The European Union has now published a set of measures aimed at boosting Europe’s tech industry to help reduce reliance on US and Chinese suppliers for AI, cloud, and semiconductors. The proposals include rules to restrict the use of US hyperscalers for certain public sector procurement purposes, but stop short of banning them outright.

“Technological sovereignty does not mean protectionism. Europe remains grounded in openness, partnership, and fair competition,” Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said in a statement Wednesday. “At the same time, Europe wants to be in the position to make its own choices, avoiding dependence on single dominant suppliers, especially from non-like-minded countries.”

The European Technological Sovereignty Package — released after several delays — includes two legislative proposals: the Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act (CAIDA) 2.0 and the Open Source Strategy and Strategic Roadmap for Digitalization and AI in Energy.

CAIDA aims to triple data center capacity in the next five to seven years by easing restrictions for deployments across the EU. It also includes rules that, if enacted, would require EU public bodies to meet certain sovereignty criteria for cloud service procurement related to certain sensitive workloads.

Amid ongoing trans-Atlantic tensions and a long-time deep reliance on US tech providers, European organizations have become increasingly wary of a “kill switch” that would cut off access to digital services. There are also concerns that US hyperscalers could be compelled to share data with US government under the CLOUD Act and Foreign Intelligence Services Act (FISA), even when data centers are located in Europe.

The CAIDA proposals include four levels of criteria for suppliers; the most basic includes data center infrastructure located and operated in the region – something  many US cloud suppliers already provide – with stricter rules around supplier ownership, full control over the software stack, and more stringent cybersecurity certification.

The majority of existing EU public sector workloads (70%) fall under the first level, with 20% at level 2, and 9% at level 3. Only a small proportion (1%) of the most sensitive workloads would require level 4.

Other proposals include the Chips Act 2.0, a follow-up to the 2023 legislation that sought to improve semiconductor production capabilities; the updated version now aims to boost research and spur demand for domestically produced processors. 

The legislative proposals must be negotiated by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union before adoption.

Source:: Computer World

By Deepti Pathak ASUS has unveiled the Ascent QN10, a new mini PC that brings premium desktop capabilities into…
The post ASUS Unveils Ascent QN10 Mini PC Powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

By Shimul Sood Google is opening up the Fitbit Air ecosystem in a surprising way, giving creators the tools needed to design and even 3D-print their own custom bands.

Source:: Digital Trends

Apple’s MacBook Neo appears to be a triumph of strategic disruption that has already cast shock waves across the industry — and that energy is still playing out.

Approximately 55,000 MacBook Neo computers have been sold every day since it was introduced in March, according to IDC data (as first noted by TechCrunch). In fact, it looks as if Apple sold 1.1 million of these Macs in the first 20 days of sale, the analysts said.

There’s no real reason to imagine that level of demand has declined very much.

MacBook Neo: Millions sold

After all, not only do these Macs continue to dominate Amazon’s US laptop charts, but supply chain rumors claim Apple has doubled its manufacturing orders. “MacBook Neo shipments have come in better than expected, with the 2026 shipment forecast raised from 5 million to 10 million units,” Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said recently. 

IDC’s March data may not capture the larger extent of the demand, as IDC analyst Navkendar Singh pointed out that MacBook Neo shipments “began to spike from early April”, which suggests demand has accelerated since then.

MacBook Neo demand exceeded expectations across multiple nations, including in India, where the company shifted 18,000 of them in the opening weeks.

Doing the business

Apple has also instructed processor maker TSMC to manufacture additional A18 processors specifically for its affordable laptop, while earlier speculation has claimed the company has been using ongoing memory price increases as a strategic competitive tool.  (The Neo starts at $599, with a pricier model set at $699.)

