Netflix Starts Password Share Crackdown; Apple Smart Display Plan; Samsung Teases Long, Rolling Screens; Plug & Play Meter Collar for Home EV Charging

The time a lot of people have been dreading has arrived. Netflix has stated to crack down on password sharing in the US now. TechCrunch.com reports that the streaming giant had originally planned to roll out the ‘paid sharing’ first quarter, but pushed the date back to summer after seeing cancellations in countries where they had already rolled out the fee. What does it mean for you? Well, under the new rules, subscribers will either have to kick relatives or friends off their Netflix account or pay $7.99 a month for an additional membership outside your main household. The company offers tools to make this transition easier, including a way for current subscribers to view which devices are signed into their account and remove those that shouldn’t have access, as well as tools to reset their password. For those sharing someone else’s Netflix account, they can make the transition to an account of their own through a “Transfer Profile” option that will help them to relocate their existing account information, including their viewing history and watchlist.

More on Apple’s iOS17 system. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple plans to turn locked iPhones into smart displays, They would show calendar appointments, weather, and notifications in a similar manner to smart home displays. The idea is to make the phones more useful when they are laying on a desk, or resting in a slanted wireless charger on a night stand. The view appears when the phone is locked and positioned horizontally…much like dedicated home displays from Google and Amazon. 

Samsung has showed off the ‘Rollable Flex,’ a new flexible screen that can be unrolled up to 5 times its length. The example they showed could unroll from about 2 inches to 10 inches. Theverge.com notes that the displays are relatively slim, too. The idea is to let one shrink a hard to carry large display into ‘a portable form factor. This display has another trick up its sleeve, too. It can read and recognize fingerprints anywhere on the screen. But perhaps more interesting is its ability to measure a person’s “heart rate, blood pressure and stress level” from fingers. The technology works by reading the OLED screen’s light as its reflection changes due to the “contraction and relaxation of the blood vessels inside the finger.” No word on when the screens from Samsung Display might make its way into Samsung smartphones or even iPhones, but it does give us a peek into what’s coming down the road a couple years or so. 

A company out of Philadelphia called ConnectDER just picked up $27 million in funding to help them market a pretty amazing gadget. Electrek.co reports it is a plug and play meter collar adapter that wraps around the round part of your electric meter…and gives instant access for EV chargers, solar, and battery storage…all without upgrading your electric panel for a pretty penny. The gadget is a single access point for so-called distributed energy resources. This will open up older homes and less expensive housing to allow for owners to buy electric cars and charge at home, or add solar panels, a converter, and battery backup for your house. ConnectDER says they are operating in 17 states already and that they have deployed some 15,000 of the collars so far. The collars are around $400…way less than getting an electric panel upgrade!

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

Microsoft Rolls Bing-ChatGPT into Windows 11; Apple  Pours Billions into Broadcom Deal; Amazon Fire 11 Max Bows; New Dyson Robot Vacuum 360 Vis Nav Coming

A lot of people and companies have been putting off migrating to Windows 11 for a number of reasons. Now, Microsoft is adding another for some folks…but something others may be moved to upgrade for. Techcrunch.com reports that Microsoft is building its ChatGPT based Bing right into Windows 11. Not only that, the system will allow users to ask the chatbot to change Windows settings, too. What can possibly go wrong, right? The system is dubbed Windows Copilot, and it will be available right in the Windows 11 taskbar. Look for the new Bing integration in June. Will it move people and businesses to switch to Windows 11? Time will tell, but so far, only 20% of Windows users have made the switch. 

Apple has announced a big new partnership with Broadcom, a long time Apple partner. According to 9to5mac.com, Cupertino is calling it a ‘multibillion dollar deal.’ The plan is to have Broadcom develop and build a number of key 5G frequency components in the US. Apple says it already helps support over 1100 jobs at Broadcom’s Fort Collins, Colorado facility. Apple is still on track to invest $430 billion in the US economy over 5 years, something they announced in 2021. Note that Apple is continuing to work on developing its own Bluetooth and Wi-Fi components..which would reduce its reliance on companies like Broadcom. An Apple combo Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip could be ready as soon as 2025. 

