October 2023 – Page 2

YouTube debuts new playback controls and creator-focused features | TechCrunch

YouTube is rolling out a new set of features for better mobile-based playback, song search and creator-friendly tools, including a feature that will highlight the “like and subscribe” buttons when a creator utters those words. The company is making it easier for users to increase playback speed. With the new update, users can just tap and hold anywhere on the player to increase the speed to 2x, and once they reach the part they want they can let go.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/17/youtube-is-launching-new-playback-and-creator-focused-features/

Spotify is launching a personalized in-app Merch Hub | TechCrunch

Spotify is launching a dedicated in-app Merch Hub that provides personalized merch recommendations based on your listening habits, the company announced on Monday. Previously, you could purchase artist merch from individual artist profiles, the Now Playing view, and release pages. Now, you can access all artist merch in one dedicated place.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/16/spotify-launching-personalized-in-app-merch-hub/

Google pays Apple $18B+ a year to keep its search in iPhone

"We believe there is a possibility that federal courts rule against Google and force it to terminate its search deal with Apple," said Bernstein in the report sent to The Register. "We estimate that the ISA is worth $18B-20B in annual payments from Google to Apple, accounting for 14-16 percent of Apple's annual operating profits."
https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/10/google_pays_apple_18_20_claims_bernstein/?td=rt-3a

Sony’s Access controller for the PlayStation aims to make gaming easier for people with disabilities

Playing video games has long been a challenge for people with disabilities. As part of the gaming industry's efforts to address the problem, Sony has developed the Access controller for the PlayStation.
https://qz.com/sonys-access-controller-for-the-playstation-aims-to-mak-1850921182

Adobe Firefly’s generative AI models can now create vector graphics in Illustrator | TechCrunch

Illustrator is Adobe’s vector graphics tool for graphic artists and it’s about to join the generative AI era with the launch of the Firefly Vector Model at Adobe’s MAX conference today. In its beta, Illustrator will now let you create entire scenes through a text prompt. What’s nifty here is that those scenes can consist of multiple objects. So this isn’t just a jumble of vectors that make up the overall graphic but Illustrator will automatically generate these different objects and you can manipulate them individually to your heart’s content, just like any other group or layer in Illustrator.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/10/adobe-brings-its-firefly-generative-ai-models-to-vector-graphics-in-illustrator/

Generative AI Is a Disaster, and Companies Don’t Seem to Really Care

Tech companies continue to insist that AI-generated content is the future as they release more trendy chatbots and image-generating tools. But despite reassurances that these systems will have robust safeguards against misuse, the screenshots speak for themselves.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88xdez/generative-ai-is-a-disaster-and-companies-dont-seem-to-really-care

Meta’s Deranged AI-Generated Stickers Include Waluigi with a Gun, Child Soldiers, Naked People

Meta has started slowly rolling out its new AI-generated stickers for Messenger, and the results so far are totally unhinged. It is somewhat staggering that a company as large as Meta would release AI tools into the wild with, apparently, so few guardrails that they generate images that could start an international incident.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a37qd/metas-ai-stickers-wa