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Sunday, February 28, 2021

I wanted to love foldable phones, but the novelty got old fast - CNET

galaxy-z-flip-fold-samsung-product-promo-hoyle-2021
Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Let's face it, mobile phones, even the best ones, just aren't that exciting anymore. They're all way more powerful than we really need, they all have nifty multi-lens cameras and they all look essentially the same. I really hoped that folding phones would give a much needed shot of adrenaline to the industry, but well over a year on from their arrival, they've fizzled out like a damp firework and left me feeling disappointed.

I've worked for CNET for a decade and most of that time I've specifically covered mobile phones. I've seen a lot come and go. I've seen the rise and fall of BlackBerry, I've seen weird phone ideas like the Russian Yotaphone with its e-ink second screen and I saw the brief trend of curved phones like the LG G4 and Samsung's Galaxy Round. But in recent years it's seemed that genuine innovation has been put aside, with every company clamoring to make what could easily be revisions of the same product. 

Think about these phrases: "A big, vibrant screen," "A great multi-rear camera setup," "An attractive metal and glass design." Can you think of many phones that those sentiments couldn't be applied to? The result is that all the phones are pretty good, but it means that they're also equally boring. Each year's refresh adds a few megapixels onto the camera, or an extra bit of screen size. Or a slight tweak to a design that, fundamentally, remains just a rectangular slab. 

lg-g5-6164.jpg

The LG G5 came apart. And then so did LG's mobile business.

James Martin/CNET

I get it. Innovation is expensive and spending millions of dollars researching a new idea means you need a guarantee that it's going to sell well. LG found this out to its cost with phones like the weird, modular G5, which didn't sell well and now the company is reportedly looking to sell off its phone business

So when folding phones came along my spirits lifted. Here was innovation. Here was this new technology which genuinely took me back when I saw it in person for the first time and left me excited again for the possibilities of what phones could become. I know I'm not the only one who loved that idea of the phone that you wear on your wrist like a watch and unfold it when you need the bigger screen. But where is that? 

The foldables we do have are... fine. The Galaxy Z Flip and Moto Razr's clamshell design is neat in that it makes a big-screen phone more pocketable by folding in half, while the Galaxy Fold 2 and Huawei Mate X are essentially tablets that fold in half to become phones, which is fine, too. 

huawei-mate-x-galaxy-fold-comparison

The Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X are both essentially tablets that fold into phones.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

But beyond the bending screen, they haven't really pushed any boundaries. They haven't changed the way we use our phones or brought any revolution that's so groundbreaking that it alters the face of mobile altogether. They use the same version of Android, with only a few small tweaks to some apps to give a bit of additional functionality, but little beyond that. Really, they're the same phone as before, but you can fold them in half. I find it very telling that I have the Galaxy Fold and Z Flip in my house, but they're in a drawer among other past phones and I don't have any great desire to get them out again.

And you pay handsomely for that one fold feature as all folding phones cost significantly more than their respective manufacturers regular flagships. This, in turn, means that adoption is low, which gives those companies -- or third-party developers -- little incentive to think of new and creative ways to use this technology. In time, folding phones may well be cast into the pile of other gimmicks, alongside banana phones, Samsung's camera/phone hybrid and 3D phone displays

But I hope not. I hope that it sticks around and evolves into something useful and exciting. Frankly I hope that Apple takes up the cause as it does have a tendency of only adopting new technology when they can put it to a genuinely useful use, although perhaps not always (I'm looking at you, 3D Touch). 

samsung-galaxy-fold-update-uk-2019-22

The original Galaxy Fold was interesting, but it had its problems.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

But most of all I hope that any mobile company isn't afraid to try and innovate and do something a bit different. Phones used to be fun, and phone launch events were genuinely exciting to see what awesome new tech would be unveiled this time. 

That excitement isn't where it used to be. It's an ember flickering at the bottom of the fireplace now, with each generic phone launch threatening to be the bucket of sand that could put it out completely. There is a chance that folding phones could yet be the kindling that turns that ember back into a roaring inferno, but I'm not crossing my fingers. 

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2021 iPad Pro expected to have the processing chops of M1-powered Macs - PhoneArena

Here's Why Bill Gates Still Prefers Android Instead of iPhone - PCMag

(Photo by Nicolas Liponne/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

When it comes to the great iOS vs. Android debate, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates knows which side he's on.

According to 9to5Google, Gates shared his preferences in a recently audio-only interview via the Clubhouse app. It may not come as a surprise that he's firmly team Android.

Gates told journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Clubhouse co-founder Paul Davidson that, after proclaiming he preferred Android in the past, nothing has changed. While he keeps an iPhone on hand in the event he wants to use it for any reason (like using the iPhone-only Clubhouse), he has a day-to-day Android device.

Clubhouse is an app that lets you drop in on audio-only conversations. The social network resembles something of a massive series of podcast-like conversations. Right now, it's currently invite-only and only iPhone users can participate.

Gates prefers the more open nature of the Android ecosystem, as it's more "flexible" about how software interfaces with the OS.

"I actually use an Android phone," Gates told Sorkin. "Because I want to keep track of everything, I’ll often play around with iPhones, but the one I carry around happens to be Android. Some of the Android manufacturers pre-install Microsoft software in a way that makes it easy for me. They’re more flexible about how the software connects up with the operating system. So that’s what I ended up getting used to. You know, a lot of my friends have ‌iPhone‌, so there’s no purity."

In 2019, Gates admitted the way he handled Microsoft's own mobile phone division was his "greatest mistake." Microsoft ended up letting Google transform Android into the only true rival for iPhone. Microsoft missed out on a $400 billion market at the time, something Gates deeply regrets. In 2017, however, he went ahead and adopted an Android phone.

During the interview, Davidson indicated that an Android version of Clubhouse could be on its way. He called it a "top feature," which could mean the iPhone Clubhouse could soon dissipate.

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Why Bill Gates Uses Android Phones Over An iPhone | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

  1. Why Bill Gates Uses Android Phones Over An iPhone | Screen Rant  Screen Rant
  2. I switched to the iPhone after over a decade on Android — here’s what happened  Tom's Guide
  3. Here’s why Bill Gates prefers Android to iOS  BGR
  4. Google just released a tool that will breathe new life into your favorite apps  Android Central
  5. How to use your iPhone — essential tips and tricks  Tom's Guide
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News
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PSN is down: outage means online gaming hiccups for PS5, other PlayStation consoles - TechRadar

Update: PSN is down and Sony's problems continue into the weekend for certain online gaming and functionality. We can sign-in to PlayStation Network, but like yesterday, we have limited functionality.

PSN is down with a major outage right now, according to Sony's official PlayStation Network status page – and the fact that we can't log in right now on our PS4. Online gaming on PS5 is also down, according to Twitter users, but we can't first-hand test that today – not everyone has the new console due to PS5 restock shortages.

"You might have difficulty launching games, apps, or network features," confirms Sony's official PSN status page.

There are no known solutions to fix PSN being down on the user end. You can sign in to the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store, but online gaming doesn't appear to work on some games. Sony says "We're working to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

Sunday's ongoing PSN outage actually started a few days ago, according to the company's status page. There's a timestamp attached to the posting, suggesting PSN went down on Friday, February 26. However, user complaints on Twitter seem to predate Sony's official timestamp by at least 24 hours.

People who just bought the PS5 are affected, along with owners of the PS4, PS3 and PlayStation Vita. It's not clear if every online game is down right now due to the PSN outage, judging from Sony's language and our own experiences. Xbox Live went down last week and Microsoft disclosed much more granular information on its status page. 

PSN is down and the outage now spans at least three days, but this isn't the first or longest downtime for Sony's online gaming network. 

Famously, PSN went down in 2011 for 24 days, plus an additional 42 days for the then-budding PlayStation Store. In that much more dire case, it was later confirmed that hackers had exploited PSN and exposed users' information, according to Sony. Today's PSN outage seems to be unfortunate weekend downtime.

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Crypto wallets: What you need to know - CNET

Crypto prices appear to have an unstoppable upward trajectory. With Bitcoin and Ethereum hitting all-time highs again this month, more people are investing their money in digital currencies. And they have a wealth of options to keep their investments safe.

Cryptocurrencies are stored in what's called a wallet, which has a private key associated with it, similar to a password. The easiest way to get your coins in a wallet is on the cryptocurrency exchange you used to buy your currency (think Coinbase or Gemini). But more mainstream companies, like PayPal and Robinhood, have also added options to buy, sell and store crypto.

Coinbase cryptocurrency trading market
James Martin/CNET

Crypto owners who want complete control over their investments can also rely on digital wallets managed by software locally on a user's own device. For an extra layer of security, you may consider using what's known as a cold wallet, which is essentially a local device like a hard drive that's not connected to the internet.

Companies like Trezor and Ledger make special drives specifically for cryptocurrency wallets. The companies say sensitive information isn't exposed even when the devices are plugged into your computer (just don't lose the device, or the key needed to access the data on it). Check out the video above for an in-depth look at how all these options work.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook 2 is now available to purchase at Best Buy - The Verge

Samsung’s latest Chrome OS laptop, the Galaxy Chromebook 2, is now available for purchase at Best Buy. The Chromebook 2 was first announced at CES in January and features a new QLED display, 360-degree hinge, and a striking red paint job. It starts at $549.99 for a Celeron model and goes up to $699.99 for a Core i3 version, putting it at the higher end of Chromebooks.

That price is the most significant thing about the Chromebook 2 because it’s considerably less than the Galaxy Chromebook that debuted a year ago. The older Chromebook had an 4K OLED screen and came with a stylus — neither of which you’ll fine with the new model — but it also cost just under $1,000 when it came out. In our review, we found despite the gorgeous screen and striking paint job, the original Galaxy Chromebook didn’t justify its cost, particularly thanks to abysmal battery life.