Amazon has announced the new Fire 11 Max tablet…its biggest and most powerful tablet so far. Mashable.com says the new 11-inch, Alexa enabled device can be paired with a full-sized detachable keyboard case, and an Amazon Stylus Pen. Here’s the thing…while it’s not quite an iPad, you can get the Fire 11 Max, the keyboard, and the pen starting at $329.99. the older 9th generation iPad (which Apple still sells, even though the 10th gen model is out) is $329 without a keyboard or pen (which Apple calls a pencil.) The Fire 11 Max has a more adult looking gray aluminum case and strengthened glass. Amazon claims it is certified for low blue light, which helps with streaming, gaming, and long hours of use. The base model has 64 gigs of storage, just like the base iPad. The cams are nothing to write home about…an 8MP rear one and an 8MP front cam….not top drawer, but better than the 2MP and 5MP ones of previous Amazon tablets. It’s available for preorder now.

Dyson makes great…albeit…expensive vacuums, among other things. Now, after a luke warm robot vac called the 360 Eye, comes the 360 Vis Nav. Engadget.com reports that the new robot vac was just introduced in Australia, and is expected in the US later this year. Dyson is claiming ‘twice the suction’ of any other robot vacuum, and it sports a top-mounted fisheye lens that helps it navigate and map. The new vac is supposed to have better low light performance and has 26 sensors to try to avoid getting stuck in tight spots. An over the top feature on the 360 Vis Nav is an arm that pops out and cleans right up against the wall. With all that suction, you’d think the 360 Vis Nav would have less range on the battery…and you’d be right. It can sweep for 50 minutes before returning to its dock to charge…but it recalls where it left off and goes right back to finish starting there. Since no vacuums since the door-to-door Kirby ever sold for more than Dyson’s, you’re probably wondering how much. Well, if you buy the 360 Vis Nav, you may have to put off getting a folding phone…no US price yet, but it’s $1590 in US dollars in Australia!

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

Big EU Fine for Meta; Meta’s Twitter Competitor; AT&T and Others Oppose Starlink T-Mobile Deal; Amazon Palm Scanner to Verify Age, Too

Meta has just been whacked with a record $1.3 billion fine over the company’s transferring of Facebook data of European Union customers to the US. The EU regulators believe such data transfers expose EU users to privacy violations….a complaint with its roots going clear back to 2013. Transferring data is crucial to Meta’s ad-targeting system. Last year, they told the EU they might be forced to shut down Facebook and Instagram in the EU if they weren’t able to send data back to the US. Meta has said they will appeal immediately. One EU official said that the $1.3 billion fine was akin to a parking ticket to Meta, which makes many billions serving ads to EU users. 

In what may be better news for Meta, but not so great for Twitter, Meta may be ready to launch a Twitter competitor as soon as June. According to engadget.com, it will be under the Instagram banner, and you will be able to use your Instagram credentials to log in. It is reportedly a decentralized network like Mastodon or Jack Dorsey’s still-in-beta Blue Sky. Apparently you will be able to use the Meta app to interact with other services like Mastodon without switching between apps. Text updates will allow for up to 500 characters, and you will be able to share pics and videos, too. No name has been leaked yet, the service is only known by codenames like Barcelona and P92. 

T-Mobile and Starlink have proposed a partnership for satellite to phone service, and now AT&T and some rural wireless carriers have filed with the FCC to oppose the deal. Engadget.com says they have raised concerns that the companies’ service, in its current proposed state, could interfere with existing wireless services. AT&T has spectrum adjacent to that which the proposed T-Mobile—Starlink deal would use. It should be noted that AT&T has it own partnership plans for satellite service in conjunction with AST Space Mobile. They have already successfully conducted the first 2 way satellite audio calls on AT&T’s network in Texas to a Rakuten number in Japan using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone just last month. AT&T claims in their FCC filing that Applicants’ (meaning T-Moble and Starlink’s) technical showings are woefully insufficient regarding the risk of harmful interference posed by their planned SCS deployments. The battle for space phones is on!

Amazon One, Amazon’s palm scanning tech, is now adding age verification. Techcrunch.com reports that customers at sports events will be able to buy adult beverages by hovering their palm over the Amazon One reader. Coors Field will be the first to use the tech (presumably to sell you a Coors, not a Bud!) The tech will hit other venues in the next few months. Because palm prints are unique, when you scan yours, the biometric tech confirms your handprint with a credit card you inserted at sign up for the service plus your government ID like a driver’s license that you have uploaded in advance. Amazon says the palm print images are encrypted and stored in a secure area of the AWS cloud…which has restricted employee access. 

