Apple Watch X Next Year-Big Changes; Zuck Musk Cage Match Cancelled-Shocking; Threads Use Drops 79%; Social Media Influencers-Watch for Counterfeit Goods

Posted: August 14, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

From all leaks and rumors, the next Apple Watch out in September will be another minor upgrade…but it looks like in 2024, we may get significant improvements. Appleinsider.com reports that the Apple Watch X…and most are calling it that since Apple used that designation for the 10th anniversary iPhone…will have magnetic attaching bands instead of the slots…which will free up significant room for a bigger battery or other upgrades. It is also rumored to have a thinner design…made possible by the additional space gained by losing the slots. Apple watchers will have to keep an eye peeled for new patents. I expect them to call the new system Mag-something, to go with their MagSafe charging system, marketing-wise.

Fight fans, and tech magnate haters worldwide are crushed, but it looks now like the much-hyped Mark Zuckerberg-Elon Musk cage match is off. In a series of posts on Threads, Meta CEO Zuckerberg said he was done talking about the fight because Musk never got “serious” about it. Lately, Musk has claimed he needed surgery before he could fight. Despite all the b.s. and taunting online, Musk has never agreed to a date or location. Zuckerberg did leave the door open a crack, according to arstechnica.com. He said he might still be game if Musk properly trains. Zuck has been doing serious MMA training for 2 years. 

Threads usage has apparently fallen off by some 79% in one month. It is now down to just over 10 million…from a high of almost 50 million in early July. Zdnet.com says the numbers were crunched by analytics firm Similarweb. This sounds pretty terrible, but considering that we reported last week that Twitter had lost quite a few users from May to August, it doesn’t seem all that bad. It remains to be seen if the usage will pick back up when the Meta owned platform gets a desktop or browser based version, and search that actually works…which we have been promised are coming in weeks.

Social media influencers are quite a phonom…but with apparently following their lead isn’t always so beneficial. Thenextweb.com reports that a new study by Portsmouth University of some 2,000 people in the UK found that around 22% had bought goods recommended by influencers that turned out to be counterfeits. According to the study, people between 16 and 13 years old are three times as likely to purchase endorsed counterfeits as those aged 34 to 60. Males, meanwhile, accounted for 70% of all the buyers. In retail, it has always been caveat emptor…let the buyer beware…and more so on the internet…but apparently even more than that when it comes to influencer-endorsed stuff.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

TikTok Creators Must Disclose AI Generated content; New Features coming to Threads This Week; ‘X’ CEO Says Video Calls Are coming; Disney Cracking Down on Plus Password Sharing

Posted: August 10, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Although they have yet to announce it publicly, TikTok now lets you add AI-generated content labels to your videos…AND warns that you MUST disclose AI-generated content…or risk having the content taken down. Zdnet.com reports that users can toggle the AI-generated label option when  uploading a video that includes AI content. It appears that for now, the feature is only available to a limited number of users while TikTok tests it out. Instagram is also working on a label for AI-generated content. 

Meta’s answer to Twitter, Threads, is getting new features this week. That’s the word from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. According to theverge.com, new features include the ability to share a Threads post to your Instagram DMs, a way to add custom alt text to photos and videos that you include in posts, and a new “mention button” that lets you “easily mention someone’s account in your Thread.” These are nice to have, but we’re still waiting on the ones that really count…a web browser based version and search that searches content and doesn’t just surface user accounts. As we reported earlier, Zuck has promised those in the next few weeks. 

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X…the app formerly known as Twitter, has revealed that video chat is coming to the platform. Engadget.com notes she was quoted as saying “Soon you’ll be able to make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform.” It isn’t clear how X video calls would fill a burning need for consumers: The crowded video-chat landscape already includes Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Apple FaceTime and more. But as Musk and Yaccarino try to reshape the company, they increasingly view the platform formerly known as Twitter as expanding far beyond tweets into a real-time town square for various media, communications and payments. Yaccarino also said that the platform is close to being in the black…even with users down from over 30 million in May to around 9 million last month. They are also auctioning off ‘Twitter memorabilia.’ That sounds like selling off the furniture and fixtures to pay the bills, but yeah…it’s nearly profitable!

It hasn’t been that long since Netflix brought their password sharing ban to the US…and it initially hurt, then seemed to help the platform. Now, DisneyPlus is joining the party. In addition to looming price hikes for Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN, Disney has announced that it will be instituting a password ban like Netflix, maybe as early as the first of next year. Bgr.com reports that CEO Bob Iger has said that password sharing is ‘significant’ and that they already have the ability to track it. Iger seems intent on squeezing every nickel out of Disney customers, like he was squeezing a nickel until the buffalo poops. Get used to paying more for Disney streaming services, visiting the parks, and all the rest. Hey, ‘magic’ doesn’t come cheap!

