If you can't stand your web browser's default gray look, Google may have just what you're looking for. The company recently updated Chrome on desktop with a side panel that makes it easier to change the app's theme and color. Click "Customize Chrome" in a new tab and you can browse theme packs or set colors in real time. You can upload custom images, or set a daily rotating background if you crave variety.

There's no mention of a similar change coming to mobile. The confines of a phone screen wouldn't make this customization as practical as it is on a computer, though, so we wouldn't count on a direct equivalent.

Browser customization isn't new, of course. However, you've typically had to dive deeper into the settings to access the feature, even in other Chromium-based browsers. Microsoft's Edge, for instance, requires visiting an appearance section in settings to make similar changes. The Chrome update theoretically encourages more people to give themes and colors a try. That, in turn, may keep them using Chrome instead of switching to rivals.

Arturia's KeyLab Essential series is kind of the sweet spot in its lineup. It has most of the same core features as the company's flagship KeyLab series, but with a less premium build and a few less hands-on controls. But it's they're also about half the price. The new KeyLab Essential mk3 delivers even better value with more controls, a bigger screen and a more eco-conscious build. 

The mk3 will initially be available in 49- and 61-key varieties, in both black and white finishes. While there was no announcement of an upgraded 88-key model, I wouldn't be surprised if Arturia added one down the line. On the surface the KeyLab Essential mk3 doesn't look terribly different from its predecessor. There's still nine knobs and nine faders on the right that provide immediate access to range of parameters in Arturia's softsynths. But there are also control scripts for a number of popular DAWs, including Ableton Live that allow you to do think like mix tracks using the faders or stop and start recordings. 

The one immediately noticeable difference is the much larger screen in the middle of the keyboard. It should make navigating presets in Analog lab and other Arturia instruments much easier. There's also four contextual button below it allowing for more control over your plugins. 

Arturia also expanded the controls at your disposal, including adding a second bank for the eight pads so, at least with a bit of work, you can take advantage of a full 16 pad drum rack in Live. There's also new scale and chord modes with presets, as well as a hold function and an arpeggiator. The company also upgraded the pedal input to allow for use with an expression pedal instead of just sustain. The software bundle included (which was already pretty great) has been expanded to include Native Instruments The Gentleman, Loopcloud and Melodics, in addition to Ableton Live Lite, Analog Lab V and UVI Model D. 

Lastly Arturia has committed to lessening its environmental impact by making the KeyLab Essential mk3 out of at least 40 percent recycled plastic and moving to 100 percent recyclable packaging. And despite all this, the keyboards are actually significantly cheaper than the mk2 models. The 61-key KeyLab Essential mk3 is $269 (down from $320 for the mk2), while the 49-key version of the mk3 is only $219 (down from $269). 

Unlike Meta, Microsoft doesn't need to change its name to prove it's committed to an entirely new tech platform: It's doing so through action. After debuting its AI-infused Bing search engine earlier this year, the company unveiled the Microsoft 365 Copilot for Office apps. And even before those consumer reveals, Microsoft delivered an AI tool for developers in 2021 with GitHub Copilot. Today at its Build developer conference, Microsoft is making the inevitable next step: It's making AI an integral part of Windows 11.

The new Windows Copilot tool lives in the Windows sidebar and, just like Bing's AI chat, you can use it as a super-powered search engine by typing in general questions. But true to its name, it's also deeply integrated with Windows. You can ask it to accomplish tasks within the OS — like turning on the night light mode, or changing your desktop background — without fishing around for specific settings. Windows Copilot can also function as a genuine virtual assistant by summarizing documents, or launching a photo app to accomplish a few edits before sending it off to a group of your coworkers. Cortana would never.

Lucas Jackson / reuters

"I think about Windows and the role of AI as such an opportunity," said Panos Panay, Microsoft Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, in an interview with Engadget ahead of Tuesday’s launch. "We have hundreds of millions of people [using Windows], bringing the power of AI to Windows 11 gives you the opportunity to not only get more creative and get more productive, but ultimately just let every Windows user become a power user."

Windows Copilot, which will be available to preview in June, also has the potential to reach far more users than the revamped Bing. The company's search engine clearly received plenty of buzz thanks to AI — Microsoft said it hit 100 million daily active users a month after the AI chat feature launched — but according to StatCounter, Bing has also lost market share over the past few months. It hit 7.2 percent in April, down from a recent high of 9.92 percent last October.

