally good, there’s plenty of detail to be seen, and colors are mostly quite accurate.
There’s less color shift when you switch between main and ultrawide lenses too, which was something I found to be a particular problem on the last model.
The 3x zoom lens captures zoomed-in shots with adequate detail, and even the 6x zoom can produce some good-looking images as long as you’re shooting in bright conditions. The 6x zoom does just digitally crop into images from the 3x lens, however, so there is a reduction in quality. It’s a shame not to see a longer optical zoom here as I love the 5x zoom lens on the Pixel 8 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
At night, performance significantly drops. Images from all lenses are surprisingly dark, with the ultrawide in particular producing extremely dark shots. I often preferred images taken on the OnePlus 11.
The optical zoom has been very hit or miss, with some shots looking OK, while others have come out with such mushy details that they look out of focus.
I’ve been rather surprised at the poor nighttime performance, as the wider aperture of the lens and the large sensor size should help it capture more light in darker conditions. And indeed in more low light rather than specifically night mode conditions, I did find the camera was able to take some good-looking images.
Overall, I’m underwhelmed by the cameras on the OnePlus 12. It’s definitely capable of taking some great shots, as long as you’re in good conditions, and those of you who maybe just want nice snaps of your family and friends will be well served. But it’s not up there with its flagship rivals, with its night mode shots in particular letting it down.
Should you buy the OnePlus 12?
The OnePlus 12 has plenty to justify its lofty price tag. It’s extremely powerful, its battery life is superb, and the vibrant, bright screen makes your games and videos pop. It’s also got a slick design that looks stylish yet still smart.
It’s a true flagship in many respects, but there are some things that hold me back from singing its praises completely. Chief among them is the camera, which really didn’t impress, especially at night. If photography is crucial to your mobile experience, it’s worth looking elsewhere.
And while its software support isn’t the worst around, I really hoped to see OnePlus extending its support period to match what both Samsung and Google are offering.
Still, if you’re looking for a high-performance Android phone for gaming, with a battery that’ll put up with real punishment, the OnePlus 12 is well worth a look.
How we test phones
Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team is actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water-resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes, using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark as well as our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.
All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions, from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using the phone daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.
OnePlus 12 specs vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 8 Pro, Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Undisclosed; Apple claims up to 29 hours of video playback (25 hours streamed)
Fingerprint sensor
Under display
Under display
Under display
None (Face ID)
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C (USB 3.0)
Headphone jack
None
None
None
None
Special features
4,500-nit peak brightness; 4 years of software and 5 years of security updates; 80W wired charging (100W wired charging outside US); 50W wireless charging with fan dock; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover glass; Gorilla Glass 5 back glass
Titanium frame, 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; integrated S Pen; UWB for finding other devices; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Armor cover glass
5G (Sub 6 and mmWave); VPN by Google One; 7 years of OS, security and Feature Drop updates; front-facing camera has autofocus; 13W Qi wireless charging; 30W wired charging; USB-3.2 speeds via USB-C; IP68 dust and water resistance; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on front and back
We take into account additional features, like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds, and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. And we balance all this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. Though these tests may not always be reflected in CNET’s initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.
In the dynamic landscape of finance, Crypto Banks have emerged as trailblazers, reshaping traditional banking norms with the transformative power of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. BitInterPay Crypto Bank stands at the forefront, offering a seamless and secure avenue for purchasing, exchanging, and managing digital assets.
The Crypto Banking Revolution: A Paradigm Shift
Crypto Banks redefine banking by operating on decentralized networks, ensuring heightened security, transparency, and financial autonomy for users. Leveraging blockchain’s tamper-resistant ledger, transactions become verifiable and immutable, setting a new standard in financial integrity.
Swift and Cost-Effective Global Transactions
BitInterPay Crypto Bank excels in facilitating swift and cost-effective cross-border transactions, overcoming the delays and high fees associated with traditional banks. Digital currencies enable near-instantaneous transactions, fostering global financial inclusion.
Security Beyond Compromise
Security is paramount, and Crypto Banks address this concern by implementing robust encryption and decentralized storage systems. BitInterPay ensures user assets’ security through private keys, significantly minimizing the risk of hacking and fraud, providing peace of mind in an era of rising cyber threats.
A Multifaceted Financial Hub Powered by Blockchain
BitInterPay goes beyond basic services, offering a spectrum of financial products and opportunities, including loans, savings accounts, and investments, all powered by blockchain technology. This opens doors for users to grow their wealth without geographical constraints.
