In an effort to enhance cellular and internet connectivity in remote regions, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has initiated a project to directly connect smartphones to satellites orbiting in Earth’s lower orbit.
The company recently launched the first set of Starlink satellites aboard the Falcon 9 spacecraft on January 2, specifically designed for direct connectivity to unmodified smartphones.
Six out of the 21 Starlink satellites were launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as part of the initial stage. SpaceX obtained a temporary experimental license to commence testing in the United States.
These satellites aim to provide direct-to-cell capabilities, allowing the potential for accessing satellite broadband directly on smartphones.
SpaceX plans to introduce texting from space later this year in collaboration with cellular operators and aims to expand the project to enable voice and data connectivity by 2025.
For the initial direct-to-smartphone tests, SpaceX will utilize T-Mobile’s spectrum as its mobile partner in the United States. Additionally, the company has partnered with mobile operators in Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland as part of its global expansion plans.
Google’s VideoPoet Transforms Text And Audio Into Dynamic Videos
Meanwhile, Google has unveiled VideoPoet, an AI-driven tool enabling creators to generate videos from text, images, and audio input. The tool boasts features like video frame continuation, inpainting and outpainting, video stylization, and video-to-audio capabilities.
It simplifies the video creation process, allowing users to generate videos, controlled motions, and stylized effects based on text prompts. Users can input prompts, and the model responds with results or can request custom motions, styles, or audio based on provided images.
Developed with the advanced MAGVIT-2, VideoPoet facilitates the production of high-motion variable-length videos. MAGVIT-2, a video tokenizer, generates concise and expressive tokens for videos and images using a shared token vocabulary. The tool also offers interactive editing features, consolidating various video generation functionalities within a single Large Language Model (LLM).
