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Hyundai wants all of its vehicles to support over-the-air updates by 2025
Hyundai has unveiled the roadmap for its EV future, saying its entire lineup across brands will become "Software Defined Vehicles" (SDVs)
The EU could break up big tech companies that violate stricter rules
The UK is also planning to clamp down on harmful content on social media.
Renault's Mégane eVision concept offers a look at its future EV lineup
Renault has unveiled the Mégane eVision, a key concept car that previews not just the future Megane hatchback, but its entire EV lineup and others in the Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi alliance.
Qualcomm's 5G RB5 robotics platform will help drones navigate tight spaces
Qualcomm is working on AI computing much like rival chip makers Intel and NVIDIA, but it’s sticking to what it does best: smaller devices and connectivity. It just unveiled the RB5 AI-enabled 5G robotics platform, a follow-up to the RB3 chipset, designed to be used in a wide array of robotic and drone products.
Qualcomm reveals a reference headset to show off its XR2 chip
Qualcomm unveiled its XR2 platform at the end of last year, and chipheads were pretty impressed with how much power the company had packed into its newest slice of silicon. Its XR (extended reality) platform features 5G (a first, according to Qualcomm) and 8K 360-degree video playback, as well as a host of other features that double the CPU and GPU performance of its predecessors. Now, the company has revealed a reference design that demonstrates how the chipset will actually work in a headset.
Zillow's new search tool helps find housing for those in need
Escaping homelessness is an enormous undertaking, not least because so many landlords and property managers have strict criteria for new tenants. Those that have been homeless are often unable to provide rental histories or sizeable deposits, for example. Now though, property platform Zillow is teaming up with a housing company in Washington to help tackle the problem.
Facebook may be cutting its budget for original Watch content
Facebook is reportedly reducing its budget for original programming on Watch. The company plans to spend less on originals and more on talk shows and licensing clips from TV networks and sports leagues, The Information reports. Facebook's investment in Watch overall will reach approximately $1.4 billion in 2020, up from the company's initial billion-dollar budget in 2017.
Amazon and the NFL team up to create a 'Digital Athlete' simulation
Amazon's AWS and the NFL plan to use AI and machine learning to protect players. The partners announced today that they'll co-develop a "Digital Athlete" platform, which will create a computer simulation model of an NFL player. Using the computer simulation, they'll be able to test different game scenarios without putting actual players at risk.
Wikipedia co-founder wants to give you an alternative to Facebook and Twitter
Two years ago, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales launched Wikitribune, an online publication meant to combat fake news with original stories by reporters and "citizen journalists." Wikitribune never really caught on, so now, Wales is shifting gears. Wikitribune is relaunching as WT:Social, a social-networking site and news sharing platform. He hopes it will be an alternative to Facebook and Twitter.
Toyota, GM, NVIDIA and others team up on self-driving car chips
Autonomous vehicles pose a whole bunch of R&D challenges. With so many aspects to consider -- power consumption, safety, user interface and data management, to name just a few -- creating a common computing platform for their use is a big ask of just one company. That's why a group of automotive and tech businesses have joined forces to create the Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium (AVCC), in a bid to create a platform that will promote the scalable deployment of automated and autonomous vehicles.
New music platform Audius plans to capitalize on SoundCloud's faults
A new streaming service, Audius, wants to make up for SoundCloud's shortcomings. The free hosting service and music streaming platform launched today, and it's positioning itself as a blockchain-based SoundCloud alternative that lets artists upload songs at no cost. The founders claim it's built with artists in mind and will be free from things like takedowns, which plagued SoundCloud.
'Call of Duty' crossplay lands on October 25th
If you and your pals have different games consoles you don't really have a whole bunch of options when it comes to playing together -- but now, Activision is switching things up. Following in the footsteps of Fortnite and Rocket League, Call of Duty is getting crossplay. From October 25th, Modern Warfare fans will be able to play together across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Hulu drops support for Google’s Daydream VR platform
If you were a fan of watching Hulu videos on Google's Daydream View VR headset, we have some bad news. Hulu has dropped support for Google Daydream. According to the company, the latest versions of its Android app (versions 3.55 or newer) no longer support the VR platform.
Fox is the first US sports network to put its name on a gambling app
At the same time as sports hub theScore announced it's launching a new betting app, media giant Fox has unveiled its own gambling platform. Fox Bet rolls out first in New Jersey, and will give users access to sports content, news, expert insight, commentary and analysis, as well as real money wagering experience. Fans can bet on a wide range of live sports and events, including football, baseball, motor sports, hockey, golf, tennis and soccer.
Control4's new hub connects 13,500 smart home devices on one screen
Smart home connected devices can control everything from lighting and temperature to security systems and music. But with products from so many different companies, they don't always work together. Control4 wants to change that. Yesterday, it debuted its Smart Home OS 3.
Toyota will be first to use NVIDIA's self-driving simulator
NVIDIA has announced that its autonomous vehicle simulation platform Drive Constellation is now available and that Toyota will be the first customer. The cloud based platform, first announced by CEO Jensen Huang last year, will let self-driving car developers run tests on virtual, rather than real roads. Simulated vehicles can operate in situations ranging from routine to dangerous, "with greater efficiency, cost-effectiveness and safety than what is possible to achieve in the real world," NVIDIA said.
Microsoft deal with Grab brings its AI, cloud tech to ride-hailing
Earlier this year Uber sold off its ride-hailing business in southeast Asia to a competitor, Grab, which is now raising $3 billion to further expand operations. Today Microsoft announced it's making a "strategic investment" in Grab, as the two launch a "broad partnership" to use Microsoft's machine learning and AI tech. The first step is adopting Microsoft's Azure servers as the cloud platform backing Grab's ride-hailing and digital wallet. After that the plans get bigger, as it anticipates using machine learning and image recognition to let passengers share their location with a driver by taking a picture of their surroundings that the system recognizes and converts into an address. Otherwise it could handle recommendations, improve fraud detection, improve its maps or power facial recognition to identify drivers and passengers. There are also non-AI powered parts of the arrangement, like in-car entertainment systems, linked rewards programs and integration with Outlook. Like Uber, Grab is building a platform to do a lot more than have a stranger come pick you up in their car, while for Microsoft, all of this seems similar to its efforts to compete with Amazon in building more-connected grocery and retail stores and dominate developing back-end technology to control everything. Microsoft didn't say how much it's investing in Grab, but Japan's Softbank is reportedly investing $500 million, while Toyota already announced it's in for $1 billion.
'Forgotton Anne' is a puzzle-platform game hidden inside an anime
Forgotton Anne looks like a gentle animated feature film you can't quite remember the name of, with an art style somewhere between Studio Ghibli and those curious kids' animation series I used to watch from Europe. The charming characters, mostly anthropomorphic objects called forgotlings, make for an entertaining adventure, combined with occasionally smart puzzles and surprising gameplay twists. That said, ThroughLine Games have made a gorgeous animated story where the gameplay comes second.
DNC launches a marketplace for digital election tools
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) wants to reposition the Democrats as politics' most pioneering party. Today, it announces I Will Run, a marketplace for software, services and training designed to make Democratic campaigns more engaging and effective in a world that's come to rely on the internet for everything, including politics.
Spotify streaming comes to Sky Q boxes
Spotify is available on Sky Q from today, letting you play music via your Sky Soundbox or stream music to your TV speakers via AirPlay or Bluetooth. It's the first high-profile app to come to the platform since it launched two years ago, and its arrival kickstarts the raft of new features -- including machine learning, additional voice commands, a new kids mode and a wide-screen user interface -- which were announced for the service earlier this year.
