Sunday, December 22, 2024

What’s New In the Consumer Tech World Last Week? News That You Should Know (May 26-May 31) – Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

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The Internet Archive, home to 835 billion web pages, is experiencing a swift decay of its content. A recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed that 38% of web pages that existed in 2013 have disappeared, and 8% of those from 2023 are now missing.

In April, consumer spending in the U.S. gaming market decreased by 3% year-over-year to $4.1 billion. Despite this decline, spending on game content — including physical and digital games, add-on content, and subscriptions — rose by 2% to $3.7 billion.

A Booth School of Business study at the University of Chicago found OpenAI’s GPT-4 more proficient than humans in financial analysis and forecasting, even without industry-specific information.

At the recent Benzinga virtual event, “AI Unleashed: Exploring the Possibilities,” Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors, announced a new focus on investing in India. The event examined artificial intelligence’s potential and highlighted Link’s strategy to diversify her portfolio by tapping into emerging markets.

Smartphones

Apple Inc.’s AAPL first OLED-screen tablet, the iPad Pro, reportedly has a shipment target exceeding 9 million units. This is particularly significant considering the recent decline in the overall IT device market.

Read: When Apple Plunged Into Severe Losses, Steve Jobs Used These 3 Simple Strategies To Save Cupertino From Bankruptcy

Apple designers have now hinted at a potential design change for future iPad models, suggesting that the iconic “bitten apple” logo could be repositioned.

Apple is likely to introduce its first OLED MacBook Pro model in 2026. The company also paused the mass production of its iPhone 16 Pro Max screens due to quality issues.

Also Read: As Apple’s iPhone 16 Launch Nears, Report Says More Than Half Of World’s Smartphones Will Be AI Capable By 2028: Here Are Top 5 Use Cases

Apple shared its schedule for the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) as the Tim Cook-led company is expected to unveil its AI strategy and unveil updates to its operating systems, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2.

Also Read: Apple Had To ‘Rethink’ Entire Architecture Of Pencil Just To Add This New Feature: It Was ‘One Of The Most Difficult Things’

Apple is reportedly working on a TV+ app for Android, as it seeks to fill the role of a senior engineer who can build a television and sports app.

Users with compatible Android phones and tablets can now get their hands on AirTag-like trackers within a relatively short timeframe, thanks to the wider rollout of the Find My Device network.

Related: Android Users Getting Pixelated GIFs From iPhones Via Google Messages: What’s Going On?

Social Media & Streaming Platform

Netflix Inc NFLX is developing an animated series based on the popular game “Minecraft.” It is also planning to bank on the success of “Squid Game: The Challenge,” as it gears up to launch a new reality game show, “Million Dollar Secret.”

MrBeast took to X, formerly Twitter, and announced the launch of ViewStats, a comprehensive analytics tool for YouTube creators. The website, which underwent several months of beta testing, provides detailed data to assist YouTubers in optimizing their channels.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has shared his vision for the platform’s future, which includes a significant expansion beyond mobile devices.

Related: YouTube Videos Reportedly Skipping To The End For Ad Block Users: Bug Or Strategy?

Meta Platforms Inc.’s META has taken down numerous Facebook accounts linked to covert influence campaigns from various countries, including China, Iran, Russia and Israel.

In response to mounting criticism over inadequate safeguards for teenagers, Instagram is extending its “Limits” feature to enhance user protection against online harassment.

Amazon.com Inc AMZN looks to wield artificial intelligence (AI) to best its rivals in today’s streaming environment and confirmed that its Alexa-powered AI feature will be implemented within Fire TV’s search.

Gaming

Sony Group Corp. SONY announced that PlayStation’s Days of Play 2024 will start on May 29 and run until June 12, while featuring various discounts and activities.

PlayStation 5 (PS5) generation is officially the company’s most profitable console generation to date. IGN reported the PS5 has generated $106 billion in sales since its launch, surpassing the sales pace of all previous consoles at the same point in their lifecycles.

Sony has made progress toward allowing PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) headsets to work with personal computers. According to The Verge, citing VR enthusiast Brad Lynch, Sony is “certifying an adapter” to allow PSVR2 hardware to work on PCs.

