Apple’s WWDC 2024 was packed with announcements about iOS 18, its upcoming version of the iPhone operating system, which introduces a host of new features.
Which devices support iOS 18?
The company says you can download iOS 18 on the following models:iPhone 15iPhone 15 PlusiPhone 15 ProiPhone 15 Pro MaxiPhone 14iPhone 14 PlusiPhone 14 ProiPhone 14 Pro MaxiPhone 13iPhone 13 miniiPhone 13 ProiPhone 13 Pro MaxiPhone 12iPhone 12 miniiPhone 12 ProiPhone 12 Pro MaxiPhone 11iPhone 11 ProiPhone 11 Pro MaxiPhone XSiPhone XS MaxiPhone XRiPhone SE (second generation or later)When will iOS 18 be available to download?
However, if you want to try out iOS 18 a little earlier, the public beta will be available to download next month at beta.apple.com.
You’ll get the most out of the Apple Intelligence features with the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max since they have the A17 Pro chip.
Google is finally making its Gemini Nano AI model available to Pixel 8 and 8a users after teasing it in March.
The June Pixel drop will allow users to access the model as a developer option.
Apart from that, the feature drop includes Display Port connectivity support for Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a, reverse phone number lookup for unknown numbers, fall and crash detection for Pixel Watch 2, and doorbell notifications on the Pixel tablet.
The update brings manual lens picking in the camera to the Pixel 6 Pro, 7 Pro, and Pixel Fold.
Pixel WatchThe newest Pixel drop brings car crash detection to the Pixel Watch 2.
Apple announced a ton of new AI features under the new Apple Intelligence moniker.
While the features are free to use, only a limited number of devices will get access to them.
These devices include on iPhone 15 Pro along with iPad and Mac with M1 or newer chips.
So older iPhones or iPhone 15 users won’t be able to use these abilities.
The new Apple Intellgience features include revamped Siri, writing features across the system, image generation capabilities, and genAI-powered emoji.
Before Wazer came along, “water jet cutting” and “affordable” didn’t belong in the same sentence.
For existing Wazer Desktop users, the company says the transition to the Wazer Pro will be seamless.
Additionally, Wazer offers a trade-up program, enabling current customers to receive a significant discount on the Wazer Pro by trading in their old machines.
Priced at $18,999, the Wazer Pro remains significantly more affordable than traditional water jet cutters, costing upward of $100,000.
With the launch of the Wazer Pro, Wazer continues to make life interesting for the water-cutting incumbents.
A few months after its launch, how is Apple’s Vision Pro faring?
I am a long-term bull on augmented reality, virtual reality, and face-computers in general.
So it is to my partial chagrin that the hype around the Apple Vision Pro has faded more rapidly than I anticipated.
But I anticipated the Apple brand to keep the hardware in the news — and atop our collective minds — longer than it managed after its launch.
I find it archaic that my monitors are akin to digital chalkboards when they should be built into my glasses.
Privacy-focused consumer tech company DuckDuckGo launched a new Privacy Pro subscription on Thursday that bundles a VPN service, personal information removal, and identity theft restoration.
This is the company’s first move towards a subscription service built into the DuckDuckGo browser.
With personal information removal service, DuckDuckGo scans dozens of data broker sites to find details like your name and address.
(At that time, Removaly’s founder, Kyle Krzeski, posted on X that a privacy company acquired the startup without naming it.)
The third feature of DuckDuckGo’s privacy pro plan is identity theft restoration, where an advisor would help you recover your identity-related loss around the clock.
Announced earlier this year, Roku revealed today that its Pro Series TVs, the lineup of high-end televisions, are now available for purchase in the U.S.
Starting today, Roku Pro Series TVs are being sold at Best Buy stores and online at BestBuy.com, Amazon.com, and Walmart.com.
Compared to the Roku Select and Roku Plus Series TVs, which were the first-ever Roku-branded smart TVs that launched in 2023, the Roku Pro Series has a slimmer design that can be flush mounted to the wall.
Like the Roku Plus TVs, the Pro Series has HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for a cinematic viewing experience, as well as 4K QLED displays and local dimming.
In addition to the Pro Series launch, Roku announced new software updates coming to all Roku TVs that aim to enhance the viewing experience.
Gemini 1.5 Pro, Google’s most capable generative AI model, is now available in public preview on Vertex AI, Google’s enterprise-focused AI development platform.
Gemini 1.5 Pro launched in February, joining Google’s Gemini family of generative AI models.
Gemini 1.5 was incredibly able to find the specific perfect 50 dunk and details from just its long context video understanding!
Gemini 1.5 Pro doesn’t process a million tokens at the snap of a finger.
Google previously said that latency is an area of focus, though, and that it’s working to “optimize” Gemini 1.5 Pro as time goes on.
A subsequent update has made them more palatable and truer to life, and Apple says it’s continuing to work on the 3D captures.
The company on Tuesday debuted “spatial” Personas for Vision Pro headsets running visionOS 1.1 or later.
From there, users can select the spatial persona option, which utilizes the Vision Pro’s on-board sensors to place the Persona in the room with them.
Spatial audio, meanwhile, further places them at a specific point in space relative to the Vision Pro user.
Vision Pro users will continue doing business in the uncanny valley for the foreseeable future.
If anything, it was the VisionOS 1.1 update that showed me that I still have the capacity to grow.
I can tell you agree from the fact that you’re carrying on a normal FaceTime call without stopping every few seconds to tell me how weird my Apple Vision Pro Persona looks.
The headset made me re-enroll my face to get this new persona – and frankly, it’s for the best.
I’m not saying my new face definitely won’t frighten children, but I don’t think they’re going to lose much sleep over it.
I should mention that even in its 1.1 iteration, the Persona feature is still technically in beta – albeit a beta open to anyone with a Vision Pro.
