New Nonprofit AI Tool to Detect Deepfakes, etc; Apple-600 Native Apps Available for Vision Pro Tomorrow; US Social Media Use; Tesla Sued over Hazardous Waste by 25 California Counties

Posted: February 1, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

A new nonprofit, nonpartisan tech organization called TrueMedia is working on an AI-powered tool to detect deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the run up to the 2024 elections. According to geekwire.com, it’s headed up by a University of Washington professor who was also CEO of the Allen Institute for AI. TrueMedia plans to release a free, web-based tool in the first quarter of this year that combines advances from TrueMedia with existing deepfake detection tools in areas including computer vision and audio analysis. It will be available initially for use by journalists, fact-checkers, and online influencers before broader public release later in the year.

A day ahead of the release of the Apple Vision Pro, Apple has announced over 600 apps that are optimized and ready to use on the pricy headset. We reported earlier about all the Microsoft apps, but now here are some others, as reported by macrumors.com. For entertainment, we already noted that Netflix and YouTube won’t have apps…but Disney+, IMAX, Max, MLB, NBA, PGA TOUR Vision, and Red Bull TV have all been optimized to take full advantage of the Vision Pro’s spatial design elements and immersive capabilities. In addition, soccer fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass in the Apple TV app. A few other notable apps include Box, Wayfair, Webex, Zillow, Zoom, Airmail, Night Sky, Parcel. There are also over a million apps that are really for iOS and iPadOS, but will run on the Vision Pro. 

With Congress grilling the social media CEOs yesterday, how much do Americans use social media? Here are some numbers from Pew Research…this is the % of all US adults who say they ever use the platforms. Here are the top 10: YouTube rules, with 83%, Facebook is #2 with 68%. Instagram claims 47% of Americans, Pinterest has 35%, TikTok gets 33%, LinkedIn garners 30%. WhatsApp is close behind at 29%, Snapchat gets 27%, X has 22%, and Reddit also has 22%. 

Twenty five California counties have sued Tesla, alleging that the automaker has repeatedly mishandled hazardous waste at facilities throughout the state. The lawsuit was filed after months of settlement talks apparently fell apart. The claim states that Tesla  improperly labeled and disposed of materials like “lead acid batteries and other batteries,” paints, brake fluid, aerosols, antifreeze, acetone, diesel fuel and more at its production and service facilities throughout the state. Tesla also allegedly improperly disposed of the waste, both on-site and at landfills that can’t accept hazardous waste. Tesla could be on the hook for as much as $70,000 per violation per day, according to Reuters, which first reported the suit. For its part, Tesla says it “had implemented various remedial measures, including conducting training and audits, and enhancements to its site waste management programs.”

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

Apple Vision Pro-180,000 Orders Over Weekend; Pixel Watch May Grow; Vans Maker Data Hack; Lamborghini Licenses MIT’s New Faster High Capacity EV Batteries

Posted: January 22, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple may have gotten preorders for up to 180,000 Vision Pro headsets the first weekend. That’s according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as cited by macrumors.com. Kuo says the headset sold out soon after the preorder window opened. He went on to note that the shipping dates haven’t really slipped, so orders may have tapered off not long after the most hard core Apple fanboys and fangirls (with deep pockets) placed their orders. What the order number does mean though is that Apple will have no trouble hitting their goal of shipping 500,000 Vision Pro headsets this year. 

One of the knocks on the Pixel Watch has been its small display size…another has been battery life. Now, it looks like Google may be set to tackle those issues with a makeover that will include two Pixel 3 models in different sizes. According to androidcenteral.com, the larger variant might be big enough to get new health sensors, but the bigger display and battery alone would go a long way towards making the watch more useful. 

Apparel maker VF Corp had noted a cyber attack in December. Now, they have revealed in a disclosure with the SEC that the data breach has impacted up to 35.5 million customers. Engadget.com says that means if you’ve purchased from its major brands like Vans, North Face, Timberland, Dickies and more, you may have been impacted. VF hasn’t given much detail about the hack, except to say that it likely included personal information. Fortunately, though, VF says it did not collect consumer social security numbers, bank account information or payment card information, and that there is no evidence the hackers stole passwords. Yet another example of how determined and talented hackers can breach just about any system on the internet. 

Lots of researchers are in the hunt for a better battery to replace lithium-ion batteries. Alternatives have used manganese and sodium…even iron. Now, a new type from MIT has shown enough promise that Lamborghini has licensed the tech for EVs. TechCrunch.com reports that the alternative is called TAQ…which is an organic compound primarily made of carbon. Up to now, most organics have stored more power, but tended to not be very durable. The new TAQ material doesn’t dissolve in two widely used electrolytes, and it sports an energy density that’s 50% better than one of the most common lithium-ion battery chemistries in use today, nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC). TAQ, short for bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone, is composed of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen arranged in a row of three neighboring hexagons. The structure is similar to that of graphite, which is almost universally used today as an anode material (the positive terminal). Time will tell if the TAQ battery will be the magic bullet for battery tech…or at least one of them. 

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 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In 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.

New Samsung Galaxy Leak; Apple to Launch Vision Pro in February; Consumer Reports-Tesla Autopilot Fix ‘Insufficient’; UK Court Rules Only Humans Can Invent-Sorry, AI

Posted: December 21, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

A leaked teaser countdown has given us the date for the latest Galaxy Unpacked from Samsung…the date is January 18th, and time 10 am Pacific. 9to5google.com reports that the leak came from known leaker Evan Blass on X…which BTW was having serious issues today. The leak has an icon that looks very similar to the Google Bard Logo, so we can expect plenty of AI…besides the logo, a place in the video shows ‘Galaxy AI is coming’ blasted across the screen. As for the Actual Galaxy S24 phones, there isn’t anything else in the teaser video that we didn’t already know…but we do know now that we will be getting the phones a little earlier in 2024 with this Unpacked event on January 18th.

Last summer, Apple said it would launch its Vision Pro headset ‘early next year.’ According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, it could be very early…like February. Gurman says not to expect an additional launch event..as the $3499 gadget will be in limited supply, but it is a major undertaking for Apple, as it also involves the launch of their new VisionOS software as well as the devices. The latest version of iOS, which is 17.2, enables the iPhone 15 Pro to capture 3D-encoded spatial videos in 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second, and you’ll need a headset to play them back in full detail. What would that headset be? Why, the almost $3500 Vision Pro. If you wear glasses and want the custom lenses…that will add even more to your tab. It looks like a great mixed reality headset for early adaptors who have the deep pockets to buy it. 

Tesla’s planned over the air Autopilot recall for some two million vehicles has been called ‘insufficient’ by Consumer Reports, after preliminary testing. Techcrunch.com says that Kelly Funkhouser, the nonprofit organization’s associate director of vehicle technology, tells TechCrunch she discovered it’s still possible to cover the cabin camera while using Autopilot, meaning drivers can neutralize one of the two main ways the car monitors if they are paying attention to the road. Not only that…Funkhouser says she did not notice any differences when activating or using Autopilot’s flagship feature, Autosteer, outside of the controlled-access highways where Tesla says the software is designed to be used.

Well, it’s good to have this settled…at least in the United Kingdom and for now. Thenextweb.com reports that the UK’s top court has ruled that AI cannot be named on a patent as the inventor of a new idea or product. The judgment states “We conclude that an ‘inventor’ must be a natural person. Only a person can devise an invention.” The case involved has been winding through the court system since 2018. A little good news…until our AI and robot overlords reverse it some day! 

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