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

Apple Execs Cautious Over Mixed Reality Headset; Some YouTube Videos Will Get Unstoppable Ads; OpenAI Releases iPhone Version of ChatGPT; Montana’s TikTok ‘Ban’

According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, of Power On newsletter fame, Apple’s top execs are tiptoeing around the introduction of the long-awaited Mixed Reality headset expected at WWDC in June. Apple is still working on the fabled pair of unobtrusive glasses that can be worn all day, but the system due out next month will be more like what’s been leaked…looking like pair of ski goggles. Apple is hopeful that third party apps like games will help power sales of the AR/VR product. Originally, Cupertino had toyed with selling the units below cost to get more initial sales, but now they are expected to sell the rigs for wholesale…still thought to be around $3000. Apple had hoped to sell 3 million the first year, but now is dropping expectations down to about 900,000. Their internal projections still see the AR/VR headset or glasses category as becoming as big as the Apple Watch or iPad. 

You’ve been asking for them…demanding them, begging for them…and now you will have them…unstoppable 30 second ads on top performing YouTube content on TVs. Of course no one alive except toe people at Google who will profit from this and advertisers who want access to your eyeballs really want this. Variety reports that YouTube will also be testing out ‘Pause Experiences’ on TV screens, showing an ad when viewers pause a video…much like the pause ads Hulu rolled out 4 years ago. The new 30-second unskippable ads will be available in YouTube Select, the top 5% of its most-viewed and most-engaging content on the service…so at least for now, we don’t have to deal with the pesky things on every video we watch. The back to back two 15 second ads YouTube has had for a while will continue to show up, though. 

A free version of ChatGPT is now available from Apple’s App Store, and it runs natively on iPhones and iPads. Axios.com says it works largely like the web version, but adds speech input support using Whisper, OpenAI’s open-source speech recognition system. The availability is US only now, but will expand to other countries in the coming weeks, according to maker OpenAI. The company says an Android version will be coming soon, too. 

In a foolish move of ‘harrumphing, Montana has passed a law banning TikTok in the state starting next year. The law carries a $10,000 daily fine for app stores for violating the law…although no fines or punishments for users. Engadget.com notes that legal challenges may delay the implementation, but the reality is that kids already know how to use VPNs, and can easily side load the app and use a VPN to go undetected by Montana’s TikTok police. OK, I made that up…they really don’t have separate TikTok police…but no police or others will be able to enforce this law, should it survive the legal challenges. More crazy grandstanding by politicians…just what we need.

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

Amazon Updates Echo Line & Works on Its Own Chatbot; Uber Launching Teen Accounts; Google Will Delete Your Gmail After a Couple Years; You May Be Able to Use Pixel as Dash Cam

Amazon is freshening up the Echo lineup. A new device all together is the Echo Pop. Techcrunch.com reports that the Pop is more of a semi-circular gadget…as opposed to the Dot, which is basically spherical. the Pop comes in what Amazon calls ‘teen friendly’ colors like lavender and teal, and sells for $39.99. It will also extend your home WiFi network via eero. In addition to the Pop, there is an updated Echo Show 5, and Echo Buds and Auto get a bit of fresh paint. Amazon also teased that they are working on their own proprietary chatbot. The Amazon chatbot will…what else? Help shoppers (read that as help shoppers to buy more and more expensive stuff from Amazon!)

Uber has announced several updates, one of which might ultimately be a can of worms, in this reporter’s opinion. According to engadget.com, on May 22nd, Uber will roll out teen accounts. The company claims this will helping younger folks travel more safely by themselves. Uber says that only screened drivers who are experienced and highly rated will be able to carry out trips with teens. Drivers will be able to opt out of such rides. Teen accounts have a series of built-in safety features, including audio recordings, RideCheck (which proactively checks in with riders if the vehicle has stopped for a while) and the option to use a PIN to ensure young users are getting in the right car. Parents and guardians will be able to track the trips of teens. This really seems to be another one of those ‘what can possibly go wrong’ issues. Uber’s screened drivers in the past have turned out to be not so screened. In a better move, Uber is starting to offer rides with available car seats, so parents can secure a child while they ride with Mom or Dad. 

