On one screen, an urban professional in Oslo taps through ultra-secure banking apps, relies on an AI-powered personal assistant, and streams media seamlessly over high-speed 5G using their iPhone. On the other screen, a farmer in Malawi scrolls through a modest Android phone -- likely costing less than a week's wages -- just to read the news, check tomorrow's weather, and send WhatsApp messages over a patchy mobile connection. These very different experiences highlight the divide between the Global North and the Global South. These terms refer not only to geographic locations but also to the world's wealthiest and most industrialized regions -- such as Europe, North America, and parts of East Asia -- and economically developing nations across much of Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and Oceania. Technology symbolizes innovation, convenience, and seamless connectivity in the Global North.

The latest footage of bizarre drones in New Jersey captured several craft orbiting each other over Somerset County, while at least 12 counties have reported sightings. The video, released this week, shows three'mystery drones in the air' as two move extremely close as if they are interacting with each other and the third hovered for'about 15 minutes.' New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said Monday night that the drones are'very sophisticated, explaining: 'The minute we get eyes on them [the drones], they go dark.' 'I don't blame people for being frustrated,' Gov Murphy continued, adding that he had spent most of Sunday coordinating on the issue with both the White House and the US Department of Homeland Security in the hope of getting answers. He said that the state received 49 sighting reports on Sunday night alone, with hundreds of locals sharing experiences on social media platforms. On Monday, Picatinny Arsenal, the Army facility in Morris County, confirmed it has had 11 sightings of'UFOs' over in its airspace in recent weeks.

An email containing incredible UFO images allegedly from US military UFO sightings has been leaked online by an anonymous source. The leaker claimed that they had accessed an alleged top secret UFO'data retrieval program' known as'Immaculate Constellation' -- made famous this past November in a blockbuster public hearing before Congress. The black-and-white images show ornately spiked'cruciform' UFOs, boomerang-shaped flying wings, a floating'hot' cube, traditional flying saucers and several other craft that look straight out of classic science fiction. The screengrabs are said to be from infrared and thermal camera footage taken by military'heads up displays,' but details were redacted to protect both sensitive US national security interests. These unsettling depictions of highly varied craft were first made public by Nathan Latvaitis, who runs a YouTube channel called'Strange Mysteries.'

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. On Thursday evening, President-elect Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he would be appointing David O. Sacks--the "PayPal Mafia" alum, longtime venture capitalist, All-In Podcast co-host, Elon Musk pal, and rock-ribbed Silicon Valley conservative--as the "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." In his statement, Trump wrote that "Sacks will focus on making America the clear global leader" in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, which he deemed to be "two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness." In addition, Sacks will "safeguard Free Speech online," "steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship," and "lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology." For his first-ever Truth Social post, the incoming czar responded to Trump with gratitude and claimed that he "looks forward to advancing American competitiveness in these critical technologies."

Reddit continues to grow in popularity as a search engine alternative, with millions of Redditors contributing answers, perspectives, and summaries on the hottest topics. Now, the social platform is making it easier to find the insights you need with help from artificial intelligence (AI). Also: OpenAI's Sora AI video generator is here - how to try it Starting today, we're rolling out a limited test in the U.S. of Reddit Answers--an AI-powered way to get the information, recommendations, and hot takes you only go to Reddit for. Users can then visit the full conversation from where the answers were generated using the inline footnotes or the area beneath the answer. Reddit shares that this experience is part of a longer-term vision to improve the Search experience on the platform, making it "faster, smarter, and more relevant."

As waves of loud, car-sized mystery drones continue to buzz over New Jersey, one family reported that the craft changed time on their car's clock. The family of Morris County locals said they were following one of these seemingly terrestrial UFOs in their vehicle, only to experience the odd effect on their car's electronics as the unexplained craft'hovered above them.' 'The clock in their car changed time,' according to one Fox News reporter who spoke to the unnamed family. 'They say the clock went back to normal after they drove off.' While local law enforcement in Morris County has issued a statement asserting that'there is no known threat to public safety' at this time -- the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a ban on drone flights over sensitive areas in state.

Set aside all of the privacy concerns concerning Recall, Microsoft's AI-powered memory tool within Windows. Even if I want to like it -- and I do want to -- I don't think it's quite dependable yet to solve all of my problems. Privacy advocates don't want anything spying on them as they browse the Web, check email, post on social media, and so on. People who chase scattered details across the Web for publication, like me, are much more welcoming. Where Recall falls short right now is that is sort of fails on both: it's there, always watching, but not closely enough that you can depend upon it to find the critical detail that you missed. I spent the better part of a week with Recall running in the background, trying to see a.) whether it would actually prove to be useful enough to keep and b.) whether I could either break it or it would freak me out enough to keep me from using it. Weirdly, I found a bit of both. Here's the way to think about Recall: if you saw it on your PC's screen, Recall saw it too.

Qualcomm's 2024 debut of new Arm processors for Windows laptops was arguably the most important PC hardware announcement since the introduction of Intel's 486 processors in 1989. Just as that CPU line heralded an age of Intel-driven x86 dominance, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips have now taken us into a new era of competition. But 2024 was only the preview. Qualcomm's Snapdragon debut was limited, targeting a specific subset of premium, thin-and-light Windows laptops that don't require discrete graphics. I spoke with two expert analysts in the hardware space for insights on how Arm PCs will continue to grow going forward.

In 1988, we launched the Best of What's New Awards. The original list highlighted "the very things that make our lives more comfortable, more rewarding, more exciting, and more fun," to quote then-Publisher Grant A. Burnett. Now, in 2024, we continue our decades-old tradition of honoring big ideas. We even see hints of our original honorees in this year's list: Sea-Doo and Ford made both lists, 36 years apart. We're proud to bring you promising innovations--from things that make life at home easier to literal out-of-this-world explorations. This is the Best of What's New 2024. Had you asked me at the beginning of 2024 what our best gadgets list would look like, I'd have guessed it would be filled with quirky AI-driven devices like the rabbit R1 or the Humane Ai Pin. "Now with AI" is a phrase that has dominated consumer electronics in the 2020s. These devices promised unadulterated access to the power of neural networks in ways that would seamlessly integrate into our lives without relying on phones or smart fridges. Then, the devices came out. The software is slow and buggy, and the hardware is clunky. Maybe the stand-alone AI device will still have its year, and we'll look back and chuckle at these humble beginnings. In reality, 2024's big breakthrough came from Apple in the form of its long-rumored Vision Pro headset. The device has its own hurdles to clear, but after just a few minutes of using it, it was clear that it's something different, important, and honestly pretty amazing. The list also includes Sony's innovative pro-grade camera, the most accessible drone we've ever used, and a no-fun phone--no fun in a good way, of course. Credible rumors of Apple's VR bounced around the gadget blogs and tech sites for nearly a decade. It was consumer tech's sasquatch in that people claimed to have seen it, but no one knew if it even existed. Then, the Vision Pro emerged from the proverbial forest in February with a surprising design and a massive 3,500 price tag. It also came toting a new R-series chip and a dedicated OS meant for spatial computing.

Russian air defence units destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones over three western Russia regions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine's air force said the country's air defence shot down two missiles and 18 drones launched by Russia overnight. Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Blahodatne in eastern Ukraine, Russia's RIA state news agency reported, citing the Defence Ministry. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. During the same period, an estimated 370,000 soldiers were injured, he added in a post on X. Russian air defence units destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones over three western Russia regions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.