That's not entirely surprising, though. Microsoft's battle against Google has always seemed like a hopeless endeavor. The company launched its first attempt, MSN Search, in 1998 soon after Google arrived, and amid Yahoo's dominance as the go-to web portal. MSN Search turned into Live Search, which ultimately evolved into Bing in 2009.

Microsoft has always been a company that's dabbled in search, but it's not a search company. But Windows is another matter entirely. It's a product with a devoted user base, many of whom have decades of experience with the OS. According to Microsoft, there are over 1.4 billion monthly active devices running Windows 10 or 11. (And of course, that doesn't include the PCs running older Windows versions.) Microsoft previously tried to bring Bing's AI capabilities into the Windows taskbar in February, but that ultimately just amounted to a shortcut that launched Bing's AI chat in the Edge browser. Windows Copilot actually weaves AI into the core Windows 11 experience.

"There's so much depth in this product from the '90s on," said Panay. "Our job is to responsibly, of course, push it forward to users that need both the past and need to get to the future [...] We have so many kinds of users that use Windows in its simplest form, like browsing, Mail, and Office [...] And then we've got the hardcore devs who get right down to the depth of the product. And I think both are so vital to the platform. But now I think every developer can move forward as an AI developer and every user can be a power user on Windows. I think it just makes Windows that much better."

Windows Copilot is currently a text-only tool, but Panay envisions it evolving into something you can interact with on your own terms. It has the potential to be the powerful voice assistant that Cortana, the Siri competitor Microsoft pushed for years, never amounted to. (And to be fair, pretty much every virtual assistant ended up being a disappointment. Siri remains confounding and inaccurate, while Google's Assistant is mainly useful for preemptively delivering information, rather than dealing with voice commands.)

Microsoft

The simple, text-based approach to AI also makes sense for Microsoft. For many users, Windows Copilot will be the first time they've interacted with any sort of generative AI product. Better to let general users warm up with a few text strings before overwhelming people with voice commands. And hopefully by the time Microsoft adds voice support, it'll be closer to the Star Trek computer than the frustrating assistants of yore. (I'm dreaming of the day when I can shout at my computer to look up information as I'm writing feverishly on deadline, or ask it to transcribe and summarize a meeting.)

Windows Copilot, just like Bing Chat, will also support the same third-party plugins that OpenAI's ChaptGPT uses. That means any developer will be able to easily connect their apps to AI, an essential move to make these products more useful. Every software platform needs a thriving third-party ecosystem to survive — just think of what iOS or Android would be like if you were stuck using only Apple or Google's apps.

"AI is going to be the single largest driver of innovation for Windows in the years to come," said Panay. "It's going to change the way you work, change your interaction models to make it easier. It's going to understand so much about what you need."

Microsoft

Panay stressed that Microsoft is also focused on making your AI interactions secure and private. Windows Copilot could end up juggling some sensitive information if you start asking questions about specific health questions, for example. A potentially bigger concern is misinformation: Windows Copilot and Bing Chat can answer your questions confidently, but it may not always be accurate. And it's a bigger problem than standard web searches since it's unclear where AI chatbots are pulling information from.

"We have to approach AI with innovation but also optimism," Panay said when I asked about how Microsoft is planning to deal with AI misinformation. "To your point, we have to prioritize both people’s safety and privacy. Also, at the end of the day, if you do it in a frame of humility, where we're always learning, this is going to be vital to your point."

It's clear that Microsoft still has plenty to learn from Windows Copilot. The preview period, which kicks off next month, is a chance for the company to see how it's used in the wild, and to make adjustments before it's officially released. Panay says that the Bing team is already working to make sure its results come from grounded references, and that they're also holding to Microsoft's responsible AI standards.

Microsoft

According to Shilpa Ranganathan, a Microsoft Corporate Vice President leading the Windows team, the company has been talking a lot about how Copilot results are displayed, as well as communicating the uncertainty of some answers to customers. “We're going to build it into the experience as a learning experience for us as well […] I don't want to take a path that allows us to lose trust with customers,” she said. “We believe that's most important. I'd rather say, hey, we're not 100 percent sure. Help us make this better or if this didn't help you, I would like feedback now so that we never show this to another customer again.”

Panay hopes to get to a point where "as a product maker, I have the confidence that what we're handing to our customers is exactly what they need when we launch into the full availability [of Windows Copilot]." He added, "It's about humility. If you give it time and the right innovation, then we can get to that point of creating the guardrails needed to keep it safe and remove the misinformation."

