Win 11 Updates Inadvertently Delete Copilot; Apple Wanted iPhone 17 Air to be Portless; Google-New AI Can Remove Watermarks; Ultralight EVs Revealed by Startup Longbow

As software gets more and more complex, and companies are turning attention to their AI models, some things can slip through the cracks. That is apparently true with this month’s Windows 11 update. Arstechnica.com reports that the update removes the Copilot app from some Windows 11 PCs…unpinning it from the task bar. Microsoft says it is “working on a resolution to address the issue” but that users who want to get Copilot back can reinstall the app from the Microsoft Store and re-pin it to the taskbar, the same process you use to install Copilot on PCs where it has been removed. 

More keeps slipping out about the upcoming slimmer iPhone model…dubbed the iPhone Air by most. Here’s an interesting item that engadget.com picked up from Mark Gurman. Apple apparently really wanted to dump the USB-C port and make the thin iPhone Apples first totally portless phone. Apparently, they ran into tough sledding with this when EU regulators protested. Apple hasn’t totally given up…they may try to roll out a portliness iPhone later on if the iPhone 17 Air is successful. The Air is reportedly 2 mm thinner than other iPhones. Mark Gurman says it should be priced at about $900…putting it between the entry level iPhone 17 and the pricier Pro models. 

There has been plenty written already…to say nothing of plenty of angst about AI duplicating voices. Now, gizmodo.com notes that Google’s new AI model can remove watermarks from images. The version is Gemini Flash 2.0. It is only in the experimental phase so far, but users have found it easily removes the watermarks from copyrighted images. There are already a number of other AI powered apps that can remove objects and fill gaps in images…even including Apple Intelligence with their ‘Clean Up’ feature. Companies have worked to keep from removing watermarks…nicknamed ‘nerfed,’ which is to say they have significant restrictions in place to avoid legal trouble. OpenAI’s Dall-E image model won’t generate images of copyrighted characters, for example…because a certain House of Mouse is very protective of its characters and they have a robust legal department. Google will no doubt try to rectify the issue before releasing Gemini Flash 2.0 generally, but the horse may be out of the barn on this…much like with voices. 

EV’s may be a big part of the wave of the future in vehicles, but they are for the most part pretty hefty. Now, a startup in Britain has come out of stealth, and introduced plans for two lightweight EV’s. The company is called Longbow, and it is founded by ex-Tesla, Lucid, and Polestar execs…so no strangers to getting an EV line off the ground. Thenextweb.com reports that the cars are being touted as ‘spiritual successors’ to the iconic Lotus and Jaguar E-Type. The first one out of the blocks is called the Speedster, a sports car that will weigh only 1984 lbs and do zero to 62 in 3.5 seconds! It will have a range of 275 miles and starts at $110,404. First customer deliveries are set for 2026. Longbow also plans a Roadster. That vehicle will run $84,425 and will weigh in at 2193 lbs and will do zero to 62 in 3.6 seconds. Note that the average EV today weighs in at some 4400 lbs, so these are just about half that! Longbow plans to use off the shelf parts, even down to the electric motor, so no exotic hand made parts that will cost a fortune to replace. It is good to recall that the original Tesla was a cool little roadster…and these days, almost no one is making anything like that. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.