Market reactions to Apple Intelligence have been lukewarm after the iPhone 16 launch event, with many noting no significant additions to what had been announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Generally, Apple's AI features have practical uses, but these are still mainly assistive functions such as text processing and image generation, with upgrades to Siri and Visual Intelligence functionality being somewhat more impressive.
All eyes were on Apple's AI efforts during the tech giant's latest product announcement on September 9, but consumers in China are likely to feel disappointed. Apple Intelligence for the iPhone 16 will only launch in October, and the Chinese language support will not arrive until 2025.
Amazon.com Inc.'s Audible will begin inviting a select group of US-based audiobook narrators to train artificial intelligence on their voices, the clones of which can then be used to make audiobook recordings. The effort, which kicks off this week, is designed to add more audiobooks to the service, quickly and cheaply — and to welcome traditional narrators into the evolving world of audiobook automation which, to date, many have regarded warily.
Cybersecurity has become crucial across industries as digital processes increasingly dominate operations. In 2023, over 400 million cyber threats were detected across 8.5 million endpoints in India, according to the DSCI-SEQRITE India Cyber Threat Report.
According to Omdia's latest "Game Subscriptions and Cloud Gaming Market Forecast" report, global spending on game subscriptions is expected to reach US$19 billion in 2024, marking the second consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth. Omdia estimates that by 2028, revenue in the global game subscription market will exceed US$27 billion.
The Canada-Taiwan Semiconductor Co-Innovation Forum, held on September 6 in Hsinchu during the week of SEMICON Taiwan 2024, attracted Taiwanese semiconductor supply chain companies eager to advance their products toward mass production within the next two to three years.
Following increased investments from companies like Nvidia, Foxconn, and IBM in Kaohsiung, software giant SAP has also expanded the scale of its Kaohsiung site, establishing an ESG and AI innovation center in the city. Other software companies are similarly optimistic about Kaohsiung's industrial transformation business opportunities and intend to expand their local teams.
In the current AI development trend, Nvidia is already dominating the leading position in the AI chip market and actively expanding its influence to data centers and related areas. CEO Jensen Huang is attempting to build Nvidia into a one-stop service platform with all the key data center elements. It will no longer just be a high-end chip hardware supplier, but an "AI factory."
The US presidential election is scheduled for November 5, and to combat the spread of misinformation, Google has announced several measures across its platforms, covering the search engine, YouTube, Google Play, and generative AI applications.
On August 20, the highly anticipated Chinese AAA single-player game "Black Myth: Wukong" was officially launched worldwide. In just three days, it sold over 10 million copies and generated CNY3 billion (approx. US$422 million) in revenue. Considering that the total sales revenue in the Chinese console game market for the first half of 2024 was around CNY700 million, Black Myth: Wukong more than quadrupled that figure in just three days.
As industry leaders like Acer founder Stan Shih emphasize the growing importance of software development in the AI era, Foxconn Technology (Hon Hai) has once again showcased its agility by establishing a software R&D center in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, aiming to cement its presence in Taiwan's burgeoning software market, which is projected to reach NT$5 trillion (US$156 billion) in the coming years.
Following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, there has been significant interest in how the two companies will evolve and whether the merger will generate any notable synergy for the broader group.
During an interview with DIGITIMES at the EXPLORE 2024 event, VMware's General Manager for Taiwan and Hong Kong, Barry Chen, discussed the changes following VMware's acquisition by Broadcom and shared insights on the future trend of AI privatization.
The green energy market continues to expand rapidly, with significant developments in the first half of 2024. Green energy trading saw an annual increase of 40%, accompanied by substantial growth in new T-REC projects.
Major US-based cloud service providers (CSPs) have estimated their 2024 capex will increase by at least 35% year-over-year, with research firms expecting the amounts to rise further in 2025 as the CSPs continue expanding new ASIC projects in the wake of the AI boom.
Taiwan's prominence in the global tech industry continues to grow, as evidenced by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt's recent praise at Stanford University. Schmidt highlighted Taiwan's impressive workforce, noting how even physicists with PhD degrees begin their careers at TSMC on the floor below ground. As a democratic model in Asia, Taiwan is solidifying its position as a crucial tech hub through recently finalized industrial policies.
Earlier this month, executives from Alphabet Inc.'s Google DeepMind, Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. joined tech founders in Bangalore to watch one of India's top AI startups unveil a new product that might change how the world's most populous country uses the technology.
If you've seen a picture of Elmo, Mickey Mouse or Pikachu wielding a gun online recently, chances are good it was made with Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot created by Elon Musk's xAI, with help from a tiny startup called Black Forest Labs.
Japan's Epson Group, a global leader in 4-axis and 6-axis robotic arms, has launched three strategic initiatives to strengthen its position in the automation industry: diversifying its automation solutions, expanding its partnership network, and enhancing its robotic arm ecosystem.
Apple Inc.'s head of the App Store is leaving as part of a reorganization of the lucrative division, which has drawn regulatory scrutiny over concerns it wields too much power in the mobile software market.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) made a significant investment in Taiwan by announcing the establishment of a new AWS region infrastructure in June, aimed at connecting local startups and enterprises to international markets.
In a bold move to bolster its position in the fiercely competitive AI and data center markets, AMD has acquired ZT Systems for US$4.9 billion. This strategic acquisition signals AMD's intent to close the gap with Nvidia and marks the latest in a series of acquisitions and corporate investments supporting its AI strategy.
AMD has announced its acquisition of server hardware firm ZT System (ZT), with plans to retain ZT's design and business teams while selling off its manufacturing division.
Apple's competitive yet cooperative relationship with WeChat, the leading social media platform in China, is being closely observed as Apple, known for being quite assertive, figures out how to navigate its stance on WeChat. In particular, WeChat's Mini-Programs (or mini-apps) are at the center of the negotiations.
