ArduinoMania

Threads is inching closer to becoming an actually useful source for real-time news and updates. The app is finally rolling out the ability to search posts in order of recency, after testing the feature last month.

“In an effort to make it easier to find timely, relevant content on Threads, we’re introducing a Recent tab for your searches,” Instagram’s Adam Mosseri wrote in an update. “Search results here are still evaluated for quality, but you can now see them in chronological order.”

The change has been a long requested one from users hoping Meta’s app will one day be a source of breaking news and real-time information the way that Twitter historically functioned. Being able to search for topics and keywords and find the most recent results is key to finding up-to-date details and commentary about breaking news, sports and anything else happening in real time.

On the other hand, Meta has also made it clear that it would prefer “news” to not be what Threads is known for. Mosseri has said he doesn’t want to “encourage” hard news on Threads and the company actively discourages political content. Threads’ default “for you” algorithm is also known for surfacing days-old posts, random personal stories and other content that’s not exactly timely.

It’s also worth pointing out that Threads’ new recency filter in search is not the same as the “latest” search filter on X. As Mosseri noted in his post, Meta still hides an unknown number of posts in search results that have been “evaluated for quality,” so Threads search will never surface all of the posts containing your search terms. But being able to at least find posts that aren’t a few days old should make looking for timely information a lot less frustrating.

Just over three years ago, Ubisoft announced The Division Heartland, a free-to-play entry in its survival-action shooter series. At the time, it suggested that Heartland would arrive later in 2021 or in 2022, but that never happened. In fact, Heartland isn't coming out at all.

In its quarterly earnings report, Ubisoft said it ended development of the game, which Red Storm Entertainment, a studio that author Tom Clancy co-founded, was working on. Ubisoft is shifting resources to what it calls "bigger opportunities," including other aspects of the Clancyverse in XDefiant and the Rainbow Six series.

Ubisoft canceled a number of games over the last couple of years to try and streamline its pipeline and reduce costs. It noted that it had reduced its headcount by more than 1,700 workers over 18 months to have 19,011 employees at the end of March.

The company also provided an update on its overarching strategy. It plans to focus on two core pillars: open=world titles (like Assassin's Creed Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws) and ongoing live-service games (XDefiant and Rainbow Six Siege). That's where Ubisoft sees room for growth, so expect more Far Cry and Ghost Recon titles in the coming years.

As for the more immediate future, we'll find out the latest about the likes of AC Shadows, Star Wars Outlaws, Rainbow Six Mobile (which should finally arrive in September), The Division Resurgence and XDefiant at Ubisoft Forward on June 10.

Camera sliders are great creative tools, letting you get smooth controlled shots that can class up any production. [Anthony Kouttron] decided to build one for an engineering class, and he ended up mighty satisfied with what he and his team accomplished.

As an engineering class project, this wasn’t a build done on a whim. Instead, [Anthony] and his fellow students spent plenty of time hashing out what they needed this thing to do, and how it should be built. An Arduino was selected as the brains of the operation, as a capable and accessible microcontroller platform. Stepper motors and a toothed belt drive were used to move the slider in a controllable fashion. The slider’s control interface was an HD44780-based character LCD, along with a thumbstick and two pushbuttons. The slider relied on steel tubes for a frame, which was heavy, but cost-effective and easy to fabricate. Much of the parts were salvaged from legendary e-waste bins on the university grounds.

The final product was stout and practical. It may not have been light, but the steel frame and strong stepper motor meant the slider could easily handle even heavy DSLR cameras. That’s something that lighter builds can struggle with.

Ultimately, it was an excellent learning experience for [Anthony] and his team. As a bonus, he got some great timelapses out of it, too. Video after the break.

Google I/O isn’t the only tech-adjacent event this week. Uber just held its annual GO-GET event and announced a whole bunch of new features coming to the rideshare platform/taxi app/whatever you wanna call it. Much of this news concerns shuttles and expanded ride sharing options, specifically a new option called Uber Shuttle.

