June 5 top stories
It is June 5. Here are today’s top stories.
Apple introduces Vision Pro headset device
The rumors about Apple introducing a VR/AR headset are true — today they unveiled the “Vision Pro” device, which is a mixed-reality device. It looks like a ski goggle and you’re able to see through it and others are able to see your eyes. The device will be available next year and costs $3,500.
The device allows you to view your surroundings while at the same time seeing icons of Apple apps. You can control the device by looking at icons and moving your fingers, as well as by using your voice.
Apple said you can call others via FaceTime and that others can see your face as well, but your face will have a digital version of it. Here is a clip.
[Clip - Credit: Apple [Description: Apple’s video presentation of its “WWDC” event includes captions and an ASL interpreter. A video on the left shows the Vision Pro device and a user modeling it. An Apple rep says, “EyeSight utilizes a unique curved OLED panel with a lenticular lens to project the correct perspective of your eyes to each person looking at you. The result is a 3D display that makes the device look transparent. For digital communication like Facetime, Vision Pro goes beyond conveying just your eyes and creates an authentic representation of you. This was one of the most difficult challenges we faced in building Apple Vision Pro. There is no video conferencing camera looking at you, and even if there were, you’re wearing something over your eyes. Using our most advanced machine learning techniques, we created a novel solution. After a quick enrollment process using the front sensors on Vision Pro, the system uses an advanced encoder-decoder neural network to create your digital Persona. This network was trained on a diverse group of thousands of individuals. It delivers a natural representation, which dynamically matches your facial and hand movement. With your Personal, you can communicate with over a billion FaceTime-capable devices…”]
It is not clear how the device would be able to capture a deaf user’s sign language if they are calling someone else, though.
The Vision Pro is Apple’s first new device launch since the Apple Watch nine years ago.
Clarification: the Vision Pro is not actually transparent (like sunglasses). Its screen is able to imitate your surroundings and your eyes to make it appear to be transparent.
Unresponsive plane crashes after passing Capitol area
On Sunday afternoon in the D.C. area, a small Cessna plane was flying near the U.S. Capitol area, which is in restricted airspace and was not responding to authorities’ efforts to contact it.
Six F-16 military jets were scrambled to intercept the plane and people in the D.C. area said they heard and felt sonic booms, which happens when a plane travels faster than the speed of sound.
The Cessna plane flew past the D.C. area and crashed into a mountainous, wooded area in Virginia. A pilot and three passengers were killed.
Experts said it seems like the pilot of the Cessna and the passengers fell unconscious from a loss of pressurization, a lack of oxygen, and that the plane was flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel.
The plane was owned by a businessman from Florida, who said his adult daughter and her grandchild and her nanny were on the plane.
First responders said the crash site was like a crater with many broken pieces of the plane and signs of human remains.
Ukrainian forces go on offensive
The New York Times said, “Ukrainian forces have stepped up their artillery strikes and ground assaults in a flurry of offensive military activity that by Monday was raging along multiple sectors of the front line.”
The front line has been pretty calm in recent months but many people were expecting for Ukraine to go on the offensive, and now it seems like it’s happening. The Times said if Ukrainian forces find success in pushing Russian forces back, it could greatly help Ukraine in its search for continuing military support from Western governments and give it more power in potential peace talks with Russia.
Train derailment in India kills 275
In India, the train derailment that happened on Friday night now has a death toll of at least 275 people.
AP News said there was an error in the electronic signaling system that led a high-speed passenger train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train loaded with iron ore.
Another passenger train that was coming in the opposite direction hit the wreckage and derailed. Indian authorities said they would investigate what went wrong with the electronic signaling system.
Survivors said it was a terrible scene with twisted wreckage and many people suffering gruesome injuries.
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Insurers halting new policy sales in California
CBS News said Allstate and State Farm have recently halted sales of property and casualty coverage to new customers in California because it is too pricey with the risk of wildfires and higher costs for repairing homes.
In 2021, State Farm earned over $7 billion in premiums but lost about $4 billion. In that same year, Allstate earned $4.3 billion but lost $2.6 billion.
The California Department of Insurance said there are about 115 other companies that will still write policies in California.
Saudi Arabia to cut oil production
AP News reported that Saudi Arabia plans to reduce its oil production, which may result in higher oil prices around the world. Saudi Arabia plans to cut 1 million barrels per day starting in July.
An expert said the new cut would likely push up oil prices in the short term but the impact after that would depend on whether Saudi Arabia decides to extend it.
Today’s AAA national average price of a gallon of gasoline is $3.55, which is down about a dollar compared with the same time last year.
Woman allegedly paid hitman to kill crush’s spouse
Federal agents arrested a woman from Tennessee, Melody Sasser, on suspicion that she paid a hitman to kill the wife of a man she met on a dating site.
Federal agents said in a complaint that Sasser first met the man, a retired Air Force veteran, on Match.com and became “hiking friends.” Later on, the man told Sasser that he was moving out of state and planned to marry another woman.
Sasser went into the dark web, which is an area of the internet that requires a specialized browser to access, to find a hitman. Sasser thought she found one and transferred about $10,000 in bitcoin and gave instructions to make the murder seem random or an accident.
It seems like the hitman website was a scam because a foreign law enforcement tipped off the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about the plot. Federal agents reached out to the wife and she named Sasser as a suspect based on several threatening messages she made to them. Sasser was arrested on May 18 and now faces up to 10 years in prison.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/05/apple-wwdc-2023-live-updates.html
https://www.apple.com/apple-events/event-stream/?useASL=true
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/06/05/dc-sonic-boom-cessna-ntsb-investigation/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/05/us/virginia-plane-crash-fighter-jets-investigation-monday/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/05/world/russia-ukraine-news
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/allstate-insurance-state-farm-california/
https://apnews.com/article/opec-oil-prices-saudi-arabia-russia-8d70999cb8258aebc3edbfdfcae278b7
https://abcnews.go.com/US/tennessee-woman-allegedly-paid-hire-hitman-kill-wife/story
https://news.yahoo.com/woman-accused-hiring-hitman-murder-122552335.html