New Delhi: The science-fiction is harder to see in Google's second try at glasses with a built-in computer. A decade after the debut of Google Glass, a nubby, sci-fi-looking pair of specs that filmed what wearers saw but raised concerns about privacy and received low marks for design, the Alphabet Inc unit on Wednesday previewed a yet-unnamed pair of standard-looking glasses that display translations of conversations in real time and showed no hint of a camera.The new augmented-reality pair of glasses was just one of several longer-term products Google unveiled at its annual Google I/O developer conference aimed at bridging the real world and the company's digital universe of search, Maps and other services using the latest advances in artificial intelligence. "What we're working on is technology that enables us to break down language barriers, taking years of research in Google Translate and bringing that to glasses," said Eddie Chung, a director of product management at Google, calling the capability "subtitles for the world."Selling more hardware could help Google increase profit by keeping users in its network of technology, where it does not have to split ad sales with device makers such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics CO that help distribute its services. Google also teased a tablet to be launched in 2023 and a smartwatch that will go on sale late this year, as it unveils a strategy to offer a group of products comparable to Apple.But Google's hardware business remains small, with its global market share in smartphones, for instance, under 1%, according to researcher IDC. Recently launched challengers in search along with ongoing antitrust investigations across the world into Google's dominance in mobile software and other areas threaten to limit the company's ability to gain steam in new ventures. Alphabet shares fell 0.7% on Wednesday.The reveal of the new glasses reflect the company's growing caution amid greater scrutiny on Big Tech. When Google Glass was demonstrated at I/O in 2012, skydivers used it to live stream a jump onto a San Francisco building, with the company getting special air clearance for the stunt. This time around, Google showed only a video of its prototype, which displayed translations for conversations involving English, Mandarin, Spanish and American Sign Language.It did not specify a release date or immediately confirm that the device lacked a camera. Separate to the gadget, Google earlier demonstrated a feature that eventually would let users take video of store shelves with wine bottles and ask the search app to perform functions like automatically identify options from Black-owned wineries.Similarly, users later this year will be able to snap a photo of a product and locate nearby stores where it is available. Also later this year, Maps will launch an immersive view for some big cities that fuses Street View and aerial images "to create a rich, digital model of the world," Google said.NEW HARDWARE The tablet reverses Google's decision three years ago to abandon making its own after poor sales. It shipped just 500,000 of those units, according to IDC.The new tablet follows increased user interest and was announced early to inform buyers considering alternatives, Rick Osterloh, Google senior vice president for devices and services, told reporters. He added that the Pixel Watch, which will not be compatible with Apple's iPhones, will attract different users than devices from Google's Fitbit, which is associated with health and fitness and was acquired last year for $2.1 billion.Among other announcements, a relaunched Google Wallet app will virtually store drivers licenses in some areas of the United States later this year, mirroring a feature Apple debuted for Arizona on its iPhones in March—REUTERS

 The science-fiction is harder to see in Google's second try at glasses with a built-in computer.

Google's second try at computer glasses translate conversations in real time

San Francisco (The Hawk): In the third quarter (Q3), Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported net income of $13.9 billion, a decrease of 27% from the same period in the previous year, while revenue rose by 6% to $69.1 billion.
Alphabet's earnings of $16.9 billion in net profit fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The tech giant made profits of about $16 billion and revenue of almost $69.7 billion in the second quarter (Q2).
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated, "We are sharpening our focus on a clear set of product and business priorities."
"Product announcements we've made in just the past month alone have shown that very clearly," Pichai said in a statement late on Tuesday. "These include significant improvements to both Search and Cloud, powered by AI, and new ways to monetize YouTube Shorts."
The third quarter's financial results, which were impacted by foreign exchange, reflect solid fundamental growth in Search and momentum in Cloud, according to Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google.
Porat continued, "We're working to realign resources to support our highest growth priorities.
To $39.5 billion, Google Search ad sales increased by 4%.
Google Cloud increased from $4.9 billion in Q3 2021 to nearly $6.9 billion in Q3 2022, and advertising brought in $54.4 billion, up from $53.1 billion. In Q3, YouTube ad revenue was slightly down.
According to Pichai, the business has begun the process of increasing efficiency by reallocating resources to capitalise on its most promising growth prospects.
"We have made a number of shifts over the past quarter away from lower priority initiatives to support higher growth priorities. We will add fewer employees in Q4 than we did in Q3. And as we make plans for 2023, we'll continue to make crucial trade-offs where necessary and are committed to containing the growth of operating expenses "said he.
(Inputs from Agencies)

In the third quarter (Q3), Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported net income of $13.9 billion, a decrease of 27% from the same period in the previous year, while revenue rose by 6% to $69.1 billion.

