Prime Day (Week) in June; User-Replaceable Batteries; Microsoft Surface Ultra-Their 1st MacBook Pro Competitor; Florida Sues OpenAI & Sam Altman

Posted: June 2, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon has moved summer Prime Day up a month to June…June 23rd, specifically. Now, zd.com notes that Prime ‘Day’ has ballooned to 4 days…up from two the last few years. Amazon has Prime Big Deal Days in October, and Big Spring Sales in March…but the summer sale is their biggest. They will offer Big Deal Drops at 12 am, 8 am, and 1 pm Pacific…with generally up to 50% off on brands like LG, Ninja, and Stanley…as well as others. Amazon will also have 60% off on Alexa devices, and up to 65% off on Kindle, Echo, Ring, Fire TV, Blink, and eero devices. 

The US government has been very hands-off on this, but the Europeans have been steaming right along, passing regulations on electronic devices that benefit consumers. Think of USB charging ports..which even made Apple give up their proprietary charging ports. Now, Theverge.com says the EU is stepping things up on reparability. New rules go into effect on February 18th, 2027. Users have to be able to remove and replace batteries with basic tools, or specialized tools that are provided with the product for free, and compatible spare batteries must be sold for at least five years. The tool requirement means swapping the battery doesn’t need to be as simple as popping off a clip-on cover, but can’t be much more complicated than removing a few standard screws. The regulation applies to headphones, e-readers, portable game consoles, laptops, and more. If it’s got a battery, it’s probably covered. There are two huge exceptions. Smartphones and tablets. They are covered by other laws. As a lot of phones are water resistant or even waterproof, the requirements only mandate that batteries must be replaceable by professional repair shops…but the batteries must be available to them to do the repairs. This is a real win against the ‘planned obsolescence’ the tech gadget manufacturers have borrowed from auto makers.

With the New Nvidia RTX Spark we just reported on, the upcoming Microsoft Laptop Ultra, which bows later this year, is expected to be Redmond’s first laptops that will really be able to compete with Apple’s MacBook Pro line. According to arstechnica.com, the new Ultra will be priced above the other laptops Microsoft sells, and will have plenty of accessory slots…USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, and also an SD card slot and headphone jack. For comparison, the MacBook Pro I write these reports on is several years old. It has Apple silicon, and besides a charging port, it rocks 3 USB-C ports, headphone jack, HDMI port, and and SD card slot. I use 3-4 of these slots regularly, so I think Microsoft has something here…all the slots you need, and a very powerful processing system that will run AI apps right on the machine. For those that are in the PC world and don’t love Macs, but need the power…the Ultra may be just the thing. 

Florida is suing OpenAI and Sam Altman personally over the safety of ChatGPT. Thenextweb.com reports that there will likely be other states that will be suing OpenAI and Altman. This suit accuses OpenAI of violating product liability laws, engaging in deceptive trade practices, and releasing ChatGPT while knowing it was harmful to users. The state is seeking civil penalties and a court order blocking the company from collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent. This is the first government action that names Altman personally…seeking to hold him liable for what Florida calls “reckless and willful conduct” and “utter disregard for the risk to human life.”  Stay tuned, there will be more of these filed by other states. 

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

Amazon-Class Action Over No Tariff Refunds; Upgraded Siri May Launch in Beta; Next Wearable May Be Hairclip; Meta-Virtual Writing Coming to Meta-Ray Bans

Posted: May 18, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A class action suit is going after Amazon, demanding that the online giant refund money to users that was collected under the now held illegal Trump tariffs. Engadget.com reports that the suit…which was filed Friday in Seattle, accuses Amazon of profiting from “hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful tariff costs.” Amazon is legally entitled to recover the costs after the Supreme Court decision ruling the taxes illegal. As of last week, companies started to receive money back from the US government. The suit says Amazon hasn’t engaged in this refund process, since it’s looking to “curry favor with Trump by allowing the federal government to retain the funds.” The suit continues, saying “Amazon has not returned any portion of those costs it passed on to consumers, and it has no intention of doing so. It has, in short, generated and retained a windfall from unlawful government action, and consumers — not Amazon — are the ones left paying for it.” Shipping companies such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL have already stated the process of getting refunds, and will pass the proceeds on to affected users. 

