Beats Gets Adaptive Noise Canceling; Huawei Building AI into Mobile Chips; Jaguar Land Rover Shows ‘Tron’ Steering Wheel; iPhone Name Claims
Posted: September 5, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Active noise cancelation, AI, Beats, Huawei, iPhone, iPhone 8, iPhone Edition, iPhone X, Jaguar Land Rover, Mate 9, Neural Processing Unit, Personal assistant, self-driving car, Steering wheel, Studio 3, Tron Leave a commentBeats has added adaptive noise canceling to Studio 3 Headphones. Techcrunch.com reports it’s a direct shot at Bose, with the new Beats models claiming to screen out sounds better and more comprehensively…not just jet plane roar. The now Apple division has also toned down its colors, and offers a bit less pumped up bass. They claim 22 ours of battery life, and the price? That’s still pumped up at $350…available now.
All the tech product companies are betting big on AI…AI has even made it into the realm of politics, with Russia’s Vlad Putin claiming that whomever nails AI first and best will rule the world. Now Huawei says they are going to bake AI processing into their next chip, with the first ever Neural Processing Unit for smartphones. Thenextweb.com explains that what that means to you is no need to phone home to the cloud for the handset to offer AI assistance. Huawei also says it will get 50% longer batter life. If you are a little skeptical…we’ll all find out how much of this is real and what’s vaporware in October when the successor to the Mate 9 drops.
For decades auto makers have shown cars of the future, and now Jaguar Land Rover has given a peek at their steering wheel of the future. Cnet.com notes that it’s right out of Tron…the ‘wheel’ is more of a flattened octagon, with no visible buttons or switches. Jag says it will be totally AI operated, and will detach and dock in your home when you’re not driving…so it can be used there as a personal assistant, too. The so-called ‘Sayer’ will be attachable to any car you like, based on what tasks you have for the day. Maybe just a sedan for your commute….or a pickup if you are helping a pal move. Jag presumes by the time something like this bows, almost all vehicles will be self-driving…at least primarily. They will show a prototype in London September 8-10, and then the week after at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
A week before the new iPhone bows, and it’s the silly season with rumors. Now, one report picked up by bgr.com says it will be iPhone X for sure. Another that relies on what major case makers are planning…9to5mac.com says that the name will be iPhone Edition, and there won’t be any 7S models…those will jump right to iPhone 8. Of course, we’ll know for sure next week!
Next Gen HoloLens will Use Custom AI Silicon; Apple Working to Roll Their Own OLED Tech
Posted: July 24, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, HoloLens 3, Hulu, iPhone 8, iPhone 9, Microsoft, Netflix, OLED Leave a commentMicrosoft is working on their own AI coprocessor for the next iteration of the HoloLens. Engadget.com says it will give the headset object and voice recognition ability in real time, without any cloud connection. They intend to bake in assistance to blind folks by recognizing objects and describing them. This will also work without a data connection. There isn’t a HoloLens 2, but we will see a HoloLens 3 in late 2018 or early 2019.
Here’s a number that will bring indigestion to cable and satellite providers…Netflix was the top grossing app in the 2nd quarter of this year, with mobile revenue up 233% year over year! According to techcrunch.com, Netflix hauled in $153 million, compared with $46 million a year ago. Average app revenue growth on both the Apple App Store and Google Play is 56%! In the same period, Hulu grew by just 22%.
The new iPhone 8 will feature OLED screens made by Samsung. Apple, like other major manufacturers, is not keen on having a single supplier, and has reportedly bought CVD machines and has set up an R&D line in Taiwan to make OLED screens. 9to5mac.com notes that Apple almost never does actual manufacturing, but has developed the processes and bought the equipment for suppliers in the past. Besides having multiple manufacturers for their own security, Apple may need the production ability….they are planning to make 3 OLED iPhone models next year, and that would require better yields than Samsung has been getting from its process.
Samsung Delays Bixby for the US Again; 5 New Macs & 4 iOS Devices on Horizon
Posted: May 31, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Bixby, Galaxy S8, iPad Pro, Macbook Pro, Samsung, Virtual assistant, WWDC Leave a commentSamsung rolled out its latest Galaxy phones, the S8 models, without the virtual assistant Bixby in the US. It was due by now, but has been delayed a month. The Wall St. Journal reports that they are having trouble getting it to understand English syntax and grammar. Virtual assistants haven’t been the ‘killer app’ on smartphones anyway…only about 9% of users use the AI feature on a regular basis, according to research firm Ovum. Half of smartphone owners either had no interest in the feature or didn’t even know about it. It has been a different story with talking speakers, which the public seems to be accepting more quickly….with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant in the lead.