Navigating Challenges: The Road to Sustained Success
While the era of Crypto Banks promises financial democratization, challenges persist. Regulatory uncertainties, market volatility, and public skepticism must be navigated for sustained success. Striking a balance between innovation and regulatory compliance remains crucial.
BitInterPay: Uniting Traditional and Crypto Finance
BitInterPay Crypto Bank provides one of the simplest and safest ways to buy, exchange, and manage cryptocurrencies and digital assets. With a wide range of services, eight cryptocurrency wallets, and an intuitive mobile app, BitInterPay offers users a comprehensive and user-friendly financial experience.
Seize the Future of Digital Assets with BitInterPay
BitCoinPay Trade is a platform bringing innovation and convenience to the world of cryptocurrency trading. Founded with the goal of providing a reliable and user-friendly experience for traders, BitCoinPay Trade successfully combines advanced technologies and a wide range of trading opportunities.
One key feature of the exchange is its high performance. BitCoinPay Trade ensures instant access to trading, crucial in the fast-paced cryptocurrency markets. With scalable architecture and powerful infrastructure, the exchange creates conditions for efficient execution of transactions.
BitCoinPay Trade also offers diverse trading pairs, including both major cryptocurrencies and lesser-known assets. This opens up broad possibilities for portfolio diversification and the implementation of various trading strategies. Additionally, the availability of margin trading allows traders to potentially increase their income using leverage.
Security is a priority for BitCoinPay Trade. Utilizing advanced encryption technologies and security mechanisms, the exchange strives to protect the assets and personal data of its users. Regular audits and meticulous security controls underscore the transparency and reliability of the platform.
The interface of BitCoinPay Trade is designed to meet the needs of both experienced traders and beginners. Intuitive navigation, analytical tools, and charts provide users with all the necessary information to make informed trading decisions.
Customer support at BitCoinPay Trade operates promptly and efficiently, providing the necessary assistance in resolving issues and answering questions. The platform’s customer-centric approach emphasizes its commitment to delivering a high level of service.
In summary, BitCoinPay Trade represents a dynamic and innovative exchange, catering to the needs of a wide range of traders. Its technological solutions and extensive functionality make it a notable player in the world of cryptocurrency trading.
Apple released iOS 17.3 to the general public on Monday, more than a month after the company released iOS 17.2. The latest update brings a few new features, like Stolen Device Protection, as well as bug fixes to your iPhone.
To download the update, go to Settings > General > Software Update, tap Install Now and follow the onscreen prompts.
Here are the new features iOS 17.3 brings to your iPhone.
Stolen Device Protection
Apple’s iOS 17.3 introduces Stolen Device Protection to your iPhone, which aims to help protect you and your data.
According to CNET’s David Lumb, Stolen Device Protection requires you to enter your biometric authentication, like Face ID and Touch ID, multiple times to access some of your sensitive settings and information, like your Apple ID password. This feature uses a new mechanism, called Security Delay, when you try to change these settings.
If you attempt to change these settings when you’re away from a familiar location, like your home, Stolen Device Protection will require you to enter your biometric info, like your facial scan or fingerprint, twice; once initially and then again after an hour. However, since Stolen Device Protection only protects a handful of settings, you still have to take steps to protect other information, like your social media accounts. This is an optional security feature, but Apple recommends everyone turn it on.
In honor of Black History Month, iOS 17.3 brings a new wallpaper, called Unity Bloom, to all iPhones. According to Apple, the wallpaper shows an outline of flowers that will fill with color once the display is active.
Apple Music collaborative playlists are here at last
With iOS 17.3, Apple brings collaborative playlists to Apple Music subscribers. The feature allows multiple people to edit and control shared playlists on the music streaming platform. You can also react with an emoji to a song in a collaborative playlist that someone else added. That way you can let someone know instantly if you like a song or not in the playlist.
Apple announced collaborative playlists in Apple Music at WWDC 2023 in June. The feature was included in some beta versions of iOS 17.2, but wasn’t included in the final release of that update.
Here are the full release notes for iOS 17.3:
About This Update
Stolen Device Protection
Stolen Device Protection increases security of iPhone and Apple ID by requiring Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback to perform certain actions.
Security Delay requires Face ID or Touch ID, an hour wait, and then an additional successful biometric authentication before sensitive operations like changing device passcode or Apple ID password can be performed.
