No doubt, Artificial Intelligence is gaining popularity with every passing day. With more and more advancements cropping up in this area and the immense scope that this field is subjected to, there are certainly no second thoughts pertaining to why is AI so much in demand. Symbolic AI is one such advancement that has garnered attention from all across the globe. Evidently, this form of Artificial intelligence makes use of symbols. As known to us, machines mimic human behavior as far as AI is concerned and the fact that humans think using symbols and the ability of machines to operate using symbols forms the base of Symbolic AI.
Almost everything in this universe can be well understood by humans using symbols. Be it defining things (pen, book, etc.), activities (running, walking, eating, etc.), abstract activities, things that physically don’t exist or anything for that matter – all of these can be described using symbols. Humans have this exceptional ability to communicate using symbols and this is what makes Symbolic AI a sought-after concept. It is thus this assumption that many levels of intelligence can be achieved by manipulating the symbols that the Symbolic AI is based on.
This form of AI has seen both – success and failure over the years.
Some of the areas where symbolic AI has tasted success are:
EXPERT SYSTEMS: Today, a lot of applications of this form of AI have made into various expert system domains such as customer service, technical support systems, tax processing software, medical diagnosis systems and a lot more.
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP): NLP is surely one of those areas that has probably seen the best application of symbolic AI. It is that branch of AI with the help of which humans can interact with machines like never before. How can one not mention the very famous Alexa and Siri that’s currently ruling the world as the most dependable virtual/offline assistant? These showcase the implementation of NLP in the best possible way. Chatbots too make use of Symbolic AI in a way that a set of rules are included that are based on certain keywords.
SATISFYING CONDITIONS: A lot of events in our day-to-day life happen when certain conditions are met. Say, for example, you get to drive a gearless two-wheeler in India only after turning 16. So, unless you turn 16 years old, you are not eligible to drive a moped. The same is the case with this form of AI that aims to solve problems by meeting the required conditions. This process is also known as constraints/conditions satisfaction.
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS PURELY ON THE BASIS OF LOGIC: With Symbolic AI being heavily dependent on the rules that are already set, it is very much obvious that the conclusions obtained are logical. Hence, any conclusion that is made by using symbolic AI is backed by strong evidence.
Despite all of these remarkable achievements, there are some areas where Symbolic Ai has failed to reach the expectations. Some of them are-
As evident as it can get, humans are capable of learning, but machines are not. Thus, imparting learning capabilities is still an impossible task to deal with.
Symbolic AI cannot handle emotions at all as it totally works on what has been pre-programmed.
This form of AI relies entirely on explicit representations and does not talk about the implicit aspect.
Symbolic AI cannot handle unstructured data.
With a plethora of opportunities that Symbolic AI has to offer, the fact that this has immense potential in the years to come cannot be denied. Yes, there are shortcomings to deal with but that shouldn’t serve as an obstacle. Efforts put in the right areas will yield desired results for sure.
The iPhone 12 range has been heralded as the start of a new era for Apple’s famed smartphone family. But is it really such a leap forward?
Perhaps the best way to answer that question is to pitch the iPhone 12 against the iPhone 11 in a straight face-off. Not only does one directly follow the other, but they’re thought to be one of the best selling Apple phones from their respective years.
Add in the fact that Apple still sells the iPhone 11 as new, and this comparison becomes all the more pertinent. Below we’ll talk you through everything we’ve learned about these two phones during our reviews process so you can make a decision which is for you.
iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11 price and availability
The iPhone 12 became available for purchase on October 23, 2020. Prices start from $799 / £799 / AU$1,349 for the 64GB model, moving up to $849 / £849 / AU$1,429 for 128GB, and $949 / £949 / AU$1,599 for the 256GB model.
Its predecessor, the iPhone 11, landed on September 20, 2019. At launch, prices started at $699 / £729 / AU$1,199 for 64GB, increasing to $749 / £779 / AU$1,279 for 12GB and $849 / £879 / AU$1,449 for 256GB.
However, we’re a year on now. As mentioned above, the iPhone 11 is still available to buy brand new in all three storage capacities, but prices are much lower than before.
You can currently pick up the 64GB model for $599 / £599 / AU$999, the 128GB model for $649 / £649 / AU$1,079, and the 256GB model for $749 / £749 / AU$1,249.
This gives the iPhone 12 quite a task. Can it justify the additional expenditure of $150 / £150 / AU$270 over its still-relevant predecessor?
