Baidu’s SwiftScribe uses AI to transcribe audio files up to an hour in length

Why it matters to you

Got a lengthy interview to transcribe? Baidu’s free SwiftScribe web app can help.

Baidu may be known as “the Google of China,” but that doesn’t mean the Asian search giant doesn’t come up with its own unique applications. On Monday, it debuted SwiftScribe, a web app that automatically transcribes speech files with the help of artificial intelligence.

SwiftScribe is about as simple as web apps come. It recognizes files in .wav and .mp3 format, and once the upload’s complete, the transcription process gets underway. A 30-second file takes about 10 seconds, and a one-minute file less than 30. An hour of audio, the maximum length SwiftScribe will allow, takes 20 minutes.

More: Baidu releases Melody, a medical assistant chatbot to keep physicians humming

It’s not always perfect. SwiftScribe sometimes misses the spelling of certain words, and capitalization and punctuation aren’t always on point. But it offers an editable field that lets users correct mistakes, and a built-in speed-shifting tool that plays the uploaded audio clip audio at a faster or slower speed.

Baidu project manager Tian Wu, who was inspired partly by her experience transcribing interviews as a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said that SwiftScribe has the potential to save hours. “English is not my first language,” Wu told VentureBeat. “It took 10 hours to transcribe one hour of audio. That’s my personal experience. Usually, it will take a professional four to six hours to transcribe a one-hour audio clip.”

Wu told VentureBeat that SwiftScribe can help transcribe audio 1.67 times faster on average. She envisions transcriptionists doing more work and ultimately getting paid more for it.

More: Baidu’s food app Nuomi is like a supercharged AI-enabled Yelp

SwiftScribe’s more proof of concept than polished product, right now. In the coming months, the team plans to enhance the app with video transcription and captioning, support for more file formats, and an option for automatically adding punctuation.

It’s free to use for now, but Baidu’s considering a paid option. “In the future, we hope to turn it into a business,” Wu said.

More: Baidu’s TypeTalk app uses artificial intelligence to power voice transcription

Baidu may not have the name recognition in the United States that it does in mainland China, where the Beijing-based juggernaut commands roughly 80 percent of the internet search market and amasses quarterly profits that regularly top the hundreds of millions. But it’s hoping to change that. In 2013, it opened the Institute of Deep Learning, a research center devoted to advancing the firm’s artificial intelligence efforts.

In the immediate future, the Chinese aims to use the lab to increase revenue by building augmented reality marketing tools. But it may be considering a significant expansion of health-care and education applications.

Baidu’s SwiftScribe uses AI to transcribe audio files up to an hour in length

Why it matters to you

Got a lengthy interview to transcribe? Baidu’s free SwiftScribe web app can help.

Baidu may be known as “the Google of China,” but that doesn’t mean the Asian search giant doesn’t come up with its own unique applications. On Monday, it debuted SwiftScribe, a web app that automatically transcribes speech files with the help of artificial intelligence.

SwiftScribe is about as simple as web apps come. It recognizes files in .wav and .mp3 format, and once the upload’s complete, the transcription process gets underway. A 30-second file takes about 10 seconds, and a one-minute file less than 30. An hour of audio, the maximum length SwiftScribe will allow, takes 20 minutes.

More: Baidu releases Melody, a medical assistant chatbot to keep physicians humming

It’s not always perfect. SwiftScribe sometimes misses the spelling of certain words, and capitalization and punctuation aren’t always on point. But it offers an editable field that lets users correct mistakes, and a built-in speed-shifting tool that plays the uploaded audio clip audio at a faster or slower speed.

Baidu project manager Tian Wu, who was inspired partly by her experience transcribing interviews as a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said that SwiftScribe has the potential to save hours. “English is not my first language,” Wu told VentureBeat. “It took 10 hours to transcribe one hour of audio. That’s my personal experience. Usually, it will take a professional four to six hours to transcribe a one-hour audio clip.”

Wu told VentureBeat that SwiftScribe can help transcribe audio 1.67 times faster on average. She envisions transcriptionists doing more work and ultimately getting paid more for it.

More: Baidu’s food app Nuomi is like a supercharged AI-enabled Yelp

SwiftScribe’s more proof of concept than polished product, right now. In the coming months, the team plans to enhance the app with video transcription and captioning, support for more file formats, and an option for automatically adding punctuation.

It’s free to use for now, but Baidu’s considering a paid option. “In the future, we hope to turn it into a business,” Wu said.