Lock Screen
New Unity wallpaper honors Black history and culture in celebration of Black History Month.
Music
Collaborate on playlists allows you to invite friends to join your playlist and everyone can add, reorder, and remove songs.
Emoji reactions can be added to any track in a collaborative playlist.
This update also includes the following improvements:
AirPlay hotel support lets you stream content directly to the TV in your room in select hotels.
AppleCare & Warranty in Settings shows your coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID.
Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models).
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:
There have been many warnings, including by President Joe Biden, about how generative AI can be used to manipulate audio and video to create deepfakes that show people — politicians, among them — saying or doing things they didn’t actually say or do.
If you’re among those who think, ‘Phooey, those concerns are just overblown,’ then consider three recent deepfakes involving musician Taylor Swift, X owner Elon Musk and Biden.
Swifties will know that she’s a fan of Le Creuset cookware. “Her collection of the cookware has been featured on a Tumblr account dedicated to the pop star’s home décor, showcased in her gift choices at a fan’s bridal shower and shown in a Netflix documentary that was highlighted by Le Creuset’s Facebook page,” reported The New York Times.
But her love of colorful enameled cookware didn’t prompt her to pitch the pricey pots and such in ads, which showed up on Facebook and Tiktok. The ads, using her voice and face, were created by AI and had Swift supposedly telling her fans that she was “thrilled” to offer free cookware sets to those who answered a few questions before trying to reel them in with the true scam.
Noted The NYT, “The ads sent viewers to websites that mimicked legitimate outlets like the Food Network, which showcased fake news coverage of the Le Creuset offer alongside testimonials from fabricated customers. Participants were asked to pay a ‘small shipping fee of $9.96’ for the cookware. Those who complied faced hidden monthly charges without ever receiving the promised cookware.”
In the case of Musk, a fake version of the billionaire entrepreneur was shown promoting a phony stock trading scheme, called Quantum AI, on Facebook to Australians interested in getting “rich quick.” The deepfake Musk is shown on video saying, “The latest platform, Quantum AI, will help people get rich quick, not work for every penny” and calling out other billionaires — Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates — as “prominent shareholder before the reporter directs viewers to “make a minimum investment of $400″ on the Quantum AI website,” according to a report by RMIT News.
Celebrities images and voices being co opted to scam consumers, unfortunately, isn’t new because scamming is so successful – consumers are cheated out of billions of dollars each year. The Federal Trade Commission says that people lost nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022 – and that’s before gen AI tech really ramped up.
Many of these celebrity deepfakes proliferate on social media sites, the BBB said, so be aware. The bureau invites consumers to file a report hereif you’ve been scammed or targeted by a scam.
As far as elections go, the New Hampshire Department of Justice issued an advisory a day ahead of that state’s primary on Jan. 23 after someone sent out a robocall pretending to be voiced by President Biden that encouraged voters not to vote in the New Hampshire presidential primary election. The scammer then told people who got the robocall to call the number belonging to the scammer if they wanted to “be removed from the calling list” so then you could be added to their list for future disinformation and scams, I guess. The attorney general’s office for the state called the robocall an attempt to “suppress New Hampshire voters,” which it is.
It’s only funny until someone loses a democracy.
Here are the other doings in AI worth your attention.
AI won’t steal all the jobs because the ROI isn’t there — yet
In the latest study of how AI may or may not affect the future of work, CSAIL researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that it’s not cost-effective to replace humans with AI across a variety of industries – at least not yet.
“While there is already evidence that AI is changing labor demand, most anxieties about AI flow from predictions about ‘AI Exposure’ that classify tasks or abilities by their potential for automation,” the five researchers wrote. “The previous literature on ‘AI Exposure’ cannot predict this pace of automation since it attempts to measure an overall potential for AI to affect an area, not the technical feasibility and economic attractiveness of building such systems.”
They concluded, after studying how advancements in computer vision might affect jobs, that “at today’s costs US businesses would choose not to automate most vision tasks that have ‘AI Exposure,’ and that only 23% of worker wages being paid for vision tasks would be attractive to automate.”
But there’s a caveat: “This slower roll-out of AI can be accelerated if costs fall rapidly or if it is deployed via AI-as-a-service platforms that have greater scale than individual firms.”