After a couple years’ delay, the new, improved Siri may just launch in beta. Apple’s WWDC is coming up very soon, and the new Siri will certainly be an important component. According to appleinsider.com, the beta version will be able to be switched off, so you can use good old…make that bad old…regular Siri. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the on-off button will be part of the iOS 27 release initially. Earlier this year, we reported that Apple was partnering with Google to use Gemini to bulk up the sorry Siri. Apparently, it is taking more time to get this done. I have ranted enough here about how terrible Siri is compared to Google, Alexa, and other assistants…so I suppose I will turn new Siri on…even in beta, it can’t be worse than what Apple has now. 

It’s just sometimes fun to cover some of the hairbrained ideas that turn into improbable devices. This is one of those. Androidpolice.com says that a startup called Computer Angel has a prototype of a new wearable. It’s less obtrusive at capturing video than Meta’s Ray-Bans or the defunct Google Glass. Are you ready? It’s the DC Mini hair clip camera. While this looks to be a way to bring tech to more women…which is great…it is a long way from being anything but dorky. The hair clip camera is about a half inch thick, and 3 inches long. It not only looks silly, but with that size, it probably will be sliding down the hair constantly, and will need to be moved back in place. It is being sold as a ’stylish alternative to smart glasses.’ Well, no. It’s a dorky alternative. The startup is touting is as a storytelling device, to document your life…so-called personal vlogging. We’ll let you know if this thing makes it out of development. Computer Angel feels like it will be a big hit in China. 

New features are rolling out to all users of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.They have been available in a developer preview. Theverge.com reports that you will now be able to write messages with just hand gestures. You do need to use the included so-called ‘neural’ wist band. Another feature being dropped is what Meta calls ‘Display Recording. With that, you’ll be able to capture a video that combines what you’re seeing in the lens display, what you see in the real world, and the audio around you. Walking directions are now available “throughout the entire US” and in “major international cities like London, Paris, Rome, and more.” And live captions will be available on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and with voice messages in Instagram DMs.

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

FCC Reviews ABC Licenses After Kimmel Jokes; EU Finds Meta Not Doing Enough to Keep Kids From Facebook and Instagram; OpenAI Models Now on Amazon Web Services; Supremes Look Split over ‘Geofence’ Search Warrants

Posted: April 29, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For decades, radio and TV stations have worked hard to avoid violating FCC rules, wanting to avoid fines, or the most serious penalty…cancellation of station licenses. Now, the FCC under this Trump administration seems to have become a tool of vengeance for the president…as is also true of the Department of Justice. That department just filed what looks like a very thin and really frivolous indictment of James Comey for a picture of sea shells spelling out 86 47. You are probably all aware of that Now, arstechnica.com reports that The FCC is reviewing licenses of ABC TV stations over jokes Jimmy Kimmel told that offended and enraged Donald Trump and his wife Melania. In one, Kimmel called Melania an ‘expectant widow.’ It is notable that none of the ABC stations’ licenses are even up for renewal until 2028, and that the legal process for revoking licenses is so difficult that it’s been described as nearly impossible. But the FCC today issued an order instructing ABC owner Disney to file early license renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations by May 28. An ABC probe could examine DEI, Kimmel’s comedy, and other shows. Carr threatened ABC station licenses in September 2025, alleging at the time that airing Kimmel’s show might violate the rarely enforced news distortion policy. A group of former FCC chairs and commissioners asked a federal appeals court to compel the FCC to respond to a November 2025 petition to repeal the agency’s 1960s-era news distortion policy. It is such nonsense for this FCC to apply this to what is widely known as a comedy show, and not a news broadcast. 

