DOJ Sues Apple for Antitrust; Reddit IPO Priced at $34 a Share; Door Dash Drone Delivery Coming to the US; Waze Getting a Ghostbusting Voice
Posted: March 21, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, business, investing, News, technology Leave a commentThe Department of Justice has sued Apple. According to theverge.com, the DOJ and 16 state attorneys general claim that Apple uas driven up prices for consumers and developers at the expense of making users more reliant on its phones. The suit alleges that Apple “selectively” imposes contractual restrictions on developers and withholds critical ways of accessing the phone as a way to prevent competition from arising. The suit has been filed in New Jersey. An Apple spokesperson said the suit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.” Apple says it will vigorously defend against the suit.
Reddit priced its IPO at $34 per share yesterday, and hauled in $519 million…valuing the company at $6.5 billion. CNBC reports that the ticker symbol will be RDDT. Although $6.5 billion is a ton of cash, the company is actually taking quite a haircut from its private market valuation of $10 billion at the peak of the tech boom in 2021. Reddit’s core business of online advertising faces competition from industry giants like Alphabet and Meta. The company also counts Snap, X, Pinterest, Discord, Wikipedia and Amazon’s Twitch streaming service as competitors, according to its prospectus. Revenue increased 20% last year to $804 million from $666.7 million in 2022. Its net loss in 2023 was $90.8 million, marking an improvement from the $158.6 million net loss it recorded the previous year.
DoorDash is expanding its partnership with the Wing division of Alphabet to bring a pilot drone delivery service to the US. According to TechCrunch.com, users in Christianburg, VA will be able to order eligible items from the local Wendy’s menu. In order to use the service, you need to have a small clearing on your property…at least 7 feet in diameter. There are also weight and volume restrictions. If the order is more than a drone can carry, you’ll get delivery from a regular Dasher.
Waze is getting a new guest voice…and here’s a hint: ‘Who ya gonna call?’ Just in time for the release of Ghostbusters-Frozen Empire tomorrow March 22, Waze has scored Dan Aykroyd as a voice on Waze. Androidpolice.com says just choose ‘Spooky’ mood on the app, and there is Ray from Ghostbusters…the well-known voice of Dan Aykroyd. You can get a number of funny paranormal-themed comments as you drive to the next ghost busting event…or to work or home, of course.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
YouTube-AI Labels for Some, but Not All Videos; Intel Scores $8.5 Billion in CHIPS Act Grants; Google Socked With $270 Million Fine by France; Feds Can Film Your Front Porch for Over 68 Warrantless Days
Posted: March 20, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Google, News, technology, YouTube Leave a commentYouTube now requires labels for some AI generated videos…but not all of them. Mashable.com reports that YouTube put out a statement saying “We’re introducing a new tool in Creator Studio requiring creators to disclose to viewers when realistic content – content a viewer could easily mistake for a real person, place, or event – is made with altered or synthetic media, including generative AI.” Not all AI made videos will be labeled. According to YouTube, this policy only covers AI digital alterations or renderings of a realistic person, footage of real events or places, or complete generation of a realistic looking scene. For some videos, this is not a big deal. Exceptions are made for videos that use beauty filters, special effects like blur or a vintage overlay, or color correction. YouTube notes that all of these alterations were already available long before generative AI was a thing. One glaring exception though…Animated AI content. It seems this should be covered, since a lot of kids videos are animation or include animation.
Intel has been awarded $8.5 billion in CHIPS Act grants, and will have access to billions more in loans. According to CNBC, this is part of the Biden administration’s effort to ramp up bridging semiconductor manufacturing back to the US. the additional loan funds could total another $11 billion. Intel has long been a stalwart of the U.S. semiconductor industry, developing chips that power many of the world’s PCs and data center servers. However, the company has been eclipsed in revenue by Nvidia, which leads in artificial intelligence chips, and has been surpassed in market cap by rival AMD and mobile phone chipmaker Qualcomm. Intel makes its own chips. AMD and Nvidia design chips, then send the files and staff to Taiwan’s TSMC for the actual manufacture of the chips. Intel is building fabrication and research centers in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon.