By expanding the potential customer base for Macs with a lower cost Neo, Apple is aiming a claim at the biggest-selling part of the PC market. And it is doing so even as rapidly increasing component prices force others to choose between higher product prices and profitability, or much-reduced margins in to compete at the same price. levels

That’s a losing battle; competitors for the most part can’t hope to match Apple’s bargaining position when it comes to the cost of components like memory because they don’t have the same scale. That means that even when component costs increase for everybody, Apple pays less, because it orders more. 

That scale means that for many component suppliers, it’s Apple’s business that keeps the meat on the table while other customers merely contribute the gravy. So, suppliers are happy to make deals with Apple to secure that main course — to continue the analogy — but are less likely to match those deals for dessert. As such, Apple is expected to be the only laptop vendor to see growth this year.

Apple’s great game

IDC’s figures confirm Apple’s strategy is working, with strong demand for the Neo, and, indeed, all Apple’s new laptops. At the same time, the researcher predicts overall global PC shipments will decline 11.3% this year, with a painful 20% sales drop envisioned for Q4. 

“We’re not seeing any relief to the memory shortage situation before the end of 2027, which means prices will continue to rise and PC manufacturers will struggle to maintain full product portfolios for the foreseeable future,” Jean Philippe Bouchard, vice president of devices and consumers at IDC said in a statement.

“The introduction of the MacBook Neo is putting real pressure on the entire PC ecosystem,” added Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Consumer Devices Trackers. 

Competitors are already responding with new devices equipped with ARM-based processors and aggressive promotional pricing. But none truly match what Apple has with MacBook Neo, and all must reach profitable scale to compete long-term. 

None have yet done so.

The strategy makes sense

“The MacBook Neo launch stands out as one of Apple’s most strategically important recent Mac releases,” Counterpoint analyst David Naranjo said. 

Apple is directly targeting customers that previously saw its products as too expensive. That allows it is also to aggressively build business in parts of the market such as education that tend to be more resilient to economic headwinds. MacBook Neo is also enjoying strong demand across the enterprise.

Both these parts of the market give Apple’s competitors their lunch. “The competitive pressure from the Neo is providing a partial offset to broader price increases, keeping some low-cost notebook options alive,” Ubrani said. “But the overall trajectory for average selling prices (ASPs) is firmly upward. IDC forecasts ASP growth of 17% in 2026, and even as memory capacity expands over the next two years, pricing is unlikely to return to 2025 levels.” 

Apple’s control over its processors, along with its strategic approach to component purchasing, means it should be able to maintain its existing Mac price points for a while. “Apple’s vertical integration (own silicon, own OS) gives it more levers than competitors reliant on third-party chips and Microsoft licensing,” Hexnode CEO Apu Pavithran told me recently.

So, while PC makers either exit the market or raise prices in pursuit of profits, MacBook Neo will continue racing off the shelves, particularly to large enterprise and education customers. 

The endgame? 

The Neo is more than a lower-cost Apple notebook. It’s a hugely disruptive product that is already driving noteworthy change across the PC industry; it’s forcing competitors to make difficult choices between cost and price — even as they grapple with the existential challenges of memory shortages, component price hikes, and raw materials costs. 

That’s not bad for a product that costs your local school just $499.

Just a reminder: the original $399 iPod cost only slightly less when it was first introduced, before subsequently disrupting the music industry.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, Mastodon, and follow The Core.

Source:: Computer World

By Adarsh Verma For certain professions, like designers, developers, and digital creators, the portfolio-first idea keeps coming back. As…
The post Best Resume Builders for Designers, Developers, and Digital Creators in 2026 appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

By Ana Maria Constantin President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday establishing a voluntary framework for government review of frontier AI models before public release, ending weeks of internal White House conflict over how aggressively to regulate the technology. The order, titled “Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security,” was signed privately without the usual livestream or public ceremony, a […] This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Alina Maria Stan Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that Poland will introduce a “sovereignty test” for significant government purchases of technology solutions, warning that the country’s dependency on foreign digital infrastructure has reached a scale that demands a policy response. Speaking at the European Financial Congress in Sopot on Tuesday, Tusk said Poland will also publish […] This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

Microsoft has developed a new AI agent that can run autonomously around the clock to complete tasks across Microsoft 365 applications.

