Adi Robertson

It’s a difference of three letters, but Apple contends iPadOS is in a different EU regulatory category than iOS, so most of its newly (sort of) open app store policies only apply to the latter. 9to5Mac has a breakdown of that nuance, starting with one big limitation:

I’m thoroughly enjoying watching people solve True Detective: Night Country’s pettiest mysteries online, so congrats to Redditor Artie-Fufkin for asking the right question about last week’s episode: did Clark pay way too much for his ominous tattoo?

One of the first we’ve seen is AltStore, which made its announcement after Apple’s big news today. The post indicates it’s planning to make its app marketplace available on iOS in March.

Congressman Joseph Morelle (D-NY) wants the Department of Justice to investigate an allegedly AI-generated Joe Biden robocall that provided false information to voters — the latest sign that AI-generated disinformation will be an ongoing election concern. The state’s own Department of Justice is already investigating.

Or at least it’s supposed to look like one, and it’s a metacommentary on ChatGPT? Showrunner Issa López explained on X/Twitter:

The Scholarly Press Backlist Revival will put out-of-print academic monographs online for free under deals with publishers like MIT Press, hoping to fix a “black hole in the cultural and scholarly record.” If it works out, it seems like a great option for a swathe of copyrighted works that aren’t seen as profitable to sell — but shouldn’t be locked away because of it.

Bluesky user Illumi found another fun example of lingering challenges for AI tools: grasping the concept of a “Where’s Waldo” illustration. I tried making ChatGPT create one for myself, and, well... you can see the results below.

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg suggested Tumblr’s unloved Live service wasn’t long for this world last year, and it’s now shutting down January 24th. Users can transfer any in-app currency they bought to the video chat service MeetMe, which uses the same underlying tech. The Tumblr userbase, unsurprisingly, seems pleased.

Last week Qualcomm announced a new AR/VR chip and reference design aimed at competing with Apple’s upcoming headset; yesterday Xreal (formerly Nreal) debuted some new spatial computing glasses with the same goal. And today the two companies announced a multiyear partnership that could include: