Here are the top trending news from the world of technology. News and stories that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Google rolls out a brand-new Android Logo
In a major rebranding exercise, Google has completely overhauled its Android logo. In the brand-new logo, Android will be spelt with capital ‘A.’ Android’s official mascot has also undergone changes. The Android robot looks more three dimensional than ever before and will once again show the entire the body instead of only head. Apart from changing the logo, Google has added several AI features to its ‘At a Glance’ widget, one of Android’s accessibility tools. ‘At a Glance’ widget will now offer more helpful information about your events, travel and local weather. Additionally, Google has also added a photo import feature to make it easier to upload passes with barcodes and QR codes.
2)
App Store coming to visionOS for developers later this year
Apple has announced that by end of this year the visionOS will include built-in app store. This will allow developers to create and test apps for Apple’s VR and AR headsets including the recently launched Vision Pro headset. The App Store on visionOS will be similar to the App Store on other Apple platforms, but it will also have some new features that are specific to visionOS. For all those who don’t know, vsionOS is the spatial operating system that will operate Apple’s AR and VR headsets. visionOS is currently in a beta stage and Apple has made available pre-release hardware kits to some developers. However, the current beta version does not include an App Store.
3)
TikTok opens its first European Data Center in Ireland
Chinese short video app TikTok has opened its first European data center in Ireland. The data center is located near the capital city of Dublin and will become fully operational by end of 2023. The data center is part of TikTok’s efforts to comply with data protection regulations in Europe. EU’s data protection law, also known as GDPR, requires all companies to store the personal data of European citizens within the European Union. In addition to the data center in Ireland, TikTok has also announced plans to open two more data centers in Europe, one in Norway and one in Germany. These two data centers will become operational by end of 2024.
4)
Spotify wants you to pay to see song lyrics
Over the last few days, several Spotify customers on free tier plan were not able to access in app song lyrics. Instead they have been greeted with notification saying that “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium.” Commenting on this development, Spotify has said that putting in-app lyrics behind the paywall is part of its routine testing. This testing has come amid Spotify’s decision to layoff employees from its podcast division, which has been putting lot of strain on company’s financial resources. Putting lyrics behind the paywall also signifies that Spotify is serious about increasing its monetization revenue.
5)
Tencent to unveil AI chatbot after Beijing’s Approval
Chinese internet giant Tencent is all set to launch its own AI chatbot as early as this week. Codenamed as Hunyuan, Tencent’s AI chatbot can be reportedly used in in a variety of applications, including customer service, education, and entertainment. The company is also planning to make Hunyuan’s APIs available to developers so that they can create applications for their AI chatbot. Hunyuan will directly compete with Baidu’s chatbot Ernie. Like all other chatbots, Tencent’s AI chatbot is trained on a massive dataset of text and code, and is capable of carrying on conversations and resolving queries.
