Author: Computerworld

The first two third-party European app stores to be announced offer different takes on how these stores might work: the first is a white-label service for enterprise app distribution, the second is an all-you-can-eat subscription deal.The stores are on the cusp of being introduced now that Apple has been forced to open up to third party app stores and payment systems. It seems likely more such stores will soon open, and it’s interesting these two seem willing to explore new app distribution business models.For the enterprise: MobiventionInitially available in Germany, the Mobivention App Marketplace wants to become a safe place from…

You hear that sound? That’s the sound of augmented reality (AR) fading away as a driving concept in technology.You could blame Apple, which handed down an edict to Apple Vision Pro developers: “Refer to your app as a spatial computing app. Don’t describe your app experience as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), or mixed reality (MR).”But blaming Apple would be wrong. Instead, blame artificial intelligence (AI) — specifically the generative AI (genAI) trend of the past year and a half; it’s completely upended and re-directed the purpose and function of the glasses formerly known as AR…

Esty Scheiner was especially frustrated, even for the CEO of an AI startup. Her team had figured out a better way to deliver deepfake audio detection and met with various IT groups at key enterprises. Most agreed this is going to be an issue that needs to be dealt with — and could use Scheiner’s software.But since the deepfake problem is months, maybe a year away, Scheiner’s company couldn’t get the backing to do anything about it. Therein lies an IT problem I’ve seen in just about every vertical. It would be easier to accept if IT pros were routinely caught…

Citing the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Union (EU) has requested “further explanations” from Apple regarding its decision to close down the developer account of Fortnite publisher Epic Games. Apple says it does not trust Epic, citing the game  developer’s history of untrustworthy actions.This is bad news for Epic, which had hoped to launch its own Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU now that Apple has been forced to open up to third-party stores there.But perhaps Apple has a point.When friends become enemiesApple fans will likely know the background story: Epic kicked off a wave of investigation,…

With the rollout of Adobe Firefly last year, IBM made generative AI (genAI) image creation available to thousands of designers.It didn’t take long for the tool to make an impression, said Billy Seabrook, global chief design officer for IBM’s consulting arm.Firefly was used, for example, to create 200 visual assets for IBM’s “Let’s Create” marketing campaign last year that involved rendering an image of a question mark in a variety of textures and colors. Firefly generated many variations — from a question mark made of flower petal to one made of chain link — that designers could choose to then…

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, filed last week in California state court, accuses the defendants of forgetting core parts of OpenAI’s stated mission to develop useful and non-harmful artificial general intelligence. Altman has since moved to buttress his responsible AI credentials, including the signing of an open letter pledging to develop AI “to improve people’s lives.”Critics, however, remain unconvinced by Altman’s show of responsibility. Ever since the rapid popularization of generative AI (genAI) over the past year, those critics have been warning that the consequences of unfettered and unregulated AI development could be not just corrosive to…

Elon Musk’s intent to take control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla are at the center of the fight between the controversial Tesla founder and the AI startup he helped get off the ground, but which is now being financed by Microsoft.That’s what OpenAI argued in a blog post Wednesday co-authored by CEO Sam Altman and other key members of the company’s leadership team. The post shares Open AI’s side of the story after Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman and the company — the creator of ChatGPT — on claims of breach of its founding mission.OpenAI will move…

Microsoft has launched a Copilot assistant for finance professionals that it says will automate repetitive processes and provide faster access to financial data.  The Copilot for Finance, unveiled last week, connects Microsoft’s productivity apps — most importantly, Excel and Outlook —  with a customer’s existing financial systems to provide access to information using the Copilot interface.“Copilot for Finance can streamline audits by pulling and reconciling data with a simple prompt, simplify collections by automating communication and payment plans, and accelerate financial reporting by detecting variances with ease,” Emily He, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for business applications marketing, said in a blog…

Though iOS 17.4 could leave European users vulnerable to new threat vectors and third-party app stores, it also introduced an interesting new API Apple is calling FinanceKit. What does it do, and is it an opportunity for your business?What is FinanceKit?FinanceKit is a new API for developers that lets them access a person’s transaction and balance details from Apple Card, Savings and Apple Cash. It is currently only available in the US.What does FinanceKit do?The idea is that users of financial management apps can monitor their Apple financial accounts in real-time. That’s useful, as it means they don’t need to manually put…

Released in late October 2023, Windows 11 version 23H2 (a.k.a. the Windows 11 2023 Update) introduced big changes in the ways Windows 11 looks, works, and acts. One of the biggest changes in its makeup relates to the troubleshooting platforms and tools supplied with the OS.To elucidate what this is about, I’ll describe two previous generations of troubleshooting tools and platforms for Windows, and then explain what’s changed in Windows 11 23H2 (and future versions of Windows). Buckle up!Ancient history: Mr. Fix-it Ed Tittel / IDG Figure 1: A “system handyman” graphic appeared in older automated diagnosis and repair tools.…