We’ve yet to put the new Chromebook 2 through its paces, but we did get to see the machine in person back in January and it certainly seems like it will be competent. The QLED screen isn’t quite up to the marks of the OLED panel, but you’d be hard-pressed to notice without putting them side-by-side, and the rest of the Chromebook 2’s fit and finish are appropriate for the price Samsung is asking. Importantly, it still comes in that amazing red color, as well. You might notice the extra weight — the Chromebook 2 is about half a pound heavier — but it still falls under three pounds total and should be easily portable.

We will have a full review of the Chromebook 2 in the near future, but if you don’t want to wait and grab one yourself, you might be able to find one in stock at your local Best Buy right now. Let’s just hope Samsung improved the battery life over last time.

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I wanted to love foldable phones, but the novelty got old fast - CNET

galaxy-z-flip-fold-samsung-product-promo-hoyle-2021
Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Let's face it, mobile phones, even the best ones, just aren't that exciting anymore. They're all way more powerful than we really need, they all have nifty multi-lens cameras and they all look essentially the same. I really hoped that folding phones would give a much needed shot of adrenaline to the industry, but well over a year on from their arrival, they've fizzled out like a damp firework and left me feeling disappointed.

I've worked for CNET for a decade and most of that time I've specifically covered mobile phones. I've seen a lot come and go. I've seen the rise and fall of BlackBerry, I've seen weird phone ideas like the Russian Yotaphone with its e-ink second screen and I saw the brief trend of curved phones like the LG G4 and Samsung's Galaxy Round. But in recent years it's seemed that genuine innovation has been put aside, with every company clamoring to make what could easily be revisions of the same product. 

Think about these phrases: "A big, vibrant screen," "A great multi-rear camera setup," "An attractive metal and glass design." Can you think of many phones that those sentiments couldn't be applied to? The result is that all the phones are pretty good, but it means that they're also equally boring. Each year's refresh adds a few megapixels onto the camera, or an extra bit of screen size. Or a slight tweak to a design that, fundamentally, remains just a rectangular slab. 

lg-g5-6164.jpg

The LG G5 came apart. And then so did LG's mobile business.

James Martin/CNET

I get it. Innovation is expensive and spending millions of dollars researching a new idea means you need a guarantee that it's going to sell well. LG found this out to its cost with phones like the weird, modular G5, which didn't sell well and now the company is reportedly looking to sell off its phone business

So when folding phones came along my spirits lifted. Here was innovation. Here was this new technology which genuinely took me back when I saw it in person for the first time and left me excited again for the possibilities of what phones could become. I know I'm not the only one who loved that idea of the phone that you wear on your wrist like a watch and unfold it when you need the bigger screen. But where is that? 

The foldables we do have are... fine. The Galaxy Z Flip and Moto Razr's clamshell design is neat in that it makes a big-screen phone more pocketable by folding in half, while the Galaxy Fold 2 and Huawei Mate X are essentially tablets that fold in half to become phones, which is fine, too. 

huawei-mate-x-galaxy-fold-comparison

The Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X are both essentially tablets that fold into phones.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

But beyond the bending screen, they haven't really pushed any boundaries. They haven't changed the way we use our phones or brought any revolution that's so groundbreaking that it alters the face of mobile altogether. They use the same version of Android, with only a few small tweaks to some apps to give a bit of additional functionality, but little beyond that. Really, they're the same phone as before, but you can fold them in half. I find it very telling that I have the Galaxy Fold and Z Flip in my house, but they're in a drawer among other past phones and I don't have any great desire to get them out again.

And you pay handsomely for that one fold feature as all folding phones cost significantly more than their respective manufacturers regular flagships. This, in turn, means that adoption is low, which gives those companies -- or third-party developers -- little incentive to think of new and creative ways to use this technology. In time, folding phones may well be cast into the pile of other gimmicks, alongside banana phones, Samsung's camera/phone hybrid and 3D phone displays

But I hope not. I hope that it sticks around and evolves into something useful and exciting. Frankly I hope that Apple takes up the cause as it does have a tendency of only adopting new technology when they can put it to a genuinely useful use, although perhaps not always (I'm looking at you, 3D Touch). 

samsung-galaxy-fold-update-uk-2019-22

The original Galaxy Fold was interesting, but it had its problems.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

But most of all I hope that any mobile company isn't afraid to try and innovate and do something a bit different. Phones used to be fun, and phone launch events were genuinely exciting to see what awesome new tech would be unveiled this time. 

That excitement isn't where it used to be. It's an ember flickering at the bottom of the fireplace now, with each generic phone launch threatening to be the bucket of sand that could put it out completely. There is a chance that folding phones could yet be the kindling that turns that ember back into a roaring inferno, but I'm not crossing my fingers. 

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'Halo Infinite' Screenshots Reveal Improved Visuals - HYPEBEAST

As 343 Industries and Microsoft continue to develop Halo Infinite, teasers of their progress surfaced, offering a glimpse of the kind of visuals fans can expect.

The two companies shared a handful of screenshots that show the progress of the game’s development, and the graphics are looking quite detailed. Fans don’t get to see much of any character, but the screenshots do show a much more realistic world — Zeta Halo — that should be expected in a next-gen title. Halo Infinite is being described as a “spiritual reboot” with the aim of bringing back a similar gaming experience as early Halo titles. To achieve this, much of the visuals will reflect earlier designs, while, of course, pushing forward improved, more refined graphics.

