ArduinoMania

At CES this January, startup Rabbit unveiled its first device, just in time for the end of the year of the rabbit according to the lunar calendar. It’s a cute little orange square that was positioned as a “pocket companion that moves AI from words to action.” In other words, it’s basically a dedicated AI machine that acts kind of like a walkie talkie to a virtual assistant.

Sound familiar? You’re probably thinking of the Humane AI Pin, which was announced last year and started shipping this month. I awarded it a score of 50 (out of 100) earlier this month, while outlets like Wired and The Verge gave it similarly low marks of 4 out of 10.

The people at Rabbit have been paying close attention to the aftermath of the Humane AI Pin launch and reviews. It was evident in founder and CEO Jesse Lyu's address at an unboxing event at the TWA hotel in New York last night, where the company showed off the Rabbit R1 and eager early adopters listened rapturously before picking up their pre-orders. Engadget's sample unit is on its way to Devindra Hardawar, who will be tackling this review. But I was in attendance last night to check out units at the event that industry peers were unboxing (thanks to Max Weinbach for the assistance!).

What is the Rabbit R1?

As a refresher, the Rabbit R1 is a bright orange square, co-engineered by Teenage Engineering and Rabbit. It has a 2.88-inch color display built in, an 8-megapixel camera that can face both ways and a scroll wheel reminiscent of the crank on the Playdate. The latter, by the way, is a compact gaming handheld that was also designed by Teenage Engineering, and the Rabbit R1 shares its adorable retro aesthetic. Again, like the Humane AI Pin, the Rabbit R1 is supposed to be your portal to an AI-powered assistant and operating system. However, there are a few key differences, which Lyu covered extensively at the launch event last night.

Rabbit R1 vs Humane AI Pin

Let's get this out of the way: The Rabbit R1 already looks a lot more appealing than the Humane AI Pin. First of all, it costs $199 — less than a third of the AI Pin's $700. Humane also requires a monthly $24 subscription fee or its device will be rendered basically useless. Rabbit, as Lyu repeatedly reiterated all night, does not require such a fee. You'll just be responsible for your own cellular service (4G LTE only, no 5G), and can bring your own SIM card or just default to good old Wi-Fi. There, you'll also find the USB-C charging port.

The R1's advantages over the Pin don't end there. By virtue of its integrated screen (instead of a wonky, albeit intriguing projector), the orange square is more versatile and a lot easier to interact with. You can use the wheel to scroll through elements and press the button on the right side to confirm a choice. You could also tap the screen or push down a button to start talking to the software.

Now, I haven’t taken a photo with the device myself, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of images I saw on its screen. Maybe my expectations were pretty low, but when reviewers in a media room were setting up their devices by using the onboard cameras to scan QR codes, I found the images on the screens clear and impressively vibrant. Users won’t just be capturing photos, videos and QR codes with the Rabbit R1, by the way. It also has a Vision feature like the Humane AI Pin that will analyze an image you take and tell you what’s in it. In Lyu’s demo, the R1 told him that it saw a crowd of people at “an event or concert venue.”

Cherlynn Low for Engadget

We’ll have to wait till Devindra actually takes some pictures with our R1 unit and downloads them from the web-based portal that Rabbit cleverly calls the Rabbit Hole. Its name for camera-based features is Rabbit Eye, which is just kind of delightful. In fact, another thing that distinguishes Rabbit from Humane is the former’s personality. The R1 just oozes character. From the witty feature names to the retro aesthetic to the onscreen animation and the fact that the AI will actually make (cheesy) jokes, Rabbit and Teenage Engineering have developed something that’s got a lot more flavor than Humane’s almost clinical appearance and approach.

Of all the things Lyu took shots at Humane about last night, though, talk of the R1’s thermal performance or the AI Pin’s heat issues was conspicuously absent. To be clear, the R1 is slightly bigger than the Humane device, and it uses an octa-core MediaTek MT6765 processor, compared to the AI Pin’s Snapdragon chip. There’s no indication at the moment that the Rabbit device will run as hot as Humane’s Pin, but I’ve been burned (metaphorically) before and remain cautious.

I am also slightly concerned about the R1’s glossy plastic build. It looks nice and feels lighter than expected, weighing just 115 grams or about a quarter of a pound. The scroll wheel moved smoothly when I pushed it up and down, and there were no physical grooves or notches, unlike the rotating hinge on Samsung’s Galaxy watches. The camera housing lay flush with the rest of the R1’s case, and in general the unit felt refined and finished.

