Some Big Retailers Canning Self Check Out; Apple Moves More Phones than Samsung; Apple Watch Ban Workaround; Microsoft Prices Copilot Pro AI Assistant
Posted: January 16, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, copilot, Microsoft, microsoft-365, technology Leave a commentSome people love ‘em, some hate ‘em…I fall in the 2nd camp on this. What is it, pray tell? Self checkout kiosks. Now, a couple big retailers are throttling back on the tech and adding back employees. BBC.com reports that, Target, Walmart, and Dollar General in the US are moving away from the tech that was designed to add convenience and speed for shoppers…and savings for the merchants. It turns out that one swamped employee for 6 frequently malfunctioning kiosks isn’t working so great…and the things cost a chunk…a four kiosk system can burn up a 6 figure amount of cash. That’s all before another problem with them…’shrinkage,’ a nice retailer word for shoplifting and stealing merchandise. When you add it all up, they’re losing money. Target is now restricting the number of items a buyer can purchase at one time. Walmart has actually started removing the kiosks in some stores to cut theft. Dollar General is ratcheting back on using them, and adding staff…some stores only had 2 employees on duty at a time. The main thing is the theft…apparently retailers that use kiosks have double the industry average! Maybe it will be a bit longer before our AI and robot overlords hoover up all the jobs!
Apple has apparently beaten Samsung and grabbed the crown as top global smartphone manufacturer in 2023. According to macrumors.com, it’s the first time in 13 years Samsung has lost the top maker crown. In 2013, Nokia was the top dog…remember them? The data was crunched by IDC, which shows Apple with 20.1%, and Samsung with 19.4% of the smartphone market…the other 60% is split amongst a myriad of brands. Apple was also the only company in the top 3 to have positive growth year over year, going from 226.3 million units to 234.6 million. Overall, the world smartphone market declined by 3.2%.
The US Customs Agency has decided that Apple’s redesign of the Watch 9 and Ultra 2 is good enough to circumvent infringing on two Masimo patents related to the blood oxygen sensor. 9to5mac.com says Apple can keep selling the Watch 9 and Ultra 2, but without ‘pulse oximetry features’ in the US. Existing Apple Watches will still have the features. Actually, since the big waves of initial COVID, measuring blood oxygen has probably dropped in importance enough that most buyers won’t miss the feature. There is still a Court of Appeals decision regarding staying the watch ban through all the Appeals process…that decision could come down this week..but for now, it looks like the latest Apple Watches will be back on the market very soon.
Microsoft’s ChatGPT powered Bing Chat…rebranded as Copilot, will now get a pro version. Engadget.com reports that Copilot Pro will run $20 a month. That will get power users access to the latest ChatGPT releases, as well as access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps and other new features. Additionally, the Copilot iOS and Android apps are now available to everyone, following a limited launch last month. Microsoft says that Copilot Pro users will have access to GPT-4 Turbo at peak times starting today, and eventually they’ll be able toggle between different GPT models. The subscription also grants you better AI image creation, which will be faster and deliver higher image quality, with optional landscape formatting.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ’Technified’ for now.
Sony Shows New High End ‘XR’ Headset; Twitch Cuts a Third of Staff; Valve-New Guidelines Allow More AI Content in Games; SAG-AFTRA Signs Deal With Studio Setting Terms for AI Voices in Video Games
Posted: January 10, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, apple-vision-pro, technology, Virtual Reality, VR Leave a commentIn a surprise move on the very day that Apple announced the release date for its Vision Pro headset, Sony unveiled a high end XR headset at CES that rivals the Vision Pro in capabilities and design. According to zdnet.com, the Sony-Siemens headset will be released later in 2024, and have 4K OLED micro displays, and a couple of features Apple’s headset doesn’t have…a flip-up facial interface, allowing a user to quickly switch from using the headset to looking around their real surroundings, then jump back into the VR world. Apple has a high res passthrough that does this to an extent, but you are still looking at your surroundings via cams. In addition, the Sony headset has a pair of wearable controllers…one is a ring and the other is a pointer. These may make gesture reading by the system more precise than just hand motions, as Apple relies on. The Sony rig appears to be more ‘pro’ than Apple’s, in that it seems to be aimed squarely at professionals, developers, and other spending long hours with a headset. No pricing has been revealed yet.
Twitch is laying off over 500 employees, around 35% of the total staff. Theverge.com reports that Twitch had already chopped 400 last spring, as part of cutbacks at parent Amazon. As with that reduction last spring, there are additional layoffs at Amazon. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy wrote in the announcement that Twitch paid out over $1 billion to streamers last year, remarking that “while the Twitch business remains strong, for some time now the organization has been sized based upon where we optimistically expect our business to be in 3 or more years, not where we’re at today.”
Valve has unveiled new rules that will allow the company to add more games with AI content to its Steam platform. Engadget.com says it’s updating its content survey form for developers so that they can give the company a description of how they use artificial intelligence in their games. If they used AI tools to generate art, code, sound or any other kind of content for their title, developers must ensure that they do not include anything illegal or anything that infringes on someone else’s copyright. Valve says it will evaluate each game and check if the developer has submitted truthful information. Valve said it will also be transparent with gamers when it comes with what kind of AI content a developer’s title has by including their disclosure on their Steam store page.
SAG-AFTRA has inked a deal with Replica Studios that sets terms for the use of AI in video games. According to Variety, the terms include informed consent for the use of AI to create digital voice replicas, as well as requirements for the safe storage of digital assets. This was a major issue in the SAG-AFTRA strike that lasted several months. The union’s executive director, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, said “These are the kind of terms that producers can agree to without disrupting their ability to make content,” Crabtree-Ireland said. “This is an evolutionary step forward. AI technology is not something we can block. It’s not something we can stop. That’s not a tactic or a strategy that’s ever worked for labor in the past.” Really, what members want…and get in this contract is the right to refuse use of a clone of their voice in projects they feel would taint them, informed consent, and to be paid a licensing fee for use of the clone of their voice. The deal does not block studios from training AI to create ‘synthetic’ actors that bear no resemblance to real performers.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Vision Pro Launch-Feb 2nd; Tesla & Space X Execs Have Musk Worries; Waymo Self-Drivers Coming to Phoenix Freeways; VW Will Add ChatGPT to Cars
Posted: January 8, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Elon Musk, innovation, SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter Leave a commentAs previously rumored, Apple will launch its Vision Pro mixed reality headset soon…and now we have an actual date. The $3500 headset will start shipping February 2nd in the US. Theverge.com reports that pre-orders will start January 19th at 8 AM Eastern. Apple also revealed the pricing for the Zeiss prescription lenses that users can get with it. Readers will be available for an extra $99, while prescription lenses will cost $149. The base model of the Vision Pro offers 256GB of storage and is packaged with the following accessories: solo knit band and dual loop band, a light seal and 2 light cushions, a cover, polishing cloth (wow, that’s an exciting one), battery, and USB-C charging cable and power adaptor.
Over the weekend, a report came out that SpaceX and Tesla execs are concerned about Elon Musk’s drug use, and its possible affects on his security clearance and on SpaceX contracts. According to pcmag.com, in a report originally appearing in the Wall Street Journal, the Journal claims that Musk has used marijuana, mushrooms, ketamine, LSD, ecstasy, and cocaine. His marijuana use put his security clearance at risk in 2019 after he smoked it on camera during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. SpaceX has federal spaceflight contracts, and the Drug-Free Workplace Act requires federal and non-federal workplaces with contracts of $100,000 or more to implement a Drug-Free Workplace Program, which includes drug testing requirements (even if the drug in question is legal in the state). NASA tests for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opioids, and PCP, according to NASA documentation from March. The Journal details several incidents during which Musk appeared to be under the influence, though his use of drugs was not confirmed and no one in Tesla or SpaceX leadership officially called him out on it.
The Waymo One ride-hailing service will soon be able to use freeways. 9to5google.com says that in Phoenix, Waymo will “begin testing its fully autonomous passenger cars without a human driver on freeways” for a “significantly” faster experience. For example, a trip from Sky Harbor Airport to the northern parts of Scottsdale takes 25 minutes, instead of 50, when utilizing the AZ-101 compared to just surface streets. Waymo says it is “laser focused on our freeway ride hailing testing.” This is “especially important” for bringing Waymo One to other cities. In Los Angeles, for example, they are vital for getting from one part of town to another in a reasonable amount of time. The vehicles without human divers on freeways will initially be ridden in only by employees for further testing before it becomes available to the public.
