Latest news with #Veo
The Star
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
HONOR 400 and 400 Pro launch in South Africa: A new era of smartphone photography
The HONOR 400 and HONOR 400 Pro have officially launched in South Africa, extending the brand's AI-first approach to photography and creative tools. Unveiled at Kyalami Racecourse on Thursday night, the launch offered early access to HONOR's most advanced imaging experience yet, including features usually expected from flagship releases. Among the first to test the devices were creators, developers, and the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, reflecting the growing intersection of AI, mobile tech, and digital policy. HONOR is now ranked No. 2 in market share locally, with an ambitious goal to reach No. 1 by 2028. What sets this release apart is not just what's included but what's arriving first. The HONOR 400 and 400 Pro debut Google Cloud's Veo 2-powered Image-to-Video tool, giving users an exciting way to transform stills into cinematic video clips in seconds. That old picture of a young gogo in the 70s can now move. It also introduces an industry-first 50× telephoto zoom via the main camera, using AI to sharpen distant details without a bulky lens. The series includes tools such as: AI Erase Passers-by, using AI to automatically identify pedestrians in photos and remove them. AI Deepfake Detection , a first at this tier which can detect whether the participant in a video call is using deepfake technology. A 6.7-inch OLED display with 5000nits Peak Brightness and 6000mAh silicon-carbon battery with a big storage 12+512G Available now from R12,999 for the HONOR 400 and R17,999 for the HONOR 400 Pro , both devices are stocked at Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Cell C. Each purchase includes R8,000 worth of added value: the HONOR Watch 2i, HONOR Choice Earbuds X7 Lite, and an HONOR Choice Powerbank 10000mAh, until July 31, 2025. For those looking for the edge without the excess, this is one of the most compelling smartphone launches of the year. The Star
IOL News
4 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
HONOR 400 and 400 Pro launch in South Africa: A new era of smartphone photography
The HONOR 400 was launched at the Kyalami Racetrack on Thursday night. Image: Supplied The HONOR 400 and HONOR 400 Pro have officially launched in South Africa, extending the brand's AI-first approach to photography and creative tools. Unveiled at Kyalami Racecourse on Thursday night, the launch offered early access to HONOR's most advanced imaging experience yet, including features usually expected from flagship releases. Among the first to test the devices were creators, developers, and the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, reflecting the growing intersection of AI, mobile tech, and digital policy. HONOR is now ranked No. 2 in market share locally, with an ambitious goal to reach No. 1 by 2028. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ HONOR CEO Fred Zhou. Image: Supplied What sets this release apart is not just what's included but what's arriving first. The HONOR 400 and 400 Pro debut Google Cloud's Veo 2-powered Image-to-Video tool, giving users an exciting way to transform stills into cinematic video clips in seconds. That old picture of a young gogo in the 70s can now move. It also introduces an industry-first 50× telephoto zoom via the main camera, using AI to sharpen distant details without a bulky lens. The series includes tools such as: AI Erase Passers-by, using AI to automatically identify pedestrians in photos and remove them. AI Deepfake Detection , a first at this tier which can detect whether the participant in a video call is using deepfake technology. A 6.7-inch OLED display with 5000nits Peak Brightness and 6000mAh silicon-carbon battery with a big storage 12+512G Singer Cici. Image: Supplied Available now from R12,999 for the HONOR 400 and R17,999 for the HONOR 400 Pro, both devices are stocked at Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Cell C. Each purchase includes R8,000 worth of added value: the HONOR Watch 2i, HONOR Choice Earbuds X7 Lite, and an HONOR Choice Powerbank 10000mAh, until July 31, 2025. For those looking for the edge without the excess, this is one of the most compelling smartphone launches of the year. The Star DJ Maphorisa entertaining attendees at the HONOR 400 and 400 Pro launch. Image: Supplied
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
YouTube Announces Expanded Access to Gen-AI Creative Tools, New Usage Insights
