Prosecutors in Taiwan issued an arrest warrant [non-paywalled source] for the chief executive officer of the Chinese smartphone company OnePlus, stepping up the island's efforts to block China's tech players from recruiting Taiwanese talent. From a report: The Shilin district prosecutors office issued the warrant for CEO and co-founder Pete Lau and indicted two Taiwanese citizens who worked for him, according to an indictment by the office. OnePlus, a niche player whose phones run on a customized version of Android, is suspected of illegally recruiting more than 70 engineers in Taiwan.

The autonomous territory has stepped up its efforts to stop Chinese companies from raiding workers, who are often coveted because of their technical knowledge and experience. The Taiwanese officials put such limitations in place because they say recruiting from the semiconductor sector and other tech operations could jeopardize national security.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription: Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad; Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad; Pixelmator Pro on the Mac and iPad; Motion on the Mac; Compressor on the Mac; and MainStage on the Mac.

Pixelmator Pro was previously only available on the Mac, but it is coming to the iPad. Apple Creator Studio subscribers will also receive access to exclusive AI features and premium content across not only the Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro apps, but also the iWork apps Numbers, Pages, and Keynote, and the Freeform app later this year. So if you want the best, fully-featured versions of all of these apps going forward, you will need to subscribe to the bundle.

Apple says there will be separate Creator Studio and one-time purchase "versions" of each app. If you have both versions installed on your Mac, the Creator Studio versions will have "unique icons" so that they stand out, according to Apple. Apple Creator Studio will be available through the App Store starting Wednesday, January 28. All new subscribers will be able to receive a one-month free trial, and customers who purchase a new Mac or a qualifying iPad model with an A16, A17 Pro, or M-series chip or later will be eligible for an extended three-month free trial. "If you are not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle introduced today, you will officially start to miss out on some new features," adds MacRumors in a separate article. If you bought the apps via a one-time purchase, or plan to do so in the future, "you will no longer have access to all new features," though they will continue to receive updates.

"There are some exceptions, as Apple says Logic Pro and MainStage will have all the same features whether they are subscription or one-time-purchase versions," notes MacRumors. "It looks like most if not all of the new features that will be limited to Creator Studio subscribers will be powered by AI, as Apple repeatedly describes them as 'intelligent' features. The apps are continuing to receive other new features that do not require a subscription over time, so one-time purchasers are not completely left out."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Electric vehicles are more likely to be fixed at the roadside than petrol or diesel cars despite public fears to the contrary, according to new breakdown data from the AA. From a report: New research from Autotrader and the AA, carried out in December among more than 2,000 consumers, found 44% of respondents are concerned about the risk of breakdowns or roadside repairs when considering switching to an EV. Concern was highest among drivers aged 75 and over, with 56% saying they were worried.

The North East recorded the highest level of concern at 52%, while women were slightly more likely to express reservations than men - 46% versus 41%. Even so, AA call-out data indicates EVs are more likely to be successfully repaired at the roadside than a 12-volt battery in a petrol or diesel car.

Separately, industry data continues to indicate growing readiness to service electric cars. A recent Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) survey of aftermarket businesses found 81.2% of UK workshops are already equipped to work on EVs, according to the campaign partners.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mercedes-Benz is pausing the roll-out of Drive Pilot, an "eyes off" conditionally automated driving feature that was available in Europe and the US. From a report: As first reported by German publication Handelsblatt, the revised S-Class will not have the Level 3 system when it arrives at the end of this month. Mercedes was one of the first automakers to offer a Level 3 driving system to its customers when it launched Drive Pilot with the electric EQS sedan and the gas-powered S-Class in the fall of 2023. At up to 40mph in traffic jam situations on highways, Drive Pilot provided hands-free, eyes-off driving that allows the driver to look away from the road at something else, like a game or a movie.

It was big leap up from hands-free Level 2 systems -- Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) included -- which still require the driver to be in full control, looking ahead and paying attention while the system is active. But now Mercedes says it is temporarily scrapping the feature, citing middling demand and the high production costs of developing the technology.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Analyst Ben Thompson, sharing the experience of watching an NBA game on the Vision Pro: When I started the broadcast [on Apple Vision Pro's immersive view of the Bucks vs. Lakers NBA game] I had, surprise surprise, a studio show, specially tailored for the Apple Vision Pro. In other words, there was a dedicated camera, a dedicated presenter, a dedicated graphics team, etc. There was even a dedicated announcing team! This all sounds expensive and special, and I think it was a total waste.

Here's the thing that you don't seem to get, Apple: the entire reason why the Vision Pro is compelling is because it is not a 2D screen in my living room; it's an immersive experience I wear on my head. That means that all of the lessons of TV sports production are immaterial. In fact, it's worse than that: insisting on all of the trappings of a traditional sports broadcast has two big problems: first, because it is costly, it means that less content is available than might be otherwise. And second, it makes the experience significantly worse.

[...] I have, as I noted, had the good fortune of sitting courtside at an NBA game, and this very much captured the experience. The biggest sensation you get by being close to the players is just how tall and fast and powerful they are, and you got that sensation with the Vision Pro; it was amazing. The problem, however, is that you would be sitting there watching Giannis or LeBron or Luka glide down the court, and suddenly you would be ripped out of the experience because the entirely unnecessary producer decided you should be looking through one of these baseline cameras under the hoop [...]

