Rumored iPhone ‘Air’ May Be Slimmest iPhone; DOJ Will Try to Break Up Google; Microsoft Makes $349 Hardware Device for Secure Cloud Connection; Door Dash App-Can Import Grocery Lists Now

Posted: November 19, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Jony Ive may be long gone, but apparently Apple’s fetish for thinness isn’t. Macrumors.com reports that Apple Analyst Jeff Pu agrees with a recent rumor saying the upcoming ‘iPhone 17 Air’ will be around 6 mm thick. If that turns out to be accurate, it will be the thinnest iPhone ever. Note that no one knows what the handset will be called, but most are dubbing it the iPhone Air. Up to now, the thinnest iPhone has been the iPhone 6 at 6.9 mm. The iPhone Air would be about 3/4 as thick as any of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models. It is expected to have a 6.6 inch display, A19 chip, and the dynamic island, but only one rear camera. 

We’ve been waiting to see what the Department of Justice had in mind as far as its antitrust action against Google. now we have a better idea. According to theverge.com, the DOJ wants Google to sell off its Chrome browser. This after the judge ruled Google had maintained an illegal search monopoly. Chrome is the world’s most widely used browser. Other DOJ requirements include Google separating Android from Search and Google Play…but they don’t intend to make them sell off Android. It remains to be seen what the incoming DOJ will do with regards to keeping or changing these demands after January 20th. 

Microsoft has announced the Windows 365 Link. The gadget  “enables desk-based users to work securely on a familiar Windows desktop in the Microsoft Cloud with responsive, high-fidelity experiences.” Engadget.com notes that the 365 Link is a small, lightweight device that Microsoft claims can immediately wake from sleep, boot up in seconds and locally process video conferencing solutions like Microsoft Teams. It doesn’t store local data or apps, has security baseline policies enabled and doesn’t allow for individuals to disable security features. Plus, logging in requires Microsoft Entra ID along with the Microsoft Authenticator app or USB security keys. The box should be available in what they are calling ‘select areas’ in April 2025 for $349. Kind of sounds like a larger, more expensive but more secure dongle to me!

Door Dash’s app is now able to import your grocery list for faster shopping. Techcrunch.com reports that you just choose a store where you want to shop and select the button Create a list or Import a list. With the create, you can copy and paste from anywhere on your phone. Import only works with Reminders on iOS at the moment, but Android support is coming. You can also now search for an item across different merchants, displaying prices and estimated delivery times all in one place. 

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

Amazon Goes After Temu; Apple Plans Ring Alternative; FTC Gets Day in Court to Break Up Meta; VW and Rivian Joint Venture

Posted: November 13, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon has bowed a discount store to compete with China’s Temu. Everything in the store will be under $20. Think of it as Amazon’s online Dollar store! It is called Amazon Haul, and can be reached via the Amazon mobile app. They are touting $1 eyelash curlers and oven gloves, and a $3 nail dryer. Free shipping on orders of over $25…or $3.99 shipping if less than that. Almost $4 for shipping kind of takes them out of Dollar Store territory, don’t you think? Hey, if you are of a mind to, try their self-described ‘crazy low prices!’

Apple appears to be planning to jump into competition with Amazon’s Ring cameras and others. According to Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, they are planning to release their first smart cam in 2026.  The initial models will probably be aimed more at 3rd party cams that work with Apple’s Home Kit system. Kuo says the cams will have ‘rich integration with Siri and Apple Intelligence features.’ Apple is also planning a wall mounted home display to control their internet of things devices. 

The Federal Trade Commission has gotten the go-ahead to argue for Meta’s break up in court. Engadget.com notes that US District Judge James Boasberg is allowing the FTC suit against Meta to go forward. The suit dates back to 2020, and the FTC wants to see Meta divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp (and now presumably Threads, which is a part of Instagram.) In a slight win for Meta, the judge did make the FTC narrow its case. 

