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Google’s latest art project recruits an animated bird — and AI — to play the cello
Google might be laser focused on generative AI these days, like the majority of its Big Tech competitors. But that hasn’t stopped the search giant from patronizing pretty out-there art projects, true to its experimental roots.
Enter the latest creation from Google’s Art & Culture Lab, Viola the Bird, which uses AI to understand cello and violin compositions. The work has Viola — an animated bird that evokes a Sesame Street character — “perform” famous Beethoven, Vivaldi, Holst and Ravel stringed pieces as a user moves their mouse back and forth along a virtual cello in their web browser.
David Li, the artist behind Viola, worked with cellists and violinists as well as music arrangers to develop the AI, which he then applied to create an audio synthesis engine that generates the sounds of a cello or violin based on a user’s mouse movements.
“The result is an interactive music experiment that is both fun and educational,” Pamela Peter-Agbia, a program manager at Google Arts & Culture, writes in a blog post. “Viola the Bird is a great way for anyone to learn about string instruments and to explore their own creativity through music.”
Having spent some time with Viola, I can attest to the “fun” part — but wouldn’t go so far as to say the project is educational. It doesn’t provide sheet music or notes to accompany your “playing,” and there aren’t any guardrails to prevent someone from performing songs wildly off-tempo.
Questionable pedagogy aside, there’s enough to keep even casual classical fans entertained for a minute, like a recording feature and a freestyle mode that lets you jam via Viola, on the viola, until you’ve had your fill.
If you’re bored during the next lunch break — or have young kids to keep entertained — give Viola a try. It’s free. Just keep your expectations in check — unlike some of Google’s other AI-powered explorations in music of late, this bird won’t exactly blow your mind.
Google’s latest art project recruits an animated bird — and AI — to play the cello by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch
US consumers spent $6.4 billion on the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day event
The first day of Amazon’s two-day Prime Day event saw U.S. sales rise nearly 6% year-over-year to $6.4 billion, according to Adobe Analytics Data. The number represents the single biggest e-commerce day so far in 2023. Amazon’s Prime Day event takes place on July 11 and 12 this year. The sales event gives Amazon the opportunity to attract new paying customers, while also deepening its relationship with current ones.
Adobe says sales were driven by a few different categories, including appliances, which saw a 37% jump when compared to average daily sales in June. Sales of toys rose 27%, while sales for apparel rose 26%. Another category that saw a notable jump was electronic, as sales rose 12%.
The average Prime Day spend per order is $56.64, up from $53.14 in the same reporting period on Prime Day 2022, according to data firm Numerator.
Data from Adobe shows that Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) orders accounted for 6.4% of online orders and drove $461 million in revenue, up 19.5% compared to the first day of Prime Day last year. BNPL usage was driven by categories including apparel, furniture/home, and electronics. The data shows that consumers are embracing flexible ways to manage their spending.
Interestingly, the data also found that consumers are becoming increasingly more comfortable shopping on smaller screens, as smartphones drove 43.7% of sales, up from 42.7% last year.
“Prime Day has become of one the biggest e-commerce moments of the year, as consumers latch onto major discounts from a number of different retailers,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement. “The record spending so far shows us that consumers are tapping into their inner bargain hunters, stocking up on specific categories such as electronics and apparel while the discounts remain steep.”
Amazon is offering the biggest discount of 16% on electronics, while Apparel is discounted at 13%, and toys are 15% cheaper. Computers are discounted by 10%, sporting goods are discounted at 9% and furniture is discounted at 7%.
Last year, Amazon had two Prime Day sales with the first one taking place on July 12-13 and the second one on October 11-12. It’s unknown if Amazon plans to hold two Prime Day events this year as well.
US consumers spent $6.4 billion on the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day event by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Google’s AI-powered notes app is now called NotebookLM, and it’s launching today
Project Tailwind, the AI-backed note-taking tool that Google launched at this year’s I/O developer conference, is rebranding. It’s now known as NotebookLM, and it’s launching today to “a small group of users in the US,” according to a Google blog post. (The LM stands for Language Model because Google really wants to make sure you don’t forget about all the AI in here.) The product hasn’t changed, though: Google’s still trying to give users their own personal AI, trained on their data and notes and able to help them make sense of it all.
