New Nvidia AI Audio Model Synthesizes Never-Heard Sounds; Threads Tests Users Choosing Own Default Feed; iPhone 17 Slim-Too Thin for SIM Tray; Raw Milk in CA Recalled-Bird Flu Virus

Posted: November 26, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In some respects, AI has stalled out right now, but there are still discoveries and advances being made. Arstechnica.com reports that Nvidia has a new AI audio model that can synthesize sounds that have never existed. A couple included a ‘screaming’ saxophone, and an ‘angry’ ‘cello. The AI can also mix voices and sounds together in a new mashup. The model, called Fugatto, isn’t available for public testing yet, but Nvidia has a sample-filled website that shows off some possibilities for you. They describe the audio AI as a ’Swiss Army knife for sound.’ 

Threads is feeling the heat from quickly growing upstart Bluesky. Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg posted that Threads is testing the option to let users choose their own default feed…like Bluesky. In fact, you can have multiple feeds on Bluesky…I have a default of people I follow and 3 others. According to theverge.com, Threads will let you choose from For You, Following, or any custom feed that you have set up. Right now, they are still testing it out, but Zuck said they will make the choice ‘more visible’ in the app soon. 

New details about the upcoming iPhone Slim…or Air, or whatever they end up calling it. Appleinsider.com says it will be so slim, it won’t be able to have a tray for SIM cards. This is not an issue in the US, where all iPhones use eSIM, the no-card alternative to a physical SIM card, but in a number of countries they still use physical SIM cards. One of those countries is China, which uses a name-registration system. eSims don’t allow the same verification level as China requires. It remains to be seen if this becomes a problem for Apple. The slim phone also will use Apple’s in-house 5G modem instead of a Qualcomm one, and it will have a smaller battery. 

Not tech, but science…or an ignoring of it. Bird flu virus has been found in a batch of raw, unpasteurized milk sold in California. Arstechnica.com reports that so far, no illness has been connected to the contaminated milk, which came from Raw Farm LLC in Fresno County. A lab in Santa Clara County detected the virus, and it was confirmed by the state lab. There is a reason Louis Pasteur came up with the pasteurization process…lots of people used to get sick and even die from raw milk. Science and medicine…hey, they can keep us alive!

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

Sony-Making Handheld Console; Amazon-Another $4 Billion to Anthropic; Power Phone Off Once a Week-NSA; Researchers Find Way to Grow Plants Without Light

Posted: November 25, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Sony is working on a handheld gaming console that will let users play PS 5 games anywhere. Theverge.com reports that this will put Sony into the fray with Nintendo, Microsoft, and The Valve Steam Deck. That’s all well and good, but the reporting has the portable ‘years away from launch.’ Not so good for Sony. While Sony fiddles, Nintendo will have a next gen successor to its very popular Switch console next year. Microsoft is developing its own Xbox prototype…but that also may be a few years out, as with Sony. This doesn’t leave the market entirely to Nintendo…Valve has already put out a second generation Steam Deck that plays its games. 

Amazon has pumped another $4 billion into AI maker Anthropic, the people that make the Claude large language model that is the biggest competitor for OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to arstechnica.com, this will bring Amazon’s stake to $8 billion…but they do remain in a minority investor position at that level. One key behind the deal…chips. While Nvidia currently dominates the AI chip market with customers that include most major tech companies, some cloud providers like Amazon have begun developing their own AI-specific processors. Under the agreement, Anthropic will train and deploy its foundation models using Amazon’s custom-built Trainium (for training AI models) and its Inferentia chips (for AI inference, the term for running trained models). The company will also work with Amazon’s Annapurna Labs division to advance processor development for AI applications.

We have previously reported that iOS 18 and later updates make it harder for hackers…as well as governments…to get into your phone. Now, none other than the NSA…the National Security Agency…warns that you should turn your phone on and off at least once a week. Why? Zdnet.com says the government spy agency indicates that doing so will make it harder for hackers to steal info from your phone. The feds also say to update your apps, and update your operation system regularly. You also ought to avoid public networks…just use cellular unless you have a VPN for your phone. 

