If you haven’t yet watched yesterday’s OpenAI event, I highly recommend doing so. The headline news was that the latest GPT-4o model works seamlessly with any combination of text, audio, and video.
That includes the ability to ‘show’ the GPT-4o app a screen recording you are taking of another app – and it’s this capability the company showed off with a pretty insane iPad AI tutor demo …
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| Read more »When did being able to read the room become a lost art?
The arc of backlash to Apple’s “Crush” ad was wild to observe. The Macalope’s first reaction to it was thinking it missed the mark as a metaphor. Destroying the creative arts to make an iPad was not the right way to get across the creative things you can do with an iPad, and many other, better metaphors could have been used. But he certainly didn’t think it’d be met with the staunch opposition it has, an opposition that ultimately led to the company apologizing and canceling plans to show the ad on TV.
Sure, Apple’s always had its detractors, a swath of people who are always happy to tell the company that whatever it’s doing, it’s doing it wrong. But this time the calls were coming from inside the house. Apple “crushed” creativity and one of...
| Read more »It may not be a huge update, but it’s out the door. Apple on Monday released its macOS Sonoma 14.5 update, which appears to have very few visible updates and could largely be considered a series of bug fixes. Among the issues that appear to have been fixed is a bug wherein certain FaceTime users […]
| Read more »Apple on Monday released its iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5, two major updates to its mobile operating systems that emerged more than two months after the launch of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4. The updates include the following fixes, changes, and new features: Some features may not be available for all regions or on all […]
| Read more »Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.
In this episode of Apple @ Work, I talk with Mike McNeil from Fleet about their new maintenance windows feature.
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| Read more »Weather is no joke, and it’s one of many important things you need to consider prior to traveling, whether that’s locally or beyond. If you’re concerned about potential summer heatwaves, severe storms, and more, invest in Weather Hi-Def Radar.
This platform offers accurate real-time and future forecasts, as well as detailed imagery for clouds, wind speeds, snowfall, etc. Now, lifetime access to this app is only $39.99 (reg. $149).
Offering a simple and intuitive interface, users will get easy-to-...
| Read more »Apple launched new iPhones in 2023, but there was also an iPhone update available for all iPhones from the iPhone XR up: iOS 17. The iOS 17 software update was made available to hundreds of millions of iPhones on Monday, September 18, 2023.
New features in iOS 17 include contact posters, NameDrop, StandBy, Live Voicemail, FaceTime video voicemail, a whole new Siri voice recognition model, huge improvements to autocorrect and dictation, and a lot more.
It’s almost like getting a new iPhone without paying a penny. In this article, we discuss everything you need to know about iOS 17, including all the features and any issues that arise, as well as keeping tabs on the latest version and what is coming in the next update.
Development of iOS 17 is likely to slow down now that Apple is working on iOS 18...
| Read more »Learning to code isn’t easy, but fortunately, there are learning solutions catered to beginners, as well as programs designed to enhance your coding workflow.
If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly, educational coding course, look no further than the Learn to Code Bundle. It’s on sale for only $55.97 and comes with Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022, software designed to enhance your...
| Read more »When Apple announced the new iPad Pro lineup last week, it also unveiled a new Magic Keyboard accessory that it touted as being “thinner and lighter” than its predecessor.
While Apple doesn’t share official weight specifications for iPad accessories, the first reviews of the M4 iPad Pro today confirm that the new Magic Keyboard is noticeably lighter.
| Read more »OpenAI has launched an official macOS app for ChatGPT, with a Windows version coming "later this year." "Both free and paid users will be able to access the new app, but it will only be available to ChatGPT Plus users starting today before a broader rollout in 'the coming weeks,'" reports The Verge. From the report: In the demo shown by OpenAI, users could open the ChatGPT desktop app in a small window, alongside another program. They asked ChatGPT questions about what's on their screen -- whether by typing or saying it. ChatGPT could then respond based on what it "sees." OpenAI says users can ask ChatGPT a question by using the Option + Space keyboard shortcut, as well as take and discuss screenshots within the app. Further reading: OpenAI Launches New Free Model GPT-4o
| Read more »The first iPad Pro reviews are here, and as we rounded up earlier today, they focus a lot on the new OLED displays, the M4 chip, and the limitations of iPadOS as a platform. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple marketing executive Tom Boger explained how the iPad compares to the Mac, and touched on whether Apple might ever release a touchscreen Mac.