If it’s been a while, log into that dusty Gmail account you have. 9to5google.com says that Google is starting to delete accounts that haven’t been active in at least 2 years.  In addition to the email address becoming inaccessible, Gmail messages, Calendar events, Drive, Docs, and other Workspace files, as well as Google Photos backups, will be removed. Right now, Google isn’t planning to delete accounts with YouTube Videos. The deletions will start this coming December, and will be phased in. 

In other Google news, an analyst has found some unreleased code in the Personal Safety Android app and managed to enable a new, unannounced “Dashcam” feature for Pixel phones. Mashable.com reports that while you can already do this with any phone and a dash mount, in this code there’s a setting to automatically start and stop recording when the Pixel connects to a certain Bluetooth access point, which would be your car in this case. Recordings are also deleted after three days unless you manually decide to keep them around, which should save on storage space. Since the code is basically complete, we could see this new Pixel feature rolled out soon.

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

Apple’s New Accessibility Features; TSA Tests Facial Recognition at Airports; Free TV, 2 Screens, Big Catch; Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Hearing Boost

Apple has been a leader for years in accessibility features, and now they are previewing more of them that will be coming soon to iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Techcrunch.com reports that the suite of features is called Assistive access. First off, the Phone and FaceTime apps are merged into one. In addition, the icons are larger and Apple has increased the contrast and put in clearer labels. A totally new feature uses the camera an LiDAR scanner in iPhones to help visually impaired people with physical objects that have several text labels. For example, using Point and Speak, you can aim at the microwave, and it will tell you which buttons are ‘popcorn,’ ‘pizza,’ and ‘power level.’ Besides some increased help for visually impaired folks, a new feature called Personal Voice creates an automated voice that sounds like you, not Siri. This is intended for people who are at risk of losing their voice due to things like ALS. To make it work, the user has to read random text into the mic for about 15 minutes. The feature is apparently like what Acapela has been doing with its ‘my own voice’ service. The features are expected to be rolled out later this year. 

As if the so-called ‘rape scan’ machines you have to stand in at airport security aren’t enough…now the TSA is testing out facial recognition at some US airports. According to zdnet.com, you will hand over your driver’s license or passport to the TSA agent, and then your face is scanned by a camera that compares your mug to the pic on your license or passport. The airports that are testing the process are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, and a handful of others. Once the process is complete, the TSA agent approves the screening…then you are off to said machine to stand with your arms up so it can electronically strip search you. The facial recognition is voluntary so far. Interestingly, several Senators…Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Cory Booker, Liz Warren, and Bernie Sanders, have written to the TSA to express their concerns. The Senators note the well known racial bias of facial recognition systems. They also are alarmed about the invasion of privacy…the TSA hasn’t said what it might do with your biometric data. Let’s hope this system isn’t put in everywhere….until and unless facial recognition gets much more accurate. 

How about a FREE 55 inch flat screen TV? It even comes with TWO screens separated by a soundbar. So what’s the catch? Glad you asked. Under the main 55 inch display is a smaller display that serves up ads, sports scores, a news ticker, and and stock prices. Theverge.com says ads can also pop up on the far right side of the main display, too. The set is from Pluto TV. But wait…there’s more! (Shades of Ron Popiel.) There is also a cam to watch ‘how you interact with the TV. If you are still actually thinking about one of these, what’s the matter with you? Ok…it’s freetelly.com. 

Samsung has a firmware update coming to their Galaxy Buds 2 that will amplify sound for clearer hearing. Androidpolice.com notes that this is intended for folks who are hard of hearing. The update will increase the amplification levels by two, giving users up to 5. In addition, you will be able to independently adjust each earbud’s volume using the Amplify ambient sound feature. Samsung claims the buds will deliver enhanced sound clarity by allowing “customization to tune to users’ ears through the Adapt Ambient Sound feature for more clarity in sound.” Granted, none of this will affect most users who aren’t hard of hearing, but for those who are and like to listen to music, it will be a real plus. Expect the firmware update in the coming weeks.

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

Google App Update Heating Up Pixels; Cheaper iPhones May Get 48 Megapixel Cam; EU Approves Microsoft Activision Acquisition; GM Recall-More Exploding Airbags

Google JUST rolled out their new Pixel phones last week, and an update to the Google app dropped, too. Well, guess what? Engadget.com says the app update of May 12th is making phones overheat! One Redditor commented in a Google support forum he had Massive battery usage from Google app and to a lesser degree Android System Intelligence. I just went through and did a factory reset, reinstalled most things and it’s still happening,” one Reddit user wrote. “Beyond the battery not lasting the phone is getting really warm so I know it’s harming the battery and potentially the CPU.” If you haven’t updated the Google app, DON’T…until this bug gets patched.

