How is YouTube expanding its efforts to stop ad blocker use on YouTube? Plus we take a closer look at why Humane AI pins have been poorly received. And we explain the buzz around the audio based social media platform, Airchat. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Adobe is integrating generative models for Adobe Premiere, its video editor. Plus after Apple made changes to its App Store policy allowing emulators, the company booted off its first emulator iGBA. And Samsung has taken its crown back as the leader in global smartphone shipments. Starring Tom Merritt, Nica Montford, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Tech layoffs have been a common occurrence over the past several months. But what is it like after you’ve been laid off and where do you go from there? Plus OpenTable is informing members that all reviews on the platform will now show members’ profile pictures and first names starting May 22nd. And a roundup of the latest Chatbot stories. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Nicole Lee, Veronica Belmont, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
The first round of reviews for Humane’s AI Pin have been published. We parse out what reviewers had to say. Plus Instagram announced a new safety feature that will automatically blur out nude images sent via direct message on the platform. And how is anti-deepfake porn legislation bringing together lawmakers from across the political spectrum. Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Microsoft has plans for new Xbox hardware. Plus Blizzard announces its games will return to mainland China in summer 2024 after signing a new deal. And after EU legislation forced Google, MS, and Apple to make it easier for users to switch to rival browsers, independent browser companies have seen a spike in users. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Android’s enhanced Find My Device network was rolled out yesterday. What can it do and what do you need to use it? Plus we share the big news from Google’s Next conference in Las Vegas today. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Ron Richards, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Ford delays its EV rollout and refocuses on hybrids as public interest in EV ownership wanes. What’s going on? Plus Apple’s new app guidelines allows for game emulators and in the EU music apps can take users to an external website. Starring Sarah Lane, Chris Ashley, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Google Podcasts is no more. What are your options? Plus OpenAI CTO Mira Murati wouldn’t confirm if its Sora model was trained on any data from YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. And Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the company will begin its password-sharing crackdown in June. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Tasia Custode, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We share long time supporter Craig Porter’s insight into the connectivity and internet situation in the Antarctic. Plus Social Media service X is doling out free blue checks to users that have more than 2500 premium followers. And how do you determine if you actually need a VPN? Patrick Norton is here to explain. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Patrick Norton, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Microsoft is testing an AI chatbot for Xbox support services, but has bigger plans for the technology. Plus Stable Audio 2.0 now lets users upload their own audio samples to create text-prompt AI-generated songs. And we discuss what impacts yesterday’s earthquake in Taiwan has on chip production and why Threads is suddenly so popular in the island nation. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Scientists from Trinity college Dublin published a paper in the journal PLOS ONE that found that some people perceive more images per second than others. Plus Yahoo and Artifact jointly announced Tuesday that Yahoo will buy Artifact, an AI-generated news aggregation and recommendation app. And why does the New York Times consider games like World and Connections new classified section? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Microsoft and OpenAI are jointly working on a data center featuring an AI supercomputer named “Stargate”. Plus what’s the current status on that legislative bill to force ByteDance to sell TikTok or block its use in the US? And a backdoor was found in a widely-used compression program called XZ Utils for Linux and Unix-style OSs by Microsoft developer named Andres Freund. Starring Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
In a recent study China pulls ahead of the US when it comes to developing AI talent. What is AI talent and what skills do you need to become one? Plus The Drive reports the Old Westbury Police Department in NY state is using GPS trackers embedded in foam darts with sticky glue on them fired from special launchers on police vehicles. Four school boards in Ontario, Canada are suing Meta, Snap and ByteDance for $4.5 billion, alleging their products negatively affect children. Starring Tom Merritt, ...
Is a recent half-a-billion plus donation to Future of Life Institute, an AI think tank, set the stage for AI regulation? Plus why are Intel’s and Microsoft’s idea of what constitutes an AI PC confusing? And Google announced it’s rolling out an update to its Search Generative Experience (SGE). Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe Link to the Show Notes ....