Most of my other impressions of the Rabbit R1 come from Lyu’s onstage demos, where I was surprised by how quickly his device responded to his queries. He was able to type on the R1’s screen and tilted it so that the controls sat below the display instead of to its right. That way, there was enough room for an onscreen keyboard that Lyu said was the same width as the one on the original iPhone.

What’s next for the Rabbit R1?

Rabbit also drew attention for its so-called Large Action Model (LAM), which acts as an interpreter to convert popular apps like Spotify or Doordash into interfaces that work on the R1’s simple-looking operating system. Lyu also showed off some of these at the event last night, but I’d much rather wait for us to test these out for ourselves.

Lyu made many promises to the audience, seeming to acknowledge that the R1 might not be fully featured when it arrives in their hands. Even on the company’s website, there’s a list of features that are planned, in the works or being explored. For one thing, an alarm is coming this summer, along with a calendar, contacts app, GPS support, memory recall and more. Throughout his speech, Lyu repeated the phrase “we’re gonna work on” amid veiled references to Humane (for instance, emphasizing that Rabbit doesn’t require an additional subscription fee). Ultimately, Lyu said “we just keep adding value to this thing,” in reference to a roadmap of upcoming features.

Hopefully, Lyu and his team are able to deliver on the promises they’ve made. I’m already very intrigued by a “teach mode” he teased, which is basically a way to generate macros by recording an action on the R1, and letting it learn what you want to do when you tell it something. Rabbit’s approach certainly seems more tailored to tinkerers and enthusiasts, whereas Humane’s is ambitious and yet closed off. This feels like Google and Apple all over again, except whether the AI device race will ever reach the same scale remains to be seen.

Last night’s event also made it clear what Rabbit wants us to think. It was hosted at the TWA hotel, which itself used to be the head house of the TWA Flight Center. The entire place is an homage to retro vibes, and the entry to Rabbit’s event was lined with display cases containing gadgets like a Pokedex, a Sony Watchman, a Motorola pager, Game Boy Color and more. Every glass box I walked by made me squeal, bringing up a pleasant sense memory that also resurfaced when I played with the R1. It didn't feel good in that it's premium or durable; it felt good because it reminded me of my childhood.

Whether Rabbit is successful with the R1 depends on how you define success. The company has already sold more than 100,000 units this quarter and looks poised to sell at least one more (I’m already whipping out my credit card). I remain skeptical about the usefulness of AI devices, but, in large part due to its price and ability to work with third-party apps at launch, Rabbit has already succeeded in making me feel like Alice entering Wonderland.

Google keeps promising to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome but not actually doing it. The company vowed to deprecate cookies back in 2020, pushing the date back to 2023 and then 2024. We did get some traction earlier this year, when Google disabled cookies for one percent of Chrome users, but those efforts have stalled. Now, the company says it won’t happen until next year.

It’s easy to drag Google for this but it’s not entirely in the company’s hands. The tech giant is working closely with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to ensure that any tools it implements to replace the cookie’s tracking and measurement capabilities aren’t anti-competitive. These tools are known collectively as the Privacy Sandbox and Google says it has to wait until the CMA has had “sufficient time to review” results from industry tests that’ll be provided by the end of June.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox has stirred up some controversy in recent years. The proposed tools have drawn complaints from adtech companies, publishers and ad agencies, on the grounds that they are difficult to operate, don’t adequately replace traditional cookies and give too much power to Google. To that end, the company said that it recognizes “ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers.” This is another reason given for the delay until next year.

The CMA isn’t the only regulatory agency giving the side-eye to the current iteration of these Privacy Sandbox tools. The UK-based Information Commissioner’s Office drafted a report that indicated these tools could be used by advertisers to identify consumers, as suggested by the Wall Street Journal.

Those in the ad industry want to see cookies given the heave-ho, despite complaints about Privacy Sandbox. Drew Stein, CEO of adtech data firm Audigent, told Engadget that it’s time for Google “to deliver on the promise of a better ecosystem” by implementing its plans to eliminate third-party cookies.

The CMA, on the other hand, has indicated a willingness to keep third-party cookies in play, particularly if Google’s solution does more harm than good. Craig Jenkins, the CMA’s director of digital markets, recently said the organization would delay implementation of Privacy Sandbox tools if “we’re not satisfied we can resolve the concerns”, as reported by Adweek. We’ll see what happens in 2025.

The bill that will force a sale or ban of TikTok in the United States is now law. President Joe Biden signed a package of foreign aid bills that included the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” one day after the legislation was approved by the Senate.