Microsoft Scout, unveiled at the company’s Build event Tuesday, is a new type of always-on agent based on the OpenClaw agent framework that Microsoft calls “autopilots.”

These act on a user’s behalf with their own governed Entra identity, Omar Shahine, corporate vice president at Microsoft, said in a blog post.

“Autopilots stay active in the background, understand how work gets done across your apps and systems, and take action without needing to be prompted each time,” said Shahine, a Microsoft veteran who recently announced he is leading a new team to bring OpenClaw-based personal assistants to Microsoft 365 apps.

Microsoft Scout connects to apps such as Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint, and accesses data from chat, email, calendar, and contacts. Accessed via Teams, it can also interact with a user’s browser and with external apps via model context protocol (MCP). The tool functions across cloud, desktop, and the web.

Shahine said Scout can reduce mundane tasks that office workers face, such as coordinating and scheduling meeting times with colleagues, or blocking times in a user’s calendar based on upcoming work commitments. “It can also spot risks, like stalled decisions, so you can address them before they become blockers,” he said.

It’s available as an “experimental release” to customers of the company’s Frontier program, Microsoft said, and will require Intune policy configuration and “opt-in attestation.”

Scout is the latest in a range of agentic tools available in Microsoft 365 apps, including Agent Mode, where users can interact with Microsoft 365 Copilot inside apps such as Word and Excel to create content, and Copilot Cowork — Microsoft’s version of Anthropic’s Claude Cowork agent that can complete tasks independently.

Despite the company’s big AI push, Microsoft has struggled to convince businesses that Microsoft 365 Copilot is worth the additional cost; it’s advertised at $30 per user each month for large businesses. Around 3% of Microsoft 365 customers pay for the add-on subscription, the company said in January, with 15 million paid users. (Microsoft announced last month that that figure has now risen to 20 million.)

It’s not clear whether Scout will be included in Microsoft 365 Copilot subscriptions or charged separately. Microsoft did not immediately provide additional details about pricing.

The launch follows Google’s recent announcement of Spark, an autonomous agent that runs within the Google Workspace application suite. Spark can also be considered a response to the launch of OpenClaw last year, initially under the name “Clawdbot.”

OpenClaw has drawn scrutiny due to apparent security flaws, but Microsoft promises Scout is built with “enterprise-grade security and controls, so it can be trusted in your organization from day one.”

Microsoft said it will also contribute upstream to the open-source OpenClaw project.

Source:: Computer World

Apple surprised everyone with the power and performance of the M1 MacBook Air when it launched the laptop in late 2020. And more than five years later, those Macs show no sign of slowing down, handling everything users care to throw at them.

The Mac still boots almost instantly, races through daily tasks, offers battery life that puts even some newer Windows laptops to shame and, perhaps most importantly, still gives millions of users no compelling reason to upgrade. 

Why the MacBook Air is still going strong

The M1 wasn’t merely better than the Intel Macs it replaced. It delivered a dramatic step forward. Silent, fast, and with remarkable energy efficiency, these laptops have proved themselves to be more reliable and longer-lasting than almost any other notebook.

Apple has continued to deliver impressive improvements ever since the M1 Macs first appeared. The recently introduced M5 MacBook Air delivers double the multi-core and 50% better single-core performance than M1; that means it provides similar performance to the MacBook Pro of around three years ago. 

Apple Silicon has improved every single year and is now extremely powerful — so much so that Apple is about to sell 10 million units of the A-series MacBook Neo, a $599 machine with an iPhone-derived chip that delivers more performance than many mainstream users need.

Meanwhile, even when using a nearly-six-year-old MacBook Air, you still experience a fast browser, responsive Office apps, great battery life and powerful photo editing capabilities. 

