Tesla is recalling 200,000 vehicles in the US due to a malfunctioning backup camera. There were reports that the cameras wouldn’t engage when the cars were in reverse, which is a pretty big safety issue and the whole point of those cameras in the first place. Tesla has processed 81 warranty claims potentially related to the issue, according to Autoblog.

The recall includes certain Model Y, Model S, and Model X vehicles from 2023. Tesla says it delivered 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, so this recall accounts for more than 10 percent of the company’s yearly output. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a statement on the matter and said that a software issue was to blame for the problem, according to Reuters.

To that end, all of the recalled vehicles feature Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” computer 4.0 and run software version 2023.44.30 through 2023.44.30.6, or 2023.44.100. Tesla owners can check to see what software versions they’re running. The company has released an over-the-air (OTA) software update to fix the glitch, according to the NHTSA.

Tesla became aware of the problem in December and decided on a recall on January 12. Customers will receive a letter alerting them to the problem by March 22. The company says that it’s not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths associated with the malfunction.

This latest recall comes just six weeks after Tesla recalled over two million vehicles after serious safety issues regarding its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system. That was also addressed via an OTA software update.

A large downside to Windows PCs with Arm64 processors like Microsoft's own Surface Pro 9 5G has been a lack of native support for Chrome, the world's most popular browser. Now, Google has finally released a Chrome Canary beta version that fully supports the Arm64 architecture, Windows Central has reported. 

The new version should significantly accelerate Chrome performance on Arm64 PCs, negating the need to run Chrome in emulation mode. The download can be installed on PCs running recent versions of Windows 11 for Arm processors, with one user confirming it runs on a seven-year-old Snapdragon 835 SoC. 

Chrome has been available for some time on Google's Chromium on Arm64 and even Linux for Arm64, along with iOS and Mac. On top of that, Microsoft's Edge browser (which is based on Chrome) has run natively on Arm64 for years. So why the delay for Windows on Arm64? It may be because there aren't that many Arm64 Windows PCs and those that do exist are relatively expensive, especially compared to Chromebooks. 

Google might be reasoning that now is a good time to introduce the feature, since Qualcomm is set to release its Snapdragon X Elite chip, a successor to the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3. Based on TSMC's latest 4-nanometer tech, it's promising performance double that of some 13th-gen Intel Core i7 CPUs with a third the power draw, allowing it to better compete with Apple's latest M-series silicon. 

If Windows laptops using the chip can finally deliver performance that's sadly been lacking in models to date, we may finally see them arrive in decent numbers. Snapdragon Elite X models are supposed to launch in mid-2024, so hopefully Google will be ready with a stable version of Chrome. If you have an Arm64 PC, you can download the Canary version here. 

Apple is making major changes to the App Store in Europe in response to new European Union laws. Beginning in March, Apple will allow users in the EU to download apps and make purchases from outside its App Store. These changes are already being stress-tested in the iOS 17.4 beta.

Developers will be able to take payments and distribute apps from outside the App Store for the first time. Apple will still enforce a review process for apps that don’t come through its store, but it will be “focused on platform integrity and protecting users” from things like malware. The company warns it has less chance of addressing other risks like scams, abuse and harmful content.

Apple is also changing its commission structure, so developers will pay 17 percent on subscriptions and in-app purchases, reducing the fee to 10 percent for “most developers” after the first year. The company is tacking on a new three percent “payment processing” fee for transactions through its store, and there’s a new €0.50 “core technology fee” for all app downloads after the first million installations.

That’s a lot of new money numbers to process, and it could shake out differently for different developers. Apple says the new fee structure will result in most developers paying the company less, since the core technology fee will have the greatest impact on larger developers.

This all means that yes, Fortnite is returning.

— Mat Smith

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Microsoft launches its metaverse-styled virtual meeting platform

Mesh is a place for your avatars to float around.