| Read more »If you’re looking for a new smartwatch, the Apple Watch Series 9 is the best of the best, with a gorgeous design, an incredible array of sensors, and the best display in the business. But it’s even better when you can get one for this cheap: Amazon is selling the 41mm Apple Watch Series 9 and 45mm Apple Watch Series 9 for $299 and $329, respectively, a savings of $100 and 25 percent off the MSRP.
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| Read more »Following the announcement of new iPads last week, the press has just published the first reviews for the M4 iPad Pro. We also now have reviews for the , and they praise the balance between having enough powerful hardware for a reasonable price.
| Read more »Apple and Google have launched a new industry standard called "Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers" to combat the misuse of Bluetooth trackers for stalking. Starting Monday, iPhone and Android users will receive alerts when an unknown Bluetooth device is detected moving with them. The move comes after numerous cases of trackers like Apple's AirTags being used for malicious purposes.
Several Bluetooth tag companies have committed to making their future products compatible with the new standard. Apple and Google said they will continue collaborating with the Internet Engineering Task Force to further develop this technology and address the issue of unwanted tracking.
| Read more »Enlarge (credit: Apple)
Apple has released the latest updates for virtually all of its actively supported devices today. Most include a couple handfuls of security updates, some new features for Apple News+ subscribers, and something called Cross-Platform Tracking Protection for Bluetooth devices.
The iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, macOS 4.5, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, and HomePod Software 17.5 updates are all available to download now.
Cross-Platform Tracking Protection notifications alert users "if a compatible Bluetooth tracker they do not own is moving with them, regardless of what operating system the devices is paired with." Apple has already implemented protections to prevent AirTag stalking, and Cross-Platform Tracking...
| Read more »Apple last week announced a , which is now available for pre-order. While the company says the new iPads will be officially launched on Wednesday, May 15, the press has already got their hands on the new iPad – and the first reviews praise the new OLED display but at the same time criticize things like price and software.
| Read more »The AI race is in full swing, and OpenAI just fired its latest salvo with its “Spring Update” announcements. The most significant new part is a new model, ChatGPT-4o (the “o” stands for “omni”), which is faster and smarter with better multi-model capabilities, and importantly, available to all users, not just those who subscribe.
In addition, there are new tools for developers, a new GPT Store to more easily find customized GPTs, and crucially, a new Mac app (a Windows app will come later this year).
ChatGPT-4o
The focus of GPT-4o seems to be on making it easier to use for more people, but it is still OpenAI’s most capable AI product yet. Benchmarks from the company show industry-leading performance on text evaluation, automatic speech recognition, visual understanding, and more. Voice generation is improved with a more natural sound, more emotion, and the ability to do things like sing, be...
| Read more »Enlarge / The 2024, M4-equipped 13-inch iPad Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)
The new iPad Pro is a technical marvel, with one of the best screens I’ve ever seen, performance that few other machines can touch, and a new, thinner design that no one expected.
It’s a prime example of Apple flexing its engineering and design muscles for all to see. Since it marks the company’s first foray into OLED beyond the iPhone and the first time a new M-series chip has debuted on something other than a Mac, it comes across as a tech demo for where the company is headed beyond just tablets.
Still, it remains unclear why most people would spend one, two, or even three thousand dollars on a tablet that, despite its amazing hardware, does less than a comparably priced laptop—or at least...
