Microsoft News Roundup: Instagram’s Threads, ChatGPT Pausing Bing, and Deals Galore
While many in the United States celebrated the 4th of July and enjoyed vacations this week, news continued to march forward. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, rolled out its Twitter competitor Threads. OpenAI paused Bing’s integration with ChatGPT due to users bypassing paywalls. Additionally, an independent developer released an update to the Android 13 on Surface Duo project. To help you catch up on the biggest news in the world of Microsoft and Windows, here’s a roundup of the latest trending topics.
ChatGPT, the language model developed by OpenAI, recently gained the ability to integrate with Bing. However, OpenAI quickly paused the integration because users were utilizing it to bypass paywalls. When using Bing through ChatGPT, users could see the entire text of a webpage, even if it required a subscription. OpenAI announced the suspension earlier this week, presumably while they work on resolving the issue. As the Bing integration is still in beta, it’s expected to encounter some obstacles along the way.
While awaiting the restoration of ChatGPT’s Bing integration, users can have fun experimenting with a third-party version of Clippy powered by ChatGPT.
Instagram has launched a new app called Threads in an effort to compete with Twitter. Considering the challenges faced by Twitter, including its declining popularity under the leadership of Elon Musk, there is a growing social media gap. Meta recognized this opportunity and accelerated the rollout of Threads. Currently, the app has a basic feature set that lacks tags, trending pages, and the ability to view only the people you follow.
Despite its limited features, Threads has already gathered over 70 million users. This number could have been even higher if the app were available in the EU, but privacy concerns have prevented it from entering the market. Threads is currently available for Android and iOS, but lacks a web client or Windows app. However, users can still access Threads on their PCs by installing the Android app.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has revealed several upcoming features planned for Threads. While waiting for these updates to roll out, be sure to follow us for more information.
Microsoft has not released a major update for Surface Duo in almost a year, leaving the foldable device running Android 12L. In the meantime, other devices are already running Android 13 and preparing for Android 14, creating a growing gap. To bridge this divide, a former Microsoft developer has taken on a project to port Android 13 onto Surface Duo.
Earlier this month, Thai Nguyen released a test build of Android 13 on Surface Duo. Since then, Nguyen has shipped an update that improves the usability of Surface Duo running Android 13. Although this project is unofficial, it is reassuring to see someone support the Surface Duo, as Microsoft does not seem interested in doing so.
Apple’s Vision Pro made headlines when its virtual augmented reality experience was unveiled to the public. Although it shares some similarities with Microsoft HoloLens, Apple’s headset is primarily designed for everyday computing and entertainment rather than 3D objects and augmented reality. However, according to a recent report, Apple may struggle to deliver the promised one million Vision Pro headsets by 2024 due to the complex design and difficulty in sourcing necessary supplies. According to Ars Technica, Apple has only received enough components to assemble between 130,000 and 150,000 units.
With a hefty price tag of $3,500, it may be challenging for the Vision Pro to achieve widespread success among average consumers. Only time will tell if those with deeper pockets will embrace the headset.
Every week, our experts meticulously review the best laptops, games, gadgets, and accessories. In the past few days, our team has examined and reviewed a delightful gaming chair from Anda Seat, thoroughly tested the Layers of Fear remake, and tried out a carrying case for the ROG Ally from WaterField.
We actively search for the best tech deals each week, and exerted additional effort over the last seven days due to the abundance of 4th of July sales from various retailers. Furthermore, with Amazon Prime Day just around the corner, companies are eager to offer discounts in advance.
This week, an array of products, including laptops, SSDs, TVs, and many other gadgets, are on sale. It seems to be a month full of irresistible discounts.
In addition to the specific spotlight deals mentioned below, remember to check our updated deals hubs throughout Prime Day, where we list devices on sale not only on Amazon but also other retailers that may offer even better discounts.
Below are all the best deals we covered this week, along with some older deals that are still available.