Microsoft

Microsoft has announced the launch of Mesh, a feature for employees’ avatars to meet in the same place, even if the actual people are spread out. The virtual connection platform is powered through Microsoft Teams. Currently, Microsoft’s Mesh is only available on desktop PCs and Meta Quest VR devices (if employees want a more immersive experience). Microsoft is offering a six-month free trial to anyone with a business or enterprise plan. But no legs, it seems.

Continue reading.

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses’ new AI powers are impressive

And worrying.

When we first reviewed the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, multimodal AI wasn’t ready. The feature enables the glasses to respond to queries based on what you’re looking at. Meta has now made multimodal search available for “early access.” Multimodal search is impressive, if not entirely useful yet. But Meta AI’s grasp of real-time information is shaky at best.

We tried asking it to help pick out clothes, like Mark Zuckerberg did in a recent Instagram post, and were underwhelmed. Then again, it may work best for a guy who famously wore the exact same shirt every day for years.

Continue reading.

Elon Musk confirms new low-cost Tesla model

Coming in 2025.

Elon Musk has confirmed a “next-generation low-cost” Tesla EV is in the works and is “optimistic” it’ll arrive in the second half of 2025, he said in an earnings call yesterday. He also promised “a revolutionary manufacturing system” for the vehicle. Reuters reported that the new vehicle would be a small crossover called Redwood. Musk previously stated the automaker is working on two new EV models that could sell up to five million per year, combined.

Musk said the company’s new manufacturing technique will be “very hard to copy” because “you have to copy the machine that makes the machine that makes the machine... manufacturing inception.”

I just audibly groaned reading that.

Continue reading. 

Japan’s lunar spacecraft landed upside down on the moon

It collected some data before shutting down.

JAXA

This picture just makes me sad.

Continue reading.

Apple is making major changes to the App Store and other core parts of iOS in Europe in response to new European Union laws. Beginning in March, Apple will allow users within the EU to download apps and make purchases from outside of its App Store. The company is already testing many of these changes in its iOS 17.4 beta, which is available now to developers.

Apple has long resisted many of these changes, arguing that it would leave users susceptible to scams, malware and other privacy and security issues. But under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which goes into effect March 7, major tech companies like Apple are required to make significant changes to their businesses.

In a statement, Apple’s Phil Schiller made clear that the company still believes some of these changes, like opening up its App Store, will pose a risk to users. “The changes we’re announcing today comply with the Digital Markets Act’s requirements in the European Union, while helping to protect EU users from the unavoidable increased privacy and security threats this regulation brings,” he said.

Developing…

Apple's app platform is finally opening up a bit. Today, the company said that it will allow developers to utilize new in-app experiences, including streaming games, accessing mini-apps, and talking with chatbots. That means devs can create a single app that houses an easily accessible catalog of their streaming titles. Perhaps we'll finally see a usable Game Pass app from Microsoft (or even its long-awaited mobile game store).

The new in-app experiences, which also includes things like mini-games and plug-ins, will also get new discovery opportunities. Apple isn't being clear about what that means, but it could involve new sections of the App Store pointing to specific features. It wouldn't be too surprising to see a collection of apps feature chatbots, for example. Apple also says the new built-in experiences will be able to use its in-app purchase system for the first time (like easily buying a subscription to a specific mini-game or chatbot).

The changes follow Apple's recent moves towards opening its ecosystem (mostly in response to pressure from the EU). The company is now letting developers link to third-party payment solutions through apps (of course, it still wants a cut), and it will reportedly charge developers who offer side-loaded apps outside of the App Store.

"The changes Apple is announcing reflect feedback from Apple’s developer community and is consistent with the App Store’s mission to provide a trusted place for users to find apps they love and developers everywhere with new capabilities to grow their businesses," the company said in a blog post. "Apps that host this content are responsible for ensuring all the software included in their app meets Apple’s high standards for user experience and safety."

In 2021, Meta restricted adults on Instagram from being able to message under-18 users who don't follow them. Now, it's expanding that rule to help protect younger teens from potentially unwanted contact. Users under 16 — or 18, depending on their country — can no longer receive DMs from anybody they don't follow by default, even if they're sent by fellow teens. 

