The killer app for the Metaverse might actually be a killer. There's a rumour that apple's iPhone 17 air could ditch USB-C forever. Going fully wireless. Broadcom cuts VMware's lowest tier channel partners to focus on VMware Cloud Foundation. Shopify Beats Canada Revenue Agency in court and gets $90,000 in legal costs. Welcome to hashtag Trending. I'm your host, Jim Love. Let's get into it.
Meta has found a way to breathe life into its struggling Metaverse investments through an unlikely alliance with the Department of Defense, partnering with the same company founded by an executive, it fired for his pro-Trump political views. The social media giant announced Thursday it will work with the defense contractor and Andural industries to develop AI powered virtual and augmented reality combat helmets for US soldiers.
The partnership could provide a crucial revenue stream for Meta's Reality Labs Division. And Meta's invested about $70 billion since 2019 with little in the way of payback. The collaboration reunites Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg with Palmer Lucky, the Oculus VR founder, who was pushed out of Meta in 2017 after donating $10,000 to an anti Hillary Clinton political group. Lucky co-founded Andural after his departure and now leads the defense technology startup.
lucky said in a statement, I'm glad to be working with Meta once again. My mission has long been to turn war fighters into technomancers and the products we are building with Meta do just that. The partnership comes as Zuckerberg has shifted Meta towards Republican friendly policies under Trump's second presidency, including ending fact checking programs and diversity initiatives while donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration.
The Meta Andural deal reflects a dramatic transformation in Silicon Valley's relationship with military contracts. Google employees famously held walkouts in 2018 and forced executives to abandon military projects today. Defense applications are something companies want to shout from the rooftops. As one analyst noted, the shift highlights a cultural change where developing technology for war is no longer considered taboo among tech workers.
Companies argue that if US firms don't develop military technology, foreign adversaries will gain advantages. The companies are developing something called Eagle Eye, a helmet system that combines artificial intelligence with augmented reality to give soldiers superhuman senses. The system will help soldiers detect drones flying miles away and identify hidden threats.
As part of the $22 billion Soldier Born Mission Command program originally awarded to Microsoft, but transferred to Andural February for Meta the Defense Partnership offers ROI for Reality Labs, which reported a $4.2 billion loss in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Consumer vr.
Adoption remains limited despite massive investments in the Metaverse vision, And maybe the killer app for mixed reality is indeed a killer app Wrote Tech analyst, David Lee, noting the irony that Meta's consumer-focused technology might find its purpose in military applications, Meta and Andural have jointly bid on an Army contract worth up to a hundred million dollars, potentially opening the door to billions in defense revenue that could justify the company's metaverse spending.
The partnership represents a full circle moment where Silicon Valley's military origins developing chips for defense before branching into consumer products are reversed with consumer technology now flowing back to military applications, There's a rumor that suggests that Apple is considering making its upcoming iPhone 17 Air, the first completely port less iPhone, eliminating even the recently adopted USB-C port in favor of wireless only charging.
While the company reportedly backed away from this radical design earlier, the speculation highlights Apple's potential wireless future. The rumored iPhone 17 air expected to debut in fall 2025 is said to be Apple's thinnest smartphone ever at just 5.5 millimeters thick.
Sources suggest the extreme thinness drove Apple to consider eliminating the USBC port entirely, relying solely on MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging Bloomberg's, mark Germond reported that Apple ultimately decided against the port design, partly due to concerns about European Union regulations. However, EU officials have apparently since confirmed that a fully wireless device would actually be legal under current directives.
The European Commission Press Officer Fredrica McColey clarified that if such radio equipment cannot be recharged via wired charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonized wired charging solution. This regulatory clarity could pave the way for Apple to pursue port list designs in future models, especially as the company has made MagSafe technology compatible with a universal Qi2 wireless standard.
The rumored iPhone 17 air would reportedly sacrifice significant features for thinness, including eliminating the SIM card slot, removing the second speaker, and reducing battery capacity. The device would sit between the entry level and the premium models at an estimated $900 US price point. Industry analysts remain skeptical about consumer readiness for wireless only devices, citing concerns about charging speed, travel compatibility, and data transfer limitations.
However, apple has historically driven adoption of controversial design changes from removing headphone jacks to eliminating physical keyboards. Apple has steadily improved wireless charging capabilities. Boosting mag safe speeds from 15 watts to 25 watts with the iPhone 16 series and the company's adoption of the Qi2 standard ensures compatibility with third party wireless chargers.
