Tech Maker

Instagram adds auto-generated captions to videos Instagram head Adam Mosseri said Tuesday the company is adding auto-generated captions to the videos in your feed. Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, creators had to manually add captions to their videos using time-consuming workarounds, but the change makes the process seamless and makes Instagram more accessible to hard-of-hearing and Deaf users or anyone who prefers watching videos with the sound off. The captions will be available in “select languages” at launch, according to a news release from Instagram, and the company expects the quality of the captions will improve as more people use them and the AI learns — so the captions may not be perfect out of the gate. Instagram will expand the captions to more languages in the coming months. #Information_Tech #Instagram

Meta launches Reels in Facebook globally, with more ads and editing features. Meta is launching its TikTok-clone Reels worldwide on Facebook app.In addition to expanding access to Reels, the social media conglomerate is adding new editing features to the Facebook version of the platform and expanding advertising options. Most of these features are already available on Facebook Reels in the US and elsewhere and in Instagram Reels in the US and more than 50 countries. Meta is also adding more monetization adverts to Facebook Reels, more ads. There’ll be two new formats: banner ads that appear as a semi-transparent overlay at the bottom of a Facebook Reel” and static sticker ads “that can be placed by a creator anywhere within their reel. The company will also be giving creators in “nearly all countries where in-stream ads are available” access to its automatic ad-placement program and rolling out paid Stars. #Information_Tech #Meta

Netflix is testing a "Fast Laugh" curated stream of comedy clips Netflix is testing Fast Laughs, a stream of comedy clips hand-picked by Netflix, on its TV app. The feature lets you sift through a collection of funny short videos — each about 30 seconds or longer — from shows and movies on Netflix, with the goal of introducing you to new content or helping you decide on what to watch. Fast Laughs on mobile presents itself in a vertical, TikTok-like stream that you can seamlessly scroll through. It also provides options on the right side of each clip, letting you share it, add the show to your List, and react using a “LOL” button, making it (understandably so) more social than the TV version . Netflix’s Fast Laugh feature is slowly rolling out to users in the US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and “other select English-speaking countries. #Information_Tech

A British fashion student has invented a computer suit - a kind of overalls specifically for remote work. The system unit is mounted on the back, the monitor - on the chest. The keyboard and mouse are attached at the hips. And even headphones are built into the hood. Naturally, so far all this is just a concept - but they can also be put into production. Now the attention of the media to this miracle gadget is riveted. You can go to the park in such overalls and continue working. Great, fashion is fashion.

Vietnamese engineers have created a copy of the Batmobile from the Nolan trilogy - only on an electric engine. Available hydraulic doors with remote control, four cameras with a view of 360 degrees. Alas, there is no machine gun, but one more passenger, in addition to the driver, will fit in the cabin. Most importantly, engineers make such Batmobiles to order. Six months, $150,000 - and there will be something to save Gotham.

AI began to determine the age of buyers of alcohol in British supermarkets The largest supermarket chains have launched a pilot project in the UK using neural networks to recognize the age of buyers who purchase alcohol. This is part of a program by the local Ministry of the Interior to make it easier to market related products. A similar technology is already being used in Aldi's London store, which is equipped with automated checkout counters. With the consent of the buyers, when buying alcohol, the smart camera will try to recognize their age - the neural network was trained on the basis of anonymous faces. If the system determines that the customer is under 25 years of age, an ID card will be required to be shown to an employee in the hall (at the same time, alcohol in the UK is available from 18 years of age).

Apple bought the AI ​​Music service. It creates tracks based on free music using AI and can change the composition based on listener data. AI Music technology was used in advertising, companies could use the music without deductions to the authors.

At the Beijing Olympics, a whole robotic restaurant was built for athletes. Cooking and serving of the dish is carried out by an automated system. Alas, a robo-restaurant still cannot do without a person - he is at the bar.