In one of the wilder stories I’ve seen, some researchers have figured out a way to grow plants without sunlight. Bgr.com reports that they are doing so through what they call electro-agriculture. Simply put, they leverage electricity to power plant growth, bypassing the need for photosynthesis. The scientists have engineered plants capable of thriving in total darkness, feeding off acetate instead of sunlight, making it possible to grow plants without sunlight. And the implications of this breakthrough are absolutely staggering. Some researchers believe that it could lower the land needed for agriculture by as much as 90 percent. Imagine freeing up vast tracts of farmland for reforestation or conservation while growing crops in vertical indoor farms closer to urban centers. Combined with the ongoing success of lab-grown meats, we could be on the verge of a food industry revolution.

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

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Will Regulate Apple Pay, Venmo, and Others; Amazon Shows Huge Echo Show; Over 200 Companies Now Support Passkeys; A Mother Lode of Rare Earth Elements in Spent Coal

Posted: November 21, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has had the task of regulating banks, is now expanding. Engadget.com reports that the CFPB will now supervise Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and other payment apps and digital wallets. The Bureau proposed regulating the apps in 2023, but now the supervision will actually go into effect…with refined policies…in 30 days. 

Amazon is supersizing Echo Show, introducing a new 21 inch model for smart home control, organization, and entertainment. According to geekwire.com, the Echo Show 21 smart display features built in Fire TV and Alexa. The screen comes with wall mounting hardware, for $399. If you prefer a counter stand, Amazon will sell you one of those for another $99. The 15 inch Echo Show has also gotten an upgrade with better audio quality. The 15-incher is $299.

We are finally…finally moving to a passwordless future. Now, 9to5mac.com says over 200 major companies are supporting passkeys. For those unfamiliar, passkeys were introduced two years ago, and they replace traditional passwords with more secure authentication using a security key or biometrics. The technology was developed by FIDO Alliance in partnership with companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Passkeys can use biometrics…like Apple’s FaceID and TouchID, freeing you from having to manage a massive list of passwords…or even using an app like 1 Password. It can’t happen soon enough!

It’s a kind of one person’s trash is another person’s treasure story. Dailykos.com picked up a report from the International Journal of Coal Science and Technology, and apparently there are rare earth elements in coal ash. The amounts are tiny…ordinarily not worth much, but there is a huge supply of the chalky coal ash in the US…maybe 11 million tons of accessible rare earth elements are in that coal ash. That is 8 times what the US has in domestic reserves. Most of our rare earths right now…about 75%…come from China. Ukraine also has a good supply, but this could make the US self-sufficient on these elements that go into batteries, solar panels, magnets, and other energy technologies. It’s likely that some entrepreneurs are active as we write this, looking at ways to efficiently extract those 17 rare elements.

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

Lower Priced Galaxy Flip Rumor; Bluesky Passes 20 Million Users; GrayKey Police Hack Having Trouble With iOS 18; Starlink Back to Waitlisting Some Places

Posted: November 20, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Folding phones are growing more popular, especially with a less noticeable crease on the screens, but they are still really expensive. Now, bgr.com reports that we may be seeing a relatively cheap Samsung Galaxy Z Flip FE sometime in 2025. In addition, Samsung is reportedly working on a thin Z Flip 7 SE. If the rumors are true, Samsung may field 4 Galaxy Z foldable in 2025: the regular Flip 7 and Fold 7, and the cheaper Flip SE, and ultra-thin Fold 7 SE. If they keep making the crease less visible, and can drop prices, folding phones may become relatively mainstream. Since Apple is reported to be working on a folder, you can expect they will join the party just as that mainstreaming occurs!

