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Amazon is holding an event on February 26 at 10AM ET. While we dont exactly know what the company plans on showing off, we certainly have some educated guesses. Lets get into it. First of all, the company's hardware chief, Panos Panay, and his devices and services team will be on hand. This indicates the presence of new gadgets at the event. However, the main focus will likely be more information on the long-promised next-gen Alexa. Invites are out! Seems like the smarter and 'remarkable' version of Amazons Alexa is finally launching on Feb 26th. Can't wait to try it out. @alexadevs @AlexaGames @alexa99https://t.co/oQhwGjtySx#AmazingAlexa #RemarkableAlexa #SmarterAlexa #NewAlexa #AlexaLaunchFeb26th pic.twitter.com/eQWv3rE8MY Voice Games (@voicegames) February 6, 2025 How do we know this? Amazon sent out five versions of a bare-bones invite to the event. Internet sleuths pieced the images together and, lo and behold, the background spells out the word Alexa. The AI-infused refresh has faced several delays since first being announced back in 2023. We reported that the team was having trouble getting the updated chatbot to do basic things, like creating a timer and turning on smart lights. These kinds of tasks have been the bread and butter of the current Alexa chatbot for years. The development team has also reportedly had issues with hallucinations. The company claims the new LLM-powered Alexa will be able to process nuance and ambiguitymuch like a person wouldand intelligently take action." Amazon says that itll be able to complete complex requests, like Alexa, every weeknight at 9PM, make an announcement that its bedtime for the kids, dim the lights upstairs, turn on the porch light and switch on the fan in the bedroom. That sounds useful, if it works. That brand-new Alexa would likely benefit from some dedicated hardware, thus the inclusion of Panay and his team. Its been a while since weve gotten updates to the Echo line of smart speakers, so a refresh of some kind is more than likely. Its also possible the budget-friendly and useful Echo Buds earbuds will get an upgrade. What shouldnt we expect? Well, Amazon just introduced some new Kindles at the tail-end of last year. Itd be weird to see an e-reader at this event. Also, while its possible the company could introduce new Fire tablets and the like, that doesnt really gel with the whole Alexa theme.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/what-to-expect-at-amazons-devices-event-on-february-26-193513602.html?src=rss
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Microsofts six-year-old program to make HoloLens headsets for the US Army could be getting some extra help. If the Department of Defense approves the deal, the company will expand its existing partnership with Anduril Industries, Palmer Luckeys defense startup, for the next stages of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program. Microsoft, which spearheaded the program, would transition into supplying AI and cloud infrastructure. Meanwhile, Anduril would do pretty much everything else, including oversight of production, future development of hardware and software and delivery timelines. Anduril makes a wide array of defense tech, including drone interceptors, sentry towers, comms jammers, drones and even an autonomous submarine. But given Luckeys background as the primary inventor of the Oculus Rift and, by extension, the modern consumer XR industry the IVAS program could perhaps be the defense tech startups most natural fit. US Army / Microsoft Microsoft started working with the Army in 2019, using a modified HoloLens 2 for a headset that reportedly felt like a real-life game of Call of Duty. Early prototypes allowed soldiers to see a virtual map showing their squads locations, a compass and their weapons reticle. Thermal imaging served as an alternative to traditional night vision headsets. But the program ran into speed bumps, one of which was all too familiar to many who tried poorly designed VR games: It made them want to hurl. In addition to nausea, the headsets also led to eyestrain and headaches. Their bulk, limited field of view and perhaps worst of all an emitted glow (which could make them easy pickings for an enemy) didnt help, either. The problems contributed to Congress denying the Armys request to buy 6,900 pairs as part of a 2023 government funding bill. Instead, it allocated $40 million for Microsoft to develop a new version, which the Army accepted later that year. However, the headset has yet to make it onto the battlefield. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that early feedback of the latest IVAS prototypes is encouraging, but the Army wants the cost to be substantially less than each headsets currently projected $80,000. The Army could eventually order as many as 121,000 devices, but the new version would still need to pass a high-stress combat test this year before going into full production. In December, Anduril partnered with OpenAI to develop AI for the Pentagon. That deal will have the ChatGPT maker supplying its GPT-4o and OpenAI o1 models to Andurils drone defense systems for the military.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/microsoft-wants-to-hand-off-much-of-its-army-hololens-program-to-palmer-luckeys-anduril-190223240.html?src=rss
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Kickstarter just unveiled a bunch of new tools for backers and creators. The most notable of the bunch is called Pledge Over Time and, well, its exactly what it sounds like. The tool allows backers to split a pledge into four payments that get pulled from a bank account every two weeks. Its sort of like Affirm or Klarna. This feature should also help creators, as itll entice more backers to buy into a campaign. Its available right now, but only to select campaigns. Pledge Over Time is coming to everyone by spring. This follows a related tool that was released last year that allows folks to back projects after a campaign has ended. Kickstarter The platform is also in the process of refining search and discovery to help backers find stuff that interests them. Kickstarter promises that new search filters and sorting options are coming to web and mobile this spring. The mobile app is also getting an update by the end of 2025 that lets backers view all of their funded, live and unsuccessful projects in one place. Kickstarter There are some changes coming down the pike to make backers feel more secure when pledging. If a project faces significant fulfillment failures itll get slapped with a notice on the main page. Backers of these projects will also get a notification that outlines the issues and actions that Kickstarter has taken. Project pages will also soon include more details about a creators overall track record. Indiegogo already does something similar via its Trust-Proven badge. For creators, the fundraising platform is introducing add-ons. These are perks that can be added to a campaign after being successfully funded. It gives backers more opportunities to spend money and get cool stuff in return. Shipping management is also being streamlined, as is the tax collection system.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/kickstarter-is-rolling-out-new-tools-for-backers-including-a-way-to-split-pledges-into-four-payments-170051752.html?src=rss
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