Volkswagen has announced at the CES that they will be adding ChatGPT AI to every European model that has their IDA voice assistant. Techcrunch.com reports that the chatbot will be primarily used to read content out loud to drivers and passengers. It should start rolling out in the 2nd quarter in Europe…VW says the feature is being considered for US cars, but didn’t give a date when they might offer it. Mercedes-Benz already added the chatbot to its MBUX infotainment system last June.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Techified’ for now.
Microsoft Copilot Gets Own Keyboard Key; Facebook ‘Link History’; Steam Breaks Game Launch Record; ChatGPT Flunks Test on Diagnosing Child Medical Cases
Posted: January 4, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, copilot, Microsoft, technology Leave a commentGet ready for the first real Windows PC keyboard change in 30 years. Microsoft partners will soon be shipping PCs with a new Copilot key that will provide quick access to Microsoft’s AI-powered Windows Copilot experience straight from a keyboard button press. Theverge.com reports that The new Copilot key will replace the menu key (application key) that was introduced alongside the Windows key decades ago. It will be placed next to the right-hand alt key on most keyboards, with the placement varying by OEM and across different markets. The Copilot key simply launches the Windows Copilot that’s built into Windows 11, offering up a ChatGPT-like chatbot that can answer queries or even take actions inside Windows.
You may have already seen a popup if you clicked on a link in Facebook…asking if you want to save that link. It’s a new ‘feature’ called “Link History”…really a new way for Facebook to track the websites you visit. According to Gizmodo.com, Facebook is casting the Link History as a useful tool for consumers “with your browsing activity saved in one place,” rather than another way to keep tabs on your behavior. With the new setting you’ll “never lose a link again,” they say in the little popup. Yeah, it’s really a way to track…introduced after both Apple and Google in its Chrome browser limited Facebook’s ability to track the sites you visit, cutting their revenue. If you care to dig into the settings…and they are pretty impenetrable…you can select several increments of less than the 90 days Facebook says it keeps your link history. As the old drug awareness slogan said, “Just Say No,” when you get the popup.
For the movie fans that get all excited about movies making $60, $100, $200 million or even a billion…it may be hard to swallow, but video games bring in vast hordes of cash each year. Now, gamesradar.com says as recorded on SteamDB, the Steam platform saw the release of 14,531 game titles, blowing past last year’s record by almost 2,000 games. That adds up to over 39 games released a DAY! Valve just released the first update to the handheld Steam Deck in the fall…and even if you could play through the top ten percent of all these games…which you can’t…never fear. The new game releases continue. They pumped out 36 on New Years Day 2024!
With all the freaking out over artificial intelligence and how it is coming for many jobs, one has to pull back and take a reality check. Arstechnica.com reports that it isn’t going to displace your family doctor any time soon. ChatGPT’s chatbot was already doing a terrible job at diagnosing challenging medical cases…getting it right only 39% of the time. Now, a study just out in the JAMA Pediatrics publication says the chatbot doctor wannabe is even worse for kids…it had an accuracy rate of just 17% when diagnosing pediatric medical cases. The authors of the study put it this way….”[T]his study underscores the invaluable role that clinical experience holds.” But it also identifies the critical weaknesses that led to ChatGPT’s high error rate and ways to transform it into a useful tool in clinical care. AI’s potential for problem-solving has raised considerable interest in developing it into a helpful tool for complex diagnostics…but for at least the next few years…the doctor is still in.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
1st Starlink Satellites for Mobile Phones Launched; Facial Recognition to Replace Passports at UK Airports; Supreme Court Warns About AI in Legal System; Microsoft Copilot Now Available on iOS and Android
Posted: January 3, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Microsoft, Satellite, SpaceX, Tech, technology Leave a commentLast night, the first 6 Starlink satellites designed to connect mobile phone users anywhere in the world were launched. Theverge.com reports that there will be ultimately be 21 of the birds handling cell traffic in the company’s new Direct to Cell service. SpaceX will now test the service with ordinary 4G LTE-compatible phones on T-Mobile in the US before the text messaging service goes live in multiple countries this year. Voice and data (and IoT devices) will be added in 2025 as more Direct to Cell satellites come online.