To the Moon and back

At the high end of Apple’s range, you’ll find Macs so accomplished they can handle almost every imaginable professional task. It means that right now, today, Apple’s product range extends from good enough to simply amazing. 

Despite heavy marketing hype from competitors who boast of their own ARM-based competitors in similar price brackets, those PCs remain compromised in comparison, if only by their use of Windows, build quality, and overall higher running costs.

Think about it: All things being equal, if you gave a typical office worker an M1 MacBook Air and an M5 MacBook Air and asked them which models they were using, how long would it take them to figure it out? 

Sure, a highly experienced Mac user would likely know. But for a lot of people, the difference would be hard to spot because what they do on their computers just isn’t particularly demanding. 

Making people happy is good for business

Surely that’s bad for Apple’s business, right? I think not. It means Apple has created a huge population of happy Mac users who are still having a good time with the Mac they acquired in 2020. Those people tell other people about their experience, which helps evangelize the platform and can’t have hurt MacBook Neo sales this year. 

They also become more interested in other Apple products, which they can afford to invest in instead of investing in the standard PC “upgrade’”cycle. After all, if you have a platform that doesn’t need an upgrade every three years, you can spend your money on something else instead. For consumers, that might be AirPods and Apple services, while for enterprise professionals that investment might become an iPad or iPhone Pro. 

Apple doesn’t mind. It still makes bank.

The company generally finds that giving people what they want is good for business. It boosts customer satisfaction scores, reduces maintenance costs, and builds repeat customers.

That long replacement cycle delivers a second benefit, too. Apple talks extensively about sustainability. With the M-series Macs, it has achieved it. 

Sustainable technology

People use these laptops longer and get more value later when they sell them on. And when they eventually get returned for recycling, Apple can tear the machines down for parts as it works toward establishing circular manufacturing within the next four years.

The M1 MacBook Air might eventually be remembered not just as the first Apple Silicon Mac, but as representing the moment when ordinary people didn’t have to worry about performance anymore. That’s why the product refuses to die — not because it’s immortal, but because for millions of users it still does everything they need. And all the M- and A-series Macs that follow it do exactly the same thing.

One more thing, however: Intel Macs will no longer be supported by macOS 27 when it ships this year. Apple typically ends support for products around 6-7 years after it removes them from sale, so when will it end support for the M1? Potentially, not too soon.

Apple only stopped selling the M1 MacBook Air in 2024, which suggests support could continue until 2030 or 2031. So, if you bought an M1 MacBook Air in 2020, you’ve actually invested in something designed to work for you for a decade. Which PCs can truly deliver that?

No wonder the M1 MacBook Air refuses to die.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, Mastodon, and read The Core.

Source:: Computer World

By Moinak Pal ASUS has launched the VivoWatch 6 with ECG monitoring, blood pressure tracking, AI wellness coaching, and advanced health-focused wearable features.

Source:: Digital Trends

By Shikhar Mehrotra Prime Day is back and it is arriving earlier than it ever has. June 23–26 this year versus July 8 last year.

Source:: Digital Trends

By Adarsh Verma Today, more people are part of the market because of the digital world. Getting data and…
The post How Next-Generation Proxy Infrastructure Benefits Modern Online Businesses appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

By Hisan Kidwai ASUS is perhaps the biggest name in the gaming space, and there’s good reason for it….
The post ASUS ROG Celebrates 20 Years With RTX 5090 PCs, Xbox Handheld, and More appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

La prima impressione conta, e nel mondo dei casinò online quella sensazione nasce dalla lobby: uno spazio che non è solo vetrina, ma centro nevralgico dell’esperienza. Entrare in una lobby ben progettata significa capire immediatamente cosa offre la piattaforma, trovare facilmente i giochi preferiti e orientarsi tra promozioni, novità e colonne sonore che accompagnano la navigazione. In questo articolo esploriamo le funzioni che rendono la lobby uno strumento di intrattenimento e non solo un elenco di titoli.

