There has been a lot of talk about the upcoming iOS 18 software update for the iPhone of late, much of it revolving around an expectation that Apple is going to bring some new AI capabilities to bear. While we haven't yet had confirmation as to what those new features will be, there's a lot of excitement about what they could offer iPhone users around the globe. However, not all of the new iOS 18 upgrades will be related to AI, and some of them will be good old-fashioned feature improvements. And a new report suggests that there will be improvements to the way people manage tasks and their time on their devices.

According to a new AppleInsider report, Apple plans to make changes to the Calendar app in iOS 18 and macOS 15 software updates to allow people to add reminders via that app for the first time. Currently, reminders must be added via the dedicated Reminders app, but that now looks set to change.

Citing unnamed sources who are reportedly familiar with the iOS 18 and macOS 15 software updates in their current pre-beta state, AppleInsider says that people will be able to right-click on a date in the Calendar app and then choose to create a new Reminder for that day. Creating a new reminder via this method will offer people the chance to choose a title, add a note, or assign a tag as a way of making it easier to find again at a later date.

It's a new month, and we have another set of Windows adoption stats to look at - figures that Microsoft won't enjoy perusing.

The latest from analyst outfit Statcounter is that Windows 11 is again going backwards with its market share among Windows versions - and Windows 10 is ticking up.

In April 2024, Statcounter observes (via Neowin) that Windows 11 dropped the best part of a percentage point to end up on 25.65%, while Windows 10 put on a percent (almost) to go over 70%.

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has been on sale since September of last year and that came a year after the original Apple Watch Ulta went on sale. With that in mind, it doesn't take too much figuring out to assume that Apple will also update the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to something new this coming September, although it remains to be seen whether it winds up being called the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Whatever title Apple gives it, we've been told not to expect too much from the refreshed wearable.

That's because supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple isn't going to bring any big new hardware upgrades to the Apple Watch Ultra 3, meaning anyone who already has the Apple Watch Ultra 2 might not want to upgrade this year. However, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 wasn't a huge upgrade over the Apple Watch Ultra either, so it's unclear what kind of differentiation Apple will offer this time out.

This bombshell comes via a MacRumors report which cites Kuo having received a direct message from the analyst. Kuo says that while the Apple Watch Ultra will indeed be updated to receive a new model this fall, he believes that almost no hardware upgrades will be offered compared to the Apple Watch Ultra 2 model. However, he did not reveal any specific plans for the Apple Watch Ultra 3, so it's unclear which changes he expects to be part of the new model's unveiling.

The Apple Vision Pro spatial computer has now been on sale in the United States for three months after it originally debuted in Apple Stores on February 2. Since then interest in the headset has definitely died down from the fever-pitch we experienced then, but it's still being hampered by two things. The first is the high $3,499 asking price. The second is the fact that the headset can still only be bought in the United States. The former doesn't seem likely to change any time soon. The latter? Well, that might be a different story entirely.

Apple has been saying for some time now that it intends to launch the Apple Vision Pro globally before the end of 2024, but it hasn't said when that would happen specifically. It also hasn't yet said which countries will be the first to receive the Apple Vision Pro outside of its home country, leaving everyone in something of a state of limbo. That might be changing soon, however, with the news that Japan has popped up as a potential, and imminent, destination for the hottest mixed reality headset on the market.

Apple hasn't confirmed the news itself, obviously, but the Japanese website Macotakara notes that Apple Vision Pro accessories are now mentioned on the website of a local reseller called Line Shopping. That reseller says that it's running a promotion that includes accessories for a number of devices, including the Apple Vision Pro. The sale isn't available for international customers, but it's running right now and will come to an end on May 6.

Copilot was supposed to have debuted in the OneDrive cloud storage service by now, but it has apparently been delayed - not that Microsoft has admitted this.

Neowin had the sharp eyes with this one, having noticed that in a new blog post, Microsoft updated its launch timeframe to the "summer" of 2024 for the AI landing in OneDrive. That means Copilot could still be the best part of four months away (if it arrives in late August, that is, which is technically possible).

The odd thing here is that Microsoft first announced Copilot for OneDrive back in February 2024, stating it'd arrive in April. Of course, April is now in the rearview mirror (how this year is flying by), and the AI hasn't turned up.

Arc, a Chromium-based browser previously on the Mac (and iOS), is now available to download for Windows 11.

So, those Windows 11 users who've been searching for a streamlined web browser - one of the bits of ad blurb for Arc is that it's a "clean and calm" app - can now give this Chromium client a whirl, rather than Chrome or Edge. (There are other alternatives, of course - but those are the big two for Chromium).

As Neowin, which spotted this, points out, the Arc browser was in beta previously (since December 2023), but this represents its first public launch for Microsoft's OS.

OpenAI introduced the 'memory' feature for its ChatGPT AI back in February 2024, but now that functionality is available to all users - well, paying subscribers, anyway.

To recap, what this feature does is to give ChatGPT the ability to remember elements of your previous chats with the AI.

It can then refer back to those memories to make things easier or more convenient in future queries, while making chats with the AI seem a more human-like experience.

Intel Battlemage is the codename for the second-generation Intel Arc graphics, which is on track for release later this year. Since first launching Arc, Intel has spent the majority of its time updating drivers, improving legacy game performance, optimizing software, and even improving its AI-based XeSS upscaling. Thus, the company is in a great position to release a real mid-range competitor.

It has also added the first generation of Arc graphics to its mobile Meteor Lake processors, boosting the company's integrated graphics capabilities. In this realm of new tile-based chips, we're getting one of our first tastes of what Battlemage could bring to the table. And it's good news for handheld makers.

Intel's upcoming Lunar Lake CPU architecture for mobile will include Battlemage graphics or Xe2-LPG. And so far, the second generation of Arc sees the 17W Battlemage GPU outperforming the 35W integrated Radeon 780M found in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip in handhelds like the ROG Ally from ASUS.

In 2021, when the global pandemic was raging and social distancing was in full effect, gaming peripheral and hardware company Razer decided to release its own RGB-lit facemask called the Razer Zephyr. The mask would feature an interchangeable filter system, a see-through front piece, UV light sterilization, RGB lighting, Razer style, and N95-grade filters - except the last bit wasn't real.

The one thing many expected the mask would do is to filter out at least 95% of airborne particles (between .1 and .3 micrometers in size), but it couldn't. Or, at least Razer never submitted the Zephyr mask to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to receive N95 certification.

Priced at $100 USD, reviewers called out Razer for the Zephyr not meeting the N95 standards for what was an expensive face mask. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stepped in around the time Razer removed mentions of N95 from the product page. But it was too little too late.

Microsoft has made installing apps from the Microsoft Store easier by implementing a new feature - the ability to download and run executables/installers directly from apps.microsoft.com. Microsoft's Rudy Huyn took to X to outline the update and its reasoning in great detail.

The website for Microsoft apps has been around for a while. To install an app using the site, you click on a link, confirm that you'll need to switch to the dedicated store app, and then select and go through the install process on the app. Rudy Huyn said, "Feedback indicated that the install flow involved too many clicks."

The reason installation directly from the site wasn't available was security, which is beneficial to users and partners releasing apps through the Microsoft Store. That said, switching to a two-click system for a select group of developers "led to a 12% increase in installations and a 54% increase in the number of applications launched after installation."