Friday’s top tech news: new iOS emoji just dropped – The Verge

Microsoft limits Bing chat to five replies to stop the AI from getting real weird

2023-02-17T18:27:09-05:00

Microsoft says it's implementing some conversation limits to its Bing AI just days after the chatbot went off the rails multiple times for users. Bing chats will now be capped at 50 questions per day and five per session after the search engine was seen insulting users, lying to them, and emotionally manipulating people.

"Our data has shown that the vast majority of people find the answers they're looking for within 5 turns and that only around 1 percent of chat conversations have 50+ messages," says the Bing team in a blog post. If users hit the five-per-session limit, Bing will prompt them to start a new topic to avoid long back-and-forth …

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The NBA app is going to let you digitally possess a live player

2023-02-17T17:12:32-05:00

The NBA app is getting a way to overlay yourself on another player in a live game so that it looks like you are that player. Yes, it's as strange as it sounds.

Here's how it works - at least, as shown in an on-stage demo with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Ahmad Rashad. With the NBA app, you'll be able to scan the person you want to drop into an NBA game by walking around that person and pointing your camera at them. (It seems as if the scanning works like Epic Games' RealityScan app, but for people.) Then, from a menu, you can pick which player to inhabit, and when you do, your scan will be overlaid on top of that player as they move aro …

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Amazon’s Alexa app gets more Sonos-y with new multiroom audio controls

2023-02-17T17:05:18-05:00

Amazon is making its multiroom audio platform more convenient to control with your phone. A recent update to the Alexa mobile app introduced a new capability that lets users manage and move their music between Echo devices (or groups of multiple speakers) within the app itself. (Previously, you needed to use voice commands to perform some of those actions.)

Now, it's all doable through a menu that lets you move music to any group or Alexa device with a couple of taps - no talking necessary. In our brief time trying it so far, it's pretty intuitive, and anyone that's controlled music via AirPlay or Spotify Connect shouldn't have much trouble …

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Google’s long-awaited Tasks and Reminders consolidation starts in March

2023-02-17T16:33:18-05:00

Putting a timetable on the move it announced in September, Google says users will be able to manage all tasks created across various Google apps from Google Tasks starting in March. Beginning May 22nd, Google will automatically move reminders created in the Google Assistant and Calendar apps to Tasks, though users can voluntarily start doing so ahead of time.

Once the process is complete, users will also be able to access and create tasks from Google Workspace web apps like Gmail, Docs, Chat, and Calendar.

Now, you won't have to switch tabs to remind yourself to get to an email later so you can reply to an urgent one right now. You can sim …

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Apple’s first iOS 16.4 public beta has new emoji and push notifications from web apps

2023-02-17T16:29:56-05:00

Apple has let loose public beta versions of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3 equipped with new emoji, web app push notifications on the mobile operating systems, and more. The release comes a day after developers were given access to the new software.

New Apple software releases are some of the first places to try the latest emoji sets before all other devices adopt them, and iOS 16.4 is no exception. You're getting new ones from Unicode 15.0, including the "stop right there"-looking hand and a ginger root, so you can finally ask for a juice blend at the gym cafe using only emoji.

Other features it's testing include transliter …

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Fortnite now has a Bandcamp radio station

2023-02-17T15:09:22-05:00

All 11 of the featured tunes are streamer-friendly if you wanted to vibe out with an audience on Twitch. | Image: Epic Games

Eleven months after Epic Games acquired Bandcamp, it's getting its first major integration into Fortnite. Fortnite's new "Radio Underground" station is a collection of songs curated by Bandcamp editors that you can blast while, well, blasting your way around the popular battle royale. The in-game radio station features tunes from independent artists around the world and covers a variety of genres, from pop-punk and indie to '80s synthwave and smooth soul.

Fortnite's Radio Underground station is already live and will be available until the end of Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 1 on March 8th. As with the other in-game radio channels, you'll …

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Tile Anti-Theft Mode makes its trackers ‘invisible,’ with a $1 million fine for misuse

2023-02-17T15:04:35-05:00

Tile says a new anti-theft feature, rolling out starting today, makes its Bluetooth trackers invisible to anti-stalking detection like the Scan and Secure feature in the app. By disabling detection abilities, it could be more effective in recovering something very important: like a briefcase containing a million dollars in cash or a gaming carry case that has a PS4 with P.T. preinstalled.

But that also makes it invisible to everyone, so Tile will require users who want to enable the feature to register their photo ID, consent to Tile working with law enforcement without a subpoena, and agree to get slammed by a $1 million fine if convicted …

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M3gan’s unrated cut is coming to Peacock

2023-02-17T14:32:50-05:00

M3gan, the doll. | Image: Universal

The theatrical version of Universal's M3gan was already a delightfully deranged romp as is, but Peacock's just called dibs on an unrated cut that might just make you want to check the movie out again just to see how much wilder it could be.

Universal announced today that both the original version of M3gan and an all-new unrated version with never-before-seen footage are heading to Peacock on February 24th, yet another move that feels like the studio's trying to get serious about making the streaming platform take off. Back in January, M3gan's screenwriter Akela Cooper told the Los Angeles Times that her original script was much more gory an …

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Amazon is the latest company to bring staff back to the office three days a week

2023-02-17T14:12:55-05:00

Amazon employees will be expected to work from the office at least three days per week starting May 1st, according to an email CEO Andy Jassy sent to staff posted on the company's blog. Previously, it was up to individual teams to decide their in-office policies.

Jassy says the company's leadership team decided to change the policy after observing that it's easier to strengthen Amazon's culture, collaborate on ideas, and learn from others in person. He acknowledges that some roles will be some exceptions to the policy, like some salespeople and customer support, but "that will be a small minority."

"It's not simple to bring many thousands …

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The Marvels is being pushed back to November

2023-02-17T13:16:13-05:00

Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in Ms. Marvel. | Image: Disney Plus / Marvel

The Marvels - director Nia DaCosta's follow-up to the first Captain Marvel - was originally slated to touch down right in the thick of summer blockbuster season. Those plans are changing, but Marvel's released a promising new look at the movie to tide folks over.

The Marvels, starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, WandaVision's Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel's Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, will now hit theaters on November 10th, rather than July 28th as was previously announced. Along with the new release date, Marvel Studios also released a new poster for the upcoming film featuring its three leads "together" for the first …

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