Layout e gerarchia: perché la struttura guida l’esperienza

Un buon layout organizza i contenuti in modo chiaro: sezioni dedicate ai giochi più popolari, alle novità del mese e alle aree tematiche riducono il tempo necessario per decidere cosa giocare. Elementi come anteprime video, tag di categoria e indicazioni di % di gradimento aiutano a orientarsi senza sopraggiungere confusione. La gerarchia visiva fa emergere quello che la piattaforma vuole valorizzare, ma è la coerenza grafica che mantiene l’utente a proprio agio durante la sessione.

Filtri e ricerca: trovare il gioco giusto in pochi click

Filtri potenti e una barra di ricerca accurata trasformano una vasta libreria in un catalogo facilmente esplorabile. La possibilità di filtrare per provider, volatilità, tipo di gioco o tematica agevola la scoperta, mentre le anteprime e le schede tecniche condensano le informazioni essenziali. Anche la presenza di ricerche intelligenti e suggerimenti automatici può ridurre il tempo speso a cercare, offrendo invece più tempo per l’intrattenimento vero e proprio.

Per chi è curioso anche delle promozioni collegate ai giochi, è utile consultare risorse esterne che confrontano le offerte del momento; ad esempio, una panoramica aggiornata sui bonus senza deposito può aiutare a comprendere il contesto delle promozioni: Bonus senza deposito non AAMS si tratta di un’offerta che permette di ricevere credito gratuito, giri gratis o altri premi senza dover versare nemmeno un centesimo di tasca propria. In questa guida abbiamo testato i migliori bonus senza deposito casino offerti dai brand più popolari, come Slotoro, Hit’n’Spin, Spinarium e molti altri, per offrirti una panoramica chiara e aggiornata delle promozioni davvero vantaggiose.

Preferiti e playlist: costruire il proprio spazio di gioco

La funzione “Preferiti” trasforma il casinò online in una libreria personale: salvare titoli, raggrupparli in playlist tematiche o segnare le novità da provare è un modo semplice per gestire il tempo di intrattenimento. Le playlist personalizzate permettono di creare sequenze curiose, ad esempio serate a tema o raccolte dei provider preferiti, mantenendo l’esperienza sempre fresca e su misura. La soddisfazione dell’utente cresce quando l’ambiente digitale rispecchia i suoi gusti.

Ecco alcune modalità comuni per organizzare i preferiti:

• Raccolte per provider: mettere insieme i giochi dello stesso sviluppatore per seguire uno stile grafico o sonoro.

• Playlist tematiche: creare sessioni dedicate a temi specifici, come avventure, mitologia o ambientazioni futuristiche.

• Salvataggio per attivazione futura: segnare titoli da provare quando si ha più tempo a disposizione.

Sistemi di personalizzazione e notifiche intelligenti

I casinò moderni puntano sulla personalizzazione: suggerimenti basati sulla cronologia di navigazione, notifiche su novità simili ai titoli preferiti e schede con raccomandazioni contestuali rendono la fruizione più fluida. È un equilibrio tra visibilità e pertinenza: notifiche e banner devono informare senza interrompere il flusso di gioco. La possibilità di disattivare o regolare questi avvisi è parte essenziale di un design rispettoso dell’utente, che valorizza l’autonomia di scelta.

Ricerca visiva e strumenti di esplorazione

Oltre ai filtri testuali, le piattaforme più interessanti offrono esplorazioni visive: carrellate di anteprime, demo mode o tour guidati permettono di intuire velocemente l’atmosfera di un gioco. Strumenti come confronti fra titoli affiancati o la visualizzazione di trend in tempo reale aiutano a scoprire contenuti emergenti senza dover passare ore a scorrere pagine. Queste soluzioni valorizzano il tempo dell’utente, rivolgendosi a chi cerca intrattenimento immediato e coinvolgente.