More: Baidu’s TypeTalk app uses artificial intelligence to power voice transcription

Baidu may not have the name recognition in the United States that it does in mainland China, where the Beijing-based juggernaut commands roughly 80 percent of the internet search market and amasses quarterly profits that regularly top the hundreds of millions. But it’s hoping to change that. In 2013, it opened the Institute of Deep Learning, a research center devoted to advancing the firm’s artificial intelligence efforts.

In the immediate future, the Chinese aims to use the lab to increase revenue by building augmented reality marketing tools. But it may be considering a significant expansion of health-care and education applications.

Got 50 bucks burning a hole in your pocket? Here’s the best tech to spend it on

The world of consumer electronics is enticing, but it isn’t cheap. Apple’s latest iPad Airs cost $400 apiece, while the baseline price for a quality 4K television will still set you back a cool $1,000 or more. Thankfully, there’s a smattering of quality tech accessories and standalone products for budget shoppers with $50 to kill.

More: Got a Benjamin to burn? Here’s the best tech toys to spend it on

Each of the products featured below is designed for a different purpose, whether it be streaming Stranger Things or tracking your fitness goals, except without the hefty price tag often associated with more capable offerings. They certainly can’t do it all, but considering they cost less than a nice dinner in the city, they also don’t have to.

Mophie Powerstation Mini

Daily life can be draining on more than just your body, and that’s where Mophie comes in. The company’s apt-titled Powerstation Mini is a 3,000mAh portable charger that’s designed to provide more than 10 hours of additional power to any smartphone, or five hours to your typical tablet. The compact device is even available in five distinct colors (purple, pink, blue, white, and black) and comes with an aluminum finish, rendering it the perfect companion for those looking to keep up aesthetics on the go.

Price: $29

Buy one now from:

Mophie Best Buy Amazon

Galaxy S8 home screen goes ultra-minimal, may not have app drawer by default

The Galaxy S8’s launcher looks more futuristic than we initially thought.

We’ve seen plenty of the Galaxy S8’s outside form, but what about the inside? I don’t mean the heart — we know that, too — but the software, presumably based on Android 7.1.x, though judging from these leaks launcher screenshots, the resemblance is passing at best.

Thanks to screenshots retrieved from a leaked version of Samsung’s upcoming Smart Switch app that will make it easy for old Galaxy owners to transition their contacts, calendars, apps, documents and photos to the new GS8, we now know basically what the Galaxy S8 home screen will look like.

What you see above is not exactly what users will be interacting with when the Galaxy S8 is released in April, since the icons lack context-specific text underneath, but it’s a good approximation. Very sparse icon art, with broken or abstract lines depicting things like a phone or a camera, along with some other designs that are a bit harder to suss out. The contrast with Google’s own set of much more well-defined and colorful app icons is stark, to say the least.

Broken lines and minimal colors comprise Samsung’s vision of the home screen’s future.

Finally — and we’re not going to read anything into this until we know for sure — there is no app drawer on the home screen. This could mean that Samsung, like Huawei and LG before it, could forgo the traditional app launcher in favor of a more iOS-like Springboard design, where icons, folders and widgets live together on various home screens. Obviously, given that the second set of the screenshots depict an app drawer, the GS8 will support one, but it may have to be enabled after the fact.

It’s also worth pointing out that Samsung’s on-screen navigation pictograph for ‘home’ is nearly identical to the one Google uses, and suggests vendors use, for multitasking. Not confusing at all.

Life (Companion) moves pretty fast pic.twitter.com/eITSzku96C

— Alex Dobie (@alexdobie) March 13, 2017

Of course, everything evolves, and Samsung’s updated launcher looks quite different to just five years ago when the company was gearing up to launch the Galaxy S3.

Do you see anything else new in these launcher screenshots? Let us know in the comments below!

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

• Latest Galaxy S8 rumors!
• Galaxy S8 announcement coming March 29 in NYC
• Galaxy S8 release date set for April 28
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

Sony’s PlayStation Now service will soon stream PS4 games to your PC

Sony is changing PlayStation Now again, but this time, it’s an expansion that will include current-generation games.

Weeks after quietly revealing its game streaming service will only be available on PlayStation 4 and PC starting this summer, Sony has announced PlayStation Now will soon offer PS4 games, which will be playable on PS4 and Windows PC with a single subscription.

Currently, the service lets you stream over 450 PS3 games to PS4s and PCs for $19.99 a month. Going forward, PS4 games will be added to PS Now at no additional cost. It’s currently unclear which new titles will be added to the streaming catalogue and when.

