Amazon has earmarked $230 million to invest in generative AI startups worldwide, providing funding in the form of “AWS credits, mentorship, and education to further their use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.” The initiative will cast a global net, focusing on early-stage companies. About $80 million of that allocation will fund the second cohort of the AWS Generative AI Accelerator, which provides up to $1 million in credits “to each of the top 80 early-stage startups that are using generative AI to solve complex challenges.” Applications for the AWS Accelerator are open through July 19. Continue reading Amazon Commits $230M in AWS Credits for GenAI Startups

Microsoft has three new Xbox consoles slated for the holiday shopping season, including an all-digital Xbox Series X model in Robot White. This $450 discless iteration has up to 4K resolution, 1TB of SDDS storage and the same performance as the Carbon Black Series X introduced last year. A white Xbox Series S with disc drive is also coming, for $350, “for players who wanted more storage without the full power of Series X.” For power users, a 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X Special Edition that offers “the same speed, performance and features of Xbox Series X” is priced at $600. Continue reading Microsoft Unveils 3 New Xbox Consoles for Holiday Shoppers

Walmart’s update on the Onn streaming device, the Onn 4K Pro, offers several improvements, including more storage and RAM, additional ports and always-on microphones ready for Google Assistant voice commands for the Google TV device. It also offers Dolby Atmos as well as smart hub capabilities like hands-free voice control and compatibility with Google Home devices, Walmart says. Priced at $49.88, the Onn 4K Pro will be “available this month,” although it appears to have already made it onto retail shelves at some Walmart locations, as per an early unboxing video post. Continue reading Walmart Takes on Chromecast with Its 4K Google TV Streamer

Samsung Electronics grew net profit by more than 400 percent in Q1, to $4.91 billion, on revenue of about $52.3 billion, a nearly 13 percent increase year-over-year. The results were credited mainly to higher memory chip prices resulting from AI demand buoying the company’s semiconductor business. Solid performance in smartphones — with the launch of its Galaxy S24 series, the first to pack AI-optimized chips — supported the stellar performance. It was a dramatic rebound from 2023, when post-COVID economic fallout drove Samsung to a 15-year profit low and semiconductor losses of almost $11 billion. Continue reading Samsung Chip Rebound Sends Q1 Net Profit Up 400 Percent

Blackmagic Design has introduced two new attention-getting cameras at NAB 2024 in Las Vegas. The flagship URSA Cine 12K LF (large format) has a new full-frame sensor with 16-stop dynamic range, comes with 8TB of built-in storage, and starts at $14,995. It ships with a Canon EF mount, but also accommodates ARRI PL. Blackmagic will also make the URSA available with a 17K sensor, but has yet to share pricing (though it is expected to cost from $20,000 to $25,000). The $2,995 PYXIS 6K cinema box-style camera offers a choice of three lens attachments: EF, PL or L-mount. Continue reading NAB: Blackmagic Unveils Two New Full-Frame Cine Cameras

Ethereum, the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, has completed a software upgrade that aims to make its network cheaper. Called Dencun, the update lowers the cost of so-called layer-2 networks — which include chains like Base, Polygon and Arbitrum — to about a cent for transactions that previously cost $1, while exchanges that used to cost a few cents are reduced to fractions of a cent. Accomplished through a new system of storing data, the upgrade is being welcomed as a harbinger of a development renaissance brimming with new applications and free services. Continue reading Ethereum Software Upgrade Could Reduce Transaction Fees

Researchers at China’s University of Shanghai for Science and Technology have invented an ultrahigh density optical disc format they claim can store up to 1.6 petabits — more than 1,500 terabytes, or 125,000 gigabytes — of data. While the new discs are said to look like typical Blu-rays, the data is written to one hundred layers in a 3D stacking architecture by a 54-nanometer laser that is about one-tenth the size of visible light waves. The same laser is used to read the data back. The tech is said to present “a promising solution for cost effective, long-term archival data storage.” Continue reading New Chinese Optical Disc Promises Petabyte-Plus of Storage

Microsoft would like to make OneDrive “the center of your files experience in Microsoft 365.” Sixteen years after the cloud-based storage platform was launched, it “hosts trillions of files, with nearly 2 billion more files added every day,” the company says. The result is OneDrive source files sprawling across the entire Windows ecosystem — extending to SharePoint libraries, traveling as attachments and exchanged through Teams chats. Now Microsoft is adding AI Copilot integration and AI and, overall, making it easier to find things in what it calls the next generation of OneDrive. Continue reading OneDrive 3.0 Aspires to Become Main Windows File Manager

