Apple’s mixed-reality headset could arrive this year

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Over the past few years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated several times that augmented reality is a promising technology. “I think the [AR] promise is even greater in the future. So it’s a critically important part of Apple’s future,” Cook told Kara Swisher back in 2021.

But it sounds like Apple’s upcoming product is going to offer a mixed-reality experience. Users will be able to experience both augmented and virtual reality. Details are still thin about the potential use cases and apps for the headset as it’s easier to control software leaks compared to product leaks.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/09/apples-mixed-reality-headset-could-arrive-this-year/

Microsoft is looking at OpenAI’s GPT for Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft has been reportedly experimenting with building OpenAI’s language AI technology into its Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook apps. The Information reports that Microsoft has already incorporated an unknown version of OpenAI’s text-generating GPT model into Word in its autocomplete feature, and has been working on integrating it further into Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/9/23546144/microsoft-openai-word-powerpoint-outlook-gpt-integration-rumor

The FTC moves to ban noncompete agreements

Image Credits: Saul Loeb-Pool / Getty Images

“The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand. By ending this practice, the FTC’s proposed rule would promote greater dynamism, innovation, and healthy competition.”

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/05/the-ftc-moves-to-ban-noncompete-agreements/

NYC Bans Students and Teachers from Using ChatGPT

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“Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools’ networks and devices,” education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle told Motherboard in a statement. “While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3p9jx/nyc-bans-students-and-teachers-from-using-chatgpt

Farewell to 3G

While 3G will still exist in other countries for quite a few more years, Verizon’s deadline is pretty much the end of the line for it here in the US. The tech hasn’t gone gentle into that good night; carriers delayed their shutdowns several times, there were tiffs between Dish and T-Mobile, and you can’t just turn a network that had been around for years off without things starting to break.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/31/23490721/3g-sunset-verizon-history-december-2022

Gone But Not Forgotten (Yet): The Tech That Died in 2022

(Credit: Shutterstock / vyasphoto)

It’s time for our annual look at the tech that died this year. Some services have been around for ages and we are just now saying farewell to the last vestiges of a once-great brand. Others went belly up in less than a month. Read on to see what the major companies—Amazon, Meta, and Google—kicked to the curb in 2022, as well as a month-by-month rundown of other products that ended up in the tech graveyard.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/gone-but-not-forgotten-yet-the-tech-that-died-in-2022