In an upcoming change that is both exciting and scary, Britain is set to test facial verification tech that removes the need for passports, but experts have dashed hopes of a full launch this year. According to thenextweb.com, the project was unveiled this week by Phil Douglas, the director-general of the UK’s Border Force. Douglas told the Times that he aims to install new e-gates at airports that create an “intelligent border.” By integrating enhanced facial verification, the system would make physical travel documents unnecessary. Trials of the tech are expected to start this year. A full rollout, however, remains a more distant prospect. Before travel, the passenger downloads the app, authenticates their ID, scans their face, and links their ticket. On arrival at St Pancras Station in London, they stroll through a dedicated lane for the tech, which verifies their entry. The Brits acknowledge that before the system is fully implemented, the reliability of facial recognition tech will have to become nearly 100% accurate.
The US Supreme Court rarely comments on anything, but has put out a warning about the use of AI in the legal system. Mashable.com says the Supremes caution about “dehumanizing the law.” The remarks were in the 2023 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, which dropped Sunday. Chief Justice Roberts wrote “For those who cannot afford a lawyer, AI can help. It drives new, highly accessible tools that provide answers to basic questions, including where to find templates and court forms, how to fill them out, and where to bring them for presentation to the judge — all without leaving home.” However, though Roberts acknowledged the benefits AI may offer, he also noted that it comes with risks, particularly when inappropriately applied. In particular, he noted that much decision-making in the judicial system requires human assessment, discretion, and understanding of nuance. Simply entrusting such power to an algorithm is likely to result in unsatisfactory and unjust results, especially considering that AI models often contain inadvertent bias.
Microsoft had launched its AI chatbot Copilot for Android right before the holidays, and over the holidays, rolled out versions for iOS and iPadOS. TechCrunch.com reports that it works pretty much like any other chatbot…you can type in a question or a prompt and receive responses generated by artificial intelligence. Users can leverage the AI assistant to draft emails, compose stories or scripts, summarize complex texts, create personalized travel itineraries, write and update job resumes and more. Plus, You can use the app’s Image Creator feature, which is powered by DALL·E 3, to explore new styles and ideas, curate social media content, develop brand motifs, generate logo designs, create custom backgrounds, build a portfolio, visualize film and video storyboards and more. Microsoft says they have already had 1.5 million downloads. The big draw? It’s free for now…and is powered by OpenAI Chat GPT-4 tech…which OpenAI charges for.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Samsung & Huawei Cut in To Apple’s Premium Phone Sales; Nikon, Sony, & Canon Fight AI Fakes With Tech; 40% of US Electricity is Now Emissions Free; First EV With Lithium-Free Sodium Battery Hits Market
Posted: January 2, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Batteries, energy, EV, News, technology Leave a commentSamsung and Huawei were able to shave off a few percentage points from Apple in the premium smartphone market in 2023. 9to5mac.com, citing a report from Counterpoint Research, says that almost a quarter of smartphones sold worldwide in the past year were so-called premium devices…defined as over $600 wholesale…which generally means a retail price of $800 or more. Don’t shed too many tears for Apple, though. They only dropped from 75% to 71% of the premium market! Samsung has 17%, and Huawei is up from 3% to 5%.
It will likely be an ongoing cat and mouse game for decades to come…people putting out more fake images and videos, and companies and governments trying to stop or at least label them. Now, according to a report from nikkei.com, Nikon, Sony, and Canon are developing camera technology that embeds digital signatures in images so that they can be distinguished from increasingly sophisticated fakes. All three makers will roll out top end cameras with digital signatures. When a photographer sends images to a news organization, Sony’s authentication servers detect digital signatures and determine whether they are AI-generated. Sony and The Associated Press field-tested this tool In October. Besides these big 3 camera makers, in August, Google released a tool that embeds invisible digital watermarks into AI-generated pictures. I expect an ongoing battle between the fakers and the tech companies and governments…not unlike that which has gone on for years between the makers of police radar and the radar detection makers.