This lets users reserve up to five seats up to seven days in advance for transportation to and from major events like concerts and basketball games, though it's also available for trips to the airport. The company brags that this feature is particularly budget-friendly, noting that each rider will pay “a fraction of the price of an UberX.” The company promises that these rides will not be impacted by surge pricing. It’s also worth noting that these shuttles are only for events listed in the app, which is kind of a bummer. 

Uber has partnered with Live Nation to bring these shuttles to certain venues throughout the summer, including Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and Charlotte’s PNC Pavilion. These Uber Shuttles won’t be your typical Nissan Sentra or Toyota Camry. They are actual shuttles that hold anywhere from 14 to 55 occupants. The company says each driver will be commercially licensed to operate a large transport vehicle.

Rideshare companies have been trying to crack the "rebranded bus" for a while now. Uber tried something in 2015, called Uber Hop, which was meant to group more riders together who are on a similar route. It didn't last, but Uber Pool shared rides were a thing for years until the pandemic. This time, Uber's effort is strictly targeted at events, trying to fill a gap that exists in places where public transportation to and from venues isn't terribly efficient thanks to our country's reliance on cars.

GO-GET wasn't just about shuttles with a fresh coat of Silicon Valley paint. UberX Share, the company's replacement for Uber Pool that launched in 2023, is getting a new feature that lets users schedule shared rides in advance to save a bit of money. The company notes that an average rider should save around 25 percent per ride using this tool when compared to a regular trip with UberX.

It says this is “perfect for commutes,” as the company has seen data that rides during traditional commuting hours have shot up recently. Uber also says its “intentionally launching this new offering in cities that have experienced some of the highest rates of employees returning to office.” This includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta, with more locations to be added in the near future.

The company also announced Uber Caregiver, which lets people book rides for loved ones to doctors appointments and the like. Eventually, you'll also be able to use it to get things like groceries or over-the-counter medication delivered as well. If you're caring for someone, they can add you in their Uber app as a designated Caregiver, which then gives you the option to do things like booking a ride. Uber says you'll also be able to apply insurance benefits — so if the person you're caring for is on a program that provides a set number of rides to a medical services center, for example, those things can be applied in the app to save you out-of-pocket cash. Caregiver will roll out this summer, starting with ride booking options.

Uber

Food delivery platform Uber Eats is getting a couple of updates. The company has added Costco to its lineup of retail delivery offerings. Costco members will not only get stuff delivered, but should get an additional discount on top of membership privileges. Finally, Uber Eats Lists is a new way for people to decide on what to nosh on. This allows users to peruse restaurant recommendations from friends and local foodies. Uber says this “makes it easy to explore a new city or switch up your go-tos.” The service launches in July in NYC and Chicago, with more cities to come.

Regular Uber users should look out for these features throughout the summer, though not if they live in Minneapolis. Uber’s pulling up stakes after the city council voted to increase driver pay. It would rather leave a bustling metropolis than abide by a slight pay increase. After all, the idea of fair pay could spread and infect the innocent minds of Uber drivers everywhere. Long live the totally healthy and normal gig economy.

Correction, May 15 2024, 2:45PM ET: This story has been updated to correct information about Uber Caregiver and to clarify that surge pricing does not apply to the Uber Shuttle service. The headline has also been updated.

At the end of I/O, Google’s annual developer conference at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that the company had said “AI” 121 times. That, essentially, was the crux of Google’s two-hour keynote — stuffing AI into every Google app and service used by more than two billion people around the world. Here are all the major updates from Google's big event, along with some additional announcements that came after the keynote.

Gemini 1.5 Flash and updates to Gemini 1.5 Pro

Google

Google announced a brand new AI model called Gemini 1.5 Flash, which it says is optimised for speed and efficiency. Flash sits between Gemini 1.5 Pro and Gemini 1.5 Nano, which its the company’s smallest model that runs locally on device. Google said that it created Flash because developers wanted a lighter and less expensive model than Gemini Pro to build AI-powered apps and services while keeping some of the things like a long context window of one million tokens that differentiates Gemini Pro from competing models. Later this year, Google will double Gemini’s context window to two million tokens, which means that it will be able to process two hours of video, 22 hours of audio, more than 60,000 lines of code or more than 1.4 million words at the same time.

Project Astra

Google

Google showed off Project Astra, an early version of a universal assistant powered by AI that Google’s DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said was Google’s version of an AI agent “that can be helpful in everyday life.”

In a video that Google says was shot in a single take, an Astra user moves around Google’s London office holding up their phone and pointing the camera at various things — a speaker, some code on a whiteboard, and out a window — and has a natural conversation with the app about what it seems. In one of the video’s most impressive moments, the correctly tells the user where she left her glasses before without the user ever having brought up the glasses.

The video ends with a twist — when the user finds and wears the missing glasses, we learn that they have an onboard camera system and are capable of using Project Astra to seamlessly carry on a conversation with the user, perhaps indicating that Google might be working on a competitor to Meta’s Ray Ban smart glasses.

Ask Google Photos

Google

Google Photos was already intelligent when it came to searching for specific images or videos, but with AI, Google is taking things to the next level. If you’re a Google One subscriber in the US, you will be able to ask Google Photos a complex question like “show me the best photo from each national park I’ve visited" when the feature rolls out over the next few months. Google Photos will use GPS information as well as its own judgement of what is “best” to present you with options. You can also ask Google Photos to generate captions to post the photos to social media.

Veo and Imagen 3

Google

Google’s new AI-powered media creation engines are called Veo and Imagen 3. Veo is Google’s answer to OpenAI’s Sora. It can produce “high-quality” 1080p videos that can last “beyond a minute”, Google said, and can understand cinematic concepts like a timelapse.

Imagen 3, meanwhile, is a text-to-image generator that Google claims handles text better than its previous version, Imagen 2. The result is the company’s highest quality” text-to-image model with “incredible level of detail” for “photorealistic, lifelike images” and fewer artifacts — essentially pitting it against OpenAI’s DALLE-3.

Big updates to Google Search

Google

Google is making big changes to how Search fundamentally works. Most of the updates announced today like the ability to ask really complex questions (“Find the best yoga or pilates studios in Boston and show details on their intro offers and walking time from Beacon Hill.”) and using Search to plan meals and vacations won’t be available unless you opt in to Search Labs, the company’s platform that lets people try out experimental features.

But a big new feature that Google is calling AI Overviews and which the company has been testing for a year now, is finally rolling out to millions of people in the US. Google Search will now present AI-generated answers on top of the results by default, and the company says that it will bring the feature to more than a billion users around the world by the end of the year.

Gemini on Android

Google

Google is integrating Gemini directly into Android. When Android 15 releases later this year, Gemini will be aware of the app, image or video that you’re running, and you’ll be able to pull it up as an overlay and ask it context-specific questions. Where does that leave Google Assistant that already does this? Who knows! Google didn’t bring it up at all during today’s keynote.

WearOS 5 battery life improvements

Google isn't quite ready to roll out the latest version of it smartwatch OS, but it is promising some major battery life improvements when it comes. The company said that Wear OS 5 will consume 20 percent less power than Wear OS 4 if a user runs a marathon. Wear OS 4 already brought battery life improvements to smartwatches that support it, but it could still be a lot better at managing a device's power. Google also provided developers with a new guide on how to conserve power and battery, so that they can create more efficient apps.

Android 15 anti-theft features

Android 15's developer preview may have been rolling for months, but there are still features to come. Theft Detection Lock is a new Android 15 feature that will use AI (there it is again) to predict phone thefts and lock things up accordingly. Google says its algorithms can detect motions associated with theft, like those associated with grabbing the phone and bolting, biking or driving away. If an Android 15 handset pinpoints one of these situations, the phone’s screen will quickly lock, making it much harder for the phone snatcher to access your data.

There were a bunch of other updates too. Google said it would add digital watermarks to AI-generated video and text, make Gemini accessible in the side panel in Gmail and Docs, power a virtual AI teammate in Workspace, listen in on phone calls and detect if you’re being scammed in real time, and a lot more.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

Update May 15, 2:45PM ET: This story was updated after being published to include details on new Android 15 and WearOS 5 announcements made following the I/O 2024 keynote.