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. YouTube has announced that it's expanding access to Google's VEO generative AI tools in the app later this year, which will enable more people to use AI to create YouTube Shorts clips, while it's also shared a range of new usage insights as part of its presentation at the Cannes Lions Festival this week. Celebrating 20 years of existence, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan highlighted a range of new insights at the event, with updated data on usage trends, along with a new report that looks at YouTube's content evolution over time. The big announcement, however, is expanded access to Google's Veo text-to-video tools for Shorts generation. As per Mohan: 'I'm proud to share that Veo 3 will be coming to YouTube Shorts later this summer. I believe these tools will open new creative lanes for everyone to explore.' You've likely already seen a range of Veo-powered examples across various social apps, with many creators generating short snippets based on their own prompts. YouTube launched Veo 2 access for selected Shorts creators back in February, but it's now updating this with the latest Veo model, and giving more people access. Which will mean more AI-generated content. Is that a good thing? I mean, the Veo 3 generated content certainly looks good, but it's also highlighted that, despite having access to such tools, creativity is still the key. It doesn't matter if you can make a sci-fi scene if you can't come up with a good story or joke, and it does seem like we're going to have to sit through a few million examples of AI-generated junk before we start to realise this. But it's already happening, and the expansion of such tools will provide more opportunities for many creative users who may not have got that exposure otherwise. Just anticipate that there'll be a lot, a lot of rubbish as well. In addition to the Veo expansion, Mohan also shared some updated usage data, including: YouTube Shorts are now being viewed over 200 billion times per day on average, up from the 70 billion daily views that YouTube reported in March last year. Viewers now watch over a billion hours of YouTube content on their TVs every day, with over half of YouTube's top 100 channels now generating the majority of their views via Connected TV (CTV), underlining the platform's takeover of traditional TV. YouTube facilitates a billion podcast viewers every month. YouTube's AI-powered auto-dubbing tool has been used on more than 20 million videos thus far. In addition, YouTube also recently published its latest 'Culture and Trends' report, which provides some additional insight into key YouTube usage shifts. The report shows that short-form videos as seeing a lot more views over time (no surprise), while videos over 60 minutes long in the app are also seeing a big rise in viewing. The latter note likely aligns with the rise of CTV viewing, with more people now seeking out movie-length films and documentaries in the app, as well as podcasts, which have proven surprisingly popular on CTV. The report also looks at the emergence of creators in the app, and how YouTube is facilitating opportunity across the world: There's also charts reflecting the popularity of key video trends: And notes on the key role that gaming plays in the rise of online content: These are all important trends to note for creators, and more marketers looking to tap into the YouTube ecosystem. Understanding how YouTube is evolving, and what users are coming to app for, is key to maximizing your content strategy in the app. Some valuable data points, which could help to guide your thinking. You can download YouTube's full 20th birthday 'Culture and Trends' report here.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Google is using YouTube videos to train its AI video generator: Report
Google is reportedly training its AI video‑generation model, Veo, using YouTube's extensive video library leveraging its own platform data stream. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
YouTube to bring Google's Veo 3 AI video tool to Shorts, CEO Neal Mohan says ‘The possibilities with AI are…'
YouTube will integrate Google's latest AI video generation model, Veo 3, into YouTube Shorts later this year, CEO Neal Mohan announced. Speaking at a keynote at the Cannes Lions festival, Mohan said 'The possibilities with AI are limitless'. He was joined by creators Amelia Dimoldenberg, Alex Cooper, and Brandon Baum. 'A lot can change in a generation. Entertainment itself has changed more in the last two decades than any other time in history. Creators led this revolution,' Mohan added. Google's Veo 3 to enhance Shorts content creation YouTube currently uses an earlier version of Veo in its Dream Screen feature, which creates AI-generated backgrounds. Veo 3 marks a major upgrade, offering more advanced video creation tools. Google released the Veo 3 tool last month at I/O 2025. The AI-powered video generation tool allows users to generate videos from text and image prompts. Mohan said the new tool will 'open new creative lanes' for Shorts creators, helping them experiment with content formats. YouTube Shorts, launched in 2021, now sees over 200 billion views per day, according to Mohan. Its growing popularity puts it in direct competition with TikTok and Instagram Reels. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo Mohan emphasized the role of creators in shaping modern entertainment. 'My bet for the next 20 years? Creators will flip formats, blend genres, and push deeper into the mainstream — as brand ambassadors, big business ventures and visionary storytellers,' he said. 'Communities will continue to surprise us with the power of their collective fandom. And cutting-edge AI technology will push the limits of human creativity. My biggest bet is that YouTube will continue to be the stage where it all happens. Where anyone with a story to share can turn their dream into a career… and anyone with a voice can bring people together and change the world.' Alcatel V3 Ultra Unboxing & Hands-on | Dual Display Mode, Sleek Design & More!