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The new 13-inch iPad Air with the Apple M2 processor inside. [credit:
Andrew Cunningham ]
The iPad Air has been a lot of things in the last decade-plus. In 2013 and 2014, the first iPad Airs were just The iPad, and the “Air” label simply denoted how much lighter and more streamlined they were than the initial 2010 iPad and 2011’s long-lived iPad 2. After that, the iPad Air 2 survived for years as an entry-level model, as Apple focused on introducing and...
| Read more »Apple has released a large set of operating system updates, including iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, macOS 14.5 Sonoma, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, HomePod Software 17.5, macOS Ventura 13.6.7, macOS Monterey 12.7.5, iOS 16.7.8, and iPadOS 16.7.8. New features include alerts for Android-paired tracking devices moving with you and a new game and leaderboard for Apple News+ subscribers.
| Read more »One of the updates with iOS 17.5 is a new, original word game from Apple called “Quartiles.” However, it’s not part of Apple Arcade and is actually found in the News app. Here’s how to find and play Quartiles in iOS 17.5.
| Read more »The results of our poll asking how often you use macOS’s versioning feature show that nearly three-quarters of TidBITS readers either never use versioning or don’t even know what it is. But versioning could save you from losing work—it’s worth trying.
| Read more »Some of the best M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air cases have arrived and we are here to take a closer look. Apple’s M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air are just days away from being loaded up and shipped across the country, and now it’s time to look at some accessories for them. Pre-order deals have already arrived on both the M4 Pro and Apple’s latest-generation iPad Air, not to mention a slight price drop on its new for the M4 pro-grade tablet, but some of our favorite brands have now unleashed their latest offerings as well. From the best leather M4 iPad Pro covers (Burton Goods we are looking at you), to the latest premium DODOcase models, keyboard models from Logitech, and the first first-party magnetic Smart Folios, some of the best cases, covers, and...
| Read more »9to5Mac is supported by Incogni: Keep Your Private Data Off The Dark Web with Incogni. Help protect yourself from identity theft, scams, and spam calls. Use the code “Apple55” for -55% off the annual plan.
Apple has officially released iOS 17.5 with developers to the general public. The update brings a handful of new features and changes for iPhone users. Head below for everything we know right now.
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| Read more »Apple on Monday released iOS 17.5 to iPhone users. The update brings some new features to Apple News+ and also introduces Cross-Platform Tracking Detection – an anti-stalking feature announced last year in partnership with Google. Read on as we detail what this means and what changes now.
| Read more »When it comes to smart assistant availability, Apple has taken a vastly different approach with Siri than Amazon has with Alexa. Whereas the latter assistant can come baked into a variety of non-Amazon smart devices, Apple has largely restricted Siri to its own first-party products. One exception came in late 2021 when ecobee added support for Siri in its SmartThermostat. Now, three years later, a second product has received Siri integration.
| Read more »Less than a month ahead of WWDC, Apple has released macOS Sonoma 14.5 update to all compatible Macs, likely the last update before we get our first look at macOS 15. There are a few new features in the update but it’s mainly filled with performance and security fixes.
macOS 14.5: Release notes
Apple’s release notes for macOS Sonoma 14.5 state that the update includes the following improvements and bug fixes:
Apple notes that some features may not be available for all regions or Macs.
macOS 14.5: New features
The only known new features for macOS 14.5 are for News+ subscribers. There is a new game called Quartiles that...
| Read more »Update: Three weeks later, Meta has announced the feature alongside a new partnership with an airline. Original coverage from April 18 below…
Today I learned two things. First, apparently Meta Quest headsets don’t work on planes? I guess Apple knew to prioritize that feature for Vision Pro. And second, support is reportedly on the way. Add this to the list of ways competition from Vision Pro is making a better product.
| Read more »Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
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| Read more »Today OpenAI held a spring update event, where it outlined some of its latest work on the ChatGPT platform. One key announcement was the arrival of a new Mac desktop app, but the larger focus was on a new flagship model of ChatGPT. This new model, GPT-4o, arrives just in time for a rumored deep integration into iOS 18 at WWDC.
