20 Inch Folding MacBook in Works; Pixel Sales Up 527%-In Japan; Simple Way to Remove Microplastics from Water; New Material May Bring Smart Contact Lenses

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

A folding Apple phone may or may not happen anytime soon if at all, but apparently Cupertino is seriously working on a 20 inch screen MacBook…with a folding screen! Macrumors.com reports that noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is saying “Apple’s only foldable product with a clear development schedule is the 20.3-inch MacBook, expected to enter mass production in 2027.” Right now, the largest screen MacBook is the 16 inch MacBook Pro. Apple had a 17 inch screen laptop for a while, but dropped that model way back in 2012. Kuo said the 20-inch MacBook is Apple’s only foldable product with a clear development schedule, suggesting that a foldable iPhone or iPad are not coming any time soon.

Google’s Pixel phones have been making inroads in penetration of the smartphone market, and no place more so than Japan. The phones, with their amazing software assisted cameras are really seeing a huge sales growth. According to 9to5google.com, an IDC report shows Pixel sales up 527% year over year from 2022 to 2023. That gives Google 10.7% of the market share there. Apple’s phones continue to hold a huge share of the market there, as do…somewhat surprisingly…Sharp’s phones.  Sharp retains a large share of the market due to the demand for phones designed for the elderly, not necessarily cutting-edge devices. Meanwhile, Samsungs Galaxy shipments to Japan have dropped by 39%…showing where a lot of Google’s sales increase came from. 

Scientists have discovered a surprisingly simple way to remove microplastics from drinking water. This sounds almost like magic, but bgr.com says researchers at a couple universities in China ran tests on both soft and hard tap waters, and by boiling the water, then running it through a filter, they were able to remove up to 90% of the microplastics. The results were published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The boiling left the microplastics trapped in the crusty, chalky stuff that forms when you boil water in a kettle or pot. The scientists said a filter as simple as a stainless steel mesh like used to strain tea is enough to filter out most of the lime-encrusted plastic pieces that are left behind after boiling the drinking water. Hopefully, bottled water makers will be adapting this cheap, simple process too. Kids…DO try this at home if you want to. 

One cool thing about science…often new breakthroughs are made while looking for something else. Now, the co-creator of graphene, along with a group of scientists have another breakthrough material. Konstantin Novoselov and the team say the new material lets them create a novel form of light manipulation. Thenextweb.com reports that they had been working on smart contact lenses. They discovered that the materials…dubbed  ReS2 and ReSe2, not only could help with that, but were more powerful than expected. They can adjust the wavelength of light, and change its direction…up to 90 degrees! The scientists see potential in applications for medicine, AI, and AR. For contact lenses, the startup Xpanceo thinks the use of the new material could provide faster and cheaper blood testing using Raman Spectroscopy at a much lower cost and with better performance. They also see earlier detection of things like COVID and even cancer! It will be a while before we see all these benefits, but it is a pretty amazing discovery.

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

New M3 MacBook Airs Drop; Pixel Watch 3 Getting 45mm Size; Waymo-More Areas in LA and SF; Google Maps Tests Showing Building Entrances

Posted: March 4, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Without an event or big fanfare, Apple has released new 13 and 15 inch MacBook Air, powered by M3 Apple silicon. 9to5mac.com reports that the new laptops get support for two external displays and faster WiFi. The new Airs will ship the end of the week…Friday, March 8th. In a goofy quirk…you can’t drive two screens unless the laptop is closed…meaning you will have to buy an external keyboard and trackpad pad for Apple…costing even more money. On the plus side, the M3 MacBook Air has a faster 8 core CPU and 10 core GPU. The sizes are the same as the M2 models they replace. The 13 inch Air starts at $1099, and the 15 incher is $1299. The M1 MacBook Air is discontinued…so you may be able to pick one up for a good closeout price from vendors. 

A big knock on the Pixel watch is that the 41mm size is just too small. Now, Google is working on a second size…a 45mm Watch 3. 9to5google.com notes that the larger size would match the larger Apple watch Series 9. Samsung also offers 40mm and 44mm sizes for the Watch 6 and 43mm and 47mm sizes for the Watch 6 Classic. It doesn’t look like the UI will change much if at all for the Pixel Watch 6, but several watch faces should display much better on the bigger size. Google is also working on Pixel Buds Pro 2 headphones. Since the Pro buds got several new features last fall, don’t expect a major suite of new features…maybe better active noise cancellation. 