Keep in mind PlayStation now will be discontinued on the PS3, PS Vita, PlayStation TV, and all supported smart TVs and Blu-ray players in August. Sony has suggested it wants to really focus on developing the service for the PS4 and PC platforms.

• PlayStation Now: What is it and how does it work?
• How Xbox One backwards compatibility works

Also, late last month, Microsoft launched its own game subscription service for Xbox owners. Dubbed Xbox Game Pass, it costs just $9.99 a month and provides access to more than 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 backwards compatible games.

It’ll be interesting to see how Sony ramps up PlayStation Now in the future to better compete with Xbox Game Pass, especially Microsoft offers unique perks, such as allowing players to fully download games.

Apple is testing four new iPad models around Cupertino, logs reveal

Is Apple about to introduce new iPads? According to one report, it’s at least testing new models in California.

Mobile marketing firm Fiksu (via TechCrunch) noticed new models being tested in Cupertino, California, as well as in other nearby locations, which seems to confirm reports about Apple planning to update its iPad lineup this spring. Fiksu’s raw data showed four different models, but keep in mind it saw the same number of devices being tested before the release of the last two iPad Pro models.

Fiksu gathered the data from its tracking and attribution SDK, which is used in thousands of mobile apps. Apple of course tests the latest iPads with many installed apps, which is how Fiksu was able to spot and track the new models being tested by Apple near its headquarters.

• Which iPad is best for you?
• Apple iPad Pro 9.7 vs iPad Pro 12.9: What’s the difference?

Apple is expected to update its 12.9-inch iPad Pro model, as well as introduce a new 10-inch or 10.5-inch model with thinner bezels and an affordable 9.7-inch option. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a reliable forecaster when it comes to Apple news, claimed Apple will launch the two larger models with an A10X chip, a version of the A10 chip used in the iPhone 7, while the low-cost model will use an A9 chip.

Check out Pocket-lint’s round-up for more rumours about the upcoming iPad Pro 2. Apple will likely hold a “special event” in April, and at that event, which could take place at the new 1,000-seat Steve Jobs theatre, we should see the new iPad models debut.

Google says crowdsourced data makes for better fitness apps

Google made a serious move into the health and fitness space when it introduced its Apple Health competitor, Fit, in 2014. Since then, the company has been improving its platform by adding new features to help you keep better track of your daily activities, giving you information on real-time stats, workout logs and goals you’ve set out for yourself. Naturally, Fit is at its most useful when it has deep access to your personal data, as is the case for most tech products nowadays. This is key not only for the search giant’s own apps, but also those from third-party developers that live on Android or are sending info to Fit from an iOS device.

Head of Health and Fitness Apps for Google Play, Mary Liz McCurdy, said in an interview at SXSW that applications in the category aren’t just loggers anymore. Instead, she says, they’ve become much more beneficial to users by turning their data into deeper experiences, which can translate to things like personalized recommendations on how to eat healthier, sleep better and have effective workouts. That’s what you see with apps like Runtastic and Nike+ Training Club.

Head of Health and Fitness Apps for Google Play, Mary Liz McCurdy (far right), at SXSW.

“Now everyone can work out with a personalized coach, whether it be a real coach or in most cases a robo coach,” says McCurdy. “People are willing to pay and they’re willing to spend a lot of time working out, so these [apps] are all just different pocket-sized personal trainers that continue to improve and get more adaptive and smart with time.” Still, despite how valuable these types of apps have become to people, she says they’re not meant to replace a human trainer or a doctor. “This is augmenting your experience if you actually have a condition. That doesn’t mean that you do not need to go to the doctor, it just means you’re an informed citizen. You’re in control of your health.”

McCurdy believes it’s helpful for users to connect with like-minded people through social aspects, which she says wouldn’t be possible without crowdsourced data. “The apps give you the knowledge that you need to make informed decisions,” she says, “and live your best, healthy life.”

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

No, Kellyanne, microwaves cannot turn into cameras

Everyone’s paranoid about cybersecurity and surveillance these days, and rightly so. Thanks to the increase in connected devices in our homes, there are more and more gadgets that can be hacked to spy on you. But while things like security cameras and smart speakers can be hijacked to eavesdrop on your conversations or watch you, basic laws of physics still apply. Yesterday, President Trump’s senior counselor Kellyanne Conway told the Bergen County Record’s Mike Kelly that microwave ovens can turn into cameras for surveillance. In case you were wondering, that is pretty much impossible.

