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Galaxy Unpacked 2023

Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Event: What to expect?

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Galaxy Unpacked 2023 is first and foremost an official live event hosted by Samsung on February 1st, 2023 in San Francisco. However, viewers from all over the globe will be able to witness the event live online on the Samsung Newsroom website, the company’s official website, and the official YouTube channel.

Samsung revealed the Galaxy S22 lineup, which included the S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra, at a launch event quite similar to the one it did this year in February 2022. The Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8 Plus, and Tab S8 Ultra were three other tablets that the company unveiled with it.

Galaxy Unpacked 2023
Image Source: thehindubusinessline.com

The Galaxy S series is the only thing that comes to mind when the words “premium” and “Galaxy” are mentioned. As a result, experts are positive that the Samsung Galaxy S23 range will be the event’s biggest attraction at Galaxy Unpacked 2023.

The latter represents the company’s 2023 flagship smartphone lineup. The Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra will be the minimum number of devices in the S23 series. Although all 3 of them will be launching in early February, customers may currently make a reservation.

Also Read: What were the main highlights of CES 2023?

A modified version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset will power the Galaxy S23. As a result, the smartphones will deliver excellent performance and may launch as the most potent Android devices available.

The Galaxy S23 will probably include a slew of further improvements in addition to the powerful processor. The high-end Galaxy S23 Ultra includes a very outstanding camera module, brighter screens, and enhanced thermals and battery life.

The majority of reports state that Samsung won’t raise the Galaxy S23 lineup’s base price. But customers should prepare to fork over a sizable extra for these flagship models. Fortunately, Samsung is notorious for offering hefty early-bird discounts, so if users move quickly (or make a purchase), they can save a significant amount of money.

Additionally, experts anticipate Samsung will provide users with an update on the Galaxy S22 series and let users know whether the device will be discontinued or kept on the market alongside its replacement. A price reduction will be required if the latter is the case.

Last but not least, Samsung might also have a few software announcements to share, such as a future One UI update.

There is just one other important product launch beside the Galaxy S23: the Galaxy Book 3 range of laptops. Both the Samsung Galaxy Tab Fold and the Galaxy Tab S9 series are unlikely to debut. According to reports, both have been postponed until late 2023 or early 2024.

Last year, Samsung did introduce a new series of Tab S8 tablets along with the Galaxy S22. However, a story from the South Korean publication The Elec claims that the corporation postponed the launch of its next tablet (likely the Tab S9) from its initial December 2022 launch date because of a decline in consumer electronics demand.

The Elec claims that a new generation of tablets will still be released this year, so they may still debut at Samsung’s expected Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 foldable during the company’s customary summer presentation.

Baidu

China’s Baidu to launch ChatGPT-style bot in March

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As per a person with knowledge of the matter, Baidu is preparing to launch an artificial intelligence chatbot system similar to ChatGPT by OpenAI, possibly becoming China’s greatest influential entrance in a race sparked by the tech trend.

According to the person who requested anonymity to describe personal information, China’s biggest search engine firm plans to launch a ChatGPT-style software in March, at first incorporating it within its primary search services. The unnamed tool will provide users with chat-style search results similar to OpenAI’s popular service.

Baidu
Image Source: tribune.com.pk

Baidu has invested billions of dollars in artificial intelligence research in a multi-year attempt to transform from internet advertising to profound technology.

According to the source, the Ernie system is a big-scale machine-learning framework that has been specialized in data for several years. It will serve as the foundation for its impending ChatGPT-like tool. A delegate for Baidu declined to answer questions.

Also Read: BuzzFeed will use ChatGPT bots instead of writers

Since its public debut in November, ChatGPT which is the OpenAI’s artificial intelligence software has captured the internet, accumulating over a million users in days as well as sparking a debate about the importance of AI in schools, offices, and homes.

Firms such as Microsoft are putting in billions of dollars to try to develop practical applications, while others are using a lot of buzz to obtain financing. Buzzfeed’s stock massively increased this month just after the company unveiled its plans to include ChatGPT within its content.

Baidu, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, and ByteDance control a large portion of the Chinese internet. The search company has been attempting to resurrect progress in the mobile world, after falling behind its larger competitors in areas such as mobile advertising, video, as well as social media. Aside from AI research, Google is now working on technology for autonomous driving.

Also Read: Quora introduces Poe, a way to talk to AI chatbots like ChatGPT

ChatGPT caught the attention of Chinese online consumers, who, like others, disclosed screenshots of unexpected discussions with the Artificial Intelligence bot on local social networking sites.

Even after a highly censored residential internet which is largely disconnected from the remaining of the world, businesses like Baidu have thrived as native alternatives to Google, Amazon, as well as Facebook.

Aside from Baidu, many Chinese start-ups are experimenting with generative Artificial Intelligence and have captivated shareholders including Sequoia & Sinovation Ventures.

Twitter

Why major advertisers are leaving Twitter?