The Shark AI robot vacuum and mop combo unit has dropped to a record low of $230 at Amazon. This is a massive discount of 52 percent, which knocks nearly $250 off the price. It does look to be one of those deals that ends when the stock runs out, so you might want to act quickly instead of popping it on your wishlist.

This is a version of our very favorite robot vacuum. The only difference between this robovac and the one that took the top spot is that this edition doesn’t come with a self-emptying base. That model, however, is also currently on sale for $370.

If you can get over the absence of the base, the Shark AI vacuum is a fantastic cleaning partner. It ticks all of the boxes. The suction power is fantastic, the obstacle avoidance is on point and it works with voice assistants like Alexa. It’s also a great mop, cleaning hard surfaces with 100 scrubs per minute.

We also enjoyed using the mobile app, which easily creates accurate maps of your space. The app can also be used to operate the vacuum when not at home, so you can return from work to find a freshly-cleaned living area. You can even set “no-go” zones for the robot to avoid, so it won’t mop carpet. The best robot vacuums are the ones that do their job without requiring constant surveillance, and this lil robovac consistently manages to get itself out of tight spots to continue cleaning. The AI in the name refers to obstacle avoidance. 

There’s only one major downside, besides the lack of a base. This robovac/mop hybrid can get pretty loud when vacuuming, so you may want to schedule the book club meeting for somewhere else. Other than that, this is pretty much the perfect mid-range robot vacuum. 

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Google has unveiled Wear OS 5 at its I/O developer conference today, giving us a glimpse of new features and other improvements coming with the platform. The company isn't quite ready to roll out the final version of the wearable OS, but its developer preview already features enhanced battery life. As an example, Google said Wear OS 5 will consume 20 percent less power than Wear OS 4 if the user runs a marathon. Wear OS 4 already brought battery life improvements to smartwatches that support it, but it could still be a lot better at managing a device's power. Google also provided developers with a new guide on how to conserve power and battery, so that they can create more efficient apps.

In addition, Google has launched new features in Watch Face Format, allowing developers to make more types of watch faces that show different kinds of information. It has enabled the creation of apps that can show current weather information at a glance with this update, including the temperature and chances of rain. The company is also adding support for new complication types. They include "goal progress," which suits data wherein the user has a target but can exceed it, and "weighted elements," which can be used to represent discrete subsets of data.

Wear OS 5 could give rise to new apps and new functionalities in old apps, as well. Google's Health Connect API for the platform will allow apps to access user data even while they're only running in the background. It will also enable them to access health information over the past 30 days, though users will have to give their explicit permission before apps can take advantage of both features. Finally, Wear OS 5's Health Services API supports new data types for running, such as ground contact time and stride length.

Google didn't announce when Wear OS 5 will be available, but its predecessor, Wear OS 4, launched with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 in August 2023. Based on the timeline and the devices that support the current platform, Watch OS 5 could launch with the Samsung Galaxy 7 or the Pixel Watch 3 later this year.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

A group of TikTok creators have joined the legal fight to keep the app from being banned in the United States. Eight creators have sued the US government in an effort to block a law requiring TikTok's parent company ByteDance to sell the service. 

The lawsuit claims that the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment rights of the creators who depend on the platform. “They have found their voices, amassed significant audiences, made new friends, and encountered new and different ways of thinking—all because of TikTok’s novel way of hosting, curating, and disseminating speech,” it states. “The Act’s ban of TikTok threatens to deprive them, and the rest of the country, of this distinctive means of expression and communication.”

The lawsuit comes one week after TikTok filed its own lawsuit against the government. According to The Washington Post, the company is “covering” the legal fees for the creators participating in the latest suit. It’s also strategy that has worked for the company in the past. A group of Montana-based TikTok creators sued the state over an attempted statewide ban last year. That effort was ultimately successful and the ban never went into effect. The Montana creators were represented by the same law firm currently repping the eight creators involved in the latest suit.

Google is opening up its Home platform to third-party developers through new APIs. As such, any app will eventually be able to tap into the more than 600 million devices that are connected to Home, even if they're not necessarily smart home-oriented apps. Google suggests, for instance, that a food delivery app might be able to switch on the outdoor lights before the courier shows up with dinner.