Conway made her remarks in response to Kelly’s question about whether Trump’s campaign headquarters could have been wiretapped by the Obama administration. “What I can say is there are many ways to surveil each other now, unfortunately,” she said. “There was an article this week that talked about how you can surveil someone through their phones — certainly through their television sets, any number of different ways. And microwaves that turn into cameras, et cetera.”

She went on to say that this is “just a fact of modern life.” But it’s not. To clear things up, here’s a very brief explainer of how microwave ovens and cameras work, and how they cannot turn into each other, unless you are Harry Potter.

A microwave oven’s primary components are a magnetron, which converts electric energy to microwave radiation, a waveguide that directs the energy generated, a metal cooking chamber to prevent wave leakage, a turntable (or a fan in some cases) and a control panel that you use to set heat temperatures and times. The magnetron, when powered by electricity, passes microwave radiation through food, which causes molecules to rotate and vibrate. That motion disperses energy in the form of heat, giving you a lovely, warmed up microwave burrito.

On the other hand, a camera consists of a lens, an image sensor (or photographic film, in older generations) and a processor. Through an opening in the lens, light is reflected and exposed to the sensor or film, which captures and converts detail and color. The processor (in modern digital cameras) turns all that data into a picture, whereas a film developer would do that by washing the film in a darkroom.

Because a microwave oven does not have an image sensor or film with which to capture light, it is incapable of taking pictures, and therefore cannot be “turn(ed) into” a camera. Plus, unless your microwave is connected to the Internet (extremely few today are), there is no way for someone to hack it to spy on you.

So why did Conway say what she did? She might have read this MIT report on a microwave camera, though that still requires some specialized equipment you probably won’t find in your kitchen. It’s more likely she was referring to the Wikileaks Vault 7 documents that described how the CIA was reportedly able to get data from iOS and Android devices, although that doesn’t explain the microwave connection. Regardless of the reason for Conway’s unfounded claim, rest assured today’s microwave ovens can’t turn into cameras that spy on you.

Inside ‘Infinity Room,’ a dazzling SXSW art installation

Refik Anadol crafts alternate realities, not for VR headsets, but through architecture, projection and sound. His installation, Infinity Room, has been three years in the making so far. It began as a research project during Anadol’s master of fine arts studies at UCLA design media arts department, and has evolved and matured since.

Infinity Room is an enclosed cube measuring 12 feet in all three dimensions. Four laser projectors beam various animations that envelop the square room’s walls, while the floor and ceiling are covered in mirrors. The result is an intense space, one that at once offers sensory depravation and overload.

Upon entering, a vivid monotone constellation slowly passed horizontally around the space. Coupled with the mirrored floor and ceiling, this motion was truly disorienting; with no “solid ground” to focus on, it felt dizzying, almost like I was moving, rather than standing still. There are several algorithms the space cycles through, each with their own soundtracks and visuals, which Anadol said create their own alternative reality experiences.

Anadol is the recipient of Google’s Art and Machine Intelligence Artist Residency Award, and has been exploring new ways to collide architecture and media. He’s also set up an Infinity Room-like space inside VR, but believes that there is much more work to be done in the physical realm before exploring a virtual one.

“We have so many opportunities in the physical world that we have never explored,” said Anadol “… If you know this much better, then the leap to VR experiences will be much more meaningful, much more impactful.”

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

Drone operators outnumber any other type of Air Force pilot

While some might still think of joystick-wielding aviators as the stuff of science fiction, that’s no longer the case. A top general told reporters last week that there are now more jobs for drone pilots in the US Air Force than there are for pilots of traditional manned aircraft. Specifically, the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones are set to have more than 1,000 pilot operators in the 2017 fiscal year — that’s more than the 889 pilots who fly the troop-transporting C-17, or the 803 flying F-16 fighter jets, according to Military.com.

This isn’t the first initiative intended to beef up jobs for qualified drone pilots, either. Last year, the Air Force started paying bonuses to keep pilots in the job, offering $10,000 more per year if they renewed their active duty status for five years. The military has also been increasing its use of drones like the MQ-9 Reaper for reconnaissance and missile strikes.

More jobs means more reliance on these unmanned aircraft, with the Air Force moving to an all-Reaper drone fleet in the next year or two. The military branch intends to retire the older MQ-1 Predator next year, along with plans for eight potential bases to host new drone units in the near future.

“I never thought I’d say that when I joined the Air Force,” Lt. General Darryl Roberson said at the roundtable, referring to the high number of drone piloting jobs. “So we’re really in a much better footing with RPA pilot production in addition to just getting the numbers up.”

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Military.com