Bluesky, the app that would replace old Twitter, has now blown past 20 million users. It is now gaining on Meta owned Threads, as well as X, which continues to bleed users. TechCrunch.com notes that Threads still has a massive lead at 275 million monthly active users, but up to the election they had 5 times more daily users than Bluesky. That has not been cut to 1.5 times! Even with the recent exodus from X, the Musk-owned app still has 10 times the users of Bluesky for now. Bluesky has been #1 at the US Apple App Store since the election, while Threads is now #4, and X has ominously dropped to #41!

You may have heard of Graykey…we’ve reported on it here…it’s something law enforcement and government agencies can use to break into locked iPhones. Now, macrumors.com says officials are having issues trying to hack into phones running iOS 18 and 18.01. Apparently, the product can ‘partially’ unlock some phones…in fact iPhone 11 models can be unlocked in full. Newer iPhones are more hack proof. Magnet Forensics, maker of Graykey, had no comment, but Israel-based Cellebrite reportedly can’t unlock iPhones running iOS 17.5.1 and later. Apple has said that the idea is to make the phones worth less and less of a theft item since a locked phone you can’t hack into is not worth much. For some, the fact that governments and police agencies can’t get in either is a plus. 

Only about a year after dropping waitlisting, Starlink is back to ‘sold out’ in parts of the US. Arstechnica.com reports that the areas you’ll be waiting in include the areas around Seattle, Spokane, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento, and Austin, Texas. There are also some sold-out areas in parts of Colorado, Montana, and North Carolina. Worldwide, there is still little availability in Africa. If you are so inclined, you can jump the wait list by subscribing to the pricier Starlink Roam tier. Be aware though, that they may block Roam service in specific areas due to lack of capacity. 

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

Rumored iPhone ‘Air’ May Be Slimmest iPhone; DOJ Will Try to Break Up Google; Microsoft Makes $349 Hardware Device for Secure Cloud Connection; Door Dash App-Can Import Grocery Lists Now

Posted: November 19, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Jony Ive may be long gone, but apparently Apple’s fetish for thinness isn’t. Macrumors.com reports that Apple Analyst Jeff Pu agrees with a recent rumor saying the upcoming ‘iPhone 17 Air’ will be around 6 mm thick. If that turns out to be accurate, it will be the thinnest iPhone ever. Note that no one knows what the handset will be called, but most are dubbing it the iPhone Air. Up to now, the thinnest iPhone has been the iPhone 6 at 6.9 mm. The iPhone Air would be about 3/4 as thick as any of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models. It is expected to have a 6.6 inch display, A19 chip, and the dynamic island, but only one rear camera. 

We’ve been waiting to see what the Department of Justice had in mind as far as its antitrust action against Google. now we have a better idea. According to theverge.com, the DOJ wants Google to sell off its Chrome browser. This after the judge ruled Google had maintained an illegal search monopoly. Chrome is the world’s most widely used browser. Other DOJ requirements include Google separating Android from Search and Google Play…but they don’t intend to make them sell off Android. It remains to be seen what the incoming DOJ will do with regards to keeping or changing these demands after January 20th. 

Microsoft has announced the Windows 365 Link. The gadget  “enables desk-based users to work securely on a familiar Windows desktop in the Microsoft Cloud with responsive, high-fidelity experiences.” Engadget.com notes that the 365 Link is a small, lightweight device that Microsoft claims can immediately wake from sleep, boot up in seconds and locally process video conferencing solutions like Microsoft Teams. It doesn’t store local data or apps, has security baseline policies enabled and doesn’t allow for individuals to disable security features. Plus, logging in requires Microsoft Entra ID along with the Microsoft Authenticator app or USB security keys. The box should be available in what they are calling ‘select areas’ in April 2025 for $349. Kind of sounds like a larger, more expensive but more secure dongle to me!

