Startups

The IT Ministry's MeitY Startup Hub ( MSH ) and Meta (formerly Facebook) launched a startup Programme to help 40 early-stage startups in India -- with a grant of Rs 20 lakh each -- create products and solutions based on Extended Reality (XR) technologies. XR encompasses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR). The ' XR Startup Programme ' will include an accelerator and a grand challenge to boost the emerging tech ecosystem in the country and encourage innovation in a variety of sectors such as education, learning and healthcare, among others. Read Also Meta to enable new account login for Quest VR users Meta’s head of virtual reality platform Horizon, leaves company "Immersive technologies like XR have the power to transform the digital landscape and can have significant economic benefits for the country," said Rajeev Chandrasekhar , Minister of State for Electronics & IT. "I look … [Read more...] about meta: MeitY and Meta team up to support 40 Indian startups in virtual reality

More than 6 million pairs of eyes will be on real-time AI avatar technology in this week’s finale of America’s Got Talent — currently the second-most popular primetime TV show in the U.S.. Metaphysic, a member of the NVIDIA Inception global network of technology startups, is one of 11 acts competing for $1 million and a headline slot in AGT ’s Las Vegas show in tonight’s final on NBC. It’s the first AI act to reach an AGT finals. Called “the best act of the series so far” and “one of the most unique things we’ve ever seen on this show” by notoriously tough judge Simon Cowell, the team’s performances involve a demonstration of photorealistic AI avatars, animated in real time by singers on stage. In Metaphysic’s semifinals act, three singers — Daniel Emmet, Patrick Dailey and John Riesen — lent their voices to AI avatars of Cowell, fellow judge Howie Mandel and host Terry Crews, performing the opera piece “Nessun Dorma.” For the finale, the team plans to “bring back one … [Read more...] about AI on the Stars: Hyperrealistic Avatars Propel Startup to ‘America’s Got Talent’ Finals

Silicon Valley startup SiFive Inc launched three new products aimed at the automotive market, which is emerging as one of the hottest areas for chip makers with electric and self-driving cars expected to boost the number of chips needed. The new chip designs launched are the E6-A series for digital control applications like steering, S7-A for so-called "safety islands" that act as a failsafe for other critical applications, and X280-A to manage data from image sensors and do machine learning work, including for autonomous driving. "Where you'll see us going is from these targeted compute chips ... to arrays of processors that will be available over the coming 12 to 24 months," said SiFive CEO Patrick Little . Read Also US ban on Nvidia, AMD chips seen boosting Chinese rivals Joe Biden to hit China with broader curbs on US chip and tool exports, claims sources Before SiFive, Little helped build Qualcomm's automotive … [Read more...] about sifive: Chip tech startup SiFive releases products targeted at automotive market

NVIDIA today introduced the NVIDIA IGX platform for medical edge AI use cases, bringing advanced security and safety to intelligent machines and human-machine collaboration. IGX is a hardware and software platform that delivers secure, low-latency AI inference to meet the clinical demand for instant insights from a range of devices and sensors for medical applications, including robotic-assisted surgery and patient monitoring. The IGX platform supports NVIDIA Clara Holoscan , a domain-specific platform that allows medical-device developers to bridge edge, on-premises data center and cloud services. This integration enables the rapid development of new, software-defined devices that bring the latest AI applications directly into the operating room. Three leading medical-device startups — Activ Surgical, Moon Surgical and Proximie — have selected the combination of NVIDIA Clara Holoscan running on the IGX platform to power their surgical robotics systems. All three are … [Read more...] about NVIDIA Medical Edge AI Computing Platform Selected by Top Robotic and Digital Surgery Startups

Berlin, Soaring energy costs are threatening the future of the electric car, industry bosses in Germany have warned, media reports said. A rise in electricity prices as well as in raw material costs and availability, a chronic shortage of parts, and a widespread reduction in disposable income are having a considerable impact on the production and sales of cars, The Guardian reported. If the trend continues, there is also concern that there will be a knock-on effect on investors who will lack incentives to build charging facilities, making electric cars less attractive because they will be more impractical to run, it said. Read Also United Airlines to buy 200 air taxis from electric aviation startup Industry promotes a viable electric vehicle ecosystem on World EV Day Until recently, ownership of electric cars had been gaining in attractiveness as the cost of petrol rose. But since recent rises in electricity prices in Germany … [Read more...] about electric vehicles: Future of electric vehicles threatened by rising energy prices, claims report