Design
We weren’t hugely enamored with the iPhone 11 design when it arrived on the scene. There was a sense that we’d seen it all before – which we had (or most of it, at any rate) with the previous year’s iPhone XR.
The iPhone 11 essentially followed the same blueprint, albeit with a few differences. It’s available in fetching new colors of mint green, lilac and lighter yellow shades, which join the Product (RED), black, and white variants. The back of the phone is slightly cleaner than before, but with a rather obtrusive new camera array that also appears on the iPhone 12.
The iPhone 11’s is a premium-feeling phone, featuring the same balance of glass surfaces and aluminum body as its newer sibling. But it’s a chunky bit of kit at 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm and 194g – certainly compared to the iPhone 12, which measures just 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4mm and weighs 164g.
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The iPhone 12(Image credit: TechRadar)
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The iPhone 11(Image credit: TechRadar)
Lest you get blinded by figures, the iPhone 12 is smaller than the iPhone 11 in every way. It’s 4mm shorter, 4mm narrower, almost a millimetre thinner, and a whopping 30g lighter.
This comes down to Apple’s crisp new design for the iPhone 12. It’s rather reminiscent of the iPhone 4 and 5, with its flat-edged industrial approach. However, the tolerances are even tighter, and the screen extends closer to the edges.
It loses the attractive dark green shade from the iPhone 11 lineup, as well as the less appealing yellow and purple shades, but in their place is an appealingly deep shade of blue and a slightly less attractive light green tone, It’s also available in the usual Black, White, and Product (RED) variants.
Going back to the subject of build quality, the iPhone 12 gains a new nano-crystalline Ceramic Shield screen, which is four times tougher than before. While both phones are IP68 certified, meanwhile, the iPhone 12 can be immersed in 6 metres of water for 30 minutes, while the iPhone 11 can only withstand 2 metres.
From a certain perspective the iPhone 11 is more comfortable to hold, courtesy of those rounded edges. But we prefer the look and compact nature of the iPhone 12 overall.
Display
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iPhone 12(Image credit: TechRadar)
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iPhone 11(Image credit: Future)
If the iPhone 12’s fresh design makes the release gap between it and the iPhone 11 seem longer than 11 months, just wait until you consider the screens.
While both measure 6.1 inches and get to around 600 nits of brightness in typical conditions, that’s where the similarities end.
There are significant differences in screen technology. While the iPhone 11 employs IPS LCD technology, the iPhone 12 makes the leap to OLED. This results in more vibrant colors, deeper blacks, and far more contrast for the newer phone. There’s really no comparison.
The iPhone 12 presses home its display advantage with a much sharper resolution. While the iPhone 11 can manage only 828 x 1,792 for a meager 326ppi, the iPhone 12 comes in at 1,170 x 2,532 for 460ppi.
Both models do share a 60Hz refresh rate. But that’s far more disappointing on the iPhone 12, which has been released at a time when 90Hz and 120Hz screens are the norm in the Android world.
Camera
iPhone 12(Image credit: TechRadar)
In terms of hardware, the camera offering in both devices is similar. And not just from a visual standpoint.
Both the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 11 pack a pair of 12-megapixel cameras – one wide and one ultra-wide – with the same-sized image sensors. The only major difference here, in fact, is that the iPhone 12’s wide sensor has a faster f/1.6 aperture, which naturally helps with low-light photography.
That’s not to say that the iPhone 12 camera doesn’t achieve superior results. It does – but the difference isn’t seismic, and those improvements are largely a result of Apple’s improved image processing and the more capable A14 Bionic chip.
This brings about new features such as Smart HDR 3, which handles dynamic range better than before. Scenes with bright skies will look better balanced with the iPhone 12.
In other daytime shots, you’ll struggle to see much of a difference. But like we’ve already said, the key improvements can be seen with low-light and night-time shooting. We noticed that the iPhone 12 captures brighter shots with more detail in more challenging conditions.
Night mode in general is more flexible on the iPhone 12, as you can employ it across all three cameras (including the 12-megapixel selfie camera).
Video has also been improved in the iPhone 12, with Dolby Vision now rendering scenes with much better balance and dynamic range. Although on the iPhone 12, it’s limited to 4K/30fps.
Specs and performance
iPhone 11(Image credit: TechRadar)
Apple improves its smartphone performance by a decent margin every year, so it’s no surprise that the iPhone 12’s A14 Bionic comfortably beats the iPhone 11’s A13 Bionic. Going by benchmarks and Apple’s own estimates, the CPU is around 20% faster, while the GPU is around 10% faster.
