Here are the top trending stories from the world of technology. Stories that I feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Apple to make serious changes in Vision Pro to make it more affordable
According to Bloomberg, Apple is considering launching a more affordable version of its upcoming Vision Pro headset, which is currently priced at $3,500. The cheaper model will come with less features. For instance, it will come with fewer external cameras. It won’t have EyeSight projection feature either and will be powered by iPhone chip instead of Mac chip. These stripped-down features is likely to bring the price of Vision Pro headset within the range of $1,500 to $2,500. If Apple does release a cheaper Vision Pro headset, it could help to make the virtual reality technology more accessible to the masses.
2)
Now you can buy a Ferrari with Cryptos in US
Luxury car maker Ferrari announced that it will accept cryptocurrency payments for selling its cars in the US. The company has partnered with major cryptocurrency payment processor ‘BitPay’ to offer this feature. American customers will be able to pay for their Ferraris in Bitcoin. Ether, and USD Coins. Ferrari is also reportedly planning to extend the crypto payment feature in several European markets. In last few years, other big luxury car brands like Lamborghini and Porsche have also warmed up to crypto payments. The acceptance of cryptocurrency payments by luxury carmakers is certainly a positive development for the cryptocurrency market.
3)
Baidu’s AI event to unveil many AI Products & Services
The Baidu World 2023, which is Baidu’s annual AI focused event, will take place on October 16th at 10 am at Beijing time. The Chinese tech giant is expected to unveil several new AI-powered products and features at this event. This includes new AI-native applications for the consumer market such as AI-powered shopping assistants and AI-powered educational tools. The company is also likely to unveil AI-native applications for the enterprise market such as AI-powered customer service chatbots and AI-powered data analytics tools. In addition, Baidu may even reveal some of the latest features in its generative AI chatbot ERNIE, which directly competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
4)
Australia Fines ‘X ‘over Child Abuse Content
Australia’s eSafety commissioner on Sunday fined ‘X,’ formerly known as Twitter, for over $380,000 US dollars. This fine was imposed after ‘X’ failed to disclose information on how it regulates child abuse content on its platform. The company has 28 days to respond or pay the fine to eSafety commissioner. Australia has imposed this fine under its Online Safety Bill, which was passed in 2021. By all means, this is a small fine for a multi-billion-dollar tech company. However, it once again brings focus on X’s content moderation practices, which has become a burning issue ever since Elon Musk took over the company last year.
5)
Microsoft finally completes $69bn takeover of Activision Blizzard
Despite all the regulatory hurdles including relentless pressure from FTC, Microsoft has finally completed $69bn takeover of Activision Blizzard. The acquisition marks once of the biggest takeovers in the gaming as well as tech industry. The deal will give Microsoft ownership of several popular franchises, including Call of Duty, Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush. In the near future, the company is expected to integrate Activision Blizzard’s games and services into its own ecosystem such as the Xbox Game Pass and the Microsoft Store. However, this acquisition has caused a huge controversy with many experts accusing that this takeover will give Microsoft an unfair monopoly in the gaming industry.