Google has reportedly been working for years to separate the Chrome browser from Chrome OS, that’s how entangled they are, and it looks like this project is ready to bear fruit. The solution seems to be a new-ish standalone Linux-based browser, named Lacros, that would replace the current Chrome OS-based browser. What’s more?
Sometimes a revamp is nothing more than bells and whistles, and other times it completely changes your experience. Google is gunning for the second, announcing new updates for Chrome on mobile and desktop that focus on integration and efficiency. New mobile features concentrate on improving your search process, while Chrome for desktop is streamlining how you download and access files from the web.
Meta is making it easier for artists and sound designers to produce audio using only AI. The Facebook owner has released an open source AudioCraft kit that bundles three existing generative AI models for creating sounds from text descriptions. AudioGen and MusicGen respectively produce sound effects and music, while EnCodec compresses sounds to produce higher-quality results. A musician or sound designer might have everything they need to compose pieces.
It's about to get easier to stream your favorite console games: Discord has announced it's rolling out Stream to Discord for Xbox, allowing you to stream directly from your Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One. This news marks the first implementation of a console streaming directly to Discord, which has only been available for PC and mobile gamers.
With artificial intelligence becoming increasingly prominent, Kickstarter wants you to know if and how it’s being used in any projects on the platform. The company will soon require creators to disclose any use of AI in their projects. The policy will apply to every project that’s submitted on or after August 29th.
China might put further limits on kids' smartphone use. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has proposed draft rules that would cap the phone time of children under 18 to a maximum of two hours per day. That's only for 16- and 17-year-olds, too. Youth between eight and 15 would be limited to one hour per day, while those under eight would have 40 minutes.
When Samsung released the original Galaxy Fold, it was about as durable as a Fabergé egg. But over the years, the company has made a number of changes to address the fragility of its flagship foldable phone.
Less than a year after launching the Action 3, DJI has unveiled the Osmo Action 4 with an improved camera that makes it better in low light.
Microsoft is dipping into the world of self-repair by offering replacement parts for Xbox gamepads, along with downloadable instructions and tutorial videos. The service will cover both the standard Xbox Wireless Controller models and the (pricey) Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller.
One of the main selling points for Twitter Blue — now "X Blue" — when the service was first launched was that anybody on the platform willing to pay for it can get the once-coveted blue checkmark. Over the past months, though, subscribers have been getting shamed for paying $8 a month or $84 a year for the service.