The French have socked Google with a $270 million fine over copyright protections for news snippets. Techcrunch.com says France’s competition authority found that Google disregarded its previous commitments to news publishers. They also took into consideration the fact that Google had used the news content to train its Generative AI model…Bard at the time, now Gemini. The French authority asserted that Google had not notified the publishers of that fact and hadn’t gotten their permission. Google had previously been fined by the authority to the tune of $592 million for using publishers’ material.
A federal court has ruled that law enforcement recording of the front of a person’s home for 68 days…15 hours a day…was ok without a warrant. Gizmodo.com reports that the officers had no warrant, and had put a camera on a pole across the street to record the man’s home. The Kansas man, Bruce Hay, was an army vet who was found guilty of lying about his disability status to get benefits from the VA. The federal court noted that video cameras in public spaces are a common thing now, and so there is a diminished expectation of privacy when you are out in the world. If you ever thought your front porch was private…well, now you know it isn’t.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Microsoft Picks Up DeepMind Founder; Threads Adds ‘Trending Now’-Finally; iPhone 17 Getting Anti-Reflective Display; Valve Rolling Out Steam Family
Posted: March 19, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Gaming, News, PC, Steam, Xbox Leave a commentIn a big ‘get,’ Microsoft has brought over Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman. Theverge.com reports that he will be the CEO of Microsoft’s new team that will oversee the company’s consumer-facing AI products like Copilot, Bing, and Edge. Suleyman will report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Suleyman had left Deep Mind after Google acquired it, and then started up Inflection AI. Microsoft is also picking up some of Inflection AI’s employees, including co-founder Karen Simonyan, who will be Chief Scientist of the consumer AI Group. Personally, I am hoping that all these big tech companies focusing so much on AI may help rid the world of artificial stupidity…and maybe even natural stupidity if we’re lucky.
Threads has finally added a ‘Trending Now’ page! The announcement was made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on the platform. According to gizmodo.com, the trending topics on the page for its first day live in the world were: Aaron Taylor Johnson, spring equinox, Bruce Willis’ birthday, Hong Kong security law, and former Trump lawyer Alina Habba.
A new rumor is out about Apple’s iPhones. It won’t make it to the iPhone 16, but will likely show up on the iPhone 17 a year and a half from now. 9to5mac.com says that an account called Instant Digital has said that Apple has reportedly developed equipment that adds a “super-hard” anti-reflective layer to the iPhone’s display, which is also more scratch-resistant than before. The new layer sounds a lot like Corning’s Gorilla Glass Armor, which the new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has. The Corning product reduces reflection by up to 75%, and adds scratch protection. Again, don’t expect the anti-reflective, more scratch-resistant layer until the iPhone after the one this fall.
Valve has unveiled a new feature for its Steam gaming. It’s called Steam Families. Geekwire.com reports that it is out in beta now, and will replace current features Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View. Now, there will be a single menu that covers both game sharing and parental controls. You can designate 5 other users as members of your Steam Family…they all get access to all the games in all the other family members’ libraries. (Note that this includes most…but not all games on steam.) A user who’s playing a game via a member of their Steam Family maintains local save files and achievement progress, and can play even if the game’s original owner is online at the time. However, in order for two users to play the same game simultaneously, you’d still need multiple copies of the game across various libraries.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Negotiating With Google To Get Gemini AI on iPhone; LInkedIn Wants To Add Gaming; Tesla Settles Discrimination Suit; Tick-Killing Pill for Humans
Posted: March 18, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Google, News, Tech, technology Leave a commentApple has been working more quietly than others on AI…which it calls machine learning. Apparently things aren’t moving quickly enough for Cupertino. Now comes word that they are in ‘active negotiations’ with Google to bring the latter’s Gemini generative AI to the iPhone. Theverge.com reports that Apple has also considered ChatGPT from Open AI. Earlier this year, Samsung added a number of Galaxy AI branded features to its Galaxy S24 smartphones. The tech is also of course a banner feature of Google’s own Pixel 8 smartphones. It would be a good deal for Apple, even if they have to drop a ton of money, since their own AI is behind Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT…but it would also be a good deal for Google, as they would get their AI tools on some 2 billion iPhones. If a deal is made, is is likely to stay under wraps until Apple’s WWDC in June.
