Archives January 2024

Android’s eSIM transfer tool could slowly become adopted by other carriers, allowing users an easier process when transferring contracts to new devices.

The eSIM transfer feature was introduced by Google last year at MWC (Mobile World Congress) and was initially only available on Google Pixel devices but that may have changed with the Samsung Galaxy S24.

According to Android Police, the feature was first noticed by Google Pixel 8 users, and it has now been spotted on the Samsung Galaxy S24 which could indicate the feature is no longer locked to Google Pixel devices. However, for now, the eSIM transfer tool only appears to work for eSIMs linked to T-Mobile, with no clear indication if and when other networks could adopt its use. 

As Samsung is one of the most popular Android phone manufacturers this could be a positive sign that other manufacturers and networks will jump on board to accelerate its adoption to the rest of the Android market.

The Android eSIM transfer tool should make it much easier to move your contract to a new device. Previously, you might be required to visit a store or use an app unique to your network provider, which could involve users going through the whole setup process again.

However, the standardization of the Android eSIM transfer tool could do away with individual devices’ or networks’ own SIM transfer tools and existing compatibility issues by having all Android devices use Google’s eSIM transfer tool, thus ensuring smooth communication between all Android devices like eSIM transfers on Apple devices. 

What are the advantages to eSIMs?

Rocksteady Studios’ third-person action shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is off to a rocky start, as its early-access launch has been interrupted by server maintenance while the developers work to fix a bizarre bug.

Those who’ve pre-ordered the pricier Deluxe Edition of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League have been given 72 hours of early access, which has already kicked off in certain time zones. However, early this afternoon (January 29), the game’s official Twitter / X account announced that the game will be unavailable for potentially “several hours” while the developers fix a bug that’s causing players to have full story completion the first time they log into the game. 

AI roundup: Satya Nadella will be visiting India as part of his annual visit on February 7, 2024. On his agenda would be to explore various AI opportunities and for that, he would be meeting leaders in Indian startups space. Chinese authorities have started the approval process for AI models and already approved 40 models. Know more about AI happenings here.

1. Satya Nadella to meet AI startups in India in February

Puneet Chandok, Microsoft India and South Asia’s President revealed in an internal email about the visit of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to India with the ambition to explore the opportunities of AI in the country. The email said, “AI is playing a game-changing role in shaping ‘India’s Techade’ and will make India and South Asia one of the most exciting markets for technology,” according to a moneycontrol report.

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2. China approves 40 AI models for public use to catch up with US AI development

To upscale AI development in China, the authorities have approved over 40 AI models for public use. It is the fourth batch approval which includes Xiaomi Corp, 4Paradigm, 01.AI, and others. This move was made to meet the rising AI demand in the country and to catch up to the U.S. in AI development space, US News reported.

3. Learnable.ai a Ningbo-based startup eyeing funding

Learnable.ai is generating funding of over $70 million to revamp the China college exam system with the help of AI. The company is looking for applications for AI to overhaul the unchanged system grading of the “gaokao.” Guan Wang chairman of the company said, “Reviews by experts have found that accuracy of using AI models is actually higher than humans, because students’ handwriting could be messy and hard for teachers to discern.” According to a Bloomberg report.

4. AI chip market for edge applications to expand by 2023, IDTechEx predicts

According to a new study, AI training algorithms are growing and it may result in the growth of AI chips for edge applications between 2023 and 2034. “AI Chips for Edge Applications 2024–2034: Artificial Intelligence at the Edge” IDTechEx reported in a prediction. The use of AI may also lead to an increase in automation and interconnectedness, according to a press release

5. AI startup Sarvam AI says OpenAI’s GPT-4 may not work in Indian cost structure

Sarvam AI is an Indian AI startup that recently gained recognition for developing AI models for speech recognition and translation at AI4 Bharat. The founder of the startup, Vivek Raghavan said in an interview when asked about GPT capabilities, “Understanding the Indian context and secondly, being able to operate in Indian cost structures are things that if you actually want to be able to do that thing at scale, you can’t be using GPT-4.” the Hindu reported.

Also, read these top stories today:

Video Surveillance! Police in the US will now have to get warrants to obtain video footage from Amazon Ring devices. But what about the millions of other cameras watching us? Know all about it here. 

Rising India! Indian smart electronics companies like Lava and Qubo are getting high ratings. Check it out now here. 

iPhone-maker’s loss! An Apple veteran who helped start efforts to develop an electric vehicle is leaving for Rivian Auto, marking yet another senior departure for the iPhone maker. Read all about it here. 

A new study has claimed the best IT talent has high ambitions, leaving mid-market organizations struggling to acquire and retain the right workers.

The report by Advania claims to shed some light on the cybersecurity, cost management, and operational complexity hurdles so-called mid-market businesses face – including uncovering an alarming trend that cybersecurity awareness and training is failing to translate into good practices.

