“The infrastructure provisioning will continue to be the biggest contributor in overall spent,” Srinivasamurthy said | File image
1 min read Last Updated : May 14 2024 | 1:46 PM IST
Spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the country may triple to $5 billion by 2027, an Intel-IDC report released on Tuesday said.
According to the report, entities in India spent $1,703.8 million on AI in 2023.
“AI spending in India is expected to increase to $5 billion with CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 31.5 per cent between 2023 to 2027. By 2027 AI will be everywhere,” Sharath Srinivasamurthy, Associate Vice President, IDC said.
He said that in 2023, major spending of $209 million was driven by AI infrastructure provisioning and related software.
It was followed by augmented customer service agents at $168.8 million, digital assistance $113.1 million, augmented threat intelligence $100.1 million and programme advisors recommendation systems $97.1 million.
“The infrastructure provisioning will continue to be the biggest contributor in overall spent,” Srinivasamurthy said.
Intel India Region Vice President and Managing Director, Santhosh Viswanathan said India is ready for AI as around 20 per cent of the world’s data is produced in the country and it is the third biggest global market.
Viswanathan said India leads globally in terms of technical skill availability.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
1 min read Last Updated : May 14 2024 | 1:01 PM IST
Meta Platforms is exploring making earphones powered by artificial intelligence with cameras, The Information reported on Monday citing employees familiar with the matter.
A slew of companies, from startups to conglomerates including Meta, are looking to develop AI-based wearable devices to capture growing interest in the sector.
The Facebook-parent expects the device, being explored under a project named “Camerabuds”, to identify objects and translate foreign languages, the report added.
Meta announced new generation Ray-Ban smart glasses, priced at $299, in September last year, which will also have its AI built in, with the ability to give information on the item a user is looking at.
The Instagram and WhatsApp owner did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
4 min read Last Updated : May 14 2024 | 12:15 PM IST
Apple has released iOS 17.5, two months after the release of iOS 17.4 and a month after testing the new platform update for supported iPhones in beta. This could be the last major iOS 17 version update as Apple plans to introduce the iOS 18 with artificial intelligence-powered features at its annual developers-focused event, Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), on June 10. Alongside the iOS 17.5, Apple has rolled out new platform updates for the Watch Series, HomePods, Apple TV, and Mac line of laptops and desktops.
iOS 17.5 What’s new
iOS 17.5 brings security updates, bug fixes, Apple News enhancements, and a new Pride Radiance wallpaper for the lock screen.
Apple News
Available for Apple News+ (or Apple One subscribers), the update includes offline mode in Apple News that will allow users to access some sections of the “Today feed” and “News+” tab without internet connection.
In addition, News Plus subscribers on iOS can now play Quartile, a new word game, and Game Center has been integrated into the news app, which will allow users to join the global leaderboard. Scoreboard in News and Puzzles also gives access to new player data for Crossword, Mini Crossword and Quartiles, including stats and streaks.
Tracking Notifications
Apple has expanded its anti-stalking feature to support Google’s “Find My Device” network. Essentially, Apple iPhones on iOS 17.5 will now notify the user if it detects a compatible Bluetooth tracker following it around. This is cross-platform tracking detection and operates regardless of what operating system the device is paired with.
Other features
iOS 17.5 brings a new repair state mode, which will do away with the waiting for an hour to turn Find My off when the iPhone is taken for repair. Also included with this update is Apple’s 2024 Pride wallpaper and matching Apple Watch face that were introduced with watchOS 10.5.
The update also offers a new dynamic colour for the Podcasts widget that will change as per what you are listening to. One can also now find recently played podcasts in Spotlight search, although only the last three podcasts you listened to are available. With this update, the Books app has received a counter in the top right corner of the app’s homepage. On tapping, the app takes you to your Reading Goals menu and shows you how much time you’ve spent reading today.
The update also comes with an Apple Universal Link for eSIM install, which gives a link instead of a QR code to activate an eSIM on your iPhone.
Some of the features may not be available in all the regions. If you are a user of the latest iPhone, you will be able to get your hands on the latest iOS.
As a part of Digital Markets Act, only for the European Union for now, Apple has allowed developers to distribute their apps directly on the web and as a result, European Union based iPhone users running iOS 17.5 can download apps directly from their respective website, eliminating the need for an app store.
How to install
To download and install the latest iOS on a compatible iPhone, go-to Settings, then General and then tap on the Software Update.
