Windows Adding New AI Features to Copilot Plus PCs; Epic Sues Google Again & Samsung, Too; Apple Backs Out of Backing OpenAI; Cruise Dinged for $1.5 Million Over Hiding Pedestrian Crash Details 

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

Microsoft has laid out what they are calling the ’next phase’ of Copilot, with a new design and features bowing. 9to5google.com reports that one is ‘Copilot Voice’ which is a new experience on mobile devices that is like Google’s Gemini Live. Another new feature is ‘Copilot Daily,’ which gives a summery of news and weather using the same voice as ‘Voice,’ and grabs from ‘authorized content sources,’ while ‘Personalized Discover’ helps guide users through Copilot features. ‘Copilot Vision’ will help you understand what you are looking at on your screen and let you ask questions. One might be why does Copilot think I’m so stupid, I don’t know what I’m looking at on my screen! Microsoft does say that the controversial Recall will be available starting next month….with new privacy and security measures in place. 

Epic won a case that had dragged on for 4 years against Google last December. Now, they are suing Google again, and also suing Samsung. According to theverge.com, Epic accuses Google and Samsung of illegally conspiring to undermine third party app stores. This suit flows from Samsung’s ‘Auto Blocker’ feature, that now comes on by default in new Samsung phones. While it’s turned on, it automatically keeps users from installing apps unless they come from “authorized sources” — namely, Google and Samsung’s app stores. Epic claims there’s no process for any rival store to become “authorized.” Epic complains that it now takes ‘an exceptionally onerous 21-step process’ to download a third party app store on a Samsung phone…although their own website says there are only 4 steps to do so. Some observers have pointed out that the Fortnite maker hasn’t shown how it has been harmed by the Auto Blocker. 

OpenAI has dropped their supposed altruistic roots, and has gone all in as a for profit company. They have been in the midst of raising some $6.5 billion more to pour into ChatGPT, and Microsoft is expected to pump another billion into the venture. Nvidia is also expected to be a major contributor to the latest round. One major player has backed out of investing in OpenAI though…Apple. Arstechnica.com says Apple still does plan to offer limited ChatGPT integration into an upcoming iOS update, but Cupertino also plans to support additional AI models like Google’s Gemini down the line…think of it as offering a choice of large language models kind of like you have a choice of web browsers. Famously secretive Apple gave no reason for walking away from investing in OpenAI.

Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has to cough up $1.5 million in fines to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Techcrunch.com reports that the fine is part of a consent order signed that the company agreed to with the NHTSA over a pedestrian crash last year in San Francisco. Cruise left out the little detail in their report that the poor woman was dragged some 20 feet by the robotaxi. Cruise also has to submit a ‘corrective action plan’ outlining changes they will make towards better compliance. 

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

Meta Connect Coming Up; Disney & Direct TV Finally Make Nice; US Moves to Crack Down in Temu; Microsoft Launches Copilot Pages

Posted: September 16, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Meta Connect ’24 is coming up on September 25th. The two day extravaganza will lean into AI heavily, of course, as Apple just did, and as Google and Microsoft are doing. Engadget.com reports that after dropping their expensive mixed reality headset…that was aimed at the crazy expensive Apple Vision Pro, Meta will focus on their augmented reality glasses…which are code named Orion. Unlike the Quest 3, which covers all your vision and uses cams to get you a low quality view of the world, Orion may be set for you to view the real world like through a regular pair of glasses…BUT with a layer of holographic imagery on top of the reality up ahead. The company plans to release a new pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses next year, that will have a small built-in screen along with the existing camera, speaker, and microphone. Most Meta-watchers also think we will see a stripped down version of the Quest 3 called the 3S. Meta is aiming to have this sell for $300-$400. It may at least partially replace the Quest 2, which has been priced at $299 for some time now. Naturally, AI will be woven into practically everything they show or mention…much like Apple. You can’t over-buzz that buzzword, apparently. 

After 2 weeks of blackout of ESPN, ABC, Disney+ and other Disney products, the House of Mouse and DirecTV finally cut a deal. According to variety.com, the deal was announced Saturday, and just in time for the first full day of college football on ABC and ESPN, not to mention the Prime Time Emmy show, which aired last night. All the Disney streams should be up and running on DirecTV now while the companies finish hammering out the final details. The new deal apparently gives users more flexible options for viewing. Meanwhile. DirecTV has boosted prices starting on October 6th.

The feds have proposed new rules that could make it harder and more expensive for Chinese e-commerce platforms like Tee Moo…or Teh Moo, depending on what you call it…to ship goods to the US. Arstechnica.com notes that the platform has been selling cheap goods using what is called the ‘de minimus exception’ that makes shipments valued at under $800 duty-free. Platforms taking advantage of the exemption can share less information on packages and dodge taxes. President Biden warned that “over the last 10 years, the number of shipments entering the United States claiming the de minimus exemption has increased significantly, from approximately 140 million a year to over 1 billion a year.” The government would exclude the exemption for goods covered by tariffs under laws from 1974 and 1962.

Microsoft has unveiled Copilot Pages today. The feature is supposed to be a so-called ‘canvas for multiplayer AI collaboration.’ Theverge.com says Pages lets you use Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot and pull responses into a new page where they can be edited collaboratively with others. Jared Spatero, corporate VP of AI said “You and your team can work collaboratively in a page with Copilot, seeing everyone’s work in real time and iterating with Copilot like a partner, adding more content from your data, files, and the web to your Page. This is an entirely new work pattern — multiplayer, human to AI to human collaboration.” Pages is rolling out to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers today and should be available to all subscribers later this month.

