Here are the top trending stories from the world of technology. Stories that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro Camera Features get leaked
As the launch date of Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro gets nearer, the market is being flooded with more and more leaked information about Google’s upcoming flagship phones. The latest leaks reveal the camera features of both the smartphones. According to these unconfirmed rumors, both phones’ camera is expected to have features like Real Tone, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Super Res Zoom and the feature to swap faces in an image through Magic Editor. Additionally, both phones are expected to have audio eraser feature that will help the users to reduce ambient background noise from the videos. It is clear by these rumors that Google is playing it big on cameras. Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are expected to be launched in the first week of October.
2)
Meta plans to launch AI Chatbots with Personalities this Week
Meta is planning to release AI chatbots with personalities across all its apps as early as this week. The company has tentatively named this AI chatbot as ‘Gen AI Personas.’ With this personality oriented chatbots, Meta’s users can create chatbots based on historical figures or even famous personalities. Meta is hoping that these AI personality chatbots will help the company to attract young users, who are increasingly spending their time on apps like TikTok and Snapchat. Apart from adding the fun element, these chatbots can also do productivity tasks like coding and writing content. However, it is important to note that these AI personality chatbots are still under development, and it is unclear how well they will be received by users.
3)
Ads are coming on Amazon Prime Video
After Netflix, it is now the turn of Amazon Prime Video to introduce ads on its platform. Last week, Amazon announced that it will start running ads on its Prime Video streaming service in the key markets starting in early 2024. These key markets include US, UK, Germany, and Canada, followed by France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia later in the year. This also obviously means that Amazon Prime subscribers will have to pay more for ad free plan while ad tier plan will cost less. It remains to be seen how Amazon will implement ads on Prime Video. The company has said that it will work with advertisers to create ads that are relevant and appropriate for its audience. Overall, Amazon’s decision to introduce ads on Prime Video is a sign of the increasing competition in the streaming market.
4)
Walmart backed PhonePe launches app store in challenge to Google
Indian online payment platform PhonePe, which is backed by American retail giant Walmart, has launched its own app store called Indus AppStore. This app store is still in beta stage and does not charge developers any fee to list their apps or any commission on in-app purchases. This is in stark contrast to the Google Play Store, which charges developers a commission of up to 30% on in-app purchases. The app store also offers a number of features that are tailored to the Indian market, such as support for local languages and payment methods. The launch of the Indus AppStore is a significant challenge to Google’s dominance in the Indian app market. With millions of downloads every month, Google Play Store enjoys undisputed monopoly in the Indian market.