Alibaba has open-sourced its Wan 2.1 video- and image-generating AI models, heating up an already competitive space. The Wan 2.1 family, which has four models, is said to produce “highly realistic” images and videos from text and images. The company has since December been previewing a new reasoning model, QwQ-Max, indicating it will be open-sourced when fully released. The move comes after another Chinese AI company, DeepSeek, released its R1 reasoning model for free download and use, triggering demand for more open-source artificial intelligence. Continue reading Highly Realistic Alibaba GenVid Models Are Available for Free

Optoma has announced the Photon Go, a tiny ultra short-throw laser projector that throws a 100-inch image from a distance of just 9.8 inches. Releasing in April, the portable device is “designed to bring big-screen entertainment just about anywhere,” the company says, emphasizing the device’s 10 x 6 x 2.5-inch size and 3.8-pound weight — notable because UST projects are not typically very portable. Featuring RGB triple laser technology for vibrant colors and nuanced contrast, the Photon Go “can transform any wall into a screen,” according to the Taiwanese manufacturer. Continue reading Optoma Photon Go: Portable UST Projector with Triple Laser

Over a year after teasing a next-gen Alexa virtual assistant, Amazon is releasing an AI-powered version called Alexa+. The new personal assistant can do things like order groceries for the household, facilitate event planning, manage smart home utilities and security, and, of course, shop online. “She’s smarter, more conversational, more capable,” according to Amazon SVP of Devices & Services Panos Panay. Strategically priced to entice the AI-curious into Amazon membership, Alexa+ costs $20 per month as a standalone service or comes free with Amazon Prime ($15 per month or $139 per year). Continue reading Amazon’s AI-Powered Alexa+ is Agentic with Computer Vision

Adobe has released a Photoshop mobile app that includes several design, editing and generative AI tools found useful in the desktop version of the popular graphics software. Initially being released globally to iOS users, Adobe says an Android version will be available later this year and that a revamped web app is also in the works. The mobile app includes features like layering, masking and Firefly’s AI-powered generative fill, which has proven popular with users. The iPhone app also ties into the full-featured, Adobe Cloud-based Photoshop so creators can access projects across multiple devices. Continue reading Adobe Introduces a Powerful, Free Photoshop App for Mobile

LG Electronics is expanding distribution of the Gaming Portal unveiled at CES 2025 for LG Smart TVs. LG says that since that curtain-raiser, the platform has become available in 19 global markets for LG Smart TVs running webOS 23 and above. Starting in Q2, it will become available in additional markets on devices including LG Smart Monitors and StanbyME lifestyle screens. The LG Gaming Portal has partnerships with cloud game services including Xbox, Nvidia GeForce NOW and Amazon Luna, as well as the lesser-known Boosteroid, Blacknut and some native webOS app games. Continue reading LG Rolls Out Its All-in-One Gaming Portal to Multiple Platforms

Apple unveiled a big “made in the USA” initiative, with plans to spend more than $500 billion on U.S. factories over the next four years. The company will upgrade operations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas, adding a new server facility in Houston. The move comes as U.S. international relations enter a period of flux. Apple’s plans include opening “a manufacturing academy” and accelerated investments in educating stateside workers in AI and silicon engineering. “We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. Continue reading Apple Will Invest $500B in U.S. Manufacturing and Education

Anthropic has released a new frontier model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, described as the industry’s first “hybrid AI reasoning model.” The new Claude is different in that it can both respond to questions in real time or, alternatively, “think” about a problem for a prolonged period of time — basically as long as a user would like. Users can choose between “near-instant responses or extended, step-by-step thinking that is made visible to the user” by selecting the appropriate “reasoning” capability for Claude, Anthropic says. Along with the new model, Anthropic is also debuting a command line tool for agentic coding, Claude Code. Continue reading Anthropic Introduces a New Claude Hybrid Reasoning Model

Comcast Technology Solutions is launching MediaExpress, which aims to make it easier for content owners to get distribution on premium VOD tiers. MediaExpress offers program suppliers a pipeline to leading broadcast, streaming, social and digital platforms. It provides “a single ingest point for videos, metadata and supporting files, facilitating title management and distribution for both long form and short form video with CTS handling certified delivery,” according to Comcast. It also allows library holders to streamline “VOD distribution and monetization efforts across subscription VOD (SVOD), advertising VOD (AVOD), transactional VOD (TVOD) or FAST partners.” Continue reading Comcast MediaExpress Will Distribute Premium VOD Content

Substack has enabled video publishing directly from within the Substack app. The move is designed to increase user engagement while helping its authors monetize, including with smartphones. Each video post can be formatted to reach subscribers instantly through email, app notifications, or both. “With millions of weekly active users and 1 million posts discovered daily, the Substack app has become the leading driver of subscriber and revenue growth for publishers building sustainable, independent businesses,” the company claims. The Substack network has also become a discovery ecosystem, helping creators find potential subscribers. Continue reading Substack Now Lets Creators Monetize with Video Publishing

A year after the commercial release of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, Apple is making progress adding Apple Intelligence, with visionOS 2.4, available now in developer beta in English with consumer release scheduled for April. The AI boost adds Writing Tools, which allows text composition “from scratch using ChatGPT,” as well as Image Playground and the custom emoji app Genmoji. It also integrates Spatial Gallery, a new Vision Pro app for the iPhone that includes a discovery mechanism for curated 3D movies and a remote-viewable Guest Mode for mobile. Additional features and languages will be added throughout the year. Continue reading Apple Intelligence, Guest Mode Coming to Vision Pro in April

Japanese camera company Sigma has announced the Sigma BF, a 24-megapixel compact with a full-frame sensor whose body is carved from a solid block of aluminum. Designed with simplification in mind, the BF features interchangeable lens and 6K video capture at up to 30p and full high definition at up to 120p. There is 230GB of internal storage but no memory card slot, and the I/O interface is reduced to a single USB-C port. “By simplifying and stripping away all excess elements, this full-frame mirrorless camera redefines the process of taking a photograph as a natural act,” the company says. Continue reading Sigma Strips Photography to Its Essence with Latest Camera

Barely two weeks after the launch of its OmniHuman-1 AI model, ByteDance has released Goku, a new artificial intelligence designed to create photorealistic video featuring humanoid actors. Goku uses text prompts to create among other things, realistic product videos without the need for human actors. This last is a boon for ByteDance social media unit TikTok. Goku is open source, trained on a large dataset of roughly 36 million video-text pairs and 160 million image-text pairs. Goku’s debut is received as more bad news for OpenAI in the form of added competition, but a positive step for global enterprise. Continue reading ByteDance’s Goku Video Model Is Latest in Chinese AI Streak

YouTube has been testing a low-priced version of its ad-free Premium tier being referred to as “Premium Lite” that is limited to podcasts and how-to clips presented largely without ads. The package is reportedly poised to launch in the United States, Australia, Germany and Thailand, with an aim toward attracting subscribers interested in content other than music videos. Pricing for the new tier has yet to be revealed. YouTube Premium currently costs $14 per month in the U.S. for ad-free viewing of all native YouTube content, including music videos. Continue reading YouTube Tests ‘Premium Lite’ Tier for Podcasts and How-To

Spotify is boosting its audiobook content by agreeing to accept material narrated using ElevenLabs’ AI voice app. Given that ElevenLabs is currently among the most recognized AI audio providers, this new partnership is expected to boost the quantity of AI-narrated audiobooks on the platform. ElevenLabs content can be distributed to Spotify (and “select other audiobook retailers”) via Spotify’s Findaway Voices platform for indie authors. For $99 per month, authors can generate up to 500 minutes of AI audio startup ElevenLabs’ narration in 29 languages with what Spotify says is “complete control over voice and intonation.” Continue reading Authors Can Use ElevenLabs Audiobook Narration for Spotify

ThinkAnalytics has launched an AI-powered platform designed for video service providers. Called ThinkMediaAI, it is said to unify content monetization — including contextual advertising, content curation and content bundling — across a variety of services, from live to CTV, FAST, VOD and more. Headquartered in the UK, with offices in Los Angeles, Singapore and India, ThinkAnalytics leverages a recommendation engine, claiming to track more than 475 million real-time data records and 8 billion recommendations per day. The company plans to showcase the new tech at NAB 2025, April 5-9 in Las Vegas. Continue reading ThinkAnalytics Bows Advertising, Curation Tool ThinkMediaAI