The European Commission has found that Meta is breaching Europe’s Digital Services act  rules by failing to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram, According to theverge.com, this is a preliminary ruling, but after a 2 year investigation, the Commission found that Meta hasn’t put into place adequate measures to keep kids under 13 from creating accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Minors can simply enter a false birth date when signing up for Facebook and Instagram to falsely declare they’re over 13 years old — the minimum age outlined in Meta’s own terms and conditions — with no effective controls to verify their real age. If Meta doesn’t take corrective action, they could be slammed with fines of up to $12 billion.

Well, that didn’t take long. No sooner did OpenAI cut an amended deal with Microsoft to use other tech companies’ servers, their models have appeared on Amazon Web Services! CNBC.com says A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions….this according to both companies. As we previously reported, Microsoft will continue to have non-exclusive licenses to all of OpenAI products through 2032. 

The US Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case dealing with the government’s use of so-called “geofence” search warrants. Law enforcement and federal agents use these warrants to compel tech companies, like Google, to turn over information about which of its billions of users were in a certain place and time based on their phone’s location. TechCrunch.com reports that those opposed…virtually all civil liberties advocates have argued that geofence warrants are inherently overbroad and unconstitutional as they return information about people who are nearby yet have no connection to an alleged incident. My own view is that they are both over broad and void for vagueness…as they don’t name persons or premises with specificity…as and old judge taught me in law school. Some of the more justices seem ok with casting such a wide net, so it could be that they will allow further erosion of the 4th Amendment…which is pretty much like a lace doily already. Google has moved to store location data on peoples’ devices instead of their servers. Apple already does keep much personal info in a secure enclave on the user’s phone. Just be aware if this case is upheld, you could be grabbed as an innocent bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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

Cook Retiring, Ternus Will Helm Apple; Anthropic Gets Another $5 Billion from Amazon; CA Accuses Amazon of Price Fixing; OpenAI Releases Codex for Macs

Posted: April 21, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Big Apple news dropped yesterday afternoon…Tim Cook is retiring as CEO, and Senior VP of hardware engineering John Ternus will take over that big chair. Engadget.com reports that this will happen September 1st. Cook will segue into an Executive Chairman role, so won’t completely disappear from the Apple universe. This is notable in one way as Ternus is 50…the same age as Cook when he took the reins in Cupertino, AND…Ternus worked for Steve Jobs at Apple. He will now be the last CEO of Apple who has had a direct connection to Steve Jobs. Ternus has kept a low profile, although he was featured in the rollout of the new MacBook Neo. He is credited with turning around the Macs and also had a big hand in Apple’s AirPods and Watch. 

Anthropic has announced that Amazon will pump another $5 billion into the company, bringing their total investment to $13 billion. There could be another $20 billion later, depending on benchmarks. According to tehcrunch.com, Anthropic has agreed to spend over $100 billion on Amazon Web Services over then next 10 years, getting them a new 5 gigawatts of computing capacity to train and run Claude. The deal specifically covers Amazon Trainium2 through Trainium4 chips, too…even though the 4 chip isn’t yet available. With ChatGPT now worth some $730 billion, venture capitalists have been offering Anthropic additional capital that would bring Anthropic’s valuation to $800 billion or more!

In other Amazon news, California is accusing Amazon of price fixing. Gizmodo.com says California Attorney General Rob Bonta is accusing the online giant of pressuring brands to increase prices for their products on other retailers’ websites so that Amazon would have a more competitive price. The allegations, which were made in a filing that is part of California’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Amazon and was unsealed on Monday, lay out a scheme in which Amazon used the leverage of its massive e-commerce platform to pressure companies into raising prices with other retailers or face punishment for failing to do so. According to the attorney general, Amazon demands a vendor “fix,” “correct,” “increase,” “raise,” or “look into” the prices of products on other retailers’ websites. The expectation is that the vendor will ultimately raise its prices everywhere but Amazon. To get that outcome, Amazon would allegedly threaten to punish the brand by restricting their advertising, demanding they pay compensation, or removing their products from Amazon altogether.