The A14 also contains a 16-core Neural Engine for an 80% boost to AI performance compared to the A13.
In general use, however, we defy you to notice the difference. Both phones feel extremely fast, and no modern 3D game or multitasking session will highlight a clear advantage for the newer phone – minus the odd lighting effect or optimized 60fps frame rate.
The true advantage of this performance boost is increased future-proofing. You might be able to buy both phones brand new today, but the iPhone 12 will enjoy an extra year of feeling fast, not to mention ongoing software support from Apple.
It’s also the more capable A14 that enables many of the camera advances outlined in the previous section. These days, such photographic improvements are more a result of processing power and machine-learning than they are lens and sensor upgrades.
For what it’s worth, both phones run on 4GB of RAM. We say ‘for what it’s worth’ because iOS is famously frugal with its memory usage, so such an amount is ample for everything you could want to do with these devices. Yes, the Pro models pack 6GB of RAM, but we remain unconvinced that they enable anything meaningful.
The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 11 come with identical storage options, too: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. We would have liked to see the iPhone 12 join the iPhone 12 Pro in adopting 128GB as the new entry-level option.
Another spec advantage for the iPhone 12 is 5G connectivity. If you live in an area with next-gen network coverage (admittedly, still a big ‘if’), then only the newer phone will be able to capitalize on it.
Battery life
So far the iPhone 12 has secured a win in every category, aside from price. But there’s one area that the older iPhone 11 would appear to hit back: battery life.
With a 3,110mAh battery, the iPhone 11 certainly has more power on tap than the iPhone 12 with its 2,815mAh unit. But you need to factor in the added optimization based on the more efficient A14 Bionic chip.
Apple quotes identical battery life figures across video (17 hours) and music (65 hours). Sure enough, we experienced similar stamina from both phones.
However, we’d say that the iPhone 11’s battery life is slightly better. With its lower-res display and lack of power-sapping 5G, we found that we could perhaps eke a tad more life out of the older phone.
Moving around between 4G and 5G networks certainly seemed to drain the iPhone 12’s juice quite heavily in our experience, leading to an empty battery after 16 to 18 hours. Hopefully that will improve in future models, when the 5G modem is better integrated.
While both phones pack wireless charging, only the iPhone 12 supports Apple’s new MagSafe method. Imagine if your Qi charging pad was smaller and clipped onto the back of your phone magnetically. Then add an ecosystem of compatible cases and wallets – this is MagSafe in a nutshell. It requires extra expenditure for the accessories, and it’s too early to say whether it will become a neglected gimmick in the vein of 3D Touch.
Another piece of additional expenditure will be a regular wall charger. If you were to buy a new iPhone 12 or iPhone 11 direct from Apple today, you wouldn’t get a brick in the box – just a USB-C to Lightning cable. Find a new iPhone 11 from before the iPhone 12 rollout, however, and you’ll score that classic charger.
Takeaway
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The iPhone 12 in a variety of colors(Image credit: Future)
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The iPhone 11 in a variety of colors(Image credit: Apple)
The iPhone 12 is a better phone than the iPhone 11 in every way bar battery life.
It’s faster, more compact, more attractive, and it packs a vastly superior display. Its camera represents only a modest improvement, but those advances make themselves known in tricky low-lighting conditions.
As mentioned, the iPhone 11 might just pip its sibling to the post in the battery life stakes, which is disappointing. But part of that comes down to the provision of 5G connectivity in the iPhone 12, which will hopefully come into its own throughout 2021 and 2022.
Are these improvements combined worth the $150 / £150 premium? That’s something each reader will have to answer for themselves – but one thing’s for certain: after a couple of years treading water, the iPhone 12 feels like a clear step forward from Apple.
Enterprises and app developers, brace yourselves — the iOS 14 upgrade will soon roll out a new data consent window that will appear in all apps that collect and share data with outside parties for advertising purposes. The rollout will have a widespread impact on businesses and will affect the number of iOS devices available for personalized advertising.
Many consumers will view the new consent features as a positive step forward to better privacy protection, which it is. For developers and enterprises, each consumer’s decision to consent to or refuse “Tracking” will shape the business models of the App Store economy and the wider internet for years to come.
