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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - Apple launches free sports app for iPhone users.
- Google releases open AI models.
- Jeff Bezos completes $8.5B Amazon share sale.
- Garmin reports positive earnings alongside new smartwatches.
- Microsoft announces Xbox games coming to the Switch, PS5.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Apple today launched a free sports app for tracking real-time scores, statistics, and live betting odds. iPhone users can now download "Apple Sports" in the App Store in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. More: - Apple Sports is designed to quickly provide sports fans with live scores and more.
- Users can receive customized updates on chosen teams and leagues, including game details, statistics, and live betting odds.
- The data appears on their lock screen in the live activities box during games.
- At launch, the app covers the NBA, NHL, NCAA, Premier League, MLS, and others, with Apple planning to add the NFL, MLB, NCAAF, NWSL, and WNBA in their upcoming seasons.
Zoom out: - The app doesn't support betting directly, and allows users to disable live betting odds.
- While it alerts users to game broadcasts, it doesn't stream games. It does direct users to the right apps for viewing.
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| 2 | | Jeff Bezos has sold 50 million Amazon shares in the last nine trading days, raking in over $8.5B in cash, according to SEC filings. In the latest sell-off, the Amazon founder unloaded 14 million shares worth about $2.4B, which occurred across three trading days ending on Tuesday. More: - Bezos sold the stock under a trading plan disclosed earlier this month, with plans to sell up to 50 million Amazon shares by Jan. 31, 2025.
- The owner of Blue Origin and the Washington Post has not revealed plans for the proceeds.
- Prior to the sell-off, Bezos had not sold any Amazon stock since May 2021.
- The company's shares have surged by over 75% in the past year.
Zoom out: - By relocating from Seattle to Miami, Bezos will save nearly $600M in taxes on the $8.5B worth of sold stock, benefiting from Florida's lack of state income and capital gains taxes.
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| 3 | | Google released a pair of lightweight open AI models for developers and researchers to experiment with and build apps. The "Gemma" text-generating models are now open for commercial use and redistribution, marking Google's shift toward openness in the AI space. More: - With Gemma, Google is targeting developers building smaller AI apps who want faster performance and lower costs.
- Google claims the models, despite their small size, outshine larger models in key benchmarks and run on developers' computers.
- The models, Gemma 2B and Gemma 7B, are available in two sizes; the smaller for cost-efficient app building and the larger for developing AI software with high-capacity AI chips and data centers.
- They come with a "Responsible Generative AI Toolkit" for creating safety filters and a debugging tool to explore and resolve bugs.
Zoom out: - Gemma is based on the same technology as Google's larger but closed Gemini AI models, which compete with ChatGPT and power Google's chatbot formerly known as Bard.
- Notably, the Gemma models are open-weight but not open-source, meaning more people can experiment with Google AI, with limitations.
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| 4 | | Garmin, the maker of GPS and wearable technology, reported Q4 revenue above Wall Street forecasts and expects this year's revenue to exceed estimates. The Swiss company expects strong growth in its auto and fitness sectors, fueled by new brand partnerships and product launches such as smartwatches. 
What the numbers show: In Q4, Garmin's revenue topped $1.48B, surpassing expectations of $1.4B. Its auto OEM segment saw a 54% YoY rise in revenue to $127M as it shipped more domain controllers. For 2024, Garmin forecasts revenue of $5.75B, exceeding the $5.56B forecasted by analysts. The bigger picture: Garmin has seen greater demand for its fitness-focused smartwatches and vehicle navigation systems. Today, it launched the Forerunner 165 and Forerunner 165 Music watches geared toward runners and other athletes. Priced at $249 and $299, respectively, they are among the more affordable options in Garmin's range. The wearables feature a 1.2-inch AMOLED display and offer up to 11 days of battery life, or 19 hours in GPS mode, according to Garmin. | | | |
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| 5 | | Microsoft announced the four Xbox-exclusive games coming to Sony's PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch. "Grounded" and "Pentiment" are coming to the PS4, PS5, and Switch. Meanwhile, "Hi-Fi Rush" and "Sea of Thieves" will debut for the PS5 but not the Switch or PS4. More: - The adventure roleplaying game "Pentiment" will debut on the various consoles on Thursday, Feb. 22, followed by the survival co-op "Grounded" on April 16.
- Rhythm-action brawler "Hi-Fi Rush" launches on the PS5 on March 19, with action-adventure game "Sea of Thieves" following on April 30.
- The games mark Microsoft's initial debut on rival consoles as it transitions away from Xbox exclusivity.
- Releasing games beyond its own console could help Microsoft boost its gaming business and offset lagging Xbox sales.
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| 6 | | Adobe has launched an AI assistant in Acrobat that can summarize and answer questions about PDFs. The assistant is currently in beta for paying users and will become available as a subscription service in the future. More: - The assistant, available in a ChatGPT-like interface, can "read" long PDF documents and generate brief summaries of their contents.
- The feature can also answer questions and suggest its own follow-up questions about the information.
- Under the responses, Adobe's algorithms provide clickable citations for users to verify the bot's accuracy by linking directly to the sourced PDF sections.
- The assistant can also format information for emails, presentations, and reports and will soon be able to design document layouts.
Zoom out: - The assistant is built on the same AI models powering Acrobat Liquid Mode for responsive PDF reading on phones.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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