Twitter replaces its free API with a 'paid basic tier'

Photo: Jorge Urosa

If you've loved Twitter accounts that made fun tools and useful bots, those may have to charge you, or they'll go away forever. Twitter is getting rid of its free access to the Twitter API starting February 9 to try and make more money. In its place, Twitter will provide a "paid basic tier," which we don't have information on yet. The Twitter API (Application Programming Interface) allows third parties to retrieve and analyze public Twitter data to create programmable bots and separate apps that connect to the platform. 

Twitter provides limited free access but also offers premium, scalable tiers for developers who need additional enterprise features and lifted restrictions on accessing endpoints. This move follows the company's last decision to ban third-party clients, which forced Twitter apps like Twitterrifc and Tweetbot to abandon the platform. 

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Google to hold search and AI event on Feb. 8

Google might have an answer to ChatGPT. The company plans to host a search and artificial intelligence event titled "Google presents: Live from Paris" at 8:30 a.m. on February 8. We don't know what Google plans to introduce, but there have been hints that the company might have an answer to OpenAI's fast-growing artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT. Google's parent company Alphabet reportedly signalled an internal "code red" following ChatGPT's launch as it considers it an existential threat to its search business.

There have been rumours that Google is already testing out a few AI tools, including a chatbot called Apprentice Bard. During yesterday's earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned the company has big plans in AI over the next few months, which it has been preparing since early last year. He stopped short of saying what it was, but he mentioned that they'll let people "interact directly" with its "newest, most powerful language models as a companion to search."

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Samsung Galaxy S23 photos need Adobe Lightroom for RAW photo editing

Photo: PC Mag

When Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 series, one of the camera features it wanted to highlight was the Expert RAW photo file format available on the new phones. It's Samsung's answer to Apple's ProRAW format, which combines raw image data with the computational photo capabilities of the phone's processor. But for this kind of format, you'll typically need a separate app for it. In Samsung's case, it needs the Expert RAW app, which also lets you tinker with photo settings like ISO, white balance, shutter speed, and exposure value (EV). And this time, Samsung partnered with Adobe to become the "exclusive photo editor for RAW photos taken with the Expert RAW app."

So, if you take RAW photos on the new S23 phones, you'll need to use Lightroom, which the companies integrated into the app. But we don't know for now how much the subscription will cost. The Adobe Lightroom Mobile app is free to download, but this only gives you access to basic image tools. You can't sync images across devices, which Samsung was touting with the new phones and its Galaxy PC range. Samsung gave away a free two-month trial with the Galaxy S22 series, but we don't know if there are special deals. After the trial, you'll need to pay a US$10 monthly subscription fee (around CA$13).

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Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ get new looks, bigger batteries

Photo: Samsung

Samsung might not have made any drastic changes to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it did for the Galaxy S23 and S23+. The two phones inherit the S23 Ultra's floating camera design, meaning it loses that Phantom of the Opera-esque camera cutout. These new S23 phones all come with the same colour options: Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender. There are also exclusive Samsung online-only colours in Lime, Graphite, Sky Blue, and Red.

If you want a phone on the smaller side, the Samsung Galaxy 23 still sports a 6.1-inch AMOLED screen. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23+ has a 6.6-inch display. Both are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and have 120Hz refresh rates. Samsung boasts about the increased use of post-consumer recycled materials in this series.

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