According to a report from Digi-Capital, China is likely to beat the United States in AR adoption. The company posits quite a few things relating to AR/VR in its study, so let’s break them down below. About Digi-Capital’s study Digi-Capital focuses on releasing detailed reports and statistics concerning the AR/VR markets and many related tech segments. Their most recent report, for Q2 2018, provides insights, interviews, and even a database on all kinds of market information. A considerable part of this report focused on VR and AR adoption, which we’ll detail below. How China could win in AR adoption, and our thoughts According to the
AI Chatbots are rapidly changing the ways of banking in the world
The biggest Hong Kong bank, HSBC Holdings, is starting the New Year with a new chatbot. Chatbots are computer programs that typically use text-based live chat as an interface to carry out tasks for customers on behalf of the business. Now they are emerging as an inexpensive way to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) in banking. Even though they are practically machines, banks are trying to give their chatbots a human touch which is why HSBC named its newborn Amy. This is not the only bank form Hong Kong. Hang Seng Bank already has their virtual assistants named HARO and DORI. This move came as the city’s
WeChat Now Issuing ID Cards for Chinese Customers
WeChat, the popular mobile application from Tencent Holdings, is now becoming more indispensable in the daily lives of Chinese consumers under a project that turns it into an official electronic personal identification system. The government of Guangzhou, capital of the southern coastal province of Guangdong started a pilot programme that creates a virtual ID card, which serves the same purpose as the traditional state-issued ID cards, through the WeChat accounts of registered users in the city’s Nansha district.This project will try to prevent online identity thefts. The new WeChat ID card project is supported by the Ministry of Public Security’s Research Institute and other government
Huawei and Baidu Building an Open AI Ecosystem Together
Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier, has forged an artificial intelligence (AI) alliance with Chinese internet search provider Baidu. “It should come as no surprise that Baidu and Huawei are working together, because we have many similarities – technology is embedded in our DNA and we have developed our own technologies in order to grow,” said Robin Li, Baidu Chairman and CEO. “The Internet era is evolving into the era of AI. Baidu has been dedicated to the field of AI for a long time. Huawei has a large user base. Together, Baidu and Huawei can do many things which we were not
Uber’s Competitor Didi Chuxing Raises $4B more for AI
China’s Didi Chuxing, the country’s ride-hailing giant , said today that it has raised $4 billion in new capital to proceed with their international expansion. In that way, they are posing a direct challenge to its U.S. rival Uber in its efforts to branch out overseas. Just eight months ago, the company raised $5.5 billion, and in 2016 they raised raised $7.3 billion from big companies including Apple. This takes Didi’s total inbound investments to $19.7 billion, but the company only said that the money came from “Chinese and international institutions.” The company expects to continue that expansion and they promised that the part of the funding will be dedicated to the development
VR Sexy Secretary Vivi Has Been Taken Offline
A Chinese tech company pulled offline a virtual-reality avatar depicted as a flirtatious secretary in revealing clothes, designed to flirt with users, following criticism the avatar depicts women as sex objects. The virtual-assistant avatar, named “Vivi,” was in beta testing for a virtual-reality headset device sold by iQiyi, the online streaming unit of Baidu Inc., which owns China’s biggest internet search engine. Dressed in revealing clothing, the erotic assistant was in beta testing for a virtual reality headset when she was pulled. Shortly after, the company iQiyi, the streaming unit of Baidu, issued a swift apology for “concerns it might have raised”. Vivi used to
Baidu Joins Shoqi to develop driverless cars
Chinese search engine giant Baidu and Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, a car-hailing operator, are joining up to develop driverless vehicles, said Reuters. Baidu will supply Shouqi with the tools it needs for both its existing business and driverless cars, including map services, its Apollo autonomous platform and its conversational AI platform DuerOS. In return, Shouqi will supply Baidu with high-precision maps. Baidu will also offer software and hardware solutions such as the “DuerOS” and “Apollo platform” to Shouqi to help it develop autonomous vehicles. “DuerOS is an AI platform that provides tools for developers looking to quickly build intelligent devices that anyone can interact with, primarily through
100 PFLOPS: China’s Supercomputer Circumvents U.S. Sales Ban
A year ago, we revealed that the U.S. State Department blocked the further sales of Intel Xeon and Xeon Phi processors to Chinese institutions, most notably the Tianhe-2 supercomputer. The U.S. Administration also blocked the move in which a China-based investment fund would invest in AMD i.e. one of original reasons for Radeon Technologies Group – which is even without the said investment, performing above and beyond its financial capabilities. The reason to move against Tianhe-2 is complicated yet simple – ever since its debut in June 2013, the Tianhe-2 supercomputer from NUDT (National University for Defense Technologies) sits on top of the World’s 500 fastest computers list. From the looks of
USA Embargo Cannot Stop China: Tianhe-2 Supercomputer Keeps #1
Couple of months ago, we exclusively reported that the U.S. government blocked Intel from selling its products to Chinese supercomputer firms such as Inspur, responsible for building the Tianhe-2 supercomputer. Originally, Tianhe-2 was planned to expand all the way to almost 100,000 Xeon processors and Xeon Phi co-processors, targeting to beat the 100 PFLOPS barrier. Initial deployment included 4,096 Chinese Galaxy FT-1500 processors (Chinese SPARC) and 16,000 processor nodes with two 12-core Xeon E2692 processors and three Xeon Phi 31S1P co-processors for a grand total of 3.12 million cores. Full installation of Tianhe-2 was scheduled to feature 48,000 processor nodes, or 9.93 million cores. However, those
Along Comes Colorful: China-Based Company to Become World’s Second-Largest AIB Vendor
CES Asia Kicks Off in Shanghai
Qihoo 360 Caught Cheating in Antivirus Testing
China’s Great Firewall Hijacking Facebook Login for DDoS
Will Xiaomi’s Disruptive Force Move Around The World?
Xiaomi has taken the market by storm and forced the hand of major phone manufacturers. But it won’t become a global force anytime soon.
CES Asia: How Will CEA Overcome the Challenges of Hosting a CES in Shanghai?
Hosting an event like CES in Shanghai is bound to have its challenges. But CES Asia’s Show Director explains how he’s planning to have a smooth show.
US Government Gives Intel Two Supercomputer Wins
While Intel may have lost some serious income from being virtually shut out of Intel’s HPC market, the US government has recently handed the company two impressive supercomputer wins.
China Weaponizes Great Firewall to DDoS Sites Off the Web
Intel Onboard to Support Indigenous China Mobile OS
At IDF Shenzhen 2015, Intel’s Doug Fisher re-affirmed the company’s support for helping China develop an indigenous mobile OS.
IDF Shenzhen 2015: Intel Celebrates 30 Years in China at IDF Shenzhen
IDF Shenzhen 2015 kickoff keynote lacked aggressive goals or big announcements, but was rather a look at the level of collaboration between Intel and China.
Uncle Sam Shocks Intel With a Ban on Xeon Supercomputers in China
Just as Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich opened the regular staff meeting before a dramatically reduced IDF2015 conference, in Shenzhen, China – it is a good time to review how government and enterprises don’t see eye to eye when it comes to strategic business. Remember the Tianhe-2 machine at Guangzhou Supercomputer Center, the current World’s number one according to Top 500 Supercomputer list? Unlike some other China supercomputers with their mixed architectures – Tianhe-2 is a fully Intel based machine, the world’s largest assembly of Intel Xeon CPUs and Xeon Phi accelerators. Even after Intel ‘opened the kimono’ and gave a nearly 70% discount on its processors and accelerators, it