This new safety measure applies to both Instagram and Messenger. For Messenger, in particular, young users will only be able to receive messages from their Facebook friends or people in their phone contacts. Since this setting is enabled by default, teens who have accounts under parental supervision will need to get any changes to it approved by their guardian. Of course, the setting will have to depend on a user's declared age and Meta's technology designed to predict people's ages, so it's not 100 percent foolproof. 

"We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences on our apps," Meta said in its announcement. Earlier this month, Meta announced that it will start hiding content related to self-harm, graphic violence, eating disorders and other harmful topics from teens on Instagram and Facebook. If a user is under 16, they won't see posts with those topics in their Feeds and Stories even if they're shared by accounts they follow. It also recently rolled out a mindfulness feature that will send "nighttime nudges" to teens under 18 to close the app and go to bed if they've been scrolling for more than 10 minutes. 

Meta made these changes after being hit by lawsuits and complaints related to how it protects its younger userbase. An unsealed lawsuit filed against the company by 33 states accuses it of actively targeting children under 13 to use its apps and websites and of continuing to harvest their data even after it's already aware of their ages. A Wall Street Journal report also accused Instagram of serving "risqué footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos" to accounts that follow teenage influencers. In December 2023, the state of New Mexico sued Meta, claiming that Facebook and Instagram algorithms recommended sexual content to minors. And just this month, The Wall Street Journal reported on unredacted internal Meta presentations related to that case. Apparently, 100,000 child users were harassed daily on Facebook and Instagram based on employees' estimates, underlining the need for stricter measures on its platforms. 

As new European tech regulations are set to take effect in the coming weeks, Apple is preparing for a future where it will be required to allow users to download apps from sources outside of its App Store. The company hasn’t shared details about how the process, called sideloading, will work, but it seems it may not allow developers to circumvent the company’s fees and app review rules after all.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the App Store owner “plans to collect fees from developers that offer downloads outside of the App Store” and that it will require some kind of review for downloads that don’t go through its storefront. Sideloading would only be offered to iOS users in the European Union in order to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

While the report notes Apple’s plan hasn’t been finalized, the strategy would be in line with another significant change the company just made to its US App Store policies. Last week, the company officially changed its rules for US developers to enable in-app purchases that bypass the App Store’s billing system.

However, the new rules, which came after a lengthy court battle with Fortnite developer Epic Games, stipulate that developers must still pay a hefty 27 percent commission on purchases made outside of the App Store (some smaller developers will only be charged 12 percent). The new rules also give Apple the right to audit developers’ records to ensure compliance. That’s already led to much criticism from Epic, Spotify and other developers who have long been critical of the App Store’s restrictive rules and fees.

If Apple were to charge developers for sideloading, that could lead to similar criticism from app makers. The Digital Markets Act is set to go into effect March 7, and even though Apple has yet to share its plan to comply with the regulation, companies that have previously butted heads with Cupertino over its rules are already preparing. Spotify, a longtime opponent of the App Store’s commission, just previewed what the European version of its app will look like once users can pay for subscriptions and audiobooks inside of its app.

The Wall Street Journal also reports that Meta, another vocal Apple critic, is working on its own project that would allow it to distribute developers’ apps via Facebook ads. The effort, reportedly called “Project Neon” internally, could allow the Facebook owner to compete with the App Store more directly, at least in Europe.

Spotify will go through massive changes when the European Union's Digital Markets Act goes into full effect on March 7. The audio streaming service says EU residents will finally be able to purchase a Premium subscription or upgrade from Individual to a Duo or a Family plan from within the app itself. Spotify hasn't allowed users to pay for a subscription through Apple's in-app payment system since 2016 and has long been a vocal critic of the 30 percent cut the iPhone-maker takes from app developers. Last year, it even stopped accepting Apple payments altogether — it used to let iOS users who've had a subscription since before 2016 to keep paying through Apple's in-app system. 