The core of NotebookLM seems to actually start in Google Docs. (“We’ll be adding additional formats soon,” the blog post says.) Once you get access to the app, you’ll be able to select a bunch of docs and…
Cooling inflation in the US brings slight relief to tech valuations
New U.S. inflation data is augmenting tech stocks listed on American exchanges, helping shares of cloud companies reach prices they haven’t been close to for nearly a year.
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The new numbers on inflation indicate that the American central bank could soon halt its series of aggressive interest rate hikes, and if that causes interest rates to level off, it could spur investors to pivot their focus back towards tech shares. Given how far tech valuations have fallen in the past couple of years, any recovery feels welcome.
TechCrunch+ noted in late Q2 2023 that tech valuations were perking up, at least on the public markets. Today, following the new inflation data, a collection of cloud stocks tracked by VC firm Bessemer ticked 1.9% higher to reach gains of around 32% year-to-date.
Inflation down, tech up
The past year has been tumultuous for many tech companies, which enjoyed attention from investors in an economic climate where low interest rates made them more attractive investments.
There’s a very basic trade-off between interest rates and growth-oriented companies. Lower interest rates engender lower bond yields, which makes for a less attractive investing climate for less-risky assets like bonds. At the same time, tech stocks, which are often valued based on their potential to grow quickly instead of their profitability, become more attractive as investors seek to maximize their returns.
A low interest rate environment also makes it cheaper for investors to raise money in the form of debt, which can bolster certain private equity strategies. In contrast, expensive debt makes private equity buyouts and other related transactions more expensive, potentially lowering market appetite to use debt to purchase and invest in tech companies. The end of interest rate hikes, therefore, could also help smoothen PE-led exit avenue for startups.
As interest rates have risen, the value of tech stocks has fallen. This chart compares the interest rate hikes with the performance of the Bessemer cloud index (WCLD):
Cooling inflation in the US brings slight relief to tech valuations by Alex Wilhelm originally published on TechCrunch
Amazon Prime Day Thermacell deals: Save on mosquito repellents that actually work
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Mosquitos can ruin a beautiful summer night outdoors faster than a noise complaint or spoiled potato salad. Thermacell’s clever repellent devices rely on rechargeable batteries and undetectable diffused liquid to create a mosquito-free dome around you and your pals. The devices are small, portable, rechargeable, and affordable. And these Amazon Prime Day Thermacell deals make them positively irresistible. Unless you really like scratching bug bites. Then you can do your own thing.
Thermacell Mosquito Repellent E-Series Repeller with 20’ Protection Zone and 9-hour battery $29.98 (Was $49)
Thermacell
This is the most robust Thermacell model that Amazon has on sale for Prime Day. It lasts for up to nine hours on a single charge, and it creates a 20-foot mosquito-free zone around the device. I’ve used one of these (and its previous versions) for several summers now, and I consider them essential outdoor gear. It’s small, silent, and effective. If you don’t need a full nine hours of coverage, you can save $10 more and get the 5.5-hour battery models listed below. The light blue one is the cheapest. I’m not a big fan of the color, but I’ll put up with it to save the extra $3.
- Thermacell Mosquito Repellent E-Series Repeller with 20’ Protection Zone and 5.5-hour battery $29 (was $39)
- Thermacell Mosquito Repellent E-Series Rechargeable Repeller blue $29 (was $39)
- Thermacell Mosquito Repellent E-Series Rechargeable Repeller dark blue $29 (was $39)
Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller in dark blue $12.99 (Was $20)
Continuing with the trend of some Thermacell colors checking in cheaper than others, this dark blue model of the 15-foot mosquito barrier is an extra $2 cheaper than the rest of the colorways. For $12.99, it’s worth it to grab a couple of these to keep in the car or anywhere else you might find yourself trying to chill out without mosquitos constantly vying for your delicious blood.
- Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller in burnt orange $15 (was $20)
- Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller with 15-foot zone $15 (was $20)
- Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller in light blue $15 (was $20)
- Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller in beige $14.39 (was $20)
While you’re buying stuff for outside, maybe pick yourself up a grill for the patio. There are some great deals on Char-Broil models for Prime Day.
The post Amazon Prime Day Thermacell deals: Save on mosquito repellents that actually work appeared first on Popular Science.