In some good news over the holidays, the US Energy Information Agency dropped some data on US electrical generation. Arstechnica.com notes that the monthly data runs through October, so it doesn’t provide a complete picture of the changes we’ve seen in 2023. Some of the trends now seem locked in for the year though: wind and solar are likely to be in a dead heat with coal, and all carbon-emissions-free sources combined will account for roughly 40 percent of US electricity production. In addition, energy use is almost flat…only up 1% year over year. This is in keeping with a general trend of flat-to-declining electricity use as greater efficiency is offsetting factors like population growth and expanding electrification. That’s important because it means that any newly added capacity will displace the use of existing facilities. And, at the moment, that displacement is happening to coal.
A Volkswagen-backed Chinese car maker called JAC Motors is launching the first mass-produced EV with a sodium-ion battery instead of Lithium-Ion. Engadget.com reports that although sodium-ion battery tech has a lower density (and is less mature) than lithium-ion, its lower costs, more abundant supplies and superior cold-weather performance could help accelerate mass EV adoption. CarNewsChina reports that the JAC Yiwei EV hatchback deliveries will begin in January. There are several other types of batteries coming that are aimed at getting away from lithium, which is rare and environmentally unfriendly to mine. China has one of the largest known supply, with another large one in Southern California. A company says they have worked out an environmentally friendly way to mine the US cache of the metal, but has yet to begin.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Samsung & Huawei Cut in To Apple’s Premium Phone Sales; Nikon, Sony, & Canon Fight AI Fakes With Tech; 40% of US Electricity is Now Emissions Free; First EV With Lithium-Free Sodium Battery Hits Market
Posted: January 2, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Batteries, energy, EV, News, technology Leave a commentSamsung and Huawei were able to shave off a few percentage points from Apple in the premium smartphone market in 2023. 9to5mac.com, citing a report from Counterpoint Research, says that almost a quarter of smartphones sold worldwide in the past year were so-called premium devices…defined as over $600 wholesale…which generally means a retail price of $800 or more. Don’t shed too many tears for Apple, though. They only dropped from 75% to 71% of the premium market! Samsung has 17%, and Huawei is up from 3% to 5%.
It will likely be an ongoing cat and mouse game for decades to come…people putting out more fake images and videos, and companies and governments trying to stop or at least label them. Now, according to a report from nikkei.com, Nikon, Sony, and Canon are developing camera technology that embeds digital signatures in images so that they can be distinguished from increasingly sophisticated fakes. All three makers will roll out top end cameras with digital signatures. When a photographer sends images to a news organization, Sony’s authentication servers detect digital signatures and determine whether they are AI-generated. Sony and The Associated Press field-tested this tool In October. Besides these big 3 camera makers, in August, Google released a tool that embeds invisible digital watermarks into AI-generated pictures. I expect an ongoing battle between the fakers and the tech companies and governments…not unlike that which has gone on for years between the makers of police radar and the radar detection makers.
In some good news over the holidays, the US Energy Information Agency dropped some data on US electrical generation. Arstechnica.com notes that the monthly data runs through October, so it doesn’t provide a complete picture of the changes we’ve seen in 2023. Some of the trends now seem locked in for the year though: wind and solar are likely to be in a dead heat with coal, and all carbon-emissions-free sources combined will account for roughly 40 percent of US electricity production. In addition, energy use is almost flat…only up 1% year over year. This is in keeping with a general trend of flat-to-declining electricity use as greater efficiency is offsetting factors like population growth and expanding electrification. That’s important because it means that any newly added capacity will displace the use of existing facilities. And, at the moment, that displacement is happening to coal.
A Volkswagen-backed Chinese car maker called JAC Motors is launching the first mass-produced EV with a sodium-ion battery instead of Lithium-Ion. Engadget.com reports that although sodium-ion battery tech has a lower density (and is less mature) than lithium-ion, its lower costs, more abundant supplies and superior cold-weather performance could help accelerate mass EV adoption. CarNewsChina reports that the JAC Yiwei EV hatchback deliveries will begin in January. There are several other types of batteries coming that are aimed at getting away from lithium, which is rare and environmentally unfriendly to mine. China has one of the largest known supply, with another large one in Southern California. A company says they have worked out an environmentally friendly way to mine the US cache of the metal, but has yet to begin.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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