OpenAI president Greg Brockman recently did an interview with Joanna Stern, where he commented on the lawsuit OpenAI is facing from Apple and talked about OpenAI's product plans.


Brockman reiterated what OpenAI has already said on the record, stating that the company is "plenty innovative" and uninterested in other companies' trade secrets.

I would say that we have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We are plenty innovative. We are thinking about things from our own angle. And so that's how we operate and that's what we do.

He also said OpenAI is working on its own long-term product plans.

It's active litigation, so not something that I want to talk about, but all I can say is we're very committed to a long-term roadmap here and that we are focused on our own development and technology. That's what we're interested in.

Apple accused OpenAI of a months-long scheme to steal confidential Apple information from Apple employees interviewing with OpenAI. Apple said OpenAI has created a culture of hardware theft, and that its hardware business is "rotten to the core" because the hardware it's building relies on info stolen from Apple. OpenAI's products are being developed with former Apple designer Jony Ive, though Ive wasn't named in the lawsuit.

Brockman declined to say when OpenAI's first hardware devices will come out, but he said people should "expect them soon." Rumors suggest OpenAI's first product will be a mobile smart speaker without a display, and it has been described as a "humanlike AI companion" designed for home use. He further said OpenAI is working on a "family of devices" and is building its own chips. OpenAI wants to offer "value over time" and deliver on a device that's "built for the AI era" and "maximally useful."

He had ChatGPT answer a question about what OpenAI's first AI device would look like.

My take, something ambient and low friction, voice first but not voice only and with a clear privacy signal.

ChatGPT also answered whether the company's first device would need a screen, and it said "nope."

People haven't been thrilled with the recent merging of ChatGPT and Codex, and Brockman acknowledged that the app is "kind of a mess." He described the current app as "incremental progress towards the future," and said the separate Work tab should be gone by the end of the year, with everything molding into ChatGPT.

Brockman's full interview, which goes into more detail on ChatGPT's future, OpenAI's hardware work, and the company's ambitions, can be watched on YouTube.
This article, "OpenAI President on Apple Lawsuit: We Don't Need Your Secrets" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Samsung announced its latest foldable smartphones last week, and the lineup included the Galaxy Z Fold8, a device that's close to what we're expecting Apple's foldable "iPhone Ultra" to look like when it comes out later this year. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been testing Samsung's new foldable, and the wider 4:3 display bodes well for the ‌iPhone Ultra‌.


Unlike most of Samsung's Galaxy foldables, the Z Fold8 is wider with a tablet-like look and feel when it's unfolded. It's 5.5 inches when closed and 7.6 inches when open, and those are just about the exact dimensions we've seen rumored for the ‌iPhone Ultra‌. It's not as tall or narrow as Samsung's other foldable smartphones, and it feels a lot more like using an iPad mini.

A wider unfolded display is better for using two apps side-by-side, and it's also a better screen size for watching videos. The 5.5-inch cover display is perfect for looking at notifications, responding to texts, and answering emails, and then the wider display is ideal for tasks that can use more screen real estate.

Samsung's foldable is our best look yet at what it will be like to use an ‌iPhone Ultra‌, and where the shortcomings might be. The book form factor isn't the best for vertical video, and some apps aren't designed for the screen size. Apple is working on automatic resizing for apps to match the iPad-like design, so it may be in a better position than Samsung on the software side.

Samsung's device only has two camera lenses and not the best camera tech the company has, and that's what we're expecting from the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ too. A telephoto lens is unlikely, and a step down in camera quality could be one of the main negatives of choosing the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ over the iPhone 18 Pro this fall. It's also going to be missing Face ID, and going back to Touch ID on a smartphone is a big change.

Apple's design is supposed to be nearly crease-free with a sturdy hinge, and Samsung used new hinge technology for the Z Fold8 too. Samsung says the new mechanism minimizes the crease and makes it harder to feel than with prior models, but it's still clearly visible in some lighting. It'll be interesting to see how Apple's foldable compares.

Samsung didn't come out with this wide-screen foldable smartphone until after rumors suggested it was the design Apple planned to use. Samsung and Apple both have a history of adopting features after the other company comes out with something new, but Samsung seems to follow Apple more often. It looks like Apple picked the shape and details came out through leaks, leading Samsung to make a similar device. Samsung was able to make it to market before Apple because Samsung has been making foldable smartphones for years.