Given the state of the web today, where less reputable websites employ a variety of SEO tricks to rank higher in search results, it’s unclear if we’ll ever be truly rid of AI misinformation. The next content war will be entirely focused on websites vying for placement within AI search results. The problem for users is that it’ll be harder to tell if bad information is coming from a seemingly reputable source, rather than an obviously scammy website filled with junk content.

Windows Copilot has the potential to fundamentally reshape the way we use Windows. But hopefully, it won’t erode user trust in the process.

As Microsoft unveiled more of its plans for AI domination at its Build developer conference today, no aspect of its business will be left untouched by AI. In addition to bringing its "Copilot" to Windows 11 and Edge, the company also shared details on how it will be infusing the Store with AI, beginning with the new AI Hub. 

This is a "new curated section in the Microsoft Store where we will promote the best AI experiences built by the developer community and Microsoft," the company said in a press release. It will use this area to "educate customers on how to start and expand their AI journey, inspiring them to use AI in everyday ways to boost productivity, spark creativity and more." Examples include apps like Luminar Neo, Descript, Podcastle, Copy.ai, Kickresume, Play.ht and other services that let users tap AI to help them create content. 

The Store will also get AI-generated review summaries that takes feedback left by other users on apps and games and generates a concise rundown of what was said. This way, people won't have to sift through the "thousands of reviews," that Microsoft says some popular apps have. 

If you're a Windows Insider, you'll be able to try out a new feature in preview that will restore your Store app icons when you're transitioning to a new Windows 11 device. You'll have to be moving from a Windows 10 or 11 setup to begin with, and when you switch over, icons for your Store apps will "automatically get restored right where [you] had them — on the Start menu and Taskbar."

Developers will also be getting some AI support, like automatically generated keywords and suggested Search Tags in the Partner Center. This will use AI to "consumer your metadata, as well as other signals, and help you improve the discoverability of your app in the Microsoft Store search results." The company is also adding the ability to list your app in multiple categories.

Microsoft Store Ads are also expanding in a few ways. First, they'll be added to search results on Bing starting next month, so people using their browsers to look for stuff will also be aware of relevant Windows apps. Next month, they'll also be reaching outside the US market to more than 150 regions around the world. Developers will also get the option to display rich advertising in the spotlight section of the Store.

Most of the consumer-facing features announced for the Microsoft Store today will be available "soon," and more specific timeframes have yet to be shared. Still, it's clear the company is intent on bringing AI to every part of its business and all its products and the onslaught is nigh. 

Microsoft has a lot of news at this year's Build conference around its AI "copilots" for Windows 11 and other products, but it wants third-party developers in on the action too. The company announced that it has expanded its AI plugin ecosystem and provided a framework for building AI apps and copilots. At the same time, it's adopting the same open plugin standard that OpenAI uses for ChatGPT to ensure it'll work alongside its Windows 11, 365 and other copilots. 

Microsoft introduced the idea of copilots nearly two years ago. Those are applications that use AI and LLMs (large language models) to help users with complex cognitive tasks like writing sales pitches, generating images and more. For example, ChatGPT on Bing is actually a copilot, and Microsoft has also launched copilots for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Security, among others. 

Now, it's adding features that let developers build their own using new "plugins" that allow copilots to interact with other software and services. "You may look at Bing Chat and think this is some super magical complicated thing, but Microsoft is giving developers everything they need to get started to go build a copilot of their own," said Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott. "I think over the coming years, this will become an expectation for how all software works."

Microsoft

In addition, Microsoft said it's adopting the same open plugin standard used by Open AI so that all of Microsoft's copilots can potentially work with ChatGPT. "That means developers can now use one platform to build plugins that work across both business and consumer surfaces, including ChatGPT, Bing, Dynamics 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Windows Copilot," it wrote. 

As part of that platform, Bing is adding plugin support for third-party companies including Instacart, Kayak, Klarna, Redfin and Zillow. That's on top of those previously announced by Open AI including OpenTable and Wolfram. Developers can also extend Microsoft 365 Copilot using ChatGPT and Bing plugins, as well as Teams message extensions and Power Platform connectors. Developers will also be able to build their own plugins with the Microsoft Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio. 

Finally, Microsoft announced that Azure AI Content Safety is now in preview. It's designed to ensure copilots avoid creating outputs that are "biased, sexist, racist, hateful, violent" or encourage self-harm, said Microsoft product manager Sarah Bird. The models detect inappropriate content across images and text, then flag them and assign severity scores so that human moderators can see anything that requires urgent action. "It’s part of the safety system that’s powering the new Bing... [and] we're now launching it as a product that third-party customers can use," said Bird. 

