Thursday, 6 October 2022

🛰️ Billboards in space

Unfortunately this horrible idea is gaining traction

October 6, 2022

IN THIS ISSUE

✨ Billboards in space

🐦 Elon's tough Twitter purchase

🐘 Google's text-to-video AI

 😎 Meta Quest Pro incoming

BAD IDEAS

Billboards in space

Ads could be coming to a sky near you

Imagine looking up in the night sky and instead of the Big Dipper, you see a Nike ad glowing brightly up above. Thanks to small CubeSats capable of carrying solar reflectors, we already have the technology to do this. But would doing so actually make economic sense for the advertiser?

 

Well, to find out, researchers recently took into account things like satellite fuel consumption, target city population, and local ad costs, and determined that a space billboard launch mission that lasts several months would likely cost roughly $65 million.

 

They found that daily ad revenue from space ads could reach around $2 million, suggesting the operator could recover its costs within the space of a single month.

 

Thankfully, there are no plans yet to put billboards in space, so your star gazing should be ad-free for a while yet.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Elon Musk's Twitter purchase is still in limbo

The protagonists are reportedly still trying to agree terms

Thought Elon Musk was all set to buy Twitter? Think again.

 

According to a WSJ report that dropped late Wednesday, representatives for the involved parties are "still grappling with terms of an agreement," suggesting that the final chapter in this long-running saga is yet to be written.

 

The last we heard, Musk had finally agreed to the $44 billion deal after spending months trying to extricate himself from it, but now it seems like the two parties can't agree on the small print.

 

If they don't find some common ground soon, the related court trial that Musk seems keen to avoid – action brought by Twitter months ago in a bid to force the deal through – will kick off on October 17. Seems like there's still a lot to play for.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Check out Google's AI-powered text-to-video tool

It comes just days after Meta unveiled similar tech

Just days after Meta showed off an early version of its text-to-video tool, Google unveiled something very similar in the form of Imagen Video.

 

The AI-powered system can generate 1280x768 HD video at 24 frames per second based on simple text prompts. Examples on its website range from the mundane (coffee pouring into a cup) to the downright wacky (a happy elephant wearing a birthday hat walking under the sea).

 

The smarts behind Imagen Video have a "high degree of controllability and world knowledge," Google says, including "the ability to generate diverse videos and text animations in various artistic styles and with 3D object understanding."

 

While lauding the potential benefits for human creativity, Google also acknowledges that the technology could be misused, so it's now working to add safeguards.

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ON THE HORIZON

Meta will probably reveal the Quest Pro next week

Zuck's high-end VR headset should be a big leap forward

Meta's highly anticipated "Quest Pro" VR headset looks set to be officially unveiled on Tuesday, October 11.

 

Thanks to a number of teasers and leaks – and a mishap where the device was apparently left behind in a hotel room – we're expecting the follow-up to the Oculus/Meta Quest 2 to look pretty sleek and feature advanced sensors designed for the Metaverse – digital spaces where you can socialize, learn, play, and more.

 

Pricing for Meta's new high-end headset is impossible to say, with reports suggesting it could cost anything between $800 and a whopping $1,500. All will be revealed next week, so stay tuned.

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STAFF PICKS

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- Caleb Denison, Editor At Large

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As a category, these things are still fairly new, but they fill a need that many of us didn't even realize we had: They let us stay connected to the world around us, even as we do our calls and listen to music. This week, we're going to put three of them to the test to see which one's the best. You don't want to miss it.

 

- Simon Cohen, Contributing Editor

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