First Cars with Next-gen CarPlay Announced
On December 21st, Cool Hunting and Car and Driver reported that Porsche and Aston Martin will be the first automotive brands to carry the next generation of CarPlay. The next generation of CarPlay will extend to all screens in all cars, including the center console and dashboard; radio and temperature control will also be added to the list of features. In addition, the new version of CarPlay offers themed interfaces for different car manufacturers. For example, the background image of Porsche models with the new CarPlay simulates Porsche’s unique Pepita material texture, while the CarPlay design for Aston Martin models is slightly different, with the brand’s distinctive green color outlining the dashboard. Acura, Audi, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Volvo, and many other automakers have signed on to support the new CarPlay.
Sony Announces PlayStation 5 Sales
On December 21st, Sony announced that PlayStation 5 sales reached 50 million units, matching the sales rate of the previous generation and outpacing Microsoft’s Xbox sales by nearly three times. According to YooCare, the console market (including hardware, software and services) is expected to grow by 7.2% in 2023, reaching $60.9 billion.
The PS5 had been affected by a shortage of components since its launch in late 2020, with demand far outstripping supply. But Sony said the supply issue had been ‘resolved’. In addition, Microsoft said this year that its Xbox hardware sales were lagging behind those of Sony and Nintendo as it struggled to complete its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Ampere Analytics forecasts that PS5 sales will grow by about 65 percent in 2023, to about 22.5 million units, while sales of the newest model of the Xbox are down about 15 percent to 7.6 million units. Nintendo Switch sales are down 18 percent to about 16.4 million units.
UK’s IPO Refuses to Grant Patent for AI-generated Content
On December 21, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) refused to grant a patent for Stephen Thaler’s AI machine-generated “DABUS” on the grounds that the inventor must be a human being or a company. Thaler’s lawyers said the ruling showed that the UK’s patent laws are unsuitable for protecting inventions generated autonomously by AI machines, and that it followed the rejection of a similar application by Thaler in the US. An IPO spokesperson said the government will keep such laws under review and argued that AI is currently a tool, not an agent, but that could change in the future.
Honor Releases 90GT Phone
On December 21st Honor released the Glory 90GT phone. In terms of hardware, it carries a second-generation Snapdragon 8 chip with an independent superframe chip, carries a self-developed RF enhancement chip C1, has up to 24GB of RAM, supports full frames through the AI performance scheduling model, and supports AI picture quality enhancement. In terms of screen, the Honor 90 GT is equipped with a 6.7-inch 2664×1200 resolution 120Hz refresh rate OLED screen, with a global peak brightness of 1200nit, local peak brightness of 2600nit, and can cover 100% DCI-P3 color gamut. In terms of imaging, the 90 GT has a 50MP wide-angle camera + 12MP ultra-wide-angle macro camera on the rear, and a 16MP front-facing camera, while the 90 GT has a built-in 5000mAh battery with 100W fast charging support.
Honor also announced the Honor Tablet 9, which features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and up to 12GB of RAM. In terms of screen, it is equipped with 12.1-inch LCD screen with 2560×1600 resolution and 500 nits brightness, with a screen-to-body ratio of 88%. As for the battery, the Honor Tablet 9 has a built-in 8300mAh battery and supports 35W fast charging.
Google and Apple Release New Tracker Detection Draft
On December 22nd, Google and Apple released a new version of the Tracker Detection Draft to further standardize the use of trackers. It’s been reported that since Apple launched AirTag, tracker abuse has been a common problem, and Android users in particular have had a hard time finding out if they’re being tracked. The “Tracker Detection Draft” is designed to connect iOS and Android, so that both iPhone and Android users can detect suspicious tracking devices in their neighborhoods in a timely manner.
Microsoft Stops Support for Windows Mixed Reality
On December 22, Microsoft plans to remove the Windows Mixed Reality feature in an upcoming operating system update. The Windows Mixed Reality feature is said to be Microsoft’s attempt to build a virtual reality ecosystem for Windows PCs, but maintenance of feature updates in this area has largely stalled in recent years. The discontinuation of Windows Mixed Reality will also affect the support of such headsets with SteamVR, as well as the Mixed Reality Portal app, which is the launching environment for Windows Mixed Reality VR apps and games. Reality VR apps and games. For now, the HoloLens 2 is Microsoft’s only remaining “Windows Mixed Reality” device, but the HoloLens line has also experienced some turbulence, and Xbox is not interested in VR.
Apple Vision Pro Production Speed Up
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said on Dec. 21 that Apple has been pushing to speed up production of the Vision Pro headset in recent weeks, hoping to have enough inventory in stock by the end of January 2024 to begin retail sales in February. Meanwhile, Apple is also preparing for the Vision Pro’s U.S. launch. Preparations include inviting retail employees to Cupertino for Vision Pro training, preparing demos for retail stores, and more. Additionally, Apple has emailed several developers inviting them to download the Xcode 15.2 Beta released last week and use the visionOS SDK and Reality Composer Pro to develop applications for visionOS. Developers can also use the visionOS Simulator to test or get feedback and suggestions from Apple.