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Techinified’ for now.

Apple Can Keep App Store Rules-For Now; YouTube Will Break Home Feeds If You Turn Off Watch History; Big Slack Redesign; BlueJeans Shuts Down

Posted: August 9, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Apple has gotten a reprieve with regards to changing App Store rules…at least for now. The Supreme Court will let them keep the status quo while the appeal of their case with Epic Games is considered by the high court. Macrumors.com reports that Apple’s anti-steering rules prevent developers from directing customers to make purchases for digital goods outside of the ‌App Store‌. In the Epic vs. Apple case that started in 2020, the judge decided that Apple should change its ‌App Store‌ rules to allow developers to direct customers to purchasing mechanisms outside of the ‌App Store‌, which paves the way for alternate payment methods. Nope…Apple isn’t interested in losing any of that 30% cut they skim off the top from every single paid app in the store. Apple has 90 days to file with the Supremes, and won’t need to change its rules until the Supreme Court decides on whether to hear the case. 

Apparently YouTube really, really wants to kind about everything you’re watching. So much, that if you turn off your watch history, the Home tab won’t show any videos at all…not from your subscription, not from trending…nothing. According to bgr.com, you will get an alert that says “Your watch history is off. You can change your setting at any time to get the latest videos tailored to you.” Google says that it is rolling out this change over the next few months, so you may still have a home feed for a little while before it is taken away from you (if you have your watch history turned off, of course).

Slack is preparing to unveil its biggest ever redesign. The Salesforce platform hopes that the changes will make things easier to find and manage on the sprawling app. Theverge.com says that many of the changes are designed for the heaviest slack users. Chief Product Officer Noah Weiss says “for end users, you end up having to switch to all these different workspaces just to see channel activity, the mentions you have, the threads you’re part of, and so on.” The redesign was all about making Slack a little easier to maneuver. When the app first opens, you well get a Home section that looks much like the present interface. Frankly, those that have seen the interface say it looks a lot like Microsoft’s Teams. What we need…another Teams! 

After dumping hundreds of millions into it during the pandemic, Verizon has decided to shutter BlueJeans. We had used the Zoom wannabe, and it worked fine. In fact, it played more nicely with Safari and Firefox for me than Zoom…which seems to prefer Chrome…at least on my Mac. Techcruch.com reports that Verizon is killing the app quote “due to the changing market landscape.” Of course the use is way down since a lot of people are back in the office, at least a couple days a week. Zoom and Google Hangouts use is down too…but BlueJeans never really got the traction. Basic and free trial tiers will be turned off August 31st. BlueJeans will continue to operate for other users until December. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Zoom Reverses on AI After Uproar; iPhone 15 Launch Date; Another Amazon Prime Day Coming; Google Search Gets Grammar Checker

Posted: August 8, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

We had just reported on…and ranted about…Zoom’s new policy allowing them to train AI on your customer data…and smiling mug in video calls. Well now, engadget.com reports that there has been a big enough blowback, that Zoom has decided to reverse the policy…at least for now. It will ask for customer consent to use your video or audio chats to train its AI, however. This will require them to present you with two consent boxes before joining a meeting…the one we have all been checking to join the meeting, and another granting or denying permission to train their AI on your data. It’s not a giant victory, but as we noted in the earlier report, this is your face and voice we are talking about here!

We just had written about a rumor that Apple will be holding the iPhone 15 rollout on Wednesday, September 13th. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reveals that he’s been told the iPhone will go on sale on September 22nd, and that the event will be either Tuesday September 12th or Wednesday September 13th. This the usual time of year for Apple’s phone event, although they did one as early as the 7th one year, and delayed until October once due to COVID. So if you are an Apple fanboy or fangirl, block out both September 12th and 13th for now…we’ll post the official date as soon as Apple puts out one of their trademark cryptic invites.

Yeah, we just had a Prime Day, and Amazon did do a fall one during the pandemic. Well now, the online giant is planning an additional one in October. Androidpolice.com says it is getting a slight re-branding…it will be called Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. Amazon hasn’t given us an exact date yet, but you can bet when they do, they will hype the hell out of it for weeks…so you won’t be able to miss the date!

Google just introduced a feature that lets you check your grammar right in the search bar. A lot of folks need this. In case you hadn’t noticed that, YOU are probably one of them! Mashable.com reports that you just enter a sentence or phrase into Google Search, followed with the word: “grammar check” or “check grammar” or “grammar checker”. Sometimes these phrases aren’t even needed, but using them will ensure that the tool will pop up. If the phrase entered is correct, Google will present a green check mark. Easy…so use it!

