Apple Prepares To Add Search Ads To Apple Maps
Apple is reportedly preparing to add search ads to Apple Maps, "and it could start to roll out to users by the summer," reports AppleInsider, citing sources from Bloomberg (paywalled). From the report: Apple will make an announcement as soon as March. This will bring ads to search queries within the navigation app, which will operate similar to Google's advertising system. Retailers and brands will be able to bid for ad spots located against search queries for specific terms, such as types of food or services. The winning bid will be able to show an ad at the top of the results, pointing to a related location for that business. Apple also announced in January that it would add more ads within the App Store, starting March in the UK and Japan.
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Work begins on Center Parcs' new £450m site as first tree planted
First Minister John Swinney planted the first tree at the £450 million Center Parcs Scottish Borders site, set to open in 2029.
If you love your boss, imagine how much more you'll love their AI twin
Digital twins of leaders may be plausible as novelty acts, but not really welcome
Imagine that your boss is too busy to show up at that meeting you called so she sends a bot of herself instead. With a digital twin, even your company's CEO - the one who spends all his time on the corporate jet - could make an appearance at your powwow about the break room coffee machine. But would you want them there?…
Iranian suspects arrested over an incident at Britain's nuclear submarine base are released without appearing in court
Iranian Sarsam Abutakir and Romanian Alina Valentina were due to appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Monday afternoon.
Therapist wins over £26,000 after being fired for not being 'reliable' when she needed time off work due to her endometriosis
Iunia Butunoi was viewed as not 'reliable' and sacked after going off sick, during which time her request for short breaks was turned down , East London Tribunal Centre heard.
Horrific moment Air Canada plane strikes fire truck crossing LaGuardia Airport runway as it came into land, killing both pilots
Horrific footage has revealed the moment an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck as it crossed a runway at LaGuardia Airport.
Police arrest man, 74, and woman, 75, following 'suspicious' death at a care home: Murder probe launched
A woman, 88, was found dead at Sleaford Manor Care Home in Lincolnshire, at around 2am on Sunday.
Starmer suggests Trump insults him as a 'pressure' tactic - after President posts video mocking him as a 'coward' over Iran war
Keir Starmer gave an insight into how he approaches Donald Trump's bewildering communications style as he appeared before a Commons committee.
RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: From WFH and LTNs to lost pubs and sick note culture, six years after the first lockdown we're still living in a post-Covid Basket Case Britain
Six years ago today, on March 23, 2020, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first UK-wide Covid lockdown.
The stunning Essex woodland with gorgeous views and venomous snakes
If this doesn't put you off - it's a fab day out!
US Car Buyers Envy What They Cannot Have: Affordable Chinese EVs
Many U.S. consumers are increasingly interested in lower-cost Chinese electric vehicles but steep tariffs and political resistance are keeping them out of the market. A recent survey from Cox Automotive found that 40% of respondents support allowing Chinese auto brands into the U.S. market. Reuters reports: While Chinese autos hit the highways of Europe, Latin America and even Canada, the U.S. government has effectively banned the cars with tariffs exceeding 100%, out of concerns over data security and protecting American jobs.
In places like Europe, a number of Chinese EVs sell at prices under $30,000. Some of those cars include amenities like advanced driving assistance software, a built-in mini fridge, and the option to sing karaoke with your fellow passengers. "The technology they offer for those lower price tags was astounding," said Clint Simone, senior features editor for car-shopping website Edmunds, who drove several Chinese vehicles while at the CES trade show earlier this year. [...]
Consumers have some concerns over allowing Chinese car imports, though, including over data security and protecting U.S. businesses, survey results from The Harris Poll as well as Cox show. Rhett Ricart, an Ohio car dealer who sells several brands, including Ford, Chevrolet and Hyundai, said he has no doubt customers would snap up Chinese models if they became available. He and other dealers don't want that to happen yet, according to a recent Cox Automotive survey, which found that just 15% of dealers supported the entry of Chinese auto brands into the U.S., and just 26% trust that they would comply with U.S. safety standards.
