California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order for state agencies to study artificial intelligence and its impact on society and the economy. “We’re only scratching the surface of understanding what GenAI is capable of,” Newsom suggested. Recognizing “both the potential benefits and risks these tools enable,” he said his administration is “neither frozen by the fears nor hypnotized by the upside.” The move was couched as a “measured approach” that will help California “focus on shaping the future of ethical, transparent, and trustworthy AI, while remaining the world’s AI leader.” Continue reading Governor Newsom Orders Study of GenAI Benefits and Risks

E.W. Scripps subsidiary Nuvyyo has released a redesigned version of its Tablo DVR that will “better meet the needs of consumers by providing an enhanced over-the-air TV experience with content recommendations and a curated selection of free ad-supported streaming TV channels integrated into the live TV program guide,” the company explains. The puck-like device is available for a one-time hardware fee, with no subscription, contracts or fees required. The Tablo sells for $99.95 at TabloTV.com, Best Buy and Amazon, while the Tablo Total System, which includes a 35-mile indoor TV antenna, is available for the promotional price of $109.95 and will later cost $129.95. Continue reading New Tablo DVR Integrates FAST for Free All-in-One Solution

It’s an ideal time to outfit hybrid home workers, and Lenovo is going all-in on the concept, rolling out new tools for digital business users. Foremost among the digital offerings is the ThinkVision 27 3D, a 27-inch glasses-free 2D/3D compatible monitor with real-time eye-tracking. Designed for developers and professional content creators like graphic artists or product designers who can benefit from immersive 3D visualization, ThinkVision has a max resolution of 1920×2160 for 3D and displays flat at 3840×2160, thanks to a lenticular lens in the monitor that can toggle between the two. Continue reading Lenovo Offers Glasses-Free 3D at 4K via ThinkVision Monitor

Walmart is putting generative AI in the hands of roughly 50,000 non-store U.S. employees who will have access to My Assistant, an LLM trained on information. From speeding the drafting process to serving as a creative partner and summarizing documents, “My Assistant has the potential to change how our associates work and solve problems,” Walmart said, emphasizing the launch goes beyond productivity gains. “We believe the key to unlocking transformation lies in the creativity and innovation of our associates. Ideally, this technology will free them from monotonous, repetitive tasks, allowing more time and focus for improving the customer/member experience.”  Continue reading Walmart Is ‘Empowering’ 50,000 U.S. Associates with GenAI

Sony has introduced two new cameras in its 7C series of compact full-frame interchangeable lens cameras for photographers and videographers. The new Alpha 7C R model has a 61-megapixel high-resolution sensor. The second-generation Alpha 7C II is equipped with a full-frame sensor for 33 effective MP. Both are compact and lightweight (approximately 18 ounces), combining quality and portability for stills and clips. “As the demand for sending and sharing captured content on social media networks has increased, more creators are looking for a combination of compact size and high imaging performance in mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras,” Sony says. Continue reading Sony Showcases New Alpha 7C Series Cameras at IFA 2023

Lenovo marks its entry in the Windows handheld gaming space with the Legion Go. Combining mobility with high performance, the Legion Go joins an expanding Lenovo Legion ecosystem for immersive gaming that includes new micro OLED-equipped Lenovo Legion Glasses for a big-screen experience anywhere, the Legion 9i gaming laptop, and Legion E510 7.1 RGB Gaming In-Ear Headphones for high-quality audio. With Nintendo Switch-like detachable controllers, the Legion Go is a handheld device that accommodates multiplayer gaming. The Legion Space game hub allows users to access cloud platforms as well as locally stored games in a central location. Continue reading Lenovo’s Premium Mobile Gamer Has Detachable Controllers

Samsung and LG have entered into a smart home pact that enables each firm’s large home appliances to be controlled by the other’s app. This collaboration sprang from the Home Connectivity Alliance, of which Samsung was a founding member in late 2021. As a result, LG’s ThinQ app will indicate when the door has been left open on a Samsung Family Hub smart fridge. Likewise, Samsung’s SmartThings app can instruct your LG dishwasher to turn on at a specific setting. Samsung was also talking-up 6G and artificial intelligence at this week’s IFA 2023 electronics trade show in Berlin. Continue reading Samsung and LG to Launch Interoperable Smart Home Apps

