A report from The New York Times over the weekend highlights the small — but apparently growing — trend of users wearing their Apple Watches on their ankles. What’s becoming something of a viral sensation on social platforms like TikTok is the result of a pragmatic decision. Some Apple Watch owners’ wrists are simply too small to get a proper read with on-board sensors like heart-rate monitoring.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/10/tiktok-influencers-are-wearing-apple-watches-on-their-ankles/
This phenomenon, known as “swiping fatigue,” is the feeling of exhaustion that comes from what seems like endless swiping and disappointing attempts to find real connections. Since 2020, downloads for dating apps including Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble have been on the decline due to tired and dissatisfied users.
https://qz.com/dating-apps-tinder-bumble-technology-business-algorithm-1851752577
"With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," says Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple’s senior director of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apps and iCloud. "Apple Invites brings together capabilities our users already know and love across iPhone, iCloud, and Apple Music, making it easy to plan special events."
https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-joins-the-event-planner-game-with-apple-invites
"We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids. This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world. Contrary to the false statements made by the marketplace developer, we certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed by marketplace operators like AltStore and Epic who may not share our concerns for user safety," Apple said in a statement to The Verge.
https://mashable.com/article/first-porn-app-apple-app-store
"It’s my theory explaining how the Internet was colonized by platforms, why all those platforms are degrading so quickly and thoroughly, why it matters, and what we can do about it," Doctorow explained in a follow-up article. "We’re all living through a great enshittening, in which the services that matter to us, that we rely on, are turning into giant piles of shit. It’s frustrating. It’s demoralizing. It’s even terrifying."
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/as-internet-enshittification-marches-on-here-are-some-of-the-worst-offenders/
According to the ByteDance researchers, OmniHuman-1 only needs a single reference image and audio, like speech or vocals, to generate a clip of an arbitrary length. The output video’s aspect ratio is adjustable, as is the subject’s “body proportion” — i.e. how much of their body is shown in the fake footage.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/04/deepfake-videos-are-getting-shockingly-good/
According to a survey by Software AG, half of all knowledge workers use personal AI tools. The research defines knowledge workers as "those who primarily work at a desk or computer". For some it's because their IT team doesn't offer AI tools, while others said they wanted their own choice of tools.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7rx05xg2go