Automatic Leveling Coming to YouTube Music; 3 Big Siri Upgrades in iOS 19; OpenAI o3 Model-Fudging on Benchmark; Nintendo Switch 2 Preorders Start Thursday
Posted: April 21, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, science, technology Leave a commentHere’s a feature I can really get behind, and plead for all others to follow suit…consistent volume on songs! YouTube is apparently going to bring automatic audio leveling to YouTube Music. This has been something radio has had for decades. Who wants to keep turning the volume up and down all the time…whether at home or in the car? Arstechnica.com reports that the automatic gain control…or ‘normalizing,’ in more recent computer audio lingo, won’t just make the songs all the same volume throughout…so you can still have the normal soft passages you would expect…but at least the average level between the songs will be consistent. I hope that the folks over at Apple will follow suit! It is ridiculous in 2025 to have to manually go for the volume control so you don’t get your eardrums fried when a new song comes on!
Apple has been known for years to wait in the wings, then come out with hardware that leaps past competitors. That certainly isn’t the case with Siri, which is a poor excuse for an also-ran of an assistant. According to 9to5mac.com, after delaying promised upgrades that should be out now, Apple will roll out improvements in Siri this fall…in iOS 19. What can we look for? For starters, personalization. You might ask ‘When is Mom’s flight landing?’ It will supposedly scan your texts, calendar, contacts, and email and pull the info, then hit the web and check flight tracker to give you the touchdown time. Another feature will be actual hands-free computing. Up to now, you could set timers, turn things on and off, and so forth…but that’s about it. The upgrade will let you do things across apps. You could tell Siri to add a photo to one of your notes, for example, and it will find and pull the pic, and drop it into the note described, without opening either app. Thirdly, it should get onscreen awareness…you might get a text from a friend with a new address. You can just ask Siri to add it to that person’s contact card. My big complaint about this and all the ‘assistants,’ whether Siri, Google, or Alexa…is that hands-free computing will be annoying in public or on public transit. We already have those nuts who hold their phone in front of them on speaker mode and talk loudly into them. Use your earbuds! Actually, I rather prefer the quiet and privacy typing brings!
We just reported on how Meta had exaggerated their latest AI model…and now along comes OpenAI with their newest o3 model and surprise…there’s a discrepancy between first and third party benchmarks! More fudging, it seems. To me, this seems silly as hell since no regular people outside the world of AI makers and those who test them has any idea about these benchmarks, but here we are. Techcrunch.com says in December, OpenAI claimed the model could answer just over a fourth of questions on FrontierMath, a challenging set of math problems. That score blew the competition away — the next-best model managed to answer only around 2% of FrontierMath problems correctly. As it turns out, Epoch AI, the research institute behind FrontierMath, released results of its independent benchmark tests of o3 on Friday. Epoch found that o3 scored around 10%, well below OpenAI’s highest claimed score. That’s a bit more than a rounding error! In OpenAI’s defense the 25% was the ‘upper-bound’ score, and the ‘lower-bound’ score for version o3 was around 10%. This reminds me of the ‘stereo wars’ of the 70’s, when some makers claimed a big number of watts for their rigs…and then it turns out that that was driving only one channel at a time…they were way less powerful when running music through both channels…you know, like the way people actually listen to the things! Do better, AI makers…you don’t need to BS us on how magical your large language model is.
After a delay in both the US and Canada, Nintendo will open preorders for the new Switch 2 on Thursday. The base price is $450, according to engadget.com. This price is unchanged even in the face to the Trump tariffs. If you actually want a game though, it will be $500 for Mario Kart World in a ‘bundle.’ I love how it’s now a bundle…at least on the original Nintendo you got one cartridge game so you could play the damned thing. Nintendo did warn that it may adjust the price of Switch 2 accessories due to ‘market conditions.’ It should still be available June 5th. This was a topic of discussion at a family lunch over the weekend. You might just want to wait until another game or two drops for the Switch 2.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now
Google-Online Ad Monopoly Says Court; ChatGPT-Reverse Location Search Fad; iPhone 16e Now Made in Brazil; Tesla Odometer Uses ‘Predictive Algorithms’-Suit Claims to Void Warranty
Posted: April 17, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentA federal judge has ruled that Google is a monopolist in online advertising. Engadget.com reports that US District Judge Leonie Brinkema from the Eastern District of Virginia found that the company broke the law to maintain its ad tech dominance. “In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web,” the judge said. The case flows form a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice and eight states in January 2023. They accused Google of illegally monopolizing the ad market and using that power to charge more and take a higher portion of sales. The government says Google holds an 87% market share in ad-selling tech. It doesn’t take a judge or a rocket scientist to understand that 87% is the definition of a monopoly! A previous federal court in the District of Columbia made the same finding last year. Stay tuned to see if the courts go hard and try to make Google sell parts of its ad tech business.
We just reported yesterday on the very high energy use at server farms which came from so many people using AI to make action figure pictures of themselves. Now, according to TechCrunch.com, there is yet another viral trend…people using ChatGPT to figure out a location shown in pictures. OpenAI just pushed out its latest AI models this week…o3 and o4-mini. Both are said to be able to ‘reason’ through uploaded images. The models can crop, rotate, and zoom on photos…even blurry and distorted ones as they analyze them. Combining this with a web crawl, it turns out the new models are quite good as a location-finding tool. This was possible with the older models, but apparently the new ones are much more quick to respond and more accurate. We are still dealing with far from perfect, though. Version o3 got stuck in a loop in tests a number of times, or gave the wrong location a fair amount of the time. It’s a cute parlor trick, but as has been common for AI, breezes past any privacy or safety concerns. I hope it doesn’t take something awful happening to one of them for the politicians to wake up and pass some guardrails on this tech.
We’ve noted here before that Apple has been building iPhones outside of China…including in India, Vietnam, and South America. Now here is a little update. Bgr.com says Foxconn’s factor in Sao Paulo, Brazil has begun producing iPhone 16e models there. It was previously disclosed that they were making them in India. The Brazil Foxconn factory hasn’t grown in the last decade, but with the Trump tariffs, it is likely that Apple will be expanding production in Brazil as well as India. Apple is even looking at making all US iPhones outside of China due to the outrageous tariffs decreed by Donald Trump.
A California lawsuit claims that Tesla cars are falsely exaggerating odometer readings to make warranties expire prematurely. Arstechnica.com reports that the suit comes after Reuters found that Tesla EVs exaggerated their efficiency. For the odometers, the lead plaintiff bought a used Model Y with less than 37,000 miles showing. In 6 months, it had gone past the 50,000 mile mark, putting the owner out of warranty. The Model Y showed he had driven 13,228 miles. His 3 prior vehicles had only registered 6,086 miles for the exact same commute over 6 months. The suit alleges that Tesla “employs an odometer system that utilizes predictive algorithms, energy consumption metrics, and driver behavior multipliers that manipulate and misrepresent the actual mileage traveled by Tesla Vehicles” and that his car “consistently exhibited accelerated mileage accumulations of varying percentages ranging from 15 percent to 117 percent higher than plaintiff’s other vehicles and his driving history.” Other owners had shared similar experiences on Reddit. The class action suit applies to all California Tesla customers. The success of the suit is far from guaranteed as a US district court found that individual owners must take part in arbitration with Tesla and can’t form a class. **I later spoke to someone who opined that this may not just be to avoid warranty payouts. It also serves to pad the miles driven with the so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ package…so it’s a double cheat!
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
More Meta Trial; Bluesky Feed Builder Graze; Apple ‘Vision Air’ Headset; AI Action Figure Fad-Creating Unsustainable’ GPU Demand
Posted: April 16, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentAs the Meta antitrust trial brought by the Federal Trade Commission continues, gizmodo.com reports that CEO Mark Zuckerberg thought President Trump would help keep the suit from happening. Apparently, Zuck offered to settle the case for some $450 million. The FTC for its part wanted $30 billion initially…then dropped that to $18 billion and a consent decree. Zuck’s confidence was apparently a reference to the fact that the Meta CEO’s company had donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and settled a lawsuit with the president for $25 million in a move that was largely seen as a gift to Trump. Zuck was on the stand for some 7 hours Tuesday, his second day of testimony. The CEO reiterated that even now, Instagram doesn’t come very close at all to competing with TikTok. The government wants Meta to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp.
One unique feature of Bluesky is that you can make your own custom feeds. That’s all cool, but doing so can be complicated for non-developers. Now, according to TechCrunch.com, a startup called Graze has raised cash including from a division of Salesforce called Ventures to build software tools to customize, publish, and manage Bluesky feeds. With Bluesky, you aren’t limited to their algorithm for the feed. You can create or just follow custom feeds, and even pin one to be your default feed…I haven’t created a feed myself, but do use the default sometimes, as well as ‘Popular With Friends’, ‘Mutuals,’ and my pinned feed ‘Following.’ Graze users have already build around 4,500 custom feeds. If you are into politics, that’s cool, but you can follow a range of topics like gaming, art, sports, fitness, hobbies, and more. By the way, Graze also allows feed operators to choose if they want to let the platform serve ads or now. You may not want to, but if you do, you can make some money. Right now 200 feeds built with Graze are running ads at $1 per 1,000 impressions. Graze takes a 30% cut.