There are armies of people digging through regulatory filings around the world to bring you tidbits like this: a Russian filing points to 5 new Macs and 4 new iOS devices on the way from Apple. According to apple insider.com, we could see some rolled out at WWDC. There has already been speculation that Apple would show a new mid-sized iPad Pro at WWDC, fitting in between the 9.7 inch and 12 inch iPad Pros. A recent shortage of MacBooks seems to point to a refresh of MacBook Pros and Airs as well.
Apple’s Neural Engine AI; LG Phone May Have Screen Under Screen
Posted: May 29, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D selfies, AI, Apple, AR, LG, Neural engine, Screen under screen, V30 Leave a commentBesides working on AR…augmented reality…most of the big tech companies: Google, Facebook, Apple, & Microsoft, are working on beefing up AI as well….artificial intelligence. While they all offer some form of AI assistant, apparently Apple is working on a dedicated processor being called the ‘Apple Neural Engine’. 9to5mac.com says the chip will produce much improved face and speech recognition apps and help extend battery life. It is expected to be small and thrifty enough to fit into iPhones and iPads. Here comes facial recognition, iris recognition, and 3D selfies! Apple has already tested prototypes, but it’s not known if it will make it into the iPhone 8 this fall. 3D selfies….now you’re REALLY going to worry about it being your good side!
It’s not quite like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but LG’s V10 and V20 had secondary screens on top of the main one. Now, Mashable.com says they may go all out with the upcoming V30, with a secondary screen that slides out from under the main screen. The secondary screen can display shortcuts of most used apps, keyboard, audio controls, and more. Part of the screen is visible when the phone is ‘closed,’ so it can function in always on mode, displaying the time and weather.
Snap Working on Drone; Twitter Ups Troll Protections; Facebook Using AI for Suicide Prevention
Posted: March 1, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, Cameras, Drones, Facebook, Harassment, Mute, Snap, Suicide, trolls, Twitter, Videos Leave a commentSnap has reportedly been working on a drone. The New York Times says it’s not clear that it’s a product that will make it to production, but the company has said they feel we are just at the beginning of what cameras can do, and that their products are moving towards making taking videos a fun and seamless part of everyday life.
Twitter has been a virtual haven for trolls over the years, and now the company is announcing some new features to help stem harassment. According to recode.net, you will be able to mute specific words including usernames from your timeline. You can mute for a day, month, or permanently. You can also mute ‘eggs’, those accounts that use the egg avatar and haven’t provided a photo. Further, you can block accounts without confirmed email addresses or phone numbers. While this won’t kill off trolling completely, it will at least thin them out and slow them down.
Facebook has started using artificial intelligence to spot people that may be at risk of killing themselves. BBC.com reports that the algorithms pick up on comments in posts or the comments friends leave, and then a human review team jumps in to contact the person and works to suggest ways the person might get help. Right now, the AI tool is just testing in the US.
Samsung & Google Partner on New Chromebooks; Batteries Now Rolling off Lines at Tesla Gigafactory; Energous Wireless Charging Debuts This Year; Nvidia Co-Pilot Driving Computer
Posted: January 5, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Bosch, Chromebook, Chromebook Plus, Chromebook Pro, Co-Pilot, Energous, Gigafactory, Google, iPad Pro, iPhone 8, Model 3, Nvidia, Powerpack 2, Powerwall 2, Samsung, Surface Pro, Tesla, Wireless charging, Xavier, ZF Leave a commentThe Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Pro have finally bowed from Samsung, in collaboration with Google. Theverge.com says they will be worthy competition for Apple’s iPad Pro and Microsoft’s Surface Pro. The Plus is out in February for $449, and sports baked in Android app support, a self-contained stylus, and on-screen inking. It has a 360 degree hinge to allow for both tablet and laptop modes. The Pro will be out later this year, and is basically the same except for a more powerful processor.
It took almost 3 years from the groundbreaking, but batteries are now rolling off the lines at Tesla’s Gigafactory. The first of the custom cells will go into Tesla’s storage products…the Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2, but are designed to fit into all Tesla cars according to theverge.com. They will start installing them in the new Model 3s when they start production this year. Tesla says the Gigafactory will eventually crank out enough batteries for 1.5 million cars.
Energous will begin shipping its truly wireless systems by later this year, but is holding off due to a partner. Macrumors.com notes that most believe that partner to be Apple, and that the Watts Up system will debut in the iPhone 8 in September. The difference between Energous and other wireless systems is that theirs is truly over the air, and can charge a device from up to 15 feet away…no need to lay the phone on a charging pad. Energous did show off several devices that use contact charging at CES this week.
Nvidia had teased a powerful AI system earlier, and now has announced Co-Pilot. They are baking the tech into their Xavier drive computers they are making to assist drivers when they are doing the driving. Techcrunch.com reports that the system will utilize data from sensors inside and outside a car, and alert a driver when they need to take action. The system can either operate in self-driving mode, or as the Co-Pilot, continuing to monitor and warn drivers to react…say, should you not spot a pedestrian. They are already partnering with ZF in Europe, and may with Bosch as well.