Apple‘s Vision Pro is hitting the stores later this week on Friday. It’s not just those who pre-ordered their first spatial computers who are excited; someone else has been waiting for this day for years and reportedly couldn’t be more excited. It’s none other than Mark Zuckerberg, who got us poking each other on Facebook and now has spent the last few years burning billions of dollars, even renamed its company, hoping everyone would wear a headset on their face for hours for work, entertainment, and even socialise inside virtual and augmented worlds. And now, he hopes that the $3499 Vision Pro could help him realise his meta dream.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Zuckerberg and other Meta executives are hoping that Apple’s Vision Pro will rekindle people’s interest in the metaverse. People familiar with their thoughts told the Journal that executives at Meta are “optimistic” of the iPhone maker’s entry into the headset market and hope that it will substantiate their CEO’s bet, drawing in more buyers.
Meta, which bought Oculus for $2 billion in 2014, has spent $50 million till now on its Reality Lab division. In 2021, the company changed its name to reflect its vision for immersive virtual worlds. However, the Reality Labs division generates less than 1% of Meta’s overall revenue, and the Quest devices remain a niche product.
Sources tell that Meta employees are of the opinion that Quest and its software ecosystem have the potential to emerge as a “primary alternative” to Apple in the virtual reality (VR) industry, much like Google‘s Android has played a significant role in the smartphone market.
Zuckerberg and Andrew Bosworth, the chief technology officer at Meta, have long believed that having a strong competitor could boost the market, the people said.
These same people say that Apple’s upcoming headset has influenced Meta’s focus. Meta, which earlier focused entirely on metaverse, asking people to work and play in its virtual reality environment, is now emphasising more on mixed reality experiences, bringing in pass-through abilities that give users a look at their surroundings while they are using the headset.
Cathay Craig, CEO of VR game developer Incisv, who recently attended a Meta event, was told by an employee that Apple’s entry into the VR market will increase the demand for headset devices. “What Meta thinks is people will buy their headset because it’s cheaper,” she told the Journal.
The Vision Pro comes at an exorbitant price of $3,499, and that’s just the starting price. The additional storage options, add-ons, and accessories can add hundreds of dollars to the invoice. In comparison, Meta’s newest headset – the Quest 3 – is priced at $500, which is significantly more affordable.

The Italian data protection authority, the Garante, has informed OpenAI that its AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, violates the country’s data protection regulations. The regulator states that the techniques used by OpenAI to collect users’ data through ChatGPT violate the country’s privacy law. This comes in after the authority initiated an investigation in March of last year.
The country’s privacy regulator has been assessing AI platforms’ compliance with the European Union’s data privacy laws.Last year, ChatGPT was briefly banned by the Italian regulator over an alleged breach of EU privacy rules. At that time, the regulator also launched a probe, which has now concluded that ChatGPT breaches the bloc’s data privacy law.
Last year in March, the regulator accused ChatGPT’s creators, OpenAI, of “unlawful collection of personal data” and ordered them to stop collecting Italian users’ data immediately. The regulator blocked the ChatGPT in the country and ordered OpenAI to revise its data collection practices.
Weeks later, in April, OpenAI now restored access to ChatGPT in Italy, saying that it made changes to its platform, which satisfied the requirements of Italian regulators.
The ChatGPT-maker said that it made some changes to its platform, which included a new form that EU users can use to delete their data under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Additionally, the company also developed a tool that will verify the age of users upon signup in Italy. OpenAI also published a help center article that details how it collects personal data, including information on how users can contact its GDPR-mandated data protection officer.
According to a statement given by the Italian regulatory body, the evidence gathered suggests that OpenAI may have violated one or more EU regulations. The regulatory body has given OpenAI and Microsoft 30 days to respond to the notice.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was introduced in 2018, dictates that if a company is found to be in breach of these rules, it may face fines of up to 4 per cent of its global turnover

We recently reported on rumors popping up about potential new Apple products, including new iPad Pros, iPad Airs, and M3 MacBook Air models. Previous leaks suggested that we wouldn’t be seeing any of these new releases until April – but new speculation suggests we could see the M3-powered version of Apple’s popular laptop arrive as soon as March. 

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (whose sources are frequently spot-on regarding Apple leaks and rumors) has stated in his latest Power On newsletter that the M3 MacBook Air could debut sometime at the end of March. We previously covered his earlier report that suggested we’d only see the new MacBook at the end of April. 

Reliance Jio, in response to a consulting paper published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), titled Digital Transformation through 5G Ecosystem, suggested that the government should frame a policy to shut down the 2G and 3G networks in India and move the existing users to 4G and 5G networks. In a separate response, Vodafone Idea (Vi) also made the same suggestion and highlighted that the existence of such barriers lead to a digital divide and impacts the ecosystem for 5G use cases.

The regulatory body sought opinions on the barriers to the development of the ecosystem for 5G use cases, which need to be addressed and the possible policy and regulatory interventions that can overcome them. Responding to this, Reliance Jio stated, “The Government should come out with a policy and glidepath for closing down the 2G and 3G networks completely so that unnecessary network costs should be avoided, and all customers can be migrated to 4G and 5G services.” The telecom operator added that this will also boost the developing ecosystem to 5G use cases.

Separately, Vodafone Idea also submitted its suggestion highlighting a similar measure. “The inability of users to switch to smartphones on account of the cost of these devices also leads to the users continuing on older technology and hence, not using digital services and most likely ending up being not updated on latest digital technologies and services,” it added.

The two major issues with shifting users to a higher network bandwidth include the abundance of phones used in India that are only 2G/3G capable, and the pricing of the 4G and 5G enabled smartphones that might be unaffordable for the rural and remote population of the country. Vodafone Idea highlighted the issue as well and stated that the cost of smartphones for low-income groups is a very big challenge.

Reliance Jio also underlined the necessity for the availability and allocation of a “massive amount” of spectrum bands to better implement a robust 5G connectivity. To solve this, the telecom operator urged that the 6GHz band, full C-Band, and 28GHz (on a flexible use basis) should also be auctioned, along with the planned auction of the E-Band and V-Band spectrum.

It should be noted that these are just the suggestions given to TRAI by Telecom Service Providers and other enablers of the ecosystem. The suggestion does not ensure that the government will take active steps to shut down the 2G and 3G networks. In case, the Centre does move ahead with the proposed suggestion, citizens will get an ample amount of time and assistance from the government to make the transition easy.

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