Apple’s AirPods with cameras for AI are apparently close to production
https://www.theverge.com/tech/926376/apple-airpods-cameras-ai-productionOpen linkView original on lemmy.world286
Comments107https://www.theverge.com/tech/926376/apple-airpods-cameras-ai-productionOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
Yeah, because I really want my fucking headphones recording video.
I think most people won't be worrying about their own headphones.
Very true.
Or people walking around me with their camera headphones pointed at me even when they don‘t realize it. Fucking love this big brother economy.
It's Apple. People will buy them no matter what
That shit illegal in states that have recording laws. Someone needs to sue.
States as in US? Because if that’s the case, this won’t be illegal in any way shape or form.
I don’t understand why people think there is some law out there that supersedes the first amendment which unambiguously protects video recording in anything other than a bathroom, changing room, or the like.
Even in private property doesn’t have a law stating you can’t record, it’s just that you are likely to be trespassed if you break a private establishments no recording policy.
And the footage itself doesn’t even become illegal even when the trespass was in fact illegal, I heard - can’t require deletion I think? (Of course the property owner or their associates might be bigger than you!)
Didn't they make state regulation of AI illegal? If so they'll just say "you can't touch my AI begone" and begone they shall be.
They probably are designed for low resolution because Apple couldn't mass produce better cameras affordably. Plus there is other hardware they don't have space for.
This will most likely follow the iPhone camera business model where new model AirPods will keep getting upgraded cameras.
Apple could theoretically lock it down [for a period of time] but darn—you made me realize the clones will have real cameras and look 1:1 before long
…lol “Siri, verify nearby AirPods” (…then the bad guy keeps a real pair activated nearby? and it’s back to creepy)
-
This may be a first of its kind hardware issue for Apple, unless I’m forgetting something
Nobody asked for this. This AI push is stagnating innovation.
Also, link is paywalled. https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.theverge.com/tech/926376/apple-airpods-cameras-ai-production
I think it's the other way around, corporate consolidation (including capturing our governments and getting all research funding) killed innovation a while ago and now AI is just the latest non-idea that is being used to cover up that none of the corporations have any new ideas. Even Apple's latest good idea, ARM laptops, was basically done by cheap Linux nettops a decade ago.
Also, ARM laptops were Steve Jobs’ last big idea. He put in place Apple’s last 10 year plan before he died. The first M series laptop came out nine years after his death.
The reason being that Apple is actually considered to be one of the founding members of ARM so they have unique access to the core. Moving to ARM was always the plan after moving to Intel. Apple was the first company to produce a portable ARM device, the Newton back in the early 90s before Jobs’ return.
So even that innovation isn’t exactly new.
Why is this shit legal...
Finally, someone solved the age old problem of ears not seeing well enough
they saw the outrage at meta glasses and decided "I need this"
Fuck right off, dipshits.
What really sucks about this is that there's a version of us in the infinite multiverses where these companies and politicians develop and maintain trust so that we can actually benefit from some of these innovations without just feeling paranoid and taken advantage of, but instead, in their hubris, they make us hate them and their tech.
This is the truth. I got a free Oura ring and I would love to try it, but they're in bed with palantir. Fuck that.
So many interesting developments, but I'm unwilling to sell my soul to the devil to try them. What a dream it would be to use them without worrying that they're going to sell every possible bit of data about me to the lowest bidder.
If its any consolation, nearly all new tech gadgets are shit anymore, still more are neat for a bit then slowly turn to shit in time, and others get abandoned and become theater props.
If you fear you're missing out, I assure you that is merely a perception, and you'd be disappointed if you tried most of that stuff. In my experience, any new tech in the past 10+ years that looked interesting ended up looking less interesting the more I learned about it, to the point I was actively disinterested before I was even done with my research on it.
Those are some pretty underwhelming use-cases. I can't see the world beating a path to anyone's door for that. Even if you were so excited about these features that you were willing to overlook the privacy concerns, it seems like the phone you've already got would probably be just fine as a conduit for such services.
Take a picture of your fridge with a better angle than your ears have.
Use GPS.
Done. I held up my GPS-enabled smart phone I paid $50 for 10 years ago to my eye line, better yet I was able to get a real-time preview of the angle of the picture to ensure everything's in shot.
Surely it will all run on the phone anyway
And if we're not ignoring the privacy concerns these use cases are definitely not worth putting everyone in front of you under this form of surveillance for a US tech giant and ultimately the US government. The price for society to pay is way too high.
If your phone is too much of a pain to get out of your pocket, surely a watch or bracelet is a better form factor for this.
Well yeah but they've already reached saturation with their watches so now they need a new product to sell you
Yeah. But mind that the bulk price of mediocre cameras is insignificant next to the sales price of AirPods.
I think the idea is that people can walk around and chat with their AI companion, and it sees what they see. No need for any fussing about with hardware. That's exactly Apple's thing. Effortless technology for people who don't want to deal with the mechanics of technology.
Wait until you're an adult. Staying in your room turns into never leave the house
Do you live out of your bedroom at well over 45?
If you're still in your parents house at that age... Good luck
👍
Oh, brilliant! This is exactly what I wanted and directly solves so many problems and frustrations I have with the status quo! Thank goodness for such innovation! I feel seen!
Edit: oops, that should say "I hope everyone involved in bringing this product to market gets given an STI by a hippopotamus". Silly autocorrect.
"autocorrect"AI"autocorrect"AIglorified autocorrect…Wait
I hope they will be banned in EU.
Wait, isn’t the EU generally chock full of surveillance? Including some member countries going so far as to have facial recognition as a norm?
Not really, no.
England especially
England isn't part of the EU.
lol I forgot about that
A solution in search of a problem
Ewwwww.
I can literally throw a rock outside and hit someone in the head wearing some type of headphones. There are tons of options out there.
AirPods aren't impressive and Apple isn't focused on exciting their customers like they were a decade ago. My old Apple Watch died recently and I replaced it with another brand. Be loyal to Apple the same way they are loyal to you.
Note: This is frowned upon.
in-ear cameras. Didn't even have this on my bingo card
Does no one at apple have long hair?
Hope not otherwise they will add lidar or some other shit to get though hair collecting even more data
Well atleast I know who to avoid once they are available.
I like AirPods (Pro) but this is a real no-go (for me). If this really gets pushed and in the stores, will not purchase them.
I wish companies would just get away with AI and unnecessary crap like this.
I LOVE my pros but also for sure would not buy headphones with shitty AI garbage in them. I’ve never enabled Siri on anything and never will
I have Pros gen 1 and was thinking of upgrading in the not-too-distant future since the battery life is waning. Those camera ones can fuck right off, but that also means I’ll be able to pick up some gen 3’s in closeout.
Fuck. Tom Scott was right.
Fuck.
Anyone know of any good headphones that have the airpod in-ear shape? (Like these)
Hate the Skullcandy style with the shitty rubber nubs, those hurt my ears. (Like these)
But that's all anyone makes now other than airpods non-pro and cheap shitty airpod knockoffs (but I still want halfway decent headphones.)
No it isn't "just the wrong size" don't bother with that, I just have way too tight ear pussies and I need it to rest outside the hole like the first pic.
I imagine they’ll still sell the non-camera version.
In that case I'll be fine, but tbh I'd like better ones anyway were they to exist.
I really like the ear-loop style so that they don't have to be jammed into my ear canal. They (and the accompanying case) are slightly larger, but I find them much more comfortable and no concerns about them falling out even when moving around a lot.
I'm very particular about what goes into my ear as well.
I don't know if there's a proper name for it but most companies doing Earbuds also have models without the rubber nubs just like the first picture.
If only I could find them lol. I you have any specific brands to look for I desperately need them, afaik bose, sennheiser, grado, beats, those podcast ones, all do the inside the hole thing. Bose has some weird clip ones but I can't justify spending $200 on them to see if they'll work for me when they very well may not.
Nothing also do some. Nothing Ear (Stick)
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Nothing-Ear-Stick-TWS-headphones-review-Transparent-sound.665463.0.html
However I'm not sure if they are currently being produced, they do some open, over ear buds however; they all have the rubbish pinch gestures vs the old touch from the AirPods 1 / 2.
Ooh thank you these could also work!
Just the other day me and a friend were talking about this and we found the JBL Tune Flex 2.
Are they good? No clue. But they are the right shape. JBL has some other models too.
That wording "$109.95 each" makes it sound like you have to buy left and right separately
Ikr? Loool. Defintely could use a tweak
Dude I might actually grab a pair of these for my next, thank you so much! JBL is good enough for me, not the best but their speakers run well and sound alright, and that's perfect!
I just wanted to let you know, I've used the JBL Tune 225TWS for years and they still work. Like you said, definitely not the best, but good enough while I'm on a bus or something.
I even still have my Tune220TWS, which are older, but they also still work. The only reason I stopped using those was because they still use micro-USB and my last cable broke. All I had left were USB-C (due to the EU law that made it universal).
tl;dr: they might not be the best sound quality, but their devices last a long time. I've even dropped mine a few times and they survived it.
Thanks for the info, I'll pick these up next time I have to replace the pods I have!
I can't use in ear buds because they get ejected by my ear canal. But I have to wear hats so I can't wear 🎧 style. I got some Shokz bone conduction head phones and they are awesome during daily activities. You can get better sound elsewhere, but hard to beat the convenience.
If you like wired, they have wired "earpods" with the same shape. Even a 3.5mm version, last we checked.
-- Frost
I wish. 3.5mm jacks have been murdered by phone OEMs and I'm actually angry about it, and I'm not into extra wear and tear on my only charge port. They either need to put back the 3.5mm or give me two USB-C ports.
They have at least 3 models for sale at any given time, last I checked. I can't imagine they'd make all of them like this, as surely these will be dramatically more costly to produce and are likely to chug on batteries compared to the others. I think you will be safe for now, and the bubble will have burst by the generation after that, since it is already on borrowed time.