For me, the TL;DR is that all that magical thinking that gen AI can replace workers very soon remains just that, magical thinking. Says the MIT researchers: “AI job displacement will be substantial, but also gradual — and therefore there is room for policy and retraining to mitigate unemployment impacts.”
I’ve written a lot about how jobs may be affected by AI, including in this overview about why you should pay attention and start experimenting with chatbots like ChatGPT. While Goldman Sach also says job concerns may not be as dire as some predict — they noted in a widely cited March 2023 report that 60% of today’s workers are employed in occupations that didn’t exist in 1940 – they still say that AI will cause “significant disruption” to the labor market in the next six years.
Mark Zuckerberg makes the pitch for open-source AI models
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared thoughts on his company’s investment in AI and why he thinks other companies should also open source their tech as Meta did with its LLaMA large language model with tech insider site The Verge. The conversation centered on building an artificial general intelligence, a system capable of handling any task that a human can do — and possibly doing those tasks better. That’s different from generative AI (see definitions below.)
On defining AGI: “I don’t have a one-sentence, pithy definition. You can quibble about if general intelligence is akin to human level intelligence, or is it like human-plus, or is it some far-future super intelligence. But to me, the important part is actually the breadth of it, which is that intelligence has all these different capabilities where you have to be able to reason and have intuition,” Zuckerberg said, adding, “I’m not actually that sure that some specific threshold will feel that profound.”
On the competition for AI talent: “We’re used to there being pretty intense talent wars. But there are different dynamics here with multiple companies going for the same profile, [and] a lot of VCs and folks throwing money at different projects, making it easy for people to start different things externally.”
On who controls AI and the need to make AGI models, like Meta’s Llama, available as open source: “I tend to think that one of the bigger challenges here will be that if you build something that’s really valuable, then it ends up getting very concentrated. Whereas, if you make it more open, then that addresses a large class of issues that might come about from unequal access to opportunity and value. So that’s a big part of the whole open-source vision.”
On industry players eschewing open source and now calling for AI regulation: “There were all these companies that used to be open, used to publish all their work and used to talk about how they were going to open source all their work. I think you see the dynamic of people just realizing, ‘Hey, this is going to be a really valuable thing, let’s not share it,’” Zuckerberg said.
“The biggest companies that started off with the biggest leads are also, in a lot of cases, the ones calling the most for saying you need to put in place all these guardrails on how everyone else builds AI. I’m sure some of them are legitimately concerned about safety, but it’s a hell of a thing how much it lines up with the strategy.”
How AI is changing how we ask our questions about our health
Raise your hand if you’ve ever turned to Google to diagnose a medical issue. With AI, expect even more of us to turn to ChatGPT and other tools to get answers to our health questions.
CNET’s Jessica Rendall explains that AI is changing the way we are investigating our health — for better and for worse. The way ChatGPT “can quickly synthesize information and personalize results raises the precedent set by “Dr. Google,” the researcher’s term describing the act of people looking up their symptoms online before they see a doctor. More often we call it “self-diagnosing,” she reports.
For people with chronic and sometimes mysterious health conditions that have left them with no good answers after numerous attempts to get a diagnosis, AI may be a game changer — analyzing a list of symptoms to suggest possible causes.
But there are a few concerns, the biggest of which is that AI’s can hallucinate, or give you information that sounds true but actually isn’t true. Another concern is “the possibility you could develop “cyberchondria,” or anxiety over finding information that’s not helpful, for instance diagnosing yourself with a brain tumor when your head pain is more likely from dehydration or a cluster headache,” Rendall said.
Still, ChatGPT can be helpful in translating medical jargon into simple English so patients can have more meaningful interactions with their doctors. Adds Rendall, “Arguably the best way to use ChatGPT as a ‘regular person’ without a medical degree or training is to make it help you find the right questions to ask.”
‘Flawless’ novel wins literary prize with help from ChatGPT
Advocates of gen AI, who say the tech can enhance human achievement and enable humanity to reach new heights, scored a win this week after a Japanese author won a prestigious literary award with a novel deemed by one judge to be “flawless,” according to The Times.
How did Rie Kudan, whose work The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy earned the Akutagawa Prize, achieve such perfection? Kudan said it was due in part to ChatGPT. At an awards ceremony this week, the 33-year-old author said that about 5% of her book was created by OpenAI’s popular chatbot and quoted verbatim in the novel, The Telegraph added.
