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The next Amazon Prime Day sales event is set for October, but the early deals have already begun to trickle in. Case in point? There are some nifty discounts on Echo Show smart displays that ship with smart light bulbs. The Echo Show 5 is available for just $60, which is a discount of $50. This is a great all-around device that easily found a spot on our list of the best smart displays. Its bare bones, but gets the job done. We appreciated the compact design and the diminutive, yet useful, 5.5-inch screen. The compact size allows the Echo Show 5 to double as one heck of a smart alarm clock. To that end, theres an ambient light sensor that adjusts the screens brightness automatically, a tap-to-snooze function and a sunrise alarm that slowly brightens the screen for a gentle wake up call. Theres also a camera for video calls and the like, which is great, and privacy concerns are assuaged by the physical camera cover that ships with the display. This is a smart display, so Amazon has packed in a Sengled smart light bulb. This is a decent way to learn the ins and outs of making smart home adjustments, but its just a colored light bulb. The only major downside with this display is that the speakers are tiny, to suit the rest of the device. This translates to reduced sound quality when compared to rival smart displays. If you want larger speakers and a larger screen, theres a similar offer for the Echo Show 8. The smart display is available for $105, which is a discount of $65. It also comes with the aforementioned light bulb. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice in the lead up to October Prime Day 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/early-prime-day-deals-include-the-echo-show-5-plus-a-smart-light-bulb-for-only-60-151010373.html?src=rss
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Google is trying to be more transparent about whether a piece of content was created or modified using generative AI (GAI) tools. After joining the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) as a steering committee member earlier this year, Google has revealed how it will start implementing the groups digital watermarking standard. Alongside partners including Amazon, Meta, and OpenAI, Google has spent the past several months figuring out how to improve the tech used for watermarking GAI-created or modified content. The company says it helped to develop the latest version of Content Credentials, a technical standard used to protect metadata detailing how an asset was created, as well as information about what has been modified and how. Google says the current version of Content Credentials is more secure and tamperproof due to stricter validation methods. In the coming months, Google will start to incorporate the current version of Content Credentials into some of its main products. In other words, it should soon be easier to tell whether an image was created or modified using GAI in Google Search results. If an image that pops up has C2PA metadata, you should be able to find out what impact GAI had on it via the About this image tool. This is also available in Google Images, Lens and Circle to Search. The company is looking into how to use C2PA to tell YouTube viewers when footage was captured with a camera. Expect to learn more about that later this year. Google also plans to use C2PA metadata in its ads systems. It didn't reveal too many details about how its plans there other than to say it will use "C2PA signals to inform how we enforce key policies" and do so gradually. Of course, the effectiveness of this all depends on whether companies such as camera makers and the developers of GAI tools actually use the C2PA watermarking system. The approach isn't going to stop someone from stripping out an image's metadata either. That could make it harder for systems such as Google's to detect any GAI usage. Meanwhile, throughout this year, we've seen Meta wrangle over how to disclose whether images were created with GAI across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. The company just changed its policy to make labels less visible on images that were edited with AI tools. Starting this week, if C2PA metadata indicates that someone (for instance) used Photoshop's GAI tools to tweak a genuine photo, the "AI info" label no longer appears front and center. Instead, it's buried in the post's menu.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/heres-how-google-will-start-helping-you-figure-out-which-images-are-ai-generated-150219272.html?src=rss
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Uber just announced the expansion of safety features directed toward drivers, including a national rollout of enhanced rider verification, which begins tomorrow. If a rider undergoes these additional verification steps theyll get a Verified badge on their account, which will let drivers know everything is on the up and up. The company says it designed these new verification measures in response to driver feedback that they want to know more about who is getting in their car. The company began testing this feature earlier this year and it must have been a success, as it's getting a national rollout. Lyft has its own version of this tool, though it's still being tested in select markets. Uber verifies riders by cross-checking account information against third-party databases, though itll also accept official government IDs. The program will also allow users to bring in their verification status from the CLEAR program. While rider ID is the most notable safety tool announced, Ubers also bringing its Record My Ride feature to the whole country after another successful beta test. This lets drivers record the entirety of the ride via their smartphone cameras, without the need to invest in a dashcam. The footage is fully encrypted, with Uber saying nobody can access it unless a driver sends it in for review. The company hopes this will allow it to more quickly and fairly resolve any incidents that may arise. Uber Drivers can now cancel any trip without a financial penalty and they can unmatch from any riders they don't feel comfortable picking up. Finally, theres a new PIN verification feature in which drivers can request riders to enter a number to confirm they are, in fact, the correct guest. Uber tends to focus its resources on riders over drivers, so this is a nice change of pace. It is kind of a bummer, however, that drivers require this kind of enhanced verification system just to root out some bad apples and keep doing their jobs. In other words, dont be a jerk during your next Uber ride. Correction, September 17 2024, 10:45AM ET: This story and its headline originally stated that Uber's rider verification program was rolling out nationwide as of today. The rollout starts tomorrow, September 18. We apologize for the error.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/ubers-rider-id-program-is-now-available-everywhere-in-the-us-143037313.html?src=rss
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