There isn’t a clear release date for Halo Infinite, but sources are suggesting it will land sometime in the fall.

In case you missed it, check out PUBGs latest standalone mobile game.

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How to schedule text messages on your Android phone - CNET

 004-motorola-one-5g-ace

You should switch to Google Messages if you don't already use it. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Have you ever forgotten to send a happy birthday text message to a friend? Or had an idea in the middle of the night that you desperately wanted to share with a coworker but didn't want to wake them? The next time that happens, use Google Messages' new scheduling tool to pick the exact time and date you want to send a message. 

The text message scheduler is one of several new Google updates to its Android apps. Google recently announced updates to several of its Android apps, including Google Maps, Google Assistant and TalkBack

Before you can schedule a message, you'll need to have the latest version of Google Messages installed on your phone. Note that this feature will not work with your phone's default text message app, only Google Messages. If you don't know how to change your default messaging app, don't worry -- the first time you open Google Messages you'll be asked if you want to make the switch. The easiest way make sure you've got the latest version of Messages is to open the Play Store app go to My Apps and check for updates. (I have the new feature with Messages version 7.4.050.) 

Below I'll show you how to schedule a text message, including picking a custom send time and how to edit the message if you want to change anything. 

schedule-a-text-message-google-messages

Scheduling a message is easy peasy. 

Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET

How to schedule a text with the Google Messages app

The first time you launch the Google Messages app and open a conversation after updating to the latest version, you'll see a small pop-up window appear over the Send button letting you know you can schedule messages. This is similar to what you see with scheduling an email in Gmail.

To schedule a text, start typing your message then long-press the Send button. I recommend picking the scheduled time before you fully compose your message, so you don't write out the message and accidentally send it.

After you long-press on Send, you'll see a pop-up with preselected dates and times. You can go with one of those suggestions, or tap Pick date and time. That will open Android's date and time picker that lets you customize when the message will be sent, to the minute. (Handy if you want to wish someone happy birthday at the exact minute they were born.)

Once you're done setting the time, tap Save

You can then finish writing out your message. You're not limited to scheduling only text messages, but you can also add pictures and videos. When you're done, tap the Send button, which should now have a small clock icon on top of the paper airplane. 

edit-scheudled-message-google

You can always edit a message. 

Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET

How to view, edit or delete a scheduled text message

A scheduled message will appear in your conversation thread, however, it will have a clock next to it and a note that says Scheduled message underneath it. You can hide the message with a tap on Scheduled message if you prefer. 

To edit the message or the scheduled delivery time, tap the clock icon. A menu with three options will show up. Those options are update message, send now or delete message. 

Update message will let you edit the text or pick a different time. Send now will immediately send the message. Delete message will discard the text. 

Being able to schedule a message is a feature that's sure to be useful, especially if you often remember to send a message at an inconvenient time and then end up forgetting. 

Google Messages is a powerful text messaging app that has more tricks up its sleeve, like Google's Chat feature that adds iMessage-like features to Android. Android 12 was also recently announced, and there's a lot to look forward to when it launches later this year. Or, if you're brave enough, you can install it now.

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Google Quietly Fixes One of the Biggest Android Auto Issues - autoevolution

One of the most unexpected bugs in Android Auto was discovered earlier this year, and it caused Pixel phones to automatically reboot whenever they were plugged into the head unit to launch the app.
1 photo
In other words, the moment you connected the USB-C cable to launch Android Auto, the smartphone automatically restarted, and users explained this happened every single time.

If I leave the cable plugged in, the phone will reboot then once I swipe up to unlock it will show the Google logo and reboot again repeatedly until I disconnect my phone from the cable. I have tried to boot into safe mode, which sort of works, I can connect my phone to the cable and use the phone still, but Android Auto never connects to the head unit at all,” one user explains.

Google has confirmed earlier this week that it managed to determine the cause of the problem, and as it turns out, Android Auto wasn’t the only one to blame for the whole thing.

Google Chrome, the browser that comes pre-loaded with Android devices, came with a rare bug which alongside an issue in Android Auto caused a combined glitch forcing Pixel phones to automatically reboot on connect.

A fix has been applied for Android Auto app version 6.1 (currently rolling out in Google Play) and Chrome app version 88.0.4324.181 or higher (available in Google Play for everyone). A configuration change to the Chrome app unrelated to Android Auto caused an unexpected combination of bugs in some head units and the Android operating system,” a member of the Android Auto team confirmed this week.

So there you go, if your Pixel reboots when connected to the head unit in an attempt to launch Android Auto, what you have to do is to install the latest app updates on the device. The issue apparently affected Pixel phones exclusively, so if you run Android Auto with a Samsung device, the rebooting glitch shouldn’t normally occur.

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GPT-3: We’re at the very beginning of a new app ecosystem - VentureBeat

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The most impressive thing about OpenAI’s natural language processing (NLP) model, GPT-3, is its sheer size. With more than 175 billion weighted connections between words known as parameters, the transformer encoder-decoder model blows its 1.5 billion parameter predecessor, GPT-2, out of the water. This has allowed the model to generate text that is surprisingly human-like after only being fed a few examples of the task you want it to do.