What does Microsoft’s Phil Spencer think is happening to the video gaming business? Plus Disney officially adds Hulu as a category inside of Disney+. And why are Apple users getting dozens of password reset notifications? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We discuss the emergent capability of generative video LLM as a world simulator. What does it mean and what can it do? Plus we examine David Pierce’s The Verge article called “Here’s why AI search engines really can’t kill Google.” And online design company Canva will acquire professional design software company Affinity. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Andrew Mayne, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
How are game microtransactions infuriating game players and why might we see more of them in the future? Plus Spotify is testing a fourth category of content alongside music, podcasts and books; online courses. And did Microsoft’s Phil Spencer hint about a future handheld Xbox? Starring Tom Merritt, Trisha Hershberger, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Are robotaxis facing a losing war in gaining broad public acceptance? Nicole shares her experience riding in them and what she thinks needs to be done. Plus seven US researchers have identified a new side-channel attack called “GoFetch” that impacts Apple M1, M2, and M3 processors. And OpenAI pitches its technology to film studios and directors. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Nicole Lee, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Microsoft announces new Surface PCs for Business with Copilot integration. Plus Neuroscience startup Neuralink live-streamed an interview Wednesday with 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, the first person to be implanted with Neuralink’s brain-computer interface. And the US Department of Justice files a lawsuit against Apple for monopolistic behavior. Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Unity’s 2024 Unity Gaming Report notes an increase in multiplatform game development. What’s behind this trend and is it good for the industry? Plus Meta’s Peter Cottle shows off a brief demo of how users can eventually connect their accounts and posts to the Fediverse through Threads. And Ubisoft revealed at GDC that it has been developing an NPC that uses Large Language Models to have more realistic conversations with players. Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Patrick Beja, Roger Chang, Joe...
Meta is reducing the fee for EU users to €5.99 a month plus €4 for additional accounts to assuage regulators' concerns about economic coercion. Plus we share the highlights from Nvidia’s keynote at its GTC developer conference. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
How has GDC 2024 pivoted to meet the needs of laid off game developers. Plus why has Sony paused the manufacture of its PlayStation VR2 headset? And Bloomberg reports sources say Apple and Alphabet are in negotiations to use Google Gemini for some AI services in a future version of iOS. Starring Tom Merritt, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Ars Technica posted a story on Thursday called “Hackers can read private AI-assistant chats even though they’re encrypted.” Which Chatbots are affected and what should users do about it? Plus Walmart begins selling Macs for the first time! And The US Supreme Court will hear the case of Murthy vs. Missouri on Monday. At issue is whether it is a violation of free speech protections for the US government to directly call out social media posts it thinks are harmful or misinformation. Starring Tom M...
Will the US Congress pass a bill forcing the sale of TikTok? How is Google’s artificial intelligence-powered search engine, Search Generative Experience, impacting publisher’s ad revenue? Hugo Barra, former VP of Android and head of Meta’s phased-out Oculus headset brand, has some thoughts about Apple’s Vision Pro. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Sea of Thieves briefly took the top spot for PS5 game pre-orders Monday. Is this that Microsoft’s new Xbox strategy is paying off? Plus Google DeepMind researchers trained a model that’s learned to play multiple 3D games like a human. And a team of researchers at the University of Chicago say they’ve figured out a way to hack into Meta Quest headsets without the user knowing. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Ray-Ban’s Meta glasses has updated the visual search feature to recognize landmarks and describe them. Plus a startup called Empathy is looking to simplify the process of closing a deceased person’s affairs. And a nurse in the UK used an Apple Vision Pro during a spinal surgery to identify instruments and processes as a double check on accuracy. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Covariant launched RFM-1 (Robotics Foundation Model 1) a “large language model (LLM), but for robot language.” Plus did the Princess of Wales, aka “Kate” photoshop a picture of herself with her three children? And why are tablet sized handheld gaming machines rising in popularity? Starring Tom Merritt, Shannon Morse, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Patrick is here to explain what you should expect to pay for your next GPU upgrade. Plus what will a solar eclipse mean for solar power? And what effect did the pandemic have on Netflix and the increase in the number of comedy specials? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Patrick Norton, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
What does the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” mean for TikTok and other foreign owned social media platforms? Plus Robinhood, a commission-free investment platform has partnered with sports agency Klutch Sports to expand its reach into sports, entertainment and media. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Scott goes over all the games revealed at Xbox’s partner showcase. Plus, Apple terminated Epic’s developer account thwarting its plans to bring a third-party App Store to iOS in Europe. What happens next? And OpenAI published an open letter Tuesday in response to Elon Musk’s legal claims that OpenAI reneged in its non-profit mission to help humanity. Is this just drama or is something else afoot? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
