BATTERYFORPC BLOG
I Met a Hologram on an iPhone. It Was Impressive, if Imperfect
Ericsson is intent on making holographic communication an everyday reality. I saw it done using little more than a couple of phones. Not so long ago, video calling your friends and family on the other side of the world with great ease and little expense was a pipe dream. Now it's our everyday reality. On the horizon is a new technology built to upgrade video calls by bringing the people on the ot ... Read more
2024-03-19 19:42:23
Microsoft Copilot Now Has GPT-4 Turbo for Free: What to Know
The advanced artificial intelligence model powering Copilot's Pro tier wasn't free to all until now. Microsoft's artificial intelligence assistant, Copilot, has received an upgrade to its free tier. GPT-4 Turbo, the OpenAI model that powers Copilot Pro, is now available if you use Copilot free. All you need to do is set Copilot to either Creative or Precise mode to gain access to GPT-4 Turbo. If ... Read more
2024-03-18 19:19:38
Siri Could Become More Like Chat-GPT This Year: Here's How
Apple was the first major tech company to launch a voice assistant back in 2011. But a common criticism of Siri is that it's struggled to compete with Amazon's Alexa, Google's Assistant and, more recently, ChatGPT-powered assistants. If rumors are right, however, Siri is expected to receive a big brain power boost this year, thanks mostly to AI. The integration of large language models, the techn ... Read more
2024-03-17 19:37:37
Norfolk County Council beats Apple in £385m iPhone row
Apple has agreed to pay $490m (£385m) to settle a lawsuit led by Norfolk County Council. The class action alleged the tech giant's boss, Tim Cook, defrauded shareholders by covering up lower demand for iPhones in China. Norfolk Council said a pension fund it administered lost money as a result of Mr Cook's actions. In a statement, the Norfolk Pension Fund said it was "very proud of this re ... Read more
2024-03-15 20:04:26
Apple Bought an AI Startup: What to Know About Its AI Plans
Apple quietly purchased the startup earlier this year amid the company's big push for more AI features in iOS 18. It's no secret that Apple is late to the generative artificial intelligence party, with ChatGPT and competitors from Microsoft and Google already on the market. But its entry to the gen AI sphere could be coming soon: on Thursday, Bloomberg reported that earlier this year, Apple acqui ... Read more
2024-03-14 19:09:20
China says TikTok ban would 'come back to bite' the US
China has warned that a proposed ban on TikTok would "come back to bite" the US, as lawmakers approved a bill that could lead to the app being banned. The bill in the House of Representatives would force the Chinese-owned app to sever ties with China or become unavailable in the US. US officials have long expressed concern about TikTok, citing potential national security risks. TikTok ... Read more
2024-03-13 19:14:49
TikTok: What is it, how does it work and could the US ban it?
The TikTok video app is hugely popular with young people around the world. But for many years the Chinese-owned company has faced questions over the security of users' data, and its links to the government in Beijing. US politicians are debating legislation that would force TikTok's parent company to sell the app, but former US president Donald Trump has criticised the bill, despite previously s ... Read more
2024-03-12 19:22:46
iOS 17 Cheat Sheet: All Your iPhone's Latest Features Explained
From Stolen Device Protection, all the new emoji and more, here's what to know about iOS 17.
Apple's iOS 17 was released in September, shortly after the company held its "Wonderlust" event, where the tech giant announced the new iPhone 15 lineup, the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. We put together this cheat sheet to help you learn about and use the new features in iOS 17. It'll also help you keep track of the subsequent iOS 17 updates.
2024-03-10 21:46:30
Apple Reverses Decision: Epic Games Can Offer Competing App Store After All
Epic says it will now launch its own app store, and bring Fortnite to iOS in Europe. Well, that was fast. This past Wednesday, Fortnite maker Epic Games said Apple had prevented it from releasing its game and app store in the European Union by terminating Epic's access to develop apps for iPhones and iPads. Now Apple has restored that access and Epic says it'll proceed with its plans. "Appl ... Read more
2024-03-08 18:04:19
TikTok: US House panel approves bill that could ban or force sale of app
A US congressional panel has approved a bill that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the app within six months or face a ban. The measure, introduced by another House of Representatives committee and backed by the White House, cites national security concerns. TikTok says the proposed legislation would hurt free speech and small businesses that rely the app. It has urged it ... Read more
2024-03-07 19:45:37