Its release in 2020 dominated headlines, and people were scrambling to get on the waitlist to access its API hosted on OpenAI’s cloud service. Now, months later, as more users have gained access to the API (myself included), interesting applications and use cases have been popping up every day. For instance, Debuild.co has some really interesting demos where you can build an application by giving the program a few simple instructions in plain English.

Despite the hype, questions persist as to whether GPT-3 will be the bedrock upon which an NLP application ecosystem will rest or if newer, stronger NLP models with knock it off its throne. As enterprises begin to imagine and engineer NLP applications, here’s what they should know about GPT-3 and its potential ecosystem.

GPT-3 and the NLP arms race

As I’ve described in the past, there are really two approaches for pre-training an NLP model: generalized and ungeneralized.

An ungeneralized approach has specific pretraining objectives that are aligned with a known use case. Basically, these models go deep in a smaller, more focused data set rather than going wide in a massive data set. An example of this is Google’s PEGASUS model, which is built specifically to enable text summarization. PEGASUS is pretrained on a data set that closely resembles its final objective. It is then fine-tuned on text summarization datasets to deliver state-of-the-art results. The benefit of the ungeneralized approach is that it can dramatically increase accuracy for specific tasks. However, it is also significantly less flexible than a generalized model and still requires a lot of training examples before it can begin achieving accuracy.

A generalized approach, in contrast, goes wide. This is GPT-3’s 175 billion parameters at work, and it’s essentially pretrained on the entire internet. This allows GPT-3 to execute basically any NLP task with just a handful of examples, though its accuracy is not always ideal. In fact, the OpenAI team highlights the limits of generalized pre-training and even cede that GPT-3 has “notable weaknesses in text synthesis.”

OpenAI has decided that going bigger is better when it comes to accuracy problems, with each version of the model increasing the number of parameters by orders of magnitude. Competitors have taken notice. Google researchers recently released a paper highlighting a Switch Transformer NLP model that has 1.6 trillion parameters. This is a simply ludicrous number, but it could mean we’ll see a bit of an arms race when it comes to generalized models. While these are far and away the two largest generalized models, Microsoft does have Turing-NLG at 17 billion parameters and might be looking to join the arms race as well. When you consider that it cost OpenAI almost $12 million to train GPT-3, such an arms race could get expensive.

Promising GPT-3 applications

GPT-3’s flexibility is what makes it attractive from an application ecosystem standpoint. You can use it to do just about anything you can imagine with language. Predictably, startups have begun to explore how to use GPT-3 to power the next generation of NLP applications. Here’s a list of interesting GPT-3 products compiled by Alex Schmitt at Cherry Ventures.

Many of these applications are broadly consumer-facing such as the “Love Letter Generator,” but there are also more technical applications such as the “HTML Generator.” As enterprises consider how and where they can incorporate GPT-3 into their business processes, a couple of the most promising early use cases are in healthcare, finance, and video meetings.

For enterprises in healthcare, financial services, and insurance, streamlining research is a huge need. Data in these fields is growing exponentially, and it’s becoming impossible to stay on top of your field in the face of this spike. NLP applications built on GPT-3 could scrape through the latest reports, papers, results, etc., and contextually summarize the key findings to save researchers time.

And as video meetings and telehealth became increasingly important during the pandemic, we’ve seen demand rise for NLP tools that can be applied to video meetings. What GPT-3 offers is the ability not just to script and take notes from an individual meeting, but also to generate “too long; didn’t read” (TL;DR) summaries.

How enterprises and startups can build a moat

Despite these promising use cases, the major inhibitor to a GPT-3 application ecosystem is how easily a copycat could replicate the performance of any application developed using GPT-3’s API.

Everyone using GPT-3’s API is getting the same NLP model pre-trained on the same data, so the only differentiator is the fine-tuning data that an organization leverages to specialize the use case. The more fine-tuning data you use, the more differentiated and more sophisticated the output.

What does this mean? Larger organizations with a higher number of users or more data than their competitors will better be able to take advantage of GPT-3’s promise. GPT-3 won’t lead to disruptive startups; it will allow enterprises and large organizations to optimize their offerings due to their incumbent advantage.

What does this mean for enterprises and startups moving forward?

Applications built using GPT-3’s API are just starting to scratch the surface of possible use cases, and so we haven’t yet seen an ecosystem of interesting proof-of-concepts develop. How such an ecosystem would monetize and mature is also still an open question.

Because differentiation in this context requires fine-tuning, I expect enterprises to embrace the generalization of GPT-3 for certain NLP tasks while sticking with ungeneralized models such as PEGASUS for more specific NLP tasks.

Additionally, as the number of parameters expands exponentially among the big NLP players, we could see users shifting between ecosystems depending on whoever has the lead at the moment.

Regardless of whether a GPT-3 application ecosystem matures or whether it’s superseded by another NLP model, enterprises should be excited at the relative ease with which it’s becoming possible to create highly articulated NLP models. They should explore use cases and consider how they can take advantage of their position in the market to quickly build out value-adds for their customers and their own business processes.

