News

Huawei takes Apple’s crown as second largest smartphone brand

Posts 41 percent growth from last year

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For years, Samsung and Apple have seized the tech industry with an unbreakable vise. Unabated sales have crowned both companies as the rulers of the smartphone world. However, fringe brands have started making a case for their own turns on top of the food chain.

Particularly, Chinese brands like Huawei and Xiaomi have recently made gigantic pushes with their recent launches. On one side, Huawei launched the massive P20 series to widespread acclaim. On the other, Xiaomi pushed a flurry of different lineups like the Mi 8 and Redmi 6.

Now, both Huawei and Xiaomi’s efforts have paid off. Analysts from Counterpoint Research have punched in the numbers for global phone shipments from last quarter.

Surprisingly, Apple has fallen to third place from their long-standing grip on second, despite enjoying a one percent increase in shipments. Taking a comfortable lead for second, Huawei has posted an astonishing 41 percent growth from last year. From 38.5 million units, the company has shipped 54.2 million units this year.

Despite a declining Chinese market, Huawei grew by 21 percent. Meanwhile, the brand exploded internationally, posting a 71 percent growth overseas.

According to Counterpoint Research, Huawei’s massive growth comes from their renewed efforts in the premium segment. Additionally, the company’s sister brand Honor made huge waves in the midrange market.

Lagging shortly behind Apple, Xiaomi has also declared huge growth numbers — up 43 percent from last year’s numbers. From just 23.1 million units, Xiaomi has sold 33 million units this year.

In other news, HMD’s Nokia grew by an unbelievable margin — almost 800 percent due to the rerelease of Nokia’s beloved phone lines.

As the numbers can tell you, Chinese smartphones are slowly gaining on the unbridled supremacy of Samsung and Apple. Without market-defining innovations in the Galaxy S9 and iPhone 8, both Samsung and Apple may very well step back from the limelight if their next releases don’t step up.

SEE ALSO: OnePlus leads India’s premium smartphone market, edges out Apple and Samsung

Accessories

Logitech introduces a dedicated shortcut for ChatGPT

Compatible with most keyboards and mice

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Artificial intelligence is already meant to simplify a workflow. However, despite the ease, there are still a few ways to optimize the process. Today, Logitech has launched a new shortcut to launch ChatGPT straight from your mouse or keyboard.

Minus programmable hotkeys or buttons, there are hardly any built-in way to easily access an AI model. For a typical workflow, it still consists of manually opening the model on a separate window and keeping it within cursor’s reach throughout the day.

Logitech is simplifying the process by adding a dedicated shortcut for its devices. With a Logitech keyboard or mouse supported by the Logi Options+ app, users can program a keyboard or mouse button for the new Logi AI Prompt Builder.

Once activated, the AI Prompt Builder automatically accesses easy options for highlighted text. For example, users can easily rephrase or summarize the text. Likewise, they can input their own custom queries. By eliminating a few clicks and some typing throughout the day, the new tool hopes to save you time.

While most Logitech keyboards and mice are compatible with the new tool, it is also more easily accessible with the new Logitech Signature AI Edition Mouse. The new mouse has a dedicated button just for AI prompts. If you’re an AI power user, this one is perfect for you.

SEE ALSO: Logitech unveils G Pro X 60 gaming keyboard: Price, details

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X’s AI accused Klay Thompson of vandalizing houses with bricks

AI thought joke posts were real

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Image source: Keith Allison, Wikimedia

Despite the ease that the technology promises, artificial intelligence still isn’t the most reliable thing you can depend on. Today’s models can still flub answers. Now, the pitfalls of AI are abundantly clear with a few mishaps on X. Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson was just “accused” of a vandalism spree involving bricks.

Late Tuesday night, X presented an AI-generated news snippet. The article, posted soon after the Warriors’ play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings, reads: “Klay Thompson Accused in Bizarre Brick-Vandalism Spree.”

The snippet hilariously described an incident where Thompson supposedly vandalized houses in Sacramento with bricks. Thankfully, according to the snippet, no one was hurt. It even had a few sources for its claims below the news summary.

The sources, however, are just joke posts stemming from the recently concluded game. In that do-or-die game, Thompson put up a staggering 0 points on ten shot attempts, the most misses without a make by a Warrior since the ’68 season. Naturally, everyone joked that the Warriors guard just threw bricks all over Sacramento.

Now, X is currently experimenting with a new AI feature called Grok. The model collates trending topics and creates snippets of what’s happening for X users. However, it’s not exactly the smartest in determining real news from satiric ones. The feature notes as much, carrying a fine-print caveat warning users to “verify its outputs” because it’s an early feature and can make mistakes.

SEE ALSO: New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

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New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Rolling out globally now

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New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

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