Weekly Tech Recap: Top 5 news of the week
1) Apple introduces Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 and more at WWDC 2024:
Tim Cook led Apple held its WWDC 2024 event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. At the event, Apple introduced iOS 18, MacOS Sequoia, iPadOS 18, WatchOS 11 and VisionOS 2.
However, the highlight of WWDC 2024 was Apple’s entrance into the generative AI space with Apple Intelligence. The new system will help power writing tools, categorise emails, transcribe and summarise audio, prioritise notifications and generate images and emojis (via Image Playground and Genmoji tools respectively).
Moreover, Siri is getting a major boost thanks to the generative AI capabilities of Apple Intelligence. With the new update, Siri is said to be getting more “natural, contextual and personal” to provide a simplified and faster user experience. Siri is also getting a design overhaul, with glowing lights wrapping around the edge of the user’s screen when Siri is active.
Apple has also partnered with OpenAI to allow Siri to access ChatGPT whenever it is lacking in information. However, users will first be prompted that their search queries are now being directed to ChatGPT.
2) Elon Musk hides likes on X:
Elon Musk-owned social media giant X (formerly Twitter) has announced that it will be hiding users’ likes by default.Soon after the announcement, Musk stated that there was a huge spike in the number of likes by users globally.
Earlier, users on the social media platform could visit other users’ pages and check what they liked on the platform. Only premium users were offered privacy.
3) YouTube tightens grip on third-party ad-blockers:
YouTube is reportedly stepping up its campaign against third-party ad blockers by embedding advertisements directly into video streams. This strategy could potentially nullify the effectiveness of current ad-blocking browser extensions. The move follows user complaints about videos skipping to the end when ad blockers are activated on the platform, owned by Alphabet Inc.
SponsorBlock, an extension that allows users to skip sponsored segments within YouTube videos, announced on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that YouTube is merging ads with video streams. Traditionally, advertisements and videos have been separate entities, with ads pausing videos at designated intervals.
This new method of integrating ads directly into the video stream could present a significant challenge for ad blockers, making it difficult to filter out advertisements. SponsorBlock expressed concerns that this server-side ad integration could disrupt its functionality by altering all timestamps to include ad durations.
4) Yahoo gets an AI-powered overhaul:
Yahoo has unveiled a major overhaul of its Yahoo News app, introducing a suite of advanced artificial intelligence features designed to enhance user experience on its platform. The update marks a significant integration of technology originally developed for the now-defunct AI news app Artifact, which Yahoo acquired earlier this year.
Reportedly, the revamped Yahoo News app now boasts a highly customizable feed, allowing users to tailor their content preferences with ease. Through sophisticated AI algorithms, the app delivers personalized news recommendations based on selected topics and preferred publishers. This ensures that users see more of the content that matters most to them, all conveniently consolidated in one place.
One of the standout features introduced is the ‘Key Takeaways’ tool, which provides concise summaries of news articles right at the top. This feature aims to offer users a quick overview of the main points of each story, enabling them to stay informed efficiently. Additionally, Yahoo News now includes a ‘Top Stories’ section, highlighting the most trending news topics globally, ensuring users are always up-to-date with the latest developments.
5) HMD introduces its first 2 feature phones with built-in UPI functionality:
Nokia phone maker HMD has launched its first branded phones in India. The new feature phones: HMD 105 and HMD 110 come with a similar design, including a round camera module at the back, a curved frame and a textured finish.
The HMD 105 and HMD 110 are 2G handsets and feature a 1,000mAh battery, which is said to provide up to 18 days of standby time. It supports 9 input languages and 23 languages for text display.
The interesting thing about these devices is a new built-in UPI functionality, which is said to allow users to make UPI transactions even without internet access.
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Published: 16 Jun 2024, 11:23 AM IST