Rumors about a book-style Apple foldable started around March 2018, and Samsung's first foldable came out in 2019. Samsung had seven years to pick a wider design like the one Apple is opting for, but didn't launch the form factor until a couple of months before Apple's foldable is rumored to be coming.

Samsung isn't likely to lure iPhone users away from choosing the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ when it comes out because most people tend to stick with a preferred operating system, but it could stop Galaxy users from swapping over to Apple's tablet-like design. The 4:3 iPad-like display works, and the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ is going to sell well, even at a price around $2,000. Samsung priced the Z Fold8 at $1,900, but rumors suggest Apple could charge up to $2,500.

Apple knows the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ is going to give people sticker shock, and that's probably one of the reasons it just launched Apple Upgrade. Apple Upgrade lets you lease a smartphone for a lower monthly price than you used to be able to get with the iPhone Upgrade Program, and it'll likely help Apple sell the new iPhone.

Dan went into testing expecting the rumored price would keep the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ niche, but after using the Galaxy Z Fold8 and showing other people the design, he's now convinced the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ will be a hit.
This article, "Galaxy Z Fold8 Review: What Samsung's New Foldable Tells Us About the iPhone Ultra" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Google today updated Gemini for Mac to add a new quick keyboard shortcut that activates voice mode. By long-pressing the Fn key, users can speak naturally to Gemini from any window on their desktop machine.


Gemini supports intelligent dictation, so users can speak to the chatbot using natural language and Gemini will transcribe their words to text. Ums, ahs, and other filler words are removed during the process, and it can catch mid-sentence corrections, dropping formatted text at the cursor.

There's an opt-in screen-aware reasoning mode. If enabled, Gemini can see what's on the Mac's screen to complete tasks. Users can highlight files, images, text, or documents and have Gemini edit, summarize, and compose content in the app they're working in. Gemini is also able to generate and edit images when the screen-aware mode is turned on.

A double press on the Fn key is one of the options for triggering the Mac's built-in dictation feature, so the Gemini replacement will be familiar to those who prefer Gemini.

Gemini's new Mac voice mode is rolling out globally to all Gemini for Mac users in English, with Google planning to add more languages in the future.
This article, "Gemini for Mac Adds System-Wide Voice Dictation and Screen-Aware Commands" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The Phone and FaceTime apps didn't get as many new features as some of Apple's other apps, but there are a handful of capabilities that add utility and convenience.

Phone App

The Phone app has one major update, and that's Call Context. When you call a company, the Phone app can surface relevant information from the Mail app.

If you call an airline, it might show your confirmation code for an upcoming flight, or your reservation code if you're calling a hotel. It doesn't listen to what you're saying, but instead looks at the number you're calling and links it to details in the Mail app.

Call Context is an Apple Intelligence feature that runs entirely on-device, and it requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. It also works when you make a phone call from your iPad or Mac.

FaceTime

‌FaceTime‌ has a couple of new features, but the biggest is Dual Capture. On the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air, you can use the front and back cameras at the same time while on a ‌FaceTime‌ call.

The person you're calling is able to see your face and what's shown through the back camera.

You can turn on Dual Capture on a supported iPhone by tapping on the camera flip button. If you only want to show the back camera feed, you can tap to turn off the front camera view.

While streaming video with Dual Capture is limited to the ‌iPhone 17‌, iPhone 17 Pro, ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max, ‌iPhone Air‌, and newer, anyone running iOS 27 can see a dual video stream on a ‌FaceTime‌ call because there are no hardware requirements for the receiving device.

There are a few other features worth knowing about:

• Connection Quality - When you have a bad connection, ‌FaceTime‌ calls will now have better quality than before.


• Wi-Fi/Cellular - In ‌iOS 27‌, iPhones are better at transitioning from a Wi-Fi to a cellular connection and vice versa, so you'll lose connection less often when moving between networks.


• Live Captions - Live Captions are now available in Traditional Chinese.


• Communication Safety - Communication Safety blocks gore and violence in ‌FaceTime‌ and Messages instead of just nudity.

iOS 27 Launch

‌iOS 27‌ is being beta tested right now, and can be downloaded by developers and public beta testers. It will launch this fall alongside new iPhone models.

Read More

For more on the new features in ‌iOS 27‌, we have a dedicated iOS 27 roundup.
This article, "iOS 27: All the New Phone and FaceTime Features" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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