We have been hearing about Apple working on a cheaper headset…now we have a rumor that it will also be lighter, and may be called something like the ‘Vision Air.’ Macrumors.com says that the thinner, lighter design could come in a ‘Midnight Blue’ finish, too. The rumor comes from a leaker called Kosutami. This leaker has a mixed record, but did nail the Fine Woven Apple Watch bands and also called the Thunderbolt 4 cable. Back to the headset, though. It will still be mainly aluminum, but internals will be more titanium to reduce weight. It will also have a new style 12-pin Lightening connector. The 2nd gen Vision pro is expected either this fall or next spring, but not date range yet on the cheaper…and now apparently lighter Vision Air.
If you have been on any Social media lately…especially Facebook and LinkedIn, you haven’t been able to avoid all the ‘action figures’ people have been making of themselves. Well, the cute trend has a big downside, according to thenextweb.com. Apparently, the GPU demand it is creating is unsustainable. Using AI to generate text takes some 20-30 times more energy than a traditional search…but AI generated images from written prompts uses at least double THAT amount! Energy use at data centers is expected to double over the next 5 years to 3% of total globe energy use…almost half that power is expected to come from burning fossil fuels. Then there is Microsoft, which wants to reactivate a nuclear plant on the East Coast just to power AI data centers…with enough power to light hundreds of thousands of homes. Yeah, your action figure is cute…now, take a screenshot of it and don’t do it again!
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Zuck Considered Wiping Your Facebook Friend List; OpenAI Building a Social Network; Startup Aims to Detect Deepfakes; Detailed iPhone Fold Predictions
Posted: April 15, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentAs the DOJ vs Meta trial moves forward, an interesting…and honestly wacky idea of Mark Zuckerberg’s came to light. Techcrunch.com reports that Zuckerberg sent an email in 2022 proposing the strategy of “wiping everyone’s graphs and having them start again” as a possible solution to Facebook’s declining significance in the social networking space. The idea was that forcing everyone to re-create their friend graphs could encourage users to reconnect with the social network as they rebuild their social connections. A number of other Facebook execs, including the head of Facebook Tom Alison pushed back hard. Fortunately, the idea was never implemented. Just in the last few weeks, Facebook has nudged users towards their Friends tab…which mainly just shows posts from friends, without the proposed pages and all the other crap they have loaded up the main feed with.
OpenAI is developing its own X—like social network. According to theverge.com, there is already an internal prototype focused on ChatGPT’s image generation that has a social feed. CEO Sam Altman has been privately asking around for feedback on the project. Right now, it’s not clear if OpenAI would release the social network as a separate app or integrate it into ChatGPT. Putting out an X-like product would just up the bad feelings between Elon Musk and Altman…Elon was originally involved in ChatGPT but left a number of years ago. Besides the obvious of having a social platform, a social app would also give OpenAI its own unique real-time data.
Public figures, especially actors and voice people have been concerned for some time about the ability of generative AI to clone their likenesses or voices. Now, geekwire.com says a startup called Loti is aiming to help celebrities, politicians, and other high profile folks protect their digital likeness and sound. Loti’s advanced facial and voice recognition software analyzes real photos, video and audio from customers and then scans the internet for infringing media — such as fake social media accounts, fake endorsements, or deepfakes that misuse their likeness. The company can then put out takedown requests. The company has support from the re-introduction of the No Fakes Act…that bill is supported by Google, Amazon, and others. A couple of major talent agencies are partnering with Loti, and they have raised a fresh blast of $16 million.