Compatibility
The update is available to iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd gen), iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone SE (3rd gen), iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
5 min read Last Updated : May 14 2024 | 11:32 AM IST
OpenAI has announced GPT-4o, its maiden artificial intelligence model with native support to reason across audio, visual and text. OpenAI said the “o” in GPT-4o stands for “Omni”, since it is much better at understanding and interpreting texts, images and audios than its predecessor. Alongside, the company announced ChatGPT application for Apple’s macOS-based desktops, and previewed conversational AI in Voice Mode. Below are the details:
GPT-4o
OpenAI calls the GPT-4o “a step towards much more natural human-computer interaction”. The new version of the company’s GPT-4 model is capable of taking any combination of text, audio and image as input and producing output along the same lines. The GPT-4o model can respond to audio inputs in 232 milliseconds, which the company said is similar to a human’s response time during a conversation.
Comparing it to the existing GPT-4 Turbo model, which is another iteration of the company’s GPT-4 model, the GPT-4o matches its performance for English text understanding and coding, while significantly outperforming it in audio understanding. The GPT-4o model also brings significant improvements on text in non-English languages.
OpenAI said the GPT-4o model brings significant improvements in understanding images. For example, with ChatGPT based on GPT-4o, users can share an image of a food menu in different languages and ask the chatbot to translate it, learn about the food’s history, and get recommendations based on it.
Voice Mode with GPT-4o
Talkback feature in Voice Mode already exists in ChatGPT across both free and paid tires. However, OpenAI said that the new GPT-4o model brings significant improvements to it. OpenAI said the GPT-4o is its most advanced model that is trained end-to-end across text, vision, and audio, meaning that all inputs and outputs are processed by the same neural network. It essentially lowers down the latency for natural conversational experience and improves results since all the information is processed over the same neural network.
Prior to GPT-4o, OpenAI said, you could use Voice Mode to talk to ChatGPT with latencies of 2.8 seconds (GPT-3.5) and 5.4 seconds (GPT-4) on average. This latency is the result of a data processing pipeline of three separate models: one simple model transcribes audio to text, GPT-3.5 or GPT-4 takes in text and outputs text, and a third simple model converts that text back to audio. According to OpenAI, this process resulted in loss of lots of information to the main source of intelligence, GPT-4.
ChatGPT app for macOS
Expanding the ChatGPT app ecosystem, OpenAI launched the chatbot app for Apple’s macOS-based desktops. The ChatGPT app for macOS will have deeper integration into the platform. With a keyboard shortcut (Option + Space) users will be directed on to the conversation page of ChatGPT to prompt the chatbot with a query.
OpenAI confirmed that it is currently working on the Windows version of the app that will be launched “later this year”.
The macOS app for ChatGPT is currently rolling-out to Plus subscribers and will also be available to free tier users in the coming weeks.
ChatGPT app for macOS
Expanding more capabilities to free users
The new GPT-4o model is available on ChatGPT for free tier users, but with a limit on the number of messages. This limit will depend on usage and demand at the time of use and ChatGPT will automatically switch to GPT-3.5 once the limit is reached. However, while using chatGPT with GPT-4o, a free tier user will get access to some of the advanced features which were limited to paid tier subscribers earlier.
A free tier user with GPT-4o can upload files and pictures for summarising, analysing, and more. With the new model, free users can leverage the “Memory” feature and ask ChatGPT to remember information for future conversations. Additionally, free tier users will get access to the GPT Store for browsing and using custom bots. The GPT store was launched earlier this year for paid subscribers, allowing users to create their own chatbots, called GPTs, and share them on the store for other users. While free tier users will gain access to the GPT store and custom GPTs, they cannot create and share one.
What remains exclusive to paid-tier users
While free-tier users are getting features that were previously limited to the paid tier, the new Voice Mode with GPT-4o will remain exclusive to paid-tier subscribers. The Voice Mode with GPT-4o model support will be rolled-out to ChatGPT Plus subscribers in the coming weeks, while it will be soon available to Team and enterprise users. OpenAI is also rolling-out the GPT-4o model to paid subscribers with “fewer limitations”.
The new model is rolling-out to ChatGPT Plus and Team users, while it will be available for Enterprise users in the coming days. The company said that Plus users will have a message limit up to 5 times greater than free users, and Team and Enterprise users will have even higher limits.
Paid users of GPT-4o will have greater capacity limits than the company’s paid users, Murati said. Photo: Reuters
2 min read Last Updated : May 13 2024 | 11:25 PM IST
ChatGPT maker OpenAI said on Monday it would release a new AI model called GPT-4o, which reasons across voice, text and vision.
OpenAI’s chief technology officer, Mira Murati, said during a livestream event that the new GPT-4o model would be offered for free because it is more efficient than the company’s previous models.
OpenAI researchers showed off ChatGPT’s new voice assistant capabilities. In one demonstration, the ChatGPT voice assistant was able to read out a bedtime story in different voices, emotions and tones.
