All posts tagged: Google

Digigram | September 2023

Published by Gert Christen

In this edition of Digigram:  #1: AI Boom in San Francisco: The Next Gold Rush? – The whole world seems to be bashing San Francisco for empty offices, high prices, and drug addicts downtown. Away from this noise, AI startuppers have quietly taken over the Hayes Valley neighborhood behind the Opera House and turned it into the world’s leading AI hub under the cryptic name of “Cerebral Valley”. From state-of-the-art hacker houses to a focus on inclusivity and transformative technology, this enclave has become the stage for the next wave of startups. Can Cerebral Valley revive San Francisco’s tech scene and establish it as the epicenter of the AI boom? The VCs think so and are all over this emerging community. #2: When Tech Titans Rebrand: Driven by Business or Ego?  – Bye-bye Twitter; meet “X.” Farewell Facebook, hello “Meta.” Adios, Google, call me “Alphabet.” When big tech companies suddenly change their names, is it a brand makeover for the better or just an ego show of their high-profile CEOs? While Elon Musk seems to …

AI Boom in San Francisco

Published by Gert Christen

If You Think San Francisco is Dying, You’re Looking in the Wrong Place: Cerebral Valley Is The New Epicenter of the AI Gold Rush While downtown San Francisco grapples with vacant office spaces—equivalent to “more than 14 Salesforce Towers”—a seismic shift occurs a few miles away in a neighborhood called Hayes Valley: Meet Cerebral Valley. Cerebral Valley is rapidly establishing itself as the epicenter of Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation. Why Hayes Valley? If you think the San Francisco tech industry is fading, you’re simply not looking in the right place. Strategically positioned in an upwardly mobile neighborhood, Hayes Valley offers a unique blend of modernism and intellectual brain power. It has become a thriving nucleus of AI innovation, no longer merely a hotspot for boutiques and trendy restaurants. The influx of AI-focused “hacker houses” provide shared living spaces and act as incubators, setting the stage for hackathons, fireside chats, and AI meetups. These are not just makeshift accommodations; AGI House, for example, is a $58 million mansion with a koi pond and a climate-controlled wine …

When Tech Titans Rebrand: Driven by Business or by Ego?

Published by Gert Christen

In an era where the pace of change is breakneck, even giants in the tech industry are not immune to the impulse—or necessity—to rebrand. A logo tweak? Sure. A new color scheme? Why not. But completely changing a company’s name? That’s a seismic shift with far-reaching consequences. To dive into this high-stakes game, let’s examine a few notable examples: Twitter’s transition to “X” post-acquisition by Elon Musk, Facebook’s morphing into Meta under Mark Zuckerberg’s directive, and Google’s metamorphosis into Alphabet. The Pros: A Fresh Coat of Paint Twitter to X: Fueling Aspirations Badly When Twitter was acquired and rebranded as “X” by Elon Musk, it was more than just a name change—it signaled a broader ambition. The rebrand set the stage for the platform to stretch beyond its 280-character comfort zone, potentially tapping into other Musk ventures. This bold move captured investors’ imaginations (Twitter needs more revenue streams. Always did!) and users’ wrath. The intransparent, clumsy communications led to confusion, causing advertising clients to cancel their campaigns. My personal opinion: this blunder was so unnecessary …

AR/VR Google Wars – Is Apple Vision a Vision of the Future?

Published by Gert Christen

Several companies offer augmented reality headsets, from Magic Leap to Meta’s Quest to Microsoft’s Hololens to specialized makers such as Almer for industrial use. However, the only one people could talk about this month was the new Apple Vision Pro augmented reality headset unveiled at the WWDC 2023 conference. Here’s what we know about the device: The price tag is HIGH! Early adopters might want to save their pennies when the device is released early next year – its starting price is $3,499! It comes with its proprietary operating system. The Vision Pro runs on visionOS, Apple’s dedicated operating system designed specifically for spatial computing, encompassing augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences. The three-dimensional interface of visionOS promises a new experience, allowing Apps to appear side by side at varying scales. The user interface cleverly incorporates adaptation to the surrounding light and adds shadows to convey the scale and a 3D effect. The launch App partners include native Unity apps for gamers, Adobe Lightroom for creatives, and Microsoft’s Office suite for the enterprise. And everybody else can use FaceTime to brag to their friends. Other …

ARC browser analysis

Published by Gert Christen

Google might be just beginning the race in the AI wars, but in the battle for maintaining its place as the preferred browser, a new competitor surfaced. ARC is a new entrant into the web browser market that claims to be a more private, more secure, and faster browser than the dominant competitors. Some of the most attractive features are built-in blockers for cookies by default and lightning-fast page load times that create a more responsive browsing experience. Because ARC is built with security in mind, it has also built-in anti-phishing protection, built-in malware scanning, and sandboxing to prevent malicious code from affecting the system. It’s highly customizable and offers the ability to change appearance, keyboard shortcuts, and other features. Can it really take on Google Chrome with over 70% market share? It depends. To compete effectively, ARC will need to offer some compelling features that you can’t find on other browsers and require significant marketing and outreach efforts to build its user base. I tried ARC, and it does well on features despite limitations! It …

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Google Takes on ChatGPT

Published by Gert Christen

nless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve heard about ChatGPT. ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models and has been fine-tuned using both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. Microsoft is ALL IN on AI, and was the first to partner and invest in ChatGPT, and just confirmed another investment into ChatGPT, rumored to be around $10 Billion. Artificial intelligence has the potential to change the landscape when it comes to how tech giants compete with each other, and some experts believe there will be a competitive AI landscape as companies seek ways to optimize business operations with machine learning. Microsoft announced the integration of ChatGPT into their BING search engine. A brilliant move by Microsoft to change the competitive situation in the search market! Which obviously raised alarms at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View: You dare go after Google in search, you better dress warm! We didn’t have to wait long at all for the reply: Google announced …