iPhone Fold May Be on Track for September; Google Photos Adds ‘AI Enhance’ Button; Anthropic Launches Initiative to Prevent AI Cyberattacks; Spotify-Big Upgrade for Podcast Listeners

Posted: April 7, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We have seen a couple reports that say Apple’s folding phone is being tested out right now after a small production run, but that it may not be out until around December. Now, techcrunch.com reports that highly reliable Apple tout Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says it is on track to bow in September along with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. As with numerous brand new Apple products, it may not get into users’ hands until October, though. Apple apparently has resolved issues with screen quality and durability, and it has a notably less visible crease when it is unfolded. If it doesn’t cost over $2400, I’ll eat my hat…that is if I can find a nice, dark chocolate hat!

Google Photos gets an ‘AI Enhance button, and video playback speed controls. The features are being rolled out now according to 9to5google.com. The AI Enhance tool will work for Google Photos for all Android users. The button gives users an option to apply a magic fix to their photos, using AI, of course. It’s a sort of do-it-all button and gives users the option to skip over extensive editing with a quick fix that focuses on adjusting lighting and contrast levels. As for the video feature for Photos,  in each video, the three-dot menu will present “playback speed” among the other tools. Users can choose speeds from 0.25x to 2x. Google says this has been a long-requested feature. The video rollout isn’t global as yet…but should show up on Android devices everywhere shortly. 

Anthropic has launched Project Glasswing, which will use AI to try to prevent AI-powered cyberattacks. Engadget.com notes that they are joined in the effort by Amazon Web Services, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, JPMorganChase, the Linux Foundation, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Palo Alto Networks as partners. The participants will use Claude Mythos Preview, n unreleased, general-purpose model from Anthropic, to enhance their own security projects. Anthropic claims that this model has found thousands of exploitable vulnerabilities, “including some in every major operating system and web browser.” Let’s hope that this does help prevent or minimize AI cyberattacks. 

There is such a flood of podcasts out there, it’s hard to sift through all of them to find things that interest you. It’s kind of like scrolling through all the old movies on Netflix. Well, now Spotify has a potential solution. Androidpolice.com reports that they have expanded the Prompted Playlist feature to work with podcasts. You can create a playlist of podcasts with a text prompt. You give it a prompt, just like with music, and it uses AI to generate a playlist around it. The feature is rolling out to US users of Premium right now. You can set it up to refresh daily or weekly if you like. 

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

Samsung Will Discontinue its Messages App; Microsoft-Copilot Just for Entertainment Purposes; Used EV Prices Spike; LinkedIn Scans Chrome 6,000 Browser Extensions-Your Protection or Gathering Data?

Posted: April 6, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If you have been using Messages on your Samsung device, get set to change apps. 9to5google.com reports that Samsung has put out an ‘End of Service Announcement’ for the US starting in July 2026. It will not affect really old devices, but if you have a halfway recent Samsung phone or the like…using Android 12 or newer…Samsung will guide you to Google Messages. This will happen with both an in-app notification and on-screen instructions. On Android 14+, the Google Messages icon will automatically shift to your home screen dock after switching. I couldn’t find where it imports your old messages, so you may be on your own on that.

We have done a number of stories that have covered how AI pretty frequently ‘hallucinates,’ or lies. Recently, the California Bar sent out a warning to attorneys telling them to check case citations and statute cites in filings with courts…or face fines and discipline should they submit filings with fake cases, etc. Now, it turns out Microsoft has re-affirmed that Copilot is for ‘entertainment purposes only,’ and if used for work, it should only be used as the first of multiple stages of fact-checking…rather than being relied upon. According to techradar.com, Microsoft says about Copilot “It can make mistakes, and it may not work as intended. Don’t rely on Copilot for important advice. Use Copilot at your own risk.” They are really trying to avoid liability here, and want users to know the AI is a tool, not a decision maker. Here’s the key line: “You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless… from and against any claims, losses, and expenses… arising from or relating to your use of Copilot.” A hold harmless agreement…please do use it as a tool…it’s not ‘intelligent’ as the description Artificial Intelligence would imply!