Roll, a new app for web and iOS, puts an AI spin on timeworn video capture and editing techniques, delivering virtual bokeh, motion graphics and multicam shots, as well as sliders, cranes, dollies and jibs. As the latest consumer artificial intelligence entry, Roll professes to empower anyone to create professional-quality remote video quickly using just an iPhone and Roll’s proprietary software. The Roll app is free to use, with the whole platform offered as a free trial with a paid subscription option. Roll lets users record broadcast-quality remote video calls, add generative AI special effects, and publish quickly. Continue reading Roll Uses Generative AI to Simulate Jibs, Dollies, Much More

Avid is moving its workflow to the cloud, providing its popular on-site editing interface to distributed production teams that will now have instant access to assets across platforms, from broadcast and cable to web and social media. Geared towards news and sports operations, the Avid Media Production in the Cloud subscription service offers a secure and convenient way to integrate existing tools and workflows with the power of the cloud “without committing to a forklift overhaul or the need for additional training,” Avid director of solutions marketing, media and cloud Raul Alba said of the rollout. Continue reading Avid Debuts ‘Media Production in the Cloud’ by Subscription

Vimeo is adjusting its bandwidth policies, a result of explosive demand for video consumption and hosting due in part to the expanding creator economy. When some existing Vimeo customers recently complained after being hit with news of a sudden, sizable billing increase, Vimeo quickly apologized. CEO Anjali Sud issued a mea culpa that included photos of an extended bouquet and crossed wires. “For those who consume large amounts of video bandwidth,” wrote Sud, “we have continued to enforce legacy policies that are poorly communicated and that are causing unnecessary friction and anxiety.” Continue reading Vimeo Offers Apology to Customers Irked Over Fee Increase

ETC@USC’s Archive Working Group, a committee within its Adaptive and Virtual Production project, is releasing its most recent white paper, “Practical Cloud Archive,” an ongoing exploration of digital asset preservation challenges, proposing “a number of avenues to introduce cloud storage and cloud technology as part of an overall archive solution, without compromising the basic tenets of preservation.” Led by co-chair, Denis Leconte, VP of technology at Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, the paper is the next step toward the continuing process to study “more precise experimental data on cloud storage characteristics in terms of durability as measured using the fixity process” as discussed in the previous white paper, “Guideline for the Preservation of Digital Audio-Visual Assets in the Cloud.” Continue reading ETC White Paper Proposes Archive Solutions and Next Steps

To attract more developers to its Android and Fire OS Appstore, Amazon — following similar moves by tech giants Apple and Google — is cutting costs for developers with its Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program. Whereas both Apple and Google halved their cut of a developer’s first $1 million to 15 percent from 30 percent, Amazon instead will lower the cut to 20 percent but also give developers 10 percent in “AWS promotional credits” to use its cloud services, bringing their Appstore revenue to “an equivalent of 90 percent.” Continue reading Amazon Targets App Developers with Lower Fee, AWS Credit

Nasdaq and Intel have partnered to advance homomorphic encryption (HE), which allows AI and machine learning computations on data without having to decrypt it. Nasdaq will adopt HE to be used with Intel’s latest processors. Intel is also exploring the encryption technology with the Defense Department’s DARPA. Nasdaq’s exploration of HE in a business setting is aimed to lead to tools that can focus on preventing fraud and money laundering. Healthcare is another field that is expected to benefit from HE. Continue reading Nasdaq, Intel Team on Homomorphic Encryption in the Cloud

Following a series of leaks, Microsoft has now confirmed the existence of another new game console, the Xbox Series S, which it dubs the smallest Xbox ever (60 percent smaller than the Series X). The company said the “slim, white console” will debut “soon,” provide “next-gen performance” and be priced at $299. Reports suggest that Series S and Series X will be available for purchase on November 10 and hint that many Series S features are similar to those of Series X, but with less disc drive and less powerful CPU and GPU. Microsoft stated that the Xbox Series X “will be four times more powerful than its predecessor, the Xbox One X.” Continue reading Microsoft Confirms the Debut of $299 Xbox Series S Console