AI21 Labs, a pioneer in large language model artificial intelligence, has closed a $155 million Series-C funding that brings the Tel Aviv-based firm’s total raise to $283 million for a valuation of $1.4 billion. Investors include Google, Nvidia, Samsung Next, Walden Catalyst, Pitango, SCB 10X, b2venture, and AI21 co-founder Amnon Shashua. The company is best known for its flagship AI21 Studio product, a developer platform that lets customers pay as they go to build custom text-based business apps using AI21’s proprietary models, notably Jurassic-2. The firm’s portfolio also includes the multilingual reading and writing assistant Wordtune. Continue reading Major Tech Firms Help Boost Valuation of AI21 to $1.4 Billion

Seattle-area startup Irreverent Labs has shifted its focus from blockchain-based video games and NFTs to artificial intelligence. Specifically, it wants to build foundation models for text-to-video generation and related content creation tools. Text-to-video is being explored by several companies but is still in development. Samsung Next was intrigued enough with the proposition to invest an undisclosed sum in Irreverent. While there are several apps that output cartoonish results, ambitious efforts are limited. Animations that aim for photorealism, such as Meta’s Make-a-Video and Runway’s Gen-2, can output only four or five seconds of video at a time. Continue reading Samsung Next Invests in Irreverent Labs’ Text-to-Video Tech

Unveiled at IFA 2023, Sony’s Xperia 5 V is a smartphone aimed at creators that also happens to be an entertainment powerhouse. Features include a 6.1-inch OLED HD+ screen, Bravia X1 mobile image engine, and a front stage sound system with “powerful deep bass” that Sony says eliminates the need for external speakers. Building on the preceding model, upgrades include the Video Creator app, which edits select video content into a finished clip in about a minute. This new iteration shoots 4K video at up to 120fps in HDR and features optical image stabilization. A dedicated microphone can isolate and capture the main vocal amidst environmental noise and other voices. Continue reading Sony Xperia 5 V Phone Is Built for Creators and Entertainment

Google DeepMind and Google Cloud have teamed to launch what they claim is an indelible AI watermark tool, which if it works would mark an industry first. Called SynthID, the technique for identifying AI-generated images is being launched in beta. The technology embeds its digital watermark “directly into the pixels of an image, making it imperceptible to the human eye, but detectable for identification,” according to DeepMind. SynthID is being released to a limited number of Google’s Vertex AI customers using Imagen, a Google AI language model that generates photorealistic images. Continue reading Google Introduces an AI Watermark That Cannot Be Removed

Dolby Laboratories wants to make it easier for viewers to experience immersive TV sound with Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, a new product that enables seamless pairing of accessory wireless speakers with the TV’s onboard sound system to heighten the Dolby Atmos surround-sound technology. TCL is the first to announce it is adding Dolby Atmos FlexConnect to its 2024 television lineup and says it will also launch a line of purpose-made accessory wireless speakers to complement its FlexConnect TV offerings. With FlexConnect, a soundbar isn’t mandatory to optimize TV sound. Continue reading Dolby Atmos FlexConnect Intelligently Optimizes TV Speakers

The old saying “everybody’s in showbiz” has never been more true than in the creator economy. HubSpot’s 2022 “State of Consumer Trends” survey found that 30 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds identify as content creators, while 40 percent among those 25 to 34 also consider themselves creators. The newly formed Creators Guild of America (CGA) aims to give them a voice and a sense of community. The non-profit bills itself as a “professional services organization” that will provide educational and networking events with brands and studios and act as a watchdog on important issues like fair pay. Continue reading Creators Guild to Serve as Professional Services Organization

Google is making many of its most powerful cloud computing tools available commercially for the first time, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian shared at the company’s Cloud Next ’23 conference in San Francisco. In a bid to catch up with top AI rivals such as Amazon and Microsoft, the Google Distributed Cloud will open for general business including at the edge with Vertex AI and PaLM 2. Google Cloud will serve up AI from Anthropic, in which it is an investor, as well as from Meta Platforms. In addition, an AI-infused Gmail productivity suite is on the way. Continue reading Google Takes on the Competition with Cloud and AI Services

Google has unveiled a spate of security enhancements to products in its Google Workspace collection including Gmail and Drive. Artificial intelligence is helping to steer some of the changes, automating specific tasks. The upgrades take a new approach, combining the idea of zero trust with the concept of data loss prevention (DLP). Under zero trust, all users, devices and components are considered untrustworthy at all times — even those within an organization’s network. These Workspace tools are in development or at various stages of testing, but Google says they will begin going live in general release later this year and into Q1 2024. Continue reading Google Is Using AI to Bring Zero Trust Security to Workspace