We explain the changes Google announced to bring its products and services in compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. Plus, Instagram announced a new feature this week that allows users to edit direct messages up to 15 minutes after sending them. And we explore the reasons why Li-Ion batteries don’t charge as well in colder climates and what can be done about it. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Mar 05, 2024•31 min•Ep 4719•Transcript available on Metacast Why is Apple Card drawing the ire of UK banks? Plus how Nigerian Fintech company Moniepoint is making inroads with consumers in the country. And how do LLMs do the things they do? Starring Tom Merritt, Nica Montford, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Mar 04, 2024•31 min•Ep 4718•Transcript available on Metacast As large social media sites and platforms make deals to provide training data to AI operators will users be negatively impacted? Plus Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman saying they have violated the company’s founding agreement. And Spotify is adding 15 hours of free audiobooks listening to its subscription plan. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Jason Howell, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Mar 01, 2024•34 min•Ep 4717•Transcript available on Metacast Stack Overflow is partnering with Google to provide AI assistance to users while Google Cloud will integrate Stack Overflow’s knowledge base into Gemini for Google Cloud. Plus complaints from consumer rights groups target Meta’s switch last year to charging users in the European Union for an ad-free subscription for access to Facebook and/or Instagram. And U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s communications when he was fired and then ...
Feb 29, 2024•29 min•Ep 4716•Transcript available on Metacast We discuss how the Video Game History Foundation’s efforts to preserve video game culture marks a new chapter in video game preservation. Plus we examine the controversy over Wendy’s new dynamically adjusted pricing menu boards. And Swedish fintech firm Klarna says its AI assistant does the work of 700 people after it lays off… 700 people. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 28, 2024•32 min•Ep 4715•Transcript available on Metacast How can the ribbontail stingray teach us how to make better less invasive coloring agents? 404 Media’s Emanuel Maiberg has a report on ghost kitchens using generated images in their menus. And According to data from Appfigures, Meta’s Threads now sees triple the daily downloads of X (formerly Twitter) on iOS globally, and sometimes more than triple the number of installs on Google Play. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Dr. Niki Ackermans, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 27, 2024•29 min•Ep 4714•Transcript available on Metacast Mobile World Congress starts this week. We look at the big announcements from Samsung, Xiaomi, HMD, Honor, and Lenovo. Plus we look at OnePlus’s latest smartwatch and why the company seems to be having a renaissance. Starring Tom Merritt, Ron Richards, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 26, 2024•31 min•Ep 4713•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when your Instagram or Threads post is labeled political? Molly Wood details her experience. And what type of reaction has Reddit received after files to go public? Plus Tom explains the two cases the Supreme Court will hear Monday that could and their ruling which will impact online speech. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Molly Wood, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 23, 2024•32 min•Ep 4712•Transcript available on Metacast Is OpenAI’s text-to-video tool, Sora, a threat to the business of making TV shows and films? Plus, Google is pausing Gemini’s generation of people in images so it can adjust the model to produce more historically accurate results. And AT&T has been dealing with widespread service issues for more than ten hours affecting millions of subscribers across the US. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Charlotte Henry, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 22, 2024•31 min•Ep 4711•Transcript available on Metacast Intel reveals its Foundry Business roadmap. Plus Apple will add PQ3 cryptographic protocol to its messaging service, which Apple believes is resistant to future attacks from quantum computers. And Apple announces a free, standalone app called Apple Sports. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 21, 2024•29 min•Ep 4710•Transcript available on Metacast Walmart announced that it will acquire TV maker Vizio in a deal valued at $2.3 billion. Plus we detail the big redesign changes YouTube is rolling out to creator channels. And what makes the iPad mini a better choice than the iPad Pro? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Lamarr Wilson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 20, 2024•28 min•Ep 4709•Transcript available on Metacast Bose has new earbuds that sit outside the ear canal instead of inside it. Plus, it turns out OpenAI’s Sora video-generating model can render video games too. And passkeys will eventually supersede passwords for digital security. What should you know about using it in daily life? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Patrick Norton, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 16, 2024•34 min•Ep 4708•Transcript available on Metacast Why is Meta clamping down on political posts and cutting back on funding for fact checking? Has the web evolved beyond the usefulness of robot.txt files to allow web crawlers? And why are people returning their Apple Vision Pros to the store? Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 15, 2024•29 min•Ep 4707•Transcript available on Metacast How did Nvidia go from gaming company to AI darling worth a total market cap just behind Apple and Microsoft? Plus how did a South African based company dethrone Netflix as top streamer on the African continent? And Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a video of his views comparing the Vision Pro to the Meta Quest 3. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 14, 2024•33 min•Ep 4706•Transcript available on Metacast Nvidia demos Chat, an AI chatbot, running locally one of the company’s RTX series GPU. Google Meet announces, “Companion Mode” which helps you reach your teammates when dialing in on mobile devices. And Memorizer is an iOS app that combines a bit of Goodreads with a bit of Trakt and some Yelp. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 13, 2024•28 min•Ep 4705•Transcript available on Metacast We do a rundown of the top four launch bugs on Samsung’s S24 smartphone. Plus the IEEE Spectrum has a report on how piezoelectric transducers can use a phone’s screen for both haptic feedback and a speaker. And Funimation announces that subscriber’s digital copies of shows and movies will go away after April 2nd. Starring Tom Merritt, Shannon Morse, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 12, 2024•30 min•Ep 4704•Transcript available on Metacast How does a small business navigate social media? How does Sam Altman plan to reshape the global semiconductor industry? And why is X pivoting towards video? Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Ant Pruitt, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 09, 2024•33 min•Ep 4703•Transcript available on Metacast ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros/Discover have agreed to a deal for a mega sports streaming service coming this Fall. Plus Singapore-based Brilliant Labs announced a pair of lightweight AR glasses called Frame, with a multimodal virtual assistant named Noa. And Google is changing the name of its AI-powered chatbot formerly known as Bard and its sister model Duet to Gemini. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 08, 2024•31 min•Ep 4702•Transcript available on Metacast Why is Xbox looking to bring some of its exclusive titles to other platforms? And Apple and scientists at UC-Santa Barbara released an open source multimodal large language model that can let users edit images using natural language. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 07, 2024•31 min•Ep 4701•Transcript available on Metacast Some owners of the Apple Vision Pro report forgetting their passcode which can disable the headset if a passcode is entered in too many times. Plus Forbes is reporting High school applicants that utilize ChatGPT for personal essays, often hire human editors to de-AI them. And Mozilla introduces a privacy monitoring service, called Mozilla Monitor Plus for $8.99 a month. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 06, 2024•31 min•Ep 4700•Transcript available on Metacast Allison is here to explain everything you need to know about wireless charging standards. Plus Amazon and Reach, the UK’s largest publisher, reach a deal to allow access to customer data for targeted advertising. And Meta’s Oversight Board ruled that a maliciously edited video of US President Joe Biden can stay on Facebook but recommends changes to the site's rules on manipulated content. Starring Tom Merritt, Allison Sheridan, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 05, 2024•29 min•Ep 4699•Transcript available on Metacast We get hands on time with the Apple Vision Pro and share our thoughts. Plus Apple releases big numbers in its Q4 earnings call. And what happened to all the music on TikTok? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Nica Montford, Terrance Gaines, Len Peralta, Eileen Rivera, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 02, 2024•37 min•Ep 4698•Transcript available on Metacast What is the Kids Online Safety Act and why is it such a contentious issue? Plus Google is bringing generative AI to Google Maps. And why is Tim Cook betting so much on the success of the Apple Vision Pro? Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Feb 01, 2024•32 min•Ep 4697•Transcript available on Metacast Blizzard gets a new president, Johanna Faries. Scott explains what her appointment means in a newly merged Microsoft Activision Blizzard company. Plus Universal Music Group, says negotiations have broken down with TikTok over royalties. And US lawmakers grill social media CEOs over the use of their platforms for facilitating child sexual abuse online. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 31, 2024•32 min•Ep 4696•Transcript available on Metacast Is Netflix’s pivot to more traditional TV fare like dramas and reality shows a threat to traditional linear TV? Plus Apple Has Sold Approximately 200,000 Vision Pro Headsets. And TikTok’s effort to separate US data from China by putting it and a US-version of TikTok’s algorithm in an Oracle-run data center is running into issues. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Charlotte Henry, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 30, 2024•32 min•Ep 4695•Transcript available on Metacast Chris Ashley shares his thoughts you need to be aware of before you invest in a power generator for emergency situations. Plus Amazon gives up on acquiring Roomba-maker iRobot. And the Browser Company has a new iOS app out, called Arc Search. Starring Tom Merritt, Chris Ashley, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 29, 2024•33 min•Ep 4694•Transcript available on Metacast Explicit deep fake images and videos of Taylor Swift have flooded X, raising questions about a legal framework around deep fakes and issues with X’s current explicit content filtering system. And Google updated the Pixel 8 Pro this week to allow for a new body temperature sensor feature. Plus Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 in China but instead of using Google’s Gemini models, it’s using Baidu’s Ernie. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Shannon Morse, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 26, 2024•33 min•Ep 4693•Transcript available on Metacast What kind of tech do you need if you want to be a fulltime Van Lifer? Plus in response to the EU’s DMA, Apple will allow alternative app stores for the iPhone and iPad. And Google announced Lumiere on Tuesday, an AI video generator it’s calling “a space-time diffusion model for realistic video generation”. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Kevin Pereira, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 25, 2024•32 min•Ep 4692•Transcript available on Metacast Why is Palworld so popular with gamers and why has it stirred so much controversy? Plus we analyze a recent FT article on Apple's AI strategy. And Amazon will its policy of allowing police to ask for Ring footage publicly instead requiring a search warrant be submitted instead. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 24, 2024•31 min•Ep 4691•Transcript available on Metacast Netflix and the WWE announce a 10-year deal to bring Monday Night Raw to the streaming service. Plus HP’s CEO gives a curious reason as to why it blocks third-party ink cartridges. And is China doing a U-turn on its videogame addiction crackdown? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Jan 23, 2024•31 min•Ep 4690•Transcript available on Metacast 
