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Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has agreed a deal with Google Cloud to use the latter's Vertex AI to generate captions for programming across a variety of platforms. WBD claims that its Caption AI system can significantly reduce production time and costs while improving the accuracy of captions for US-based viewers.
The tech will be used for unscripted programming at the outset, which could include news, sports and reality TV across the likes of Max, CNN and Discovery . WBD claims the system can reduce the time it takes to create captions by up to 80 percent and captioning costs by up to 50 percent. There will still be a level of human review for quality assurance, and the company claims this approach will help refine and train Caption AI's workflow to improve it over time.
However, captioning requires a lot of skill, especially for live TV where transcribers have to keep up with what's being said as accurately as possible. Unscripted programming also tends to include a lot of overlapping chatter and it's unclear just how effective AI will be at transcribing that accurately. However you slice it though, relying more on AI-generated transcriptions will mean less work for people in the space.
It'll be interesting to see whether WBD expands this tech to subtitles for scripted programming. Subtitling (something I admittedly used to do for a living) is a skilled art. Among other things, it involves accurately capturing sound effects, music cues and non-verbal utterances; properly explaining idioms for localization purposes; and making sure subtitles are timed pro
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From date night deals to takeaway for an easy dinner, you can choose from over 60,000 participating locations.
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In the past, the biggest AR/VR event of the year has been known alternately as Oculus Connect and then Facebook Connect. But whatever the name, Meta's fall event its primary showcase for the company's latest and greatest achievements in the virtual reality and mixed reality space. Much like last year, we can likely predict the biggest news coming out of Meta Connect 2024 with just two acronyms: AI and AR.
Like every other big tech firm this year, Meta will be desperate to demonstrate how it plans to stay relevant in a future powered by AI. And now that we're seven months beyond the launch of Apple's Vision Pro, which arrived alongside a short-lived spike in interest in augmented reality (AR), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is likely eager to show off his own plans to make AR a reality.
While Zuckerberg isn't as hot on the metaverse as he was when he renamed his company, the union of AI and AR is one way he can still make the dream of persistent virtual worlds come true. It might look less like Ready Player One, but if AR glasses actually take off, they could still let Meta control another piece of our digital world. And to help get them there, delivering an updated inexpensive VR headset couldn't hurt.
With all of that in mind, here are a few things we expect to see at Meta Connect 2024, which kicks off virtually tomorrow — September 25 — and runs for two days. The show starts with a 1PM ET livestream, which is expected to run about an hour.
Orion AR glasses
After reportedly killing
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TikTok has announced in its US Elections Integrity Hub that it has removed accounts associated with Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti, which own and run Russia state media outlets Sputnik and RT. The company said that it kicked the accounts off the social media platform for "engaging in covert influence operations" that go against its guidelines for spam and deceitful behavior. TikTok clarified that the accounts' content weren't shown in the For You feed under its state-affiliated media policy and were also labeled as such. Their videos were already restricted in the EU and the UK, as well, but now the accounts had been permanently banned and are no longer visible to anyone in the world.
As CNBC notes, Sputnik has issued a statement on X that says "TikTok users and [its] 86,000 subscribers are no longer allowed to know the truth about most urgent geopolitical issues and laugh at Western politicians' gaffes in Sputnik International videos."
TikTok didn't give specific examples of how the outlets are trying to spread misinformation and to manipulate this year's presidential elections in the US. But the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI have just told reporters that Russia has generated the most AI content related to the election, so far. It has reportedly created and spread AI-made text, images, audios and videos online, mostly to "denigrate the Vice President and the Democratic Party" and to sow division by focusing on topics like immigration.
Earlier this month, the US government
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Google added some new features and updates to the video editor in Google Photos for Android and iOS users, according to the app's support page.
The biggest update brings new "AI-powered video presets" to both versions of the app. These new presets automatically trim the length of videos, adjust the lighting, change the speed and apply new effects with just a few clicks. Some of the AI-powered effects allow motion tracking, automatic zoom and slow-motion. The new "presets" tab is located underneath the video timeline.
This isn't the first AI feature added to the Google Photos app. Last May, Google added its "Ask Photos" feature, a Gemini-powered AI chatbot that allowed for more detailed and conversational photo searches for US users.
Google also tweaked and added some Android-specific features. The new trim tool has improved controls for more precise cuts. There's also a new "auto enhance" feature that can automatically improve the colors and stabilize videos, and a new "speed" tool that can ramp up or slow down the action.
