August 24, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

🤖 The best creations from the World Robot Conference

🎮 Sony reveals more about its new PlayStation device

📈 AI boom sends Nvidia profits skyward ... and then some

UP FIRST

The best creations from this week's World Robot Conference

The event also featured the latest in AI-powered robotics

The 2023 World Robot Conference wrapped up in Beijing on Tuesday.

The week-long bash involved more than 650 exhibitors and saw around 800,000 visitors checking out robots designed for a wide range of uses, including manufacturing, surgery, and companionship. There was even one robot serving ice cream.

Some of the contraptions featured animatronic heads with synthetic skin, lifelike facial expressions, and moving arms and hands, the Associated Press said in a report that included numerous photos from the event.

The Guardian also published a lengthy photo feature showing off some of the amazing creations, among them a beautiful bionic butterfly and a talented robot artist.

Another photo feature comes courtesy of Popular Science, which described the World Robot Conference as “a meetup for designers, investors, students, researchers, and curious visitors to check out the latest advancements in AI-powered machinery.”

GAMING

Sony names its new PlayStation gaming device

And it'll cost less than similar handhelds from rivals

Following official confirmation of the cloud handheld in May, Sony on Wednesday revealed its name and price.

The new portable gaming gadget is called the PlayStation Portal and will hit the shelves later this year for $200.

The device features an 8-inch LCD screen with 1080p resolution running at 60 fps and will stream PS5 games over Wi-Fi.

The controllers on each side of the display support adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, offering players a similar experience to the DualSense controller.

IGN has already been hands-on with Sony’s latest gaming gadget.

“PlayStation Portal is the perfect device for gamers in households where they might need to share their living room TV or simply want to play PS5 games in another room of the house,” Sony said in its announcement.

But there are some potentially irksome caveats when it comes to using the PlayStation Portal. Check out Digital Trends’ report to find out more.

BIG TECH

AI boom sends Nvidia profits skyward ... and then some

The company's boss said 'a new computing era has begun'

U.S. chip giant Nvidia has reported record revenue as it rides the wave of burgeoning interest in artificial intelligence.

The company revealed on Wednesday that it raked in $13.5 billion in revenue for the quarter ending July 30, up 101% from a year ago.

It also generated a cool $6.2 billion in profit, marking an astonishing 843% increase over the same period a year ago.

Chip-hungry data centers accounted for $10.3 billion of Nvidia’s total revenue, more than twice that of the previous three-month period and up by more than 170% on a year ago.

Looking ahead, Nvidia said it expects to see revenue of around $16 billion for the three months to the end of September, nearly $3 billion on what it earned during the most recent quarter.

“A new computing era has begun,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement. “Companies worldwide are transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI.”

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