The FBI accuses Iran of launching cyber operations against both U.S. presidential campaigns, Apple will make its highest-end iPhones in India for the first time, and Zoom has raised support on webinar calls from 100,000 to 1 million simultaneous viewers. Link to Show Notes
Welcome to "Behind The Data". We all know that data is all around us -- it powers every algorithm, predictive model, and AI tool that is revolutionizing our lives. But where does it come from? Who collected it? How do we know if it's any good? For every dataset shaping our lives, there is a person or team making impactful decisions about what to track and how to track it that we are barely talking about. In this show we go behind the data to understand the stories and incentives behind how all t...
What can businesses do to be more resilient against future CrowdStrike like outages? Plus Fortnite is available again for iOS in the EU and for Android worldwide. And over 2.7 billion data records with Social Security numbers were leaked onto a hacking forum. Should you be worried? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Steve Zalewski, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, recants his view that remote work policies are hindering Google’s AI competitiveness. But does he mean it? Plus Google is expanding the rollout of its generated summaries for search results, called “AI Overviews.” And the New England Journal Brian-Computer Interface (BCI) developed by scientists at the University of California, Davis. Starring Sarah Lane, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
The US DOJ is considering asking a judge to break up Google. Apple announced support for access to the iPhone’s NFC chip in iOS 18.1. And Valve confirms SteamOS support for Asus’s ROG Ally handheld gaming PC. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes .
We detail all the highlights from today’s Made By Google event including the new Pixel 9 hardware, AI services and Pixel Watch 3!. Plus some folks are mad that The Verge published screenshots from Valve’s unannounced game. And Password manager Dashlane shared its first Passkey Report. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Jason Howell, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We explain the hack of the Trump campaign by an foreign state actor and the possible threat to US elections. Justin explains how to find out who’s really soliciting donations on behalf of a electoral campaign. And the Verge’s Sean Hollister explains the limitations of the PSVR2 PC adapter. Starring Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
David Spark is here to give us the highlights from this year’s Black Hat security conference. Plus Apple reveals a fee structure for apps that link to outside websites for purchase in the EU. And eVTOL air taxi startup Archer Aviation hopes to have its service up and running in Los Angeles by 2026. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, David Spark, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We do a deep dive into AlphaFold 3 and how its impact on scientific research with Dr Niki. Plus The Financial Times reports that Google worked with Meta to roll out ads that targeted children, despite violating Google’s own rules. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Dr. Niki Ackermans, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Reddit plans to experiment with search result summaries generated by Large Language Models. CrowdStrike details what caused the Falcon Sensor bug to crash Windows machines around the world. And the Borderlands movie releases in the US this Friday. Is this a sign that the game has made it, or are movie adaptations an unneeded distraction? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Google announces the TV Streamer, a replacement for the 11-year old Chromecast device. Plus we have the latest on Uber's autonomous car ride-hailing service. And what does Google loss in the DOJ’s big monopoly trial over search business mean for the company? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
As Nvidia runs into delays producing its next-gen Blackwell B200 chips and startup AI chip competitor Groq lands new funding some investors are questioning if generative AI is really ready for primetime. Plus OpenAI is looking into watermarking content produced by ChatGPT and we pick our favorite new tech product from the headlines. Starring Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Details about Google’s new Pixel phones and watch have already leaked. What do we know about the Pixel 9 hardware and why does Google have so many leaks? Plus Suno has admitted its generative music AI model was trained on copyrighted songs scraped from the Internet but that it’s protected under fair-use. And we take a look at Apple’s Q3 earnings report. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Ron Richards, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
The Kids Online Safety Act or KOSA, and the Children Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) has been passed by the US Senate. What’s in these two bills and what do they mean for online platforms that target teens and youth? Plus Reddit CEO Steve Huffman wants Microsoft and others to pay to scrape data from the site. And Google introduces new Gemini-powered tools for Chrome desktop like Lens for desktop, natural language integration for search history and more! Starring Sarah Lane, Just...
