the Government of Maharashtra, and the Tech Entrepreneurs Association of Mumbai (TEAM) signed an MoU in June 2023 for the groundbreaking ‘Mumbai Megapolis Metaverse’, to showcase ongoing infrastructure developments and envision the transformation of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) by 2025 through a digital twin project. The project is now all set to be officially launched at the Mumbai Tech Week on Sunday, February 18, 2024, in the presence of the Hon. Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. Devendra Fadnavis.

Led by Shri. Devendra Fadnavis as he constructs his Maharashtra@75 vision, the Mumbai Megapolis Metaverse is an ambitious endeavour that utilizes cutting-edge technology to create a virtual representation of Mumbai in the metaverse, and is a first-of-its-kind initiative revolutionising urban governance and citizen engagement in the country. This immersive experience will provide citizens with a glimpse into the future of the city, showcasing ongoing infrastructure developments and envisioning the transformation of MMR by 2025; for which, 12 infra projects have been identified. The project also envisages providing important information to citizens on the tech, cost, environmental, and other factors, thus educating them largely on the efforts done to build long-term sustainable infrastructure.

Apple might be planning a big upgrade for its iPhone devices with the iOS 18 update. A new report has revealed that the Cupertino-based tech giant is working on introducing artificial intelligence (AI) features for its smartphones at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024, expected to be held in June. Interestingly, the company might make all of the AI features available on-device, instead of keeping them cloud-based. Notably, a report last week highlighted that Apple could unveil a new AI-powered browsing feature for Safari which will let users summarise web pages.

The information comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, where he answered the question of how much of Apple’s planned AI features might be cloud-based. As per Gurman, not much at all! The tech giant could make all the features available locally and have it processed on-device itself. This move, if true, can have both upsides and downsides depending on how the iPhone maker handles the issues with AI features.

Having AI features entirely locally is great for privacy and data security. This means any data shared with the app or the system feature never leaves the user’s iPhone, and the information is unlikely to ever reach a third party. This makes the device more secure, and users do not have to worry about their sensitive data either.