Alphabet's net profit falls 27% to $13.9 billion, while revenue rises 6%

San Francisco News: After facing criticism about his ChatGPT rival called Bard, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the company will soon release more capable AI models.

Bard was released for the public on March 21 but failed to garner the attention won by OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing chatbot.

"We clearly have more capable models. Pretty soon, we will be upgrading Bard to some of our more capable Pathways Language Model (PaLM) models, which will bring more capabilities; be it in reasoning, coding, it can answer maths questions better," Pichai said during The New York Times' Hard Fork podcast.

"So you will see progress over the course of next week," Pichai added.

Pichai said that part of the reason for Bard's limited capabilities was a sense of caution within Google.

"To me, it was important to not put out a more capable model before we can fully make sure we can handle it well," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Pichai confirmed he was talking with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin about the work.

He also raised concerns that development of AI is currently moving too fast and "perhaps poses a threat to society".

"This is going to need a lot of debate, no-one knows all the answers," said Pichai.

Google has denied reports that it is copying Microsoft-owned OpenAI's ChatGPT to train its AI chatbot called Bard.

A report in The Information claimed that OpenAI's success "has forced the two AI research teams within Google's parent, Alphabet, to overcome years of intense rivalry to work together".

According to the report, citing sources, software engineers at Google's Brain AI group are working with employees at DeepMind, which is a sibling company within Alphabet to develop software to compete with OpenAI.

However, a Google spokesperson told The Verge that "Bard is not trained on any data from ShareGPT or ChatGPT".

Bard, like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing chatbot, is based on a large language model (LLM), specifically a lightweight and optimised version of LaMDA, which the tech giant said will be updated with newer, more capable models in the future. IANS

After facing criticism about his ChatGPT rival called Bard, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the company will soon release more capable AI models.

Sundar Pichai promises more capable Bard AI chatbot soon

Jan 11: Alphabet's Google said on Wednesday it is laying off hundreds of employees across multiple teams, with Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman also leaving the company, as the tech giant continues to cut costs.
Google said it will lay off hundreds at its Voice Assistant unit, while a few hundred roles are being eliminated in the hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, with the majority of people in the augmented reality (AR) team being let go. Hundreds of roles in the search giant's central engineering team are also being impacted, the company said.  Google bought health and fitness tracking company Fitbit for $2.1 billion in 2021 but has continued to roll out new versions of its Pixel Watch, a product that competes with some of Fitbit's devices and also the Apple Watch.  "Throughout second-half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally," a spokesperson for Google told Reuters in a statement.
The spokesperson did not specify the number of roles being impacted. It is not immediately clear how many people are part of the Google Assistant software and other teams.  The reorganization of certain teams comes at a time when companies like Microsoft and Google are betting on the rising adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology following the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT.  Last year, Google announced plans to add generative AI capabilities to its virtual assistant. AI would allow the assistant to do things like help people plan a trip or catch up on emails and then ask follow-up questions.  In January 2023, Alphabet announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, equivalent to 6 per cent of its global workforce.  As of September 2023, Alphabet had 182,381 employees globally.
—Reuters

Google announces layoffs across multiple teams, including Voice Assistant and hardware units. Fitbit co-founders exit.

Google laying off hundreds working on assistant, hardware, AR teams

Alphabet Inc’s Google is curbing its generative artificial intelligence chatbot, Gemini, from responding to queries directly related to Indian general elections starting next month, conforming with similar controls in the US and other countries holding elections.
“We have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses,” Google said in a blog post on Tuesday. “We take our responsibility for providing high-quality information for these types of queries seriously and are continuously working to improve our protections.”
At the same time, the company is collaborating with the Election Commission of India to enable people to easily discover critical voting information on Google Search, such as how to register and vote in both English and Hindi languages.  The Indian government has voiced concerns over misinformation and conspiracies about elections being released via AI tools and has thus taken measures to regulate them. Last week, the country told technology firms to get approval before releasing any AI tools.  The action comes as elections are scheduled to be held in over 60 countries around the world this year including the US, UK and South Africa.
—Bloomberg

Google restricts its AI, Gemini, from processing election-related queries in India, aligning with global norms to combat misinformation and enhance election integrity.