Dattaraj Rao is Innovation and R&D Architect at Persistent Systems and author of the book Keras to Kubernetes: The Journey of a Machine Learning Model to Production. At Persistent Systems, he leads the AI Research Lab. He has 11 patents in machine learning and computer vision.

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Report: Canceled Stadia projects included first-party multiplayer game, Savage Planet 2, Kojima exclusive - 9to5Google

After publicly announcing the closure of Stadia Games & Entertainment, continued reports have revealed further details about what the studio was working out. Apparently, now-canceled first party projects from Stadia included a multiplayer action game known as “Frontier,” a sequel to Journey to the Savage Planet 2, and an exclusive game from the legendary Kojima.

A report from VideoGamesChronicle claims to reveal a few of the major projects that Stadia Games & Entertainment, SG&E, had in the works.

First and foremost, Google’s game studios apparently had a major action multiplayer game in the works under the codename “Frontier.” The team developing that game was reportedly led by Francois Pelland, the former producers of Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Not much about the game is known, but the team working on it only found out about the cancellation in February, likely on the day it went public.

Beyond that, Google’s purchase of Typhoon Studios was set to result in a sequel to the hit Journey to the Savage Planet which just made its Stadia debut this month. Apparently, the game was “far grander” in scale with fully animated cut-scenes. Again, the team here only found out about the project’s cancellation alongside the public announcement.

Stadia Games & Entertainment was also working with some third-party studios to develop exclusive games for the Stadia platform. It’s been publicly known for some time that Harmonix was working with SG&E on an exclusive, and apparently the music game was “virtually complete.” In response to the VGC report, Harmonix CEO claimed the game has not been canceled as well as denying rumors that the game was facing music licensing issues. The title will apparently still be released, even if it ends up on a different platform with Steve Janiak saying:

While Google has shifted its strategy, we remain incredibly excited about what we’ve been working on for Stadia and if the project isn’t released for Stadia we will take it to other platforms

Finally, the report also mentions that Google was working with Kojima Productions, the studio behind Death Stranding, Silent Hills, and Metal Gear Solid, on an episodic horror game. Apparently, the studio was looking to innovate in the cloud gaming space, but Stadia VP Phil Harrison blocked the project from coming to light. Notably, Hideo Kojima said last summer that he was “pretty pissed” over a major project’s cancellation, but it’s unclear if that’s the same project that Harrison blocked.

It’s pretty obvious that Google had quite a lot of major projects going on with SG&E, only adding to the confusion that the company decided to pull the plug before any of these projects could come anywhere close to completion. If only things had panned out differently.

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Sony’s PlayStation Network experiencing outage Saturday - The Verge

An outage of Sony’s PlayStation Network that began Friday afternoon appeared to be persisting on Saturday morning. According to an update on the status page timestamped 6:33PM (not clear what time zone that is) on February 26th, the affected platforms are PS Vita, PS3, PS4, and PS5.

“You might have difficulty launching games, apps, or network features. We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience,” the update reads.

Engadget reported that the outage may be affecting some games but not others; Fortnite appeared to be accessible but Minecraft and Call of Duty: Warzone were not.

The PlayStation Network outage began a day after Microsoft’s Xbox Live service suffered a global outage for five hours. On February 10th, the PlayStation Network was down worldwide for about an hour.

We’ve reached out to Sony for details about what’s causing the outage, how widespread it is, and when it may be resolved, and will update when we learn more.

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Terraria dev says Stadia launch will now proceed after resolving spat with Google - Eurogamer.net

Cites "hard work the Stadia team has put in".

Earlier this month, following a very public spat with Google, Terraria studio Re-Logic announced it was ceasing development of the game's Stadia version. However, it's now decided to reverse that decision and development will proceed.

Events came to a head at the start of February, when Re-Logic founder Andrew Spinks railed against Google on Twitter after his account had been disabled for three weeks with no explanation - preventing access to his Google Play app library, Google Drive data, and YouTube channel. "The worst of all," he wrote, "is losing access to my Gmail address of over 15 years."

"I absolutely have not done anything to violate your terms of service, so I can take this no other way than you deciding to burn this bridge," he added. "Consider it burned. Terraria for Google Stadia is cancelled. My company will no longer support any of your platforms moving forward."

Terraria: Journey's End trailer.

In a new update posted to the Terraria forum, however, Re-Logic has announced the Stadia version will go ahead after all. "As you may have noticed, we had a ton of issues to kick off the year stemming from the locking-down of Redigit's entire Google account in early January," the company wrote. "After a month of pushing (and with the immense support of our fans), Google finally reached out and was able to provide a lot of transparency around the situation and to restore access to all of our accounts."

"Due to the hard work the Stadia team has put in - as well as our partners at 505 Games - we have decided that we will allow the upcoming launch [of] Terraria on Google Stadia to proceed," the statement continued. "The Terraria Stadia build is based on the DR Studios 1.4.0.5 (latest) build, and is currently at Google for certification review."