OpenAI has released Codex Chronicle for Macs. 9to5mac.com notes that this is something of a ‘super app.’ Right now, it is especially made for agentic coding. ChatGPT remains the more general AI chatbot app. The idea of Chronicle is to make Codex more aware of context without repeating details or being super specific with each prompt. It builds on memory, and that lets Codex learn from conversation history for context. It also can learn from recent screen context. In terms of privacy, Chronicle can be paused or disabled at any time from Codex’s menu bar app. However, OpenAI warns that Chronicle consumes rate limits quickly based on its current design.

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

Amazon Merges with Sat Provider Globalstar; Google Chrome AI ‘Skills’; OpenAI Buys Hiro-AI Personal Finance Startup; Lucid Gets New CEO & Cash Infusion 

Posted: April 14, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is merging with satellite internet provider Globalstar. Engadget.com reports that this move should at some muscle to Amazon’s rival to Starlink, Leo. Globalstar is the satellite company behind Apple’s emergency SOS feature on iPhones and Apple Watches. Interestingly, Apple already owns 20% of Globalstar. Amazon and Apple have agreed Leo will “power satellite services for supported iPhone and Apple Watch models.” And that this support will continue as Leo’s network evolves, as well as collaborating “with Apple on future satellite services using Amazon Leo’s expanded satellite network.” Leo’s own direct to device service won’t start until 2028…the deal actually closes next year. 

Google Chrome has a new generative AI feature, and this is pretty cool. It’s called Skills. I know, really original name. At any rate, according to wired.com, Skills  are repeatable AI prompts you can run in Chrome with a keyboard shortcut. That sort of feature ought to attract a lot more people to AI who don’t want to learn or mess with trying to write and refine prompts. You can set up your own Skill using Gemini, Google’s chatbot, through the Chrome browser, or you can choose from the premade Skills Google released alongside this feature. The more than 50 presets in the Skills library cover a range of prompts that instruct Gemini to summarize YouTube videos, maximize your protein intake via recipe substitutions, or evaluate job listings. If you want to try out Skills, open up the Gemini in Chrome sidebar by clicking on the “Ask Gemini” sparkle icon in the upper-right corner of the screen. Then, type a forward slash in the prompt box to pick which Skill you would like to run. Have fun!

OpenAI has bought an AI personal finance startup called Hiro. Thenextweb.com notes that all 10 of the startup’s staff will join OpenAI. Hiro has built an app that offers AI-powered financial planning for consumers: users entered information about their salary, debts, and monthly costs, and the platform modeled different what-if scenarios to support financial decision-making. 

Silvio Napoli is the new CEO of Lucid Motors, the EV maker, after a year long search. TechCrunch.com reports that Napoli has mainly managed at Schindler Group, which makes elevators and escalators. Hey…they’re electric! Napoli will join the board. In another related story, Lucid has gotten another $200 million cash infusion from Uber, which will buy up to 25,000 of Lucid’s upcoming mid-sized vehicles to use as robotaxis. The majority owner of Lucid, Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, has also kicked in by buying another $550 million of the company’s shares. Lucid’s upcoming mid sized vehicle will sell in the $50,000 range, a much larger pool of customers than the $100,000 or really $150,000 plus subset of buyers. 

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

Amazon Testing New Fast Delivery Setup; Folding iPhone-May be $2400; Landlord Rent Setting Tool Gets Gutted; Amazon Web Services- $50 Billion to Build Government AI Infrastructure 

Posted: November 25, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is trialing a new rapid delivery idea in Seattle. Geekwire.com reports that Amazon is using a closed Amazon Fresh site as a mini warehouse for  most popular and fast moving items. It is something like a convenience store…open 24/7 but not to you. It functions as a pick up site for  Amazon Flex drivers. Amazon employees will fulfill online orders…picking and bagging items from a stock room, then putting them on shelves for Flex drivers to pick up and deliver to the nearby neighborhoods within hours of ordering. Flex drivers are independent contractors who deliver packages using their own vehicles, signing up for delivery blocks through the Amazon Flex app. The program has often been described as Uber for package delivery. 