Volkswagen and Rivian have officially formed their $5.8 billion joint venture. Theverge.com report that it is called Rivian and VW Group Technology, and it will be lead by Rivian’s software chief and VW Group’s chief technology engineer. The company will be based in Palo Alto for now. As Rivian hasn’t been making money, it’s a good deal for them, but also for VW…which has been selling plug in hybrids well, but is struggling with its EVs. VW had to close at least 3 German factories and downsized the remaining plants. Buggy software has been partly to blame, according to reports.

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

Google Pre-Black Friday Deals; Apple Vision Pro Fall 2025; TSMC Cuts Advanced Chip Shipments to China; Researchers-Harvest Electricity from Styrofoam

Posted: November 11, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Google store has dropped some nice pre-Black Friday deals. 9to5google.com reports that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is now $1499, a $300 discount. You can pick one up at that price for now at Amazon and Best Buy. The base Pixel 9 has been cut $150 to $649, from those same sources. You can pick up a Bluetooth Pixel Watch 3 for $70. Hurry…the bargains are only in effect until midnight tomorrow night, November 12th.

Although we reported last week that Apple has all but flushed the cheaper headset…at least for now, the Vision Pro 2, successor to Apple’s pricy mixed reality headset, is still in the works for release either by next fall, or by spring of 2026. This according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg. The Vision Pro 2 is expected to get the M5 chips…at virtually the same time the Macs get that next system. Expect the 2.0 version to look virtually identical to the original, with all the updates coming to internals. Don’t expect a cheaper price…it’s Apple, are you kidding?

At the request of the US Department of Commerce, Taiwan Semiconductor has halted advanced chip shipments to Chinese customers. TechCrunch.com says this will particularly hurt Huawei, which already faced significant trade restrictions from the US. The feds are now checking to see if other companies are diverting chips to Huawei. The advanced chips are most often used on artificial intelligence systems. Nvidia had already been under chip export restrictions to China.

Researchers at RMIT University have found a way to generate electricity from Styrofoam. Bgr.com reports that they capture the static electricity generated by the stuff when it is exposed to flowing air…thereby converting an environmental headache into useable power. The scientists put the Styrofoam near places air was flowing…like HVAC systems, and a continuous stream of small current was generated…helping offset the energy draw of the HVAC units themselves. If it scales up well, this could be yet another way to ween ourselves off fossil fuel power.

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

FTC-Click to Cancel Rule; Google ‘Cancels’ Popular Ad Blocker on Chrome; Boston Dynamics & Toyota Research Institute Partner on Atlas Humanoid Robot; UCSD Surgeons Assisted by Apple Vision Pro Headsets

Posted: October 17, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

We have all been through it…a big hassle, sometimes taking hours, to cancel a subscription after a free trial. As a friend of mine always says, ‘That’s how they getcha!’ Now, the Federal Trade Commission has finalized a rule aimed at stopping businesses from making you jump through endless hoops to cancel a subscription after the free trial. Under the rule, any subscription that can be signed up for online must be able to be canceled online. And cancellation paths for in-person sign-ups must be just as easy, offered either by phone or online. The new rule tells businesses to keep ‘three guardrails in mind.’ First, customers cannot be required to talk to a live agent or chatbot to cancel if that wasn’t required for sign-up. Next, any phone cancellation methods cannot include charges and must be offered during normal business hours. And finally, canceling services in person must always be optional. Now, let’s hope they actually enforce this rule!

Google has been on a tear, trying to get people to see their ads…whether on search results or YouTube…across all their platforms. Now, it’s Chrome’s turn. According to mashable.com, Google has turned off popular ad blocker extensions uBlock Origin, MDN Search, and Neat URL. This all comes as Chrome moves from Manifest V2 to Manifest V3. There are options for Manifest V3 if you use AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, AdGuard, and uBlock Origin. If you would rather not hassle with trying to configure to keep the ads blocked or at least volume down, switch to Firefox, and select Duck Duck Go as your search engine. You can also try Microsoft Edge….but the former is really cleaner if you want to go the most ad free possible. 

