Watermarks and Wearables: The Latest in Tech News
Emerging Tech Roundup — September 1
The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.
This week in tech: Apple to Reportedly Launch AirPods With USB-C, Google Hopes to Bring Transparency to AI Art, Snapchat Intros New ‘Dreams’ Feature Using Generative AI, Lightweight Wearable Device Helps Users Navigate With a Tap on the Wrist, Context.ai Wants to Merge Product Analytics Sensibilities With LLMs, Gremlin Can Now Automatically Find Common Reliability Issues, and Chandrayaan-3 Adds Finding Sulfur to its List of Moon Firsts.
Apple Will Reportedly Launch AirPods With USB-C in September
(The Verge, August 29)
Apple is reportedly set to unveil updated AirPods featuring USB-C compatibility during its upcoming iPhone 15 event in September, according to a report. While speculation about AirPods with USB-C charging cases has been ongoing, this is the first concrete indication of such a release. Uncertainty remains whether the AirPods Pro will also receive the USB-C charging case, and no information is provided on whether there will be significant changes to the AirPods themselves beyond the new case.
Google Wants an Invisible Digital Watermark to Bring Transparency to AI Art
(Engadget, August 29)
Google DeepMind has introduced SynthID, a watermarking and identification tool designed to enhance transparency in AI-generated images. This technology embeds a hidden digital watermark directly onto an image’s pixels, making it invisible to the human eye. Initially launched for select users of Imagen, Google’s cloud-based AI art generator SynthID addresses concerns related to deepfakes and the potential misuse of generative art.
Snapchat’s New ‘Dreams’ Feature Uses Generative AI to Remix Users’ Selfies
(Engadget, August 29)
Snapchat has introduced a new generative AI feature called “Dreams” within its app, resembling its iconic AR effects. Unlike real-time camera effects, this feature employs generative AI to transform users’ selfies into imaginative images that reimagine their appearances as entirely new identities. Users start by taking selfies from various angles, and the AI then generates a series of images with themes like “time travel” or “alternate universes.”
A Lightweight Wearable Device Helps Users Navigate With a Tap on the Wrist
(Tech Xplore, August 29)
Researchers have developed a novel fabric-based wearable device that guides users silently by tapping their wrist with pressurized air to aid in navigation. The wearable stands out by incorporating its control system within the fabric, utilizing air instead of electronics. The researchers hope the device can potentially benefit individuals with prosthetic limbs, hearing impairments, and professionals such as surgeons, pilots, and soldiers dealing with information overload.
Context.ai Wants to Merge Product Analytics Sensibilities With LLMs
(Tech Crunch, August 30)
Context.ai, established this year, aims to enhance companies’ comprehension of user interactions with their LLMs (Large Language Models). The company’s recent announcement of a $3.5 million seed investment underscores their commitment to refining this concept. The co-founders, drawing off their experience at Google, identified the scarcity of tools for assessing model behavior, driving them to create a service to address this critical gap.
Gremlin Can Now Automatically Find Common Reliability Issues
(Tech Crunch, August 30)
Gremlin, the renowned reliability testing startup recognized for its chaos engineering tools, has unveiled its “Detected Risks” feature. This innovation enables Gremlin to automatically pinpoint critical reliability concerns, such as misconfigurations or improper default values, within Kubernetes-based services. The service not only identifies these issues but also rates their severity and offers potential solutions — reinforcing the growing significance of digital infrastructure reliability.
Chandrayaan-3 Adds Finding Sulfur to its List of Moon Firsts
(Interesting Engineering, August 30)
India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover has made a significant discovery by confirming the presence of sulfur and various other elements on the Moon, according to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The rover’s laser-induced spectroscope detected elements like aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen, and silicon on the lunar surface. This achievement is a major milestone for the team and adds to the mission’s accomplishments beyond its primary goal.
