Dutch online supermarket Picnic has bagged a cool €355mn in funding after a year of international expansion, the company announced today. The grocery delivery service launched in the Netherlands back in 2015, before later entering France and Germany. Picnic said that the expansion across Europe helped the business grow by 40% in 2023. Turnover for the year reached an estimated €1.25bn. A particularly thriving new market is Hamburg, which hit a turnover of €40mn just six months after launching last April. That made it Picnic’s fastest-growing city. In the Netherlands, meanwhile, the recent growth has come from adding new customers in…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
As CES opens its doors, Apple has started the conversation by announcing its $3,499 Vision Pro headset will on sale in the US on Feb. 2. Pre-orders begin Jan. 19.
Apple has always promised to ship the product “early” in 2024, and in the last week speculation of a CES-timed intro has been rife, as noted here and here.
Source:: Computer World
The same tunnels used to extract fossil fuels for centuries are now helping to heat British homes with clean energy from the Earth’s core. It’s called mine water heating and it has the potential to provide critical warmth to hundreds of thousands of homes in the country’s north. At least one quarter of UK homes sit above abandoned coal mines. Residents in these towns and cities concurrently grapple with skyrocketing energy bills. Tapping mine water heat from beneath their feet could be a win-win for these communities. And the technology is already in operation. Last year, one of the largest…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
The Netherlands is among Europe’s biggest tech ecosystems, not only driving innovation but employment as well. According to a report by Dealroom, in 2023, Dutch startups created 256,000 jobs globally and 151,000 jobs spread across over 50 cities in the country. Age and size matter Last year marked the first time that startups founded between 2011 and 2017 offered as many jobs as companies founded up to 2005, including early big successes such as Booking and TomTom. Meanwhile, the youngest group of companies, which were those founded since 2018, supported 23,600 jobs — showing the fastest growth rate year-on-year. Size-wise,…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
By Hisan Kidwai
In recent years, MediaTek has staged a comeback in the budget to mid-range smartphone market, powering devices like the Motorola Edge 40 and the Realme 11 Pro Plus. However, unlike Qualcomm, which has adopted a unified naming system to help users distinguish between its offerings, MediaTek’s processor naming scheme is convoluted and lacks specific meaning….
The post MediaTek Processor Naming Scheme Explained: Smartphones & Laptops appeared first on Fossbytes.
Source:: Fossbytes
By Hisan Kidwai
The iPhone design has remained largely consistent, with the company making incremental changes to refine the user experience. However, a recent leak from AppleTrack has hinted at significant alterations in the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro series. As a result, here is everything you need to know about the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max….
The post Upcoming iPhone 16 Pro Series: Launch Date, Specs And Price appeared first on Fossbytes.
Source:: Fossbytes
As generative AI (genAI) platforms such as ChatGPT, Dall-E2, and AlphaCode barrel ahead at a breakneck pace, keeping the tools from hallucinating and spewing erroneous or offensive responses is nearly impossible.
To date, there have been few methods to ensure accurate information is coming out of the large language models (LLMs) that serve as the basis for genAI.
Source:: Computer World
Running a tech startup is a challenging endeavour under any circumstances. Imagine doing it under invasion with air raid sirens going off on average twice every 24 hours — and managing to grow 250% in the process. This is the story of OBRIO, a Ukrainian startup behind the successful astrology app Nebula. Speaking to TNW from his apartment in Kyiv just before the turn of the year, founder and CEO Alex Fedorov says that running a company during wartime is not exactly something you learn in business school. Fedorov sees the process as twofold. “There was the initial one when…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
In this bonus episode of the TNW Podcast, we’re featuring an interview with Tomas Hrozensky, Senior Researcher and Lead on European Engagement at the European Space Policy Institute. We discussed how space policy actually works (and whether it works at all), what to expect from the EU space law that’s being developed as we speak, and much more. Listen to the episode with the player above — or, better still, find us on your favourite podcast platform and subscribe! Music and sound engineering for this podcast is by Sound Pulse. Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions,…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
Apple’s pricey Vision Pro augmented reality platform is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2024. But by the end of the year, I predict the platform of the year will be — drum roll, please — AI glasses!
Wait, what?
That’s right. Glasses that let you interact with artificial intelligence (AI) from the comfort of your own face will be the sleeper hit of the year. In fact, the buzz around market leader Meta has already begun.
Announced in September and shipped in October, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses arrival was initially received with a collective shrug. They were assumed to be camera glasses, like Snap Spectacles, or virtual assistant glasses, like Amazon’s Echo Frames. Or, for that matter, a small upgrade from their Meta predecessor, Ray-Ban Stories. But Spectacles, Echo Frames and Ray-Ban Stories failed to thrill the gadget-loving public.
Source:: Computer World
CES is coming, and if the past is any guide, Apple won’t be part of the festivities. And yet, as is often the case, its presence will be felt across the exhibition floor.
Why? Because while generative AI (gen AI) might this year appear in everything (for good or ill), the other big story will be augmented reality (AR) — and Apple’s much-ballyhooed Vision Pro hasn’t even hit the market yet.
