Micron Technology has been selected to receive up to $6.14 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding from the federal government. The Boise, Idaho-based tech firm says it will use the funds to construct four new fabrication plants — two in its hometown and two in New York State. Micron has committed an investment of up to $125 billion across both states over the next two decades as it endeavors to build a leading-edge memory manufacturing ecosystem. President Biden announced the preliminary funding agreement during a trip to the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology in Syracuse, New York. Continue reading Micron Awarded CHIPS Funds for Fabs in Idaho and New York

The Federal Communications Commission voted to reinstate net neutrality rules on Thursday, returning to the Obama-era approach of establishing a level playing field for online platforms, regardless of size. The commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecommunications service, the equivalent of a public utility, which means it can be regulated like power and water. However, the FCC qualified that while it would be treating the Internet as an essential service, it will exercise its authority “in a narrowly tailored fashion.” Continue reading Internet Regulation: FCC Votes to Restore Net Neutrality Rules

The trend toward small language models that can efficiently run on a single device instead of requiring cloud connectivity has emerged as a focus for Big Tech companies involved in artificial intelligence. Apple has released the OpenELM family of open-source models as its entry in that field. OpenELM uses “a layer-wise scaling strategy” to efficiently allocate parameters within each layer of the transformer model, resulting in what Apple claims is “enhanced accuracy.” The “ELM” stands for “Efficient Language Models,” and one media outlet couches it as “the future of AI on the iPhone.” Continue reading Apple Unveils OpenELM Tech Optimized for Local Applications

Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is preparing to launch a streaming video app for smart TVs. Though still in development, with no formal launch date announced, X CEO Linda Yaccarino posted a “sneak peek” that indicates the app will have a “trending” algorithm that pushes popular content and will be AI-powered to deliver a “personalized experience.” Yaccarino said the X video app will also have “effortless casting” so content can be easily sent to a larger screen from a mobile device. Availability is billed as “coming soon to most smart TVs.” Continue reading Yaccarino Says X Streaming Video App for TVs ‘Coming Soon’

Congress rapidly passed and President Biden signed into law a bill intended to sideline the short-form video service TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance. The process played out over the course of a week — the result of the proposal being tied to a foreign aid package with support for Ukraine and Israel. The nation now readies for the aftermath of the new U.S. law, which gives ByteDance nine months to find a new, U.S.-approved owner. Absent that, the app will essentially be banned from app stores and ISPs, which will face fines for distributing or supporting the social platform. Continue reading U.S. Braces for TikTok Ban After President Signs Bill into Law

Meta Platforms has rebranded its Quest VR operating system Horizon OS and is opening the platform to third parties. While licensing terms have not been publicly disclosed, Asus and Lenovo have said they’re going to be designing hardware using the system. Microsoft and Qualcomm are also in round one of the companies on the inside track as Meta positions Horizon OS along the lines of a universal VR standard, not unlike Microsoft’s Windows OS for computers. All four companies have already been working with Meta on VR for Quest or its predecessor, Oculus. Continue reading Meta Opens Mixed Reality OS to Third-Party Hardware Makers

Microsoft, which has been developing small language models (SLMs) for some time, has announced its most-capable SLM family, Phi-3. SLMs can accomplish some of the same functions as LLMs, but are smaller and trained on less data. That smaller footprint makes them well suited to run in a local environment, which means they’re ideal for smartphones, where in theory they would not even need an Internet connection to run. Microsoft claims the Phi-3 open models can outperform “models of the same size and next size up across a variety of benchmarks that evaluate language, coding and math capabilities.” Continue reading Microsoft Small Language Models Are Ideal for Smartphones

The Comcast NOW suite of low-cost prepaid Wi-Fi and streaming TV service is gaining Internet and mobile products that consumers can purchase month-to-month. NOW Mobile proffers unlimited 5G data, talk and text, with access to more than 23 million Wi-Fi hotspots, for $25 per line. NOW Internet offers “more reliability than fixed wireless options” starting at $30 per month for 100 Mbps, or $45 per month for 200 Mbps. Each tier includes unlimited data and an Xfinity 5G gateway. The packages join NOW TV and NOW WiFi Pass in Comcast’s prepaid portfolio. Continue reading Comcast Offers Prepaid Month-to-Month Phone and Internet