A new rumor has Apple expanding its 48 megapixel camera to the lower end iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. It has been exclusive to the Pro models. Macrumors.com reports that the tip comes from Jeff Pu, an analyst out of Hong Kong. The analyst notes that due to so-called ‘yield issues,’ the handsets may be in short supply for a bit after the September introduction. He also affirmed that all the iPhones will have a USB-C port…since the EU has mandated that for all new phones. As we have noted here before…Apple being Apple, any old USB-C cord from Amazon or whomever will charge your new phone…but won’t transfer data unless you have a more pricy Apple-approved one with their little proprietary chip in it. ‘Cause Tim Cook needs some fancy new sneakers. 

It looked like the European Union for a while was going to completely block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but a deal has been reached, and Redmond has gotten EU approval for its $68.7 million pickup. The flap was related to cloud gaming…the EU believed that Microsoft would control too much of the market. After  Microsoft agreed to offer 10 year licenses to others,  the EU Commission signed off on the deal. These licenses mean that consumers in EU countries will have a right to stream Activision Blizzard games they’ve purchased or subscribe to on “any cloud game streaming service of their choice and play them on any device using any operating system.”

At this point, I’m wondering how many of the airbags in circulation have this exploding issue. GM has recalled a million SUVs to replace potentially dangerous airbag inflators….the ones that can cause little pieces of metal to fly into your face when they deploy. Arstechnica.com notes that BMW, Hyundai/KIA, and Stellantis (Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, & Jeep) all have the same inflators. The supplier has rejected claims by the NHTSA that there is a systematic defect. Yeah, right. These inflators were made by ARC Automotive out of Knoxville, TN. Apparently, the airbag inflators were corrected after 2018…so theoretically, if you car is 2018 or newer, you may be ok. Owners of affected cars will get the usual notice in the mail from GM and can make an appointment for a free replacement at a dealer. 

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

Google I/O Recap

Lots going on at Google I/O today. First off, as expected, they announced the Pixel 7a with face unlock for $499. At that price, it is by far the cheapest handset to run Google’s latest Tensor G2 chip. Google has also given the 7a a bigger battery with a claimed life of 72 hours if you run in Extreme Battery Saver mode. 

Besides the Pixel, Google is adding to its image search function…new features to make it easier to spot altered content. There will soon be an ‘about this image’ option that may help users to determine if a pic was altered by AI. 

Google has now ended the Bard waitlist, making the English version of the chatbot open to all using English. This includes 180 countries and territories. Google says they are holding off on some other languages as a safety measure. Also, Google announced that it will soon be adding multimodal content to Bard, meaning that it can deliver answers in more than just text. “Coming soon, Bard will become more visual both in its responses and your prompts. You’ll be able to ask it things like, “What are some must-see sights in New Orleans?” — and in addition to text, you’ll get a helpful response along with rich visuals to give you a much better sense of what you’re exploring.” 

Google Maps now has a new ‘Immersive View for Routes’ feature. It includes details about traffic simulations, bike lanes, complex intersections, parking and more. 

They have added AI to Google Magic Editor, which will allow for more complex edits to specific parts of photos. You can even reposition the subject for better framing in your photo. 

Workspace is also getting some AI muscle to make it smarter, and they have added automatic table generation (not that it doesn’t include formulas) in Sheets and image creation in Slides and Meet. Basically, that’s custom backgrounds for Meet. 

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

AI at Wendy’s Drive Up Window; Final Cut Pro & Logic Pro on iPad; Twitter Will Purge Inactive Accounts; Driving Across Border With QR Code Coming

If you ever special ordered food much from fast food places…and frequently got your order screwed up, you are in luck. Not GOOD luck, but luck. PCworld.com reports that Wendy’s has partnered with Google AI to build an AI system for their dive in windows. Right now, the system will just debut at one restaurant located in Columbus, Ohio in June. Wendy’s expects the AI to streamline and speed up the order process and speed up the drive-through experience…so I can get out of my car faster, and go inside and make them re-do the order correctly! Wendy’s did have Google program in some of their insider lingo, like “JBC’ for Junior bacon cheeseburger, and it is trained to ask ‘would you like a Frostie with that?’ The single restaurant test experience will dictate how fast the system will move to other restaurants.