In a statement, TikTok said it would challenge the law in court, which could delay an eventual sale or ban. “This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court,” the company said. “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation. This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans.”

The law gives TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which is based in China, up to a year to sell the app to a new owner. If the company fails to divest, then TikTok will be banned from US app stores and web hosting services.

Unlike previous attempts to force a sale or ban of the app, the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” had overwhelming bipartisan support and was able to move through Congress with remarkable speed. The original version of the bill, which called for a six-month window to divest, passed the House in March, just days after it was introduced. An updated version, which allows up to 12 months for a divestment, passed over the weekend.

In a video shared on TikTok, CEO Shou Chew called it a “disappointing moment” for the company. “Make no mistake, this is a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice,” he said. “It's actually ironic because the freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same American values that make the United States a beacon of freedom.”

Developing...

Valve has closed a loophole in Steam's refund policy that effectively allowed players to beat a game before its official release date and get their money back. The company has long had a policy in place whereby users could refund a game, no questions asked, as long as they haven’t played for more than two hours within 14 days. Until now, the refund policy was far more lenient for games in early access or advanced access, but Valve has nipped that in the bud.

"When you purchase a title on Steam prior to the release date, the two hour playtime limit for refunds will apply (except for beta testing), but the 14-day period for refunds will not start until the release date," Valve's updated policy reads, as noted by IGN. "For example, if you purchase a game that is in Early Access or Advanced Access, any playtime will count against the two-hour refund limit. If you pre-purchase a title which is not playable prior to the release date, you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title, and the standard 14-day/two-hour refund period will apply starting on the game’s release date."

Early access enables players to try an incomplete version of a game. It’s helpful for developers as they can take feedback from players and use that to improve their project before ramping up the marketing campaign ahead of the official release. Supergiant famously used this strategy to tremendous success with Hades (and is perhaps looking to repeat that trick with the sequel). But a game can remain in early access for years. Under the previous policy, players could put many hours into an early access game and still claim a refund on Steam.

As for advanced access, that relates to playing a full version of a game before its proper debut. It's pretty common for publishers to sell a deluxe edition of a game that lets players dive in a few days early. However, Steam made it possible for someone to beat a game in advanced access and get their money back before the standard version was available to everyone.

Now, the two-hour time limit applies to games in early access and advanced access. There's also a new advanced access label to make it clear when a game offers that.

There is one other key issue with the otherwise generous two-hour refund policy that Steam hasn't fully addressed, however. It's not uncommon for players to roll credits on very short games, typically indie titles. That leaves the game's developer and publisher out of pocket.

Last fall, Qualcomm revealed a major upgrade for its laptop chips with the Snapdragon X Elite. And while we’re still waiting for those processors to make their way into retail devices, today Qualcomm is expanding the line with the Snapdragon X Plus, which I had a chance to test out ahead of its arrival on gadgets later this year.

Similar to the X Elite, the X Plus is based on the same 4nm process and Arm-based Oryon CPU architecture as its sibling. The difference is that the new chip is meant to be used in slightly more affordable mainstream laptops, and as such it only has 10 CPU cores (vs 12 for the X Elite) and reduced clock speeds (3.4Ghz vs 3.8Ghz for the X Elite). This positioning is a lot like what Qualcomm’s rivals have been doing for a while, with the X Elite serving as the flagship chip (like Intel’s Core Ultra 9 series) and the X Plus sitting just below that (which would be equivalent to the Core Ultra 7 line).

Qualcomm

However, one thing that hasn’t changed is that just like the X Elite, the X Plus’ Hexagon NPU puts out the same 45 TOPS of machine learning performance. This is particularly notable as Microsoft recently suggested that laptops would require at least 40 TOPS in order to run various elements of its Copilot AI service on-device. Qualcomm is also making some big claims regarding power efficiency, with the X Plus chip said to deliver 37 percent faster CPU performance compared to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H when both chips are running at the same wattage. And when put up against other Arm-based chips, Qualcomm says the X Plus is 10 percent faster than Apple’s M3 processor in multi-threaded CPU tasks.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Unfortunately, the X Plus is not expected to show up in retail devices until sometime in the second half of 2024. That said, at a hands-on event, I was able to run a few benchmarks on some early Qualcomm-built reference devices. And to my pleasant surprise, the X Plus performed as expected with multi-core scores in Geekbench of 12,905 and multi-thread performance in Cinebench 2024 of 852. (Note: Because the processor has not been released yet, there’s an error in Cinebench that results in the chip’s GPU incorrectly being listed as from the X Elite instead of the X Plus.)