Addressing potential EU concerns about the proprietary charging systems and if successful, the iPhone 17 Air could serve as the testing ground for broader wireless adoption across Apple's, smartphone lineup, potentially reshaping how consumers interact with mobile devices. we've been hearing rumors of a big change in the fall.
but All information in this story consists of unconfirmed rumors and should be treated as speculation until officially announced by Apple, Broadcom announced Sunday that it's eliminating the lowest tier of VMware's channel partner program, cutting access for thousands of resellers as the company continues streamlining operations following its $61 billion acquisition of the virtualization giant VMware's four tier channel program previously included Pinnacle, premier
Select, and registered partners. The registered tier, the entry-level partnership category is being completely retired in the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Japan regions. the company says the registered tier is being retired as the vast majority of customer impact and business momentum comes from partners operating within the top three tiers. That's according to Brian mots, Broadcom's, senior Vice President for Global Commercial Sales and Partners in Sunday's. Blog post announcement.
In addition, Laura Falco Broadcom's Head of Global Partnership Programs told the Register that the vast majority of these registered partners are inactive and lack the capabilities to support customers. Through VMware's evolving private cloud journey. Affected partners will receive 60 days notice before deauthorization, however, some long-term partners dispute the inactive characterization. Canadian managed services provider Members IT group a VMware partner for over 19 years.
Learned this week it will lose reseller status. CTO. Dean cul pits told ours, Technica, the only reason we were inactive is because of their own stupid greed. We and our customers would've happily continued even with a 10 or 20% increase in price, 50% and more with zero warning. Last year after customers already had their FY 24 budget set was the straw that broke the camel's back. but Members IT group isn't alone.
major distributor, Ingram Micro ended its VMware relationship earlier this year due to these changes. Broadcom is emphasizing its focus on VMware Cloud Foundation or VCF Broadcom's private cloud platform that combines compute, storage, and networking. Partners who remain must demonstrate higher levels of commitment and technical capabilities. But Broadcom is also raising requirements for the remaining three tiers.
Pinnacle Partners must either hold Expert Advantage Professional Services partner status for VCF deployment, or maintain a dedicated small and medium sized business practice. Both Pinnacle and Premier Partners must maintain dedicated sales and technical staff and execute joint business plans with VMware. These changes don't apply to European partners.
VMware told the Register, we don't have any program changes in Europe to announce But this exemption comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny as European trade associations have criticized Broadcom's changes and urged the European Commission to investigate the company. Gartner VP and analyst Michael Warlow told the Register, the move will benefit VMware's rivals. Broadcom seems intent on destroying what was one of the most Successful partner ecosystems in the industry.
He said These partners will rush into the waiting hands of Microsoft and Nutanix and AWS. The latest cut continues Broadcom's controversial reshaping of VMware's business model since the acquisition, including eliminating perpetual licenses and moving to subscription only models. Now some have speculated that Broadcom realizes they have a finite amount of time to recover their investment before new technologies. Or changes in the industry will change the virtualization landscape.
Others have thought of it as a more standard flip flop that has always been part of channel programs. We start with enthusiastic expansion and then we realize we've got too many partners and it's followed by Shrinkages and focus, and noting that Microsoft is also making noises about potentially culling their partners to focus on those most aligned with their strategic objectives.
and in a world where it seems that government has an unchecked access to all your information, a bright spot appears. A federal court decided with Shopify Thursday in a major privacy battle against the Canada Revenue Agency ordering the government to pay $90,000 in legal costs after the CRA failed to justify its sweeping data request.
The CRA was seeking over six years of records from Canadian Shopify merchants to verify tax compliances, demanding names, birth dates, addresses phone numbers, bank account details, and complete transaction histories. The agency also wanted to share some data with Australia's tax office and Judge Guy Régimbald rejected the request ruling that CRA had. Failed to define an identifiable group of individuals whose data it wanted.
He said, courts won't entertain requests for information on unnamed parties that are unintelligible, incoherent, or otherwise beyond its understanding. Shopify's, CEO, Toby Lutka called the CRA's behavior blatant overreach on social media, and the company argued that the merchant group was overly broad and inconsistently defined when it fought the 2023 case. The ruling now protects merchant privacy while setting a precedent requiring tax agencies to precisely define their data requests.
The CRA says it's analyzing the decision, but hasn't indicated whether it will appeal. Judge ]Régimbald ordered the CRA to pay $45,000 in legal costs for each of the two related cases, totaling $90,000. And that's our show for today. Love to hear your comments. You can write to me at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn, or if you're watching this on YouTube, just leave a comment under the video.
if you can go to buy me a coffee.com/tech podcast, that's buy me a coffee.com/tech podcast, and for the price of a cup of coffee and a donut once a month, you help us pay our bills. I am your host, Jim Love. Whether you're buying me a coffee or enjoying your own, have a wonderful Wednesday.