Why are Xbox sales dropping and is it intentional? How can you keep your games when the digital store that sells them closes up? Plus can an AI powered pendant keep you from feeling lonely. And Intel and Ryzen release their CoPilot+ ready processors. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Apple bringing RCS to iPhone with iOS 18 is a win for folks who send cross-platform messages. But how will businesses benefit? Brett Rounsaville is here to explain. Plus Amazon expands its Fast Delivery service into rural areas. And neurotech startup Synchron revealed it’s successfully interfaced its brain implant to the Apple Vision Pro. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Brett Rounsaville, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Apple delayed the roll out of its Apple Intelligence until iOS 18.1 update in October. Plus Synology’s BeeStation hopes to streamline the data backup process for users who don’t want to be a part-time sysadmin. And Microsoft reveals more details about the CrowdStrike crash. Starring Tom Merritt, Nica Montford, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Wil Harris is here to explain how he cleared out the bugs from his latest website update. Plus will OpenAI’s SearchGPT be the search tool to unthrone Google’s reign? And how is X using your data to train its Chatbot Grok? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Wil Harris, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Elon Musk is asking Tesla shareholders to invest $5 billion into his newest startup, xAI. Meta’s Oversight board deems the company’s rules are “not sufficiently clear” in preventing sexually explicit AI-generated images of real people, calling for changes. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
241 Bethesda game developers unionized last Friday. Is this sign of more unionization efforts in the gaming industry? Plus CrowdStrike releases more information about its faulty update that brought systems to a halt. And Stability AI introduces a new generative video model called Stable Video 4D. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We look at a number of pet health tech startups that are innovating the way we take care of our four-legged companions. Plus Google has decided not to deprecate third party cookies in the Google Chrome browser. And Amazon has sold more than 500 million Alexa-enabled hardware devices with a new paid-tier version coming out soon. What’s in store for this venerable Amazon device? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Cate Lawrence, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
The summer season is here and if you’re traveling to a fan convention or a vacation getaway, Trisha Hershberger has some tips on tech to bring with you to make the most of your experience. Plus the reviews for ASUS’s ROG Ally X are out. What do the critics like and not like about the company’s latest handheld gaming PC. And we have a roundup of stories on the effects of last week's CrowdStrike outage. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Trisha Hershberger, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ...
Iyaz is here with a review of Samsung’s flagship foldable Galaxy Z Fold 6. And We explain what happened with a CrowdStrike bug that crippled PCs around the world. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Where can you stream the Olympics and how are companies bundling their streaming options to make the most of it? Plus how are consumer protection laws conflicting with the roll out of AI? And Instagram will help research to determine if the service is bad for teen health. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Charlotte Henry, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Are advertisements in video games, leading to a revolt of video gamers and dislike of in-game marketing? Plus The UK has become the first European country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat. And has Montana Technologies’ AirJoule cooling system the future of air conditioning? Starring Tom Merritt, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
How did an international team of scientists create a 3D representation of a Woolly Mammoth? Plus the Bird Buddy smart bird feeder gets an AI update. And the reviews are out for Xreal’s “Real Beam Pro” the android device designed to complement the company’s AR glasses. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Dr. Nicole Ackermans, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We get more details on AMD’s Ryzen 5 Ryzen 9000 and AI 300 processors. Plus Google is allegedly looking to acquire security startup Wiz. And did AT&T pay off the attacker responsible for a data breach last Friday to delete customer data and what does that mean for potential future data breaches? Starring Tom Merritt, Shannon Morse, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
Michael Wolf is here to explain how AI is shaking up the food business. Plus scientists have created a spacesuit that will recycle astronaut urine into drinkable water during spacewalks. And the Amazon shopping assistant chatbot, Rufus, is now available to US customers in the Amazon mobile app. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Michael Wolf, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
CNN has revealed its new digital strategy. What does it entail and can it shore up the network’s flagging viewership numbers? Plus Google and Apple launch a tool to transfer images from Google Photos to iCloud. And IDC says Apple’s Vision Pro won’t pass the 500,000 units sold last year. Is Vision Pro running out of steam? Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
We breakdown all the announcements made today at Samsung’s July 2024 Galaxy Unpacked Event including the latest Galaxy Fold, Flip, Watch, Ring and AI! Plus we discuss the latest design from Chinese PC maker Linglong. A foldable keyboard that’s also a PC. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Huyen Tue Dao, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes ....
