Ferrari cooperates with AWS, the new functions of Android, Spotify takes over Podz

Here’s our curated byte-sized list of this week’s important tech news.

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Ferrari’s technology partnership

The Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari has teamed up with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud, machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, the company announced on Friday. The collaboration aims to accelerate the pace of innovation across the Ferrari organization, including the road vehicle division, GT competitions, the Ferrari Challenge and the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 (F1) team. Ferrari will leverage AWS ‘services and global infrastructure to streamline the design and testing of its cars and make it easier for customers to build, buy and maintain their cars. In addition, the F1 team will use AWS to launch a digital fan engagement platform via its mobile app to inspire millions of fans worldwide with exclusive, personalized content. Going forward, Ferrari plans to develop virtual and augmented reality experiences on AWS that fans will bring into the garage to interact with drivers and team staff. In another development, Amazon announced a program in India to help students learn applied machine learning skills to meet the growing demand for talent with these skills across various industries.

The new features of Android

Google is introducing a number of new features for Android users that include end-to-end encryption in messages to make one-on-one conversations between users more secure. The function is leaving the beta phase and will be available to all users of the app. Also, users can now star important messages and easily revisit them later by tapping the starred category. To help people with motor disabilities, Voice Access eye detection can now be set to only work when they are looking at the screen, allowing them to naturally switch between talking to friends and using their phone. Google is also expanding the access of voice assistants to other apps. Finally, Android Auto gets more customization options, new app experiences and allows users to easily read and send new messages directly from apps like WhatsApp or Messages from the home screen. This week, Google also opened its first physical retail store in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York as the tech giant tries to promote its hardware products to consumers.

Spotify takes over Podz

Spotify announced Thursday that it had acquired a startup called Podz that could help improve the platform’s podcast detection. Spotify’s machine learning (ML) experts have focused on improving audio recognition on the platform, but believe that “Podz ‘technology will complement and accelerate their efforts”. Using advanced ML technology, Podz generates high quality clips that give users the ability to preview key moments from podcast episodes so that listeners can more easily find the content they want to hear. “We plan to incorporate Podz’s technology into the Spotify experience and listeners should start seeing elements of that work before the end of the year,” it says. In April, Spotify launched a podcast subscription model just a week after Apple launched a subscription-based podcast service. Last month, new features were introduced that allow users to share their favorite music or podcast episodes through their social media channels. In another update, Spotify announced Greenroom on Wednesday, a clubhouse-like mobile app for live audio discussions.

FedEx and Nuro team up for autonomous delivery

International delivery service company FedEx Corp has teamed up with self-driving delivery company Nuro to test its next-generation autonomous delivery vehicle within FedEx operations. The cooperation between the two companies started in April with a pilot program in the Houston area in the USA. This pilot marks Nuro’s expansion into package logistics and allows FedEx to explore various use cases for autonomous vehicle logistics on the road, including multi-stop and appointment-based deliveries. The Nuro Pilot is the latest addition to the FedEx portfolio of autonomous same-day and specialty delivery devices. In April, Nuro announced a partnership with Domino’s to provide autonomous pizza delivery to select customers in Houston with its R2 robot, the first fully autonomous, occupantless road delivery vehicle to be officially approved by the US Department of Transportation. In a separate development, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday again rejected attempts to repeal regulations to allow the use of thousands of autonomous vehicles.

Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 5

Microsoft has released another world update for its popular simulation game Flight Simulator, which focuses on Europe’s Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. World Update V: Nordics includes landscape improvements, regional architecture improvements, improved data for 100 airports, 78 points of interest, and five bush trips, one for each of the Nordic countries that showcase some of the best elements of those travel destinations. Microsoft pointed this out in a blog post. It also brings new handcrafted airports and five original landing challenges to Denmark’s Bornholm, Islands Ísafjörður, Sweden’s Stockholm Arlanda, Norway’s Svalbard and Finland’s Vaasa Airports. World Update V: Nordics is available for FREE to all flight simulator users. Microsoft released the fourth major update in April, the UK & Ireland update in February, and two more updates last year. The game is available in Xbox Game Pass for PC, Windows 10 and Steam and will be released on July 27 for Xbox Series X | S. This week Microsoft also named Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella as its new chairman in place of John Thompson.

IKEA’s new WiFi speaker with picture frame

IKEA and Sonos have introduced a new SYMFONISK WiFi speaker with picture frame that can be used for room-filling sound and as a beautiful work of art that blends seamlessly into the home. It connects via WiFi and can be used independently or connected to other products from the SYMFONISK range or other Sonos products. It’s also part of the Sonos system and allows listeners to connect to 100+ streaming services. “The space-saving picture frame loudspeaker can be hung alone on the wall as a striking work of art, combined with other works of art on the wall, placed on a shelf or leaned against the wall on the floor. The interchangeable fronts make it easy to choose a style that suits your individual home, ”said Stjepan Begic, product developer at IKEA. From July 15, the new loudspeaker will be available in Europe and North America in IKEA furniture stores and on IKEA.com – other regions are to follow later, the company announced. On Wednesday, IKEA launched its e-commerce services and mobile app in Bengaluru. In a separate development, US lawmakers from both parties on Tuesday urged Google and Amazon over their smart speaker markets, amid concerns about the dominance of tech giants in this space.

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