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 Just a day after Apple announced alternative app marketplace support for iOS users in Japan, AltStore PAL has launched in the country.
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OpenAI has introduced an app directory that's now available right inside ChatGPT, the company announced. "Apps extend ChatGPT conversations by bringing in new context and letting users take action like order groceries, turn an outline into a slide deck or search for an apartment," the company wrote in a blog post. OpenAI also noted in a help document that "connector" apps like Google Drive are now simply called "apps."
The new apps section (on iOS, Android and web) is divided into Feature, Lifestyle and Productivity categories, letting you connect to commonly used apps and sites like Booking.com, Spotify and Dropbox. To use an app, simply click on it, hit "Connect" then authorize the app to access ChatGPT. With that done, you can then start a chat related to that app. In the case of Dropbox, for instance, you'll be able to "gather insights, prepare briefs and summarize reports or internal documents," according to the description. Once connected, any app can be accessed by doing an @ mention of it.
A new addition that came along with the store is an Apple Music app that, like Spotify, helps users find music, create playlists and manage their libraries through a chat interface. Another is DoorDash, which lets you transform recipes, meal planning and staples into "an actionable shopping cart."
Along with the app directory, OpenAI is now allowing developers to submit apps for review and publication in ChatGPT according to the company's app submission guidelines. It also published resources to help developers build such apps, including
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You can add Japan to the list of regions where Apple has been forced to do something it would rather not: open up the App Store. On Thursday, the company announced changes to iOS in Japan to comply with the nation's Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA). The tighter regulations for Apple and Google, which overlap with Europe's, took effect today. Users in the US and elsewhere won't see any of these changes.
Apple's changes in iOS 26.2 in Japan revolve around alternative app stores, payments outside the App Store and browser choice. The company worked with Japanese regulators on new
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No need to fret if you missed out on some of the best Black Friday deals this year — some of them have returned already. Case in point: Apple's AirPods Pro 3, which came out in September this year, are back down to $199. That's an all-time-low price and better than the price it was during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With the new AirPods Pro, Apple made some big improvements, including better battery life and sound quality, and introduced useful new features, such as Live Translation.
The AirPods Pr
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Amazon just introduced a new feature for Alexa called Greetings. This lets Alexa answer the doorbell and converse with visitors, which certainly sounds futuristic in a "gated community as dystopia" kind of way.
There are several caveats here. First of all, it only works with certain newer Ring video doorbell models. Customers also have to pony up for a Ring Premium Plan and have access to the Alexa early access build. It's available in the US and Canada and only in English.
If you meet those criteria, this could be a fairly useful little feature. Amazon says it "transforms your Ring doorbell into an intelligent assistant capable of determining who's at your door, understanding what they need and responding conversationally." The company promises that the tool operates whether people or home or out doing errands.
How does this work? It's an AI algorithm that "determines who's there based on what they're wearing, holding or their actions." It will use "visual context, any information the visitor shares and the instructions it's been given to help manage interactions on your behalf."
Amazon says that it can, for instance, distinguish if a person is wearing a delivery uniform and tell them to leave the package at the back door. Most of my delivery drivers don't come to the door in full uniforms because it's winter and that would be ridiculous. I don't even expect that during the summer. In other words, this is modern AI and mistakes will happen.
The company gives other examples of how this could be used, like gathering messages from friends who stop by and telling door-to-door salespeople to (politely) bug off. Amazon also says Alexa will be able to direct visitors to water and snacks that have previously been laid out. Finally, there's a way to avoid those pesky cute k
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The Federal Trade Commission has sent Instacart a civil investigative demand, seeking information about its AI-powered pricing tool, according to Reuters. This comes after a recently published pricing experiment study showed that the online grocery delivery app gave different users different prices for the same items from the same store location at the exact same time. Some of the testers saw prices up to 23 percent higher than what the other testers saw, though the average difference for the same list of items was around 7 percent. Those higher prices could cost customers over $1,000 more in expenses for the year.
"The Federal Trade Commission has a longstanding policy of not commenting on any potential or ongoing investigations," the FTC told Reuters in a statement. "But, like so many Americans, we are disturbed by what we have read in the press about Instacart's alleged pricing practices."
When the study came out, Instacart told Engadget that the pricing variances were caused by some of its retail partners doing "limited, short-term and randomized tests" to better understand consumers. Those randomized pricing tests were enabled by Instacart's AI pricing tool called Eversight developed by a company it purchased in 2022. Instacart told
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 Apple today introduced several changes to the App Store in Japan to meet the requirements of the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) that goes into effect on December 18. The MSCA is similar to Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA) so the Japanese ?App Store? will work a lot like the EU ?App Store?, but there are some differences.
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