More on the upcoming iPhone Fold from mashable.com and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The folding iPhone is supposed to drop in the last quarter of 2026. The folder will have a book type design like the Samsung Galaxy Z Folds have. It should have a 7.8 inch allegedly crease-free inner screen, and a 5.5 inch outer display. Kuo expects a dual rear camera, and and added selfie cam…which will work when the phone is folded or unfolded. It should be notably slimmer…9 to 9.5mm thick folded, and 4.5 to 4.8mm thick, compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6…at 12.1mm folded and 5.6 mm unfolded. The hinge…nearly as crucial as the crease or lack of it, will be stainless steel and titanium, with the case titanium like the present iPhone 16 Pros. It will have a Touch ID button and high density battery. The price is expected to be between $2000 and $2500.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Meta Will Resume AI Training on Public Content; Meta Antitrust Trial; Nvidia To Start Chipmaking in Arizona and Texas; Tariffs-On Again, Off Again-Apple Increases Non-China Production
Posted: April 14, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, business, finance, investing, stocks Leave a commentMeta announced today that they will start using publicly available content from European users to train its AI models…something it paused last year after an outcry about data privacy. The training will be on public posts and content shared by adult users in the European Union. Meta says it will not use private messages, but noted to the EU regulators that it will be doing nothing different from Google and OpenAI. The social giant said it will begin notifying users in the EU about the training…and will include a link to a form where they can object at any time. Meta says “We’ll honor all objection forms.”
In other Meta news, the big antitrust case the FTC has brought against Meta is under the gavel in Washington, D.C. According to NPR, it comes after a 6 year investigation over whether the social media giant broke competition laws when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. It would put quite a dent in the $1.4 trillion dollar ad business, if the government prevails and makes Meta spin off those series into separate companies. It is being compared as a corporate breakup to the one that the government forced on AT&T some 40 years ago. The trial before Judge Boasberg is expected to last up to 8 weeks. Meta is expected to present a vigorous defense.
Nvidia has announced it has commissioned over a million square feet of space to build and test AI chips in Arizona and Texas. Techcrunch.com says production of its Blackwell chips has already started at TSMC’s plants in Phoenix, and Nvidia is building ‘supercomputer’ manufacturing plants in Texas…partnered with Foxconn in Houston and Wistron in Dallas. Mass production should ramp up in the next 12-15 months, and within 4 years, Nvidia is aiming to make as much as a half trillion dollars worth of AI infrastructure in the US. The plants in Arizona were started by the Chips Act under the Biden Administration.
Another roller coaster on tariffs over the weekend. First, a cave, exempting smartphones, and computers, and processors from the 145% tariff on Chinese imports. After that, it was just a temporary pause on SundayThen, yesterday, 9to5google.com, among many others, reports that Trump flip-flopped again, and said no exemptions. This is playing havoc with tech companies. Apple, for one, began ramping up production in India, and now makes 20% of iPhones there. They also increased production in Vietnam and Thailand. Look for other electronics makers other than do likewise to avoid the ridiculous tariffs Trump is trying to impose on China. For its part, China is not caving, and is putting on matching tariffs on imports from the US.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
DOGE-Using AI to Monitor Anti-Trump & Musk Chatter in Government Comms; Amazon Enters Real-Time Voice Derby; Framework Pauses Laptop Sales Due to Tariffs; Nintendo Delays Switch 2 in Canada to Match US Preorder Date
Posted: April 8, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentOrwell’s 1984 may be a ways in the rearview mirror, but apparently DOGE is trying to catch the US government up with Big Brother’s…and not in a good way. Engadget.com reports that Reuters is saying DOGE is employing tech in its processes, including the alleged use of artificial intelligence to monitor communications. The initiative is said to be keeping an eye out for chatter that’s considered hostile toward Elon Musk or Donald Trump. Some managers at the Environmental Protection Agency have reportedly been told that DOGE is deploying AI to monitor communication apps and software such as the widely used Microsoft Teams for anti-Musk or anti-Trump sentiment. It’s said that DOGE is watching out for individuals whose work didn’t square with the administration’s agenda. One manager reportedly told EPA staffers to “Be careful what you say, what you type and what you do.” Let’s have a warm welcome to the Thought Police.
Amazon has a new speech-to-speech AI model called Nova Sonic that unifies speech recognition and generation to deliver what Amazon calls more natural voice interactions. According to Geekwire.com, the new model is intended to compete with Google, OpenAI, and others. Amazon says that Nova Sonic picks up on the ton of voice, adapting to the style and emotions of users. An angry customer on a support call might hear a calm, steady voice in return, while someone sounding excited could get a more upbeat response. Amazon’s senior VP of artificial general intelligence Rohit Prasad says ‘I think of intelligence as inseparable from context.’ Nova Sonic is going to be available to third-party developers via Amazon’s Bedrock service. It currently just supports English with a few different voices and accents. Amazon says it’s working on supporting more languages.