While Elon Musk was trotting out robots that are nearly fully human operated and not autonomous at all, Boston Dynamics…which makes real robots…has teamed up with Toyota Research Institute to bring AI-based robotic intelligence to the electric Atlas humanoid robot. Techcrunch.com notes that the partnership will leverage work that TRI has done around large behavior models…which are not terribly unlike Large Language Models like that of ChatGPT. The lab has been able to get robots to 90% accuracy when performing household tasks like flipping pancakes through overnight training. Hell, I could try all night, and mess up flipping a pancake! TRI says that while machine learning takes millions of training cases, they have been able to reduce physical training of a robot down to only dozens of training cases…sometimes even less than that. Boston Dynamics just unveiled its design for the electric Atlas in April. The electric designation differentiates the robot from its larger, hydraulic namesake, Trust me, you wouldn’t want one of those robots possibly leaking caustic hydraulic fluid in your house! Toyota Research and Boston Dynamics have a goal of making a true general purpose machine. Rosie from The Jetsons…you’re up!

Regular followers of this report are well aware of my opinion of the preposterously priced but great Apple Vision Pro headsets. Now, Surgeons at UC San Diego have found them very helpful for minimally invasive surgery. Macrumors.com reports that while the headsets are pricy for you and I, they are pretty cheap compared to most gear hospitals buy in trying to keep or make us healthy. Surgeons have now done over 20 minimally invasive operations wearing the headsets. They are saying the headsets are ‘more transformative’ than robotic devices used to assist. Think about it… laparoscopic surgeries, where the docs send a camera through a small incision, and have to guide it and do the procedure while craining their necks to watch on a video screen. That can’t be helpful. Unlike previous headsets, the Apple ones have such accurate displays, that the surgeons can do the procedure while keeping their heads in a more normal position. That has to help with accuracy! They normally also have to look away to refer to CT scans, and to monitor vitals. Now, all of those things can appear on the panoramic display of the Vision Pro. This application is really a game changer…and one that will make a difference in the outcomes for patients…to say nothing of saving doctors from a literal pain in the neck that could cause mistakes!

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

New Macs & iPad Mini November 1st; Android Rolling Out New Anti-Theft Features; Supremes Turn Away Suit Over Special Counsel Demanding Trump X Info; GM Working on Hands AND Eyes-Off Driving System

Posted: October 7, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Last month, we got the new iPhones, Watches, and Apple ear buds upgrades. Now, macrumors.com reports that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is saying we will probably see updated bigger Apple Hardware as early as November 1st. This will include new M4 low-end 14 inch MacBook Pros, and the higher end 14 and 16 inch models…and also a refreshed Mac Mini with M4 and M4 Pro chips. The iMac will get the upgrade as well. One iPad seems to be in the mix for sure…the Mini. It is due for it, as the Mini hasn’t seen an upgrade in 3 years. Don’t expect Mac Studio or Mac Pro models with more powerful M4 chips quite yet. Those won’t be out until mid 2025 for the Studio and the Pro at the tail end of that year. 

Google is now releasing anti-theft protection features in the US. They had previously only been available in Brazil. According to androidpolice.com, not all US users are seeing all of them even after the rollout. The 3 features are Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock, and Remote Lock. So far, some Pixel users are getting Remote Lock, but not the other two. Other Pixel users are seeing all three protective features. You can check your phone to see what you have…go to the Settings app, and search for ‘theft protection’ to see if the 3 features are available for your phone. Theft Detection Lock determines if the phone is forcefully taken from your hand, and automatically locks it. Offline Device lock automatically locks your phone’s screen when “a thief tries to disconnect your phone for prolonged periods of time.” Remote Lock is for when you know when you phone is gone for good…you can remotely lock the screen with just your phone number and a security challenge. You use the website android.com/lock.

The Supreme Court is back in session, and promptly refused to take a case disputing special counsel Jack Smith’s efforts to get the records of former President Trump from Twitter (which, of course, is now X) and keep that platform from letting him know about the demand for production. In refusing to take the case, the lower court ruling stands that upheld a nondisclosure order, which Elon Musk claimed violated his platform’s First Amendment right to communicate with Trump. Bloomberg says a judge decided the order was valid, and fined X $350,000 for civil contempt. Twitter eventually turned over 32 direct messages, which the special counsel’s office said was a ‘minuscule proportion’ of the information they requested. 

