Amazon’s revamped Alexa due for release in October ahead of the U.S. holiday season will be powered primarily by Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence models, rather than its own AI, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Amazon plans to charge $5 to $10 a month for its new “Remarkable” version of Alexa as it will use powerful generative AI to answer complex queries, while still offering the “Classic” voice assistant for free, Reuters reported in June.
NASA has announced that astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will be launching on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than Tuesday, September 24, 2024. This update comes after changes to the mission’s crew composition. Originally, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were also part of the Crew-9 team, but they are now eligible for reassignment to future missions.
The upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission will now be flown with a two-person crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Nick Hague will serve as the mission commander, while Aleksandr Gorbunov will take on the role of mission specialist. This adjustment follows NASA’s decision to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed, resulting in two vacant seats on Crew-9. NASA’s decision was made by Joe Acaba, Chief Astronaut at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, who needed to ensure a balanced crew with essential experience and integration for the mission.
Joe Acaba explained that the decision to reduce the crew size was challenging. The crew had trained as a team of four, and adjusting to a smaller crew presented its own set of difficulties. Despite this, Acaba expressed confidence in the crew’s capabilities, noting that Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson would continue to support their colleagues in preparation for the mission. Both Cardman and Wilson remain committed to the mission’s success and look forward to participating in future spaceflights.
Boat smartwatch users will now be able to use tap and pay functionality at eligible point-of-sale (POS) terminals in India, following an announcement made at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2024 on Friday (August 30). For this move, the Indian smart wearable brand is partnering with Mastercard, enabling payment services on credit and debit cards from supported banks. This functionality can be accessed via boAt’s official application, secured by Mastercard’s tokenisation capabilities.
Microsoft Phone Link – the company’s app that enables users to pair their Android smartphones to a Windows PC – has expanded its instant hotspot feature to beyond Samsung smartphones, according to a report. Users with Android smartphones from brands such as OnePlus and Oppo may be able to use their handsets as portable hotspots to quickly connect their PCs to their internet without needing to manually configure the details. It builds upon Copilot chatbot-supported features recently brought to Android smartphones via a Phone Link app.
Three new audio products in India — the Beats Solo Buds truly wireless stereo (TWS) earphones, the Beats Solo 4 wireless headphones and the Beats Pill portable Bluetooth speaker. These items were initially unveiled in the US and other markets and are now available in India. The Beats Solo Buds come with a stemless in-ear design and are claimed to offer up to 18 hours of total playback time. The Beats Solo 4 are equipped with a Spatial Audio feature with dynamic head tracking. The Beats Pill wireless portable speaker arrives with an IP67-rated build for dust and water resistance.
Beats Solo Buds are priced in India at Rs. 6,900, while the Beats Solo 4 and the Beats Pill are listed at Rs. 22,900 and Rs. 16,900, respectively. They are currently available for purchase in the country via the Apple India website and will come to offline Apple Stores starting September 4.
Google Meet is getting a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will allow users to receive AI-generated notes once the meeting has concluded. On Tuesday, the tech giant announced the rollout of the feature to its Workspace users. Dubbed ‘Take notes for me’, it uses the capabilities of Gemini AI to transcribe and summarise the main talking points during a meeting. Notably, the feature was first previewed by the company last year, however, it was only available in beta till now.
The announcement was made by Google in its Workspace blog, where the company highlighted that the feature was rolling out in a phased manner starting August 27. It might take users up to 15 days before they see it at their end. The ‘Take notes for me’ feature is available for Google Workspace users who have either Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education Premium, or the AI Meetings & Messaging add-ons.
Xiaomi X Pro QLED series was launched in India on Tuesday. The new smart TV lineup runs on Google TV and has an octa-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor under the hood. They feature thin bezels around the screen and are offered in 43-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch display sizes with 4K resolution. The Xiaomi X Pro QLED series comes with Xiaomi’s Vivid Picture Engine along with support for HDR10 content. The Xiaomi X Pro QLED series also features a 30W speakers with Dolby Audio.
Xiaomi X Pro QLED series price in India starts at Rs. 28,999 for the base model with a 43-inch screen. The 55-inch variant is priced at Rs. 35,999, while the 65-inch version is priced at Rs. 39,999.
With a special ICICI bank-based discount, the 43-inch version of Xiaomi X Pro QLED can be purchased for Rs. 24,999, whereas the 55-inch and 65-inch variants are available at Rs. 31,999 and Rs. 35,999, respectively. They will go on sale via Mi.com, Amazon, Flipkart and Xiaomi retail stores from August 30.
Google’s latest Pixel 9 series was launched earlier this month at the company’s Made By Google event. This year, the tech giant seems to have quietly unveiled the long-rumoured Adaptive Touch display technology for the latest Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL. Although Google did not officially announce this technology during the grand launch event, it has been spotted by several users on the phone’s Settings menu. This new display feature automatically adjusts touchscreen sensitivity based on various factors.
The Adaptive Touch option can be accessed by heading to Settings > Display > Touch Sensitivity. Turning on this feature will automatically tweak the touch sensitivity of Pixel 9 phones depending on the surroundings, activities and screen protector. The feature enhances the usability of the display in different scenarios, like while using it with wet hands.
WhatsApp has been working on adding support for chat themes on more than one occasion, and a feature tracker has now given us a peek at what the feature could look like when it is launched. The messaging app is expected to let users change the color of the chat bubbles as well as the background using preset themes or pick their own color and wallpaper. The company was also spotted working on the ability to pick a username and set a PIN that protects them from unknown users on WhatsApp.
Microsoft said on Friday it would hold a summit in September to discuss steps to improve cybersecurity systems, after a faulty update from CrowdStrike caused a global IT outage last month.
The conference marks the first big step by Microsoft to address the issues that affected nearly 8.5 million Windows devices on July 19, disrupting operations across industries ranging from major airlines to banks and healthcare.
The event will be held on Sept. 10 at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company will invite government representatives to the gathering, it said in a blog.