| Read more »Maybe it’s me, or maybe it’s the iPhone 15 Pro, but I finally cracked my first iPhone screen ever. I used my local Best Buy for the repair as they handle authorized Apple repairs. They did a fantastic job, and it was done within a few hours. A few weeks later, after a day of yard work, I noticed a small scratch on my screen. Ugh, right? Thankfully it wasn’t cracked, but I clearly cannot be trusted at this point. I decided to upgrade my iPhone case to one with a built in screen protector. I ended up with the .
| Read more »iOS 17.5 has landed for everyone with several new user-facing features. And there are also 15 important security fixes that come with the update. Here are the full details on everything that’s been patched.
| Read more »Today at OpenAI’s spring update keynote, the company announced that ChatGPT would soon become more easily accessible thanks to a brand new desktop app launching on the Mac.
| Read more »Apple holds a Back to School promotion every year (now known as the Higher Education Offer to avoid confusion because it’s only open to students once they enter higher education, and the institutions and teachers, not school-age children). As part of the deal, Apple offers an incentive with purchases of qualifying Apple products.
Apple’s ‘Back to School’ deal runs in various locations around the world during the summer months. The deal usually ends about a month after the first university semester begins in that country.
Apple Higher Education Offer has already run in Australia, New Zealand...
| Read more »Apple has officially released iOS 17.5, bringing new games in News+ and cross-platform tracking detection to iPhone users. Apple’s latest Pride wallpaper is also featured. The update is available alongside iPadOS 17.5, macOS 14.5 Sonoma, and more.
| Read more »Google's Android team has advised outside security researchers that it will no longer fix security bugs found in Jelly Bean or earlier releases, despite the fact that "pre-KitKat 4.4" software powers the majority of active users' devices currently accessing Google Play. Meanwhile, less than 0.1 percent of Android users have received Android 5.0, and those who have report an "unfinished/unpolished" experience.
| Read more »Imagine squeezing your retina iMac screen down onto an iPhone 5. You can do it. It might look a bit silly and initially you might wonder why you'd bother, but it has long been possible to see and remotely control your Macs and PCs on even your iPhone. Now Google has released Chrome Remote Desktop for iOS and you can do it for free. You'll do it, too: try this once and you will forever keep finding other reasons why it's incredibly useful. It's fantastic when you forget a file, for instance, and can now just find and email it to yourself from afar. And it will save your soul, your sanity and yo...
A new lawsuit filed against gyroscope and accelerometer supplier for Apple, InvenSense, accuses the company of failing to tell investors about the concessions it made to secure a recent deal. InvenSense parts are used in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus; executives should have warned investors, the suit alleges, that Apple was given a "sweetheart deal" that would hurt profits. "Instead of revealing the true condition of the company and its prospects, defendants hid those facts from investors and chose to issue strong guidance and paint a picture of a bright future with a new mega-customer," the complai...
With over half a year remaining before Apple is expected to unveil its next-generation iPhone, a fresh rumor out of Taiwan suggests that the company may be considering a new dual-lens camera system and the addition of "Force Touch," the pressure-sensitive touch technology set to be introduced in the Apple Watch.
| Read more »A new port of AllCast, a popular Android app, has just been released for iOS. The title lets users stream personal photo, video, and music libraries to a variety of platforms, not just the Apple TV, the only format natively supported by Apple. Some compatible targets include Chrome, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, WDTV, Xbox One/Xbox 360, and various platforms compatible with DLNA....
Ten years after giving away its first song, Apple has reportedly wound down the "Single of the Week" program that offered iTunes users a chance to download a free track from up-and-coming artists.
| Read more »Taiwan-based supplier Quanta Computer has entered into "volume" production of Apple's upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air, according to supply chain sources. The laptop is reportedly on track to ship in the first quarter of the year, despite other rumors pointing to the second quarter. The new sources say that Quanta has escalated recruitment efforts in order to speed up production....
