Music platform Spotify launches AI-powered personalised music feature ‘DJ’

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 23, 2023 | Technology

Music streaming platform Spotify has launched its new Apersonalised music feature ‘DJ’ which is powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Currently rolling out in beta, the new feature will deliver a “curated lineup of music alongside commentary around the tracks and artists we think you’ll like in a stunningly realistic voice”, the company said in a blogpost on Wednesday.

The company defines the DJ feature as a personalised AI guide that knows users and their “music taste” so well that it can choose what to play for them.

The new feature will sort the latest music and will look back at some of the users’ old favourites, even the songs they haven’t listened to for years.

“It will then review what you might enjoy and deliver a stream of songs picked just for you,” it added.

The more users listen and tell the DJ what they like and don’t like, the better its recommendations will get.

The feature uses Spotify’s personalisation technology, which gives users a lineup of music recommendations based on what the platform knows they like.

It also uses “Generative AI” through the use of OpenAI technology, and a “dynamic AI voice” platform from the company’s Sonantic acquisition that “brings to life stunningly realistic voices from text.”

“Not feeling the vibe? Just hit the DJ button at the bottom right of the screen to be taken to a different genre, artist, or mood,” the company said.

–IANS

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(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.)

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WhatsApp still working on feature to let users edit messages on iOS beta

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 23, 2023 | Technology

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly still working on a feature which will allow users to edit messages on the platform, on iOS beta.

The new feature will give users up to 15 minutes to edit their messages to fix any mistake or include any additional information to the original message, reports WABetaInfo.

This feature is currently under development and is not ready to be released to beta testers.

The report further mentioned that the company might also bring a feature in a future update of the application, which will allow users to edit media captions.

In November last year, it was reported that the messaging platform was working on this feature, for iOS beta.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, WhatsApp was reportedly working on a feature which will allow users to send photos with high quality on iOS beta.

The new option will preserve the image dimensions, but light compression will still be applied to the picture.

(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.)

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Krafton re-enters India with a new game available for download in March

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 23, 2023 | Technology

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) game developer Krafton, which saw its popular game being banned in India last year, on Thursday announced a new game for the country that will be available for download and play in March.

Dreamotion and Krafton announced pre-registration for an all-new Indian version of ‘Road to Valor: Empires’, a real-time player-versus-player (PvP) strategy game.

The company said it has reimagined the game for the Indian audience, bringing several new updates including full-fledged Hindi language support to provide an immersive experience for the Indian gaming community.

Keeping in mind the regional pricing, the new optional starter pack with exclusive rewards for Indian users will also be available starting at Rs 29.

“We’re very excited to have worked with our talented studio, Dreamotion, to bring in an authentic strategy experience in a casual format for Indians,” said Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, Krafton.

“With the addition of Indian rewards, new UI, and unique features, we hope players have a great time exploring the world of mythical and historical civilisations.” Sohn added.

In ‘Road to Valor: Empires’, players embark on a quest to build armies and win thrilling battles while commanding mythical guardians and troops.

With the addition of the Hindi user interface, players can enjoy an enthralling visual journey as they play with various civilisations.

Furthermore, exclusive India-specific updates include the option to create custom rooms where users can host, spectate, and play together with fellow gamers, said the company.

“The new custom room feature will help casual players in India invite and jump into quick 2v2 matches or even spectate top players,” said Junyoung Lee, CEO, Dreamotion.

‘Road to Valor: Empires’ is the successor to ‘Road to Valor: World War II’, which launched in January 2019 and crossed more than 3 million downloads.

In July last year, Google and Apple pulled popular battle royale game BGMI from their respective app stores, following a government order.

BGMI was the Indian version of PUBG Mobile, exclusively for players in the country developed and published by Krafton.

(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.)

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SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD review: No-brainer, but expensive

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 23, 2023 | Technology

Solid state drives are silent, fast, and long-lasting. Therefore, professionals for storage needs prefer them – even if there is a premium on the price compared to traditional hard disk drives. Among the best available SSDs in 2023 is the SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD.

The SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD is geared to Apple Mac users, but can be reformatted to work on both Windows laptops and Mac. This thing is portable, rugged, and blazing fast. It has a USB-C interface with support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 2. It has a metal enclosure with silicon bumper for protection against accidental drops damages. Besides, the unit is IP68 rated for water and dust protection. It is a portable unit (M.2 2280). The wholesome package has a matching price of Rs 34,999, which covers for five-year limited warranty too.

Details aside, the SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD comes pre-formatted in APFS – a macOS drive format that natively supports Mac Time Machine backups. It essentially means you can plug it in the supported USB-C port on the Apple Mac computers and start using it.

But, it needs reformatting if you have a Windows PC. It is because APFS is Apple exclusive and Windows operating system does not detect the drive as a storage unit unless it is reformatted in supported formats such as NTFS, FAT32, exFAT. Reformat the drive in the exFAT if you want to use it interchangeably on Apple Mac and Windows PC.

Reformatting may not look like a big deal as both Apple Mac and Windows PC have built-in tools for it. However, it is tricky to get the SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD reformatted. It is because Apple Mac does not provide the option to reformat the drive in another format but APFS and APFS (encrypted) and the Windows PC does not recognise the drive as storage in APFS format. There is a workaround to reformat the drive on Windows PC using the command-line prompt, but it requires some tech awareness.

Next comes the performance. The SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD impresses with the blazing fast read and write speeds on both the USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Thunderbolt 3 platforms. The speeds (1,050MBps read and 1,000MBps write) on the USB 3.2 Gen 2 are about half of what you get on Thunderbolt 3 (2,378MBps read and 2,007MBps write). Therefore, it is best experienced on the Thunderbolt 3 interface.

Verdict

The SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD is a portable storage device that impresses with its rugged design and blazing fast speeds. It supports dual interfaces – Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 – for consistent experience on a large set of computers. It is a no-brainer for professionals, but the expensive price tag may play a dampener.

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Microsoft expands Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan to 6 more countries

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 23, 2023 | Technology

Microsoft announced that it has expanded the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan to six more countries, which allows up to five friends and family members to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits.

Now, Xbox players in Chile, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden will be able to join the plan, the tech giant said in a blogpost on Tuesday.

“This plan makes it even easier to play the best Game Pass games with friends and family across console, PC and cloud.”

Moreover, members can play at the same time on multiple devices and even play the same game at the same time.

With the plan, each member can enjoy the library of hundreds of games on console, PC or cloud.

Users can add up to four people to their membership.

“The people you share your membership with must reside in the same country as you,” it added.

The tech giant had rolled out the initial pilot of the plan in Ireland and Columbia in September last year.

–IANS

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(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.)

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Baidu to implement ChatGPT-like chatbot ‘Ernie’ into services from March

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 23, 2023 | Technology

Baidu Inc., one of China’s biggest search and artificial intelligence firms, said Wednesday it plans to implement its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie into its search services from March.

Baidu, which is known for its search engine and autonomous driving technology, leads China’s efforts to create an equivalent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. It said earlier this month that it will complete internal testing of Ernie Bot in March before making the service public.

In an internal memo, Baidu CEO Robin Li said that Ernie Bot will be integrated across all of Baidu’s operations, including its search and cloud services. Baidu also plans to integrate Ernie into its smart car operating system and smart speaker.

The company’s stock price in New York jumped nearly 7 per cent in pre-market trading Wednesday to more than USD 150 a share.

AI technology has reached a tipping point and all industries will inevitably go through transformation, Li said in the memo.

Baidu stands as the best example of the long-term growth of China’s AI market and is advancing at the forefront of this new wave, he said.

The company also announced a USD 5 billion share buyback on Wednesday.

Baidu reported revenues of 33.1 billion yuan (USD 4.8 billion) for the quarter that ended in December, about level with the same period of 2021.

Most of Baidu’s revenue comes from its online marketing services, which generated 18.1 billion yuan (USD 2.62 billion) in sales in the last quarter.

Its Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing services provided 561,000 rides in the fourth quarter, up 162 per cent from a year earlier.

After years of regulatory scrutiny following a crackdown on the technology sector and a sluggish economy battered by COVID-19, companies like Baidu look likely to invest more as China looks to the industry to revive the economy.

(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.)

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