The new features start rolling out today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/the-google-photos-video-editor-is-getting-ai-because-of-course-it-is-180958935.html?src=rss
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Alienware debuted its Pro Mouse and Keyboard in January at CES 2024, and now the company is introducing the Pro Headset as part of the series. As with the mouse and keyboard, Alienware worked with more than 100 esports competitors and streamers for their input before combining it with its technical knowledge. The result after 18 months of testing is a headset boasting up to 75 hours of battery life.
That's an impressive figure, but it's not the whole picture. The headphones last 75 hours if you use them without active noise canceling and connecting via Bluetooth. The maximum battery life drops to 35 hours while using a 2.4GHz connection with ANC enabled. If you intend to use the microphone, battery life is 35 hours with ANC off; with it on, it drops to 25 hours.
Alienware's ANC is effective at blocking out sounds, but users can turn Transparency Mode on if they need to be aware of their surroundings. In transparency mode, users can also adjust how much they want background noise attenuated.
Alienware didn't stop there, as the 50mm drivers are coated with graphene to reduce distortion commonly found at higher frequencies. These drivers also work great with vertical and 360-degree audio. With clear audio, players can instantly pinpoint where enemies are when they make sounds.
The microphone is detachable and can be stowed away if not needed. It has two mics, and both are capable of AI-powered noise cancellation, ensuring only your voice is transmitted to teammates.
Besides beefing up the audio quality and mic capabilities, Alienware made sure it woul
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The Biden administration just announced a comprehensive plan to ban Chinese software and some hardware from internet-connected cars in the US. This is being framed as a national security measure, with the administration stating that this software poses "new threats to our national security, including through our supply chains."
This is the same reasoning behind a recent ban of telecommunications equipment from Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE. In that case, the claims had teeth, as documents reportedly showed how Huawei was involved in the country's surveillance efforts. Today's announcement goes on to say that China "could use critical technologies" from connected vehicles "within our supply chains for surveillance and sabotage to undermine national security."
The rules announced today go beyond mere software. It would also cover any piece of hardware that connects a vehicle to the outside world, which includes Bluetooth, cellular, Wi-Fi and satellite components. It also includes cameras, sensors and onboard computers. The software ban would go into effect in model year 2027, with the related hardware prohibition starting in model year 2030.
The proposed ban also includes Russian auto software. The country has a fairly robust EV industry, but primarily for domestic use. There's nothing in Russia that's globally
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Google's A-series Pixel phones are an excellent option for those looking for an upgrade on an older device without breaking the bank. It's a particularly good time to snap up the Google Pixel 8a as it's on sale just ahead of Prime Day. The Android phone has dropped to $399, which is $100 off and a new record low price.
The Pixel 8a is actually our pick for the best midrange smartphone you can buy right now. We gave it a score of 90 in our review in May. It has some excellent hardware for a phone in this price range, including terrific cameras, a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and great battery life (it lasted for 20 and a half hours on our video rundown test).
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There's never been a better time to get a smart speaker, especially if you're a music fan. When voice assistants first started infiltrating these devices, hands-free controls were really the star of the show. Even now, one of the most common ways that people interact with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant is through a smart home speaker. But now you have dozens of options to choose from, and most of them sound much better than the first smart home products did. Sonos recently entered the game with its own voice assistant on its stellar-sounding speakers, and even lower-end models like the Echo Dot and Nest Mini have better audio quality than their first iterations did. If you're struggling to pick the best smart speaker for your needs, we at Engadget can help. We've outlined our top picks below, plus all of the things you should consider before buying a smart speaker today.
Picking an assistant: Google vs. Alexa
The first thing most people should do is decide what voice assistant they want to use. Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa are both well-supported options that are continually evolving, with new features added at a steady clip. A few years ago, Alexa worked with more smart home products, but at this point, basically any smart device worth buying works with both.
It's mostly a matter of personal preference. If you're already entrenched in the Google ecosystem and own an Android phone, it makes sense to stick with that. And if you have multiple Google-based smart devices in your home, you can use Google Home to easily control and navigate your devices. But while Alexa isn't quite as good at answering general knowledge questions, it syncs just fine with things like calendars from your Google account. And it works with perhaps the widest variety of smart home products as well. If you've never used
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