TechSlice 2023-10-27

💻

BIG TECH & STARTUPS

How Figma and Adobe think they could work together (1 minute read)

Adobe's $20 billion acquisition of Figma is still under review by regulators for potential antitrust concerns. However, both companies are exploring ways to integrate their products, as demonstrated in a video showing Adobe's generative AI engine, Firefly, being integrated into Figma and the seamless transfer of app prototypes between Figma and Adobe's After Effects, showcasing potential collaboration opportunities.

Google Maps is becoming more like Search — thanks to AI (5 minute read)

Google is infusing AI-powered enhancements into Maps, making navigation more immersive and offering improved search results. The aim is to transform Maps into a Search-like platform where users can enter vague queries and discover useful information. Google's AI-driven approach extends to features like EV charging station information, 3D views in Immersive View, and rebranded augmented reality features. While these updates aim to make Maps more visually immersive and search-savvy, it remains to be seen how users will respond to the expanded functionality.

🌌

SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY

Blood test findings by Toronto doctors can detect cancerous tumour before it develops (4 minute read)

Doctors at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and The Hospital for Sick Children are making strides in early cancer detection by analyzing blood test results using 'cell-free DNA' technology. This innovative approach enables them to identify the development of cancer before it appears on medical scans, offering promising possibilities for early intervention. Their research, detailed in Cancer Discovery, showcases the potential for early, non-invasive cancer detection, providing hope for patients with hereditary cancer risks like Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

Physics has long failed to explain life—but researchers are testing a groundbreaking new theory in the lab (5 minute read)

A new theory called assembly theory, recently published in Nature, offers a novel perspective on explaining life's emergence by focusing on complexity and information. It proposes an "assembly index" to quantify the steps required to build an object, highlighting the role of memory, such as DNA, in creating living things. Experiments testing this theory, including mass spectrometry and chemical soup simulations, have shown that molecules associated with life are more complex and require more information to assemble, offering potential insights into the origin of life and broader applications in materials science and evolution studies.

👩🏻‍💻

PROGRAMMING, DESIGN & DATA SCIENCE

The Negative Impact of Mobile-First Web Design on Desktop (14 minute read)

Content dispersion on websites, which is more prevalent due to mobile-first design, minimalism, and large imagery, can have significant negative effects on user experience. When content becomes overly dispersed, it leads to increased interaction costs, cognitive load, difficulty in building a conceptual model, and user frustration, ultimately reducing trustworthiness. However, there are instances where content dispersion can be beneficial, particularly when used strategically to highlight key information or complex content.

Trending AI GitHub Repos: Week of October 23, 2023 (3 minute read)

This week's top five repositories feature a range of projects, including Spacedrive, an open-source file manager with distributed file organization capabilities; Llava, a visual instruction tuning framework for enhancing large language and vision models; DocsGPT, a tool simplifying information retrieval in project documentation using GPT models; ChatDev, a virtual software company employing intelligent agents for collective programming; and Javy, a tool that enables running JavaScript code on WebAssembly, offering portability across platforms. These repositories showcase innovation in different aspects of programming, and their rankings may change over time as new projects emerge.

🎉

MISCELLANEOUS

Is my co-worker AI? Bizarre product reviews leave Gannett staff wondering (4 minute read)

Recent articles on Gannett's product reviews site, Reviewed, raised questions about whether they were created using artificial intelligence (AI) tools or by humans due to their stilted and repetitive writing. While Gannett initially faced controversy over AI-generated sports articles, they clarified that these new "reviews" were created by "third-party freelancers hired by a marketing agency partner" and not generated by AI, but they were deployed without accurate disclaimers. The situation has further fueled the ongoing debate over AI-generated content and its potential impact on journalism's credibility.

Valve officially releases SteamVR 2.0 (1 minute read)

Valve has released SteamVR 2.0, a major update that aims to unify the Steam ecosystem for all users, offering a more consistent experience across devices. This update integrates Steam features, including Steam Chat, Voice Chat, and an improved Store, into SteamVR, and is expected to pave the way for more frequent additions of new Steam features in the future.

🔗

QUICK LINKS

Reality Labs has lost $11.4 billion during 2023 (2 minute read)

Meta's Reality Labs lost $3.7 billion last quarter, with a notable increase in operating losses to $3.74 billion in Q3 2023, largely due to declining Quest 2 sales. The company plans to continue investing in AR/VR but stresses the importance of generating sustainable income. On the job front, Meta cut 20,000 positions but may temporarily increase hiring in 2024 to address skill gaps.

Uber starts offering fully autonomous Waymo rides in Phoenix (2 minute read)

Uber is offering fully autonomous rides in partnership with Waymo in Phoenix for the first time, with users having the option to ride in a self-driving vehicle or with a human driver if matched with a Waymo vehicle.

No Apple Watch Ultra 3 Next Year (1 minute read)

The release of a new Apple Watch Ultra in 2024 is uncertain, with potential delays due to the development of health features and micro-LED production, while a larger 2.1-inch micro-LED model is expected in 2025 or 2026.

iFixit now sells Microsoft Surface parts for repair (1 minute read)

iFixit is now offering genuine replacement parts for various Microsoft Surface devices, providing SSDs, batteries, screens, and more for 15 different products, enhancing the availability of repair options for Microsoft customers.

Google will help you debunk AI-generated photos with a new search feature (2 minute read)

Google is rolling out a new tool called "About this image" that allows users to access additional information about images in their search results, helping them identify AI-generated images and providing context, history, and metadata information to discern the authenticity of visual content online.