Framework, which sells modular and repairable laptops like the Framework Laptop 13, is temporarily pausing US sales on some configurations due to the new tariffs levied by the Trump administration. Arstechnica.com says models will be pulled from their online store for now. The company said in a statement that the laptops were priced when tariffs were zero percent on goods from Taiwan. With the new 10% tariff, they would be selling at a loss. They had offered pre-built versions of the Laptop 13 with certain options for $899 and $999. Those are gone for now, but you can still preorder the upcoming Rizen AI version of the Framework Laptop 13 for $1099.
Canadian Nintendo fans aren’t happy….the company has delayed Switch 2 preorders to match up with the US preorder date. Originally, preorders were to be live April 9th…tomorrow…and the console would launch June 5th. Bgr.com reports that the dates have been delayed to match the date for US preorders…which is now yet to be determined due to the Trump tariffs. The launch date for the Switch 2 remains June 5th. The price is a little fuzzy now with the tariffs, but since Nintendo has already shipped thousands of consoles to the US, the price may…MAY…stay at $450 for now.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Nintendo On Trade War Switch 2 Effect; Apple-Big iPhone Redesign for 20th Anniversary; Scientists-Present Drug Kills Mosquitoes; Jony Ive Screenless AI Phone Project
Posted: April 7, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentWith the Switch 2 just being announced last week…and a fat price of $450, we now find out that the Trump Tariffs weren’t factored into that price…so the Switch 2 could be notably higher. If the tariff is 40% when finalized, you could see a $600 price on the Switch 2! Wired.com reports that the company is ‘actively assessing’ the situation. Of course the tariffs will affect game prices, too. Mario Kart World was already $80…could it touch $99? It’s too early to tell. The Switch 2 is still expected to be in hands of users by early summer.
Apple had a notable re-design for the iPhone 10…called the ‘X’ at the time. Now, word from Bloomberg…by way of appleinsider.com comes that Apple is planning to mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone in 2027 with a significant redesign, but perhaps not as dramatically different as it did for the iPhone X in 2007. Considering the various meanings of XX, I will be surprised if they call it that…the iPhone Double Cross doesn’t have a good ring to it…and Dos Equis is already a mark owned by the Mexican beer. Back to the iPhone, however. The foldable version is supposed to be out if it hasn’t been introduced in 2026, and the 20 Pro will have ‘more extensive use’ of glass. Many prognosticators are predicting a new layout for the cameras, too…in addition to a better front cam for selfies.
I know there are birds that rely on mosquitoes for a good portion of their diet…martins come to mind. That said, who else likes mosquitoes? Besides carrying disease potentially, there are the maddening itchy bites. Now, according to bgr.com, researchers at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have found that there is an existing drug used by some people for a medical condition that kill the little blood suckers within hours. The drug is nitisinone, and it is used for a rare genetic condition. Ivermectin has been tried on mosquitoes. The nitisinone has distinct advantages, however. It lasts longer in the bloodstream, and doesn’t target the nervous system. That means less likely to harm bees and butterflies. Because the drug is already approved for humans, testing should take less time.
Design wizard Jony Ive, who gave us some of the most iconic Apple looks before leaving to start his own company, is working on an AI phone without a screen. Macrumors.com reports that Ive, at the new startup he founded along with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, may find the startup being acquired by OpenAI for a sweet $500 million. The startup is called io Products, and they are also working on other AI powered household products, besides the screen less phone…which they insist is ‘not a phone.’ In addition to Ive and Sam Altman, the business has funding from Laurene Powell Jobs via her Emerson Collective.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Nintendo Switch Date, Price, etc; Card Networks Spar Over Apple Card Account; Tesla-Worst Deliveries in 2 Years; Amazon-Last Minute Bid for TikTok US
Posted: April 2, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: business, Elon Musk, News, technology, Tesla Leave a commentNintendo has finally announced a date and price for the upcoming Switch 2. Theverge.com reports that the new handheld gaming system will be available on June 5th. It reportedly will be priced at $499.99. The Switch 2 will ship rocking a bigger 7.9 inch, 1080p screen capable of 120Hz, a 4K dock that upscales games for your TV, and Joy-Con 2 controllers that can work like a mouse. It also has 256GB of internal storage, up from 32GB on the original Switch. A new Mario Kart world game will launch exclusively on the 2 on June 5th…with open-world mode, in-game atmospheric effects that depend on ‘the time of day and weather conditions,’ and up to 24 drivers per race.
