Tech shorts: ITZY's Pokemon ad, coding league, and more

MANILA -- Here are some of the latest news and updates from the tech world.

These are not endorsed by ABS-CBN News.

ALIBABA UNVEILS VIRTUAL INFLUENCER FOR OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES

Alibaba Group recently unveiled a virtual influencer for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Based on cloud technology, Dong Dong was created to be a passionate and outspoken Beijing-born 22-year-old woman who loves winter sports.

Aside from promoting Olympic merchandise during her livestreaming shows, she can also respond to questions in a lively, natural human voice with different emotions, along with various body gestures.

For Dong Dong, Alibaba built a special cloud-based AI model which uses Text to Speech to synthesize human voices and leverages 3D-driven technology to create various realistic facial expressions and natural body movements.

CISCO DEPLOYS KONEKTADO SERV FOR ODETTE RESCUE OPS

Cisco Philippines, with the support of business partners Ardent, Azimuth, and volunteer rescue group Team Patola, deployed the Cisco Konektado Strategic Emergency Response Vehicle (SERV) at the start of the year to Bohol and Cebu after these areas were devastated by typhoon Odette.

Konektado SERV is Cisco's communication solution designed for disaster response and mitigation. The van is fully equipped with Cisco technology designed to establish connectivity amid power and signal outages to provide responders with a means to communicate with different teams on the ground.

It is also capable of providing public WiFi so affected residents can reach out to their loved ones to assure them of their safety or ask for assistance.

ITZY STARS IN NEW POKEMON COMMERCIAL

The Pokémon Company has released a new commercial featuring the five member girl group ITZY from JYP Entertainment to celebrate the release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

The 15-second and 30-second commercial titled "Wannabe a Legend" starts off with ITZY dancing to the hit song "Wannabe," and shows members playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus together.

A campaign called #PokemonLegendsChallenge is also being held on TikTok. The official Pokémon TikTok account will sequentially release videos of each member of ITZY challenging the original effect that allows users to take a commemorative photo with Pokémon against the backdrop of the Hisui Region, the stage of the game's adventure.

SHOPEE'S CODE LEAGUE

Shopee has launched an initiative that aims to help upskill coders through workshops and challenges designed to enhance programming abilities.

The 2-week Shopee Code League (SCL) features a series of online training sessions organized by Shopee and two rounds of coding competitions that let participants solve algorithmic puzzles.

Attended by over 17,000 participants and 300 partners from eight locations across the region in 2021, the competition initially had three different tracks: Data Science, Data Analytics, and Programming. This year, SCL will focus on offering the following topics: Python Programming, C++, Go, Data Structures and Algorithms, and Dynamic Programming.

SCL 2022 is open to all interested individuals, and top performers can win cash prizes amounting to SGD25,000 (more than ₱950,000). Participants also stand a chance to join Shopee to grow their careers in the tech landscape.

Registration for the Shopee Code League is ongoing until February 28, 2022, with more details on the e-commerce platform's website.

SONY'S BRAVIA XR MASTER SERIES Z9J

Sony kicks off 2022 with the release of a new home entertainment product, the Bravia XR Master Series Z9J.

The 8K Cognitive Intelligence TV has a sleek, minimalist one slate design that embraces the screen in a single pane of glass, and has a three-way multi-position stand.

Other features include the X-Wide Angle TM panel, which ensures that colors stay true from wherever side one is watching; Cognitive Processor XR technology, which shows content in a more realistic, immersive soundscape; and Acoustic Multi-Audio technology that includes frame tweeters to ensure high-frequency sounds come from the right place in the scene, among others.

The Bravia XR 8K Master Series Z9J is available at select Sony Centre and Sony Authorized Dealers.