O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: framework

  • United States and China appear to have reached a deal on TikTok, US app to license Chinese algorithm

    United States and China appear to have reached a deal on TikTok, US app to license Chinese algorithm

    Following years of controversy as to privacy and ownership between the United States and China, both US and Chinese officials stated on Tuesday that an agreement has been reached for an American TikTok spin-off to be sold to American investors, albeit under indecisive terms.

    Per Reuters:

    U.S. and Chinese officials said on Monday they have reached a framework agreement to switch short-video app TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership that will be confirmed in a Friday call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
    China has said that the two sides have reached a “basic framework consensus.”

    As such, the revised September 17 deadline looks as if it will be extended yet again to allow the deal to be finalized. The deal itself won’t be set in stone until Congress approves the terms.

    According to the Financial Times, the agreement also includes licensing the Chinese algorithm that’s made TikTok so successful. Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China’s powerful cyber security regulator, told reporters on Monday night that US and Chinese officials had agreed on a framework that included “licensing the algorithm and other intellectual property rights”.

    The algorithm itself provides the value to the app, wherein TikTok shows an infinite scrolling feed of videos it thinks you will like, quickly learning your tastes.

    US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent separately told reporters that the spun-off app would be controlled by American investors but preserve some “Chinese characteristics.”

    A source close to the story stated that TikTok has been developing a standalone US app in anticipation of the deal. The developer was also eager to ensure that content generated by American users would still be available to users in the “rest of the world” app and vice versa.

    It’s unknown who will end up owning the US app, and the claimed deal back in March failed to materialize. The deal involved several different US companies holding different percentages of the equity.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac, Reuters, and the Financial Times

  • Parallels Desktop updated to 20.3, adds OBS support, Touch ID authentication, other new features

    Parallels Desktop updated to 20.3, adds OBS support, Touch ID authentication, other new features

    If you’re a fan of Parallels Desktop, this is going to come in handy.

    Parallels Desktop has been updated to version 20.3. The update adds new features such as OBS support, Touch ID authentication, and improved legacy emulation that makes the virtual machine experience even smoother.

    Other new features include new x86_64 emulation capabilities for Apple Silicon Macs, including full support for M4 chips. Users can now run legacy x86_64 apps on the latest Apple hardware, and the new version also provides USB passthrough support for macOS virtual machines.

    Previously, if a user tried to plug a USB device while running a macOS virtual machine on an Apple silicon Mac nothing would happen. Adjustments introduced in Apple’s framework with macOS 15 have now made it possible to connect a range of USB devices directly to your macOS virtual machine.

    Parallels has also highlighted that while many USB devices are now supported, audio devices and iPhones are not at the moment. Additionally, this feature is only available on Macs running macOS 15 or higher.

    The new features also allow users to use their OBS feed from macOS in Zoom, Teams, and other Windows apps inside their virtual machine. Touch ID integration has also been added, allowing users to skip typing their admin password and simply authenticate using Touch ID for a smoother experience. Finally, Parallels Desktop 20.3 also allows IT administrators to enforce Single Sign-On (SSO) as the sole activation method for managed Macs. Using the SSO configuration profile will prevent users from activating Parallels Desktop with a license key or trial, ensuring compliance with organizational policies. Even if a user uninstalls and reinstalls the software, SSO activation will still be required from the start.

    Parallels Desktop is available as a free 14-day trial, and currently retails for $74.99 per year and requires macOS 12 Monterey to install and run. It also comes with a 30-day, money-back guarantee.

    If you’ve tried the new version, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via AppleInsider and Parallels

  • Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition to arrive for Apple Silicon-based Macs in early 2025

    Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition to arrive for Apple Silicon-based Macs in early 2025

    If you loved Cyberpunk 2077, it’s officially coming to the Mac through the Mac App Store and Steam with a release slated for early 2025. The release will be exclusive to Apple Silicon Macs, and will take advantage of Apple’s M1, M2, M4, and M4 chips.