Door Dash’s app is now able to import your grocery list for faster shopping. Techcrunch.com reports that you just choose a store where you want to shop and select the button Create a list or Import a list. With the create, you can copy and paste from anywhere on your phone. Import only works with Reminders on iOS at the moment, but Android support is coming. You can also now search for an item across different merchants, displaying prices and estimated delivery times all in one place. 

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

Microsoft Enters Book Biz; Samsung Making XR Glasses Similar to Meta’s Ray-Bans; Some Bluesky Tips; Trump Names Project 2025 Contributor to FCC Chair

Posted: November 18, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Microsoft is jumping into the book business with their own imprint, 8080 Books. Geekwire.com reports that Microsoft is aiming for the sweet spot between the speed of social media and the lasting impact of books…planning to bring new titles to market much faster than traditional publishing allows. In the charter for the new venture, Microsoft says the goal is “to publish original research, ideas, and insights at the intersection of science, technology, and business, and in doing so, help advance the discourse and debate.” Normally, a publishing house takes 6 to 9 months to get from manuscript to market…Redmond is shooting for 90 days. By the way, why 8080 Books? If you see the logo it’s a hint…it is a hat tip to the 8080 Intel processors that  the first Microsoft software ran on.

Samsung has some new XR glasses coming out…looking at the second half of 2025 for a release date. According to 9to5google.com, they are being developed in partnership with Google, and they will share some of the specs with the popular Meta Ray-Ban glasses. OK, sorry about the specs/glasses pun! Samsung expects to sell 500,000 of the smart glasses. They will feature a 12MP camera and 155 mAh battery, about like Meta’s. What is unclear at this point is whether they will have a display or not. We do expect them to use Google’s Gemini AI, however. 

Millions have jumped to Bluesky and abandoned X. I cancelled X last week after 14 years on Twitter/X. Find me at clarkreidsf.bsky.social. The fledgling platform has ballooned from 9 to 15 million users just since the election. A lot of it looks like old Twitter…direct messages, ability to pin post and even videos up to 60 seconds. One thing I like is you can basically choose your own algorithm or moderation tools. They have a discover feed, but you can make a Following feed, a Popular with Friends one, and Mutuals…reposts by people you follow. I love the Following feed…it’s just a classic feed of accounts you follow in chronological order. What’s so hard about that, other platforms? It’s what most people want. You can also easily mute and block trolls, and there are these ‘packs’ people have built of accounts you might like to follow. You can pick those accounts a la carte, or choose them as a bundle to bulk up your Following feed quickly. Check it out.

In the parade of appointees Donald Trump has announced…most to the horror of those politically to the left and center, a new one is FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr as FCC Chairman. Engadget.com notes that Carr was the author of the FCC portion of Project 2025, and that he has previously argued in favor of punishing TV networks for political bias and regulating big tech firms like Google and Apple. The appointment doesn’t require the usual senate approval, since Carr has sat on the Commission since 2017.  The incoming president always gets to appoint a person from his party as Chairman. Here is a taste of what might be ahead from a post by Carr on X last week: “The censorship cartel must be dismantled. Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource — our airwaves. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation.” It is worth pointing out out that unless Congress changes some law, the FCC can’t regulate the internet like Carr would like to.

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

Google Getting Supervision by CFPB; AI Companies Scuffling to Build Newer AI Models; Meta’s Threads Getting Ads in 2025; Tesla Cybertruck Recall-This One’s Physical

Posted: November 14, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving to put Google under formal federal supervision…something that could hit the company with the same inspections the government does on major banks. Techcrunch.com reports that the CFPB has been in talks with Google for months about the supervision order, which hasn’t yet been made final. Now that a second Trump term is coming up, it may be that his administration will put the brakes on the CFPB, or even stop it somehow from proceeding against Google.