And since Spotify is launching its own in-app payments, users will also be able to easily purchase audiobooks while browsing titles within the application, as well. Yes, customers will be charged the actual amounts for subscriptions and purchases and will no longer have to pay extra to cover Apple's commission. The users who used to pay through Apple's in-app system were charged $3 on top of Spotify's subscription prices, but EU's DMA prohibits the practice. 

In addition to being able to implement its own in-app payment system, Spotify will also be able to put prices in the app. At the moment, it shows a note for its products where the price is supposed to be, telling users that they can't be purchased from within the application. When the DMA takes effect, Spotify will display its products' pricing, and it will also be able to start informing iOS users about deals and promotions from within the application. 

"It should be this easy for every single Spotify customer everywhere," the company said in its announcement. "But if you live outside certain markets, you will continue to encounter frustrating roadblocks because of Apple’s ridiculous rules. That's why developers everywhere are continuing to ask other governments to pass their own laws like the DMA."

Spotify

With today’s release of Chrome M121, Google announced it will introduce new generative AI features that will make the browser easier to use. The new additions will include a tab organizer, a writing assistant that helps draft text and the option to customize the artwork and themes throughout the browser. The “Experimental AI” toggle must be flipped on in the Settings page — found in the three-dot dropdown menu — to enable these new features.

The Tab Organizer will do pretty much what it says: The built-in AI will automatically suggest ways to classify any open tabs in your Chrome windows and suggest the option to create groups. This might be helpful if you have a lot of recurring tabs open. When you click ‘Organize Similar Tabs,’ the AI will aggregate open pages together based on topics. For example, tabs related to shopping might all cluster together and the AI could suggest a name like ‘Ski-trip shopping gear.

Chrome's new text assist too might also have some practical applications. It will launch as an experimental tool that will help users draft text — including Google reviews or social media posts. To enable this when it launches, you need to select "Help me write" to let the tool finish your sentences or suggest options for continuing the text.

Google

Customization is not new to most Google tools like Mail or Docs and now on Chrome web browsers, you can personalize the browser's visuals — something the company considers an extension of the AI wallpapers it built out for Pixel phones recently. To do so, you need to select the ‘Customize Chrome’ button on the side panel and instruct the AI to generate a theme for you. You can search for a description, such as ‘small beach town’ or ‘Blade Runner vibes,’ and preview the AI-generated theme options before selection.

Introducing these new tools will naturally rival Microsoft's AI-infused Bing engine, which introduced AI-powered tab grouping and a text composition helper back in September. Chrome, however, still dominates the US browser market share by a wide margin, which Bing is usually lumped into the "others" category, well below competitors like Firefox and Opera.

Google

If you love old PC games, but wish they had access to modern graphical flourishes, NVIDIA has you covered. The company just released a beta version of its long-awaited RTX Remix tool. This software is designed especially for modders and can be used to add ray-tracing and AI-upscaled textures to older games.

Remix was built on NVIDIA’s Omniverse 3D graphics collaboration platform and allows for end-to-end remastering of just about any DirectX 8 or 9 game. It consists of two basic components. There’s an application for creating new lighting scenarios and one for remastering and adding assets into a scene. The company says that the tool can already be used to fully remaster a game from start to finish, despite it being “just” a beta.

To that end, the software is available for download right now and NVIDIA hopes modders will experiment with the tool and leave feedback, which will be incorporated into future updates. It’s also free, which is always nice.

NVIDIA has released a non-comprehensive list of compatible games, which includes classics like Call of Duty 2, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Garry's Mod, Freedom Fighters, Need for Speed Underground 2, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, among others. For more information on compatibility, check out this FAQ.

The software suite has already been used by NVIDIA to create the Portal with RTX remaster, which is a free DLC, and the modder-made Portal: Prelude RTX. Orbifold Studios is also using RTX Remix to develop Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project, which is a community-driven remaster of the iconic title.

Again, this is a free tool, so it’ll be really fun to see what the modding community cooks up with it. I’m personally looking forward to more Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind ray-tracing goodness.