Apps

Acer has an In-Game Live AI Translator on their own esports platform

It’s called SigridWave and the platform is Planet9

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SigridWave

Acer introduces SigridWave — an In-Game Live AI Translator for Planet9 which is the company’s next-generation esports platform. There’s a lot to unpack here so try to digest the information slowly.

SigridWave: In-Game Live AI Translator

SigridWave aims to break language barriers and facilitate communication among gamers around the world. It leverages deep learning tech and is especially trained in gaming jargon.

When in-game, SigridWave employs Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology to recognize utterances and convert them into strings of text. This text is then run through a Neural Machine Translation (NMT) technology. The NMT Tech has so far been trained with over 10 million bilingual sentence pairs, enabling it to understand the terminology associated with specific games (such as “ADS” or “camping”) and learn how players express themselves.

If your nose is bleeding after reading all of that, don’t worry. Same.

Intended specifically for gaming, SigridWave’s AI has so far been trained with over 1,000 hours of game-centric speech (voice + transcript), enabling it to accurately relay detected messages back to users in a language that they can understand.

Being game-centric is key. Acer points out that the biggest hurdle in machine translation is context. Many words can carry multiple meanings and computers struggle to discern the most suitable translation for the situation, that’s why being focused on gaming is essential.

SigridWave will have a closed beta in Q4 2020, during which time it will be available for two-way translation between English and Mandarin in a number of major FPS titles such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.

Planet9 — Acer’s next gen esports platform

SigridWave will work in tandem with Planet9 — a next gen esports platform. The AI Translator is booted up while in a game lobby on Planet9’s desktop client. It’ll appear as a customizable in-game overlay.

The platform itself is meant to be partly competitive and partly social. It’s designed to provide an open community for casual and amateur players who want to improve their skills and take steps towards going pro.

The platform helps players connect with others via teams and social clubs; to improve their skills, via in-depth feedback on gameplay in the form of statistics and coaching; and to experience organized gameplay, via casual or ranked scrimmages and competitive tournaments for most games.

In-game overlays will be supported for League of Legends on launch in late 2020 or early 2021, and support will be made available for additional titles in the future.

Teams

Planet9 strives to help gamers connect with others who have similar skill levels and aspirations. From there, players can create a team to be registered on the website or search for one to join.

Planet9 will also help recruiting teams to fill their rosters, considering factors such as game played, rank, region and language in order to identify potential teammates.

Once a team is established, a private team page is created on the platform to function as a central hub for all involved. In addition to keeping track of match history and statistics for later review and discussion, the team hub includes a number of features to help keep everything organized: a board for discussion and polls, a group calendar for scheduling scrimmages, a tab to keep track of team funding and a directory with basic stats on all members.

Clubs

Planet9’s Club feature is intended to help players keep up with groups they like or admire, whether they’re major names in the industry or a local university team. Clubs consist of two parts, a public “home” page for followers and a private “lounge” for members.

The home page is a place to share content (posts, polls, videos, etc) in order to engage with the community, whereas the lounge is a place to relax and discuss club-related content with a smaller circle of more dedicated members.

Businesses, influencers and public figures are also capable of forming a club on Planet9, creating a unique new touchpoint for brands that wish to connect with gamers. Whether professional or amateur, each club is granted access to a variety of tools to host tournaments in order to grow their own community.

Planet9 recently partnered with Currys PC World to feature Planet9 in its stores in order to enhance esports initiatives in the UK and Ireland. This includes an in-house designed arena to give players a chance to see what it’s like being part of a local gaming club, practicing with teammates and learning from coaches.

These in-house arenas will launch soon with a rapid expansion to 30 stores throughout 2021. Each of the stores will open its own club on Planet9 to grow its gamer community as well as to host tournaments, creating a pipeline for players to show off their talent.

Tournaments

Planet9 includes a significant amount of infrastructure designed to make the process of organizing and hosting tournaments as seamless as possible.

An extensive UI ensures that a successful tournament can be put together even by those with no experience, while a number of automation features (registration, bracket mastering, etc.) enable experienced hosts to minimize time spent on tedious activities and focus on providing as enjoyable an event as possible.

Tournaments are highly customizable, featuring a number of preset brackets and privacy modes, opportunities for sponsored branding and club-determined rewards. Come game day, an all-in-one “Bracket Master” console makes it easy for judges and organizers to communicate, configure matches, broadcast to an audience and more.

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Apps

Instagram is building an AI chatbot

Follows TikTok in doing so

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June 7, 2023

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Do you need an AI chatbot to hold a conversation? Instagram seems to think so. As the world rapidly experiments with developments in AI technology, the platform is reportedly working on a chatbot for its users.

