hightechz.net

23 Oct

Amazon claims the headline isn’t robots taking jobs as it reveals new cost-cutting robots

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A New York Times report on Tuesday cited internal Amazon documents touting how its shift into automation could help it sell more products without hiring more people, but today the company has issued a PR blast about robotics and delivery tech that is much sunnier. Along with a tease of AI-connected augmented reality smart glasses and VR training for its drivers, Amazon showed off 10 robots it’s using or testing right now (it didn’t mention whether any of them had issues during the recent AWS outage). In one post, Amazon highlighted Blue Jay, a robot it calls “an extra set…

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22 Oct

Musk wants to get rid of Tesla’s robotaxi babysitters ‘by the end of the year’

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted the company would be able to remove the safety monitors from its robotaxis "by the end of the year." He also said Tesla would launch a robotaxi service in 8-10 new markets also before the end of 2025. "We are expecting to have no safety drivers in at least large parts of Austin by the end of this year," Musk said in an earnings call with investors. "So within a few months, we expect to have no safety drivers at all, at least in parts of Austin. We're obviously being very cautious about the deployment."…

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22 Oct

Here are Amazon’s smart delivery glasses that guide drivers and scan packages

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Remember when word got out that Amazon was building smart glasses for its delivery drivers before possibly launching a version for consumers as well? Amazon has just revealed those “Amelia” glasses to the world — with a built-in display and an always-on camera to assist drivers as they go. They can help drivers find the right packages inside their delivery vans, give them turn-by-turn directions to the right address, and take a hands-free photo of a successful delivery instead of needing them to whip out a phone. (Ever had an Amazon driver tell you, “Please don’t take your package yet,…

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22 Oct

Fandom’s CEO has left the company

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After six years as Fandom’s CEO, Perkins Miller is parting ways with the popular wiki hosting platform. While there has yet to be an official announcement, The Verge has learned that Miller is no longer working for Fandom as of last week. In a statement sent to The Verge on Fandom’s behalf, Katie Schroeder confirmed Miller’s departure and noted that, while the company is currently being overseen by interim leadership, “we have not announced a new CEO as of yet.” After leaving StubHub to join Fandom in 2019, Miller oversaw the company’s $50 million acquisition of a number of entertainment…

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22 Oct

Lomography made a new film camera that charges with USB-C

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Boxy can be beautiful. Lomography announced a new Lomo MC-A film camera, a 35mm format point-and-shoot with a fixed 32mm f/2.8 lens and metal body. It’s a charmer of a new film shooter, complete with a built-in flash, autofocusing glass lens, manual film advance lever, and an included CR2 battery that recharges via USB-C. The MC-A is available for preorder now for $549 in black or silver, and it’s going to be made in small batches with the first delivering “before December 24th.” Lomo cameras have a reputation for being mostly toy-like and choosing fun over features or tech specs.…

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22 Oct

Samsung Galaxy XR hands-on: It’s like a cheaper Apple Vision Pro and launches today

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Watching the first few minutes of KPop Demon Hunters on Samsung's Galaxy XR headset, I think Apple's Vision Pro might be cooked. It's not because the Galaxy XR - which Samsung formerly teased as Project Moohan - is that much better than the Vision Pro. It's that the experience is comparable, but you get so much more bang for your buck. Specifically, Galaxy XR costs $1,799 compared to the Vision Pro's astronomical $3,499. The headset launches in the US and Korea today, and to lure in more customers, Samsung and Google are offering an "explorer pack" with each headset that…

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21 Oct

Netflix is ‘judiciously’ expanding into interactive experiences

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A screenshot from Lego Party!, which will be available on Netflix. Netflix has been investing a lot of time and energy into gaming, but the company sees its work on games as part of a broader initiative around interactivity, co-CEO Greg Peters said in today’s Q3 2025 earnings call. “We’ve mostly talked so far about our work in this space as games because that’s an easy shorthand,” he said. “But we see this initiative as more about interactivity broadly. How does interactivity become complementary to linear storytelling? How is it able to unlock whole new entertainment experiences?” As an example,…

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21 Oct

The iPhone 17’s selfie camera is to blame for delayed Project Indigo support

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iPhone 17 Pro owners are still waiting for Project Indigo support. | Photo: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The iPhone 17 series launched just over a month ago, but Adobe’s camera app Project Indigo still doesn’t support the latest iPhones — you can run it on an iPhone 12 Pro if you have one handy, but I can’t use it on the iPhone 17 Pro on my desk. The holdup seems to be due in part to trouble with the phone’s new selfie camera, according to a post on Adobe’s forum (spotted by a keen-eyed redditor). And although it seems…

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21 Oct

How Apple’s walled garden protects ICE

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Hello and welcome to Regulator. Of all the strange, unintended consequences stemming from major lawsuits, I never thought that the Trump administration's power to force Apple to remove ICE-tracking mobile apps from its stores could have been connected to a legal battle over Fortnite V-Bucks. Yes, we are talking about the in-game digital currency that Fortnite players can use to buy taco hats and trending zoomer dance emotes for their avatars. Yes, they're the ones you can purchase as gift cards at CVS for a 9-year-old's emergency birthday gift. But at one point, they were the subject of two major…

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21 Oct

Google’s new deadline for Epic consequences is October 29th

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Two days from today, October 22nd, was Google’s deadline to begin opening up its app store, stop forcing developers to use Google Play Billing, let them set their own prices, and more, following Epic’s repeated wins in Epic v. Google. But both Epic and Google have just successfully and mysteriously argued for one final week’s delay. US District Court Judge James Donato has just agreed to push back enforcement of his permanent injunction until October 29th instead. Here’s the text of the order. It’s brief! ORDER. At the joint request of the parties, MDL Dkt. No. 1110, the upcoming October…

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