It took two years, but Microsoft is at last ready to let everyday users try its latest take on collaborative work. The company is releasing its Loop app in public preview form on the web, Android and iOS. As shown back in 2021, this lets people work on projects with live-updating components that can drop into Microsoft 365 apps like Word and Outlook. You can place a table in a Word document that updates as users change it, for instance.

Loop also lets you assign tasks (synced with Planner and To Do), comment, react, share project pages and track progress. On your phone, you can contribute photos if something inspires you while you're away from your computer.

As you might imagine, Microsoft is squeezing AI into Loop. Microsoft 365 Copilot will offer AI suggestions to help kickstart your efforts. You can ask the Copilot to help you create a mission statement, or summarize the content of a workspace document.

You'll need a work account to try the mobile apps today, but anyone can use Loop on the web. Personal support for mobile is "coming soon," Microsoft says. While Copilot is limited to a private test, it should be available in the months ahead.

Like we said at the Loop reveal, this isn't Google Wave redux. It's more of an attempt to unify and sync collaborative efforts in an era where emoji are commonplace and people thrive on apps like Asana (for task tracking) and Slack (for chat). Microsoft's challenge is simply getting people to use its approach. This won't help those loyal to Google's productivity suite, of course, but Microsoft will also have to persuade users that Loop can replace the gaggle of collaborative apps they might already use.

Epic Games will has a new way to encourage more custom Fortnite islands: promise a steadier stream of cash. The company has launched a Creator Economy 2.0 system that will proportionately hand out 40 percent of net revenue from most real-money purchases to creators, including Epic. If your island is especially popular or keeps people coming back, you'll get a larger cut of Item Shop spending and related transactions.

Until now, Fortnite creators received special codes they had to share with fans if they wanted a five percent slice of purchases. However, that approach only worked if players knew to use the code. That left some creators using heavy-handed tactics to promote the code, such as frequent promotion during livestreams or even designing islands around the concept.

Creators can sign up for Economy 2.0 through a portal. People with existing islands who joins on or before April 21st will be paid for engagement dating back to March 1st. To qualify, individuals only need to be 18 years old and have a Fortnite account at least 90 days old. Companies are also eligible.

The news comes as Epic is introducing a free public beta of Unreal Engine for Fortnite. As the name implies, it will eventually bring most of Unreal Engine 5's tools to creators making islands, games and other experiences inside the shooter. You can edit maps, the environment and game mechanics. Effectively, this should lead to more distinctive (and more polished) third-party projects.

The change to payouts isn't a shock. According to Activeplayer.io, Fortnite's average monthly player counts have gradually declined since peaks in 2020 and 2021. Economy 2.0 could help Epic by rewarding creators of in-demand islands. To some degree, this is also about fending off competition from Roblox. Many companies are building islands in the rival platform to attract younger users — Epic's move could keep those brands and gamers onboard.

Are you tired of TV providers advertising one price, but charging another thanks to hidden fees? You might not have to put up with that practice for much longer. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a requirement that cable and satellite TV services "clearly and prominently" display the true cost of service both in their marketing and on subscriber bills. Companies couldn't mask programming costs as fees that only show up on your bill, hiding them behind vague or potentially misleading terms.

The measure is intended to help would-be customers make truly informed choices about TV subscriptions, including comparisons with streaming services. The move could also help boost competition between providers and help cash-strapped families avoid unpleasant surprises, FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel claims.

The proposal comes months after President Biden called on government agencies to fight "junk fees" and otherwise demand more transparent pricing for services and events. The FCC itself recently said it would require broadband "nutrition labels" that display prices and typical performance. In that light, the TV price transparency effort is mainly an extension that could outline exactly how much you'll pay for a multi-service bill.

The proposal doesn't come at a great time for conventional TV giants. Streaming TV viewership in the US (including live and on-demand) overtook cable for the first time last summer. While internet-only services aren't always better deals than cable and satellite equivalents, the increased transparency could prevent traditional companies from artificially minimizing the differences.

Spotify's financial apology for Joe Rogan's comments may not amount to much so far. Bloomberg sources claim the streaming service has spent less than 10 percent of its $100 million Creator Equity Fund, a pool meant to foster diversity in podcasts and music, in its first year of operation. The company reportedly planned to spend the whole fund over three years, but hasn't had a solid structure for approving spending and has been slow to hire staff. Changing priorities have also hurt the project, the insiders say.

Unionized workers at Parcast, a Spotify podcast network, have previously criticized the company over a lack of spending. In February, they complained to management that the company had greenlit just $5,000 out of the $100,000 earmarked for diversity plans. 

Spotify didn't address the funding claims in a statement to Engadget. It instead pointed to projects the fund has supported so far. This includes the LGBTQ music promotion program Glow, marketing campaigns for Black artists like Kaytranada and the recent expansion of the NextGen podcast funding initiative to support development at historically Black colleges and universities. The Creator Equity Fund has also been used to support Latina/Latino creators.

