Author: insighter

On its surface, Marvel’s new “immersive story” What If…?, available to Apple Vision Pro users starting Thursday, seems like a win-win. Marvel gets to mess around with how to combine storytelling and spatial computing, and Apple gets a big-name experience to appease everyone who ponied up $3,500 for their new piece of tech. But having recently spent an hour or so in Vision Pro’s What If…? universe, I’m not actually sure if it’s a win for anyone outside of the big companies backing it. While it’s initially intriguing and visually complex, the more time you spend within it, the flimsier…

Americans are consuming weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy so fast that a telehealth company developed a free tool to help patients find their next dose. The new tracker, which telehealth company Ro announced Wednesday, lets users report when they find a pharmacy with the drugs, known as GLP-1s, in stock. A user can also report shortages to help inform others. The tool is free for everyone and not limited to Ro customers.  Along with crowdsourced information from users, the tool also pulls data from the Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Shortage List. Users can report shortages directly to the FDA…

A pair of giant pandas from China will soon be housed at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC, the zoo has announced. Two-year-old male panda Bao Li and two-year-old female panda Qing Bao are set to arrive in the US capital later this year. News of their coming arrival was announced with a video on Wednesday featuring First Lady Jill Biden, who called it a “historic moment”. The move marks the latest chapter of China’s long history of panda diplomacy with the US, and comes despite tense relations between the two countries. It also comes six months after a…

The NGOs say they’re ready to pay penalties under ‘the Russian law … which nobody will obey’. Hundreds of NGOs in Georgia have decided to defy the country’s controversial “foreign influence” law. In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, some 200 nongovernmental organisations declared that they will not obey the legislation, which has been criticised for mirroring Russian laws used to clamp down on dissent and threatening Georgia’s ambitions of joining the European Union. The statement came a day after the country’s parliament overrode a presidential veto of the law, the passage of which has prompted weeks of massive protests.…

Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation. A key reason for the delay in rate cuts is that the inflation pressures that are bedeviling the economy are being driven largely by lingering forces from the pandemic — for items ranging from apartment rents to auto insurance to hospital prices. Though Fed officials say they expect inflation in those areas to eventually cool, they’ve signaled that they’re prepared to wait…

ChatGPT has changed how most people regard and interact with AI, and the tool has been used widely to do everything from create travel itineraries to assisting developers with coding. Now, its creator, OpenAI, on Wednesday announced that it has signed a major enterprise customer that it hopes will be a signal of how a similar effect could play out in the world of work.  PwC, the management consulting giant, will become OpenAI’s biggest customer to date, covering 100,000 users. Alongside that, the consulting firm will become OpenAI’s first partner for selling the AI company’s enterprise offerings to other businesses.…

North Korea has dropped at least 150 balloons carrying propaganda leaflets and rubbish in the South, prompting authorities to warn its residents to stay indoors. South Korea’s military also cautioned the public on Wednesday against touching the white balloons and the plastic bags attached to them because they contain “filthy waste and trash”. The balloons have been found in eight of nine provinces in South Korea and are now being analysed by relevant authorities. North and South Korea have both used balloons in their propaganda campaigns since the Korean War in the 1950s. The recent incident comes days after North…

Do you spend a lot of time at the gym lately waiting for an empty squat rack? Or maybe you’re often in line for your favorite treadmill––the one in the best TV–watching area? A new report says you’re likely not alone.  ABC Fitness’s inaugural Q1 Wellness Watch Report shows traditional gym check-ins in the first quarter of 2024 were up 60% from 2023. Fitness studios and boutiques also saw a 22% increase in check-ins compared to the same period last year. “People around the world are recognizing the importance of fitness for their physical and mental wellbeing, and now we…

Philanthropist says it is ‘frustrating’ that some believe it is not the right time to discus gender equality. Melinda French Gates has announced that she will donate $1bn over the next two years to people and organisations working on behalf of women and families, including on reproductive rights. In an op-ed published in the New York Times on Tuesday, French Gates said she felt “compelled” to support abortion rights in the United States after the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v Wade. “For too long, a lack of money has forced organisations fighting for women’s rights into…

It looks like the not-yet-announced Galaxy Z Flip 6 is getting a tiny boost in battery capacity compared to the Z Flip 5, according to FCC testing records spotted by MySmartPrice. The Galaxy Ring’s size ranges and battery ratings showed up, too, revealing good news for the small-of-finger, as it’s been tested as low as size 5. The Z Flip 6’s battery is rated at 3,790mAh, based on screenshots shared by the outlet. That’s a touch higher than the 3,700mAh capacity that Samsung advertises for the Z Flip 5. Assuming that translates to increased battery life — which is not…

  Vasu Raja, American Airlines’ chief commercial officer, will depart the company in June, the airline said Tuesday. Word of Raja’s exit comes a week after the airline denied that he was planning to leave the company, amid rumors that he was not present in the airline’s office and had been ousted by a board that was unhappy with American’s revenue strategy. In a statement to the Airline Observer newsletter last week, an American Airlines spokesperson said that Raja was working remotely “for a few weeks while he takes care of some personal matters,” but was “not leaving.” Want more…

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos doesn’t think AI will ever replace the work of Hollywood’s best creative minds. But he does think using AI might help them beat their competition.  In an interview with the New York Times Sarandos said using AI will become a new industry standard and that those in the movie business who don’t keep up with the tech will get left behind. “A.I. is not going to take your job,” Sarandos told the Times in an interview published Saturday. “The person who uses A.I. well might take your job.” It’s an oft-repeated phrase from executives and career…