In an effort to get more engagement and longer periods of it, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is looking at adding gaming to the platform. According to TechCrunch.com, the platform now has a billion users. Most are on it for professional purposes or recruitment, but with Microsoft’s huge footprint in gaming, dropping some into LinkedIn really might do the trick as far as increasing peoples’ time on the platform.
A long court battle between a former elevator operator and Tesla has settled. Owen Diaz had originally been awarded $137 million in damages in 2021 for racial discrimination, but that was cut to $3.2 million. Engadget.com says no settlement amount has been disclosed, which is normal for this type of situation. Diaz had accused the car maker of enabling a racist workplace, ‘straight from the Jim Crow era.’ Co-workers had left swastikas and racist graffiti on his work space and around the Tesla Fremont plant. There is still another lawsuit against the electric car maker for racial discrimination, and that one is in process of getting certified as a class action…which could add 240 black employees or former employees to Marcus Vaughn’s suit.
We have them for dogs and cats…pills for tick prevention. Now, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is working on a pill for humans. Wired.com notes that it could protect people from tick borne Lyme Disease for several weeks at a time. An early trial has found that after 24 hours of taking the pill, it works to kill ticks on people for up to 30 days. Whether you are a hiker, or walk your dog, or just are outdoors a lot, this will be a big deal if it makes it all the way through testing and approval by the FDA.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
House Passes Bill to Ban TikTok; Spotify Adds Music Vids; EU Parliament Passes AI Act; Amazon’s New AI Feature Lets Sellers Generate Product Listings
Posted: March 13, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, e-commerce, Music, News, tiktok Leave a commentA big showdown is looming closer as the House has passed a bill that will ban TikTok in the US unless the app separates from its parent company in China, ByteDance. Theverge.com reports that the bill had a big bipartisan majority…it passed 352 to 65, with one member voting present. It now moves on to the Senate…where passage is not assured. President Biden has said he will sign it if it reaches his desk. Before getting to the House floor, the bill came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee on a 50 to 0 vote. TikTok claims it doesn’t store US user info in China, but the lawmakers aren’t buying that. ByteDance does have connections with the Chinese army and government, which has concerned US policy makers for years. Not everyone is thrilled with a ban of the platform…in addition to influencers, there are a number of businesses who have testified that a ban would wipe out their business.
In an earth-shaking move, Spotify has added music videos in 11 countries…although not the US. So…Spotify is rolling out a beta of MTV…what an original concept! Snark aside, according to engadget.com, they will offer thousands of music videos across a wide range of genres and artists. To watch a video, users can just click ‘switch to video’ right on the now playing screen. The video will automatically start at the beginning, but users can switch back to audio at any time.
The European Union Parliament has voted to adopt the AI Act, which they claim is ‘the world’s first comprehensive AI Law.’ Techcrunch.com says the vote was 523 to 46. The new law attempts to set up a risk-based framework for AI; applying various rules and requirements depending on the level of risk attached to the use-case. It covers prohibited use case, as well as non-compliance penalties…which can reach as much as 7% of global annual turnover. The EU legislators note that there will be additional laws needed in the future, as AI evolves in order to ensure that humans are on control and protected.
Amazon is rolling out an AI feature that lets sellers generate new product listings from their existing web sites. Geekwire.com reports that Amazon will offer sellers the ability to quickly create new product listings using generative AI by providing a URL for their existing direct-to-consumer websites. Previous generative AI features released by Amazon include the ability to fill out a product listing starting with a few words, and to upload an image to automatically generate a product title, description, and attributes. More than 100,000 Amazon sellers have adopted generative AI tools for listing products, according to Amazon.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Google Will Restrict Gemini Elect Questions; Airbnb Bans Indoor Cams; Chem Injection Can Renew Batteries; Apple Tests AI Targeted App Store Ads
Posted: March 12, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Google, iPhone, Smartphone, technology Leave a commentGoogle is restricting queries to its chatbot Gemini about elections. The restrictions will be global…the only exceptions are queries from countries where there are no elections taking place this year. Techcrunch.com reports that the update is already live in the US, and is rolling out to India. Google notes that it is concerned about the AI service being weaponized, or induced to produce inaccurate or misleading responses. Google has not said if it will unblock answering election related questions after the elections later this year.
