Technology

Chances are you have interacted with TCL recently. After all, the world’s second largest TV manufacturer has fingers in many (visual) pies; other than the tens of millions of LCD television sets it sold over the past decade in over 160 countries, the brand has a popular smartphone range and a raft of B2B display products as well.

It is also a key panel provider for a lot of TV brands and offers visual solutions across a wide array of applications, including tablets, laptops, monitors, automotive displays, XR (Extended Reality) devices, wearables, commercial displays, and other fields.

A lot of these innovations come from TCL’s display development and manufacturing division, TCL CSOT (China Star Optoelectronics Technology) which was created in 2009, has more than 37,000 employees worldwide and has since invested more than USD 36 billion in CAPEX.

With over 8,000 employees working in R&D alone and in excess of 60,880 patent applications submitted worldwide, TCL CSOT is a force to be reckoned with.

Today, it is holding its 2024 Global Display Tech-ecosystem Conference (DTC 2024) in Guangzhou, China. TCL CSOT will showcase its latest technological achievements, industry-leading display solutions and strategic vision for what it sees as the future of the display industry.

At the core of TCL CSOT’s project is its new advanced display technology brand, APEX, which focuses on delivering ultimate product experiences through cutting-edge technologies and is announcing the mass production of its inkjet printing (IJP) OLED technology, a huge breakthrough that enhances display performance while reducing production costs and environmental impact. A rare win-win-win situation for all stakeholders involved.

(Image credit: TCL CSOT)

TCL CSOT launched its advanced display technology brand, APEX, with a new value proposition: "Amazing pleasant display experience, Protective reliable vision health, Eco-friendly sustainable green and low carbon, and X unlimited future imagination."

Leveraging core technologies such as HVA, HFS, IJP OLED, FMM OLED, MLCD and MLED as well as the use of eco-friendly materials and energy-saving technologies, combined with AI and more cutting-edge technologies, APEX is built on the brand core of "PACE TO APEX".

Building upon 11 years of continuous research and innovation, TCL CSOT's IJP OLED technology has achieved significant leaps and breakthrough in technical specifications, establishing new industry benchmarks. TCL CSOT has amassed a significant number of patents in the IJP OLED field, covering a wide range of applications including notebooks (NB), monitors (MNT), and televisions (TV).

TCL CSOT's breakthrough in the mass production of IJP OLED is not only a milestone in its commercialization process but also marks the beginning of a new round of technological revolution in the display industry. IJP OLED technology, with its advantages of better image quality, lower power consumption and longer lifespan, will inevitably lead technology towards goodness and lay a solid foundation for the independent development of display technology.

If you are interested in knowing more about TCL CSOT's IJP OLED technology process and the intrinsic characteristics of panels produced using that method, check the video below.

During the DTC 2024 event, a range of innovative display products will be unveiled including

1. The World's First 2.8K IJP QD-EL Display (14")

(Image credit: TCL CSOT) 2. TCL CSOT’s First Mass-Produced 4K IJP OLED Professional Display (21.6")

(Image credit: TCL CSOT) 3. The World's Lowest Driving Power Consumption OLED Display (6.36")

(Image credit: TCL CSOT) 4. World's Best Picture Quality LCD TV Display (85" WHVA)

(Image credit: TCL CSOT)

These products will, in due time, be incorporated either in TCL’s own products or in OEM partners that will help bring TCL CSOT innovative solutions to millions of customers. The display giant is also embarking on a comprehensive "3+2+N" business plan to cover TV displays, IT displays, mobile displays, commercial displays and automotive displays as well as exploring new applications in fields like healthcare and education.

TCL CSOT’s ambitions go beyond that: it is working on a potential replacement for OLED with its Bluestar project that promises a whopping $1million award to a single recipient who will come up with a way to enhance the lifespan of blue QD-EL material. Likewise, the technology is so versatile and ground breaking that this prompted TCL CSOT to declare in a video that “in the future, printing display screens will be like printing newspapers”.

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• ChatGPT-4o gets 'creative writing' update
• It can also deal better with uploaded files
• The update is only for ChatGPT Plus subscribers

OpenAI has given ChatGPT-4o, the large language model (LLM) that’s available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, a stealthy ‘creative writing’ upgrade.

In a brief tweet on X, OpenAI described the upgrade by saying: “The model’s creative writing ability has leveled up – more natural, engaging, and tailored writing to improve relevance & readability.”