Bloomberg: Apple will hold a presentation on March 8, which will introduce the new iPhone SE and iPad Air The main premiere of the event should be the updated iPhone SE, a low-cost smartphone with the design of last year's model, which, in turn, was modeled on the iPhone 8. But it will have a faster A-series chip, most likely the A15, and support for 5G. It is also expected that it will be equipped with an improved camera. Another novelty should be the iPad Air tablet with an updated A-series chip and 5G support. It is expected that its design will not undergo significant changes. In addition, the presentation may show at least one new Mac with Apple-designed chips, and previous rumors suggested that it could be a Mac mini.

US builds first road capable of charging electric vehicles Car owners will have to install a special receiver, which will cost between $1,000 and $1,500. The road, which will be about 1 mile long, is being developed and built by Israeli startup Electreon Wireless in partnership with Ford and DTE. The road will charge electric vehicles standing or moving along it using inductive charging technology. The use of technology will facilitate the mass adoption of electric vehicles. The road is planned to be put into operation in 2023. The Michigan government is investing $1.9 million in the project.

Indian scientists develop self-disinfecting antiviral face mask Scientists at the International Center for Advanced Study have developed copper-based nanoparticles about 20 nanometers in size. The newly coated fabric is 99.9% effective against bacteria. Most conventional masks are designed for single use and are not biodegradable, which poses serious environmental problems. New antiviral mask made from biodegradable cotton fabric. She will help solve these problems.

Meta introduced the "personal boundaries" feature. Meta added a "personal boundaries" feature to the Horizon Worlds virtual reality space following complaints of "sexual harassment" in the metaverse. There will now be an invisible barrier around the digital avatar, preventing other users from getting closer than 1.2 meters. You cannot disable this feature. In the future, the company plans to allow the length of the distance to be adjusted.

See how Starship flights to Mars will take place in the future. A SpaceX fan has unveiled a rendering of Elon Musk's rocket launch.

YouTube on Android and iOS received an updated player Google has released an updated player for the YouTube app on Android and iOS. It has become more functional. Users can now like/dislike a video without leaving full screen mode. Also, the updated version received the "Share" and "Add to Favorites" buttons. In addition, a “stack” with similar videos appeared in the left corner. Music videos also have a listening control tab in the middle, which, when clicked, brings up control buttons to the right of the video.

Twitter will allow you to post articles Microblogging service Twitter has started testing a new feature called "Articles". The details of the new function have not yet been disclosed, but it is logical to assume that we are talking about the publication of long texts. It is not known if the feature will be available to a wide range of users. At the initial stage, only Twitter Blue subscribers will be lucky.

Tesla will recall 817 thousand cars in the US - due to a bug in the software, they do not signal a seat belt not fastened In some cases, this system does not work, thereby creating additional risks for people. The recall was announced by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The 2021-2022 Tesla Model S and Model X, the 2017-2022 Model 3, and the 2020-2022 Model Y ceased to meet the federal vehicle safety standard, according to a statement from the agency. To solve this problem, the company will release a firmware update.

An anonymous American hacker named P4X shut down the Internet in North Korea for several hours while sitting on the couch at home with a bowl of chips while watching Alien. The evidence comes from screen recordings provided by the hacker to Wired, as well as web activity analytics during alleged DDoS attacks that lasted more than a week. True, only a little more than 1% of the population has access to the Internet. And the P4X attacks were targeted specifically at the government.

Alphabet tops $257 billion in revenue in 2021, up 41% year-on-year Alphabet, which includes the search giant Google, has published a report for the last quarter of 2021 and for the whole of 2021. If we talk about the results of the quarter, the revenue amounted to 75.325 billion dollars. This is 32% more than in the fourth quarter of 2020. Operating profit in annual terms increased by 29%, from 15.651 to 21.885 billion dollars. The operating margin increased from 28% to 29%, and the result of the quarter was a net profit of $20.642 billion. A year ago, this figure was equal to 15.227 billion dollars.