Airbnb will no longer allow hosts to record guests while they are inside the property. This has already been the case with Vrbo, and also at hotels. According to arstechnica.com, Airbnb has been allowing hosts to have disclosed cams outside the property and inside ‘common areas’ inside, but they are now completely banning them. Airbnb’s updated policy defines cameras and recording devices as “any device that records or transmits video, images, or audio, such as a baby monitor, doorbell camera, or other camera.” An exception is in place for monitoring a public space like your front porch or driveway with a doorbell cam.
We have all experienced it with phones or other small devices, and it will happen to electric vehicles eventually. After a number of charge cycles, the batteries start to drop in the charge they can hold, and they will eventually fail. As a lithium-ion battery pack is a pretty large chunk of an EV cost, here’s some potential good news. Bgr.com says that researchers have come up with a new battery revival injection that can restore an aged or degraded battery to near full capacity. The research comes from Toyota’s Central R&D Labs, and was just published in the journal Joule. the injection is lithium naphthalene. It brings the batteries up to 80% of original capacity, and that lasts at least 100 charge cycles so far. Note that if the battery has structural damage, the injection doesn’t work. This is potentially a huge breakthrough.
Just because Apple hasn’t been calling AI AI…they have used machine learning…doesn’t mean they aren’t all over it….and maybe not always in ways we will be thrilled about. Appleinsider.com notes that apple is experimenting with using AI to buy and place ads in its App Store, much like Google does with their Performance Max and Meta does with its Advantage Plus. Apple has told advertisers it is conducting the tests, and advertisers believe the company will introduce the product in the coming months. With the AI boost, Apple may see its ad business grow to $6 billion by 2025, with $4.1 billion coming from search ads.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
20 Inch Folding MacBook in Works; Pixel Sales Up 527%-In Japan; Simple Way to Remove Microplastics from Water; New Material May Bring Smart Contact Lenses
Posted: March 7, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Google, Smartphone, Tech, technology Leave a commentA folding Apple phone may or may not happen anytime soon if at all, but apparently Cupertino is seriously working on a 20 inch screen MacBook…with a folding screen! Macrumors.com reports that noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is saying “Apple’s only foldable product with a clear development schedule is the 20.3-inch MacBook, expected to enter mass production in 2027.” Right now, the largest screen MacBook is the 16 inch MacBook Pro. Apple had a 17 inch screen laptop for a while, but dropped that model way back in 2012. Kuo said the 20-inch MacBook is Apple’s only foldable product with a clear development schedule, suggesting that a foldable iPhone or iPad are not coming any time soon.
Google’s Pixel phones have been making inroads in penetration of the smartphone market, and no place more so than Japan. The phones, with their amazing software assisted cameras are really seeing a huge sales growth. According to 9to5google.com, an IDC report shows Pixel sales up 527% year over year from 2022 to 2023. That gives Google 10.7% of the market share there. Apple’s phones continue to hold a huge share of the market there, as do…somewhat surprisingly…Sharp’s phones. Sharp retains a large share of the market due to the demand for phones designed for the elderly, not necessarily cutting-edge devices. Meanwhile, Samsungs Galaxy shipments to Japan have dropped by 39%…showing where a lot of Google’s sales increase came from.
Scientists have discovered a surprisingly simple way to remove microplastics from drinking water. This sounds almost like magic, but bgr.com says researchers at a couple universities in China ran tests on both soft and hard tap waters, and by boiling the water, then running it through a filter, they were able to remove up to 90% of the microplastics. The results were published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The boiling left the microplastics trapped in the crusty, chalky stuff that forms when you boil water in a kettle or pot. The scientists said a filter as simple as a stainless steel mesh like used to strain tea is enough to filter out most of the lime-encrusted plastic pieces that are left behind after boiling the drinking water. Hopefully, bottled water makers will be adapting this cheap, simple process too. Kids…DO try this at home if you want to.