The firm established the fund after the artist-led backlash to Joe Rogan allegedly enabling the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation through his Spotify-exclusive podcast. While that was the catalyst, critics also pointed to Rogan using racist language and making transphobic statements. Spotify has repeatedly defended signing Rogan in 2020, but has pulled some of the episodes containing racist words. Its deal with the podcaster is rumored to be worth at least $200 million and to last 3.5 years.

It won't be surprising if Spotify spends more of the diversity fund. However, the apparent lack of spending doesn't help Spotify's case. If the report is accurate, the company has had trouble fulfilling its promise to listeners worried the service is amplifying hate and other dangerous falsehoods.

Amazon is once again refreshing its Fire TV sets, but the focus now is less on whiz-bang features and more on where those sets will fit. The 4K-capable Fire TV Omni QLED line now comes in smaller 43-, 50- and 55-inch models. These TVs start at a lower $450 but still offer up to 96-zone local dimming as well as HDR using Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive. To no one's surprise, you can expect far-field microphones for Alexa control as well as promises of an upgraded Ambient Experience (always-on art similar to Samsung's The Frame) with "dynamic" pieces that respond to conditions like the time and weather. That update comes later in the year.

There's also a new Fire TV 2 range (pictured below) aimed squarely at viewers looking for a small bedroom set. The 32-inch 720p and 40-inch 1080p variants aren't based on QLED, require using a remote for Alexa and are limited to HDR based on HDR10 and HLG. However, the price might hit the sweet spot — the 32-inch panel costs $200.

Amazon

The Fire TV Omni QLED series is available for pre-order today, and will be available through Best Buy's website on May 11th. Amazon is selling the Fire TV 2 through its own site beginning today.

Amazon's timing is apt. Roku just launched its first in-house TVs, with its entry Select line starting at $149 (for a 24-inch screen) and QLED-based Plus coming in below $500. While the companies' offerings don't quite overlap, Amazon's revised lineup is clearly better suited to competing against Roku's. In both cases, the strategy is similar: this is as much about getting a platform and services into your living room as it is selling hardware.

It's not just Android phones that are vulnerable to a screenshot security flaw. Developer Chris Blume has discovered that Windows 11's Snipping Tool falls prey to a similar exploit. The utility doesn't completely erase unused PNG image data, making it possible to recover some of the cropped-out picture and potentially obtain sensitive data. As BleepingComputerverified with researcher David Buchanan, you can extract the supposedly hidden info using a slightly modified version of the script used to demonstrate the Android vulnerability.

The issue doesn't affect some PNG files, including optimized images. You can also wipe the unused data by saving the cropped picture as another file in an image editing tool. JPEG files also leave data from the original screenshot, but the exploit isn't known to work with the format at this stage.

We've asked Microsoft for comment and will let you know if we hear back. In a statement to BleepingComputer, Microsoft says it's "investigating" the security reports and will "take action as needed" to protect users.

Buchanan and programmer Simon Aarons recently found a severe "aCropalypse" flaw in the Markup screenshot feature on Google Pixel phones. While Google has since patched the security hole with its March update (now expanded to Pixel 6 phones), the fix only addresses images created after installing the patch. Provided Microsoft releases a corresponding Windows 11 update, existing images may have the same problem.

The concern, as you might guess, is that an intruder with access to your images might use a script to recover information you intend to hide, such as contacts and business secrets. The culprit could use the info for harassment, blackmail or espionage. While this may not be as much of a headache for locally stored screenshots (you have larger problems if an attacker already has access to your device), it could be very troublesome for unmodified images you save in the cloud.

Microsoft's Bing AI chat can already be helpful for finding answers, but now it can help you produce fanciful pictures. The company has introduced a Bing Image Creator preview that adds OpenAI's DALL-E AI image generation to both Bing search and a sidebar in the Edge browser. You just have to ask the chatbot to create an image with either a direct description or a follow-up to a previous query. If you're wondering how to revamp your living room, you can ask Bing to draw some ideas based on your criteria.

Yes, Microsoft is aware of the potential for things to go awry. The company says it's applying "additional protections" beyond OpenAI's own. It will block you from creating potentially "harmful" images, the firm says. Microsoft also explicitly clarifies that images are AI-generated, including through watermarks.

Image Creator is available to a selection of Bing desktop and mobile users in preview and through a dedicated site. Edge users have access as well If you're part of the test group, you'll have to toggle the Creative mode to give the generator a try. Microsoft plans to bring the creative tool to Balanced and Precise mode users in the future, though, and plans to fine-tune the system's behavior in multi-step chats. While the technology only supports English, more languages are in the works.

More forms of AI are finding their way into Bing. The company is rolling out AI-based Knowledge Cards that now offer "dynamic" quick-glance info like charts and timelines. Stories, meanwhile, provide images and short videos linked to searched topics.