Google restricts replies to queries on Lok Sabha polls via Gemini AI

Brussels/Stockholm: Big Tech is facing its biggest challenge in decades as antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic crack down on alleged anti-competitive practices that could result in break-up orders to Apple and Alphabet's Google, a first for the industry.
That in turn could inspire watchdogs around the world to pile on, as evidenced in the growing number of antitrust probes in various countries following the opening of EU and US cases. Since AT&amp;T was broken up exactly 40 years ago, no company has faced the possibility of a regulator-led break-up in the United States until now.  Google has said it disagreed with the EU's accusations while Apple said the US lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law.  In 1984, AT&amp;T, also known as Ma Bell, was broken up into seven independent companies called "Baby Bells" to open up one of the most powerful monopolies of the 20th century. AT&amp;T, Verizon and Lumen are currently the only surviving entities.  Regulators now allege companies such as Apple and Google have built impenetrable ecosystems around their products, making it difficult for customers to switch to rival services, which led to the coining of the term walled gardens.
The US Department of Justice on Wednesday warned Apple, a $2.7 trillion company, that a break-up order is not excluded as a remedy to restore competition after it teamed up with 15 states to sue the iPhone maker for monopolising the smartphone market, thwarting rivals and inflating prices.  Even so, it will likely take years to decide the case, which Apple has vowed to fight.  The US actions come on the heels of other mounting threats across Europe this week.  Big Tech will face more scrutiny shortly with Apple, Meta Platforms and Alphabet likely to be investigated for potential Digital Markets Act (DMA) violations that could lead to hefty fines and even break-up orders for repeated breaches, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday, on the condition of anonymity.  EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager helped pave the way for drastic measures last year when she accused Google of anti-competitive practices in its money-spinning adtech business and that it may have to divest its sell-side tools.
She said that requiring Google to sell some of its assets seemed to be the only way to avoid conflicts of interest as it would prevent Google from allegedly favouring its own online digital advertising technology services versus advertisers and online publishers.  Vestager is expected to issue a final decision by the end of the year.  European Parliament lawmaker Andreas Schwab, who was heavily involved in drafting landmark EU DMA tech rules that kicked in this month, said lawmakers want bold action against Big Tech which flouts rules.  "If they don't comply with the DMA, you can imagine what Parliament will ask for. Break-ups. The ultimate goal is to make markets open, fair and allow more innovation," he said on Friday.  Breaking up is hard to do  It is far from certain that regulators will issue break-up order as they mull options and any action may just result in a fine. Legal experts also suggested the case against Apple, drawing from the 1998 case against Microsoft, could be more difficult this time.  "In the European Union, there is less of a tradition, with splitting a company seen as a last resort. It has never happened before," said a Commission official, speaking on condition of anonymity.  Apple's highly integrated system would also make a break-up difficult compared with Google, said lawyer Damien Geradin at Geradin Partners, who is advising several app developers in other cases against Apple.  "It seems to me much more complicated. You are talking about something that is integrated, for example you can't force Apple to divest its App Store. That doesn't make sense," he said. He said it would be better to impose behavioural remedies on Apple that obligates it to do certain things while in the case of Google, a break-up order could simply target acquisitions made to strengthen its key services.  "What's more likely is they (DOJ) go for remedies like opening up hardware functionality, or making sure developers aren't being discriminated against in terms of pricing," said Max von Thun, director of advocacy group Open Markets.  "I think they want to say that everything's on the table, but it doesn't necessarily mean they'll choose that path," he said.  Apple gets most of its nearly $400 billion-a-year revenue from selling hardware -- iPhones, Macs, iPads and Watches -- followed by its Services business, which will brings in roughly $100 billion a year.  Structural remedies such as break-ups will ultimately be tested in courts, said Assimakis Komninos, partner at law firm White &amp; Case.  "I would say that experiences of imposed structural measures, such as breakups, are not many, but the small past experience shows that this is very tricky, aside from the formidable legal challenges," he said.
—Reuters

Antitrust regulators target Big Tech, with potential break-up orders for Apple and Google over anti-competitive practices, marking a historic move to dismantle tech monopolies and foster market fairness.

The Hawk

Tag : Alphabet

Google's second try at computer glasses translate conversations in real time

Sunil Aswal

The Hawk

Tag : Alphabet

Google's second try at computer glasses translate conversations in real time

Sunil Aswal

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