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Gemeente Helmond nam extra veiligheidsmaatregelen bij een vergadering over asielopvang, zodat raadsleden vrijuit konden spreken. Uit voorzorg, na uit de hand gelopen bijeenkomsten in andere gemeentes en een drukbezochte demonstratie in Helmond.

In het Anna Ziekenhuis in Geldrop zal deze week een 36-jarige man een ingreep ondergaan die nog niet eerder bij een mens is uitgevoerd. De techniek werd tot nu toe alleen toegepast bij honden met heupdysplasie.

Annemarie Prins gaf aan het politieke theater een artistieke betekenis. Haar gezelschap Terzijde bestond maar vier jaar, maar was zeer invloedrijk. In alles wat ze deed schuilt een indringende combinatie van compassie en aanklacht. Ze overleed dinsdag op 93-jarige leeftijd.

Morphine

Miles Kane

NEW YORK (ANP) - De aandelenbeurzen in New York zijn dinsdag met verliezen de handelsdag uitgegaan. Onder meer JPMorgan Chase ging omlaag, ondanks dat de grootste bank van de Verenigde Staten het beste vierde kwartaal ooit kende en beter presteerde dan verwacht. Het aandeel zakte 4,2 procent.

De Dow-Jonesindex eindigde 0,8 procent lager op 49.191,99 punten. De brede S&P 500-index zakte 0,2 procent naar 6963,74 punten en techgraadmeter Nasdaq daalde 0,1 procent tot 23.709,88 punten.

Beleggers hadden de aandacht dinsdag ook gericht op nieuwe Amerikaanse inflatiegegevens. In december stegen de consumentenprijzen in de grootste economie ter wereld minder hard dan verwacht. Het meevallende inflatiecijfer versterkte de hoop op een verdere renteverlaging door de Federal Reserve.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Een reeks partijen is er niet blij mee dat duizenden huurders van sociale huurwoningen ook een of meerdere woningen bezitten. Bijna 12.000 sociale huurders zijn ook eigenaar van een woning en sommigen zelfs van meer dan tien, meldde het Centraal Planbureau dinsdag. "Oneerlijk en onrechtvaardig", zei Hans Vijlbrief (D66) in een debat.

In een deel van de gevallen kozen de huurders er niet voor om een woning te bezitten, bijvoorbeeld omdat ze een woning erfden. Dat benoemde Vijlbrief ook. "Maar drie à vijf à tien woningen per ongeluk hebben terwijl je in een sociale woning zit, dat zou ik toch wel misbruik willen noemen." Henk Vermeer (BBB) wilde van partijgenoot en demissionair woonminister Mona Keijzer een brief met "alle ins en outs".

"Iemand die al een woning heeft, hoeft niet in een sociale huurwoning te zitten", zei Habtamu de Hoop van GroenLinks-PvdA. Hij noemde de groep "profiteurs" en vindt dat zij ruimte moeten maken voor andere mensen.

WILLEMSTAD (ANP) - Curaçao heeft in december een recordaantal toeristen verwelkomd. Sinds augustus zijn er zorgen over de negatieve invloed van de spanning tussen de VS en Venezuela op het aantal vakantiegangers, vooral na twee bijna-ongelukken in het luchtruim in december. Het toerismebureau heeft het daarentegen over "een toenemende aantrekkingskracht".

In 2025 kwamen in totaal 788.427 toeristen naar het eiland, een groei van 13 procent in vergelijking met 2024. In december verbleven op het eiland 80.891 toeristen, waarmee het vorige record werd overtroffen en het hoogste maandtotaal ooit werd bereikt.

De top 3 van het aantal bezoekers wordt gevormd door Nederland (26.243 in december), de Verenigde Staten en Colombia. De meeste Nederlanders kwamen uit Zuid-Holland (27 procent), Noord-Holland (20 procent) en Noord-Brabant (13 procent).

De Curaçaose minister van Economische Ontwikkeling en Toerisme, Roderick Middelhof, liet vorige maand al weten dat ondanks de spanningen in de regio er geen reizen waren afgezegd en de hotels en vliegtuigen vol zaten. Sinds augustus heeft Amerika het aantal militaire vliegtuigen en schepen voor de kust van Venezuela enorm vergroot. Curaçao ligt, net als Bonaire en Aruba, dicht bij de kust van het Zuid-Amerikaanse land.

The open-source libraries were created by Salesforce, Nvidia, and Apple with a Swiss group

Vulnerabilities in popular AI and ML Python libraries used in Hugging Face models with tens of millions of downloads allow remote attackers to hide malicious code in metadata. The code then executes automatically when a file containing the poisoned metadata is loaded.…

Just be careful not to entrust the AI model with your sensitive data

Anthropic on Monday announced the research preview of Claude Cowork, a tool for automating office work that comes with the now familiar recitation of machine learning risks.…

Step 1: Ask for deposit. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Build Moon hotel empire

Everest has been turned into a run-of-the-mill tourist attraction. Space tourism is over now that any celebrity can blast off into orbit. Next up: a hotel on the Moon, now taking reservations for only about six years from now, if you're willing to make a small deposit.…

There’s a guy named Orion who surfs the St Lawrence River in the winter, sometimes dodging massive chunks of ice and sometimes riding them downstream, looking for waves. If you’ve ever been in Montreal near the river, even in the summer, you know how scary the water looks — churning & choppy with many eddies; I’m gobsmacked that someone goes out in that in freezing temperatures. The footage in this short film is incredible, otherworldly.

Tags: sports · surfing · video

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