We’ve heard price rumors ranging from the $1900 plus level up to $2500 for the upcoming folding iPhone. Now, according to mac rumors.com, analyst Arthur Liao is postulating it will be $2399. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously said it would land at between $2000 and $2500, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has predicted it will be somewhere around $2000. The foldable ‌iPhone‌ will be expensive because of the premium components that Apple plans to use. The display panel and hinge will push pricing toward the upper end of market expectations, Fubon Research suggests. One truly big deal is that the iPhone is expected to be the first folder with no crease at all in the middle of the screen. Fubon Research sees Apple selling about 5.4 million of the folders in 2026. That is a pretty modest number compared to 228 million total iPhones sold in 2024, the last full year we have figures for. 

A controversial tool used by landlords to set rental prices has had its ears pinned back after a settlement with the Department of Justice. The DOJ said in a press release that the proposed settlement “would help restore free market competition in rental markets for millions of American renters.” The antitrust settlement is with RealPage. For years since the pandemic started, rental prices outpaced inflation, and the DOJ suspected that RealPage was the dominant force driving a market that never favored renters. Under the settlement, RealPage admits no wrongdoing, and doesn’t pay a fine. Arstechnica.com notes that if the court approves the deal, however, RealPage has agreed to update its software so that rival landlords cannot access “competitively sensitive information to determine rental prices in runtime operation.” Additionally, RealPage will “remove or redesign features that limited price decreases or aligned pricing between competing users of the software.” And the company will “cooperate in the United States’ lawsuit against property management companies that have used its software.”

Amazon is spending an eye-watering $50 billion to build out AI infrastructure for the US government. Techcrunch.com reports that it will be a ‘high performance computing infrastructure’ built specially for the feds. It will expand government agency access to AWS AI services. Amazon will break ground on the data centers in 2026. Amazon has long supplied cloud infrastructure to the US government…starting back in 2011. 

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

Amazon to Lay Off 30,000 Corporate Staffers; Apple & Microsoft Now Worth More than $4 Billion; Musk’s Grokipedia is Live Now; Feds Investigating Tesla Mad Max Mode

Posted: October 28, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is getting ready to lay off up to 30,000 corporate employees. Geekwire.com reports that the reduction is to reduce expenses, and it is intended to compensate for what Amazon terms overhiring during the pandemic. Emails are going out today. The company hasn’t put out a workforce number lately, but had about 350,000 employees in early 2023. At that number, this cut would be about 8.5% of the workforce. The cuts will be across logistics, payments, video games, and Amazon Web Services.

As the tech sector continues to dominate much of the financial markets, two tech titans have passed another milestone…one that is hard to wrap your head around. According to techcrunch.com, both Apple and Microsoft are now worth over $4 trillion bucks. It’s the first time Apple has surpassed the $4 trillion mark. Microsoft did it in July, then dropped a bit…but is now over $4 trillion.The only other company that is worth that much right now is Nvidia…but Alphabet…the parent company of Google, is getting a bit close. It is at $3.25 billion. Wouldn’t you love to have the interest on that amount of money for just a few minutes? An hour at 4.26% interest would add up to $19.4 million!

Along with a number of other right-leaning folks, Elon Musk has railed against Wikipedia as being too liberal and too ‘woke.’ Now, he’s unveiled Grokipedia. Gizmodo.com notes that it looks like Wikipedia with dark mode turned on. The site claims to have just under 900,000 articles. Wikipedia, on the other hand, has about 7 million English articles. A quick take: Overall, Grokipedia gives off the impression of a site where topics and people that Elon Musk likes or supports are presented without framings that cast any doubt on their validity, and those he dislikes are presented with criticism front-and-center. If that’s your cup of tea, have at Grockipedia.

