November 29, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

🍎 Apple Card changes

🐤 Mind-blowing AI tool

🚙 Uber's London breakthrough

📱 iPhone display damage

UP FIRST

Apple set to exit Goldman Sachs credit card deal

It's not clear if the tech giant has found a replacement

The partnership between Apple and Goldman Sachs for the Apple Card and Apple Savings looks to be coming to an end.

The tech giant has sent a proposal to Goldman Sachs to end the partnership in "12 to 15 months," according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday.

While the credit card and associated services appear to have worked out well for Apple, Goldman Sachs, which backs the program, has found it more challenging, with disagreements over the way it’s run and higher-than-expected costs creating friction between the two companies.

It's not currently known who will replace Goldman Sachs, though American Express and Synchrony Financial have appeared in various reports as possible contenders ...

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

A new AI animation tool is blowing people's minds

The Motion Brush feature is currently in beta and can be tried after signing up

AI-powered generators are advancing all the time, and this latest one is causing a real stir.

Created by AI research company Runway, the second generation of its Motion Brush tool animates parts of AI-generated images.

A short video highlighting its astonishing capability shows how you can bring part of an image to life simply by selecting it with the brush. The animated images in the video include a bird, a vehicle driving along a track, and leaves blowing in the wind.

Motion Brush can also be used with the Camera Controls feature that lets you add camera movements like a pan or zoom to the video.

At the current time, videos can be made to last for up to 16 seconds, and this will only increase as the team develops the technology further ...

RIDESHARING

Uber app to offer trips in London's iconic black cabs

The service will roll out early next year though it's uncertain if many black-cab drivers will sign up

Uber will soon begin listing London’s iconic black-cab taxis in its ridesharing app.

It follows years of bitter rivalry in the U.K. capital between the traditional taxis and the ridesharing newcomer.

Unveiled by Uber on Tuesday, the change will allow London’s black-cab drivers to opt in for pickups.

Riders will be able to tap a button in the Uber app to get an estimated fare for a ride in one of the famed black cabs before deciding whether to book it.

But a trade group representing thousands of licensed taxi drivers said it wasn’t consulted about Uber’s “unilateral announcement” and questioned whether any black cab drivers would opt in, “given [Uber’s] well-documented, poor record on everything from passenger safety to workers’ rights in London.”

EXPERIENCE by Digital Trends

This is what an iPhone looks like after a year with no screen protector

Find out what kind of damage your Apple handset might end up with if you stop using a screen protector

Apple says its Ceramic Shield glass over the iPhone’s screen is “tougher than any smartphone glass,” but how accurate is this statement? The Digital Trends Mobile team has each been using one of the iPhone 14 series models for the last year and two of us haven’t put a separate screen protector on, while the third member of the team has.

Ceramic Shield appeared first on the iPhone 12, with Apple claiming that it increased drop performance by a factor of four.

To produce Ceramic Shield, Apple worked with Corning, the same company that makes Gorilla Glass for a range of smartphones. On Apple handsets, it’s found on the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and now the iPhone 15.

Here’s how the screens have held up — and what we think about Ceramic Shield ...

Digital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.