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now

Zoom To Train AI Using Customer Data; TikTok European Users Can Opt Out of Personalized Feeds; Threads Getting Web Version & Search Soon; X Can’t Send Blue Subscribers Revenue Share On Time

Posted: August 7, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Zoom has updated its terms of service, and buried in the new document there is a clause that establishes Zoom’s right to utilize some aspects of customer data for training and tuning its AI, or machine learning models. Not that this is an uncommon occurrence for companies lately, but it indicates that Zoom is jumping into using artificial intelligence with both feet. Cnbc.com reports that ‘the update comes amid growing public debate on the extent to which AI services should be trained on individuals’ data, no matter how aggregated or anonymized it’s said to be. Chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing, along with image-generation tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, are trained on swaths of internet text or images.’ A somewhat disconcerting wrinkle with Zoom is, in my opinion, that they will have hours of video of your face if you don’t block your camera. With all the talk of AI being able to use prior video and audio by actors, voice artists, TV  and radio personalities, this is a pretty disconcerting move by Zoom. 

The TikTok ‘For You’ page is about to get a little less ‘you.’ According to Mashable.com, users in Europe will be able to opt-out from the personalized algorithm based feed. TikTok is doing this to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act. The DSA requires “very large social media platforms” including TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to give users the option not to receive personalized recommendations. It also mandates that platforms are more transparent about content moderation, so TikTok will inform users about more content moderation decisions than it did previously. The DSA also imposes a ban on advertising targeted at children, so users under 18 will no longer see personalized ads on TikTok.

In the next few weeks, Meta owned Threads will be getting a web version and a search function…two of the most requested features. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement. Engadget.com points out that you can search right now, but the only result os other accounts…you can’t search for posts. The app has already updated with a chronological feed and built-in translations. The app initially rocketed to 100 million users, but then dropped off dramatically. Meta expects a lot of those original accounts to return to the app once the desktop version and search are live. 

X, the app formerly known as Twitter, apparently hasn’t been able to make promised ad revenue-sharing payouts on time. Theverge.com reports that the Musk-owned platform is blaming the volume of people signing up. Considering that they still haven’t paid severance claimed due by laid off employees, the late paying shouldn’t be a surprise. On top of this, Musk posted that he would pay the legal bills of any subscriber who posted something and got fired due to that post on X. A few talking head attorneys on TV have said that may qualify as a binding contract…and a pretty wide open one. That said, with his history of paying people, I wouldn’t hold my breath on anyone getting their legal fees paid!

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now!

Apple Watch Colors; Russian Hackers Used Teams; YouTube Tests AI Feature- Summarizes Videos; IRS Will Digitize All Tax Docs by 2025

Posted: August 3, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A lot of rumors have been out for months about the iPhone 15 series about to be revealed, but not as much on the Watch has been floating around. Now, 9to5mac.com reports that there may be a couple new colors. For Watch Series 9, there may be a new ‘pink’ option…we should dub that the Barbie Watch perhaps! The Apple Watch Ultra 2 will allegedly be available in a new black titanium color. These rumors came from ShrimpApplePro on Twitter (now X). Shrimp has leaked accurate info before. We do know the Watch will finally get a new, better processor. That comes from Bloomberg. The Watch hasn’t had processor upgrade since version 6, so by version 9, it is more than due for one.

Russian hackers apparently posed as tech support for Microsoft Teams and were able to compromise dozens of global organizations…including government agencies! According to TechCrunch,com, Microsoft security researchers said on Wednesday that the “highly targeted” social engineering campaign was carried out by a Russian state-sponsored hacking group tracked by Microsoft as “Midnight Blizzard,” but more commonly known as APT29 or Cozy Bear. The group, which was linked to the infamous SolarWinds attack in 2020, is part of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, according to U.S. and U.K. law enforcement agencies. The attacks started in late May. They sent message requests trying to get users to grant approval for multi-factor authentication, to gain access to user accounts. Microsoft says it has mitigated the damage, but is still investigating. 

YouTube is test driving a tool that will automatically generate video summaries using AI. Mashable.com notes that the summaries “do not replace video descriptions (which are written by creators!)”. What the short descriptions are intended for is to make it easier for you to read a quick summary about a video and decide if it’s something you want to commit to watching. YouTube also just announced testing of feature that lets mobile users create Shorts featuring comments posted on videos…can you say imitating TikTok? 