Adobe plans to add generative AI capabilities to its Premiere Pro editing platform and is exploring the update with third-party AI technologies including OpenAI’s Sora, as well as models from Runway and Pika Labs, making it easier “to draw on the strengths of different models” within everyday workflows, according to Adobe. Editors will gain the ability to generate and add objects into scenes or shots, remove unwanted elements with a click, and even extend frames and footage length. The company is also developing a video model for its own Firefly AI for video and audio work in Premiere Pro. Continue reading Adobe Considers Sora, Pika and Runway AI for Premiere Pro

Virtual reality firm Pimax has unveiled two new headsets. The Crystal Super is a high-resolution performance model which starts at $1,800, while the Crystal Light will carry a base list of $700. The Crystal Super packs 29.5 million pixels and allows users to swap between QLED and micro-OLED panels, which Pimxax claims is a first. The Crystal Light offers the same 16.6 million pixels as its Crystal predecessor, but at a more affordable price. At its annual Frontier virtual event, Pimax also shared the specs for its 60G Airlink module, designed for high-fidelity wireless PCVR using WiGig technology. Continue reading Pimax Intros VR Headset with Switchable QLED, OLED Panels

Sony’s new line of Bravia televisions focuses on MiniLED display tech with the high-end Bravia 9. There is also the OLED-based Bravia 8, and the company is keeping 2023’s A95L QD-OLED in the mix. But the spotlight is in the LED backlighting system that Sony has spent several years refining, XR Backlight Master Drive, which can assert precise control over each pixel. Sony says the technology is comparable to the underpinnings of its professional mastering monitors. The XR Backlight Master Drive system allocates LED resources using purpose-built silicon created by Sony for its MiniLED TVs. Continue reading Sony Rolls Out Brighter, Better-Sounding Bravia TVs for 2024

Google is implementing an internal reorganization that combines its Android and hardware teams. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new Platforms & Devices team headed by Rick Osterloh, which includes Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Photos and all Pixel products. Pichai says the move will help speed development. Osterloh’s mandate is full-stack platform development that smoothly incorporates AI across all Google platforms, including smartphones, TVs and anything with Android OS. Hiroshi Lockheimer, who previously ran ops for Android, Chrome and ChromeOS, moves on to other projects at Google and Alphabet. Continue reading Google Merges Android and Hardware Units for AI Efficiency

Motorola has three new flagship Edge phones that sport AI features to improve photographic performance and overall usability. The top-of-the-line Edge 50 Ultra, mid-level Edge 50 Pro, and economy Edge 50 Fusion are being released in Europe with the line “expanding” to North America later this year. Thanks to “moto ai,” these phones will “elevate every interaction by empowering users to intuitively create content, personalize their device, obtain the information they seek, and accomplish more,” the Lenovo subsidiary said, promising the world’s first “Pantone-validated” smartphone camera and display, with Motorola’s “most advanced solutions for capturing motion.” Continue reading Motorola Begins Launch of AI-Packed Edge Series in Europe

Netflix has added 9.33 million paid subscribers in Q1, a 16 percent year-over-year increase to 269.6 million worldwide. The growth, attributed largely to a password-sharing crackdown, has delivered the company’s strongest first-quarter customer expansion since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dominant global streamer boosted Q1 revenue by nearly 15 percent year-over-year, to $9.37 billion, and drove profits to more than $2.3 billion for the quarter, a 78.7 percent gain over the same period last year (and a 148 percent leap from Q4’s $938 million). A surprise to many, Netflix announced it will cease reporting quarterly subscriber gains in Q1 2025. Continue reading Netflix Adds 9.3 Million Subscribers, $2.3 Billion in Profit in Q1

Pursuant to his goal of “building the world’s leading AI,” Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Friday that Meta AI is upgrading to Llama 3 concurrent with a rollout of its open-source chatbot across the company’s social platforms, integrating it into the search boxes atop WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. There is also a website, meta.ai, for those who prefer browser access. Reports of Meta upgrading its social AI capabilities began leaking out early last week, albeit on a more limited test scale than what Zuckerberg announced, which, excepting Threads, is cross-platform. Continue reading Meta AI Assistant Is Launching Across Platforms with Llama 3