In sintesi, l’intrattenimento nei casinò online passa attraverso dettagli d’interfaccia: una lobby curata, filtri efficaci, sistemi di preferiti e notifiche intelligenti creano un ecosistema dove esplorare diventa parte del gioco. L’attenzione al design trasforma la navigazione in un’esperienza appagante, fatta di scoperte e piccole soddisfazioni digitali.

Co sprawia, że gra na telefonie to dobry wybór?

Pytanie: Dlaczego coraz więcej osób wybiera mobilne kasyna zamiast komputerów?

Odpowiedź: Ponieważ wygoda i szybki dostęp zrobiły swoje — rozrywka, którą miałeś kiedyś tylko przed monitorem, dziś pojawia się w kieszeni. Interfejsy projektowane mobile-first upraszczają nawigację, a gry są optymalizowane pod mniejsze ekrany, co pozwala zanurzyć się w atmosferę bez konieczności przesiadywania przy biurku.

Pytanie: Czy mobilne kasyno to tylko przenośna wersja strony?

Odpowiedź: Nie zawsze — wiele platform oferuje specjalne tryby i układy dla telefonów, większe przyciski, skrócone menu i szybsze ładowanie elementów, by doświadczenie było płynne podczas krótkich sesji w tramwaju czy podczas przerwy na kawę.

Jak wygląda szybkość i responsywność na urządzeniach mobilnych?

Pytanie: Czy gry działają płynnie na słabszych telefonach?

Odpowiedź: Projektanci koncentrują się na optymalizacji, więc wiele tytułów działa zaskakująco dobrze nawet na średniej klasy sprzęcie. Jeśli interesuje cię techniczna strona mobilnych rozwiązań, znajdziesz dodatkowe analizy na camtweet.com, które pokazują, jak różne platformy radzą sobie z prędkością i responsywnością.

Pytanie: Co wpływa na czas ładowania i płynność?

Odpowiedź: Na to składa się kilka elementów: sposób kodowania gry, rozmiar grafik i animacji oraz architektura serwerów. W praktyce oznacza to, że dobrze zaprojektowana wersja mobilna priorytetowo traktuje szybkość i minimalizację opóźnień, aby rozrywka była natychmiastowa.

Nawigacja i czytelność — co ułatwia korzystanie?

Pytanie: Jakie elementy interfejsu są najważniejsze na ekranie telefonu?

Odpowiedź: Przejrzyste menu, duże i czytelne ikony oraz logiczny układ funkcji. Często spotykane rozwiązania to menu dolne, szybkie skróty do ulubionych kategorii i uproszczone powiadomienia — wszystko po to, by użytkownik mógł skupić się na rozrywce, a nie na szukaniu opcji.

Pytanie: Czy interfejsy są przyjazne dla nowych użytkowników?

Odpowiedź: Tak — nowoczesne aplikacje i strony mobilne stawiają na jasne sygnały wizualne, podpowiedzi i etapowanie interakcji, co sprawia, że nawet pierwsza sesja może być intuicyjna i przyjemna bez konieczności długiego poznawania układu.

Najczęściej spotykane cechy udanego interfejsu mobilnego:

• Prosty pasek nawigacyjny z najważniejszymi kategoriami.

• Responsywne i duże elementy dotykowe.

• Minimalistyczne ekrany, które nie przytłaczają informacjami.

• Szybkie odświeżanie i animacje dopasowane do wydajności urządzenia.

Co mówią gracze o społeczności i rozrywce mobilnej?

Pytanie: Czy mobilne kasyno to samotna zabawa, czy jest coś więcej?

Odpowiedź: Coraz częściej doświadczenie ma wymiar społeczny: turnieje, tablice wyników, czaty na żywo i opcje współdzielenia wyników tworzą wrażenie wspólnoty. Nawet krótkie interakcje z innymi graczami potrafią wzbogacić sesję i dodać odczucia realnego zaangażowania.

Pytanie: Jakie rodzaje rozrywki cieszą się największym zainteresowaniem na telefonach?