Makeover apps tend to be somewhat serious, and are generally geared toward adults. Instead of being a fun game, they tend to be more akin to photo-editing software, which is generally pretty complex and low on the amusement scale. Toca Boca, however, has stepped forth with Toca Hair Salon 2, a makeover game that offers a lot to younger gamers or future beauticians....
Facebook will start to post into its users News Feed alerts about missing children in the future, in an effort to locate them. A partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will involve the social network showing Amber Alerts to Facebook users located in specific search areas, both on mobile devices and desktops....
Google has expanded its Chrome Remote Desktop app to include iOS compatibility. Now available for download on iTunes, iOS users can now orchestrate accessing their desktop computer for free by downloading the accompanying Chrome browser app. Chrome Remote Access has been available for Android users since last year....
Apple appears to have ended its Single of the Week promotion on iTunes, visitors note. No tracks have been offered in the first two weeks of 2015, and a person on Apple's support forums claims to have been told by iTunes Support that the company has officially dropped the initiative. It's missing from iTunes Stores across the globe....
South Korean electronics giant Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy A7, the latest entry in the company's premium all-metal Galaxy A series that brings a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 2 gigabytes of RAM and an 8-core application processor.
| Read more »The Los Angeles Unified School District's failed iPad deployment was botched early on, according to a review by the US Education Department. The federal agency says that it first of all put too hard an emphasis on using Apple hardware and software, ignoring cheaper options that could have saved money for the District and taxpayers. In July the USD said it was shifting to a strategy involving Chromebooks and Windows devices, such as the Microsoft Surface....
It's a fact that Spanish is the world's fourth most spoken language, with over 350 million native speakers across 21 countries. It's also a fact that people who are bilingual tend to do better in both academic pursuits as well as their career. If you've ever been curious about learning another language, Learn Spanish by Brainscape offers a solution for those who are trying to learn Spanish on the go....
It's a different world. You might be the sort who would never take photo from a website and use it in your own book, but today if an image is online, it's as if the world sees it as fair game. Maybe that's a peek into our base immorality and the ultimate cataclysmic self-destruction of humanity, or maybe it's just that cut and paste is easy. Whatever it is, though, it's happening and you cannot stop it – not even with an application like this: but if PhotoWatermark can't prevent the copying of images, it can help photographers and artists considerably by adding identifying text to your image...
Flickr has updated statistics for 2014 in its "Most Popular Camera" and "Most Popular Mobile Camera" categories, with the combined models of iPhone taking second place in the general "camera" category -- beating out DSLR maker Nikon and popular point-and-shoot maker Sony for second place. While Canon remains the most popular overall camera, the built-in cameras on smartphones from Apple and Samsung have -- despite inherent limitations -- steadily risen in popularity....
This week, Viawear has launched pre-orders for a gold or rhodium-plated edition of the new Tyia "smart bracelet." The bracelet serves as a fitness tracker, with an RGB LED notification light embedded behind quartz and mother-of-pearl accent. As with fitness bands, the Tyia is marketing as letting users put away smartphones without missing an important call, text, or social-media notification -- and offers some basic fitness tracking compatible with Apple's HealthKit....
While the idea that Apple probably had another record-breaking holiday quarter (what the company calls fiscal 2015 Q1) is unsurprising to all but selected pundits, a spate of reports released on Monday may be painting a general portrait of not just significant improvement, but more importantly growth in key areas of importance both to investors and analysis as well as to the health of the company. Sales of Macs look to be way up, iOS devices are selling much better in a key foreign market, and Apple's suppliers are flourishing -- all signs that point to better-than-expected quarter....
A good magic trick, even in the 21st century, will still get people to stop and watch and try to figure out how it is done. Over the weekend, Apple retail stores around the US debuted a new window display showcasing the company's iPad line and Smart Cover accessory on a thin tabletop that features a line of the products, with the Smart Cover opening and closing itself to demonstrate the magnetic latch feature that wakes or sleeps the machine automatically....