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Elon Musk’s Twitter deal was met with swift criticism. One of the four biggest advertising agencies, IPG Megabrands, urged their clients to halt advertising Twitter just days after the acquisition. Along with these other businesses, paid advertisements on the platform have been suspended by Pfizer, General Motors, and Volkswagen.

Twitter
Image Source: mashable.com

Ninety-two percent or so of Twitter’s overall revenue in 2021 came from advertising. If there was any doubt before, it is now evident that Musk must wean Twitter off its dependence on advertising revenue in order for his vision for the company to succeed.

At Twitter, Elon Musk has had a very busy week. His most active users will now need to pay a monthly fee, and he has sacked half of his workers and told the other employees they may no longer work remotely.

Also Read: Ad Spending on Twitter Falls by Over 70%

He has also criticized advertising. Elon Musk in his tweet on Friday claimed that Twitter had experienced a “massive drop in revenue” as more advertisers choose to stay away from what can only be called a turbulent transition.

It’s important to note that overall spending on digital advertising has decreased as the economy faces its own uncertainty. Additionally, it appears that everything is being done to divert attention from the mass layoff issue.

Musk tweeted about advertising again later though. This time, it was in response to a request that Musk “name and shame” companies who have halted their advertising. He tweeted, “A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues.”

It appears that 50 out of the top 100 advertisers on Twitter have halted advertising on the platform. These 50 advertisers have spent about $2 billion on Twitter advertisements since 2020, and more than $750 million only in 2022, according to research from Media Matters for America.

Also Read: What Does Twitter 200 Million User Email Leak Actually Mean?

Based on the report, which was released on Tuesday, seven new companies have reduced their advertising to nearly nothing. Since 2020, these businesses have paid Twitter over $255 million for advertising. Chevy, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ford, Kyndryl, Jeep, Merck & Co., and Novartis AG all made announcements concerning the suspension of Twitter advertisements, or it was rumored and confirmed that they had done so.

The others stopped using the site to advertise for a significant period of time following direct outreach, controversies, and media buyers.” The day following an account pretending to be from Eli Lilly and Co. posted, “We are excited to announce insulin is free now,” the pharmaceutical business ceased running advertisements on Twitter.

The post was left up for hours despite Eli Lilly’s request for Twitter to remove it because the company’s staff was overworked as a result of recent firings and resignations. Eli Lilly’s shares fell shortly after the tweet received thousands of likes and hundreds of retweets.

Advertisers have stopped spending on Twitter advertisements because they don’t want to pay for ads that would randomly start appearing next to violent or racist content. They want assurances that the situation won’t worsen into an even worse swamp than it already is.

Musk hasn’t taken any action to reassure them that it won’t. Instead, he simply continues to use his “management by chaos” approach. He believes it works for him, however, brand stability and predictability are what advertisers desire.

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed will use ChatGPT bots instead of writers

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Based on a memo sent out to staff by Cheif executive officer, Jonah Peretti & answers provided to The Verge, BuzzFeed will be using Artificial intelligence technology provided by ChatGPT maker OpenAI to strengthen and “personalize” the data.

Jonah Peretti claims in the document that AI will be among two significant developments establishing the future of digital media and the other being creators.

BuzzFeed
Image Source: nytimes.com

So, as per Peretti, BuzzFeed’s AI-influenced content will debut on the site in 2023 which will be improving the trivia experience, guide our pondering, and customize our information for the public. The Wall Street Journal broke the story about the memo.

“Our industry will expand beyond AI-powered curation (feeds), to AI-powered creation (content),” says Peretti. “AI opens up a new era of creativity, where creative humans like us play a key role in providing the ideas, cultural currency, inspired prompts, IP, and formats that come to life using the newest technologies.”

Source: theverge.com

AI could be utilized to create customized rom-com pitches for readers, according to one example cited by the Wall Street Journal but not mentioned in the memo. They would indeed be asked a variety of questions, along with private details such as naming an alluring flaw or picking a favorite rom-com trope, and the results would be universally accessible.

In the memo, Peretti stated that he’ll share a sneak peek of the material he’ll be introducing in February at an all-hands gathering later.

Also Read: Chrome Adds Fingerprint Unlock to Incognito Tabs on Android

When questioned if BuzzFeed was thinking about the use of AI in its news department, the firm’s, Matt Mittenthal, VP of communications, denied it and said they will be using OpenAI for sure.

The escalating ability of AI-based tools such as ChatGPT to compose prose has created the technology, appealing to media companies suffering from declining advertising rates. BuzzFeed, in specific, has experienced a bumpy market ride until coming out publicly in December 2021.

By June 2022, the firm’s stock price already had dropped 40 percent and has continued to drop since. Following the announcement, that BuzzFeed will use AI to create content, the company’s stock price had increased well over % at the moment of writing.

tech companies

Why are so many tech companies laying people off right now?