Apple has announced the availability of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPads. There is a bit of a catch, though. According to macrumors.com, they will each be by subscription…the fee is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Users will be able to move Logic Pro projects between iPad and Mac.With Final Cut Pro, media can be imported from Files or Photos, and saved directly inside a Final Cut Pro project. The iPad version also supports import of projects made in iMovie. As with Logic Pro, you can seamlessly move projects from iPad to Mac and vice versa. 

Elon Musk, being Elon Musk, has announced that Twitter will start purging inactive accounts. He didn’t clarify what would happen to accounts of those who have died…like some platforms that allow people to memorialize those accounts. Cnet.com says that in a reply to Musk, John Carmack, founder of ID Software, cautioned against deleting inactive accounts, saying that it’ll make sourcing historic tweets more challenging. It could also mean that Twitter threads from years ago would be fragmented with gaps of unavailable tweets. No timeline was given for when the inactive accounts might be deleted. 

Singapore is gearing up to let people cross its border checkpoints with a QR code next year, heading into Malaysia. ZDnet.com notes that it is an extension of the Automated Passenger In-Car Clearance System (APICS) that Singapore developed to enable travelers to carry out self-clearance without having to leave their vehicle and with minimum intervention from immigration officers. Live trials of the automated system were conducted last year, according to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority. Right now, US citizens can cross into Canada and Mexico with a Passport card instead of the booklet, so it won’t be surprising to see the QR code tech coming here soon for those crossing in vehicles. 

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

Hacked Verified Facebook Pages; Google Search-More Visual, ‘Snackable’-What? Bluesky Invites a Hot Item; Apple Looks to Emerging Markets

People post that they have been hacked on Facebook all the time, and usually their pages have just been cloned by some hairy, bearded troll in some place like Saint Petersburg. Now, techcrunch.com reports that a handful of verified Facebook pages were recently actually hacked, and caught pushing malware through ads approved by and purchased by the platform. In some cases, the pages were impersonating Facebook itself. Comprised accounts included official-sounding pages like ‘Meta Ads’ and “Meta Ads Manager.” Those accounts shared suspicious links to tens of thousands of followers, though their reach probably extended well beyond that through paid posts. All have been deactivated now, but as always, avoid the urge to click on a link. At least try copying it and pasting into your search so you can see what comes up. 

Sometimes when you see something from a major tech company, you just know you have to talk about it immediately. Such is the case when an internal document leaked from Google to the Wall Street Journal that outlined a plan to make Google Search more ‘visual, snackable, personal, and human.’ Ok, we get the rest, but ‘snackable?’ So do they want us to gobble up search results? At any rate, according to 9to5google.com, one aspect of the changes involves adding more ‘short videos’ to search results…in response to the way a lot of young people get their information. Apparently, Google has determined that about 40% of young people turn to TikTok or Meta owned Instagram when searching for restaurants. Google also intends to display more online forum posts in search results like those from Reddit. Of course, this is all in addition to the Bard AI the search giant has started baking in to Google Search. Are we going to see the day when Google anticipates what you are thinking about snacking on, and it is delivered to your front porch in minutes? Stay tuned. 

While Twitter has lost about half of its recent sign ups for its $8 a month Blue checkmark, Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky is a hot item. Engadget.com says the invite codes for the decentralized network, which isn’t publicly available yet, are now bringing hundreds of dollars on eBay. The iOS app has been downloaded some 375,000 times, and is one of the most popular social media apps in the Play Store just 2 weeks after launch. Some of the lucky few who have gotten (or bought) and invite and used Bluesky says it is the closest to Twitter of all the other apps aspiring to take users from the Musk owned platform…which stands to reason since it started as a project at Twitter under co-founder and previous CEO Jack Dorsey. 

Apple is looking to emerging markets to shore up sales as growth slows in the US and China. Bloomberg.com reports that for Cupertino… Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates all had best-ever quarterly sales in the most recent period — even while overall revenue declined. And Malaysia, Brazil and India had their best-ever March quarter. Most of those increases are being driven by iPhone sales. CEO Tim Cook noted that the emerging market upticks were a big plus as sales in the Americas, China and Japan had eased by 3%.

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