Mercedes-Benz’s next-generation car OS is built around paid software bundles

Mercedes-Benz is developing a new in-house operating system to power its next generation of electric vehicles. Announced today at an event the automaker held in California, Mercedes said MB.OS – short for Mercedes-Benz Operating System – will deliver enhancements in safety, automated driving and navigation.The automaker is working with several partners to build its new …

FCC chair proposes rules to reduce scam robotexts

The chair of the Federal Trade Commission has proposed new rules to tackle the scourge of text message scams. If the agency's commissioners approve the rules at a meeting in March, providers would have to block robotexts that are "highly likely to be illegal," chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.The FCC has yet to …

Apple is reportedly closer to bringing no-prick glucose monitoring to the Watch

Apple's long-running quest to bring blood glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch appears to be moving forward. Bloombergsources claim the company's no-prick monitoring is now at a "proof-of-concept stage" and good enough that it could come to market once it's smaller. The technology, which uses lasers to gauge glucose concentration under the skin, was previously …

Instagram co-founders’ news app Artifact is now open to everyone

Artifact, the personalized news curation app from Instagram's co-founders, no longer has a waitlist. The app is live in the Apple App Store in most English-speaking markets, as well as on Android. Starting today, you'll no longer need a phone number to use Artifact unless you want to create an account and move to a …

Razer updates the Blade 15 with 13th-gen Intel CPUs and RTX 40 series graphics

With its recent announcement of the Blade 16 and Blade 18, you might have assumed Razer was ready to sunset its older Blade 15 laptop. Not so: the company is keeping the Blade 15 around for at least another year while updating it with the latest components from Intel and NVIDIA. On Wednesday, Razer announced …

Microsoft brings its Bing AI chatbot to mobile apps and Skype

Since it started opening up its generative AI-powered chatbot in Bing earlier this month, Microsoft has granted more than a million people access to a preview of the tool, while millions more are on the waitlist. Until now, the only way to access the chatbot has been through the Edge desktop browser. But Microsoft is …

‘No Man’s Sky’ Fractal update overhauls VR gameplay in time for its PS VR2 release

In 2019, No Man’s Sky reinvented itself for virtual reality. Now, nearly four years later, it’s doing so again. With the release of PlayStation VR2, Hello Games has announced Fractal, a free update for No Man’s Sky that overhauls the game’s virtual reality experience on all platforms.In a blog post published Wednesday, the studio said …

Cruise’s robotaxis have driven 1 million miles with nobody behind the wheel

For autonomous vehicle developers, every mile driven serves as proof that their technology works and as an opportunity to gather data for further improvement. Which is why Cruise, which has just announced that it has completed 1 million fully driverless miles, calls the achievement one of its biggest milestones yet. A spokesperson told us that …

Amazon officially becomes a health care provider after closing purchase of One Medical

Amazon's months-long effort to acquire One Medical is finished — for now, at least. The company has officially completed its $3.9 billion purchase, giving it a primary healthcare provider with in-person and virtual treatment as well as lab tests. The successful buyout isn't leading to any immediate changes in One Medical's services beyond a temporary …

Microsoft expands the Xbox Game Pass family plan to six more countries

Microsoft has expanded the Xbox Game Pass family plan to six more countries. Folks in Chile, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden can now sign up for a membership that allows up to five friends and family members in the same country to access Game Pass Ultimate features via a single subscription. This …