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Nothing Phone 2 is Flashier than Ever – CNET
The transparent back and LED “glyph” certainly makes a statement.
Hearing Tests: What to Know Before You Go – CNET
If you’re thinking about getting a hearing test, here’s what to plan for and expect.
Tumblr is losing $30M each year, CEO says
If we’ve learned anything from this past year of Twitter clones, CEO fights, shitposting and bad, money-grabbing policies, it’s this: making a social media company profitable is hard!
After rolling out some unpopular features, Tumblr is now trying to “build in public” and be more transparent about the business behind the fandom-driven platform. In a livestreamed Q&A, CEO Matt Mullenweg and COO Zandy Ring fielded questions from Tumblr users about the company’s direction. The executives weren’t completely unfiltered (Matt, please, answer my question about how much money the blue checks brought in — I want to know!), but they did offer some interesting insights into what it’s like to run Tumblr right now.
According to Mullenweg, Tumblr is spending about $30 million more than it makes each year. This isn’t too surprising, given Tumblr’s history as a company. Founded in 2007, the blogging site was acquired by Yahoo (TechCrunch’s parent company) for $1 billion in 2013. But by 2019, WordPress parent Automattic bought Tumblr for just $3 million. Though it has a loyal base of power users, Tumblr has also struggled to grow its daily active users since its infamous porn ban.
Middling social platforms have an opportunity to grow amid the “exodus” from Twitter, and Tumblr is no exception. When logging into your Tumblr account, you’ll see a link that reads, “Coming from Twitter? Sign up.” And amid the backlash at Twitter’s paid verification product, Tumblr increased its iOS revenue by 125% by offering two blue checks for $8. These blue checks do not do anything. They’re just funny.
Still, Ring says that Tumblr hasn’t had that dramatic of a bump in its user numbers.
“People have this impression that we have massive growth right now, and we really don’t,” she said. During this Q&A, which was promoted on the top of users’ dashboards, only about 300 people tuned in at a time.
In November, Mullenweg told The Atlantic that Tumblr’s iOS downloads had increased 62% the week that Elon Musk finalized his Twitter acquisition. According to data that TechCrunch viewed from data.ai, Tumblr gained 880,000 new installs across iOS and Android in November, up from 450,000 and 500,000 in September and October, respectively. But in the following months, its download numbers returned to standard levels (around 400,000 to 500,000 downloads per month).
This Q&A session took place a day after Tumblr published its “core product strategy” on its staff blog, which caught users off guard, since it looks more like notes from an investor slide deck than a blog post.
“The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use,” the post reads. It outlines various changes, like making the difference between reblogs and replies less confusing to new users, or collapsing reblog threads. In the post, the company wrote that it would improve “algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds,” which some users misinterpreted as Tumblr saying it would force an algorithmic feed on its users, causing uproar across the site.
“Chronological feed will always be an option,” Mullenweg clarified.
The fundamental tension of Tumblr is that it doesn’t have enough users to be profitable, but the users it does have are fiercely protective of the site’s culture — and, they don’t follow standard consumer behavior patterns (they will pay to send crabs to their friends, but they will not pay to subscribe to creators). So, Tumblr’s emphasis on making sign-ups easier and improving discovery can feel like a harbinger of unwelcome change to the site’s most dedicated users.
Through out the Q+A, Mullenweg and Ring emphasized that they would not make any permanent changes without user feedback. But regardless, making an extra $30 million per year is a serious challenge. Tumblr will probably have to do more than sell useless (yet hilarious) digital goods if it wants to stay afloat.
Tumblr is losing $30M each year, CEO says by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch
One of Apple TV Plus’ best hidden gems is back for season 2
One of the biggest problems with modern streaming services is how easy it is to miss stuff. There’s just so much that even the good shows can pass right by you. And it’s just as true for a platform like Apple TV Plus as it is for more stuffed services like Netflix. With all of the focus on big, splashy projects like Foundation or Severance or the latest movie from Martin Scorsese, it’s not hard for something like The Afterparty — a quirky murder mystery that plays around with film history — to fly under the radar.
Well, good news if you did miss it: season 2 kicks off today, making it a great time to jump in.
Season 1 took place in the aftermath of a party that followed a high school reunion, where the host — a pop star named Xavier…