This may seem to be a no kidding story, but Used EV prices are spiking along with gasoline prices. Wired.com notes that Cox Automotive data shows used EV prices up 12% since the 1st of the year. Edmunds also sees shopper research into EVs up several percentage points since the 1st of the year. So..just as Trump’s war has pushed gas prices up, and as the federal government discontinued the $7500 credit, so new EV sales fell and car makers throttled back production, the demand has gone up significantly for used EVs. EVs had been notably more expensive than gas models, but according to Cox Automotive, the average used EV is now just $1300 more than the average gas model. I know someone with a 120 mile a day commute. Even with a new $400 a month car payment on a used EV and the cost for charging it, he is saving $100 a month on gas. in 90 days, he will have erased that price premium. When the car is paid off, he will save even more. Food for thought in this time of extra pain at the pump. 

They claim it is for you protection, but every time you use LinkedIn on a Chrome browser, LinkedIn runs a hidden routine that probes your browser for more than 6,000 installed extensions, collects 48 hardware and software characteristics about your device, encrypts the resulting fingerprint, and attaches it to every API request you make during your session. Thenextweb.com reports that the scan is not disclosed in LinkedIn’s privacy policy. They insist that it is for your security. Ir also collects 48 different characteristics about your device. It collects info about competitors with its own sales tools, and also lists tools associated with neurodivergent conditions, religious practice, political interests, and job-hunting activity. The EU is investigating, as these qualify as sensitive personal data under their General Data Protection Regulation. Want to limit this? Use LinkedIn with Firefox, Safari, or another browser besides Chrome or Microsoft’s own browser. You will have to hunt for a setting to curb the scan, though. 

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

Apple is 50; SpaceX Files for IPO; 100 Baidu Robotaxis Froze in Traffic; Claude Code Leak Was an Accident, Not a Hack

Posted: April 1, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not an April Fool’s Day joke. Apple Computer got its start 50 years ago. They have been able to come up with a couple of truly world-changing devices.,.the iPod and the iPhone. Will they eventually come out with a third device that can have that kind of impact like some smart glasses? Time will tell. Meanwhile, mashable.com notes that there is a really cool graphic sequence on Apple’s home page celebrating the company’s devices using colorful brush strokes. It’s a bit Google-like, frankly. Imitation as the fabled sincerest form of flattery. 

SpaceX has filed for an IPO…initial public offering of its stock. Engadget.com reports that while this was expected, most saw it happening in July. The Musk-owned company is looking for an IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion, which would make it the biggest IPO in history. SpaceX is the parent of X (formerly Twitter) and Grok, as well as xAI. The company is wanting to get its Starship rocket program on track, and has aspirations to build a base on the moon…and of course, Mars one day. They also plan for data centers for AI in space, orbiting the planet, as is in the works at several other tech companies. 

We have had a few instances of some robotaxis stalling out and jamming up traffic…notably in San Francisco. Now, according to thenextweb.com, the US robotaxi makers like Google’s Waymo have been one-upped big time…and not in a good way. Over 100 Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis froze mid-traffic in Wuhan…blocking many hundreds of commuters. There were some crashes, although police say there were no injuries. This is really scary when you know that Wuhan has over 1,000 driverless vehicles rolling around the city. It’s an embarrassment for Baidu, which has vehicles in 26 cities globally, and claims to have orders for some 20 million vehicles. Welcome to the future…where you can have 100 instantaneous, random traffic jams to ruin your commute.

Claude’s source code got into the wild, and it turns out that it wasn’t due to hackers. 9to5google.com says the code was mistakenly published by Anthropic in the middle of the night. That’s a hell of a mistake! Ahthropic has been aggressively promoting Claude as superior to ChatGPT, and touting tools to migrate your ChatGPT work over to Claude. So how did this massive screw up happen? Well, apparently at about 4 am Tuesday morning, Anthropic pushed out what was supposed to be a routine update to Claude. Apparently, included in that update was a source map file that led right to Claude’s source code. The debugging file contained 512,000 lines of proprietary TypeScript code, which was initially spotted and posted by someone on Twitter/X. It wasn’t long before that entire code package was downloaded and circulated to thousands, though this leak doesn’t seem to include Claude’s model data. Still, this interface code is a costly loss for the company. In other words, a pretty gigantic ‘Oops.’

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

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