There are vanishingly few places in Microsoft's business ecosystem that remain untouched by January's OpenAI deal, with GPT-4 backed chatbot and generative capabilities coming to Office products like Word and Excel, Bing Search, and integrated directly into the Edge browser. During the Microsoft Build 2023 conference on Tuesday, company executives clarified and confirmed that its 365 Copilot AI — the same one going into Office — will be "natively integrated" into the Edge browser. 

Microsoft 365 Copilot essentially takes all of your Graph information — data from your Calendar, Word docs, emails and chat logs — and smashes them together, using the informatic slurry in training an array of large language models, to provide AI-backed assistance personalized to your business. 

"You can type natural language requests like 'Tell my team how we updated the product strategy today,'" Lindsay Kubasik, Group Product Manager, Edge Enterprise wrote in a Tuesday blog post. "Microsoft 365 Copilot will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails and chat threads."

By integrating 365 Copilot into the browser itself, users will be able to request additional context even more directly. "As you’re looking at a file your colleague shared, you can simply ask, 'What are the key takeaways from this document?'” and get answers from 365 Copilot in real-time. Even on-page search (ctrl+F) is getting smarter thanks to the deeper integration. The company is also incorporating the same open plugin standard launched by OpenAI, ensuring interoperability between ChatGPT and 365 Copilot products. 

But it's not ready for rollout just yet and there's no word on when that will change. "Microsoft 365 Copilot is currently in private preview," a Microsoft rep told Engadget. "Microsoft 365 Copilot will be natively integrated into Microsoft Edge, and we will have more to share at a later date." 

On the other hand, Microsoft's digital co-working product, Edge Workspaces, will be moving out of preview altogether in the coming months, Kubasik noted. Workspaces allows teams to share links, project websites and working files as a shared set of secured browser tabs. Furthermore, the company is "evolving" its existing work experience into Microsoft Edge for Business. This will include unique visual elements and cues — which should begin rolling out to users today — along with "enterprise controls, security, and productivity features" designed to help keep remote workers' private lives better separated from their work lives.  

The company recognizes the need for "a new browser model that enhances users’ privacy while maintaining crucial, enterprise grade controls set at the organizational level," Kubasik wrote. "Microsoft Edge for Business honors the needs of both end users and IT Pros as the browser that automatically separates work and personal browsing into dedicated browser windows with their own separate caches and storage locations, so information stays separate."

Microsoft Edge for Business enters preview today on managed devices. If your organization isn't already using the Edge ecosystem, fear not, a preview for unmanaged devices is in the works for the coming months.

It'll be some time before we have a full picture of what the next version of Windows looks like, but that's not stopping Microsoft from rolling out a few updates to Windows 11 amid this year's Build developer conference. Today the company announced a list of feature updates for the operating system focusing on privacy, security and accessibility. Although most of the new tools are aimed at businesses and IT departments, there are some handy features average users may want to know about.

To start, Microsoft says that Bluetooth Low Energy Audio is coming to compatible devices, starting with the May 2023 non-security preview release. The company said its working with Intel and Samsung to bring the audio standard to the PC ecosystem for the first time, specifically calling out the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro as a potentially compatible set of earbuds.

Speaking of audio content, you'll be able to understand more of it than ever. Starting this week, live captions for Windows 11 will support 10 new languages, including simplified and traditional Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portugueses and Spanish.

Most of the update focuses on "new and improved features for businesses," but there's still one last item you might want to pay attention to: the glanceable VPN icon. This feature will be available in the quick settings menu, and enables a new shield icon that will hover over the active network connection in the taskbar to help users check to see if they're connected to a recognized VPN service.

Other new features hitting Windows soon include a larger widget page, a Windows 365 boot feature that automatically logs users into Cloud PCs, new privacy controls for managing presence sensor data, QR code verification for document printing, autopatch updates and new messaging tools for IT teams. You can check out the full rundown of the new features on the Microsoft Blog.

ChatGPT no longer needs to rely on its own models or plugins to provide information to users: Microsoft has announced Bing Search is integrating into ChatGPT to provide more relevant — and potentially newer — responses. Bing will act as the "default search experience," allowing ChatGPT to pull answers from the internet and provide citations.

Microsoft and OpenAI have worked together closely over the last few months, with Bing, itself, running on GPT-4 (with some tailoring for searches). Bing works by displaying responses in detailed or summary form and sources facts and suggestions with footnotes of sorts — features it can bring to ChatGPT to, possibly, provide more precise information. Previously, ChatGPT relied solely on individual plugins to access any recent information.