Apple Publishes First AI Paper; Google Pixel Owners Seeing Problems; Lots More Tech IPOs in 2017
Posted: December 26, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2016, 2017, AI, Apple, Computer generated images, Freezing up, Google, IPOs, Pixel, Tech Leave a commentAside from some cryptic words from CEO Tim Cook, Apple hasn’t said much about AI…even though they have a team working on that, as well as VR and AR. Now, macrumors.com reports that Apple AI team members have been allowed to publish a paper on digital images, and how AI can be used to decipher and understand digital images…kind of like Siri or Photos facial recognition, but more advanced. A big challenge appears to be that the AI does well with computer generated images, but not so well on real world objects and pictures. It figures. Stay tuned.
People are generally happy with the new Google Pixel phones…Google’s first phone it designed from the ground up..BUT…some are reporting problems. According to bgr.com, a growing number have reported the phones freezing up for minutes at a time for no apparent reason. A hard reboot clears the problem if you don’t want to just wait and stare at your phone. Other issues include alarms that won’t ring, the inability to play music or video content, and in some cases, the inability to make or even receive calls. So far, only a few hundred phones seem to be affected.
The year 2016 was pretty stingy as far as tech IPOs go….there were only 13, according to techcrunch.com. There may be enough pent up demand to see between 30 and 50 initial public offerings in the tech sector in 2017. Depending on what the incoming administration does with rules that separate investment bankers and equity research analysts could bump it even more…but might steer us towards another bubble like the dot com one…buckle up.
Microsoft Thanks ‘MacBook’ Disappointment for Great Sales; Honda Teases Electric Car with AI; Gates & Others Start Alt Energy Venture Fund
Posted: December 12, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Bill Gates, Electric vehicle, Emotion engine, Energy technologies, Honda, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos, John Doerr, Macbook Pro, Microsoft, Microsoft Ventures, NeuV, Richard Branson, Surface Book, Surface Studio, Zero greenhouse gas emissions Leave a comment
November was a banner month for Microsoft Surface consumer sales. According to techcrunch,com, they credit ‘Macbook disappointment’ for the bump. Apple, on the other hand, says they got more orders for the new Pro with limited ports than any previous Macbook Pro. Of course, Microsoft rolled out a freshened Surface book and the new, high line Surface Studio, which has gotten a lot of buzz.
Honda has dropped a picture of it’s experimental electric vehicle called the NeuV. The verge.com says they will show it at CES January 5th, and are saying it will come equipped with artificial intelligence of some kind built into what Honda calls an ‘emotion engine.’ The engine is a set of technologies that will “enable machines to artificially generate their own emotions.” So, does this mean sometimes your car will act like Grumpy Cat, and other times like an excited puppy? Stay tuned.
Bill Gates, Jack Ma, and other tech giants have formed a billion dollar tech venture fund to back cutting edge energy technologies, with the goal of searching for breakthroughs that they hope will reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero. Others involved are John Doerr, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson. Geekwire.com says Gates will be Chairman of the billion dollar Microsoft Ventures fund.
Microsoft Claims New iOS Cam App Beats Apple’s; Otto Keeps On Truckin’
Posted: July 27, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Android, Apple, Backlighting, iOS, Microsoft, Otto, Photo App, Pix, Self-driving trucks Leave a commentMicrosoft has rolled out an app called Pix that they claim takes better photos with no settings that the standard Apple app does with them. According to 9to5mac.com, it uses AI to automatically adjust the shots…taking particular aim at making sure people are brightened up, to compensate for backlighting…one of the biggest spoilers of smartphone pictures. The app also starts shooting when you open the app, and before hitting the shutter, to keep from missing that great shot you wanted to capture. It basically shoots a burst of pix, but only offers the 3-4 the AI picks as best, so as not to gobble up your memory. I read several reviews by professional photographers, who agreed that it gets close to professional results. It’s free, and at the app store now, and coming soon to Android.
We reported a while back about Otto, the self-driving truck startup built by a trio of ex-Googlers. Now, businessinsider.com finds they already have four trucks out 24/7. Otto doesn’t plan to build trucks but kits to retrofit them. Existing trucks can install one of Otto’s $30,000 kits to produce autonomous driving capabilities. Right now in a test truck, two people ride in the truck: one behind the wheel and another studying what the truck’s LIDAR and software systems are “seeing.” But ultimately, Otto envisions that trucks will only require one person, and that the “driver” will be able to take lunch breaks and naps in the cab while the truck fully steers itself down the highway, requiring the driver to take control only on city streets. The Otto folks see self-driving trucks in wide use within 5 years.
clarkreid 
Recent Comments