You might want to start treating your web browser like you’re always at work, at least if you want to use Microsoft’s new Copilot Vision feature. The feature, which is natively built into Microsoft Edge, is able to “see what you see, and hear what you hear” as you navigate your browser, according to Microsoft’s Executive Vice President Yusuf Mehdi.
All of this AI snooping isn’t for nothing. Copilot Vision looks at what you’re doing online to answer questions, provide recommendations, and summarize content. It can work with the new Copilot Voice feature, for example. Microsoft demoed the capabilities on Rotten Tomatoes, showing a user chatting with Copilot while browsing the website and looking for movie recommendations. Ultimately, Copilot settled on an Australian comedy for the Australian speaker, saying it made the choice because, “well, you’re Australian.” I guess that’s taking personal context into account.
Understandably, the idea of an AI looking at everything you do online might rub some people the wrong way. Microsoft says the feature is opt-in only, meaning you have to manually turn it on, and that there will be an indicator onscreen showing that Copilot is watching what you’re doing. Microsoft also says that data from your session is deleted after you close the session, and that the data won’t be used for training.
In addition, Microsoft says that Copilot Vision will only initially work with a limited number of websites. We don’t have the full list yet, but at the very least, the feature won’t work on “paywalled or sensitive content.” Microsoft also points out that the feature doesn’t process anything on a webpage — it just sees the text and images on a page and analyzes them.
Copilot Voice works in conjunction with Copilot Vision, but it also works on its own. Across desktop and mobile devices, Microsoft says you’ll now be able to hold a conversation with Copilot using just your voice.
Building on the new voice capabilities, Microsoft is releasing Copilot Daily. It’s almost like a personalized morning news show, rounding up stories and giving you daily details like traffic and weather. This, too, is built with a generative AI voice that walks you through your morning news every day. It’s generated based around the content you interact with.
Copilot Voice and Copilot Daily are rolling out to Windows users now in the U.S. and UK. Voice is also available in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, but only in English. Microsoft says it will bring the feature to more countries and languages soon.
Copilot Vision is starting to roll out “soon” in the U.S., but only for Copilot Pro subscribers. The feature is part of Microsoft’s new Copilot Labs program, which gives Copilot Pro subscribers early access to Microsoft’s latest AI features that are still being tested.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.