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 Mercedes-Benz's CEO stated in an episode of Decoder that the German automaker has no intentions to implement Apple's immersive, next-generation CarPlay system. In response to a question on whether Mercedes-Benz will allow Apple CarPlay to take over all of the screens inside its cars, Ola Källenius said "The short answer is no." Rather, he emphasizes the necessity of a "holistic software architecture" in order to satisfy consumers who are demanding more and more technological sophistication from their cars.





In 2022, Apple unveiled CarPlay's next generation, which will allow users to reflect their phones on panels other than the center touchscreen, such as the gauge cluster. It was a daring move, as Apple indicated that it wanted to operate the speedometer, odometer, and other vital automotive systems. Since then, however, no manufacturing model has incorporated the updated CarPlay. It was announced last year that Aston Martin and Porsche will be among the first businesses to use the new immersive display.





However, Mercedes doesn't seem to be in a rush to follow its competitors in the luxury vehicle market by allowing Apple to control the in-car experience for its patrons. Rather, Källenius stated that the business is closely collaborating with Google, Apple's primary rival, to develop a new navigation tool that would expand upon Google Maps. The primary distinction is in the significant involvement of Mercedes' in-house engineering team in the process.


Despite those in the auto sector shifting away from them, Källenius said he still sees value in providing phone-mirroring services to his clients and has no intentions to stop using them. With the controversial decision to forbid Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from its next range of electric cars last year, General Motors said that the business could offer a more complete software experience than what is available on a user's phone.





Despite opposition from some in the auto industry, Källenius stated he still sees value in providing phone-mirroring services to his clients and has no intentions to stop using them. In an attempt to offer a more complete software experience than what can be found on a phone, General Motors controversially decided to forbid Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from being installed in its next range of electrified vehicles last year. Källenius stated, "We're not fundamentalists to say, for some reason, we're not going to allow a customer to use Apple CarPlay if that it their choice." We now have Apple CarPlay, then. Android Auto is available to us. Should you find that using some of the features is more convenient for you, you can get that too.

Mercedes-Benz not allowing Apple CarPlay take over all its screens




Although Apple has been silent about its generative AI plans, the company's immediate goals seem to be to "make AI run locally on Apple devices," as evidenced by the release of new AI models today. On Wednesday, Apple researchers released OpenELM, a set of four incredibly tiny language models based on the Hugging Face model library. OpenELM, or "Open-source Efficient Language Models," is touted by Apple to perform exceptionally well on text-related tasks like email composing on its Hugging Face model website. The models are available for usage by developers and are free source.






There are four different sizes available: 270 million, 450 million, 1.1 billion, and 3 billion characteristics. The number of variables a model can comprehend when making decisions from its training datasets is referred to as its parameters. For instance, Google's Gemma model has 2 billion parameters, whereas Microsoft's recently launched Phi-3 model has a bottom out of 3.8 billion. Smaller variants are optimized to run on devices such as laptops and phones and are less expensive to operate. When Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, stated in February that the business is investing "a tremendous amount of time and effort" in the field, he hinted that generative AI features might be added to Apple products. Apple hasn't disclosed any details about how it plans to use AI, though.






Although its competitors have provided AI foundation models for commercial usage, the company has already released additional AI models. Apple introduced MLX, a machine learning framework, in December with the goal of improving the performance of AI models on Apple Silicon. Additionally, it released the MGIE model of image editing, which enables prompt-based photo correction. Smartphone navigation might also be achieved with Ferret-UI, another concept. There are also rumors that Apple is developing a code completion tool akin to Copilot from GitHub.





Even with all of the model releases, Apple is said to have contacted Google and OpenAI about integrating their models into Apple devices.

The iPhone may use AI, according to Apple's latest AI model




Spotted on the street in camouflage is the Kia EV2, the carmaker's compact, reasonably priced electric crossover. Despite the EV2's present lack of US confirmation, this is the model's first public sighting. With the recent reports that Tesla may have abandoned its intentions to produce a mass-market "Model 2" car for $25,000, the timing of the encounter is quite noteworthy. Elon Musk allegedly put the inexpensive EV on hold to focus entirely on the company's plans to develop a fully autonomous robotaxi.