It won’t be a first, but it will certainly be the most widely used when it hits the road. General Motors is working on a hands AND eyes-off driving system. Techcrunch.com reports that this will be a step up from their 7 year old Super Cruise hands-off system that is currently available. This would be what is known as a Level 3 or L3 system…not quite self-driving cars like Waymo is running in several cities or even like GM’s Cruise division has…which are just getting back on the streets of San Francisco after an accident earlier this year where a woman was dragged. Right now, the only L3 system is Mercedes-Benz’ Drive Pilot. Even Tesla’s Autopilot and so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ system are only Level 2. No word on how soon the Level 3 setup would be available from GM, but since they are teasing it, it should be sooner, not later. GM says Super Cruise will have about 750,000 miles of roads it can use by the end of 2025. 

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

Ca Governor Newsom Vetoes AI Safety Bill; Arm Predicts AI Will Turn Smartphones into ‘Proactive’ Assistants’; Apple’s ‘Home Accessory’ May have Square Display; Huge Verizon Outage Monday Morning

Posted: September 30, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In a disappointment to many, but a victory for Big Tech, California Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday vetoed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act. No, he actually didn’t veto it for being a mouthful of word salad! Theverge.com reports that the governor felt the bill was well-intentioned, but would have possibly wiped out the lead California companies have in AI. He also said in a statement that the bill was just too broad. One safeguard that it required which still sounds like a good one was a so-called ‘kill switch,’ which would have required protocols for testing to reduce the chance for a cyberattack or a pandemic. It also had protections for whistleblowers. Expect changes and a fresh bill next term. The feds are also looking into ways to regulate AI.

Arm, the chip designer who’s chips run most of our mobile devices, is looking to upgrading the brains of smartphones and other gadgets to harness the power of AI…perhaps bringing a new series of breakthroughs to our mobile devices. According to thenextweb.com, with more compact, text-based large language models like Meta’s latest Llama iterations, which are optimized for Arm mobile chips, you can get faster user experiences. Arm also says the compact models can run more AI directly on smartphones. Arm sees new helpful mobile apps as a result. LLMs will perform tasks on your behalf by understanding your location, schedule, and preferences. Routine tasks will be automated and recommendations personalised on-device.Your phone will evolve from a command and control tool to a “proactive assistant.” Arm is shooting for 2025 to have over 100 billion Arm based devices to be ‘AI ready.’

Apple is still working on a new home accessory that rolls up the capabilities of an iPad, AppleTV, and a HomePod. People sifting through Apple’s back end code have seen a ‘HomeAccessory’ in that code the last couple months. 9to5mac.com says it appears that it will be powered by an A18 chip, which would support Apple Intelligence, and that it has more of a square display than the rectangular one on iPads. It also apparently sports a camera that will work with FaceTime and other video conferencing apps. The cam can also identify hand gestures from a distance, which would be handy (ok, sorry about that!) for controlling it in the kitchen where you might have wet or food covered hands and not want to touch the screen. It isn’t clear if this device would be something to replace the HomePod, or something different. If that is the case, it seems that a display on top might make it less stellar at reproducing great spacial audio.

By the time you watch or read this, it likely will be resolved, but Verizon has had a huge, nationwide outage Monday morning. Mashable.com reports that over 100,000 have reported outages for their mobile phones, 36 percent of those had no signal, and 14% a total blackout….this all noted by DownDetector. the worst outages were coming in from New York, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, and North Carolina. Reports started coming in at about 9am Eastern time…leaving a lot of people with just SOS mode on their phones. 