AI companies are hitting a wall of sorts in their rush to build out newer AI models. According to macrumors.com, OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are facing what they are calling ‘diminishing returns’ for their expensive efforts to build out the new models. Over at Apple, they are using what they are calling a ‘phased rollout’ of Apple Intelligence. OpenAI’s Orion, their latest and greatest, is falling short of their performance expectations. Google is also feeling headwinds with their next iteration of Gemini, and Anthropic has delayed its release of Claude 3.5 Opus. According to Bloomberg, the problem is attributed the challenges to the increasing difficulty in finding “new, untapped sources of high-quality, human-made training data” and the enormous costs associated with developing and operating new models concurrently with existing ones.

Meta is planning to start ‘monitizing’ Threads, with a plan to begin running ads as soon as January 2025. Engadget.com says Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg  had previously claimed making money off the app would be a ‘multi-year’ effort. Meta plans a slow rollout…just a ‘small number’ of advertisers will start appearing in January. Threads now has 275 million monthly users, and is getting over a million new sign ups a day according to Zuck. The much smaller Bluesky app, which is now #1 at Apple’s App Store, got a million new users just in the last week. They have grown from 9 to 15 million users in a very short time. Bluesky has said it may experiment with subscription based features instead of ads. Read between the lines…a premium service for subscription, and they’ll do ads in addition!

Tesla’s Cybertruck has now put out the 6th recall this year. Arstechnica.com notes that only about 2431 are affected, but this recall can’t be fixed by pushing out a software update. Those trucks have a faulty drive unit inverter. At least 5 trucks have had a failure of the part, and Tesla says the problem was a bad batch of inverters made between November 6, 2023 and July 30, 2024. Owners will have to take the trucks in to have a technician work on the recalled trucks.

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

Amazon Goes After Temu; Apple Plans Ring Alternative; FTC Gets Day in Court to Break Up Meta; VW and Rivian Joint Venture

Posted: November 13, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon has bowed a discount store to compete with China’s Temu. Everything in the store will be under $20. Think of it as Amazon’s online Dollar store! It is called Amazon Haul, and can be reached via the Amazon mobile app. They are touting $1 eyelash curlers and oven gloves, and a $3 nail dryer. Free shipping on orders of over $25…or $3.99 shipping if less than that. Almost $4 for shipping kind of takes them out of Dollar Store territory, don’t you think? Hey, if you are of a mind to, try their self-described ‘crazy low prices!’

Apple appears to be planning to jump into competition with Amazon’s Ring cameras and others. According to Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, they are planning to release their first smart cam in 2026.  The initial models will probably be aimed more at 3rd party cams that work with Apple’s Home Kit system. Kuo says the cams will have ‘rich integration with Siri and Apple Intelligence features.’ Apple is also planning a wall mounted home display to control their internet of things devices. 

The Federal Trade Commission has gotten the go-ahead to argue for Meta’s break up in court. Engadget.com notes that US District Judge James Boasberg is allowing the FTC suit against Meta to go forward. The suit dates back to 2020, and the FTC wants to see Meta divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp (and now presumably Threads, which is a part of Instagram.) In a slight win for Meta, the judge did make the FTC narrow its case. 

Volkswagen and Rivian have officially formed their $5.8 billion joint venture. Theverge.com report that it is called Rivian and VW Group Technology, and it will be lead by Rivian’s software chief and VW Group’s chief technology engineer. The company will be based in Palo Alto for now. As Rivian hasn’t been making money, it’s a good deal for them, but also for VW…which has been selling plug in hybrids well, but is struggling with its EVs. VW had to close at least 3 German factories and downsized the remaining plants. Buggy software has been partly to blame, according to reports.

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

Amazon-Delivery Driver AR Glasses Coming; Massive iPhone Cam Upgrade in ’26; Signal Features = More Like Meet & Zoom; Got $3 Mil-Buy Batman’s Tumbler

Posted: November 12, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The revenge of Google Glass continues, as everyone seems to be working on smart glasses now. Amazon is apparently working on some for their delivery drivers to use. Engadget.com reports that Amazon thinks using the things can shave ‘seconds’ from each delivery…making productivity even higher…because apparently it can never be high enough for Amazon. The embedded display to guide delivery drivers around and within buildings. They will allegedly also provide drivers with “turn-by-turn navigation” instructions while driving. Finally, wearing AR glasses means that drivers won’t have to carry a handheld GPS device. You know what that means. They’ll be able to carry more packages at once. You can bet they will also have a cam in them, so the driver can just look at your porch and take a photo of your delivery. How was it? Was it great? Send back that email! 

