Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Microsoft is increasing price of Xbox Game Pass & unveils a new standard plan
Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it is hiking the subscription price of its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from September this year. The new subscription price will cost a $19.99 per month, a $3 increase over the current $16.99 a month pricing. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will still continue to enjoy all the previous features including a day one access to Xbox Game Sudio Titles, PC Game Pass, cloud gaming and a library of back-catalog games. Separately, Microsoft is adding a low budget tier that will come without some of the perks and privileges that come with Ultimate package. Nonetheless, it will still offer a library of back catalog titles at a lower price.
2)
Spotify will now allow you to leave comments on Podcast episodes
Spotify is rolling out the ability to leave comments on Podcast episodes. These comments will be private by default and hence creators will have to approve each comment they want to appear publicly. Podcasters can even choose to activate comment feature for the entire show or only for a particular episode. In case if they think that the ‘comment’ feature is irrelevant for them, they can opt out of these features all together. Podcasters can manage all the comments directly from Spotify’s Podcaster app. This feature will add to the recently launched Q&A and Poll features. Overall, this will add to a new way for podcasters to interact with their audience.
3)
Google Map’s Speedometer finally debuts on IOS app
After a wait of nearly five years, Google Maps for iPhone will gain a ‘Speedometer’ and ‘Speed limit’ features. Now iPhone users can gauge the speed at which they are driving their vehicles and will also receive a notification when they exceed a speed limit. However, Google has specifically mentioned in its support page that the Speedometer feature must be used for ‘informational use’ and should not been seen as a replacement for your car’s actual speedometer. That’s mainly because many a times the results shown by your car’s actual Speedometer and Google’s Maps Speedometer can greatly differ, which can be confusing for the driver. Currently, these features have been launched on IOS only in few selected markets while global rollout will take at least few weeks.
4)
OpenAI is working on a ‘AI health coach’ project
OpenAI along with Arianna Huffington, who is the CEO of Thrive Global and founder of Huffington, have announced a new collaboration that will work on an AI health coach project. This project has been labelled as a Thrive AI Health. Although the information about this project is scarce, what we do know is that it aims to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to healthy behavior for improving our overall well-being. This includes sleep, nutrition, stress management and social connection. Additionally, like all AI bots, Thrive’s AI Health coach will work with data driven approach. It will be trained on the foundation of scientific research and biometric data to provide targeted recommendations.
5)
Humane’s top executives have left the company amid its struggle
Humane, which only recently launched an AI wearable device, has witnessed exit of two of its top executives. These top executives are former Humane Strategic Partnerships Lead Brooke Hartley Moy and Head of Product Engineering Ken Kocienda. Both will now focus on their startup that will work towards a search engine that relies solely on fact checking. However, this startup, which has been tentatively named as in-Factory, is still in its infancy. The exit of two level executives comes amid Humane’s desperate attempt to find its foot in the market following a barrage of negative reviews for its maiden product Humane AI pin.