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

AirPods Pro Get FDA Approved as Hearing Aids; EVgo & GM Roll Out Fast Charger Stations; Harris Did Not Have Audio Earrings; Trump Media Dropped After Debate

Posted: September 12, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Coming quickly after Apple rolled out its new AirPods Pro 2 with hearing testing and the ability to be used as hearing aids, the FDA has now approved Cupertino’s selling of the devices as such. Techcrunch.com reports that the FDA on Thursday announced that it has granted what it calls “the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device, Hearing Aid Feature.” Specifically, it has approved the software update that enables that functionality. With the AirPods Pro 2 selling for $249, and most hearing aids costing $600 to several thousand, this is significant. The AirPods Pro 2 are designed to help with mild to moderate hearing loss. You can upload the results of the apple hearing test to a doctor, too.

EVgo and GM have unveiled their fast charger station ‘experience.’ So what exactly does that mean? Well, the General and EVgo will configure fast charging electric vehicle stations like gas stations, with the chargers where gas pumps usually are, and a well lighted canopy above. According to arstechnica.com, the chargers will be rated for 350Kw, so that an 800 volt EV can minimize charging time. It is expected that both J3400 and CCS1 type plugs will be available on each charger. Most stations will have up to 20 charging stalls. All they need now is to add a stop and rob with chips and other munchies to snack on while you wait for your EV to charge up. the first one will open next year…with earliest states getting them being Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New York, and Texas.

The internet, particularly X, lit up with rumors that Kamala Harris was wearing audio earrings at the debate with Donald Trump…and was being fed answers. Engadget.com says some were claiming she was using Nova’s H1 Audio Earrings. There’s a problem with that little conspiracy though…those were from a failed Kickstarter project and wrecked actually never made or sold. Nova’s website was picked up by a guy in Germany who plans to make such earpieces…it’s called Icebach Sound Solutions…but yep…those aren’t available either. Maybe she just did her homework!

The debate between Ex-President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris sure didn’t help Trump Media. CNBC notes that on Wednesday, the day after, the share price dived more than 10%. The stock closed at its lowest price since it started publicly trading. As of this report it is down 3% at 16.18.

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

Huawei Tri-Fold Phone-Eye-Popping Price; Google Loses EU Shopping Antitrust Decision; Apple Loses EU Tax Dispute; Tesla Reveals Wireless Home EV Charging Patents

Posted: September 10, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

We just reported about Huawei’s launch of the world’s first trifold phone, just an hour and a half after Apple’s big show yesterday. The verge.com reports that we now know that this new trifold phone will cost a wallet destroying $2809…that’s $300 bucks more than a 16 inch MacBook Pro. The Mate XT Ultimate Design comes with 16 Gigs of RAM, and you can get up to a terabyte of RAM…for $3370…almost the price of Apple’s nosebleed priced Vision Pro headset. The double hinge folds in a Z shape, allowing a number off formats…and fully open, you do get a 10.2 inch screen…or you can use it partially open and have a 7.9 inch screen. It does come with a 5600 mAh battery, a 50 MP main cam, and 12MP ultra wide and 12MP periscope cam. Thinking about a screen the size of my iPad with two creases, I think I will stick to multiple devices…like a phone, tablet, and laptop…but if you want to be the first kid on your block…now you know what it will set you back. 

Google has again lost in its attempt to overturn an antitrust decision by the European Commission dating from 2017. According to techcrunch.com, Alphabet, parent company of Google, will have to cough up about $2.7 billion dollars as a penalty, and will have to make changes to how it operates its service. The Court of Justice of the EU wrote in a press release about their opinion “[I]n light of the characteristics of the market and the specific circumstances of the case, Google’s conduct was discriminatory and did not fall within the scope of competition on the merits.” EU Competition Chief Margrethe Vestager said  “It was one of the first significant antitrust cases brought by a competition agency against a major digital company and I think this case marked a pivotal shift in how digital companies were regulated and also perceived.” Google put out a statement saying it was disappointed with the ruling. This is the highest EU court, so probably the end of the line for Google…they will have to comply with EU rules on competition.

