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Last week Ring announced a feature that will you to capture video 24/7 so you don't miss anything if a motion alert wasn't triggered. The challenge is that if you'll then need to wade through hours of footage to find an event. Now, the Amazon-owned company has introduced Smart Video Search, an AI feature for subscribers of the upcoming $20 Ring Home serivce that makes it faster and easier to find specific moments in your video history. The system is powered by Ring IQ, a combination of Ring AI technology and in-house expertise. It uses Visual Language Modeling (VLM) to match text to images and show results. That way, you can type specific queries into the Ring app to figure out why your garbage cans were knocked over, rather than scrolling through hours of video footage. For instance, you could search for "raccoon in the backyard last night" to see if it was one of those critters that upended your trash. Ring cites other examples, like typing "red bicycle in the driveway" and seeing footage that shows one of your kids teaching the other how to ride a bike. You could also use the feature to find out who took the last of the ice cream, according to Ring. It might seem a bit icky to spy on your own family that way, but Ring does say that it's a "leader in developing privacy features" and is committed to developing responsible AI. The system also uses a "sophisticated input moderation technique to prevent searching for offensive, inappropriate or harmful content." If you believe Ring's privacy claims (the company has a checkered history in that regard) and trust having more Amazon AI tech in your house, Smart Video Search is rolling out to select customers in public beta starting today. The feature will work on all ring video doorbells and cameras, and will roll out widely with the new $20 Ring Home subscription service on November 5th. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/ring-adds-ai-enabled-smart-video-search-as-part-of-its-upcoming-20-subscription-service-130049585.html?src=rss
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Google may have to break off parts of its business, such as Chrome and Android, and share users' search data with its competitors, based on the proposed remedies the US Justice Department has submitted in a court filing. The DOJ said it's "considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features" after Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that it illegally abused its monopoly over the search industry. That ruling was the result of a 2020 antitrust lawsuit filed by the DOJ and several states, accusing Google of "unlawfully maintaining monopolies" over search and search-related products. The department is also considering limiting or prohibiting Google from signing contracts with other companies to make its search engine the default option for their browsers and phones. In his ruling, Judge Mehta said that paying Mozilla, Apple, Samsung and other device makers to make Google as their default search engine was an illegal act meant to maintain its dominant position in the market. A Google executive previously revealed during a trial for the lawsuit that the the company paid Apple $26 billion. One of the department's other proposals is to restrict Google from being able to use search results to train its generative artificial intelligence models. In a blog post, Google's VP of Regulatory Affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, called the DOJ's proposals "radical and sweeping." She said the government "seems to be pursuing a sweeping agenda that will impact numerous industries and products" and proceeded to enumerate how the proposals would affect consumers. Mulholland argued that forcing Google to share users' search queries and results with competitors could create major privacy and security risks, since the company protects them with its "strict security standards." She also said that splitting off Chrome or Android would break them, jeopardize their security and make patching bugs harder. It will "change their business models, raise the cost of devices, and undermine Android and Google Play in their robust competition with Apples iPhone and App Store," she explained. Mulholland also argued that "hampering Googles AI tools risks holding back American innovation at a critical moment." Finally, she said that the government's "unreasonable restrictions" on Google's distribution contracts that make its search engine "easily available" would "create friction for people who just want to easily search for information." It could reduce revenue for companies like Mozilla and other Android smartphone makers, as well, leading to the lack of funds for further development and pricier smartphones overall. The DOJ has until November 20 to file a more refined set of remedies, while Google has until December 20 to propose its own fixes to the court. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-justice-department-could-force-google-to-break-itself-up-123041161.html?src=rss
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The sixth and final episode of Slow Horses fourth season lands on Apple TV+ today, giving me a flimsy excuse to urge you all to watch. Its a pulpy, fun and gripping British spy thriller that has finally started to garner some deserved attention. At six episodes a run, its respectful of your time in a way plenty of other streaming series arent. And while its unafraid of showing you the brutal side of espionage, you can revel in its gloriously deathly sense of humor. Slow Horses focuses on Slough House, a department inside Britains security service where agents are dumped. MI5 officers who cant be trusted with real work, or angered their superiors, are dumped in the administrative purgatory. Since you cant hand a spy a pink slip and send them on their way, theyre parked at Slough House until they retire, or quit. The show stars Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the antithesis of anyones imagined vision of a real spy. Lamb is perpetually drunk, obsessed with his own bodily emissions and is unpleasant to be around. (As I said when the show started, Slow Horses delights in watching the once and hopefully-future George Smiley playing someone so grubby.) Hes joined by Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, a would-be superspy and the scion of a great family of spymasters parked at Slough House for spoilery reasons. Of course, much as River may chafe at his exile, hes not quite able to live up to his own expectations. Much like the rest of the team, that Lamb delights in tormenting, River lacks some top-tier spy talents. Naturally, despite being a team of losers, misfits and boozers, Lamb and his crew are regularly drawn into MI5s grander intrigues. This time around, a central London shopping center is blown up, which precipitates a rabid hunt for the culprit. Except this time, the answers arent in MI5s hands, but the slow horses themselves, but thats about as much as I can say. Much as I love the world the series depicts, drawn from Mick Herrons series of books, I adore its dialog. Creator Will Smith (not that one), who recently won the series first Emmy, worked on The Thick of It. The British sitcom is the progenitor for Veep, and also laid the groundwork for Succession; two series that also share a love for the almost operatic use of profanity. A show like Slow Horses should be dominating the news cycle every single episode, but I think we all know why it remains in a smaller niche. That its on Apple TV+ certainly limits the number of people who are able to watch it and, by extension, fall in love with it. After all, despite having the worlds most well-heeled backer and access to every iPhone in the world, it still has a quarter of Netflixs user figures. But dont let its platform hold you back, especially when you can pay for a months worth and watch all four seasons in a week, depending on your patience. Its certainly worth it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/im-so-glad-slow-horses-is-a-hit-120003767.html?src=rss
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