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In the US, both private and public tech companies cut more than 1,07,000 jobs in 2017, and this January, thousands of workers at Google, Microsoft Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and Salesforce lost their jobs, bringing the total number of large tech corporate layoffs to about 60,000

Several of these layoffs are realistically related to the upcoming capital-raising challenges and possible recession. However, there is another significant reason for it, and it is related to the desire for growth in 2020–2021 and the notion that hiring is a symptom of it. Users, utilization, retention, revenues, and ARR should be the appropriate indications for this, and hiring should be a tool to support these.

tech companies
Image Source: channelfutures.com

The weak market is the clear cause of the layoffs. Nowadays, investors are increasingly cautious and don’t want to fund high-risk projects. Additionally, the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) anticipated in the coming years has decreased substantially, almost returning to the level it was three years earlier.

Also Read: Google Parent Alphabet cuts 12000 Jobs

If so, private venture-backed businesses will require a longer run rate to be able to go public, which may be accomplished in one of two ways: by increasing revenue or by cutting costs. Since investors are reluctant to make more investments, valuations have decreased, making it more difficult to raise significant sums of money.

However, there is yet another very important cause for the layoffs, and that is because some firms forced it upon themselves or because new investors forced it onto them. Many firms raised large sums of money during the bullish 2020–2021 market at extremely high valuations, which were occasionally exaggerated.

The investors encouraged the startups to flourish by promising them future growth. This includes hiring a lot of people in order to demonstrate growth, support the present valuations, and raise the next round’s valuation even further. Now, growth must be calculated using actual data. The key determinants of it are usage, retention, users, ARR, and revenues.

Read More: Discord acquires Gas, the popular teen app to compliment each other

It will frequently include employing individuals who will facilitate growth. In essence, it is regarded as an investment in future growth. As a result, many tech companies were keen to hire when expansion was the main priority for two reasons: Spending money to foster growth and fulfilling the goal of recent investors who were just interested in growth.

Nowadays, with lower valuations and a longer wait for IPOs, priorities are shifting, and most companies now place a higher focus on profit, even at the expense of slower growth.

Layoffs follow for two reasons: first, some of the hires were made while businesses were experiencing rapid development, and hiring was the key indicator to convince the Board of Directors or recent investors that they are doing the correct thing. The second justification is the most obvious.

When the expansion was the top priority, we needed a lot of people to work on it, but as soon as profitability became the top objective, many of these positions were no longer required. Unfortunately, the outcome is always the same: layoffs.

databricks

Journey of Databricks from Academia To A $6.2 Billion Business

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Apache Spark’s developers formed the American enterprise software startup Databricks.

Databricks creates a web-based Spark platform with IPython-style notebooks and automatic cluster management.

About the Company

Databricks, a startup with headquarters in San Francisco, was established in 2013 and has roots in both open-source development and academia.

Databricks
Image Source: capterra.com

The company, which was created by seven co-founders and is propelled by enormous industry potential, aids data professionals, scientists, analysts, and engineers in cooperating to uncover value in data and develop solutions to the most difficult challenges in the world.

Databricks’ seven co-founders, all of whom were researchers at UC Berkeley, were able to capitalize on the idea that, when coupled with A.I., data offers the potential to treat illnesses, save lives, combat climate change, and even alter how we live.

Also Read: The richest man in the video game business

As a result, Databricks offers the only open, unified platform for full-lifecycle machine learning, business analytics, and massive-scale data management. This enables data teams to innovate more quickly and collaboratively.

History

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi has been interested in programming since his parents gave him an old Commodore 64 when he was eight years old. He pursued a Ph.D. in distributed computing as well as further study in computer engineering. Later, in 2009, he teamed up with Ion Stoica to establish “Spark,” which Matei Zaharia had already started.

They further collaborated with another machine learning team, and the two of them jointly launched “Apache Spark” on the market. Companies first paid little attention since the technology seemed foreign.

They were given some hope in 2013 when Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz VC, invested $14 million in them and pushed them to create a business that would act as a platform for Apache Spark. As a result, Databricks was founded in 2013.

Success Story

Databricks’ technology, Spark, experienced tremendous growth and widespread use in 2015.

The rumor that the technology doesn’t operate if the data does not fit in the RAM was getting on the nerves of Databricks’ founders. They made the decision to turn to the market.

They participated in a nerdy contest. Reynold, co-founder and chief architect of Databricks, assisted the team in breaking the world record by sorting one petabyte of data at the fastest speed ever while using a lot less memory than one petabyte.

Also Read: Success Story of Fanatics’ Billionaire CEO

Due to media coverage of the accomplishment, Spark quickly rose to the top of the Gartner Hype Cycle and became the most widely used software. Databricks raised $883 million in several Series fundings between 2014 and 2019. Microsoft took part in the Series E fundraising round that helped to establish Azure Databricks in 2019.

The company announced that the company had made over $200 million in revenue that year. In the 2020 Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms, research company Gartner named Databricks as a Leader. In the 2020 Cloud 100, the company was rated fifth.

As more businesses try to integrate data analytics into their daily operations, Databricks is now one of the pioneers in machine learning and data science.