Samsung's flagship for 2024 has arrived. THE S24 Ultra has a new titanium frame, improved telephoto lenses and is packed with new intelligence and AI features. It's also more expensive than ever.
However, it's the AI features and not the hardware that mark this year's S23 series. AI tools span text and translation, photography and search. Many of these AI capabilities are already available from other services, like ChatGPT and Bard, but they're bundled into the S24 series at the base level, so from the Notes app you can summarize, auto-format, check the spelling or translate your missives. Ready to go. (The transcript is also, apparently, very impressive, but maybe that's the journalist in me who's getting excited.)
Add in a much faster chip, a brighter screen and even longer battery life and the S24 Ultra makes a case for an upgrade. It's just expensive.
—Mat Smith
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This was due to the EU's anti-competitive concerns.
Amazon and iRobot, manufacturer of the Roomba vacuum cleaner range, have just announced that they are abandoning their merger plan. They announced the potential acquisition in August 2022, and in November, the European Commission on the potential impact on competition. The companies did not mention the formal investigation in the announcement. Now that the deal hasn't closed, iRobot says it will lay off about 350 employees, representing 31 percent of the company's workforce. Colin Angle, Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of iRobot, is also stepping down as Chairman and CEO.
It was taken offline an hour after launch.
Rocksteady's new third-person action shooter Suicide Squad: kill the Justice League was taken offline just an hour after launch after players encountered a bizarre bug that immediately beats the game. It locked players out of all story missions, including tutorials, in a race to reach the end credits. This also makes it impossible to get trophies and achievements, but the bigger problem might be the inability to play any of the $70 games. The developer says he is working on a fix.
The solar panels recharged after the sun changed its orientation.
The Japanese lunar lander has regained power, nine days after landing on the surface of the Moon, almost upside down and turned off. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) said a change in the sun's position allowed solar panels to receive light and charge the probe's battery, allowing JAXA to restore communication. Regardless, the mission was considered a success since the primary objective was a precision landing. He did just that, hitting a spot just 55 meters (180 feet) from his target. Just…in a bad way.
Yes, it's 2024. Why you ask?
Back on Earth, and in 2022, Japan's Minister of Digital Affairs, Taro Kono, has urged various branches of government to stop requiring companies to submit information on outdated physical media. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is one of the first to make this change. Kono staff have identified some 1,900 protocols in several government departments that still require floppy disks, CD-ROMs and even (!) MiniDiscs.
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