AirPods are earbuds, whereas the ones with tips that go into the ear channel are IEMs. The latter are better in every way in my opinion, but that doesn't help if they hurt. I use foam tips, they give the best seal and comfort in my opinion.
What speaks against headphones? Like on-ear or over-ear headphones.
You can probably still find the older airpods.
For now.
Firmware update to only work with iTunes w/ 30 second ads every 2-5 minutes.
Its Apple, so maybe not ads in the firmware update, just a little under clocking maybe!
Oooooh! Half second lag between left & right!
I wish you the best of like finding them, but I genuinely think you’re on the minority of the market. I upgraded from the first to the second and the original pods physically hurt my ears wedging a bit of hard plastic into soft tissue
You're right, I also prefer this shape but couldn't find a good one. I'm using Sony WF-1000XM5 now and am quite happy with them, but it would be better if they made this shape
No more using my headphones for masturbation. 😆
You'd just be paying it forward. Ten minutes after you watch some girl's roommate jilling off, she's watching you crank your meat handle.
Hard pass and also don’t have $400 for shit that’s not going to hold a battery charge for long.
Endlessly asking AI what to do will cause people to lose the ability to think analytically.
That's already the case, time to make it worse
A resolution low enough to be able to identify "ingredients they have in front of them". And they're also planning to launch smart glasses (read: spyglasses) and AI pendants (read: consumer bodycams), as to be able to compete with Meta and OpenAI (with regards to harvesting data without consent?) But I guess you first introduce them into one of your most widely-adopted wearable, where the high probability of people being spied on, isn't as obvious compared to relatively uncommon spyglasses or bodycams.
Even if I wanted AI in my AirPods, how is this gonna work for people with long hair? This makes no sense.
That doesn't sound "low-resolution" to me. Also, does anyone really trust them not to record the camera feed? It needs to be sent to the cloud for this thing to work, they're going to record it, and nothing is ever deleted.
Just because the user isn't given the images, doesn't mean the video isnt' recorded.
Not necessarily, you could compute embeddings on device, but that requires decent compute.
And embeddings are reversible and don’t preserve privacy. It’s not meaningfully better than video.
It's Apple, it will most likely run "on device" - so the iPhone the airpods are connected to in this case
"Aren't designed to" is very different from "designed not to".
I already assume that everything that goes into a cloud somewhere WILL be used for other purposes, at the very least as AI training material, and this will be no different. And the plan is for at least some (possibly all?) video to automatically be extracted to some kind of cloud storage, no matter how temporarily. From the article:
That's a hell of a non-answer to all the privacy concerns Apple already knows the public has. Since this entire article is itself just a manufacturer-friendly puff piece for pre-release promotion, the only conclusion I can draw is that Apple is willfully holding back the specifics on all of that.
And again with the fucking notification light, like that's the solution to all privacy concerns. On AirPods a light can't possibly be more than a pinhole itself, just because of the size of the device, so that'll be even worse than Meta's joke of a notification light.
People would enjoy these features. But they want it to happen without a camera, somehow.
So they are supposedly verboten features. Never to be done.
No.
who's going to use this when it makes the battery life almost nothing?
my ear buds are good enough but still only last for so long just listening over Bluetooth. two way conversation makes them drain even faster... two way plus video? come on!
I want this in the same way I want a web browser on my toaster. So glad people like me finally getting our way.
Pray for nukes.
"Well, the plague didn't work. I guess I'll try raining hell fire." -- God
So now I have to stab every person wearing airpods if I don't want to be spied on by the Five Eyes intelligence agencies?
Every day I'm thankful US tech is less and less popular outside the west.
@General_Effort no
She's posting from Friendica. Ignore the @mention, that's just how that platform works
Can it not?
I'm fairly sure it can, but that's default behaviour over there, similar to how Mastodon and X/Twitter work.
Thanks.
Everyone’s losing their shit over an additional sensor. Does everyone think their phone is constantly recording video because it has a camera on it, the same with the microphone? Laptops?
Maybe if it was Meta? I don’t think Apple’s business model incentivises personally identifiable spying or keeping any recordings outside of their standard analytics and “improvements” model.
They have been caught being pretty ham fisted with using third parties to process this data (eg. Siri recordings), so I wouldn’t put it past them for any of these anonymised recordings to fall into anyone’s hands really, but that’s why you can now turn them off.
Which I would immediately do. I would never buy these anyway, and it sounds like a terrible idea, but some of this freaking out is giving them way too much credit.
Yes. Maybe not constantly, but without your consent.
If the 3 letter agencies are telling you to cover your webcam and Aliexpress is starting to sell phone and tablet camera cover stickers then I fully believe it's a problem.
It literally says "cameras for AI". You don't see how that becomes a problem?
I’d say the spectrum goes from local ML, that seems fine, to recordings being made, leaving the device and being potentially seen by other humans (even “anonymised”), that’s much more problematic.