AI, innovation and layoffs: A 2024 tech retrospective

January

Galaxy S24 Series: The year starts with the launch of the Galaxy S24 series — and it sets the tone for the rest of the year. This series is all about AI. Its major features include 'Circle to search', live translation during calls, the real-time interpreter feature and a whole suite of photo editing tools, all powered by AI.

CES 2024: Out of the many innovations showcased at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2024, the Rabbit R1, an AI-powered hardware Assistant, the Asus Zenbook Duo, a two-screened laptop, and transparent TVs from LG and Samsung generate the most hype. 

February

Apple Vision Pro: Apple's mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, promises to integrate digital media with the real world. Despite being admired by reviewers and critics alike, it does not sell well — thanks to a hefty $3,500 price tag.

OpenAI's Sora: ChatGPT maker OpenAI introduces Sora, a tool which can generate videos from text prompts. The model generates realistic, minute-long videos based on user instructions, and can create videos from still images. Later this year, after opening to users, it receives mixed reactions — in some scenarios, it generated stunning videos, and in others, straight-up bizarre outputs.

March

Samuel Bankman-Fried jailed: Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, is sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers of billions. FTX's 2022 collapse exposes his misuse of funds for personal investments and donations. His legal team plans to appeal.

MacBook Air M3: Apple unveils the new MacBook Air powered by the M3 chip, which delivers up to 60% faster performance than the M1 model. The new chip is also supposed to support Apple Intelligence, that is, advanced AI features like assisting in writing and generating images.

April

Meta enters the AI game: Meta AI assistant, built with the Meta Llama 3 language model, is launched on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta AI can assist with planning, studying, shopping, and even professional tasks. While it has some impressive image generation capabilities, it falls short when it comes to providing information, compared to that of the competition.

Qualcomm X Elite and X Plus: Remember how ARM-based Apple's M-series chip changed the landscape of personal computing devices in 2020? Four years later, Qualcomm has caught up with the new Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors designed for next-gen Windows PCs with advanced AI features. Multi-day battery life, top-tier performance, and energy efficiency are supposed to come with this new family of chips.

May

Apple unveils new iPads: Although not many people were asking for a slimmer iPad, Apple decides to do it anyway. The new iPad Pros are razor thin — making them the slimmest iPads ever. It comes equipped with advanced AI features just like its smartphone and laptop siblings. Along with iPad Pros, iPad Airs and a new Apple Pencil Pro is also introduced.

Google's budget bet Pixel 8a: The Pixel 8a, Google's budget smartphone launches featuring Google's latest processor, and new AI capabilities. The highlight of the show is a promised seven years of software support, unlike any other budget android smartphone.

June

Nvidia takes the crown: Although for a short while, Nvidia becomes the world's most valuable company on 19 June, overtaking Microsoft with a market cap of $3.34 trillion. Its rise stems from the growing demand for AI, with Nvidia's chips powering key tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Shares surged 180% this year, driven by demand for its $30,000 processors.

HTC tries a comeback: The once-popular HTC launches the U24 Pro to revive its lost glory. The phone is equipped with some upper-midrange specifications, but due to its underwhelming pricing and poor software support, it fails to make any impactful change in the company's fate.

July

Samsung refines foldables: Samsung, sitting on the market leader position in the foldable phone market, releases Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. It features similar AI tools like the S24 series — note assist, sketch to image, and translation. Despite being the first mover in the market, the improvements seem to be marginal, while the competition from OnePlus, Google, and Oppo soars.

Europe's response to SpaceX: Europe successfully launches the Ariane-6 rocket on its maiden flight from French Guiana, placing satellites into orbit. It is considered as Europe's effort to reduce the dependence on American and Russian spacecraft. Despite some anomalies at the beginning, the mission was a success nonetheless.

August

Pixel 9 series: Last year's Pixel phone was already packed with AI features, and this year's Pixel 9 series is no exception. With improved iPhone-like build and design, the phone has gotten some improvements in its chip as well. New AI features, like Gemini Assistant, AI-powered photo editing, and text-to-image tools, enhance the lineup's capabilities.

Tecno shows its calibre: Tecno showcases the Phantom Ultimate 2, a tri-fold concept phone with a 10-inch OLED display that offers unique use cases like laptop and dual-screen modes. While there is no launch date yet, it showcases the potential of the foldable market.

September

iPhone 16 series: The regular iPhone 16, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max, all running on iOS 18, comes with faster CPU and GPU performance and improved efficiency. During the launch event, Apple announced that the phones are capable of running Apple Intelligence features — which were rolled out later this year. Many reviews claim the AI features to be half-baked, but it shows some impressive possibilities.

Huawei triples down on the fold: Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate, the world's first tri-fold phone, is a groundbreaking device. The phone unfolds into a 10.2-inch tablet — unlike any other consumer device in the market. While Mate XT Ultimate's one-of-its-kind innovative design is impressive, the lack of Google services due to US restrictions limits its appeal outside China. The sales figures remain unknown, but it shows the company's dedication to innovate.

October

New Macs with M4: Apple unveils new Macs featuring M4 series chips and Apple Intelligence, including new Macbook Pros and the colourful iMac. The new devices come with at least 16GB of RAM, which enables the new AI features including writing assist and image generation — just like any other Apple computing device this year.

SpaceX catches rocket: SpaceX made history by successfully catching the Super Heavy booster of its Starship megarocket using mechanical "chopsticks" after its test flight, marking a world first in reusable rocket technology.

November

Huawei Mate 70 series: Huawei still keeps on fighting to survive, launching the Mate 70 series. The series consists of three phones: the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, and the Pro+. The devices run on HarmonyOS, and the chipset is unconfirmed, but it is rumored to be the Kirin 9020, according to Notebookcheck. The standout feature is that its primary camera has a variable aperture, depending on the lighting conditions.

Bluesky user base soars up: After Trump's win, users flock to Bluesky, leaving X (formerly Twitter). Bluesky is ramping up efforts to verify accounts, particularly for high-profile individuals and organisations.

December

Google's quantum leap: Google showcases a new quantum chip named Willow, which can solve problems in five minutes that would take typical supercomputers until the end of the universe. It advances quantum error correction, bringing us closer to scalable quantum systems. While caution is advised from experts, Willow shows promise for AI, drug discovery, and energy efficiency.

Jetson Orin Nano: The NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit is a compact AI powerhouse. Priced at $249, it allows developers, students, and makers to run popular generative AI models like vision transformers and play with their own large language models.