The Kia EV2's exact price is unknown, but according to Electrek, it might cost 20 million won, or roughly $15,000. According to some estimates, it will cost less than $30,000, which is far less than the current average retail price of an EV, which is over $52,000.





Over the years, a number of electric vehicle manufacturers have pledged to produce affordable electric vehicles for the general public, but few have progressed beyond the idea stage. Due to high tariffs, none of the incredibly affordable EVs that Chinese automakers have introduced—like the BYD $11,500 Seagull—are available in the US. Volkswagen has declared its intention to launch the ID.2all, a $26,000 electric vehicle, at some point, while Ford has a skunkworks section that is actively developing a range of less expensive EVs.





Using their joint E-GMP platform, Kia and sister company Hyundai have launched a number of reasonably priced electric vehicles (EVs), including the Kia EV6 and EV9 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6. Particularly popular in the US, Kia's EV6 can be considered a competitive substitute for Tesla's Model 3 and Y.


Those who require three rows of seating and wish to switch to electric vehicles are showing a lot of interest in Kia's EV9, which was introduced earlier this year. Later this year, Kia plans to release a cheap sedan with the EV4 and a smaller crossover SUV with the EV3. A smaller variant of the EV9, the EV5, has debuted in China in the meantime.

Kia's Budget-Friendly EV2 Set to Undercut Tesla





Finally, Apple is facilitating consumer repair of their iPhones using spare components. The company said in an update on Thursday that owners of "selected" iPhone models will be able to fully repair their smartphones with used, authentic parts starting in the fall. Apple needs iPhone customers to complete a procedure known as parts pairing when fixing their phones. This process involves matching the serial number of the device to a replacement part that Apple sells. When a user swapped out a part for an aftermarket or used one, the iPhone would annoyingly notify them that Apple couldn't validate the freshly installed part. For Face ID and Touch ID sensors, the component could not function.




Since Apple states that "calibration for genuine Apple parts, new or used, will happen on device after the part is installed," this update should eliminate the used part notifications. It also implies that when ordering most components from the Self Service Repair Store, customers and repair shops won't need to disclose the serial number of the device they're mending. At launch, the modification will affect cameras, batteries, and screens. According to Apple, "future" iPhone releases will support the usage of biometric sensors like Touch ID and Face ID.





In the event that you decide to utilize a used part to fix your iPhone, the device will save that data in the iOS Settings app's Parts and Service History section. Though the company told TechCrunch that it will be the iPhone 15 and later, Apple does not specify which iPhone models will be supported this fall. John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple, said in a statement, "With this latest expansion to our repair program, we're excited to be adding even more choice and convenience for our customers, while helping to extend the life of our products and their parts."






For repair businesses and do-it-yourselfers who have been forced to pay a premium for new iPhone parts, the shift is significant even though Apple hasn't yet extended its clearance to aftermarket parts.

Apple plans to open the door to iPhone repair with used parts





 The Zenbook 14 OLED (UM3406) and the Asus Vivobook S series are the two new laptop models that Asus has announced. The laptops have some of the newest AMD and Intel processors in addition to OLED screens. Although we haven't tested the laptops yet, the new chips should be faster at gaming, multitasking, and editing, and they should be better suited to handle AI thanks to neural processing units designed for it. Even the keyboard has special Copilot keys that make it simple to use the AI features in Windows 11.





The Vivobook S series has four laptop models, all 16 inches in size, with the AMD Ryzen 8040 Series chip powering the third and fourth models, which are powered by the Intel Core Ultra 9. The larger Vivobook S models have 3.2K displays, while the 14-inch model has 120Hz OLED panels for smoother scrolling. By comparison, the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor is the only one available with the Zenbook 14 OLED (UM3406). Similar to the Vivobook, the laptop has a 60Hz panel and no microSD card reader. However, it does have USB-C connections, an HDMI 2.1 (TMDS) port, and a 3.5 mm audio input.