The California Public Utilities Commission has given the green light to Alphabet owned Waymo to operate its self-driving taxis. Mashable.com says in The Bay Area, the cars will now be rolling outside San Francisco…in fact, on the Peninsula all the way down to Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley. Their competitor, Cruise…a division of General Motors, is still on hold after one of the vehicles hit and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco last year. Meanwhile, Tesla is reportedly trying to develop its own driverless taxi system using its own electric vehicles. 

We’ve all been there…you find parking near a venue you haven’t been to, walk to the place, and walk all around trying to find the entrance you need. Now, androidpolice.com reports that google is testing showing some entrances and exits on buildings in Google Maps. The entrances only show when you select a place on the map and zoom in. Right now, they appear as a round white circle with an entry symbol. Also, when you select a building or venue, it turns light red, helping you to find the actual destination among other buildings. It’s still in the testing stage, so things may change before it gets wide release in Google Maps.

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

Mistral AI Releases New Rival to Chat GPT-4; Samsung Unveils Galaxy Ring; Apple Wearable Push-Rings & Smart Glasses; Lenovo’s Transparent Laptop

Posted: February 26, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

French upstart startup (see what I did there) Mistral AI has launched their flagship AI Mistral Large, their answer to Chat GPT-4, and has also has dropped an alternative to ChatGPT called Le Chat. The latter is available in beta, according to techcrunch.com. The startup was just incorporated in May of last year, and they picked up a half billion in funding just in December. Mistral AI was Founded by alums from Google’s DeepMind and Meta…originally with an open-source focus. The flagship looks more like OpenAI’s business model though, costing $8 per million of input tokens and $24 per million output tokens. A token represents small chunks of words…as the TechCrunch article says, their name would be split into two tokens…Tech and Crunch during processing by an AI model. On the other hand, anyone can sign up and try out Le Chat…just go to chat dot mistral dot ai. Mistral notes it is a beta, so could have some of what they call ‘quirks.’ Mistral has also partnered with Microsoft, which will provide Mistral models to its Azure customers. 

There are always lots of new gadgets at Mobile World Conference, and this year is no exception. Samsung has revealed its previously teased Galaxy Ring. Engadget.com reports that they did show a physical model, but didn’t give a ton of details. The ring will be centered around heath and wellness, and will come in 3 colors: platinum silver, gold, and ceramic black. Samsung plans to start selling it later this year. It looks a bit hefty…some who saw it note that it looks about the size as the Oura. It will be available in sizes 5 to 13, although they will be marked S through XL inside the band. The battery life will be less on the smaller ones due to smaller batteries inside. The Oura can make it 10 days between charges, so presumably it will be similar for the Galaxy Ring. the device will track sleep based on heart rate, movement and breathing, then provide users advice based on that. The company will also glean data from partner Natural Cycles, which already does fertility tracking on the Galaxy Watch, matching a key Oura feature.

Besides the large and pricy Vision Pro, Apple continues to look at other wearables in addition to the Watch and AirPods. Appleinsider.com says a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman notes that smart glasses are still in the mix…something that Apple has alluded to as a natural extension of the Vision Pro line. Besides glasses, a smart ring is being considered…and now with Samsung showing one, in addition to the Oura, that seems likely. Something you probably didn’t see coming…I didn’t…Apple is also looking at adding a set of cameras to AirPods. They will be low resolution. Rumors have this as more likely than the ring at this point. Apple has already fiddled with biometric sensors in AirPods. As for a ring, Cupertino has had a patent on a design since 2015. 

Not all gadgets that tech companies show see the light of day…and here’s one that the light of day can pass right through. Lenovo showed a laptop concept at Mobile World Conference in Barcelona that is transparent! Don’t expect to see the ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop in stores or online any time soon. According to bgr.com, it may not even make it out of the concept stage. Drawbacks include its large size, bulk, and touch only keyboard. While it IS a cool concept to be able to see through the screen, I would be concerned that tech could be developed to read and steal what you were viewing on the screen. Lenovo thinks that the transparent screen could be useful for..say…architects working on site, or other users who need to see what’s going on around them. They also see users touching things within the screen’s view, and asking AI questions about them. Whether it makes it into people’s hands or not, it sure is a cool concept!

