All posts tagged: Approved

Siri Settlement Approved: Apple to Pay Owners of Some iPhone Models

Siri Settlement Approved: Apple to Pay Owners of Some iPhone Models

Published by skeptic

In May, Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit over Siri AI’s delayed launch, and eligible iPhone users could receive up to a $95 payout. Apple’s settlement has now received preliminary approval from a judge, according to a July 17 court document. However, there is no settlement website yet, and it may take months before eligible customers can begin submitting claims. In other words, no action is required from eligible customers at this time, but stay tuned for updates. Below, we have answered some key questions regarding the lawsuit. Why Was Apple Sued? In June 2024, Apple previewed new Siri capabilities powered by Apple Intelligence, including understanding of a user’s personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother’s flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps. Apple advertised those Siri features in product presentations, on its website, in a TV commercial starring actor Bella Ramsey, and elsewhere. In March 2025, Apple …

Anthropic’s landmark .5B copyright settlement is approved

Anthropic’s landmark $1.5B copyright settlement is approved

Published by skeptic

Anthropic can finally start cutting checks to a group of authors and book publishers that sued the AI lab over copyright infringement. A federal judge gave final approval Monday of Anthropic’s landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action copyright lawsuit, Reuters reported. Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary approval of the settlement last year, after ruling that Anthropic had illegally downloaded and stored millions of copyrighted books. Alsup has since retired and Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin signed off on the settlement on Monday. The payout will deliver $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 works, shared among the authors and publishers who hold rights to them. While the settlement is believed to be the largest in the history of U.S. copyright law, many authors and creators still don’t view it as a win. That’s because of how the legal question was resolved. Alsup sided with Anthropic on the core issue. He ruled that training an AI model on copyrighted text counts as fair use …

The Pickle Is In, the Squint Is Out: Here Are the Newest Approved Emoji

The Pickle Is In, the Squint Is Out: Here Are the Newest Approved Emoji

Published by skeptic

It’s official: We’re getting a pickle emoji next year. On Tuesday, July 14, the Unicode Consortium announced the nine new emoji you’ll see on your device in 2027. One new emoji is the pickle, and that means the eggplant’s reign as the go-to emoji for male anatomy could be coming to an end. Here are the nine new emoji you will see on your device next year.  A cracking face A leftward thumb sign gesture A rightward thumb sign gesture A monarch butterfly A pickle A lighthouse A meteor An eraser A net with a handle The Unicode Consortium originally proposed a squinty face emoji in 2025. However, the Unicode Emoji Standard & Research Working Group recommended changing that emoji to a cracking face in January. Honestly, the cracking face emoji feels more relevant to today than the squinty face emoji. The squinty face read as suspicious while the cracking face emoji screams, “I’m putting on a brave face in these trying times.” If that’s not the most relatable sentiment these days, I don’t know …

Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba and Baidu

Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba and Baidu

Published by skeptic

Apple Intelligence, the iPhone maker’s generative AI offering, is coming to China. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that China’s internet content regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, approved Apple’s AI services in the country on the back of a deal to integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model into Apple’s operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS. On Wednesday evening, a Baidu spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that it is also working with Apple on developing Apple Intelligence features for Chinese users. The Alibaba deal, which was rumored to be in the works last year, marks an important step for Apple’s AI ambitions in a key market. In the second quarter, Apple generated $20.5 billion in sales in Greater China, up 28% from a year earlier. Apple also recently regained its No. 2 position in China’s smartphone market after a recent shopping festival offered discounts on the iPhone lineup. The Baidu partnership was also rumored, but reports at the time claimed Apple was facing issues adapting its models for Chinese customers. Apple is also said to be exploring …

Plans for 150 homes near Nottinghamshire town approved at appeal

Plans for 150 homes near Nottinghamshire town approved at appeal

Published by Sam Flores

A housing developer’s plans for up to 149 homes to be built in a former coal mining village have been given the green light by the Planning Inspectorate. In early 2025, Countryside Properties (UK) Limited, which operates under its parent company Vistry, tabled initial plans to build 149 homes on land at Stubbinghill Farm, in Brand Lane, Stanton Hill, in Sutton in Ashfield. Ashfield District Council was expected to determine the application within the relevant timeframe but this was not the case, meaning the developer lodged an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate earlier in 2026 for a decision. Plans have been previously proposed for the site in the past, including one for 142 homes in 2020 and another for 141 homes in 2022 but these were both thrown out over concerns the homes would result in “significant harm” to the character of Brand Lane and wider area. Fears of “further encroachment” into the countryside were also noted, along with a new development that would create “significant volumes” of traffic without improvements in the area. These …

Mirrors in Space? The FCC Just Approved a Sun-Reflecting Satellite, and Astronomers Are Worried

Mirrors in Space? The FCC Just Approved a Sun-Reflecting Satellite, and Astronomers Are Worried