There's no word on when Terraria for Stadia might launch, but it's encouraging to see the issue resolved with relative speed. Stadia, of course, recently ceased all internal game development, meaning it's now absolutely critical for it to shore up relationships with external studios.

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FF7 Remake PS5 Upgrade Reaction, and Xbox Cloud Plans - GameSpot

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  1. FF7 Remake PS5 Upgrade Reaction, and Xbox Cloud Plans  GameSpot
  2. PlayStation Plus games for March: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Maquette, Remnant: From the Ashes and Farpoint  PlayStation.Blog
  3. Square Enix Is Finally Making The Final Fantasy VII Cinematic Universe Playable  Kotaku
  4. PS Plus Gives FF7 Remake Away For Free... With a Catch - IGN Daily Fix  IGN
  5. Deathloop and Sifu Come Out Swinging During Sony’s First State of Play of 2021  The Root
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News
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Bill Gates explains why he still prefers Android over iPhone during interview on Clubhouse - 9to5Mac

During a recent interview on the invite-only audio conversation app Clubhouse, Bill Gates revealed why he still prefers to use an Android phone over the iPhone. What it boils down to, Gates explained, is that Android manufacturers are “more flexible” with software integration.

As our colleagues over at 9to5Google reported, Gates joined Andrew Ross Sorkin for an interview in the Clubhouse app this week. Clubhouse, which is gaining quickly in popularity, is currently an iPhone-only app, but an Android version is on the way.

Gates has talked about his use of Android in the past, so Sorkin was curious if his preference might have changed, given that he was speaking through a service that’s only available on iOS.

In response, the Microsoft founder explained that he still prefers an Android, but that he keeps an iPhone around to try out — and apparently for joining Clubhouse rooms. Gates’ reasoning for using Android is because manufacturers often pre-install Microsoft software:

I actually use an Android phone. Because I want to keep track of everything, I’ll often play around with iPhones, but the one I carry around happens to be Android. Some of the Android manufacturers pre-install Microsoft software in a way that makes it easy for me. They’re more flexible about how the software connects up with the operating system. So that’s what I ended up getting used to. You know, a lot of my friends have ‌iPhone‌, so there’s no purity.

The reasoning here is a bit odd because you can download Microsoft apps from the App Store on iPhone, and even now adjust your default browser and email apps with iOS 14, so it’s not clear what Gates is referring to.

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Bill Gates Issues Serious Bitcoin Warning As Tesla Billionaire Elon Musk Stokes Crypto Price ‘Mania’ - Forbes

Friday, February 26, 2021

10 Tips and Tricks for Getting Started in Outbreak Mode - Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Wiki Guide - IGN

Last Edited:

From understanding the map, earning bonus points, using vehicles to your advantage to run down hordes, and even completing side activities such as the Dragon Relic, we have you covered in our complete guide to succeeding in the latest Zombies mode, Outbreak.

Quick Tips and Tricks

  • Look for the Star icon on your map as this indicates your main objective - which can be one of five possible objectives. Without completing the main objective, you will not be able to move onto the next region.
  • It's easy to get caught off guard in Outbreak, so make full use of your available Field Upgrades. While there are a bunch of these special abilities available on offer, we found the Healing Aura Tier III - especially as you upgrade its different tiers - will be an essential ability to your team. Not only will it revive any downed teammates, but it'll also heal you up as well.
  • Low on ammunition? Look for the bullet icons that appear on your mini-map to find ammo crates around the map.
  • Don't be afraid to spice things up! Teams with varying loadouts have been proven to be much more successful than others that use the same weapons, loadouts, and field upgrades.
  • Don't underestimate any straggler zombies, as more often than not, that one zombie that you chose to leave alive while you continue to explore nearby buildings or while using the likes of the Pack-a-Punch or Arsenal Machine will end up being the death of you. As these singular zombies manage to link back up with a herd, you'll be surprised at just how easy it is to get caught off guard and quickly swarmed.

Melee Zombies During Early Difficulty Levels for Bonus Points

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Much like the standard Zombies mode, Outbreak offers additional points for meleeing Zombies; while it isn't a massive bonus, any additional points when you're first starting out will help you unlock upgrades faster.

Do keep in mind that knifing Zombies isn't necessarily an effective strategy past difficulty two unless you have managed to earn enough points to justify pack-a-punching a green rarity combat knife or higher. While you will manage to one-shot most enemies with the upgrade, you'll struggle against the Elite and Special Zombies, which become much more frequent.

Alternatively, if you have to use a weapon, try aiming for headshots as these will earn you additional points as well.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Success in Outbreak all comes down to teamwork. Without communication, your team will quickly become overrun, and completing objectives will become significantly more difficult than they need to be.

So, if you're playing with a random team or even a group of friends, be sure to speak up and start making coordinated calls that include asking for help, calling loot chests, side activities, and more.

If you're struggling to succeed with random teams when your friends aren't online, we recommend sticking with the dedicated Outbreak solo playlist. Not only will this allow you to get some much-needed practice, but it will make your overall Outbreak experience much easier.

