26/05/2025

LYFE MONDAY | MAY 26, 2025

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Xiaomi debuts new in-house chip

Google brings Gemini AI to products, services

AT its recent annual Google I/O developer conference, Google unveiled several major advances in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into many of its applications. One of the main announcements of the day concerns Gemini Live, Google’s advanced voice assistant designed to offer interactive conversations with AI, now available on Android and iOS. Not only can Gemini Live respond naturally to questions or queries, it can also recognise and analyse what is displayed on the smartphone screen, including what the camera is filming. By integrating Gemini to Gmail, Calendar, Keep and Tasks, AI will help automate complex tasks such as shopping and calendar management, drawing on Gemini’s reasoning capabilities. In addition, AI will help to summarise emails, generate replies, organise tasks, etc. In Google Photos, AI will help search for specific memories or create themed galleries with automatically generated captions. As always, all these new features will be rolled out progressively, first in the US and then to the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Google took advantage of the event to launch AI Ultra, a premium subscription offering exclusive access to the most advanced capabilities of its AI. Available at US$249.99 (RM1,270) per month, it is aimed above all at professionals and researchers in search of exceptional AI performance. Also

available to professionals, Google unveiled Beam, the successor to the Starline project, presented in 2021 and representing the tech giant’s vision of the future of videoconferencing. With Beam, the idea is to offer immersive 3D video calls with depth effects and above all, real-time translation via Google Meet. As far as Android is concerned, Google presented several major new features in which AI plays a key role. These include intelligent smartphone locking in the event of theft, and the detection of fraudulent applications and phishing attempts. On the hardware side, Google is looking to re-enter the smart glasses market, more than 10 years after the failure of Google Glass. To achieve this, Google intends to rely on the Android XR platform (which will obviously integrate Gemini) and various strategic partnerships, including with Samsung as well as luxury group Kering’s Eyewear division. The idea is to offer glasses designed for everyday use, whether for navigation, translation or contextual assistance. However, release is not expected before next year, at best. In sum, this year marks a turning point in the integration of AI into Google’s products and services, with Gemini at the heart of this transformation. In this respect, Google is flexing its muscles, particularly in the face of Apple, which is still lagging far behind in the field of AI. – ETX Studio

T ECH giant Xiaomi has unveiled a new advanced in-house mobile chip, a significant milestone for the company as Chinese firms shift resources towards homegrown technology against a bleak international trade backdrop. Xiaomi, which sells goods from smartphones to vacuum cleaners and electric vehicles, is one of China’s most prominent consumer electronics firms. With the Xring O1, it becomes only the second smartphone brand globally after Apple to mass produce its own 3-nm chips. This despite being a latecomer to the chip industry, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said at a launch event last Thursday, joking that the feat had been “harder than ascending to heaven”. Xiaomi took early steps into semiconductors for smartphones with the launch of the firm’s first in-house chip, the Surge S1, in 2017. But the group was forced to halt production of the chip due to technical and financial obstacles. Lei said the journey to developing the Xring O1 had taken over a decade. “How much hardship, how much sweat, how much untold pain have been involved in these 11 years? How much courage and determination did it take to make this decision?” he said. The Xring O1 will first be deployed in Xiaomi’s new 15S Pro flagship smartphone and the Pad 7 Ultra tablet, which were also launched last o Chinese firms race to end reliance on foreign suppliers

Lei says the journey to developing its new in-house chip Xring O1 had taken over a decade. – AFPPIC

Chinese chip foundries are restricted from accessing foreign equipment needed for cutting-edge chip production – meaning that firms have to rely on overseas foundries for 5nm-process and below. Xiaomi has not confirmed which company is manufacturing the Xring O1, though Lei said it uses the same second generation 3nm-process technology as Apple’s latest chips. The chip is a “significant” achievement for Xiaomi and allows it to reduce “its reliance on external designers” such MediaTek and Qualcomm, explained Washington-based semiconductor and technology analyst Ray Wang. “Longer term, owning its system-on-chip roadmap will The method, called deep tissue in vivo sound printing, uses liposomes, tiny vesicles composed of lipids and containing an active substance. In this case, low-temperature-sensitive liposomes loaded with cross-linking agents are injected into the body with a prepolymer solution. The application of ultrasound results in local heating of the targeted area by around 5°C, causing the liposomes to release their contents, initiating the printing of the polymer structure in a precise location. In theory, this technique makes it possible to create customised solid hydrogel structures inside the body. The idea is to be able to print complex, functional structures inside the body, such as medical devices or repair cells, which can be used for regeneration treatments or to replace damaged tissue. Ultimately, the technique could be used for biological monitoring of internal vital signs and even help in the treatment of cancer. The next, even more ambitious step will be to use artificial intelligence to improve the precision of printing in moving organs, such as a beating heart. – ETX Studio

Thursday along with a preview of the firm’s first electric SUV. A number of Chinese firms are racing to develop their own chips with the aim of freeing themselves from reliance on foreign suppliers. Xiaomi is only the fourth smartphone brand globally to have developed its own system-on-chip, with Huawei the only domestic competitor. “This represents yet one more step toward China reaching self-sufficiency in this crucial industry – as well as in broader ICT and electronics supply chains,” said Stephen Ezell from US-based think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Over the past few years, Washington has sharply tightened export controls on advanced chip technology to China, citing national security concerns.

insulate Xiaomi’s devices from the US-China geopolitical tensions and help mitigate global supply chain disruptions,” he said. – AFP US researchers achieve 3D printing inside human body

FOR the first time, researchers in the US have succeeded in printing solid hydrogel structures directly inside the human body. This revolutionary new technique paves the way for new applications in medicine, such as the creation of artificial tissue or organs, or the treatment of diseases

or injuries, directly inside the body. This feat was achieved by a team of researchers led by California Institute of Technology professor Wei Gao. It is a fascinating advance in 3D printing, applied to biological processes through the use of sound waves.

The method uses liposomes, which are tiny vesicles composed of lipids and containing an active substance. – PICS FROM PEXELS

Google is looking to re-enter the smart glasses market.