A day after Apple’s big gear fest, when they rolled out the new iPhones, Watches, and the rest, the EU’s Court of Justice affirmed the EU Commission decision of 2016 which found that Ireland gave illegal tax benefits to Apple worth 13 billion Euros between 1991 and 2014. Macrumors.com says Ireland will now be required to recover those funds…which Apple had to deposit in an escrow account 6 years ago. The Commission’s decision had been reversed in 2020 by the EU General Court, but the Court of Justice has now set that aside, so Ireland will collect. Ireland actually had sided with Apple, but said it would respect the Court of Justice decision. Apple made a filing today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that the company would take a one-time income tax charge in their 4th fiscal quarter…which ends September 30th. The amount in dollars is up to $10 billion. Not too bad a hit for a company worth trillions. 

Several patent applications indicate that Tesla is working on wireless home charging for its cars. This is not a first…BMW has had it for a while now, but with Tesla’s large customer base, it would be quite a move to have wireless charging more widely available. Electrek.co notes that this is pretty well a first world problem..after all, you can have plug in charging wired into your garage if you have a garage…and if you don’t, wireless won’t help anyway. Still, it would automate the task. You’d just park in the garage over the charging pad at night, and you’re ready to go in the morning. The Cybertruck is being built with inductive charging connectors, and it appears like they are something that could be retrofitted to a Tesla sedan or SUV….for a princely price, of course!

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

Apple Hardware Event ’24 Recap

Posted: September 9, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

More time was spent on the Watches than usual…rivaling the amount spent on the iPhones. 

The new Apple Watch 10’s get a larger screen with 30% more screen area. The corners are more rounded corners and the Watch is slimmer. Apple says it is 40% brighter at an angle. It now updates every second instead of every minute, but is more power efficient. They showed a new Jet Black aluminum finish. A new Rose Gold also joins the silver aluminum color.

The Watch is 10% thinner than the Watch 9 and 10% lighter. It has 50 meter water resistance. Now, there’s a larger and more efficient charging coil. Expect 30 minutes to 80% charge and 18 hour battery life. Recycled aerospace titanium is the other case material. It comes in natural, gold, and slate grey. The sizes are 42mm and 46mm..not as large as predicted. Watch 10 Starts at $399, available to preorder today, out on Sept. 20th.

Watch Ultra 2 has dual GPS, auto track detection. auto stroke detection and lap count for swimmers. It supports off line maps. There is a new finish….satin black. all are 95% recycled grade 5 titanium. The Ultra 2 starts at $799. Again…preorder today, available Sept. 20th.

The new Air Pods 4 run the H2 chip…Apple claims richer bass and crystal clear highs. They also tout ‘Personalized’ spatial audio. Now, you can nod yes or shake head no to accept or ignore calls. Apple says the 4 has better noise suppression than before. the charging case is smaller and has USB-C. You get 30 hours of charge including case. 

An active noise cancellation version is now available for the Air Pods 4 and what they call transparency mode. They will switch from regular to quiet mode automatically. The sound also drops in level when they sense you are talking to someone, which will be handy. The case has a speaker to help use Find My.

AirPods 4 start at $129, the Active Noise Cancellation ones are $179. Preorder today, available the 20th, as with the Watches. 

AirPods Max get new color, personalized spatial audio, and USB-C charging. Same price as before. Basically, they are unchanged. 

AirPods Pro 2 gets new features to help protect hearing. Hearing protection is on as a default. They are introducing a 5 min hearing test that will run on iPhone and is developed from their 100,000 person hearing study. AirPods Pro will have over the counter hearing aid feature, which you can use after running the haring test. Easy to use pro grade hearing aid. 

The new iPhone 16s are designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up. Teal and Pink join other colors. The sizes are 6.1 inches for the 16, 6.7 inches for 16 Plus. They get the New Camera Control button. You can press or slide finger to adjust the cam parameters. 

The 16s run the new A18 chip, optimized to run generative models. The phone is 30% faster than last year but more energy efficient…it uses 30% less power. The new 5 core GPU is 40% faster than last year, at 35% less power. 

Apple Intelligence—Apple says it will key to you but stay on the phone to protect your privacy. As touted last summer, some features will access the Private Cloud Compute off-phone. Your data only runs on the secure servers…they are allowing outside experts to check them on this. 