One cool thing about science…often new breakthroughs are made while looking for something else. Now, the co-creator of graphene, along with a group of scientists have another breakthrough material. Konstantin Novoselov and the team say the new material lets them create a novel form of light manipulation. Thenextweb.com reports that they had been working on smart contact lenses. They discovered that the materials…dubbed ReS2 and ReSe2, not only could help with that, but were more powerful than expected. They can adjust the wavelength of light, and change its direction…up to 90 degrees! The scientists see potential in applications for medicine, AI, and AR. For contact lenses, the startup Xpanceo thinks the use of the new material could provide faster and cheaper blood testing using Raman Spectroscopy at a much lower cost and with better performance. They also see earlier detection of things like COVID and even cancer! It will be a while before we see all these benefits, but it is a pretty amazing discovery.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
OpenAI Responds to Musk Suit; Microsoft to Unveil New OLED Surface Pro & Laptop; Politicians Latest Plan to Make ByteDance Sell TikTok; Phase Genomics Scores Grant from Gates To Control Cow Burp Methane
Posted: March 6, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Elon Musk, openai, technology Leave a commentOpenAI is asking for dismissal of all claims made by Elon Musk’s recent lawsuit. Musk was involved in the founding of OpenAI, but really left before much happened. TechCrunch.com reports that a blog post penned by Sam Altman and 4 other founders noted that Musk had promised a billion in funding, but only came up with $45 million. They raised $90 million from other donors to support OpenAI’s research efforts. Musk’s suit claims that the ChatGPT maker had breached its original contractual agreements by pursuing profits instead of the nonprofit’s founding mission to develop AI that benefits humanity. OpenAI was founded to build a counterweight to Google, according to Musk’s suit. OpenAI said Wednesday it maintains that its mission is to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, which includes developing safe and beneficial AGI while promoting widespread access to its tools. It should be noted that Musk has engineers working full speed on an AI project that will rival OpenAI. It always comes down to money…no matter what a litigant may claim about benefiting humanity.
Microsoft is going to roll out OLED a new Surface Pro 10 and a Surface Laptop 6 this spring…both will drop before a big Windows 11 AI update that is also coming. According to windows central.com, they will feature upgraded displays, new processors, and be what Redmond is calling the company’s first AI PCs. The Intel powered boxes will ship this sporing, with ARM models becoming available in June. Both devices could be unveiled March 21st. They are reported to give users a huge performance increase over present Surface Pro and Surface Laptops. You will get on-device Copilot functionality, real time captions and translations, and a new feature called ‘AI Explorer.’
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has hatched a new bill that would make ByteDance sell TikTok in order for the app to remain available in the US. Engadget.com says it has the clunky name “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”, and would prohibit US app stores and web hosting services from distributing TikTok unless it divested from parent company ByteDance. This is just the latest attempt to force a sale over concern that ByteDance is too much under the control of the Chinese government. Former President Donald Trump attempted to force a sale of TikTok in 2020, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The Biden Administration has also pressured the company to divest. And a US District Court Judge recently blocked an attempt to ban the app in Montana. It really is a concern about all the data flowing to China…virtually every kid I know spends more time on TikTok than any other social media platform by far.
A startup called Phase Genomics has gotten a grant for $1.5 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to research killing drug resistant bacteria…oh, and also to develop a way to battle methane produced by cow burps. Geekwire.com notes that one cow belches up 220 pounds of methane per year according to UC Davis…which makes cattle the top producer of greenhouse gasses coming from the agricultural sector. Methane is some 20 times worse for global warming than carbon dioxide. Phase Genomics will work on a project to create an antimicrobial discovery program to tackle this, as well as the drug resistant bacteria. The company is a spinoff from the University of Washington’s Genome Sciences department. Although it’s a cheap laugh (which I couldn’t resist), but cow farts and belches really are a serious problem…and except for vegans, no one wants to give up delicious steaks, but global warming is real, so we need a fix for this methane problem.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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