Microsoft News Roundup: Instagram's Threads, ChatGPT pausing Bing, and deals galore

Catch up on all the latest news in the world of Microsoft in one convenient spot.

While many in the United States celebrated the 4th of July and had vacations this week, news continued to march forward. Meta rolled out its Twitter competitor Threads, OpenAI paused Bing's integration with ChatGPT, and an independent developer rolled out an update to the Android 13 on Surface Duo project.

To help you catch up on all the biggest news of the week, I've rounded up the latest trending topics in the world of Microsoft and Windows.

ChatGPT pauses Bing integration

ChatGPT recently gained the ability to integrate with Bing. But even more recently, OpenAI paused the integration because people were using it to bypass paywalls. Searching for a website while using Bing through ChatGPT would show the entire text of a webpage, even if that page required a subscription. Early this week, OpenAI announced that it had paused the integration:

Presumably, OpenAI will sort out the behavior and roll out the integration again in the near future. The Bing integration is only in beta, so some bumps in the road are expected.

While you wait for ChatGPT to gain access to Bing, you can play around with a third-party version of Clippy powered by ChatGPT.

Threads by Instagram

Threads is a new app by Instagram that aims to compete with Twitter. With Elon Musk running Twitter into the ground, a social media gap is growing by the day. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, decided to fill the void.

The rollout of Threads was accelerated due to the opportunity presented by Twitter's stumbles. As a result, Threads is rather barebones right now. It lacks tags, trending pages, and even a way to only view people you follow.

Even with the limited feature set, Threads exploded in terms of users and usage. The app already has over 70 million users. That number would likely have been higher if Threads was allowed in the EU, but that's not the case at the moment, likely because of privacy concerns.

Threads is available on Android and iOS, but it doesn't have a web client or Windows app yet. You can, however, use Threads on your PC by installing its Android app.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, shared several features that are on the way to Threads. While you wait for those to roll out, make sure to follow us!

Android 13 on Surface Duo

Microsoft hasn't shipped a major update to Surface Duo in almost a year. That means the foldable still runs Android 12L despite the fact that many devices run Android 13 and are getting ready for Android 14. To help close the growing gap, a former Microsoft developer has a project that ports Android 13 onto Surface Duo.

Thai Nguyen first released a test build for Android 13 on Surface Duo earlier this month. Nguyen has since shipped an update to the project that makes the Surface Duo more usable when running Android 13. Here are the changes in the latest build.

• Remove displaymask feature so apps stop trying to load Surface Duo config and crash.
• Add option to disable Hinge Gap in Settings.
• Add support for foldable device states. - Split screen divider matches hinge size

While this is an unofficial project, it's nice to see someone support the Surface Duo. Microsoft doesn't seem interested in doing so.

Apple Vision Pro potential flop

Apple Vision Pro made the headlines this year when its virtual augmented reality experience was shown off to the world. Apple's headset has some things in common with Microsoft HoloLens, but it is more focused on everyday computing and entertainment than 3-D objects and augmenting reality. A report this week indicated that Apple may not be able to deliver the one million Vision Pro headsets it promised by 2024.

The complicated design of the headset making it difficult to source supplies appears to be the main issue. Apple only got enough components to make between 130,000 and 150,000 units, according to Ars Technica.

With Apple Vision Pro costing $3,500, it's difficult to envision it becoming a major success among average consumers. We'll have to see if those with deeper pockets will sport the headset. 

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