The new consent screens give consumers more control in shaping the Future of the Internet which will ultimately be a net positive. Clarity, transparency, and consumer control are good for iPhone users — and the internet at large. But there are still steps that developers — and enterprises — can take to ensure that they not only comply with Apple’s new rules, but find success in the next era of the privacy-first internet.
Here are three strategic recommendations that can help developers and enterprises adapt to the new privacy normal:
1. Let your users know WHY you need their data — and what benefit they derive from opting into data sharing
While the language included in Apple’s mandatory AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) notification cannot be changed, developers can add a message that appears ahead of the ATT consent. This message can include any language the developer chooses (so long as it is accurate and not misleading) and should be utilized as a way to build trust with the user. After all, if the user trusts an app, they’ll be more likely to consent to data-sharing.
When possible, use plain, concise language that will clearly articulate what kind of data is being collected, what it is being used for, and (most importantly) the value exchange – why the user benefits from sharing that data. Perhaps certain app functions are improved by data sharing, or the app is funded through data-sharing, and users would need to pay for downloads if the app can no longer collect data. Regardless of the reason, this primer message is the best opportunity to make your case to your user.
To see if different language affected opt-in rates, Foursquare tested out several versions of our primer messages on our own app users. While it’s still early days, our results showed that a straightforward explanation of the value exchange (“Support City Guide. Your data allows us to provide this app for free to you.”) yielded the highest number of opt-ins. We shouldn’t be surprised that consumers respect when businesses are transparent with them.
2. Shift to an ID-agnostic strategy
As mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs — also known as IDFAs) are phased out, enterprises and developers need to embrace a pluralistic future and an interim period of complexity around identity. The Future of the Internet will involve multiple types of identifiers, and it will take time for each company to find the solution that works best for both the business and its users. During this period, developers must be nimble and willing to keep an ID-agnostic approach until they’ve experimented with several different forms of ID, and until we see how the whole market shakes out.
For many, email addresses will emerge as the best form of identity because user consent is clearly established. When users willingly provide their emails while downloading an app or setting up a profile, they authenticate the relationship between themselves and the service. There are other industry solutions being rolled out to further protect consumer privacy that have emails as their foundation, so establishing a logged-in user base today may allow you to leverage those solutions as they gain prominence and adoption.
3. Plan for the short and long term to avoid product interruptions
The future is likely going to look more contextual and probabilistic, and less deterministic. This may sound daunting to many enterprises that have been doing marketing the same way for a long time. Enterprises must plan for a future in which scale is in shorter supply and accessing device-level identity may be more challenging. Apple’s changes are not the final chapter in this story. As the next step, expect Android to follow with changes to the availability of Google advertising IDs (AAIDs) in late 2021 or early 2022.
To adapt for the long-term, double down today on investments on data science, or find partners who are already doing so. For example, some enterprises are experimenting with cohort-based ad delivery and measurement. Plan to keep adding scale and incorporating new types of data — such as transaction data — that will help fill in the gaps left by the loss of MAIDs. It’s also important to have a holistic strategy across first-, second-, and third-party data. When you leverage second- and third-party data, being strategic means vetting your partners to be sure they are adhering to the same privacy principles as your company because your reputations will be linked.
Exactly what the Future of the Internet will look like is still a mystery, but there’s no reason for developers or enterprises to move forward blindly. By taking the above steps and, perhaps most importantly, committing to being flexible, you won’t just be “riding out” the impending changes but will actually be adapting both your business and the ecosystem to a more sustainable — and privacy-sensitive — place.
Tyler Finn is the Director of Data Strategy at Foursquare, where he focuses on the future of privacy and identity. Prior to the merger with Foursquare, he led global privacy and policy initiatives for Factual. Earlier in his career, he worked on public policy in the unmanned aerial vehicles space.
If you’re an expert in data tech or strategy and have an important story to share, contact the VentureBeat guest post team.
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Apple hasn’t been shy about spending lots of money to make TV+ a success, and that’s true even in an era when it can’t negotiate deals in person. Deadline and Variety report that Apple has bought Siân Heder’s coming-of-age tale CODA (“Children of Deaf Adults”) at the Sundance Film Festival for roughly $25 million — the largest-ever deal at the event. The previous record-setter was Hulu’s Palm Springs, which sold for $22.5 million in 2020.
The movie centers on a high school senior (Locke and Key’s Emilia Jones) who’s the only hearing person in her fishing-centric family. She has to choose between supporting her deaf family (played by deaf actors) and its traditions or chasing her dreams of a career in music.