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

Galaxy S24 Customer Satisfaction Bests iPhone-First Time Ever; Google-Don’t Tell AI Personal Info; Microsoft Bringing Some Xbox Games to PS5 & Switch; EU Won’t Make Apple Open Up iMessage 

Posted: February 13, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In a giant plus for Samsung, Galaxy S24 customer satisfaction has surpassed that of iPhones for the first time ever. Bgr.com reports that the data is from PerfectRec, which says 91% of early adapters of the Samsung S24 base model gave the Galaxy S24 5 stars and 88% gave top ratings to the S23 Ultra. The base iPhone 15 got 76%, with the top line iPhone 15 Pro Max garnering 74%. PerfectRec notes that this lead may not hold as it is a survey of early adopters who are enthusiasts that are more familiar with recent models and can be disappointed if incremental improvements don’t seem impressive. They note that It is possible this is purely an Apple phenomenon, and early Galaxy S adopters behave differently.” Still…a big psychological win for Samsung at this point.

Google has made what you would think would be an obvious warning…don’t disclose personal information to AI! According to zdnet.com, Google points out that your interactions with the Gemini will allow the AI to collect information about conversations, your location, feedback, and usage information. Google goes on to state that the collected information helps them provide, improve, and develop products, services, and machine learning technologies. Gemini Apps conversations can be reviewed by human reviewers, and they are retained for 3 years. Even when Gemini Apps Activity are off, your conversations will be saved with your account for up to 72 hours…so be warned. 

Microsoft is preparing to launch a “select number of Xbox games on PS5 and Nintendo Switch.” Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment are up first, with Sea of Thieves coming to non-Xbox platforms in late 2024. “Other first-party titles [are] also under consideration.” PCmag.com says we can expect more details on February 15th, just a couple days from now. Microsoft isn’t throwing in the towel on their own hardware…they are apparently working on their own hand held device. Of course Nintendo is far ahead with the Switch and then there is the Valve Steam Box.

The European Commission has ruled that Apple’s iMessage is not a ‘core platform service’ that falls under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Theverge.com reports that this still doesn’t get Apple totally off the hook…they may need to offer interoperability with other messaging apps. Apple’s App Store, Safari browser, and iOS operating system were already designated as core platform services. Meta had both WhatsApp and Messenger designated core platform services under the DMA, and must make them interoperable with third-party services.  

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

Threads Downloads Triple in December; Galaxy S24 Getting Crash Detection; Microsoft Closed Loophole in AI Image Generator That Allowed Swift Deepfakes; Proposed California Bill Would Allow Parents to Block Algorithmic Feeds for Kids

Posted: January 30, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Threads, the Instagram answer to the old Twitter had huge growth when it dropped last summer, then stalled out. Now, it looks like it is taking off again. The app tripled its downloads in December, placing it in the top 10 most downloaded apps for the month on both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. According to techcrunch.com, intelligence firm Appfigures reported 12 million new Threads downloads in December, grabbing the #4 spot on Apple’s App store and #8 on the Google Play Store. Meanwhile, X…formerly Twitter, fell to #29 on Apple’s App Store and #46 on the Google Play Store. 

Being in a car crash is a harrowing experience…particularly when it is enough to set off the airbags. Some cars have emergency calling built in, but now Samsung’s S24 phones will join Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Pixel 4 phones in alerting your loved ones if you are involved in a crash. Androidpolice.com notes that all Android devices are equipped with accelerometers and gyroscopes which the OS can read, and the phone can infer when there’s a car crash by analyzing sensor data. Google has been pushing Android phone makers to use the crash detection, so this may open the floodgates for others to follow along. 

Microsoft closed the loophole in its AI image generator that could create explicit images of celebrities like Taylor Swift. After the widespread outrage from Swift’s fans last week after explicit deepfakes of her showed up on X, Redmond took the action. Theverge.com says that Microsoft’s Designer AI image generator could be hacked by altering prompts that got around simple name blocks. Microsoft put out a statement claiming they are committed to a safe and respectful experience for everyone. Time will tell if the hackers are able to get around the updated software. Just before the Swift explicit deepfakes appeared, recall that someone was making political robocalls in New Hampshire with a cloned voice of President Biden. The battle will continue. 

California is considering a couple of bills that would protect kids from social media addiction and preserve their private data. Engadget.com reports that SB976 would give parents the power to remove addictive algorithmic feeds from their children’s social channels. If passed, it would allow parents of children under 18 to choose between the default algorithmic feed — typically designed to create profitable addictions — and a less habit-forming chronological one. It would also let parents block all social media notifications and prevent their kids from accessing social platforms during nighttime and school hours. AB 1949 would attempt to strengthen data privacy for CA children under 18. The bill’s language gives the state’s consumers the right to know what personal information social companies collect and sell and allows them to prevent the sale of their children’s data to third parties. Any exceptions would require “informed consent,” which must be from a parent for children under 13.

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

Unredacted Meta Docs-“Historical Reluctance’ to Protect Kids; Apple SellingWatch 9 & Ultra Sans Blood Oxygen Feature; Samsung Teases Smart Ring; Costco Trials Membership Card Scan for Entrance

Posted: January 18, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Internal Meta documents about child safety have been unsealed as part of a lawsuit filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice against both Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The documents reveal that Meta not only intentionally marketed its messaging platforms to children, but also knew about the massive volume of inappropriate and sexually explicit content being shared between adults and minors. TechCrunch.com reports that the documents were unsealed yesterday as part of an amended complaint. In a statement to TechCrunch, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that Meta and Zuckerberg enabled child predators to sexually exploit children. Originally filed in December, the lawsuit alleges that Meta platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become “a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey,” and that Meta failed to remove many instances of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after they were reported on Instagram and Facebook. 

Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 models are back on sale today, albeit without the Blood Oxygen feature that is at the center of legal action between Cupertino and Masimo. According to macrumors.com, removing the feature allows Apple to continue selling the watches and stay in the good graces of the US International Trade Commission. Older Watch models and those sold outside the US will still have the Blood Oxygen feature. Apple is appealing a ruling in Masimo’s favor by the ITCk and is also working on changes to the Blood Oxygen app’s algorithm in an attempt to avoid Masimo’s patented technology.

After all the hoopla surrounding the new Galaxy smartphones at Samsung Unpacked yesterday, the company had a quick video tease about the Galaxy Ring they are working on. Theverge.com notes that the ring is intended to be what the company called a “powerful and accessible” health and wellness device. Samsung didn’t provide any details about the tech in the ring, when it might be released, or pricing. Here’s a hint from last year though… Samsung filed a patent for a smart ring that would offer EKG and smart home controls. 

In case you missed it, Costco is running a trial at some stores, requiring you to scan your card in a scanner to get into the store. Geekwire.com reports that instead of flashing your card to an employee, the scanner will be able to tell if the person holding the card is really a member, since they have your photo on them. Costco says this is to prevent account sharing. The company claims it is able to sell items so cheaply partly due to the membership fees paid each year by members. When you pay, you will no longer need to have the card scanned again as has been the practice up to now. We may know later this year if Costco will adapt the new system to all stores.

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

Unredacted Meta Docs-“Historical Reluctance’ to Protect Kids; Apple SellingWatch 9 & Ultra Sans Blood Oxygen Feature; Samsung Teases Smart Ring; Costco Trials Membership Card Scan for Entrance

Posted: January 18, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Internal Meta documents about child safety have been unsealed as part of a lawsuit filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice against both Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The documents reveal that Meta not only intentionally marketed its messaging platforms to children, but also knew about the massive volume of inappropriate and sexually explicit content being shared between adults and minors. TechCrunch.com reports that the documents were unsealed yesterday as part of an amended complaint. In a statement to TechCrunch, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that Meta and Zuckerberg enabled child predators to sexually exploit children. Originally filed in December, the lawsuit alleges that Meta platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become “a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey,” and that Meta failed to remove many instances of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after they were reported on Instagram and Facebook. 

Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 models are back on sale today, albeit without the Blood Oxygen feature that is at the center of legal action between Cupertino and Masimo. According to macrumors.com, removing the feature allows apple to continue selling the watches and stay in the good graces of the US International Trade Commission. Older Watch models and those sold outside the US will still have the Blood Oxygen feature. Apple is appealing a ruling in Masimo’s favor by the ITCk and is also working on changes to the Blood Oxygen app’s algorithm in an attempt to avoid Masimo’s patented technology.