Odpowiedź: Najpopularniejsze są krótkie, angażujące sesje oraz tytuły z prostą acz efektowną grafiką, które dobrze działają na ekranach dotykowych. Poniżej kilka kategorii, które często przewijają się w opiniach użytkowników.

• Dynamiczne gry z szybkim tempem rozgrywki.

• Formaty z elementami społecznościowymi i rankingami.

• Produkty z nacechowaniem wizualnym i krótkimi rundami.

Podsumowanie: Mobilne kasyno to przede wszystkim dostępność i natychmiastowa rozrywka, skrojona na krótkie chwile wolnego czasu. Jeśli zależy ci na przejrzystym interfejsie, szybkim ładowaniu i przyjemnej społeczności — doświadczenia mobile-first pokazują, że te elementy mogą współgrać i tworzyć spójną, satysfakcjonującą ofertę.

By Ana Maria Constantin GoPro warned on Monday that there is “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” The action-camera maker reported a 26% revenue decline in Q1 and expects to breach several loan covenants. Shares fell as much as 14%. The cause is memory. GoPro said its earnings forecast has been “significantly impacted” […] This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Darius Popa Apple is preparing a new iPhone feature that lets users photograph a restaurant receipt, assign individual items to different people, and automatically generate payment requests through Apple Cash. The tool will calculate each person’s share of the bill including item costs, tax, and tip, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the plan. Apple […] This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

Apple will open the doors to developers at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) next week. Beyond a big push on AI and new OSes focused on stability and performance, what should developers expect? Mostly it’s about new APIs, Foundation Models, and App Intents; here’s what I’ve been able to figure out so far.

Foundation Models

Apple has been building new Apple Intelligence APIs. One way it is achieving this is to take models made with Google Gemini, then distill and shrink them to fit inside (and run on) its devices. The progression will be to introduce these as a new crop of Foundation models developers can use in their apps. There’s more:

New APIs mean developers will be able to run Apple Intelligence tools such as summarization directly on the customer device, all offline, all private.

Developers that use Apple’s standard text editing/entry views will gain access to improved Apple-developed tools inside their apps without custom-coding.

Because intelligence takes place on the user’s device, neither developers nor users will need to pay for those AI tokens. This is a distinct cost and privacy-saving advantage for customers and developers.

App Intents: The next generation

Apple continues on its quest to convince developers to make features of their apps available for use via Siri with App Intents. Doing so requires developers to wrap their apps into semantic structures, enabling speech/text-based interaction. To help them achieve this, Apple is expected to introduce a complete redesign of its App Intents framework.

Speak as you wish

While users must say “Hey Siri” to invoke its attention today, the assistant will respond more dynamically to natural language. Combined with App Intents, that means users should be able to ask Siri to use a combination of apps to make things happen on the device.

A developer might build a travel app that can take an itinerary and hand it across to a budgeting tool, for example. The idea is that with a spoken or typed command, a person will be able to call on a collection of apps to identify the destination, create an itinerary, put together a to-do list, prepare relevant letters or emails, and assemble a budget — all invoked by the original command.

What about context?

We’re expecting Siri to become better at using the content of your screen, location, and other personal data as it seeks to provide more contextualized responses. We don’t yet know the extent or form in which Apple will make that information available to third-party developers to help contextualize their own apps. Apple’s focus on privacy matters a great deal, as does its relationship with regulators, some of whom will demand that data made available to Apple’s own apps be made available to third-party apps. These are important matters for Apple, app developers, and customers who want the convenience of AI without loss of privacy.

More consistent UI tools on Swift

Swift should get better at migrating legacy code, but the big speculation around it concerns Liquid Glass. Will Swift make it easier for developers to build consistent user interfaces that work properly across all Apple’s platforms? If it does, then it will help overcome one of the big criticisms of Apple’s liquid-inspired UI. Swift will also usher in the tools developers need to support agentic application coding.