The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration is looking into Tesla’s Full Self Driving Mad Max mode. Engadget.com reports that Tesla says it offers “higher speeds and more frequent lane changes” than its Hurry speed profile. Apparently, it is a little too much like Mad Max…reports have it speeding, running red lights, and driving against the flow of traffic. Tesla has given the disparaging description ‘Sloth Mode’ to the regular, no hurry, follow the speed limit mode. 

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

Prime Day in Full Swing; ChatGPT-Multiple Acts Inside It Now; California Law Cuts Volume on Netflix, Others; Deloitte Refunds Australia for AI Lie-Ridden Report

Posted: October 7, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prime Day is here…and if you weren’t already up at midnight buying your favorite stuff at big discounts, some may be sold out by now. That said, there are still a huge number of deals to be had the rest of today and tomorrow. Engadget.com reports that as usual, deep discounts are available on Amazon’s own hardware…all the Alexa-related devices. Besides Amazon’s gear, though, there are other bargains. A 4 pack of Apple AirTags can be picked up for $65, which is 34% off…and unheard of bargain. You can get an Anker Nano 5K ultra slim power bank that is Qi2 and 15 watts for $40…that’s $15 off and is a Prime exclusive. A Google Pixel 9a midrange smartphone is just $349, which is a whopping $150 discount. Also, A Dyson V8 Plus cordless vac is $300…that’s $219 off. It’s not the top line Dyson, but I’ve been using one myself for several years, and it works well and runs 40 minutes on a charge. I hope your place isn’t so big that you need to vacuum for more than that! If it is, maybe you can have a maid service come in. 

ChatGPT can now interact with a number of third-party apps right inside their conversations. According to macrumors.com, initial partners include Spotify, Canva, Zillow, Expedia, Booking.com, Coursera, and Figma. Users can activate the app by name. You can, for example, ask Spotify to make you a new playlist. OpenAI says additional apps are coming later this year, including from DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, and AllTrails. Like so many internet products, OpenAI would love to Make ChatGPT into a walled garden that you rarely leave, getting them a piece of revenue from every app you use inside. 

Governor Newsom has signed into law a bill that eliminated a loophole in the 2010 Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act. The new California law bans loud commercials on video streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max. At the time of the original bill, streaming was not much of a factor…but now about 83% of adults use streaming services. The FCC is also looking at rule making to deal with loud commercials on streaming services. The California law requires that streamers “not transmit the audio of commercial advertisements louder than the video content they accompany.” Unfortunately, the law doesn’t take effect immediately, but in July 2026. Perhaps by that time, the FCC will pick up on California’s law, and make it the rule nationwide. 

Yet another AI lying scandal…or as that industry has dubbed it…’hallucinations.’ Consulting/accounting firm Deloitte is coughing up a partial refund for a report that was full of fake citations. The firm had used ChatGPT-4o in creating the report. Arstechnica.com reports that the so-called ‘Targeted Compliance Framework Assurance Review’ was finalized in July then published by a government department in August. The Aussies had paid $440,000 in US dollars for it. It centered around a framework the government there uses to automate penalties under the country’s welfare system. An official from Sydney University noticed multiple citations to papers and publications that didn’t exist. the report was updated by Deloitte, and only 127 of the original 141 references in the ‘Reference List’ remain. The other 14 were fakes made up by ChatGPT 4o. 

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

Amazon Redesigned Echo; YouTube Settles with Trump for $24.5 Million; Newsom Signs California AI Safety Bill; Amazon Partners With FanDuel- Offers Personalized NBA Bet Tracking 

Posted: September 30, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon has bowed new hardware today, as expected. One thing Amazon has been dinged for is sound quality, even in the so-called Echo Studio. Apple’s HomePods blow them away sonically. Well today, engadget.com reports that the upgraded Echo Studio is out…and it can handle immersive Dolby Atmos and double as a home theater speaker. It features new drivers, a new chip, and new design. The Studio has 3 full-range drivers plus an excursion woofer for maximum bass. The new chip will run Alexa+ on the Studio, and it has advanced speech and audio processing. The design is a change…no longer a large cylinder..the new Studio is a spherical shape. The blue light ring for Alexa is now on the front instead of the top. It is 40% smaller than the old model. The new studio is available for preorder today for $220, and it ships October 29th. 