After all the hoopla surrounding the new Galaxy smartphones at Samsung Unpacked yesterday, the company had a quick video tease about the Galaxy Ring they are working on. Theverge.com notes that the ring is intended to be what the company called a “powerful and accessible” health and wellness device. Samsung didn’t provide any details about the tech in the ring, when it might be released, or pricing. Here’s a hint from last year though… Samsung filed a patent for a smart ring that would offer EKG and smart home controls. 

In case you missed it, Costco is running a trial at some stores, requiring you to scan your card in a scanner to get into the store. Geekwire.com reports that instead of flashing your card to an employee, the scanner will be able to tell if the person holding the card is really a member, since they have your photo on them. Costco says this is to prevent account sharing. The company claims it is able to sell items so cheaply partly due to the membership fees paid each year by members. When you pay, you will no longer need to have the card scanned again as has been the practice up to now. We may know later this year if Costco will adapt the new system to all stores.

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

Today’s Samsung Unpacked Highlights; Google Lays off Hundreds in Ad Division Switching to AI Powered Sales; Uber Shutters Booze Delivery Service Drizly; Semiconductor Revenue Declined in 2023

Posted: January 17, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung showed off the new Galaxy S24 phones at their latest Unpacked event today. The S24 Ultra has a titanium body like the iPhone 15, and more notably, a flat screen…after years of the curved OLED panels we’ve seen on the Samsung phones. Arstechnica.com reports that the new Ultra has 42% slimmer bezels and that the front hole punch cam cutout is 11% smaller than on the S23 Ultra. The bottom still houses an S-Pen for handwriting and drawing. The Ultra got a $100 price bump, so will set you back $1300…a hundred more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and $300 more than the Pixel 8 Pro. As we previously reported, Samsung will match Google with  “seven years of security updates and seven generations of OS upgrades.” Samsung spent a lot of time talking about the generative AI in the phone, which it calls ‘Galaxy AI.’ The keyboard’s “Chat Assist” will let you enter text, then change the tone to something like “professional” or “fun” before sending it. The notes app can reformat your typed notes. The phone app can live-translate your speech into another language and vice versa. Samsung’s updated voice recorder app will now transcribe multiple speakers and AI-generate a summary of the recording. “Browsing Assist” in Samsung’s browser will summarize websites. “Generative edit” in the photo editor will create missing background chunks when you cut and paste an object or reframe a photo. Preorders start now, with the phones in stores on January 31st.

Google has apparently laid off ‘hundreds of employees’ from its ad sales team. Remaining employees won’t be picking up the slack, either…the work is to be handled by AI. Arstechnica.com reports that most of the layoffs are in the ‘Large Customer Sales’ team. Some employees have been reassigned as opposed to laid off. Part of what an AI system will be doing is helping people navigate the large selection of ad products; another system can just make ad assets like images and text on its own based on a budget and goals given by the ad purchaser. Google used to have humans do sales guidance for its products, create art assets, and decide on text and layouts, but now AI can do it a thousand times a second. A few years ago, Google tried programmatic buying of radio time that was unsold by stations. That experiment was closed down after a while, as it proved to be not quite ready for prime time. Time will tell how the AI does…for clients that know exactly what they want, it may actually be fine…for those who are less sophisticated at ad buying…maybe not.

Back in 2021, Uber bought Drizly for $1.1 billion, thinking that adding it to their food delivery service might be a plus. The food delivery biz kept losses manageable for Uber during the pandemic. Engadget.com notes that Uber’s SVP of delivery said that they were shutting down the US based alcohol delivery service to focus on its ‘core Uber Eats strategy.’  Uber integrated Drizly’s offerings into its Eats app, but the alcohol delivery service maintained a separate application of its own. In a statement, Uber said customers can get almost anything from food to groceries to alcohol, all on a single app. So the shutdown of Drizly doesn’t mean Uber will no longer deliver alcohol…your booze delivery is safe.

Gartner has crunched the numbers, and worldwide semiconductor sales revenue dropped 11% in 2023. The revenue total was $533 billion. Gartner notes that the semiconductor industry tends to be cyclical, but said “while the cyclicality in the semiconductor industry was present again in 2023, the market suffered a difficult year with memory revenue recording one of its worst declines in history.” Intel did reclaim the #1 spot from Samsung after two years. Nvidia grew revenue 56.4% and made it into the top 5 for the first time ever. 

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

Last 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.

Apple Publishes First AI Paper; Google Pixel Owners Seeing Problems; Lots More Tech IPOs in 2017

Posted: December 26, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Aside 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.

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