Microsoft Corp. MSFT announced that the upcoming “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” will be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch, alongside its retail and digital versions.

The U.S. District Court ordered cheat maker EngineOwning to pay Microsoft’s Activision over $14 million and transfer its domain name.

Tech

An upcoming version of Microsoft’s Phone Link app for Windows 11 users will add the ability to select and copy text from images synced from Android phones. The feature, currently in beta testing, is expected to be widely available soon.

Google has declared a $2 billion investment plan to establish its inaugural data center and Google Cloud region in Malaysia.

Google and augmented reality startup Magic Leap have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at creating immersive experiences that integrate the physical and digital realms.

Google has confirmed the authenticity of 2,500 leaked internal documents that provide insight into its data collection practices and search ranking algorithm.

Tesla & Elon Musk

Tesla Inc. TSLA and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has chimed in on the growing troubles with Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG Google Search and has shared a hack to improve the quality of results.

Elon Musk’s xAI has successfully secured $6 billion in a Series B funding round at a reported post-money valuation of $24 billion.

Related: Elon Musk’s xAI Raises $6B: Here’s Where It Stands Against OpenAI, Anthropic And Other AI Rivals

Tesla launched several video game initiatives over the years, which shouldn’t be a surprise given CEO Elon Musk’s love of video games. Tesla owners could have a new competitive video game feature.

Qatar Airways announced on Thursday its partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink to begin offering complimentary Wi-Fi on three of its Boeing 777-300 aircraft by the fourth quarter of this year.

Also Read: Elon Musk Mocks Steve Jobs, Agrees Apple Could Be ‘Light Years’ Ahead Of Competition If It Embraced Open Source: ‘Cultural Legacy’

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Jeremie Harris and Edouard Harris from Gladstone AI recently highlighted a major ethical dispute in AI development — a debate that has garnered much attention since Google’s Larry Page called Elon Musk “speciesist” last year for prioritizing human interests in AI advancements.

OpenAI has unlocked several features like custom GPTs, Vision, and Data Analytics for free users of ChatGPT after having kept them exclusive for paid users for several months now.

OpenAI’s CEO and co-founder, Sam Altman, has committed to donating a majority of his wealth by signing up for Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ pledge.

Former OpenAI board member, Helen Toner, has disclosed that the board was kept in the dark about the launch of the company’s chatbot, ChatGPT, in November 2022. The board members only discovered the launch via Twitter, now rebranded as X.

Related: Former OpenAI Board Member Who Tried To Oust Sam Altman Says CEO Was Fired From Y Combinator And Another Startup For ‘Deceptive And Chaotic Behavior’

Former co-lead of OpenAI’s “Superalighnment” team, Jan Leike, has joined its competitor Anthropic just days after resigning from his position at the Sam Altman-led company over safety concerns.

Also Read: Google AI Search Tells Woman To Use Glue On Pizza To Keep Cheese In Place, And She Did: Here’s What Happened Next

Vox Media and The Atlantic announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI, as per which they will integrate Vox Media’s portfolio and The Atlantic’s articles into ChatGPT and other OpenAI products.

Elon Musk’s efforts to attract AI professionals to his company, xAI, have been met with derision by Meta’s AI chief Yann LeCun, leading to a renewed clash between the two tech heavyweights.

Elon Musk and Yann LeCun’s public spat that restarted on Monday ignited once again the following day when the tech behemoths clashed over the definition of science.  LeCun further proposed that Musk could leverage a new paper from Fundamenta AI Research or FAIR, a team at Meta, to enhance xAI’s Grok.

Yann LeCun, thinks it’s “too early to worry” about regulating bleeding-edge technology like artificial intelligence, and xAI founder Elon Musk thinks it will happen regardless.

Related: Former OpenAI Board Members Call For Stricter AI Regulation To ‘Tame Market Forces:’ ‘For Humanity’s Sake’

Apple has reportedly reached an agreement with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT into iOS 18, despite possible opposition by the company’s AI chief John Giannandrea.

Photo: Shutterstock

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