You can tell this is so by the rash of Vision Pro rumors, speculation, and claimed design and usage leaks emerging like clockwork in the run up to CES.
Source:: Computer World
Dutch startup Nuwa claims to have invented the “world’s most advanced pen” that digitises notes written by hand. Nuwa plans to launch the device this March. The Groningen-based company today announced a fresh cash injection of €1.5mn to boost the development of the product, which uses an inbuilt camera system, motion sensors, and algorithms to capture text written on paper. “Just write, and Nuwa Pen digitises,” Marc Tuinier, Nuwa’s CEO, told TNW. All the notes are then stored on the startup’s app. They can then be organised, shared, and integrated with other apps. A particularly intriguing feature is Augmented Notes, which…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
Britain is set to test facial verification tech that removes the need for passports, but experts have dashed hopes of a full launch this year. The project was unveiled this week by Phil Douglas, the director-general of the UK’s Border Force. Douglas told the Times that he aims to install new e-gates at airports that create an “intelligent border.” By integrating enhanced facial verification, the system would make physical travel documents unnecessary. Trials of the tech are expected to start this year. A full rollout, however, remains a more distant prospect. Andrew Bud, the CEO at British biometric leader iProov, told TNW that…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
With more and more EVs on the road, the need for battery recycling and reuse has emerged as a necessity to further enhance the sustainability of these vehicles. But there’s another component whose potential for a second life could be a game changer: the electric motor. Extending the use phase of electric motors is crucial for two reasons. Firstly, they contain valuable raw materials such as copper and rare earth metals such as neodymium, which can’t be easily recovered. Secondly, the raw materials used for the motors have a larger carbon footprint than those used for a combustion engine. Current…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
By Hisan Kidwai
Unlike iOS, Android as a platform thrives on allowing users to customize their phones and make them work according to their needs. And the biggest driving force behind this mantra is developer options. Unfortunately, many users are unaware of these features, and enabling the wrong setting could potentially lead to issues. Here are some of…
The post 20 Useful Android Developer Options You Should Enable Today appeared first on Fossbytes.
Source:: Fossbytes
Enterprises spent about $19.4 billion worldwide on generative artificial intelligence (genAI) technologies in 2023 — and that amount is expected to double this year, according to research by IDC.
Organizations are spending on genAI software as well as related infrastructure hardware and IT/business services. By 2027, spending is expected to reach $151.1 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 85.9% over the 2023-27 period.
“Despite IT headwinds in 2023, businesses accelerated their exploration of genAI to boost business transformation,” Rick Villars, IDC group vice president, said in a statement. “In 2024, the shift to AI everywhere will enter a critical buildout phase as enterprises make major new investments with the goal of drastically reducing the time and costs associated with customer and employee productivity use cases. From there, the focus will shift to investments that boost revenue and business outcomes.”
Source:: Computer World
Following an order by the Dutch government, ASML — the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end chipmaking equipment — will curb shipments of two of its machines to China. Specifically, the government has partially revoked the export licence of the NXT:2050i and NXT:2100i lithography systems, the company said in a statement. Much like its other products, the two lithography machines use light to print blueprints of patterns. The Veldhoven-based company has already been prohibited from selling its most sophisticated machines to China since 2019. In September 2023, following months of pressure by the US, the Netherlands also introduced stricter export controls…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
By Elliot Lyons
This year was challenging for the financial technology, or fintech, sector. Interest rates rose and funding fell, continuing the shift in focus from growth to profitability. But what does 2024 have in store? Will AI revolutionise the industry? Will funding pick up? What sectors will thrive? What’s the outlook for the Dutch market? We spoke to five experts on what to look out for in 2024. Few new startups but regtech will go “through the roof” Don Ginsel is the CEO and Founder of Holland FinTech, an independent ecosystem connecting people and organisations in the financial value chain. “Generative…
This story continues at The Next Web
Or just read more coverage about: Fintech
Source:: The Next Web
If you thought the pandemic and AI revolution changed work in the past four years, get ready for epic changes coming in 2024.
During the past three years, the world of work was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology saved the economy by enabling millions to work from home using video calls, cloud services, and collaboration software.
Then last year, generative artificial intelligence (genAI) changed everything; 2023 was its “breakout year,” according to a survey-based report by McKinsey. The 2023 surge in awareness about large language model (LLM)-based genAI technology resulted from OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT and DALL-E tools in 2022.
Source:: Computer World
Mikko Hyppönen has spent decades on the frontlines of the fight against malware. The 54-year-old has vanquished some of the world’s most destructive computer worms, tracked down the creators of the first-ever PC virus, and sold his own software since he was a teenager in Helsinki. In the intervening years, he’s earned Vanity Fair profiles, spots on Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, and the role of Chief Research Officer at WithSecure— the largest cybersecurity firm in the Nordics. The ponytailed Finn is also the curator of the online Malware Museum. Yet all the history in his archives could be…
This story continues at The Next Web
Source:: The Next Web
Click Here to View the Upcoming Event Calendar