Published by skeptic

When humans mess with the sun in science fiction, it’s often when a supervillain covers it up and imposes permanent darkness. A space tech company called Reflect Orbital wants to do the opposite: bring sunlight to the dark side of Earth courtesy of satellites equipped with giant mirrors. The FCC approved a single satellite as a test demonstration on Thursday, and many scientists are already unhappy about it.  The approval green-lights Reflect Orbital to send its Eärendil-1 satellite into orbit. It’s a relatively small spacecraft, weighing 142 kilograms (313 pounds).  Housed in its body is a thin-film square mirror measuring 18 meters by 18 meters (about 60 feet by 60 feet). The satellite is scheduled to launch into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 later in 2026.  Eärendil-1 promises to reflect sunlight onto Earth in a 3-mile circle that can be aimed basically anywhere that doesn’t have sunlight. The company has a web tool that shows you what this would look like, and it’s wide enough to light up entire neighborhoods, making it appear like …

€659m German State aid approved for four new semiconductor facilities

€659m German State aid approved for four new semiconductor facilities

Published by skeptic

The European Commission has approved €659 million in German State aid to support the establishment of four first-of-a-kind facilities in the semiconductor value chain The measures will contribute to strengthening the EU’s position and autonomy in the semiconductor value chain by supporting the construction of first-of-a-kind facilities, in line with the objectives set out in the Commission’s Communication ‘A Chips Act for Europe’ and the Commission’s 2024-2029 Political Guidelines. Germany will provide the following direct grants for the construction of semiconductor facilities: €353 million for the SME Element 3-5 GmbH for a facility in Baesweiler, North Rhine-Westphalia for the manufacturing of silicon carbide (‘SiC’) epi-wafers; €214 million for Vishay Siliconix Itzehoe GmbH (‘Vishay’) for a facility in Itzehoe, Schleswig-Holstein, for the manufacturing of N- and P-channel Silicon Power MOSFETs; €74.4 million for KLA-Tencor MIE GmbH (‘KLA’) for a facility in Weilburg, Hesse, for the manufacturing of advanced optical overlay and film metrology equipment; €17.9 million for KETEK GmbH for a facility in Munich, Bavaria, for the manufacturing of two highly-specialised chips: Silicon Drift Detectors (‘SDDs’) and Graphene Radiation Entry …

Controversial plans for 140 new homes on the edge of Bristol approved

Controversial plans for 140 new homes on the edge of Bristol approved

Published by Sam Flores

Controversial plans for 140 homes in the green belt on the eastern edge of Bristol that residents fear will destroy their village status have been approved after a 17-year battle. South Gloucestershire councillors granted planning permission by 7-2 votes to develop a field in the heart of Mangotsfield, with 50 per cent of the homes classed as ‘affordable’. House-builder Taylor Wimpey originally applied for consent way back in 2009 but the local authority refused it because the site, off Cossham Street and Rodway Hill Road, was in the green belt. But the new Labour government introduced higher housing targets for councils along with the concept of ‘grey belt’ land – green belt areas that did not contribute enough to the rural countryside to be protected. The site, next to Mangotsfield School and Pomphrey Hill sports ground – home to Mangotsfield United, Cleve RFC and Carsons and Mangotsfield cricket pitch – has now been earmarked for homes in the district’s forthcoming Local Plan blueprint, which is currently being examined by planning inspectors. Council officers redesignated it …

Mirrors in Space? The FCC Just Approved a Sun-Reflecting Satellite, and Astronomers Are Worried

Space Mirror: The FCC Just Approved a Sun-Reflecting Satellite, and Astronomers Are Unimpressed

Published by skeptic

When humans mess with the sun in science fiction, it’s usually when a supervillain covers it up and imposes permanent darkness. A space tech company called Reflect Orbital wants to do the opposite: bring sunlight to the dark side of Earth with satellites equipped with giant mirrors. The FCC approved a single satellite as a test demonstration on Thursday, and some scientists are already unhappy about it.  The approval green-lights Reflect Orbital to send its Eärendil-1 satellite into orbit. It’s a relatively small spacecraft, weighing 142 kilograms (313 pounds).  Housed in its body is a thin-film square mirror measuring 18 meters by 18 meters (about 60 feet by 60 feet). The satellite is scheduled to launch into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 later in 2026.  Eärendil-1 promises to reflect sunlight onto Earth in a 3-mile circle that can be aimed basically anywhere that doesn’t have sunlight. The company has a web tool that shows you what this would look like, and it’s wide enough to light up entire neighborhoods, making it appear like daytime …

One Earth Solar Farm approved as UK expands large-scale solar

One Earth Solar Farm approved as UK expands large-scale solar

Published by skeptic

The UK government has approved the One Earth Solar Farm, clearing the way for what the developer says will become the country’s second-largest solar farm. The project will combine large-scale solar generation with battery energy storage to supply renewable electricity to more than 200,000 homes annually. The approval represents another significant milestone in the government’s clean energy programme, which has accelerated the delivery of nationally significant infrastructure projects. Ministers say expanding domestic renewable energy generation will strengthen energy security while helping to reduce long-term electricity costs. According to the government, the decision also reflects continued growth in the UK’s solar sector. Official figures released last month showed that 2025 was the strongest year on record for solar deployment, with around 269,000 installations completed across the country. One Earth Solar Farm to combine solar generation and battery storage The One Earth Solar Farm will include a utility-scale solar installation alongside a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), enabling electricity to be generated, stored and exported to the grid. The development is designed to produce more than 50MW …