Amazon India, after discontinuing its food delivery service last year, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/30/amazon-is-testing-dine-in-payments-in-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is now testing dine-in payments as part of its ongoing experimentation</a>. The company has introduced a limited rollout of bill payments at restaurants through Amazon Pay.
The dine-in payment feature is currently available in select areas of Bengaluru and is limited to a set of participating restaurants. Users can utilize the Amazon Pay feature within the Amazon app to make payments using various methods such as credit/debit cards, net banking, UPI, or Amazon Pay Later. As an introductory offer, Amazon India is providing discounts on bill payments at nearly all the listed restaurants.
While it remains unclear if Amazon is testing this feature in other cities, the company did not respond to inquiries seeking clarification.
Rival food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy have already introduced in-restaurant payment options and discounts to attract more customers. Zomato recently launched its own UPI service in partnership with ICICI Bank, enabling quicker checkouts and bill payments.
However, the National Restaurant Association of India, a consortium representing the hospitality sector, cautioned its members against using dining payment products offered by food delivery firms in an advisory last year.
For Amazon, this new experiment represents another attempt to engage customers in India. The company has encountered challenges and struggled to penetrate smaller towns, according to a report by investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein. Amazon asserts that 85% of its customers are from tier 2/3 cities and towns.
The Bernstein report also highlights the tough regulatory environment in India, causing Amazon to fall behind Walmart-backed Flipkart. Notably, Amazon excluded mentions of India from its Q1 2023 results for the first time since 2014.
Earlier this year, Amazon participated in the Open Network for Digital Commerce, an initiative established by India's ecommerce ministry. While its involvement is limited, the aim of the initiative is to create an "interoperable" network for sellers, allowing them to join a digital network that is not reliant on central marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart.

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Amazon India Explores Dine-In Payments as it Continues to Innovate

Elizabeth Kartini

Latest Tech News, Original Stories & Opinionated Pieces by Technobezz

News

A group of renowned AI researchers, engineers, and CEOs has jointly expressed <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/30/23742005/ai-risk-warning-22-word-statement-google-deepmind-openai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concerns over the potential existential threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to humanity</a>. The San Francisco-based non-profit, Center for AI Safety, has published a concise 22-word statement, emphasizing the need for global prioritization in mitigating the risk of AI-driven extinction, similar to addressing societal-scale risks like pandemics and nuclear war.
The statement has gained significant traction and attracted signatures from influential figures such as Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Geoffrey Hinton and Youshua Bengio, two of the recipients of the prestigious 2018 Turing Award. Notably, the third awardee, Yann LeCun, the chief AI scientist at Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has not signed the statement at the time of this report.
This latest statement contributes to the ongoing debate surrounding AI safety, which has generated significant attention in recent times. Earlier this year, some of the same signatories called for a six-month "pause" in AI development through an open letter. However, the letter received criticism for its perceived overstatement of AI risks and disagreement regarding the suggested course of action.
In an effort to avoid such disagreements, the Center for AI Safety intentionally kept the statement concise and refrained from proposing specific measures to address the AI threat. According to Dan Hendrycks, the executive director of the Center for AI Safety, the aim was to avoid diluting the message with an extensive list of potential interventions.
Hendrycks characterizes this statement as a significant moment for industry figures concerned about AI risks, describing it as a "coming-out" of sorts. He explains that there is a common misconception that only a handful of individuals harbor concerns about the potential dangers of AI, whereas many others privately express apprehensions.
While the debate surrounding AI safety revolves around hypothetical scenarios in which AI systems rapidly advance beyond control, experts point to the rapid improvement of large language models as evidence of projected future gains in intelligence. They argue that once AI systems reach a certain level of sophistication, managing their actions could become increasingly challenging.
Nevertheless, skeptics challenge these predictions by highlighting the current limitations of AI systems, exemplified by the ongoing struggle to develop fully self-driving cars. Despite substantial investment and years of research, self-driving cars remain far from a practical reality. This skepticism questions AI's ability to match various human accomplishments in the foreseeable future, given its difficulties in performing even relatively mundane tasks such as driving.
In the present day, AI systems already pose a range of threats irrespective of their future advancements. These risks include enabling mass-surveillance, powering flawed "predictive policing" algorithms, and facilitating the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation. Both advocates and skeptics of AI risk acknowledge the need to address these immediate challenges.
The debate surrounding AI safety continues to evolve, attracting significant attention from industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers as they navigate the complex landscape of AI's potential risks and benefits.

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Prominent AI Figures Issue Warning on the Global Priority of Addressing AI's Existential Threat

Bogdana Zujic

<a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_f54_5g_launch_date-news-58716.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Samsung is set to introduce the Galaxy F54 5G smartphone</a> in India on June 6th at 3 PM IST, after rumors circulated about its anticipated release at the end of April.
While specific details regarding the Galaxy F54 5G's specifications are yet to be disclosed by Samsung, the company has offered a glimpse of the device's design through its promotional page on the official website. The images confirm the inclusion of a triple camera setup on the rear, headlined by a "segment-leading" 108MP camera featuring Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).
Additionally, Samsung has revealed that the Galaxy F54 5G will be equipped with camera features such as Nightography, Astrolapse, Single Take, and Fun Mode, enhancing the smartphone's photography capabilities.
For interested customers, pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy F54 5G have already commenced on Samsung India's official website. To secure a pre-booking, individuals can purchase the "VIP Pass" for INR 999 ($12/&euro;11), which includes benefits worth INR 2,000 ($24/&euro;23).

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Samsung Confirms Launch Date for Galaxy F54 5G in India and Provides a Glimpse of Design

Apple has released <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2023/04/19/apple-releases-safari-technology-preview-168/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a new update for Safari Technology Preview</a>, the experimental browser that was first introduced in March 2016. The Safari Technology Preview is designed to test new features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari, the default browser for Apple devices.
The latest release, version 16.4, includes bug fixes and performance improvements for various components of the browser, including Web Inspector, CSS, Rendering, Web Animations, JavaScript, Lockdown Mode, Media, Popover, Web API, and Accessibility.
The new update is compatible with macOS Ventura and macOS Monterey 12.3 or later, and can be accessed through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings for users who have already downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. While the browser is designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download and can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser.
The release of Safari Technology Preview showcases Apple's commitment to improving and advancing its browser capabilities. As the browser continues to evolve, it is expected to become an increasingly important tool for developers and users alike.

Apple Releases New Update For Safari Technology Preview

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