The government is conducting a pilot project for an automatic number plate recognition system with a view to reducing traffic congestion at toll plazas and charging vehicle owners for the exact distance their cars drive on tolled highways, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said. Addressing an event organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), Gadkari said the government wants to develop India's public transport system on electricity. "The ministry of road transport and highways is conducting a pilot project of an automatic number plate recognition system (Automatic Number Plate Reader cameras) to enable automated toll collection without stopping the vehicles. Read Also United Airlines to buy 200 air taxis from electric aviation startup Global EV powertrain systems market to reach $107 billion by 2029 "With this new technology, we want to achieve two objectives--free flow of traffic on toll booths and pay as per your … [Read more...] about gadkari: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on govt testing automated vehicle toll collection on usage basis

India has plans to design and build a new reusable rocket for the global market that would significantly cut the cost of launching satellites. All of us want launches to be much cheaper than what we do today, "Secretary of Space and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) S Somanath said. Addressing the seventh 'Bengaluru Space Expo 2022' and later talking to reporters, he noted that at present it takes about USD 10,000 to USD 15,000 to put a one-kg payload into orbit. "We have to bring it down to USD 5,000 or even USD 1,000 per kg. The only way to do that is to make the rocket reusable. Today in India we don't have reusable technology yet in launch vehicles (rockets)," Somanath said. Read Also Isro's human space mission is for space tourism, says Jitendra Singh Isro successfully completes Gaganyaan low altitude escape motor static test "So, the idea is the next rocket that we are going to build after GSLV Mk … [Read more...] about isro: Isro on India to design and build reusable rocket for global market

Speaking at the Code Conference in Los Angeles, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel gave his thoughts on how China-owned TikTok has dominated the online video market in such a short space of time. Spiegel explained how Communist China has overpowered social media through seemingly unlimited spending, saying: “What nobody had anticipated in the United States was the level of investment that ByteDance made into the U.S. market, and of course in Europe, because it was just something that was unimaginable — no startup could afford to invest billions and billions and billions of dollars in user acquisition like that around the world.” Forbes reports that speaking at the Code Conference in Los Angeles, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel discussed the rise of the Chinese-owned app TikTok and its domination of the online short-form video content space. Scott Galloway, co-host of the Pivot podcast and a marketing professor at NYU Stern, said to Spiegel: “It just feels like they are kicking the shit out of … [Read more...] about Snap CEO: TikTok’s Success Due to ‘Billions And Billions of Dollars’ Spent by Communist China

Amid tough global market conditions, tech giant HCL Technologies has reportedly laid off 350 employees globally, including in India, Guatemala, and the Philippines, who were working on a Microsoft news project, media reports said. According to reports, the workers, who were employed by HCL's client Microsoft's news outlet MSN , reportedly learned that they had been let go at a town hall meeting last week. The last day of employment is reportedly September 30 for the laid-off employees, who will receive severance compensation. Read Also This automaker has confirmed to layoff 3,000 employees, claims report Microsoft lays off workers from its consumer R&D team, claims report Last month, a report said that at least half of the companies worldwide are planning to lay off people, with most reducing bonuses and rescinding job offers amid the economic downturn. As per the latest PwC 'Pulse: Managing business risks in 2022' … [Read more...] about microsoft: HCL Tech sacks 350 employees working on Microsoft project

Mining conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn will make one of the largest ever investments of Rs 1.54 lakh crore in setting up India's first semiconductor plant in Gujarat . The 60:40 joint venture of Vedanta-Foxconn will set up a semiconductor fab unit, a display fab unit, and a semiconductor assembling and testing unit on a 1000-acre land in the Ahmedabad district. "The plant will start production in two years," Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal said after signing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government. Read Also Hyundai Motor India expects semiconductor shortage issue to improve next year India needs to be self-reliant in semiconductor technology, says the chairman of Adani Group Semiconductor chips, or microchips, are essential pieces of many digital consumer products - from cars to mobile phones and ATM cards. The Indian semiconductor market was valued at USD … [Read more...] about vedanta: Vedanta, Foxconn sign agreement for Rs 1.54 lakh crore Gujarat chip factory deal