Additionally, every laptop supports Dolby Atmos and has an Asus ErgoSense keyboard, which has RGB lights that can be customized, which is a unique feature for a keyboard that isn't meant for gaming. The base model of the Zenbook 14 OLED (UM3406) costs $999.99 on the Asus store, while the Vivobook S series starts at $749 at Walmart.

Asus Unveils AI-Enhanced OLED Laptops Powered by Cutting-Edge Chips




Accounts with a large number of verified followers are receiving free Premium and Premium Plus subscriptions from X, just as Elon Musk stated. Despite without purchasing either of the two premium X subscription tiers, a number of X users reported on Wednesday seeing the recognizable blue "Verified" checkmark next to their handles. Over 2,500 "verified subscriber followers" on X accounts will get a free Premium membership, according to Musk's announcement last week. Over 5,000 accounts will get a free Premium Plus membership.






The verified mark on the Twitter network was typically used to denote public figures such as politicians, journalists, celebrities, and others before Musk took over. Everyone might now receive the label in conjunction with a Premium membership when the platform introduced paid verification. It was eventually added to many accounts with more than a million followers (which also verified accounts for many people who had died or otherwise had not requested it). Previously verified X users who refused to pay lost their checkmark, though Elon Musk personally intervened to push it on people like Stephen King and LeBron.






It seems that some powerful X accounts, who have already amassed substantial followings in the tens or hundreds of thousands (which might potentially result in verified followings surpassing the benchmark), are already, or soon will be, subject to check marking, regardless of their preference. X users who were approved for verification through the most recent program received the following notice, as seen in an image obtained by Business Insider's Peter Kafka.

X's 'Complimentary' Premium Push Grants Free Blue Checks




According to a proposed class action settlement filed on Monday, Google agreed to erase or de-identify billions of records of web browsing data obtained when users were using its private browsing mode, or "Incognito." In addition to requiring more disclosure from the business about how it gathers data while using Incognito mode, the proposed settlement in Brown v.


 Google will place restrictions on the company's ability to collect data in the future. Should a federal judge in California approve the settlement, it may cover 136 million Google users. Google account holders filed the 2020 case, claiming the corporation was improperly using the private browsing tool to track their online activities.




The proposed value of $5 billion was determined by valuing the data that Google has kept and would have to destroy, as well as the data that it would not be allowed to collect. This information was stated in a court filing on Monday. Data gathered in private browsing mode starting in December 2023 would require Google to address.

For any data that cannot be completely removed, de-identification is required. "In the proposed settlement filing, the plaintiffs stated that this settlement guarantees genuine accountability and transparency from the largest data collector globally, and represents a significant advancement toward preserving and enhancing our online privacy rights."




According to a statement from Google's spokesperson José Castañeda, the business is "pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we always believed was meritless." Despite the fact that the plaintiffs initially requested damages in the amount of $5 billion, which they valued the proposed settlement at, Castañeda stated that they are “receiving zero.” Even though individuals can make claims, the settlement does not include damages for the class.


Castañeda went on, "When users use Incognito mode, we never associate data with them." "We are pleased to remove outdated technical data that was never used for personalization purposes and was never linked to an individual." adjustments to Google's disclosure of the limitations of its private browsing services are part of the deal, and the corporation has started implementing these adjustments on Chrome. In order to prevent Google from tracking users on external websites while they are browsing privately, Google also consented to allow users to ban third-party cookies by default in Incognito mode for a period of five years.




Google has started rolling out the adjustments to its private browsing services on Chrome; one aspect of the agreement is how the corporation will now communicate the limitations of these services. Additionally, Google consented to allow users to automatically block third-party cookies in Incognito mode for a period of five years in order to prevent Google from tracking users while they are privately browsing the internet. As per the conditions of the settlement, individuals have the ability to pursue claims for damages in state courts in California. Fifty claims have been lodged thus far.

Google Pledges to Destroy Browsing Data Gathered in Incognito Mode

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