Apple is integrating writing tools into all the apps that you write with, to help you write better. You can also make your own emoji by writing descriptions. 

For Photos, if you type in a description to find one you can’t, AI will go look for it and find it for you. It can also stitch related pics into a little movie like sequence. 

In Mail, you can get a little summary of the message, not just the subject line. They claim Siri will be more natural, more personally relevant, and maybe it will actually work well…that would be a first. You can type to Siri instead of dictate for more privacy. Messages can use satellite now where WiFi isn’t available…on 4 continents.

Price same as last year on  the iPhone16’s. $799 and $899.

As for the iPhone Pros, the screen sizes grow to 6.3” on Pro and 6.9” for Pro Max. Smaller bezels help keep the actual device size from growing quite as much to accommodate the new screens. Colors are black, white, natural, and Desert gold titanium. Without specifying…as usual…Apple says the Pros have larger batteries and advanced power management…they claim best battery life ever. 

The Pros get a new A18 Pro chip. More neural engine cores Intelligence features will run 17% faster than on last year’s phone with A17 Pro. New CPU is 15% faster than last year with 20% less power. They claim fastest CPU in any smartphone. 

New cam features include a new 48MP fusion cam that can read data 2 times faster, and there’s a new 48MP ultra wide. The 5X telephoto cam is same as before on the Max, but the smaller Pro gets the good 5x telephoto that was exclusive to the Pro Max last year.

There is a new MagSafe charger that is faster and comes in 2 cord lengths, and Qi2 is supported for wireless charging if you don’t want to pay Apple prices for a magnetic charger. Prices stay the same…$999 for Pro and $1199 for Pro Max. Both are 

available for preorder this Friday and on sale September 20.

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

Grok Chatbot Trains on X User Data; Apple Intelligence Delayed Until October in iOS 18.1; DOJ says TikTok Collected User Data on Controversial Issues; Microsoft Will Make Windows Security more Mac-Like

Posted: July 29, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Grok chatbot Elon Musk has is apparently training on data from any and all X users. According to thenextweb.com, this could get Musk into trouble with the European Union. The data use may be in violation of EU rules. You can make sure you are not included in this. Go to settings in X, and look for a box that is checked by default…it says  “Allow your posts as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok to be used for training and fine-tuning.” This may violate the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. That law restricts companies from expanding data collection without telling users, and providing users a clear opt-out. 

Apparently Apple Intelligence won’t graduate in time to make it for the rollout of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. If you were all pumped about that shiny new iPhone 16 using Apple Intelligence, macrumors.com reports that you will have to wait until the operating systems’ first updates in October. Apple Intelligence should be released in the upcoming beta versions of the software, probably next week, but Apple must feel it isn’t quite ready for prime time yet. The upgraded Siri with AI was already scheduled to bow next spring. 

The Department of Justice went to court late Friday to ask the bench to reject the TikTok bid to have the law to ban it overturned. Engadget.com says the feds name national security concerns that include its alleged use of internal search tools to collect information on users’ views around sensitive topics. The government wrote in its filing that ByteDance has been using a search tool within their Lark suite of tools that “allowed ByteDance and TikTok employees in the United States and China to collect bulk user information based on the user’s content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in the filings that TikTok could be using the data to subject US users to content manipulation, and that their sensitive information could end up stored on servers in China. TikTok has denied the allegations.

After the CrowdStrike mess, Microsoft has indicated it will make Windows security more Mac-like. What does that mean? 9t5mac.com reports that Redmond will limit kernel access. Microsoft wrote about it on their IT blog. The company won’t be stripping away kernel privileges in a forthcoming Windows update. A shift like this will take significant time. But Microsoft’s direction for the future appears clear. Apple’s strict Mac security protocols don’t allow the same kind of kernel access to third parties as Windows does. This is why Macs weren’t impacted by the CrowdStrike outage. Let’s hope that another CloudStrike-type event doesn’t occur before Microsoft gets restricting kernel access in place. 

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

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