Copilot (for Pros)
Copilot, Microsoft’s immense push into artificial intelligence (AI), may have only just gotten AI features for Office apps back in November, but Microsoft has already begun paywalling those same features but for consumers. It’s a ‘new’ program called Copilot Pro because of course it is and will cost $20/m (R370) because of course it does. Subscribing will give users access to a host of AI-powered features in Microsoft’s Office suite in apps like Powerpoint, Word, and Excel — with general access to OpenAI’s most recent models.
Oh, and you’ll be able to build custom Copilot GPTs if that’s your thing. You’ll need a Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscription (plus that R370/m subscription) to unlock Copilot Pro’s features inside the Office suite. Having Office isn’t a requirement, however, and it won’t stop Microsoft from collecting money from those who don’t have it — limiting those users’ features to that of custom GPTs and access to GPT-4 Turbo.
Unless you’re a ‘power user’ who’s already gotten over the novelty of asking ChatGPT to answer stupid questions and want to make use of Copilot’s ability to, uh, create entire spreadsheets with a short prompt (and a bunch of other stuff), we’d recommend staying away from Copilot Pro. There are plenty of freebie AIs out that’ll perform similarly — just without the polish of a Pro subscription.
Maybe once Microsoft gets around to upgrading Copilot Pro with new features, which is the plan according to Divya Kumar, global head of marketing for search and AI at Microsoft’s HQ, it’ll be worth the fee. What those will look like, exactly, Kumar didn’t explain any further.
iPad PrOLED?
We’ve all heard the rumours that Apple is cooking up OLED-equipped iPads for some time now, but it looks like Tim Cook’s ship is finally in shape enough to start getting those new models out before the year is out, according to a new report from The Elec (via MacRumors).
The report makes mention of LG Display, claiming that it recently began its work on the new 13in iPad Pro’s thin film transistors (TFT), also noting that Samsung would also be kicking off its own TFT production for the new 11in iPad Pro. The TFT here would take the role of a switch that would allow the devices to turn individual OLED pixels on and off, according to the report.
There’s talk that the finished iPad models will enter mass production in March, ahead of the expected release in April — lining up rather nicely with Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s ‘predictions‘ about the incoming OLED models at the end of November 2023. He also reckons that Apple is eyeing a Q2 2024 release, which means between April and June.
Should the rumours be proven right — possibly at an Apple event in March if Bloomberg is correct — it’ll be a first for the big fruit company, which so far has confined its OLED displays to that of the iPhone and Apple Watch. While the iPad’s displays are due for an upgrade, it’s likely to include a price increase to go with it.
Bring me my AI binoculars
You’ll often hear Stuff (somewhat) jokingly accuse artificial intelligence of invading every piece of software and gadget you can think of. Now, after Swarovski Optik’s — yes, the same company that sells the overpriced crystal paperweights — latest announcement, we’re beginning to believe it. Except this one makes a lick of sense. Say hello to the AX Visio 10×32, an AI-ridden pair of binoculars that’ll identify over 9,000 different species of birds and mammals. All for the measly price of $4,700 — or R88,000 if you’re South African with money to spend.
“The AX Visio are the world’s first AI-supported binoculars,” the company says. “At the touch of a button, they assist with the identification of birds and other creatures, allow discoveries to be shared, and offer a wide range of practical extra functions.”
Despite the artificial intelligence of it all, Swarovski reckons they’ve been building these for the past five years or so, requiring around 390 “hardware parts” to get the job done. The binoculars make use of an NPU (neural processing unit) that’ll handle all the identifying, pulling from a list of species provided by the Merlin Bird ID Project at the Cornell Lab or Ornithology.
These are more than a No Man’s Sky-imitating pair of binocs, though. It’s also a digital camera, GPS, and compass rolled into one — including share functionality that’ll “immediately show your companion where you have seen an animal.” Whether it’s worth the R88,000 asking price is entirely debatable. Our advice? There’ll be a market for AI binocs before the year is out. Ones that won’t cost a year’s worth of rent, either.
Sorry, YouTube
Anybody who read yesterday’s Light Start will know that YouTube’s latest step in a war it’s been waging against adblockers involved slowing down its load pages in an attempt to lure them towards a YouTube Premium subscription. At least, that’s what we thought. Google has spoken up in light of the recent controversy to claim that it isn’t involved in the blow.
While we’re still sceptical and wouldn’t be at all surprised if the platform issued an apology over the coming weeks that it “accidentally” caused longer buffer times, we’re giving it the benefit of the doubt this time around. In a statement to Android Central, the Google-owned company said that “recent reports of users experiencing loading delays on YouTube are unrelated to our ad blocker detection efforts,” before rubbing it in slightly, “Our help center offers troubleshooting tips for users experiencing issues.”
We’d recommend starting at the help centre linked above if you’re one of those experiencing an issue, but it appears as though the issue stems from users who currently have Adblock Plus 3.22 and AdBlock 5.17 versions installed. At least, that’s what uBlock origin developer Raymond Hill had to say on the subject in a post on X.com. If that’s you, try switching versions or dropping ad-blockers entirely to be rid of the problem. Just like YouTube wants you to.