    The game supports path tracing and frame generation, which are essential for delivering intricate graphics and lifelike environments. Cyberpunk 2077 will also use Apple’s Metal graphics framework to help improve performance and efficiency. From the audio end, the title will support Apple’s Spatial Audio for immersive soundscapes that further enhance gameplay.

    From a retail perspective, developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed that players who already own Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam can access the Mac version without needing a new purchase.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider and cyberpunk.net

  • Microsoft to discontinue Visual Studio for Mac support in August 2024, suggests other alternatives

    Microsoft to discontinue Visual Studio for Mac support in August 2024, suggests other alternatives

    Microsoft has announced that the company plans to discontinue Visual Studio for Mac next year.

    The latest version of the company’s IDE (integrated development environment) for Mac will continue to be supported by Microsoft through August 2024.

    Microsoft offered the following statement:

    “With today’s announcement, we’re redirecting our resources and focus to enhance Visual Studio and VS Code, optimizing them for cross-platform development. No new framework, runtime, or language support will be added to Visual Studio for Mac.”

    As part of the wind-down process, Microsoft has committed to supporting Visual Studio for Mac with security updates and platform update compatibility for the next 12 months.

    Per Microsoft:

    “We will also continue to provide runtime and workload updates so you can continue building and shipping applications built on .NET 6, .NET 7, and the Mono frameworks. While not officially supported, we’ve also enabled rudimentary support for .NET 8 in Visual Studio for Mac for building and debugging applications.”

    The Visual Studio 2022 application introduced a major overhaul for the Mac version including a native user interface and Apple Silicon optimization while going full 64-bit for the first time. Microsoft first brought VS to the Mac in 2016.

    Once Visual Studio for Mac support has ended, Microsoft has recommended accessing its IDE through Windows in a virtual machine on the Mac or through a cloud-based app. Microsoft also pointed to applications such as the C# Dev Kit, .NET MAUI, and Unity Extensions for VS Code, which are available in preview and are intended to augment VS Code’s capabilities for .NET and C# developers. These extensions operate natively across all supported platforms, including macOS, and the experience using these will continue to be improved as they move from preview to GA and beyond.

    Although Visual Studio for the Mac (IDE) will be discontinued by August 2024, VS Code (rich text editor) for Mac will stick around. Rider, a competing .NET IDE, is another alternative that Visual Studio users can try out.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and devblogs.microsoft.com

  • Rumor: Apple developing AI-powered chatbot, does not have plans for public release in the near future

    Rumor: Apple developing AI-powered chatbot, does not have plans for public release in the near future

    Apple has apparently begun creating its own AI-powered chatbot, but reportedly does not have solid plans to release the technology to the public in the near future.

    According to Bloomberg, the chatbot uses its own large language model (LLM) framework called “Ajax,” running on Google Cloud and built with Google JAX, a framework created to accelerate machine learning research. Sources close to the situation have stated that Apple has multiple teams working on the project, which includes addressing potential privacy implications.

    Recently, other tech firms such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft, have moved quickly to incorporate AI products of their own into their products. Apple has been conspicuously absent in this regard, and is said to have banned its workers from using ChatGPT, instead using the Ajax-powered chatbot internally. Ajax has been described as having been created to “unify machine learning development,” according to a source close to the story.

    Apple has quietly woven AI into its software for some time, the most evident example being Siri, the voice assistant that helped kick-start the trend among tech companies. To help bolster its efforts, Apple hired John Giannandrea, who previously headed up AI and search at Google, in 2018 to oversee Siri and its machine learning teams. Giannandrea and Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, are said to be leading Apple’s AI initiative.

    In a recent interview with Good Morning America, Tim Cook said AI tech is something Apple is “looking at closely.” Cook also expressed concerns about AI products during an earnings call in May, noting there are “a number of issues that need to be sorted.”

    Although Apple’s plans in the AI space are still unclear, sources have stated that Apple is looking to make a “significant AI-related announcement” sometime next year.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Verge and Bloomberg