“Set in a futuristic Tokyo, the book revolves around a high-rise prison tower and its architect’s intolerance of criminals, with AI a recurring theme,” The Daily Mail noted. The Telegraph said, “It centers around an architect who designs a comfortable high-rise prison, but finds herself struggling in a society that seems excessively sympathetic to criminals.”
Kudan said she confides her innermost thoughts to ChatGPT — including sentiments she says she would never talk to anyone else about — and that its responses “sometimes inspired dialogue in the novel,” according to The Telegraph.
Not all authors are as enamored with working with a generative AI as Rudan. The Authors Guild, which represents novelists such as John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picault and Scott Turow, filed suit against OpenAI in September and amended its complaint in December.
And award-winning author Salman Rushgie has been saying he thinks that gen AI tools still have a long way to go before they can mimic the artistry of human writers. At a literary event in October, he noted that someone used an AI to generate 300 words in his style “and what came out was pure garbage.”
“The greatest writers, the best writers have a vision of the world that is personal to themselves, they have a kind of take on reality which is theirs and out of which their whole sensibility proceeds,” Rushdie told the Big Think. “Now to have all that in the form of artificial intelligence — I don’t think we’re anywhere near that yet.”
One artist is using prompts to create drawings, with a pen
In a creative play on AI prompts and text-to-image converters, New York graphic designer Pablo Delcan created a “non-AI generative AI model.” It’s a website called Prompt-Brush 1.0 where you submit a text prompt and Delcan will do a black-and-white line drawing of your idea and send it back to you. Some of the ideas submitted and illustrated, charmingly I think by Delcan, include a UFO beaming up a slice of pizza, a smiling old man, a gray-and-white tuxedo cat and a grim reaper frustrated with his laptop. He’s posted a selection of the more than 631 images he’s created and has requests for over 1,000 images in the queue, according to It’s Nice That.
Delcan told It’s Nice That that it takes him about a minute to create each drawing and that after spending the past year “immersed in the world of AI, this seemed like a way to poke some fun at that.” His sense of humor is evident in the “site metrics” he shares and in his description of the “technology” behind his service: “A brush is used to draw by dipping it into black ink and then moving it across a piece of paper to leave marks. Light touches make thin lines, while pressing harder makes thick lines. It’s possible to make all sorts of drawings by connecting these lines.”
I’ve submitted my request and will post when I hopefully get an original Delcan back.
AI term of the week: AGI
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the Holy Grail of AI — a system that can do any task that a human can do and possibly do those tasks better. What’s the difference between an AGI and say gen AI models like ChatGPT? I think of ChatGPT as a tech that you can talk to that mimics or predicts human responses — it provides answers to questions like an autocomplete on steroids, while AGI is more akin to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey or JARVIS from Iron Man.
Here are a few definitions of AGI, which by the way doesn’t yet exist — at least on Earth. Read through all of these and then check out the final line from Google Deepmind’s description below to get a true sense of how complicated all this stuff is.
Luce Innovative Technologies compares AI, generative AI and AGI: “AI refers to the field in general, generative AI focuses on the creation of new content and general AI aims to develop artificial intelligence systems that are as capable as humans in a variety of cognitive tasks. General AI, also known as AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) or ASI (Artificial Super General Intelligence), is a long-term goal and has not been fully achieved.”
Market research firm Gartner describes AGI as “a form of AI that possesses the ability to understand, learn and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks and domains. It can be applied to a much broader set of use cases and incorporates cognitive flexibility, adaptability and general problem-solving skills.”
IBM says “strong artificial intelligence (AI), also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI) or general AI, is a theoretical form of AI used to describe a certain mindset of AI development. If researchers are able to develop Strong AI, the machine would require an intelligence equal to humans; it would have a self-aware consciousness that has the ability to solve problems, learn, and plan for the future.”
And last but not least, Google Deepmind describes AGI as “an important and sometimes controversial concept in computing research, used to describe an AI system that is at least as capable as a human at most tasks. Given the rapid advancement of Machine Learning (ML) models, the concept of AGI has passed from being the subject of philosophical debate to one with near-term practical relevance. Some experts believe that ‘sparks’ of AGI are already present in the latest generation of large language models (LLMs); some predict AI will broadly outperform humans within about a decade; some even assert that current LLMs are AGIs. However, if you were to ask 100 AI experts to define what they mean by ‘AGI,’ you would likely get 100 related but different definitions.”
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