The purchase reportedly came about through a bidding war with Amazon. The Prime Video operator was eager to buy CODA, Variety said, but might not have had the room to release the title in 2021 given an already-packed lineup. Netflix had also shown interest at one point.
This isn’t a completely unexpected deal. Heder is an executive producer for Apple’s Little America, and has received awards and nominations for directing and writing projects ranging from her short film Mother to Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. Her first feature-length movie, Tallulah, premiered at Sundance 2016 and reached Netflix. She’s not only at home with streaming movies, but could produce a critical success.
That last part may be crucial. Although Apple TV+ started winning awards relatively quickly, the service has so far been shut out of some of the biggest prizes, including the Golden Globes and Oscars. While Apple might not have to wait long when titles like Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks are considered strong candidates, a purchase like CODA increases the odds of picking up statuettes. Major awards could increase the profile of Apple TV+ and help it compete against rivals that already have prestigious movies in their lineups.
Just like last time the trial was extended, Apple is again handing out credits to paying Apple TV+ customers. Customers are being notified in emails being sent out by the company today.
As we first explained on January 15th, the end date of free ‘year’ trials that accompanied the purchase of eligible Apple hardware have now been extended until July 2021.
To make it for fair for people who have already transitioned from a trial to a paying subscriber, Apple is giving out $4.99 credits (or the equivalent price for your region) for TV+ service. Credits are available to anyone who was paying for Apple TV+ before the extension was announced, that is January 15th or before.
These $4.99 per month credits are given out to people on Apple TV+ monthly plans and Apple One subscribers. If you currently subscribe on an Apple TV+ annual plan, your end date will have been adjusted to include the extra free months of service.
(Some people have worried that the email from Apple is a scam, particularly as the ‘Watch Now’ button links out to a non-Apple domain. However, that is not the case. ‘geni.us’ is simply a link analytics services Apple uses.)
Apple TV+ includes access to Apple’s growing library of original movies and TV shows. See everything to watch on Apple TV+ here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Apple TV+ subscribers have begun receiving emails from Apple letting them know that they’ll continue to be credited $4.99 for each month they’ve been charged for the service from February through June 2021.
The credit will be applied to a subscriber’s Apple ID and can be used for games, movies, and other Apple services.
The last time Apple issued credits to Apple TV+ subscribers was in November 2020. On that occasion, the credits were deposited monthly through January 2021, so Apple is effectively extending the credits for another five months. As before, expect the amount to vary based on Apple TV+ pricing in other countries.
Apple’s email suggests the credits are being given to allow subscribers more time to check out the latest Apple original content, but it initially described the deposits as a thank you to users for subscribing to the service.
Back in October, Apple TV+ subscribers who have free access to the service through an eligible device purchase beginning in September 2019 had their one-year trial extended until February 2021, and in January, Apple renewed free trials until July.
Over 70% of people who voted in last week’s poll are interested in the vivo X60 Pro+ – that’s a very positive result, considering that some recent flagships have struggled to excite would-be buyers.
The appeal of the Pro+ is concentrated in the camera and vivo knows it. The ZEISS logo, as small as it is, stands out on the black camera bump and you’ll see it on every promotional poster. vivo’s posts on social media are focused on promoting the phone’s camera prowess as well.
Check out these photos of of glow-worms taken in the Ruakuri Cave in New Zealand. The vivo X60 and X60 Pro will struggle in these extreme lighting conditions as they lack the large 50 MP sensor of the Pro+ model.
vivo X60 Pro+ flexing its photography muscles in a dark cave
In fact, the other two members of the X60 family proved to be of little interest to voters – it’s the Pro+ or nothing. Not everyone is convinced about the camera’s performance, however, and would rather wait for independent reviews to come out.
The biggest consideration is the price. One in three would grab a vivo X60 Pro+ if it’s within their budget. An additional 20% think they can afford it, which leaves one final hurdle – availability.
The company has not announced any plans for a global rollout of the phone yet. Last year Europe got the X51, a rebadged X50 Pro, though the X50 Pro+ never arrived. With increased presence on the Old Continent, it’s not out of the question, however.
PS. vivo posted a ton of camera samples, here are some of them. These include fast-action shots, close-ups of artifacts and even some underwater photography (using a protective case, of course, as the phone lacks even basic water resistance).
More official camera samples from the vivo X60 Pro+