This is a promising showing for Qualcomm’s second and less expensive chip featuring its Oryon architecture. Though as always, the real test will come when the X Plus starts showing up in proper retail hardware. That’s because even if it boasts impressive benchmark figures, these processors will still need to play nicely with Windows, which has not had nearly as smooth a transition to Arm-based silicon as Apple’s macOS.

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

But with renewed support for Windows on Snapdragon PCs and Qualcomm recently working with major players like Google to bring “dramatic performance improvements” in Chrome for devices running its laptop chips, things may be smoother this time.

It used to be that you could pay for a retail version of Windows 11 and expect it to be ad-free, but those days are apparently finito. The latest update to Windows 11 (KB5036980) comes out this week and includes ads for apps in the "recommended" section of the Start Menu, one of the most oft-used parts of the OS.

"The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps," according to the release notes. "These apps come from a small set of curated developers." 

The app suggestions are enabled by default, but you can restore your previously pristine Windows experience if you've installed the update, fortunately. To do so, go into Settings and select Personalization > Start and switch the "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions and more" toggle to "off."

The new "feature" arrives just weeks after it appeared as an Insider beta, showing how quickly Microsoft can implement things when it wants to. It certainly wasn't enough time to receive the kind of user feedback the Insider program is designed for.

The update is bound to rub customers the wrong way, considering that Windows 11 starts at $139 for the Home version. While removing it isn't a huge deal, it may also remind folks of the needless time they spent stripping bloatware from OEM Windows installations. Microsoft previously tested ads in the Windows 11 File Explorer, but ended the experiment shortly afterward.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned noncompete clauses in a move to "drive innovation" and protect workers' rights and wages, the regulator said in a press release. The new rule will free most new and current employees from such agreements, with the exception of "policy-making" executives earning more than $151,164 per year. 

"Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism," said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. The agency estimated that the new rule will allow the creation of 8,500 new business each year, increase worker earnings by $524 per year and lower health care costs by $194 billion over the next decade. 

Noncompete clauses, widely used in the tech industry, keep employers from freely changing to similar jobs or starting a business in the same field. The result is that workers must often stay in jobs they don't want, switch to a lower-paid position, relocate, or defend against costly litigation. "An estimated 30 million workers — nearly one in five Americans [in the workforce] —are subject to a noncompete," according to the FTC.

The Commission found that noncompetes tend to negatively affect competitive conditions in labor markets by inhibiting efficient matching between workers and employers. There is also evidence that noncompetes lead to increased market concentration and higher prices for consumers.

Companies must now cancel existing noncompete clauses and notify employees about the change. The ruling applies to most employees and future hires, but current deals with senior executives still apply on the grounds that such agreements are likely to have been agreed upon by both parties. 

Tech companies ostensibly use noncompetes as a way to protect IP, but they function in reality to lock in workers. The FTC said that trade secret laws and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are a better way to protect IP, and "employers that wish to retain employees can compete on the merits for the worker's labor services by improving wages and working conditions."  

Microsoft, the third largest tech industry employer in the US, eliminated such clauses back in 2022. "While our existing employee agreements have noncompete obligations, we do not endorse the use of such provisions as a retention tool," the company said at the time. 

The FTC vote went 3 to 2 along party lines. Republic commissioner Melissa Holyoke said the Commission "overstepped the boundaries of its power" and estimated the ruling would be challenged in court and struck down. 

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, aka the Gelandewagen (which means "all-terrain vehicle" in German) has been in regular production since 1979. It's changed a lot since then, evolving from a utilitarian off-roader to a desirable luxury icon, but it's never seen a change quite like this.

Meet the Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology. That's a long and mild name for a pretty radical reinvention of the classic G. This is the first battery-powered G-Wagen, driven by a whopping four electric motors that draw juice from a 116-kilowatt-hour battery pack. Total output is 580 horsepower.

Those four motors enable the electric G to do some amazing things, like a so-called G-Turn, where it spins in place. The idea is to help this big rig get out of some tight off-road situations, but we think it'll be even more effective at impressing your neighbors. There's a bevy of other tech here too, including dedicated off-road driving modes and a series of cameras that allow drivers to spot every rock and rut when crossing the trails. No formal word on pricing just yet, but it's important to note that the gas-powered versions of the G-Class live on, so if you're really attached to internal combustion there's still a G for you.

Really, though, if you can't do a tank turn, then what's the point? Watch the video above for the full story.

The Senate approved a measure that will require ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban, in a vote of 79 to 18. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act next goes to President Biden. The president has already said he’ll sign the bill into law. (Yes, as predicted, I'm writing about this again.)

TikTok has faced the ire of US politicians for a few years now, but this bill has picked up support across both political parties. It sailed through the House of Representatives before being approved (bundled with a package for foreign aid) by the Senate on Tuesday.

The bill states that TikTok would have up to 12 months to divest from its parent company ByteDance, or face a ban in US app stores and web hosting services. The company, naturally, has protested this push, calling the bill unconstitutional and vowing to mount a legal challenge if the bill is signed into law. If it does so, it could bounce around courts for years before any eventual ban, if the company declines to sell. A few years is a long time in social media. Ask Snap, or worse, Vine.

And who would buy TikTok? While many major tech companies might love to grab the social network’s engaged young audience, many politicians would balk at making a Big Tech company even bigger. Steve Mnuchin, who was Treasury secretary in the Trump administration, told CNBC he was putting together an investor group. What could go wrong?

— Mat Smith

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Microsoft’s new lightweight AI model can run on smartphones

It can supposedly respond similarly to models 10 times its size.

Microsoft has unveiled its latest light AI model, called the Phi-3 Mini, for smartphones and other local devices. The aim is to provide a cheaper alternative to cloud-powered large language models (LLMs), allowing smaller organizations to adopt AI, with presumably lower energy burdens and without heady processing costs. According to Microsoft, the new model handily outperforms its previous Phi-2 small model and is on par with larger models like Llama 2. In fact, the company says the Phi-3 Mini responds close to the level of a model 10 times its size. The trick is apparently in the data Microsoft used to train its tiny model.

Continue reading.

Tesla teases its ride-hailing app ahead of robotaxi unveiling

The feature would be available in the Tesla app ‘in the future.’

Tesla teased ride-hailing features coming to its app ahead of an August robotaxi unveiling. The company released mock-ups of the upcoming feature, which showed the ability to “summon” a ride from the Tesla app. The company has been promising self-driving taxi services for years. Tesla didn’t offer many details, but it seems to have Uber-like functionality and the ability to remotely set the car’s temperature before arrival.

Continue reading.

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses get improved AI smarts that don’t require a subscription

Take that, Humane.

Meta

After a few months of testing, Meta is bringing multimodal AI to its smart glasses. Multimodal AI means the system can process multiple types of information, including photos, videos, text and audio. You might have seen feature showcases of AI-connected devices that can view what a device is looking at and offer extra information — that kind of thing. Meta also announced hands-free video call integration with WhatsApp and Messenger and a few more frame designs.

Continue reading.

Back in 2022, Mercedes-Benz announced that it was going to release an electric G-Class by the end of 2024. Now, the automaker has formally introduced the electrified version of its iconic luxury vehicle that's known for its exclusivity. The Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology comes equipped with a 116 kWh lithium-ion battery that gives it enough energy to run for up to 473 kilometers (294 miles) on a single charge. It also has a maximum total output of 432 kW and a maximum torque of 1,164 Nm.

The electric model looks pretty much like the gas-powered G-Class, with its sharp angles and its distinctive door handles, grilles and round headlights. Mercedes offers optional lighting exclusive to the EQ version of the vehicle, though, so you can change its looks and give it a design that's considerably different from a standard G-Class. The vehicle is powered by four electric motors located near each wheel and has several modes for off-road use: G-TURN, which will allow you to turn the vehicle almost on the spot, G-STEERING, which could eliminate the need for multi-point turns, and the intelligent off-road crawl function that provides cruise control for off-road drives. 

Mercedes-Benz made sure the vehicle's battery is ready for off-road journeys, as well, and encased it in a torsion-resistant casing that protects it from water and dirt. Since the vehicle can be driven in up to 33.5 inches of water, the battery definitely needs that kind of protection. It can charge with both alternating current and direct current, and when plugged into a fast-charging DC system, it can go from 10 to 80 percent in just 32 minutes. The G-Class can convert kinetic energy into electrical energy when you coast or hit the brakes, as well. 

EDITION ONE, the G-Class with EQ Technology coming out at launch later this year, will have an "an expanded palette of standard features." A company spokesperson told TechCrunch that a range-extended version with a battery that uses a more energy-dense silicon-anode technology from Mercedes' partner Silas will also be available in the next few years.