OpenAI also claims that the new ChatGPT-4o works better with uploaded files, providing deeper insights and more thorough responses. ChatGPT has had the ability to upload files and analyze them for a while now, and it works particularly well for uploading data in spreadsheet form, or images, to use in your prompts.

ChatGPT-4o can now rival Eminem

ChatGPT has always been good at creative writing. Sprinkle in a few interesting characters and ask it to tell you a story and it can do a splendid job of spinning a yarn, which is especially useful for parents when it comes to coming up with a story for bedtime. But the new update means it’s got even better.

It’s hard to quantify an update that claims to improve the quality of writing, but so far user reaction has been positive. On X, @kyleshannon tweeted “ Hey @OpenAI your @ChatGPTapp 4o "Creative Writing" upgrade today is INSANE!”

Another user, Kyle, claims that the new ChatGPT-4o rivals Eminem when it comes to creating rap lyrics:

“My test prompt for two years has been some version of 'write an Eminem style cipher about quantum mechanics.' ChatGPT has always been the best at this, but no LLM has ever captured the sophisticated internal rhyming structures like he does. Until now”.

If you want to read ChatGPT-4o’s Eminem-style rap about quantum mechanics, you can in this tweet:

Hey @OpenAI your @ChatGPTapp 4o "Creative Writing" upgrade today is INSANE!My test prompt for two years has been some version of "write an Eminem style cipher about quantum mechanics." ChatGPT has always been the best at this, but NO LLM has ever captured the sophisticated… pic.twitter.com/XJIlXF98jLNovember 20, 2024

ChatGPT Plus subscribers only

There’s nothing you need to do or install to make use of the ‘creative writing’ update in ChatGPT-4o, it all happens behind the scenes, so just head over to Chat.com and ask it to write something.

Note: The update doesn’t apply to people who are on the free tier of ChatGPT, which is restricted to the ChatGPT-4 LLM, its legacy model.

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• New ad suggests Windows 10 users buy a Copilot+ PC
• This is part of a raft of full-screen adverts pushing Windows 11 upgrades
• Expect the nagging to intensify next year, sadly

Windows 10 users are receiving a new advert prompting them not just to upgrade to Windows 11, but to get that OS on a new PC – specifically a Copilot+ PC.

By now, those with a Windows 10 computer are used to being encouraged to upgrade to Windows 11 (assuming their device is up to the hardware requirements) with full-screen pop-ups informing them about support for the older OS running out next year.

This has taken a fresh twist, however, with a new full-screen advert that Windows Latest noticed on one of its Windows 10 PCs (and a virtual machine running the older operating system).

In this effort, Microsoft is specifically pushing Windows 10 users to “do more with a Windows 11 PC,” referring to buying a new one, and that for the “ultimate Windows 11 experience” you should purchase a Copilot+ PC.

Microsoft confirmed to Windows Latest that it’s pushing a bunch of Windows 11 upgrade adverts in this full-screen, in-your-face style, and that the features offered with a Copilot+ PC – which has additional AI functionality exclusive to these devices – are also part of the persuasion tactics employed here.

(Image credit: Microsoft) Analysis: Glossing over some major issues

As noted, this is part of a broad campaign to get Windows 10 users upgrading to Windows 11 on a compatible PC, and we’ve seen a fair few of these messages on our older Windows 10 computer throughout this year. In fact, we’ve lost count of the number of times this has happened, but we haven’t seen an ad pushing Copilot+ PCs – not yet anyway. Doubtless as 2025 rolls onwards, we’ll be seeing even more of this kind of badgering from Microsoft.

Buying a new PC is an idea Microsoft has been pushing elsewhere for those whose machine isn’t compatible with Windows 11’s hardware requirements – likely due to a lack of TPM, or having an older processor. However, as we’ve discussed in the recent past, this glosses over some truly worrying issues about a ton of old PCs heading to the scrapheap when Windows 10 hits End of Life in October 2025.

You won’t see a full-screen Windows 10 pop-up about a potential looming environmental disaster, as flagged up by multiple third-parties in the past year or two, that’s for sure.

One concession Microsoft has made, this time around on the OS merry-go-round, is that consumers can finally purchase extended support with Windows 10, albeit only for a year, effectively granting a stay of execution until October 2026 – which is at least something.

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