Not meeting U.S. safety standards is one reason Chinese EVs cannot yet be owned permanently in the U.S. But those obstacles haven't quieted the buzz. The Cox survey polled 802 U.S. consumers who expect to buy a car in the next two years. Nearly half -- 49% -- rated Chinese cars as having very good or excellent value, and 40% say they support the idea of Chinese auto brands in the U.S. market. Rich Benoit, a car enthusiast whose YouTube videos reviewing Chinese models garner millions of views, said the most compelling feature is the price. "That's what a lot of people are looking for: efficient, quiet and low cost," he said. "They want to 'get to work-- not everyone is a car enthusiast." He's considering buying a BYD model in Mexico and driving it across the border. "That's the only way to get one," Benoit said. "They've been selling in Mexico for years... "I want to own a Chinese EV in America."
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Reclusive ex-tennis star Anna Kournikova, 44, seen for the first time since giving birth to fourth child in December
Anna Kournikova was seen out in public on Sunday when she took her three eldest children - twins Lucy and Nicholas, eight, and Mary, six - to Tidal Cove waterpark during Spring Break.
Influencer claims Disney World staff 'warned' her about her 'inappropriate outfit' after fellow visitors complained
Fashion and lifestyle blogger Marina Smith, 27, from Sao Paulo, Brazil , visited Walt Disney World Orlando on March 16 to enjoy the rides and shoot content for her social media channels.
England's new World Cup kit is the most expensive EVER as price soars at nearly double the rate of inflation - leaving fans facing record costs
England supporters will be forced to splash out more than ever before if they want to buy the Three Lions kit ahead of the World Cup, as the latest replica shirt is the most expensive in history.
My seven-year menopause nightmare left me battling a range of horrible symptoms. I tried everything from HRT to magic mushrooms... until this 20-minute fix left me feeling transformed
At 53, I thought I'd be over the worst of it, but it seems not. In my 7-year battle with menopause, I've tried everything: HRT, creatine, lion's mane, acupuncture and even a (legal) magic mushroom therapy retreat.
Mark Zuckerberg Is Building an AI Agent To Help Him Be CEO
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: Mark Zuckerberg wants everyone inside and outside his company to eventually have his or her own personal artificial-intelligence agent. He is starting with himself. Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta Platforms, is building a CEO agent to help him do his job (source paywalled; alternative source), according to a person familiar with the project. The agent, which is still in development, is currently helping Zuckerberg get information faster -- for instance, by retrieving answers for him that he would typically have to go through layers of people to get, the person familiar with the project said.
[...] Use of AI tools has spread quickly through the ranks at Meta -- in part because it is now a factor in employees' performance reviews. Meta's internal message board is filled with posts from employees sharing new AI use cases they have found and new tools they have built using AI, according to people familiar with the matter. [...] Employees have started using personal agent tools such as My Claw that have access to their chat logs and work files and can go talk to colleagues -- or their colleagues' own personal agents -- on their behalf, the people said. Another AI tool called Second Brain that is somewhere between a chatbot and an agent is also gaining momentum internally, according to people familiar with the matter. Second Brain was built by a Meta employee on top of Claude and can index and query documents for projects, among other uses. On the internal post announcing it to staff, the employee said it is "meant to be like an AI chief of staff."
There is even a group on the internal messaging board where employees' personal agents talk to each other, some of the people said. (Separately, Meta acquired Moltbook, the social-media site for AI agents, and hired its founders in a deal earlier this month.) Meta also recently acquired Manus, a Singapore-based startup that makes personal agents that can execute tasks for its users, and is using the tool internally, some of the people said. Meta recently established a new applied AI engineering organization that is tasked with using AI to help speed up development of the company's large language models. Those teams will have an ultraflat structure of as many as 50 individual contributors reporting to one manager, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. [...] Employees across the company said they have been encouraged to attend AI tutorial meetings several times a week and frequent AI hackathons, and to create their own AI tools to speed up their work.
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Demands for 'criminals' terrorising Southend tower block to be dealt with
A housing association is facing increased pressure from residents to tackle criminality within its properties, many of which are home to vulnerable and older people
RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Why six years on from lockdown, it could all be about to happen again... and this time I fear it will be worse than before
Six years ago today, on March 23, 2020, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first UK-wide Covid lockdown.
Don't blame migrants for violence against women, Labour council tells residents in immigration 'mythbuster'
Liverpool City Council warned against associating foreign cultures with attacks on women and girls.
More than three weeks after an RAF base was hit... British warship HMS Dragon will FINALLY take part in defence of Cyprus
Defence Secretary John Healey this afternoon told MPs that the Type 45 destroyer had arrived in the eastern Mediterranean after voyaging from Portsmouth.