The APIs build on the foundation of Matter and Google says it created them with privacy and security at the forefront. For one thing, developers who tap into the APIs will need to pass certification before rolling out their app. In addition, apps won't be able to access someone's smart home devices without a user's explicit consent.

Developers are already starting to integrate the APIs, which include one focused on automation. Eve, for instance, will let you set up your smart blinds to lower automatically when the temperature dips at night. A workout app might switch on a fan for you before you start working up a sweat.

Google is taking things a little slow with the APIs, as there's a waitlist and it's working with select partners. It plans to open up access to the APIs on a rolling basis, and the first apps using them will hit the Play Store and App Store this fall.

Meanwhile, Google is turning TVs into smart home hubs. Starting later this year, you'll be able to control smart home devices via Chromecast with Google TV and certain models with Google TV running Android 14 or higher, as well as some LG TVs.

Xbox is expanding its accessibility footprint with the Proteus Controller, a modular gamepad created by nascent peripheral company Byowave as part of the Designed for Xbox program. The Proteus Controller is a group of palm-sized cubes that can be connected to each other in a wide variety of configurations, with interchangeable faceplates that include standard controller buttons, analog sticks and a directional pad. This means players can set up the Proteus Controller to be used in individualized ways: in one hand, flat on a desktop, as part of a traditional gamepad with palm grips, connected to a joystick, and other setups.

The Proteus Controller is available for pre-order now at a discounted price of $255. It's expected to ship in the fall. The full kit includes two power cubes, two analogue cubes (with Hall effect sensors), one half cube and two spacers, plus the swappable peripherals. There's a D-pad, left trigger, right trigger, two single-button options, an XYAB diamond, a mini analog stick and the Xbox home grouping. It also comes with left and right handles to create a traditional gamepad, and socket and plug covers featuring Byowave's cute blue beastie. A USB-C charging cable and Bluetooth dongle are included in the package.

Byowave is selling the Proteus Controller in tiers, and it has just 150 available at the $255 VIP Price. After that, it'll have 500 kits available at $268 (Early Bird), and then 1,000 kits available at $284 (Pre-Order). The standard price of the Proteus Controller will be $300.

As evidenced by the built-in Xbox home button, the Proteus Controller was backed by Microsoft and at launch it'll work only with Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 and 11. It will not work with PlayStation 5 or Switch — at least not at first.

"It is very important to us to be officially licensed with console companies to ensure a seamless user experience and so that we can ensure the longevity of the controller," the Proteus FAQ reads. "We would love to partner with these platforms in the future! 🤞"

The Byowave team says it can't verify that the Proteus Controller will work with Steam Deck, but they're hopeful that it will. They encourage interested players to reach out directly for more information about Steam Deck integration.

The Proteus Controller is part of the Designed by Xbox program, which means it was developed alongside Microsoft's gaming teams and should work seamlessly with the company's hardware. Companies like Razer, Turtle Beach, PowerA and Logitech also sell gadgets with the Designed by Xbox logo, but the Byowave partnership marks a new emphasis on accessibility products in this space. Microsoft today said it's accelerating and streamlining the Designed by Xbox onboarding process for hardware manufacturers focused on serving the disability community.

The announcement of the Proteus Controller is part of Xbox's recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Xbox has been a leader in accessible gaming hardware since it launched the Adaptive Controller in late 2018. The Adaptive Controller is a reimagined, deeply customizable gamepad designed in partnership with AbleGamers, Warfighter Engaged, SpecialEffect, Craig Hospital and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, and it was the first piece of hardware from a major manufacturer to focus on players with disabilities. It costs just $100 and allows users to plug in their own third-party peripherals to create their ideal gaming setup.

The Adaptive Controller is also getting some love for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, as laid out on Xbox Wire: "Based on community feedback from an update impacting unauthorized accessories on our platform, we are updating the Xbox Adaptive Controller to expand support for more accessories connected via USB port. This update will better support full functionality of some accessibility peripherals."

Each port on the Adaptive Controller will now support up to 12 buttons, a second stick and a hat switch. The update will hit Xbox Insiders first over the next few weeks and it'll go public through a controller update prompt in the coming months.