Tech Review: Apple's Vision Pro, NASA's Supersonic flights, Reddit's IPO and AI progress are in focus

Weekly Tech Review: What's Up in Tech - January 2023, 1st Edition

The recent week of January 2024 was a busy one in the tech world, with major product launches, significant advancements in AI, and ongoing regulatory battles shaping the future of the industry.

Summary of the major tech industry updates

Week of January 14-21, 2024

Apple's Vision Pro

Initial reactions to the $799 headset are mixed, with praise for the web experience but concerns about Apple's walled-garden approach. Developers are exploring potential applications beyond gaming and entertainment. See more >

Commercial supersonic flight

The X-59's success brings the dream of quieter supersonic travel closer to reality, potentially reducing flight times significantly.

NASA unveiled its X-59 aircraft in Palmdale, California, on Friday as a part of the agency's Quesst mission, aimed at enabling commercial supersonic flight. Quesst focuses on showcasing the X-59's ability to achieve supersonic speeds without producing disruptive sonic booms and assessing the noise levels experienced by people when the aircraft flies overhead. See more >

AI progress

Advancements in AI continue, with applications in scientific research, robotics, and environmental sustainability raising both excitement and concerns about potential misuse.

Over the past few years, there has been a notable increase in the advancement and utilization of generative AI tools, capable of replicating human voices and producing realistic video clones of individuals. These AI technologies can create fresh content, encompassing text, images, videos, and audio, by leveraging the knowledge acquired from the data on which they were trained. The swift progress in generative AI has sparked both enthusiasm and apprehension. Read more >

Samsung’s Smart Ring may change the wearable industry

The introduction of Samsung's smart ring could mark the beginning of a new era in wearable technology. Samsung provided limited information about its Galaxy Ring, yet it adds to the evidence that 2024 is emerging as a year featuring competitors for the Oura Ring. Read more >

OnePlus Watch 2 release date leaks

The future of wearables looks increasingly diverse. OnePlus is poised for a notable return to the smartwatch market by introducing the OnePlus Watch 2 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024. This latest smartwatch is designed to address the shortcomings of its predecessor by embracing Google's Wear OS, a departure from the basic operating system used in the original version. More details >

Reddit plans IPO in March 2024

Reddit, the social media platform, has formulated comprehensive strategies for its initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for March. This marks a significant step forward in the company's pursuit of a public listing, a goal it has been contemplating for over three years, as per individuals familiar with the situation. Read more >

Meta plans to manage computing power equivalent to 600,000 H100 GPUs

Meta aims to handle computing power equivalent to "600,000 H100 GPUs" by the end of the year, which includes the incorporation of 340,000 H100 Nvidia GPUs in its data centers.

Driving the enthusiasm for generative AI is the belief that the tech industry is heading towards achieving a level of superhuman, god-like intelligence.

OpenAI has a stated mission to develop this artificial general intelligence (AGI), and Demis Hassabis, the leader of Google's AI efforts, shares the same objective. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, is now joining the race. Although he hasn't specified a timeline for AGI or a precise definition, he is determined to create it. Simultaneously, he is reorganizing Meta's AI research group, FAIR, to collaborate with the team developing generative AI products across Meta's apps. The aim is to ensure that Meta's AI breakthroughs more directly benefit its billions of users. See more >

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