Other new Bing updates are plugin-centric, including a single platform for developers to create and submit them for ChatGPT, Bing, Microsoft 365 Copilot and more. Bing is adding a slew of companies to its in-chat plugin options, such as Expedia, Zillow and Klarna, for targeted communication on topics like travel and shopping. The common plugin platform is also being natively integrated into Microsoft Edge — where Bing is already built-in.

The exact timeline for each of these developments isn't entirely clear beyond Bing's immediate integration into ChatGPT for Plus subscribers. According to Microsoft, free ChatGPT accounts will be able to access Bing through a plugin "soon," and company plugin experiences will become available in the "coming weeks."

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance reportedly mixed its revenue with customer funds at a US bank in 2020 and 2021. A source said to have direct knowledge of company finances told Reuters that commingling happened almost daily in Binance accounts at Silvergate Bank and concerned sums that ran into the billions.

The news agency said it reviewed records showing that, in February 2021, Binance mixed $20 million from a corporate account with $15 million from one into which customer funds were placed. Reuters noted that it found no evidence of client funds being stolen or lost. Still, under US financial regulations, customer money must be kept separate from business revenue.

Binance has denied commingling customer funds and its revenue. “These accounts were not used to accept user deposits; they were used to facilitate user purchases” of cryptocurrencies, Binance spokesperson Brad Jaffe told Reuters. “There was no commingling at any time because these are 100 percent corporate funds.” Jaffe added that users weren't depositing funds when they sent money to the account, but instead were purchasing BUSD, a stablecoin issued by Binance and Paxos that's pegged to the US dollar.

However, in late 2020 and during 2021, Binance's website is said to have stated that customer dollar transfers were "deposits" that were credited to trading accounts in BUSD. The site also reportedly informed users that they'd be able to "withdraw" deposits in USD. Former US regulators suggested to Reuters that the language "created the expectation that clients’ funds would be safeguarded in the same way as traditional cash deposits."

Binance is already in hot water with US authorities. In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused the company of operating in the US illegally and said it had broken several financial laws. In its complaint (PDF), the CFTC said Binance had "commingled funds." The agency is seeking permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants, who include Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. In a blog post, Zhao claimed that Binance blocks US users on several bases, including nationality, IP address (including common VPN access points) and mobile carrier.

Earlier this month, reports suggested the Justice Department was investigating the company over potential violations of sanctions imposed on Russia. Binance also recently said it would exit Canada due to tighter cryptocurrency regulations.

If the prospect of a cryptocurrency exchange mixing customer and company funds sounds familiar, that's because it's one of the many crimes US authorities have accused FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried of. Bankman-Fried has claimed he didn't knowingly commingle funds and has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. On Tuesday, it emerged that federal prosecutors have accumulated over 6 million pages of evidence (including emails and Slack messages) as part of their criminal case against Bankman-Fried. 

FTX’s collapse late last year was triggered by a bank run on the company that Binance initiated. Binance planned to snap up FTX but pulled out of the deal after taking a look at the latter’s books.

Apple's long-expected switch to internally developed 5G modems is clearly moving forward. The iPhone maker has struck a "multibillion-dollar" deal that will have Broadcom develop components for 5G and other wireless connectivity. Some of the parts will be made in American facilities, including a key Broadcom manufacturing base in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The companies didn't say which products would use the 5G tech, but the arrangement isn't necessarily limited to the iPhone. Apple is believed to have started work on in-house 5G in 2020, a year after buying the majority of Intel's phone modem business. The company hasn't been shy about its plans, as it has recruited 5G developers and set up shop in Qualcomm's hometown of San Diego. It also established a wireless-focused office in Munich.

Rumors suggest Apple's 5G modems will first reach shipping products in late 2024 or early 2025. Neither Apple nor Broadcom has confirmed this, but Qualcomm told CNBC in March it assumes it won't provide iPhone modems in 2024.

This could be a significant blow to Qualcomm. While the company has diversified its chipmaking with in-car tech and low-power hardware, it's still heavily dependent on cellular modem sales and counts Apple as one of its largest customers. It will have to lean more on Android phone makers to bolster its bottom line. Qualcomm chips for Windows PCs have struggled to compete against x86-based equivalents.

Apple's anticipated move isn't surprising. The company has long tried to reduce its dependency on third parties, most notably switching to its own CPUs starting with the A4-based iPad in 2010. While Apple may need Broadcom's help, it won't be closely tied to Qualcomm's hardware release schedule — and might not risk expensive patent disputes, either. In theory, Apple could claim a technological edge by building 5G modems uniquely optimized for its devices.