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

Toyota Drops another $1.3 Billion in US EV Plant; Apple Working on Folding Phones; Microsoft Redesigns Copilot for Web & Mobile; Ex-Tesla Honcho Leading Ford EV Skunkworks Project

Posted: February 7, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Toyota has dropped a whopping $1.3 billion into its facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. According to Arstechnica.com, that’s where Toyota will produce its upcoming three row electric SUV. Now, Toyota will also add a battery pack assembly line as well as make other changes to the plant. Toyota…and Honda as well…have largely hung back in the EV race up to now, but in 2023, the company announced plans to sell 3.5 million EVs by 2030. Still, Chairman Akin Toyoda believes that EVs may only reach 30% market share. 

While Samsung has gone through several generations of folding phones, all has been quiet about them at Apple. Well, the information reports that Apple has secretly been working on at least 2 folding phones after 5 years of research and development. Both prototype iPhones fold widthwise, like a clamshell. Sources indicate that there are no plans to mass produce them yet this year or in 2025, so the earliest we might see them would be 2026. Of course, Apple may can the whole idea if they can’t build them to their standards. The company is reportedly concerned about technical challenges and offering sufficiently appealing features on the device that would justify its high price point compared to non-foldable devices. As with Samsung and others, the pesky crease in the middle of the screen is an issue…especially when trying to use the Apple Pencil on the 8 inch screen the prototypes have. 

Microsoft is giving its Copilot a makeover, with a new, more streamlined design on the web and in mobile apps. Engadget.com says Microsoft points to  a cleaner look and feel for the chatbot’s responses, while Copilot will display a carousel of suggested prompts to highlight what it can do. The new designs drop right before the Super Bowl, and not coincidentally Redmond is running an ad in the big game for the first time in 4 years. Copilot now has more image-editing and creation options. Designer in Copilot (at least in some territories) now allows you to edit images you’ve generated without having to leave the chatbot. You can turn an image into pixel art or blur the background, for instance. Copilot Pro subscribers can resize images between landscape and square formats and regenerate them without having to exit the chat.

Ford has a ‘skunkworks’ project underway to develop a low-cost EV, and it’s being helmed by former Tesla development boss Alan Clarke. Techcrunch.com reports that the disclosure came in an earnings call. The so-called skunkworks project is being run from Irvine, CA, and has been going for a couple years. Besides Clarke, there are engineers from AMP, the EV startup Ford snapped up last Fall. The former CEO of AMP also worked previously with Clarke at Tesla. The project is focused on cost, smaller EVs and efficiency, including the battery. Whichever EV maker gets a good, reliable EV with decent range for under $30 grand first is going to really hit it big…and Ford wants it to be them. By the way, Skunkworks originally referred to Lockheed Martin’s secret Advanced Development Projects, which built the highly secret planes for the US government…notably the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes. 

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

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

Some 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.

TomTom & Microsoft In-Vehicle  AI Voice Assistant; FTC Bans Rite Aid from Facial Surveillance System; Playstation 5 Sales over 50 Million; Tesla Blamed Drivers for Parts Failures

Posted: December 20, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

TomTom has partnered with Microsoft to develop an AI voice assistant for vehicles. Thenextweb.com reports that the automotive assistant enables voice interaction with location search, infotainment, and vehicle command systems. This means that drivers can “converse” with the vehicle, ask questions about navigation directions or route stops, and use voice control to regulate the temperature, for instance, or open the windows and change radio stations. The assistant works across multiple Microsoft products, including its Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Kubernetes Services, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure Cognitive Services. It’s already built into TomTom’s Digital Cockpit, the company’s own in-vehicle infotainment platform, but can also be integrated into other automotive infotainment systems.

The Federal Trade Commission has banned Rite Aid from using facial surveillance systems for 5 years. According to engadget.com, this comes as part of a settlement with the FTC, which had accused Rite Aid of “reckless use of facial surveillance systems.” The FTC said in its complaint that the drugstore chain deployed an artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition technology from 2012 to 2020 to identify customers who may have previously shoplifted or have engaged in problematic behavior. Apparently, the company had created a database with “tens of thousands” of customer images, along with their names, dates of birth and alleged crimes. Those photos were of poor quality, taken by its security cameras, employees’ phones and even from news stories. As a result, the system generated thousands of false-positive alerts.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 has passed a big milestone…as of today, the company has announced that it has sold over 50 million of the gaming consoles since it launched in late 2020. Theverge.com notes that as recently as last July, they had sold 40 million, so sales are really picking up. Supply chain issues had held back sales for a while, but Sony says this is the first holiday season where anyone who wants to buy a PS5 can get hold of one. Even with supply chain issues, the PS5 hit 50 million in only one week less that the PS4 did. Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch sales dipped 18% this year, and Xbox sales were off 15%. 

A Reuters review of Tesla documents has found that tens of thousands of owners have been the victims of premature failures of suspension or steering parts. Internally, Tesla engineers called part ‘flaws’ and ‘failures,’ yet the company has denied some of the suspension and steering problems in statements to U.S. regulators and the public– and, according to Tesla records, sought to shift some of the resulting repair costs to customers. The company has alleged that owners abused the cars. The automaker charged customers with out-of-warranty cars to replace parts that Tesla engineers internally called flawed or that they knew had high failure rates. Engineers ordered repeated redesigns for several parts and discussed seeking money back from suppliers because of the defects. Unsurprisingly, neither Tesla nor top executive Elon Musk responded to detailed questions for this article by Reuters. 

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