Better vibes for Xcode

Vibe coding is everywhere, including within Xcode, which is expected to gain improved contextual and predictive understanding to help boost developer productivity. Xcode could also  introduce improved real-time architectural debugging hints, aiming to make it easier for developers to build bug-free apps.

A Mac you can wear: Vision OS

All the AI enhancements made available across Apple’s other products will also be offered to visionOS. That access takes the headset another step closer to becoming the Mac you wear like sunglasses.

Elsewhere

A new Camera API means developers can build specialized, interactive buttons that users can deploy directly within the native iOS Camera interface. This should be a great way to use more sophisticated camera apps more naturally.

Wallet Pass means apps will be able to ingest things like barcodes or gym passes for use within Wallet.

Icon Composer might offer more tools designed to promote consistency.

Intel finally retires

Apple will abandon Intel support in macOS 27, which means developers will likely end support for legacy Intel applications in response.

After the gold rush

Once the lights go down on WWDC, Apple’s real test will be to see if its announcements help make AI useful, private, and affordable to developers and their customers. After all, if Apple gets AI right on a platform basis, it should be able to offer the kind of on-device intelligence no one else can match, at no charge to developers or users — a move that might yet kick-start AI innovation across its platforms. This will provide a moat around the Apple ecosystem, inside which developers can explore new potentials for AI to give customers the tools they need at costs they can afford.

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Source:: Computer World

Intel is invading the physical AI space with a reentry into the robotics market it quit many years ago amid financial struggles.

The robotics strategy is part of the company’s larger plan to establish AI on the “edge,” in which devices have the computing capability to run AI locally. Many devices lack AI capabilities and have to offload processing to the cloud.

The chipmaker said its Intel Series 3 processors are now in 130 edge AI and robotics designs. It also had a design win with SensoryAI, which provides technology for robots that include Ella, a robotic barista made by Crown Digital.

The company’s Core Ultra Series 3 processors are derivatives of chip designs intended for laptops. But Intel has achieved a level of power efficiency for long battery life that allows those chips to be adapted for handheld devices and laptops.

Intel also said it can build advanced robotics chips thanks to its latest manufacturing technologies.

For example, many robotic functions, such as computer vision and real-time controls, can be integrated into a single chip. Previously, functions like graphics and movement and control were distributed among different cores in a chip.

SensoryAI, for example, has a chip architecture that provides the robotic barista — which is more like a robotic arm — with AI capabilities, Intel said.

The main “Avatar” agent handles customers as the main “Ella” agent reasons and executes the task. If Ella encounters errors, it passes on the issue to a Guardian agent, which helps with the recovery. Some issues could include making sense of an order, or cups that might be stuck. 

The three agents are embedded in a single piece of Core Ultra Series 3 silicon.

Intel is displaying some of those robots at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. The company shared a video of a humanoid-style robot from the floor in a X.com post  

This is not Intel’s first attempt at the robotics market. Intel sold robotics chips and kits when it was a dominant chip player in the field, but curtailed efforts in 2021 after Pat Gelsinger took over as CEO and restructured the company to focus on manufacturing.

Robotics is now back on the menu under new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who replaced Gelsinger last year. He has restructured to company to focus on high-growth areas that can generate high returns.

A Morgan Stanley study last year indicated the robotics market could be worth $5 trillion by 2050 — and more than 1 billion humanoid robots could be in operation. 

Robots are seen to improve human productivity and manufacturing output. For example, they could help factories that are facing labor shortages or be used to complete tasks that are dangerous. 

However, challenges remain. There isn’t yet enough real-world data to train robots to do targeted work. And the AI models — generally called world models — they will need are still under development. 

Training robots to do a specific job requires a sequence of events to happen in succession without any errors. Companies are still training robots to spot and understand errors, analyze possible resolutions, and take the right corrective action.

Source:: Computer World

By Shimul Sood This wearable lets you showcase your personality while quietly packing a feature you might not expect.

Source:: Digital Trends