Week in Review: The top stories in phones, AI, Entertainment and more

This AI video will blow your mind; plus Zuckerberg dunks on the Vision Pro, and a MacBook Valentine
Created for techradar.com@quicklydone.com |  Web Version
February 16, 2024
CONNECT WITH TECH RADAR FacebookXInstagramYoutube
Tech Radar
SIGN UP ⋅   WEBSITE
 
Welcome to the Week in Review
Welcome
Back in the dim and distant past – by which I mean 2022 – the first wave of AI image generators wowed us all. Sure, they occasionally added an extra arm or leg to a person, and no, they couldn’t get hands right; but it was still incredible to see the likes of Midjourney and Dall-E conjure up images on our screens. Well, things move fast these days, and now OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has revealed its next breakthrough, this time in the world of video.
 
Sora, as it’s named, is a text-to-video model that appears to be far beyond any that we’ve seen before. It’s seemingly capable of producing genuinely realistic footage from nothing but a prompt, and the results are truly astonishing. Exactly what this means for the world – and in particular the worlds of arts, entertaintment, and media – is uncertain, but it’s undeniably impressive.
 
We don’t know what Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg thinks of Sora, but we do know his opinion on the Apple Vision Pro – because he’s reviewed it. Thanks, Zuck! In his view, the Vision Pro is inferior to Meta’s own Quest 3, for multiple reasons. And while he may not be an entirely objective judge, we have to say that he makes some good points.
 
You can read more about both those stories, and much more besides, below.
 
Marc McLaren, UK Editor-in-Chief
The week in AI
OpenAI's new text-to-video AI is blowing our minds
Is it real, or is it AI? (OpenAI)
Having already impressed us with its text and image engines, ChatGPT developer OpenAI has now unveiled the text-to-video tool Sora, in a limited preview test. It's capable of producing super-realistic video clips from just a few lines of text prompts.
Read the full story
The week in virtual reality
Zuckerberg says the Meta Quest 3 beats the Vision Pro
The Meta Quest 3 – a Pro Vision beater? (Meta)
It's no surprise that Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has come out to say that his company's Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset is superior to the Apple Vision Pro, but he has some interesting points to make about the hardware – even if he is somewhat biased.
Read the full story
The week in phones
Huge leak teases details of the iPhone 16 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro Max (Future)
The iPhone 16 range is unlikely to show up before September, but we've already heard a lot about what to expect – and the latest leak suggests that the most expensive iPhone 16 Pro Max model is getting major battery and camera upgrades.
Read the full story
This week's top deals picked by TechRadar's experts
These are the best deals in the Presidents' Day sales
Roll up, roll up (Future)
Presidents' Day weekend is almost here, which means the Presidents' Day sales are live, with unmissable deals from Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, Samsung, and Target – and we've rounded up all the best bargains in one article.
Shop the deals
The week in computing
Finding love with a MacBook Pro after leaving Windows
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Future)
Valentine's Day may have passed, but we've got another tale of love conquering all to bring you: how our US Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff broke off a long-term relationship with Windows and found happiness in the embrace of the Apple MacBook Pro.
Read the full story
The week in entertainment
The best new movies and shows to stream this weekend
Oppenheimer is now streaming on Peacock in the US (Universal Pictures)
Looking for something new to watch this weekend? Christopher Nolan's award-winning wartime epic Oppenheimer headlines our latest streaming roundup, which also includes The New Look on Apple TV Plus and The Grand Tour: Sand Job on Prime Video.
Read the full story
More of this week's top stories
Sharing TechRadar with your network keeps the quality of content high and these newsletters free.
Help Spread the Word
SHARE
Or copy and share your personalized link:
smartbrief.com/techradar/?referrerId=mvaKglYwVl
 
Sign Up  |    Update Profile  |    Unsubscribe
Privacy Policy  |    Cookies Policy  |    Terms and Conditions
CONTACT US: FEEDBACK  |    ADVERTISE
Future
© Future Publishing Limited. Reg No. 2008885 England.
Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA.