Apple Announces WWDC, New Features & Watch Ultra; Google I/O News; Musk Loses in OpenAI Suit & Will Appeal; Iran Wants $ From Big Tech to Use Hormuz Undersea Cable

Posted: May 19, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple announced their World Wide Developers Conference today. It will start June 8th. Besides that, macrumors.com reports that the next Apple Watch Ultra is getting a new high blood pressure notification feature. It isn’t clear how this differs from the Hypertension Notifications they already have, but whatever it is…is under FDA review, so it might actually be able to give you blood pressure readings. The new feature uses the optical heart-rate sensor to analyze how blood vessels respond to each heartbeat. Apple is still working on blood-glucose monitoring. The actually had this a couple years ago, but the working model is too big to fit into a watch…and they need to shrink it down to fit…so not surprising that it is taking a while. 

Apple has also updated accessibility features to use Apple Intelligence. VoiceOver, Magnifier, Voice Control and Accessibility reader will all get the beefed up AI help. VoiceOver Image Explorer gives more detailed descriptions to the user….and lets you ask questions about what the camera viewfinder sees. Voice Control has natural language input, so you can describe onscreen elements conversationally. Accessibility Reader has added support for articles with multiple columns, images, and tables. It will also give on-demand summaries to you. This is a wild feature for those few users who have Apple Vision Pro headsets…power wheelchair control. The headset’s precision eye-tracking system can be used to control the chair for users who can’t use a joystick! Expect most of these features in the fall when iOS27 etc roll out. 

The Google A/I 2 day developer conference got underway this morning, with a flood of announcements. First off, it’s Gemini 3.5, a new family of models. According to theverge.com, Gemini 3.5 Flash is now the default model for the Gemini app and AI mode in Search. The Pro version will be out next month. A new family of models is also out…Gemini Omni. This will be in the Gemini app, Google Flow, and YouTube Shorts. Omni Flash will be able to generate video clips from prompts that include a variety of inputs including text, photos, video, and audio (unlike Google’s Veo model, which is only text to video). Google also rolled out Spark, their response to the very popular OpenClaw. The always-on agent can write emails, make study guides, and watch for hidden credit card fees. Google AI Studio lets you build Android apps using prompts. 

There was more, but in the spirit of a Steve Jobs ‘one more thing,’ Google showed an updated version of its Project Aura smart glasses. The refreshed compute puck has a fingerprint sensor, and has a lanyard so you can wear the puck and the glasses. Continuing on the glasses topic, there were 2 new pairs of Android XR glasses shown off…one from Warby Parker and another from Gentle Monster. Like the base Meta Ray-Bans, these glasses are audio only…no display…so not quite a return of the old Google Glass. Google has also launched Universal Cart. You can add products to it from YouTube, Search, Gemini, and Gmail. Google says this “intelligent shopping cart” works across different merchants and services, like Nike, Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Wayfair, and Shopify. So, you could add products from Nike and Target to your Universal Cart and check out from both at the same time. It will also spot and includes perks and loyalty discounts. 

As you have no doubt heard, Elon Musk lost his suit against OpenAI yesterday. The jury only took 2 hours to bring the verdict. Cnbc.com notes that the primary issue was that the case was brought too late to make it in under the statute of limitations. Musk had claimed that OpenAI execs had ‘stole a charity’, with the change by the company to allow part of it to go public and be for-profit. It apparently wan’t lost on the jury and the court that Musk has a rival company in xAI, which is a for-profit entity…although it hasn’t turned any profit yet. OpenAI is now planning to move forward with its IPO stock offering this year. Musk is expected to appeal to the Ninth Circuit, as his attorneys say he lost on a technicality. It seems unlikely that the Court will buy that argument since the statute of limitations has long passed. 

Not satisfied with trying to extract fees for ships getting through the Strait of Hormuz, now Iran is demanding that Big Tech pay fees for the undersea internet cables in the Strait. Arstechnica.com reports that the Iranians have specifically named Meta, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. They want to extract what they are calling license fees for use and maintenance of the cables. Tech firms are already looking at alternatives. Iran has intimated that they might damage or cut the cables if they don’t get their way. Cables do get damaged anyway, as some ships accidentally drag their anchors, or trawlers using weighted fishing nets do damage as they fish the sea floor. Te4ch companies are looking to bypass this extortion by using over land fiber optic cables. With huge data centers planned in the Middle East, more of those will need to be run, and soon.

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.

WhatsApp Gets ‘Incognito’ Chat; Googlebook Will Replace Chromebook-Some Chromebooks Updatable Though; Apple-Many Changes for Next iPhone Camera; Heat Pump Startup from Former Tesla Exec

Posted: May 13, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

WhatsApp is getting an AI chat function dubbed Incognito Chat, which will allow users to converse privately with Meta AI…Meta itself won’t be able to access the questions or answers. Wired.com reports that the new feature is based on WhatsApp’s Private Processing scheme that already undergirds WhatsApp’s present AI features. Meta says the intent of Incognito Chat is to offer AI integration that does not conflict with the communication platform’s commitment to end-to-end encryption, the privacy scheme in which only direct participants in a conversation can read messages or hear a call. Incognito chats are ephemeral by default and will disappear once your conversation is over. With more than 3 billion users around the world, Incognito Chat may offer many people their first opportunity to interact with an AI chatbot. So the fact that it is built to be privacy preserving is significant.

During The Android Show today, Google clarified that the Googlebook will essentially replace Chromebooks. According to 9to5google.com, Google has confirmed that Chromebooks will continue to be updated throughout their lifespans, while some machines will be eligible to move to the experience found on Googlebooks. It’s always good to find out that your old machine won’t become a boat anchor right away. While not giving specifics about models, Google said ‘many’ Chromebooks will be eligible to get the Googlebook experience. The Googlebook will apparently be positioned as a more premium line of hardware. Of course, the first ones to be released will be the ‘super premium’ models.

It looks like iOS 27 may completely overhaul Apple’s Camera app. engadget.com notes that well-known analyst Mark Gurman from Bloomberg says the updated app would make it more customizable and offer pro and hobbyist users more control over the image output of Apple’s phones. Apple is also adding new grid and level features while you’re capturing images and moving the toggle that lets you see all your available controls from the top right of the Camera app to the right of the shutter button. Siri’s changes are equally massive. Besides being smarter, the AI assistant’s glowing animation is moving from the border of iPhones, to a new home in the Dynamic Island as part of Apple’s planned updates. Users will also be able to type requests or searches through a new ”Search or Ask” interface that’s replacing iOS’ existing Spotlight Search.

A former exec from Tesla has started a heat pump startup. TechCrunch.com reports that the firm is called Sadi Thermal Machines and it actually started in stealth in the summer of 2025 in Scotts Valley, Ca. Drew Baglino is the CEO. He holds patents for a thermal management system that operates two coolant loops for cars…one cools the battery and another the drivetrain. The auto system is about the size of a suitcase. Baglino notes that making a heat pump for homes is easier than for a car because the vehicle “Is so constrained on mass and volume and energy.” A heat pump that can handle both HVAC and water heating in one unit is anticipated from the startup. Baglino said “We have learned a lot about how to make capable and reliable heat pumps that work in all environmental conditions and are excited about the idea of working on that problem one day. Let me put it that way, it’s definitely aligned with our mission to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy.”

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

Google, Microsoft, & xAI Will Give US Government Early Model Access; Walmart Gemini-Powered Smart Speaker; Apple Looks to Intel & Samsung for US Processor Manufacturing; iOS 26.5—End to End Encryption for iPhone to Android Texts 

Posted: May 5, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Just as the White House was making noise about tightening oversight on the AI companies, several have signed agreements to provide the US government with advance access to their AI systems. Engadget.com reports that the Commerce Department Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) will evaluate new models the companies develop. CAISI director Chris Fall said in a statement that “Independent, rigorous measurement science is essential to understanding frontier AI and its national security implications.” It continued “These expanded industry collaborations help us scale our work in the public interest at a critical moment.” The deal reportedly calls for Google, Microsoft and xAI to provide their models to CAISI with reduced or even disabled safeguards in order for the organization to probe them for national security-related capabilities and risks. Let’s hope the government folks are on top of large language models enough to be up to the job!

 It’s a little funkier looking that Google’s own, but Walmart is coming out with a Gemini powered smart speaker. It’s charcoal and somewhat cone shaped, with fabric sides and physical buttons on top. According to androidpolice.com, there isn’t a release date yet, or a price…but it is a safe guess that it will be cheaper than Google’s own Home Speaker, which sells for $99.99, or the hapless Apple HomePod Mini with Siri at $99. The little Walmart speaker has WiFi and bluetooth, and a 10 watt amp. It may be a bit less flashy than the Google speaker, which comes in 4 colors…but with the same Gemini power, it should be a big hit for Walmart.

Apple is apparently in early talks with Intel about using its chip-making services, and Apple brass has also visited a Samsung chip plant being built in Texas. Macrumors.com notes that up to now, main processors have been built for Apple by Taiwan Semiconductor…TSMC. Apple is said to be seeking potential additional suppliers beyond TSMC as a way to avoid recent shortages almost entirely driven by the current build-out of AI data centers. Neither Intel nor Samsung can reliably provide the kind of production and scale that TSMC offers, so it’s not clear how much, if anything, will come out of the discussions. Apple has already worked with TSMC to help expand its plant in Phoenix, which is now producing a limited number of chips for Apple and expects to make 100 million chips for the company in 2026.

In other Apple news, iOs 26.5 is getting end-to-end encryption from iPhones to Android RCS messages…FINALLY…Macrumors.com reports. The feature is available with supported carriers and will roll out over time, and for conversations to be encrypted, both the receiver and the sender must use a carrier that supports the latest version of ‌RCS‌. End-to-end encryption is on by default, and there is a toggle for it in the Messages section of the Settings app. Encrypted messages are denoted with a small lock symbol like on you browser. This is some good news, and not to beat a dead horse, but it’s about time, Apple!

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

Apple-Two New ‘Ultra’ Products This Year; Google Tests AI Chatbot Search for YouTube; OpenAI Working on AI Agent Smartphone; Taylor Swift Files to Trademark Voice and Likeness

Posted: April 28, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple’s first folding phone will drop this fall, and it will be branded the ‘iPhone Ultra’ according to macrumors.com. That has been rumored already, but apparently now Apple plans a MacBook Ultra as well. It’s possible that device will slip to an early 2027 date, though. The MacBook Ultra will have an OLED panel and a touchscreen. It will be positioned above the present MacBook Pro series. Naturally, it will be more expensive…reportedly significantly more expensive. With an iPhone Ultra, MacBook Ultra, and Watch Ultra…will we also get AirPods Ultra as well? Stay tuned.

Google is testing out an AI mode search experience on YouTube. Theverge.com reports that Google has designed it to feel ‘more like a conversation.’ The search results will get you long form videos, YouTube Shorts, and text for things you are searching for. The “experiment” is now available if you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber in the US who is 18 or older. YouTube says it’s already “working on” expanding this experiment to users who don’t have Premium. Just as it’s continued to iterate on AI Mode and brought AI Mode to Gmail, it seems likely that “Ask YouTube” is something Google sees a big future for.

There is a virtual graveyard with devices that were going to replace the current smartphones we all use. Now, OpenAI is going into that arena. Thenextweb.com says they are working on an a smartphone where the AI agent is the interface, and there are NO apps…apps are ‘obsolete.’ Well known analyst Ming Chi Kuo notes that simpler tasks will be handled on the phone directly, while more involved ones will hit up the cloud. With the OpenAI phone, you will just tell the agent to order you an Uber or Lyft, or to book reservations at a restaurant. It will manage your email, do research, and write messages for you (oh, I see some funny and terrible results from that one!) It will continuously capturing a user’s location, activity, communication, and environmental context to feed the agents. OpenAI thinks that the AI agent will replace the operating system and apps completely. I’m not sure people are ready to just talk to their phones. This has failed with couple of pin type devices. Remember Humane or the Rabbit R1? Yeah…now in the device graveyard. Here’s the keeper…OpenAI thinks they will be able to sell 400 million of these phones a year. To put that in perspective, Apple ships about 230 million phones a year and Samsung ships about 220 million Galaxy phones. You can say one thing…Sam Altman and OpenAI are thinking big!

There are already a couple of laws in California protecting a person’s voice and likeness. Also, SAG-AFTRA has language about this in a number of their contracts. Congress has even considered this, although no laws have gotten passed. Now, taking no chances, Taylor Swift has filed to trademark her voice and likeness. For Swift and others, this is intended to give some protection against AI misuse. Variety.com notes that Swift has filed three trademark applications…two for sound and another for a visual trademark. Trademarks aren’t generally used to protect voices or general likenesses, but Swift’s legal team thinks this will give them another way to protect the artist from being cloned and used in AI fakes. Several other artists have taken this action. It hasn’t been tested in court yet…but if you have the money then it is a way to fight off clones doing or saying things the artist would never do or say.

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!

Apple Testing 4 Versions of Smart Glasses; Zuckerberg Building AI Clone for Meetings; Human X Conference-Lots of Buzz About Claude; Californians Sue over AI Tool for Doctor Visits

Posted: April 13, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple has often not been first to test the water with new devices…dating clear back to the iPod…but have come to the party late with devices that wow users and grab a big chunk of market share. Engadget.com reports that they are now getting closer to entering the smart glasses sector. Cupertino is testing out 4 different styles for its smart glasses, which will compete with Meta’s Ray-Bans. Apple could end up releasing some or all 4, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. One style is a big rectangular frame that echoes the Ray-Ban Wayfarers, a second is a slimmer rectangular design much like the glasses CEO Tim Cook Wears. A third style is a large oval or circular frame, and the 4th version is a smaller round or oval frame. Apple is allegedly planning several colors…black, light brown, and ocean blue among them. The Apple glasses are expected to capture photos and videos, but are meant to better sync with an iPhone, allowing users to take advantage of Apple’s ecosystem for editing, sharing, phone calls, notifications, music and even its voice assistant, according to Gurman. The release of Apple’s smart glasses could even coincide with the upcoming improved Siri that should arrive with iOS 27. Mark Gurman also predict that the glasses could be revealed as early as the end of this year or early 2027. 

There are those who hate meetings, and those who say they don’t but are lying! Now, according to theverge.com, Mark Zuckerberg is working on an AI clone to replace him in meetings! Meta is training the clone to interact with and provide feedback to employees. It is being trained not only to mimic Zuck’s image and voice…but will have his mannerisms and will reflect his tone and public statements, “so that employees might feel more connected to the founder through interactions with it.” This sounds suspiciously like the failed Metaverse they were working on a couple of years ago which was just discontinued. I can remember Zuck demoing it, and showing how we would all have an avatar in that virtual world to act for us. What’s old is new again!

The Human X AI conference was held in San Francisco this past week. Techcrunch.com says that Anthropic’s Claude chatbot was getting lots of buzz. Interestingly, OpenAI’s ChatGPT wasn’t on the lips of a lot of attendees or vendors. One vendor told a TechCrunch reporter that they were using Claude a lot, but he felt ChatGPT and OpenAI had gone downhill…or in internet lingo, ‘fell off.’ OpenAI has been getting dinged for being to scattershot lately, and has moved to be more focused. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude seems laser focused. Claude has now started being integrated into Microsoft Word for some paid legal users, and can revise and edit contracts and documents…leaving legal formatting intact. Anthropic does emphasize that any legal document still needs to be reviewed carefully by an attorney. A note: there have been two incidents at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home the last few days. One involved a fellow with a Molotov cocktail, and another was a shooting of a gun towards Altman’s home. The man that had the cocktail was caught and is in jail at the moment. Police are still looking for the shooter, who took off in a vehicle.

Some Californians have sued Sutter Health and MemorialCare over an AI transcription tool which was used to record them without their consent. Arstechnica.com notes that doing so is a violation of both state and federal law. Apparently, the medical staff used a program called Abridge.AI. That system quote “captured and processed their confidential physician-patient communications. Plaintiffs did not receive clear notice that their medical conversations would be recorded by an artificial intelligence platform, transmitted outside the clinical setting, or processed through third-party systems.” Sutter has been partnering with Abridge for 2 years. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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