Crawling their way into this century, the IRS, which has notoriously old and creaky computer systems…probably some still running Cobol or Fortran…says it will allow taxpayers to go 100% paperless for the upcoming 2024 filing season. Not only that, but Arstechnica.com reports that by 2025, the feds will still accept paper documents but will immediately digitize them, which they say will “cut processing times in half” and “expedite refunds by several weeks.” The IRS still receives some 76 million paper returns and 125 million pieces of correspondence, notice responses, and non-tax forms a year, so digitizing will accelerate things for taxpayers considerably. The digitizing should also help the feds to audit wealthy tax evaders….it will be something if they can get those folks to pay their fair share.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

X (Twitter) Now Allowing Hiding of Checkmarks; Amazon Makes Fresh Deliveries Available to Non-Prime Members; Meta in EU Has to Get User Consent for Targeted Ads; Discord on Xbox to Allow Streaming Your Gameplay

Posted: August 2, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The app formerly known as Twitter, now X, has started letting paid users hide their verification checkmarks. Techcrunch.com reports that even if you hide it, the platform warns on a help page that it might be visible some places and quote ‘some features could still reveal you have an active subscription.’ X goes on to say some features may not be available while your checkmark is hidden. So basically, pay Elon $8 a month, then hide that fact to go stealth…or because you’re embarrassed. 

Amazon is now letting non-Prime members order grocery deliveries from its Fresh stores. As of today, customers in Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, and 9 other US cities can order online from Amazon Fresh stores and warehouses. According to Bloomberg, Amazon plans to roll out the ability to order for non-Prime users by the end of the year. Up to now, you have had to pony up the $139 a year for a Prime membership to order. Non-Prime users won’t have some of the same benefits as Prime subscribers, however. They’ll still have to pay anywhere from $7.95 to $13.95 for grocery delivery fees, which is about $4 more than the typical fee for Prime members. 

Meta has knuckled under from pressure by the European Union and will seek user consent for targeted ads. Thenextweb.com says that the platform will soon offer EU users the chance to opt in for the ads. Since April, EU users have been able to opt out, but that took filling out a lengthy form on its help pages. Opt in would give users protection by default. Note that this won’t affect generalized ads based on broader demographic data, but will prevent ones based on for example, the videos you watch or posts you share. 

Microsoft has improved Xbox and Discord integration. Xbox users will soon be able to stream their gameplay from a console to Discord users, allowing friends to watch them play games, or even offer advice for boss battles or solving problems. Theverge.com reports that the new feature is starting to roll out to Xbox Insiders and should be available to all users in the next few months. it’s all built into the Parties & Chats section of the dashboard. A new “stream your game” option will appear once you’re connected to a Discord server, with settings to customize the stream. Unfortunately, this is only a one-way stream, so you still won’t be able to view streams from friends who are broadcasting on Discord. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

Twitter (X) Sues Nonprofit; Google to ‘Supercharge’ Assistant with AI; Samsung’s Apparently Humongous SmartTags; Nintendo Aims for Next Gen Console in 2024

Posted: August 1, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Elon Musk’s X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, has sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate, according to Bloomberg. The Musk company had sent a threatening letter to the nonprofit on July 20th, after the Center published a research article in June asserting that X allowed explicitly racist and homophobic posts despite policies to the contrary, even after they’d been reported. X responded that the CCDH used poor methodology, and failed to study all 500 million posts on the service each day. It also maintained that the Center was taking funding from competitors or foreign governments as part of an “ulterior agenda,” according to The New York Times.  In a letter published earlier today, the CCDH countered Twitter’s earlier allegations. It noted that it never claimed to be conducting a comprehensive study, and documented the methodology it did use. It wrote that X didn’t provide any specific examples, and said it doesn’t accept funding from companies or governments.

Google is working on ‘supercharging’ its assistant with power from large language model tech, or LLM. This is essentially another way of saying AI. 9to5google.com reports that Google is saying it recognizes the “strong desire for assistive, conversational technology that can improve their lives” from end users. Google further says it is ‘deeply committed to Assistant, and quote  “we are optimistic about its bright future ahead.”

Samsung didn’t show its Galaxy SmartTag 2 at their recent event, but some information has been spotted at the FCC. Arstechnica.com says it isn’t a square shaped Tile clone like version one, but a flat, pill-shaped gadget with a HUGE key ring hole at the top. It looks from the diagram like a cigar cutter. How huge is the key ring hole? Nearly the size of an Apple AirTag…which makes the SmartTag 2 practically double the size of an AirTag. Just like the Galaxy SmartTag+, this device will come with UWB (ultra-wideband) tracking, which will help locate the device when it’s nearby. When it’s far away, you will rely on the device’s smartphone network. As far as a launch for the SmartTag 2, no date has been rumored or confirmed so far.

It is looking like Nintendo will be unveiling its next-gen console in the second half of 2024. Development kits are now with key partner studios, according to some sources. Videogameschronicle.com reports that details are limited, but that the next-gen console could launch with an LCD screen, not the more upscale OLED, and that it will be able to be used in portable mode. The cheaper screen is purely to keep costs down. The unit will reportedly also accept physical games via a cartridge slot. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

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