Author: Jessica Brown

The companies are joining forces to release a mixed-reality headset that will compete with Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3. The Samsung-built headset will be powered by a new Android operating system, pushing into a market that has been largely dominated by Meta. The price of the headset, which is set to roll out sometime in 2025, has not been announced. But analysts expect Samsung to try to undercut Apple’s $3,499 price tag for the Vision Pro. Meta’s Quest 3 sells for $500. The Samsung headset will be the first product powered by the new Android operating system for XR before the new OS…

Google’s newest artificial intelligence tool, “Whisk,” lets people upload photos to get back a combined, AI-generated image – even without users inputting any text to explain what they want. Users can input images depicting subjects, setting and style before Whisk combines everything into one image. Whisk is a “creative tool” for quick inspiration, Google said in a blog post, as opposed to a “traditional image editor.” In essence, Whisk is intended as a fun AI feature, rather than as something that’s supposed to be refined professional work. Big Tech companies like Google and OpenAI are racing to release consumer products that…

Less than a few hours after Snapchat rolled out its My AI chatbot to all users last week, Lyndsi Lee, a mother from East Prairie, Missouri, told her 13-year-old daughter to stay away from the feature. “It’s a temporary solution until I know more about it and can set some healthy boundaries and guidelines,” said Lee, who works at a software company. She worries about how My AI presents itself to young users like her daughter on Snapchat. The feature is powered by the viral AI chatbot tool ChatGPT – and like ChatGPT, it can offer recommendations, answer questions and converse with users.…

A hospital is upgrading its brain surgery unit with a £100,000 investment in new technology for neurosurgeons to perform more accurate operations. Hull Royal Infirmary said the money would be spent on digital software, called Elements, which would help to reduce the risk of damage to other parts of the brain during procedures. It will be used on patients with brain tumours and aneurysms. Chittoor Rajaraman, a consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, said: “For the first time in Hull, we will be able to use this technology to offer patients safer surgery, with better outcomes.” “Hull is keeping pace with…

SpaceX has revolutionised space travel, making reusable rockets a reality and dramatically reducing the cost of reaching orbit. But two high-profile Starship explosions have raised concerns about the company’s approach to innovation and risk. Commercial spaceflight has rapidly expanded, with private companies looking to harness space resources and build new economies beyond Earth. Reusability has been a game-changer, significantly lowering launch costs and enabling more ambitious missions. SpaceX operates with a philosophy of rapid iteration, treating test failures as learning opportunities rather than setbacks. While this approach has led to major breakthroughs, repeated failures raise questions about long-term reliability and…

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. Earlier this year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it was quickly restored. TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store in February.  Nonetheless, TikTok’s future remains uncertain, and a potential second ban on April 5 is looming. A number of investors are competing for the opportunity to purchase the app, and if a…

Spinning bright red handkerchiefs and dancing in step to folk music, more than a dozen human-like robots took to China’s biggest stage in January, making a splashy debut at the annual Lunar New Year gala. The remarkable performance, watched by more than a billion people, is a high-profile reminder of how far Chinese humanoid robots have come. Over the past two months, videos of the country’s humanoid robots pulling off moves such as bike rides, roundhouse kicks and side flips have blown up the internet, often amplified by state media as a key potential driver of economic growth. Even though…

n the hunt for a new job? Building artificial intelligence tech could be a safe option. The market for jobs in the AI sector has surged in the last two years, according to a recent analysis from the University of Maryland and job-tracking firm LinkUp — the latest in a slew of studies indicating AI skills are in high demand. Anil Gupta, a professor of strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business who co-led the research, said the analysis showed a clear “ChatGPT effect,” referring to how the OpenAI-developed chatbot’s launch led to the job…

Amazon has restarted drone deliveries in two states after a months-long pause, the company confirmed. In January, Amazon halted Prime Air deliveries in College Station, Texas, and Tolleson, Arizona, the two U.S. markets where it’s testing the service, as the company rolled out a software update to its drone fleet. Amazon discovered an abnormality with the drone’s altitude sensor, caused by dust in the air, that could have caused its system to produce an inaccurate reading of its position relative to the ground, the company said. Amazon “never experienced an actual safety issue,” but said it opted to suspend deliveries while…

Amazon has set a date for the long-awaited maiden voyage of its Kuiper internet satellites. The satellites are slated to take off on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 9 at 12 p.m. ET, Amazon said in a blog post. The launch will be livestreamed on ULA’s website. The mission is a pivotal step toward beginning commercial service for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative launched in 2019 that aims to provide broadband internet from a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites. Amazon has earmarked $10 billion for the project, though third-party analysts have said Kuiper could cost the company as much…