The Tech Weekender | Top news from the world of technology this week
We tell you how Google hasn't had the best start for Bard, its answer to ChatGPT. Apple is looking to increase prices of iPhone 15, OnePlus has ditched the Pro variant, Elon Musk fires a Twitter engineer over the poor engagement of his tweets, Opera is looking to integrate ChatGPT and Activision Blizzard CEO calls Sony out are among the other big stories of the week.
According to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report, the tablet market shrunk a bit in 2022 but Chromebook shipments were hit a lot harder. The tablet market shrunk 3.3 percent in 2022, with a minuscule growth of 0.4 percent in Q4 2022 the only bright spot. After a period of tremendous growth, Chromebook fortunes seem to have reversed. The market recorded a dip of 48 percent in shipments compared to 2021 when it grew at a whopping 180.5 percent. The report says 24.3 percent fewer units of Chromebooks were shipped in Q4 2022 YoY.
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Apple could be adding another flagship variant to the iPhone 15 line-up, Bloomberg reported. The tech giant has internally discussed the possibility and will differentiate product tiers with materials used, processors and cameras, it added. Citing the recent earnings call for Apple, the report says that CEO Tim Cook believes there is still potential to squeeze more out of the customers.
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Google has unveiled an experimental conversation AI service and named it Bard. The Bard AI comes as a result of immense pressure on the search giant to catch up with Open AI’s popular chatbot ChatGPT, which is backed by one of Google's biggest rivals, Microsoft. Here's what you need to know about Google's chatbot which hasn't had the best of the starts.
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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that Sony is "trying to sabotage" Microsoft's proposed $69 billion takeover. In an interview to Financial Times, Kotick said that Sony's leadership, including Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, have "stopped talking" with both Activision and Microsoft. He said, "The whole idea that we are not going to support a PlayStation or that Microsoft would not support the PlayStation, it is absurd."
Opera, one of the oldest browsers still being actively updated, announced that it is planning to incorporate ChatGPT into its products. As reported by CNBC, the announcement was made by Kunlun Tech, Opera’s parent company. No other details were shared. Opera’s browser is available across all platforms, including mobile and on both iOS and Android.
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Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, has reportedly fired a top engineer because his engagement on the platform was tanking. Earlier in the month, Musk made his account private after several users on Twitter claimed that private accounts generate more reach. He decided to test this theory and wasn't happy with the results.
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The OnePlus 11 5G was recently unveiled in Indian and other global markets. Unlike last year, OnePlus won’t release a ‘Pro’ version of its flagship this year. A report quoted the company as saying, “Starting with our 2023 lineup, we are streamlining the flagship portfolio in North America (and globally) by removing our Pro lineup. In our opinion, you don’t need to have a ‘Pro’ name for a device that’s already ‘pro’.”
![Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that Sony is "trying to sabotage" Microsoft's proposed $69 billion takeover. In an interview with Financial Times, Kotick said that Sony's leadership, including Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, have "stopped talking" with both Activision and Microsoft. He said that, "the whole idea that we are not going to support a PlayStation or that Microsoft would not support the PlayStation, it is absurd."](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/07/maxresdefault-3-770x433.jpg "Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that Sony is "trying to sabotage" Microsoft's proposed $69 billion takeover. In an interview with Financial Times, Kotick said that Sony's leadership, including Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, have "stopped talking" with both Activision and Microsoft. He said that, "the whole idea that we are not going to support a PlayStation or that Microsoft would not support the PlayStation, it is absurd."")