According to Alessandro Paluzzi, a reverse engineer who usually digs up future plans for popular apps, Instagram is working on the AI chatbot feature for a future iteration of the app. Much like other chatbots out in the market today, Instagram’s unnamed bot will enable users to interact with it in casually flowing conversation.

The screenshots obtained by the engineer read that it “answers questions, gives advice.” Additionally, it helps users “find the best way to express [themselves] … [through] writing messages.” From a usability standpoint, the feature can help users craft replies to direct messages. They can also bring the bot into human-to-human conversations by mentioning the bot in the conversation.

To add to the quirkiness, Instagram will supposedly add 30 different personalities to the chatbot. Users can pick and choose which one they like the best. The sneak peek does not reveal any personalities included in the feature. (We’re hoping for a snarky one that judges and critiques posts.)

The feature has no timetable as to its release. However, since TikTok already released its own chatbot for testing, it should stand that Instagram’s feature will come out soon.

SEE ALSO: Instagram is creating a Twitter competitor

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Apps

Study: App Store generated $1.1 trillion in 2022

Developers benefitting more

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June 2, 2023

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Apple announced that the App Store ecosystem generated US$ 1.1 trillion in developer billings and sales for the year 2022, as per a study from economists at Analysis Group.

More than 90 percent of these billings and sales were accrued solely to developers, without any commission paid to Apple.

According to economists from Analysis Group, developers generated:

  • US$ 910 million from the sale of physical goods and services
  • US$ 109 billion from in-app advertising
  • US$ 104 million from digital goods and services

The Analysis Group’s study also mentioned that among the key drivers behind the App Store ecosystem’s growth are a rebounding demand for sectors like travel and ride-hailing, as well as advertising spend in social media and retail apps.

Moreover, developer billings and sales increased by 29% between 2021 and 2022, and 27% percent between both 2020 and 2021 and 2020 and 2019.

In particular, small developers found great success in the App Store, growing their revenue by 71% between 2020 and 2022.

The Apple Store’s engine of commerce includes Apple providing developers around the world a global distribution platform which supports:

  • 195 local payment methods
  • 44 currencies
  • 175 storefronts

Strong growth across app categories

According to a new study from the Analysis Group’s economists titled “The Continued Growth and Resilience of Apple’s App Store Ecosystem,” sales from travel and ride-hailing made on iOS apps increased by 84% and 45%, respectively.

iOS app-based food delivery and pickup sales more than doubled too, while groceries more than tripled.

App Store turns 15

The encouraging numbers from the study coincide with the App Store’s 15th anniversary.

Overall, here are some interesting facts about the App Store’s 15-year existence:

  • iOS developers have earned more than US$ 320 billion on the App Store (from 2008 to 2022)
  • iOS users have downloaded app more than 370 billion times (from 2008 to 2022)
  • The App Store has nearly 1.8 million apps to choose from, more than 123 times as many available during 2008

The App Store also remains a safe and trusted marketplace, thanks to its rigorous App Review process and privacy and security protections.

In 2022 alone, the App Store blocked more than US$ 2 billion in fraudulent transactions and rejected 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet privacy, security, and quality standards. 

Recent innovations like App Tracking Transparency and Privacy Nutrition Labels also empower users on how to operate

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Apps

Reddit might force third-party apps to close

One developer is being charged US$ 20 million

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June 1, 2023

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Though the platform works differently, Reddit is much like other social media platforms. For one, it relies on users signing up for the service to interact with one another through threads. However, Reddit is also similar by offering its API to third parties. If you’re not happy with using the original website or app, developers can create apps tailored to optimize the experience. Unfortunately, those might soon go away.

Recently, Reddit announced a round of changes coming to its API rules. Starting June 19, the platform will charge third parties for access to their API. In a nutshell, any developer who wants to continue offering a tailored Reddit experience must pay up to access the website.

According to the company, the changes are a result of emerging AI technologies which leverage Reddit for language learning. Naturally, the company isn’t happy with being used for free, resulting in a paid scheme coming soon.

Unfortunately, the pricing scheme isn’t affordable for smaller developers who just want to offer a cleaner experience of the website. Apollo, one of the most popular third-party alternatives to Reddit’s main app, recently announced that Reddit is charging US$ 20 million per year to keep the app running as is. Christian Selig, the app’s developer, confirms that the figure is just too much.

Other apps have not disclosed their discussions with the platform. However, their users have already lamented the impending doom of third-party apps and their involvement with the platform as a whole.

For their part, Reddit says that Selig’s figure only reflects a standard rate, rather than a specialized one as discussed with Apollo. The company remains adamant that it wants to be equitable and civil towards third-party apps.

SEE ALSO: Reddit acquires Dubsmash

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