It has been no secret that Goldman Sachs has been itching to disengage from Apple’s Apple Card. The financial giant has reportedly lost money on the deal. Now, according to appleinsider.com, the card may not only be looking to land at a new banking home, but a new network. Apple Card has been affiliated with the Mastercard network since it rolled out. Mastercard would like to keep the deal, but apparently Visa has offered Apple $100 million to take over as payment network. American Express has also recently shown interest in grabbing the account. Apple can’t move from Mastercard until 2026 when their contract expires. If this quiet negotiation continues, Apple Card could see both a new banking home and a new payment network in 2026. I wonder if they will re-issue those titanium cards…they all have the Mastercard logo, so Visa or Amex won’t want that if they take the account!
Tesla recorded its worst deliveries in 2 years, mostly due to backlash over Elon Musk’s involvement in the US government via the so-called Doge. TechCrunch.com says the EV maker delivered 336,681 cars. Analysts had expected 408,000 for first quarter. The car maker delivered 495,570 vehicles in the 4th quarter of 2024, so this is quite a drop. European sales were off 49%, and sales in China were down significantly, with Chinese maker BYD passing up Tesla there. With drops like this, the stock is up almost 5% today. What gives? Well, word has leaked out of the White House that Musk’s days of meddling in the government are nearing their end. Apparently, in addition to his advisors and Cabinet Secretaries, even Trump is getting weary of Elon Musk’s antics.
Amazon has put in an offer to buy US TikTok, just days before the deadline for the app to be banned or sold to US investors. Bloomberg.com reports that the offer was made in a letter sent to Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Details…such as the amount offered…haven’t leaked, and some parties involved aren’t taking Amazon’s bid seriously. That would give credence to it being something of a low-ball offer. President Trump is due to meet with officials to discuss the app’s fate today, with the April 5th deadline looming. Trump has said that a deal with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app will be finalized before that April 5th deadline.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Samsung Galaxy Edge Launch Imminent; OpenAI Image Generator Now Available to Everyone; Google Messages-Group Chat Upgrade; France Fines Apple For Excessive Rejection of Tracking!
Posted: April 1, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, chatgpt, openai, Tech, technology Leave a commentThe Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge could be unveiled soon. Androidpolice.com reports that a European retailer, NieuweMobiel, claims the slim profile phone will launch in Europe on April 15th. We don’t know for sure when the phone will actually get into user’s hands. An earlier report from Korea said May. That could still hold…although both Samsung and Apple tend to open preorders on the day devices are shown, with availability coming around a week later. As Samsung is notoriously leaky, we expect the Galaxy S25 Edge to have 256Gigs as base memory, and come in Silver, Black, and Blue. Expected base price should be around $1294. The initial run is only about 40,000 units, so it will probably only be available initially in Korea, parts of Europe, and the US.
ChatGPT’s built-in image generation feature is now available to everyone. According to engadget.com, OpenAI made the feature available to free users over the weekend. What this means is you can generate images from within ChatGPT and without having to switch to OpenAI’s DALL-E generator. Prior to its rollout to the free tier, the tool was only available to Plus, Pro and Team subscribers. Do be aware that for the freebie users, you have a limit of three images a day. One of the tool’s most popular uses is the creation of Ghibli (Jib’ lee)-style images using real-life photos. These are in the style of a Japanese anime studio of the same name. Users simply have to upload the photo they want to use and then instruct ChatGPT in natural language to create a Ghibli-style version of it.
Google Messages is considering an update to group chats that could be a biggie. A major feature will be the ability to “join this group with this unique link or QR code.” So…they are taking a page out of Zoom’s book, it would seem. 9to5google.com notes that the group link and QR code automatically expires after a few days. Also, the USP can be reset at any time. That gives the ability to set a custom group icon, and makes it possible to delete sent messages ‘for everyone.’ No time frame on when or even if the features might drop.
From the ‘You’ve Got to Be Kidding Department,’ France has fined Apple 150 million Euros over ‘excessive’ pop-ups that let users reject tracking! Arstechnica.com reports that France’s Competition Authority says Apple’s requiring what amounts to double consent harms “smaller publishers in particular since, unlike the main vertically integrated platforms, they depend to a large extent on third-party data collection to finance their business.” The agency does note that Apple’s own data collection is obtained with a single pop-up. Ok, duly noted France…but what user in their right mind wants to be tracked…ever? Too bad about companies who rely on income from taking and selling my data. Get a better business model!
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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