New information has been revealed on the specifications Apple has in mind for its planned licensing of the female Lightning port for third-party accessories. Manufacturers have reportedly been briefed on details and objectives, which include spreading Lightning to as many different accessories as possible in place of micro-USB. Possibilities include not just things like docks and headphones, but battery cases, gamepads, and Bluetooth speakers....
Apple is now seeding a fourth beta of iOS 8.2 via the company's developer portal, and as an over-the-air update for existing beta users. The build is listed as 12D5461b, and follows a little less than a month after beta 3, which was issued December 18. That build was 12D5452a. Accompanying the beta is a new version of WatchKit, the SDK and framework needed to build Apple Watch support into iOS apps....
Word games are fairly numerous at this point. You've got your Boggle-style games, your Scrabble-style games, your crosswords and word searches. There are a lot of duplicates out there -- so when we find a fresh, new game, we tend to get pretty excited. One such app is Word of the Rings, by James Porter, a game that quite literally puts an interesting twist on the genre....
Spotify is continuing to enjoy rising user numbers, with the popular music streaming service announcing it has reached a total of 15 million subscribers. At the same time, reports claim that the majority of Spotify streams stem from mobile listeners, with 52 percent of listening taking place on smartphones and tablets rather than desktops....
Marsh Supermarkets and inMarket have announced a new iBeacon platform, the first to emphasize the Apple Watch. The plan is to use iBeacons at Marsh's 75 locations to push ads, shopping lists, and other content to both Watches and iPhones. Initially, the platform will support the official Marsh app and inMarket's List Ease, but other apps should follow as long as they support inMarket's Proximity SDK. All apps will have to update with Watch support, but the platform itself is Watch-ready....
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| Read more »The 2016 model of the Chevy Volt will support Apple's CarPlay, at least if an early demonstration version is accurate. The car is on display at this week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and its dash system shows options for both CarPlay and MirrorLink connections. Google's Android Auto is notably absent, but since the 2016 Volt isn't due to go on sale until mid-2015, there may be time to implement it....
People wanting to control HomeKit-enabled devices remotely through Apple's Siri must have an Apple TV at home to serve as a hub, according to Verge sources, including two launch partners and a person said to be "close to HomeKit's development." Siri controls will always work while an iPhone or iPad is on the same network as a HomeKit device, but until now it wasn't fully clear how remote operation might work. The Apple TV must also be a third-generation model running at least v7.0 firmware or newer. Notably, remote operation without Siri -- using the vendor app for a HomeKit product directly -...
You could just look out of your window, of course, but Weather Wall aims to set your wallpaper to an image that's right for the weather where you are. But if you ever had views like these from your office window, you would not stay sitting at your desk. These wallpaper shots are simply beautiful....
Over the weekend, Apple launched a new subsection of the App Store called Games for Kids, following the opening of the dedicated Kids category in September 2013. The Games for Kids section breaks out groups of games for various age groups, mirroring the other actions that offer more educational apps for children divided by age. Interestingly, most of the featured games avoid in-app purchases....
In order to nullify a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over charges that the carrier was still throttling users on unlimited plans even when there was no network congestion, AT&T is claiming for the purposes of the lawsuit that it qualifies as a Title II "common carrier." This is the opposite of what it has told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with regards to possible actual Title II regulation of broadband....
Spotify will not include support for Google Cast any time in the near future, the company has revealed. Rather than allow for its apps to connect to the audio streaming technology Google Cast, Spotify will instead reportedly continue to work on its own competing Spotify Connect audio system, one which allows users to stream music to a number of networked speakers and audio equipment....
Every Sunday at Electronista and MacNN, we offer a one-stop look at a few of the significant events that occurred in the video game industry during the previous week. In this week's look back in the Weekly Game Replay, we discuss a new game in the Baldur's Gate series from Beamdog, the closure of Zombie Studios, Hellblade coming to PC, the lawsuit over EA using retired NFL player likenesses in Madden NFL moving forward, and Sony delaying the release of the PlayStation 4 in China....
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