In a second demonstration, the ChatGPT voice assistant used it vision capabilities to walk through solving a math equation written on a sheet of paper.
Paid users of GPT-4o will have greater capacity limits than the company’s paid users, Murati said.
OpenAI is under pressure to expand the user base of ChatGPT, its popular chatbot product that wowed the world with its ability to produce human-like written content and top-notch software code.
Shortly after launching in late 2022, ChatGPT was called the fastest application to ever reach 100 million monthly active users. However, worldwide traffic to ChatGPT’s website has been on a roller-coaster ride in the past year and is only now returning to its May 2023 peak, according to analytics firm Similarweb.
Giving ChatGPT the search engine-like capability of accessing and linking to up-to-date, accurate Web information is an obvious next step, and one that the current iteration of ChatGPT finds challenging, industry experts have said.
OpenAI made the announcements a day before Alphabet is scheduled to hold its annual Google developers conference, where it is expected to show off its own new AI-related features.
4 min read Last Updated : May 13 2024 | 8:05 PM IST
The recently launched Google Pixel 8a smartphone is set to go on sale from 6:30 am on May 14. The more affordable smartphone in the Pixel 8 series, the Pixel 8a, is powered by the same Tensor G3 chip that powers the other two smartphones in the series, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Additionally, the smartphone gets select artificial intelligence features from its elder siblings, such as Google Gemini and gesture-driven Circle to Search. Following suit with other models in the Pixel 8 series, the Pixel 8a is promised seven years of software support, encompassing security updates, Android OS upgrades, and feature drops.
Check out the unboxing and first look of the Google Pixel 8a in the video at the end of this article.
Google Pixel 8a: Price and variants
The Google Pixel 8a is being offered in 128GB and 256GB on-board storage configurations along with 8GB RAM standard across both models. Priced at Rs 52,999 onwards, the Pixel 8a is available in two new colourways – Aloe and Bay – apart from the existing Obsidian and Porcelain colours.
8GB RAM + 128GB Storage: Rs 52,999
8GB RAM + 256GB Storage: Rs 59,999
Colours: Aloe, Bay, Obsidian, and Porcelain
Google Pixel 8a: Availability and introductory offers
The Google Pixel 8a smartphone is currently available for pre-orders on the e-commerce platform Flipkart, however, open sale is scheduled to commence on May 14 from 6:30 AM onwards.
In collaboration with Flipkart, Google is offering discounts of up to Rs 4,000 and no-interest equated monthly instalment (no-cost EMI) plans of up to 12 months with select bank cards. Additionally, customers can get an exchange bonus of up to Rs 9,000 atop the exchange value of select smartphone models in trade-in deals.
Google Pixel 8a: Details
Display: The Pixel 8a features a 6.1-inch fullHD OLED display of up to 120Hz refresh rate. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and offers 2000 nits peak brightness and 1400 nits HDR brightness.
Performance: Powered by the Google Tensor G3 chip, the Pixel 8a smartphone offers storage configurations of 128GB (UFS 3.1) and 256GB (UFS 3.1), both coupled with LPDDR5x 8GB RAM. In addition to the main processor, The Pixel 8a features Titan M2 security coprocessor specially designed to offer multi-layer security on the smartphone at the hardware level.
Camera: Imaging on the Pixel 8a is covered by a dual-camera system on the rear, comprising a 64-megapixel main sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and electronic image stabilisation (EIS). Alongside the primary sensor, the smartphone sports a 13MP ultra-wide-angle sensor with a 120-degree field-of-view (FoV). On the front, there is a 13MP camera sensor.
Battery and charging: Powered by a 4492mAh battery, the Pixel 8a is compatible with both wired and wireless (Qi) charging methods. Google said that the smartphone offers 24+ hours of battery life which can be extended up to 72 hours with extreme Battery Saver.
OS: The smartphone runs on Android 14 with a clean user interface. As for the updates, Google has promised seven years of software support, encompassing security updates, Android OS upgrades, and feature drops.
Google Pixel 8a: AI features
The Google Pixel 8a features select AI-driven functionalities from its higher-tier counterparts, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. These encompass Gemini AI integration, gesture driven Circle to Search, alongside camera-centric features such as “Best Take”, “Magic Editor” and “Audio Magic Eraser”. Additional features include Super Res Zoom (up to 8x), as well as capabilities like Magic Eraser, Night Sight, and Photo Unblur. Similar to other Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 8a integrates “Real Tone” technology to faithfully represent skin tones in captured photos and videos.
Google Pixel 8a: Specifications
Display: 6.1-inch, FullHD, OLED, 120Hz, 1400 nits (HDR) and up to 2000 nits (peak)