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says we will be seeing a massive iPhone camera upgrade in 2026. According to mashable.com, Cupertino is working on adding a variable aperture main cam to its iPhone 18 Pros. A variable aperture main camera should bring noticeable improvements; the camera should perform better in low light, as the variable aperture allows the camera to control how much light hits the lens. It could also improve portrait mode, as variable aperture should allow for more precise depth of field control. This will be great for pro photographers who know how to use such a feature. Most of us will probably do the same with the phone camera as we have with a DSLR…leave the thing set to ‘A’ for automatic! 

Signal has added some features in order to be more like Zoom and Google Meet. You can now share a link to a call. Theverge.com says up to now you could only initiate a call from a Signal group chat. You can also re-use call links..which ought to be handy for recurring meetings. Signal has also aded a ‘raise hand’ button to indicate you have something to say, and they have added emojis too…so you can express yourself with those little devils. The new features are out now on Android, iOS, and desktop.

So, you’ve got $3 million bucks to burn, and Christmas is coming. You want something extra special for yourself. Why not contact Wayne Enterprises and buy yourself a Batmobile ‘Tumbler’ from ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight?’ There are 10 of them available for a mere $2,990,000 each. Oh…by the way…you had better be rich enough to have private roads, ‘cause these babies aren’t street-legal! Go to Brucewaynex.com. They are being sold by invitation only. The Tumbler is made of kevlar, carbon fiber, and sheet metal as well as fiberglas, and it has a 6.2 liter engine. The gun turrets and jet engine are fakes. If you buy one, send me a picture of yourself terrorizing the Joker in it.

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

Google Pre-Black Friday Deals; Apple Vision Pro Fall 2025; TSMC Cuts Advanced Chip Shipments to China; Researchers-Harvest Electricity from Styrofoam

Posted: November 11, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Google store has dropped some nice pre-Black Friday deals. 9to5google.com reports that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is now $1499, a $300 discount. You can pick one up at that price for now at Amazon and Best Buy. The base Pixel 9 has been cut $150 to $649, from those same sources. You can pick up a Bluetooth Pixel Watch 3 for $70. Hurry…the bargains are only in effect until midnight tomorrow night, November 12th.

Although we reported last week that Apple has all but flushed the cheaper headset…at least for now, the Vision Pro 2, successor to Apple’s pricy mixed reality headset, is still in the works for release either by next fall, or by spring of 2026. This according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg. The Vision Pro 2 is expected to get the M5 chips…at virtually the same time the Macs get that next system. Expect the 2.0 version to look virtually identical to the original, with all the updates coming to internals. Don’t expect a cheaper price…it’s Apple, are you kidding?

At the request of the US Department of Commerce, Taiwan Semiconductor has halted advanced chip shipments to Chinese customers. TechCrunch.com says this will particularly hurt Huawei, which already faced significant trade restrictions from the US. The feds are now checking to see if other companies are diverting chips to Huawei. The advanced chips are most often used on artificial intelligence systems. Nvidia had already been under chip export restrictions to China.

Researchers at RMIT University have found a way to generate electricity from Styrofoam. Bgr.com reports that they capture the static electricity generated by the stuff when it is exposed to flowing air…thereby converting an environmental headache into useable power. The scientists put the Styrofoam near places air was flowing…like HVAC systems, and a continuous stream of small current was generated…helping offset the energy draw of the HVAC units themselves. If it scales up well, this could be yet another way to ween ourselves off fossil fuel power.

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

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