Another company has caved and paid off on a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against them. According to arstechnica.com, Alphabet, parent of Google, has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle the suit. The suit was over Trump’s YouTube account being suspended after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6th. Trump will have the money contributed on his behalf to the Trust for the National Mall..which includes support for construction of his monstrous 90,000 square foot ballroom on the White House property. 

Governor Newsom has signed the first-in-the-nation AI safety bill that sets new transparency requirements on large AI companies. TechCrunch.com notes that the new law requires large AI labs – including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google DeepMind – to be transparent about safety protocols. It also ensures whistleblower protections for employees at those companies. In addition, it creates a mechanism for AI companies and the public to report potential critical safety incidents to California’s Office of Emergency Services. Companies also have to report incidents related to crimes committed without human oversight, such as cyberattacks, and deceptive behavior by a model that isn’t required under the EU AI Act. Anthropic backed the bill, while Meta and OpenAI lobbied against it. 

Amazon is partnering with FanDuel to offer personalized bet tracking and Odds View for their “NBA on Prime” streamed basketball games this season. Geekwire.com reports that offerings from Prime Sports also includes fully-customizable multi view offering, AI-driven highlights on demand, live stats, the ability to shop within the game, and more. The ability to shop within the game? Of course…it’s Amazon after all!

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

Samsung Galaxy Glasses; OpenAI Adding Parental Controls-ChatGPT; YouTube Flagging Premium Family Plans-Different Homes; Amazon Ending Prime Free Shipping Sharing Outside Your Home

Posted: September 2, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The smart glasses battles heat up, as now Samsung is expected to bow ‘Galaxy Glasses’ this month…specifically, at an Unpacked event on September 29th. The offering from Samsung will be powered by Android XR. Zdnet.com reports that the smart glasses are expected to be a direct competitor with Meta’s Ray-Bans. Besides the glasses, Samsung is expected to roll out an XR headset and a tri-fold smartphone. Back to the glasses, though. They are expected to be audio only, and focus on features like faster and more convenient access to an AI assistant, cameras, and audio…for calls, music, and podcasts. The glasses will also feature navigation, real time translation, and situational awareness. The glasses will be powered by A Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip…the same chip as in the Meta Ray-Bans.

OpenAI is now promising to release parental controls for ChatGPT. Once in place, the controls will allow parents to link their personal ChatGPT account with accounts of their teen kids. According to engadget.com, parents will be able to decide how ChatGPT responds to their kids, and disable select features, including memory and chat history. Additionally, ChatGPT will generate automated alerts when it detects a teen is in a “moment of acute distress.” According to OpenAI, “expert input will guide this feature to support trust between parents and teens.” While parental controls are nice as ‘eye-wash,’ or cover your butt acts for companies, expect most teens to figure out a way around the controls nearly instantly. 

It appears to be the season for crack downs on sharing by tech companies. YouTube is starting to flag accounts on Premium family plans that aren’t in the same household. Androidpolice.com notes that YouTube’s Premium Family Plan lets you add up to 5 family members to your plan for the $23 a month subscription.The requirement that people all reside at the same address has actually been around since 2023, but YouTube has just started really enforcing it. They are presently testing out a new two-person Premium plan, too. One pain in the neck…YouTube is going to conduct an ‘electronic check-in’ every 30 days, to make sure each family member resides at the same address. If a member fails the check in, and isn’t at the same place as the ‘family manager,’ their access is paused for 14 days.

Amazon will end allowing Prime members sharing of free shipping outside their household, starting October 1st. Theverge.com reports that after that date, Amazon will let invitees who don’t live with the account holder to sign on for their own subscription at just $14.99 for the following year…but then the rate will go up to $14.99 a month. Amazon is replacing the program with Amazon Family. The new program will let account holders share Prime benefits, but just with people who live with them at their address. You can add one additional adult, up to 4 teens, and up to 4 child profiles. 

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

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