Apple Debuted a New Apple Pencil and India Is Building a Space Station in This Week’s Tech Roundup

This week, the tech industry saw new developments in the AI space. For starters, Adobe launched the 2024 versions of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, both of which were updated with advanced AI capabilities. ChatGPT also improved its own AI bot with real-time factual accuracy.

On the hardware side, Apple unveiled a cheaper version of the Apple Pencil. And in the space industry, India shared plans to build the first space station in the country.

Below, Hypebeast has rounded up the top tech stories of the week so you can stay up to date on trends in the industry.

Adobe Unveiled New AI-Powered Tools for Photoshop and Premiere

Adobe

Adobe is showing off next year’s Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, bringing a suite of new AI features to the programs. The tools build on the company’s Sensei AI to further photo and video editing capabilities.

Among the new features is a tool that automatically removes, edits or replaces objects and backgrounds within a photo. Other smart fixes come in the form of transforming images into the style of famous artworks, along with single-click blurring, smoothing and coloring.

India Announced Plans To Build Its Own Space Station by 2035

Nasa/Esa/Getty Images

A few years into building out their space exploration initiatives, India will be officially breaking ground on their first space station. Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Antariksha Station — also known as the Indian Space Station – is planned for 2035 and will serve as the grounds for planning its Gaganyaan mission.

In 2040, Gaganyaan will see three astronauts embark on a crewed orbital flight, the first of its kind to be completed using an Indian spacecraft. Before then, however, India will conduct 20 major tests and 3 uncrewed missions at the station.

ChatGPT’s Factual Accuracy Is Being Improved With Real-Time Internet Browsing

Lionel Bonaventure/Afp/Getty Images

One of the major pitfalls of ChatGPT is that the bot often provides out-of-date information. The search engine for the bot was built on information only up until September 2021. Thanks to a new partnership with Bing, ChatGPT will be able to provide answers backed by information sourced in real time.

“ChatGPT can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources. It is no longer limited to data before September 2021,” OpenAI wrote on X. The update was initially tested in beta but has now been rolled out to bots everywhere.

Apple Announced a More Affordable, Entry-Level Apple Pencil

Apple

Apple is coming out with a more affordable version of the Apple Pencil. The new iteration of the device provides the same level of tilt sensitivity and pixel quality while being priced at a cool $79 USD. The device doesn’t, however, support pressure sensitivity, wireless pairing and charging or the double-tap feature, which some users may miss.

“Apple Pencil has revolutionized note-taking, sketching, and illustrating, unleashing endless possibilities for productivity and creativity,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Combined with the versatility of iPad, the new Apple Pencil unlocks another great option to experience the magic of digital handwriting, annotation, marking up documents, and more.”

The new Apple Pencil will launch online and in stores in November.