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| Welcome to Monday's Inside Tech newsletter! Here are our top stories: - Amazon to unveil new devices on Wednesday.
- Microsoft's chief product officer is leaving.
- Electric air-taxi maker Joby Aviation is building a new factory.
Scroll down to answer our Question of the Week: What's the most mind-boggling tech prediction you've heard for the future, and do you believe it's possible? If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you! Beth
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| 1 | | Amazon is expected to unveil a new Echo speaker and Fire TV Stick 4K Max during its fall hardware event this Wednesday, September 20. Last year, the company introduced the Kindle Scribe, Echo Dot, and Fire TV Cube updates. Here's what we might see this year: - An updated Echo speaker could be unveiled, as the current model hasn't seen an update since 2020. A new version could feature improved sound quality.
- Amazon could also announce an upgraded Fire TV Stick 4K, as the 2021 model is ripe for an update.
- While a new Kindle Scribe is not expected, Amazon could still announce software updates for the e-reader to enhance the user experience.
- The Kindle Oasis, not refreshed since 2019, could either get an update or be discontinued.
- Amazon may also introduce generative AI capabilities for Alexa, potentially creating more dynamic and customized responses.
Q: What other products or features do you hope Amazon announces during the fall hardware event? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | Microsoft's Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay, announced he is leaving the company after 19 years. Panay, who joined Microsoft as a group program manager in 2004, has played a significant role in Windows and Surface PC development. More: - Panay was promoted to chief product officer in 2018, leading Windows 11 development, and later became an executive vice president, advising CEO Satya Nadella.
- While no reason was given for his departure, Panay said he has "decided to turn the page and write the next chapter."
- Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's corporate VP and consumer chief marketing officer, will take over Panay's role.
Zoom out: - Panay's exit comes just ahead of Microsoft's Thursday livestream event, which is set to showcase new Surface products, potentially including the Surface Laptop Studio 2.
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| 3 | | Joby Aviation, the electric air taxi company, has chosen a site in Dayton, Ohio, to build its first large-scale factory. The news comes as investments in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry have skyrocketed in recent years, surpassing $3.7B in 2021. 
What happened: Joby announced plans to invest $500M in its first large-scale factory, which could create over 2,000 jobs and produce 500 eVTOL aircraft each year. To support the project, Ohio, JobsOhio, and local entities are offering $325M in incentives. Details: Joby's newest production-ready prototype eVTOL can carry a pilot and four passengers, reaching speeds of 200 mph and traveling up to 150 miles on one charge. Unlike competitors, Joby's business model resembles rideshare apps, with the company owning and operating the air taxis. Backed by Toyota, Joby is hoping to gain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification to start commercial passenger services by 2025. | | | |
| 4 | | The upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to deliver gaming performance on par with the Xbox One or PS4, according to newly disclosed Microsoft court documents. Emails from the FTC vs. Microsoft case show that Nintendo has already briefed "key partner studios," including Activision, on its next-generation Switch console, which is due out in 2024. More: - In December, Activision's top brass, including CEO Bobby Kotick, convened with Nintendo's leadership to discuss the new Switch.
- In an internal email, Chris Schnakenberg of Activision's platform strategy and partnerships preparted a summary of the "Switch NG" (Next-Generation Switch).
- The document, titled "NG Switch Draft.pdf," suggests that the next-gen Switch's performance will rival that of the PS4 and Xbox One.
- "It would be helpful to secure early access to development hardware prototypes and prove that out nice and early," the document reads.
Zoom out: - Nintendo is reportedly planning to launch the new Switch in the second half of 2024.
- It may have an LCD screen instead of OLED to bring down costs. Nintendo has reportedly already sent out development kits to partner studios.
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| 5 | | T2 Social, a potential rival to X (formerly Twitter), has rebranded itself as Pebble. The social network was founded by Gabor Cselle, whose previous companies were acquired by Twitter and Google, and Sarah Oh, Twitter's former human rights adviser. More: - In an email to users, Pebble said "T2" was a placeholder name that the company found "too derivative and a bit uninspired."
- The new name symbolizes the idea that small actions can have a big impact, similar to sharing stories and insights on its network.
- In addition to the rebrand, Pebble has now opened up its platform to anyone with an X account.
- The service also introduced an "Ideas" tab that suggests ideas for posts and replies using AI technology.
Zoom out: - Pebble now claims over 15,000 registered users, trailing behind Twitter rival Bluesky's 1 million users, Post's 440,000 registered, and Threads' estimated 10 million users.
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| 6 | | Google has granted early access to a handful of companies to try out Gemini, its next-generated series of large language models. According to The Information, Google is granting developers access to a large version of Gemini, but not the largest model, which would be comparable to OpenAI's GPT-4. More: - Gemini, built on the capabilities of DeepMind's AlphaGo AI system, will reportedly be multimodal, integrating text, images, and other data types.
- The series comprises large-language models that power chatbots, generate and summarize text, offer coding assistance, and generate images from user prompts.
- Gemini aims to combine the strengths of AlphaGo's decision-making with advanced language capabilities.
- Jeffrey Dean, Google's chief scientist, has stated that Gemini will use Google's new AI infrastructure, Pathways, to scale up training on diverse datasets.
- Google plans to offer Gemini to businesses via its Google Cloud Vertex AI service.
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- Apple has released its latest major software updates, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, to the public for download. iOS 17 brings notable enhancements to iPhone calls and messaging, including Contact Posters for personalized call screens and Live Voicemail with real-time transcripts.
- Google has stopped selling new domains on its registrar business, Google Domains. The company is now redirecting users to purchase domains through Squarespace, which acquired the assets of the Domains business earlier this year.
- Utherverse, a metaverse platform with over 50 million users, is set to launch a next-generation Web3 closed beta on Sept. 26.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is the writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters, with a career spanning journalism and editing since 2007. She has written for publications including The Arizona Republic, USA Today, and others, and authored a book on the solar industry in 2016. Reach out to her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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