VNTANA is leading the industry in creating AR holograms that not only appear life-like, but can also interact. Alyssa Julya Smith went to VNTANA's studios in Los Angeles to see how these holograms really work, and had a chance to interact with them as well.
CEO and co-founder Ashley Crowder explains that the holograms are images projected from a monitor, but they can actually move and look extremely human-like. VNTANA has made holograms of movie actors and sports stars that people can actually move with and dance alongside as an interactive display.
VNTANA also recently released its A.I. hologram concierge service. It works to help consumers in any industry with answers to questions about products and services. The consumer stands in front of the hologram display and the concierge greets them with a custom message. The consumer asks a question, the hologram listen, and immediately responds appropriately. The system also uses facial recognition to track consumer data and determine product preferences.
DJ X, alongside Molly Holder, Senior Director of Product Personalization, takes us inside Spotify's A.I. DJ and how it's the best new way to listen to music.
Skype users are scrambling to find an alternative after Microsoft shut down the pioneering internet phone service which let people make cheap long distance calls and chat with other users. Google Voice lets users make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser but it's only available to people in the U.S. Viber users can call phone numbers but can't get a number to receive calls. Zoom offers phone options too. You could get a number from a low cost virtual carrier or try other internet phone services. Microsoft says some Skype features will migrate to Teams, but its Teams Phone feature is only for businesses.
Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing. The tech giant didn’t mention tariffs specifically, but cited wider “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Beyond the U.S., Microsoft also laid out Xbox price adjustments for Europe, the U.K. and Australia. The company said all other countries would also receive updates locally.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
