Shocking as it may seem, it’s been nearly a decade since the first Apple Pencil was announced, way back in 2015. The stylus hasn’t seen much in the way of updates since then. The most significant arrived in 2018, bringing magnetic charging to the line. Last year, meanwhile, saw the arrival of a less expensive […]
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed a long-standing investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system after reviewing hundreds of crashes involving its misuse, including 13 that were fatal.
At the same time, NHTSA is opening a new investigation to evaluate whether the Autopilot recall fix that Tesla implemented in December is effective enough.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said in documents released Friday that it completed “an extensive body of work” which turned up evidence that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities.”
“This mismatch resulted in a critical safety gap between drivers’ expectations of [Autopilot’s] operating capabilities and the system’s true capabilities,” the agency wrote. “This gap led to foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes.”
The closing of the initial probe, which began in 2021, marks an end of one of the most visible efforts by the government to scrutinize Tesla’s Autopilot software. The Department of Justice is also scrutinizing the company’s claims about the technology, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of falsely advertising the capabilities of Autopilot and the more-advanced Full Self-Driving beta software. Tesla, meanwhile, is now going “balls to the wall for autonomy,” according to CEO Elon Musk.
This story is developing…
For those who use WhatsApp more like an inbox, the app will now become more useful. WhatsApp on Tuesday announced a handful of new chat filters for the app to access certain types of messages easily: All, Unread and Groups.
The “All” filter is selected by default and shows you an unfiltered version of your inbox. The “Unread” filter is helpful in looking at messages you might not have seen. It also helps you get to inbox zero and get rid of the annoying number of unread chat indicators.
Notably, WhatsApp already had a way to look at unread messages through a filter in the search bar. But with the new filter bubbles on top of the chat screen, the option is easily available.
Meta said that the “Groups” filter was one of the most sought-after features for quickly scrolling through all your group chats. This filter will also show conversations in subgroups that are part of Communities — WhatsApp’s discussion group feature.
Gmail users might find these filter bubbles familiar as the Google-owned email service introduced a similar feature in 2020 to make search simpler.
This first set of filters might be just the beginning, though. As multiple reports from WABetaInfo have suggested, WhatsApp has been working on other filters such as “Contacts” to filter out messages from unknown people and businesses, “Favorites” to mark frequently used contacts and even custom chat filters in various beta versions of the app.
WhatsApp said that the filter options will be rolling out to users starting today and will be available to all users in a few weeks.
Google is launching its upgraded Find My Device network in the U.S. and Canada, the company announced on Monday. The network will be coming to Android users around the globe soon. Find My Device’s crowdsourced network of more than a billion Android devices can help users find their misplaced Android devices and everyday items. The Find My Device network, which is similar to Apple’s Find My network, works with devices running Android 9+.
With the Find My Device network, users will be able to locate their Android phones and tablets — even when they’re offline — by ringing them or viewing their location on a map. Google’s previous Find My Device service required lost phones to have an internet connection in order to be located. The upgraded network will also allow Pixel 8 and 8 Pro users to find their devices even if they’re powered off or if the battery is dead.
Image Credits: Google
Starting in May, Android users will be able to locate everyday items like their keys or wallet; Google is integrating Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee in the Find My Device app. These tags will be built specifically for the Find My Device network and will be “compatible with unknown tracker alerts across Android and iOS to help protect users from unwanted tracking,” Google says. Users can expect to see compatible tags from Motorola, Jio and Eufy later this year. Monday’s announcement comes as Apple and Google said last year that they would work together to lead an industry-wide initiative to alert users in the case of unwanted tracking from Bluetooth devices.
The new Find My Device network also integrates with Nest smart home gadgets and shows a lost device’s proximity to home Nest devices.
“Find My Device is secure by default and private by design,” Google’s VP of Engineering, Erik Kay, wrote in a blog post. “Multi-layered protections built into the Find My Device network help keep you safe and your personal information private, while keeping you in control of the devices connected to the Find My Device network. This includes end-to-end encryption of location data as well as aggregated device location reporting, a first-of-its-kind safety feature that provides additional protection against unwanted tracking back to a home or private location.”
Google says the Find My Device network will soon work with headphones from JBL, Sony and others.
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