Loot Everything Possible

Don't go rushing throughout the different worlds, as you'll be heavily benefitted sticking around and looting the different areas that each map has to offer. This will become abundantly clear as you start to explore each map, as you will begin finding hidden loot chests within buildings and other random locations that contain everything from rare weapons, salvage, ammo, armor, and even consumables.

While these loot chests aren't marked on your mini-map, they can be found by listening for a jingle-like noise, followed by a childish laugh. If you're able to hear this noise, it will indicate that a loot chest can be found somewhere nearby.

These chests come in different rarity tiers, though, so don't be surprised if you need to a little bit of searching before you come across the rarer tier chests.

Purchase Armor As Soon As Possible

As you start opening more and more loot boxes, you'll quickly start racking up a rather impressive collection of salvage. You will want to make full use of this scrap by purchasing armor from the Arsenal machines that can be found throughout the map.

These machines are red and grey in color and feature a standing mannequin that's wearing armor. As you progress throughout the waves and different regions, the game will start noticeably increasing in difficulty, and armor will be a must if you plan on surviving.

Armor isn't the only upgrade that you can purchase, as you can also purchase weapon damage, which we have found to be more powerful than Pack-a-Punching your weapons. While armor should always be your top priority, we would definitely recommend upgrading your weapon damage once you've got enough points to spare.

Vehicles Aren't Just For Traveling From Point A to Point B

While vehicles such as the Sedan and Light Truck will make exploring the large maps of Outbreak just that much easier, they are also extremely useful for running down hordes of Zombies. Although they will eventually become damaged over time, finding a new vehicle for you and your team shouldn't be too big of a hassle as we've found that they quite frequently spawn throughout the different maps.

Additionally, if you're to take down at least 100 Zombies with your vehicle, you'll complete a Dark Ops challenge. If you complete all nine challenges, you'll unlock a unique "Grey Matter" Epic Sniper Rifle Blueprint.

For more details on how to unlock each of the 9 Dark Ops Challenges in Outbreak, check out our complete guide below:

Looking for more Outbreak content? Check out our Outbreak Hub to find even more How-To Guides.

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Halo Infinite developers call it a "spiritual reboot" with familiar visuals - Rock Paper Shotgun

We now know that there's quite a wait yet for Halo Infinite to arrive this autumn, but 343 Industries have committed to filling that time with regular blog post chats from developers. This month they've rounded up a crew to talk about what makes Infinite a "spiritual reboot" of earlier Halo games. They've also snuck in a cheeky defense of the grappleshot.

In this month's Inside Infinite, campaign art lead Justin Dinges says that 343's art direction is focused on themes of "legacy" and "simplicity".

"We really want players to feel like they are experiencing a game that they remember fondly (Halo: Combat Evolved), but with modernized graphics of course," Dinges says. "Another good example is how we have taken the visual design of the Jackals and Grunts back closer to their appearance in Halo 3 and previous titles. We want players to feel a nostalgic familiarity with these designs, like meeting up with an old friend, as they experience all that Halo Infinite has to offer."

On the subject of simplicity, Dinges says the team's takeaway from Halo 5 was to steer away from "noisy" designs and head towards an artistic interpretation of the world rather than photo realism.

Gameplay director Troy Mashburn explains that "spiritual reboot" is also a concept that 343 have used to guide inclusion of new things like the grappleshot.

I've not done any serious Spartan-ing since Halo 3, and even I couldn't help thinking "really? why?" when the grappleshot was revealed. We're just going to have to trust 343 on this one, it sounds, because all three of this month's participants showed up to sing its praises.

"If you are a fan of using melee, like I am, you are going to love grappling towards enemies to land that powerful knockout blow. Sooo satisfying," Mashburn says. It will also let you reach all sorts of locations you wouldn't have been able to in past games, Dinges adds, which will open up neat vantage points. World design lead John Mulkey says that the grappleshot itself is fun, and so is combining it with other pieces of equipment that have their own functions. "I cannot wait to see the YouTube videos people share showing off moves we never even imagined."

Alright, fine. I'll reserve judgement on the grappleshot a bit longer.

As they approach launch this autumn, Dinges and Mashburn say that their teams are focusing on bug fixing, polish, and addressing user feedback from internal playtesting.

As ever, this month's Inside Infinite is pretty chunky, so there's plenty more from all three developers if you're in the mood for a read.

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Pokémon Platinum Content Spotted In Diamond And Pearl Remake Trailer - Nintendo Life

It's official, The Pokémon Company has announced Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are arriving this year.

The PR describes how the Nintendo DS originals have been faithfully reproduced. There are also a number of updates, including easy-to-understand and player-friendly conveniences.

All of this has got fans wondering if the content from the third version, Pokémon Platinum, will feature. According to a Twitter user known as 'voltimer', there's a good chance it will, based on the reveal trailer:

As can be seen above, there's apparently an extra NPC in the Platinum version of Floaroma Town that also features in the Switch version. This character gives you Gracidea if you have Shaymin on hand.

It's also considered as "more concrete evidence" than the appearance of Porygon-Z in the Switch trailer - which appears in Diamond and Pearl's post-game.

What do you make of all this? Think it's a sign of Platinum Version content in the remakes? Leave a comment down below.

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