The DALL-E tool comes just as Adobe has unveiled plans to put generative AI in Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro, while NVIDIA is launching a customizable cloud AI service that includes image creation. While Microsoft clearly isn't competing directly with Adobe or NVIDIA, it's joining a wave of tech giants that see AI image production as a valuable tool. Bing Image Creator might also provide a competitive edge over Google, which only just widened access to its Bard AI chat following a limited test.

NVIDIA is deepening its efforts to fight cancer using AI. The GPU maker is teaming with Medtronic to build AI into the GI Genius endoscopy tool (shown below). The two will use NVIDIA's IGX hardware and Holoscan medical platform to help detect the polyps that can lead to colorectal cancer. Doctors will get "AI-enhanced" diagnostic images, the companies say.

The first GI Genius systems built with NVIDIA tech are expected to arrive later this year. The device can use a range of AI tools, and Medtronic is betting that using NVIDIA's Clara platform could help develop algorithms for real-time medical procedures.

Medtronic

The news comes the same time as NVIDIA is expanding its BioNeMo Cloud service that helps bring generative AI to drug discovery. The new offering helps train AI models (and handle inference) used to develop new therapeutic proteins and otherwise advance fields like biology and chemistry. Researchers can speed up one of the most time-consuming processes in their pipeline, NVIDIA claims.

The news comes soon after Google unveiled AI technology for cancer therapy and ultrasound diagnosis. Other tech giants have devoted more of their AI work to healthcare in recent years. Intel partnered with Penn Medicine on AI to detect brain tumors, while Microsoft aimed to speed up cervical cancer detection and take some of the load from overworked doctors.

For NVIDIA, this is as much about translating its AI expertise to health tech as it is winning another customer. Still, the alliance could lead to some very practical benefits. As with some other AI-based cancer detection systems, this could help physicians begin treatment early and increase the chances of recovery.

Ford has finally shown the medium-sized electric crossover it teased last year, and it might not be what you expect. The company has unveiled an electric Explorer that's "designed for Europe" and as suited to tight city streets as it is weekend jaunts. It's relatively compact (under 14.8ft long versus 16.6ft for the gas SUV) and offers creature comforts like "sporty" seats. Notably, it also includes a few technology features you won't even find in higher-end Ford EVs like the Mustang Mach-E.

The 15-inch vertical touchscreen will seem familiar, but it slides up and down — you won't have to settle for an awkward position. You also won't find the physical knob from earlier Ford EVs. The automaker also takes advantage of the electrified design to provide a massive amount of console storage space (enough for a 15-inch laptop) and a private "locker" for valuables. Wireless phone charging is standard, as is wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The five cameras and three radar sensors provide Ford's usual range of driver aids, although this is the first time Europeans will have access to features like Assisted Lane Change (which changes lanes through a stalk press).

Most performance specs aren't yet available, including range. However, Ford claims you can charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in a relatively quick 25 minutes.

The company is taking reservations for base Explorer and higher-end Explorer Premium trims now ahead of a release later this year. While final pricing will have to wait, Ford expects the line to start below €45,000 (about $48,500). Don't expect a launch elsewhere, unfortunately. Ford tells Engadget there are "no plans" to bring the Explorer EV to North America, and that the conventional Explorer will still be on sale worldwide.

The Explorer is part of a larger strategy to introduce seven EVs to Europe by 2024, including the compact Puma and the Transit van. Ford ultimately hopes to completely electrify its passenger cars in Europe by 2030. This new model may be key to that transition. On top of being more practical for European streets, it's considerably more affordable than the roughly €62,000 Mach-E. This is the mainstream (if still pricey) people-hauler that might reach a wider audience.

Jabra now has a more affordable set of mid-range wireless earbuds if you don't need all of the Elite 4 Active's workout-ready features. The company has unveiled base Elite 4 earbuds that include most of the core functionality at a lower $100 price. You'll still get active noise cancellation (ANC), multipoint connectivity and quick pairing for Android and Windows, just with a few slightly toned-down capabilities.

To start, the Elite 4 offers IP55 dust and water resistance. That's slightly less resilient than the Elite 4 Active's IP57 rating, but should still be good enough for rain or a little sweat. You can expect 5.5 hours of listening versus seven for the Active (22 hours with the case versus 28), and there's no mention of the higher-end model's transparency mode. You'll still find four microphones, though, and aptX support should wring more audio quality out of Bluetooth's limited bandwidth.

The Elite 4 is available now. The buds sit in an unusual middle ground between the Elite 4 Active and the truly budget-oriented Elite 3 (normally $80) — there's only $20 between each model. This is the brand's most affordable true wireless option with ANC, however, and it won't be surprising if sales make this new model more enticing.

The new entry is arguably a better value than some of the competition. You can't get ANC from Apple without spending much more on the (admittedly very capable) AirPods Pro, while Google's Pixel Buds Pro are still relatively expensive. Even Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 are costlier. It's just a question of whether or not you're willing to forego the tight platform integration of those offerings in the name of saving money.