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. 

Apple-May Finally Use Own Modem Chip; Google Gemini AI Gets Speed Boost; Data Breach Exposes US Spyware Maker; CrowdStrike Offed $10 Uber Eats Voucher-Some Didn’t Work

Posted: July 25, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple has been toiling away on its own in-house 5G modem for iPhones for the last 6 years at least. Now, it looks like they finally may be getting near using it in the handsets. Macrumors.com reports that iPhone 17 may get the modem chip in 2025. Apple has been using Qualcomm modems for cellular for quite a while, and they have a deal with Qualcomm that runs through 2026. Apple had scooped up most of Intel’s smartphone modem business back in 2019 for the purpose of making their own 5G modem chips. 

Google has upgraded Gemini AI to 1.5 Flash. According to theverge.com, you should see “across-the-board improvements in quality and latency, with especially noticeable improvements in reasoning and image understanding.” The upgrade is available in the free version starting today on both Gemini web and mobile. Google is also going to start rolling out Gemini ‘gradually’ in google Messages in Europe and the UK, and Gemini for teens will be available in over 40 languages ‘in the coming week.’

You have to laugh when a hack exposes a spyware maker! An under the radar Minnesota company called Spytech, which snooped on thousands of devices around the world remotely, was the victim of the hack. Techcrunch.com says the breach of Spytech’s servers contained detailed device activity logs from the phones, tablets, and computers that Spytech monitors, with some of the files dated as recently as early June. The company makes products called Realtime-Spy and SpyAgent, and some others. They have apparently been used to compromise over 10,000 devices since 2013…including Androids, Chromebooks, Macs, and PCs all over the world. The company has advertised the products as keeping tabs on your kids’ devices or ‘on your spouse’s suspicious behavior.’ Sometimes the programs have been called stalker ware. They almost always have to be loaded in by someone with physical access to the device and knowledge of the password. Once installed, they are difficult to detect and remove. The company wouldn’t say that they would notify customers, the people whose devices were monitored, or the US government…as required by law.

In an almost silly move, CrowdStrike offered a $10 voucher for UberEats…some small consolation after more than 8 million had their PCs screwed up by their buggy software update. As Ron Popiel of the Pocket Fisherman and Hollywood Grill used to say…’But wait, there’s more!’ Mashable.com reports that some the vouchers didn’t actually work. Some journalists at TechCrunch.com discovered the secondary fail that came with CrowdStrike’s ‘heartfelt thanks.’ CrowdStrike blames Uber. They say apparently Uber flagged the gifts as fraud because of high usage rates.

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

Samsung Unpacked Recap; Google One ‘Dark Web Reports’ Coming to All; Microsoft Boosting Xbox Gam Pass Ultimate Prices; Apple Hopes AI Will Boost iPhone Shipments 10% in 2024

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

Covering Samsung Galaxy Unpacked events is so different from covering Apple’s. With famously secretive Apple, there is always a lot to reveal. Samsung, on the other hand, tends to leak like a sieve. Anyway, here are some high lights. The titanium Galaxy Ring bowed, loaded with an accelerometer, PPG sensors to measure blood flow, and skin temperature detection. According to engadget.com, It can track metrics such as sleep score, movement during your slumber, heart rate, respiratory rate and menstrual cycles. Samsung will give you an overall Energy Score to help give you a snapshot of your overall health, and it will offer some suggestions on how to improve things. There’s no subscription required. The ring should run 7 days on a charge, and it is priced at $400. It will ship July 24th. The foldable get a fresh coat of paint, so to speak. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 have a better folding edge to support the dual rail hinge…and they claim the crease is less noticeable. Both have Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for durability. Both rock a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip set. Both the folders got a price bump with the Z Fold 6 starting at $1900 and the Z Flip 6 at $1100. Preorders are open, and they ship July 24th. Samsung rolled out a Galaxy Watch Ultra as a companion to its Galaxy Watch. Like the Apple Ultra Watch, it is aimed at outdoor activities and extreme sports. The Ultra is 47 mm in size, and will set you back $650.00. The Galaxy Watch 7 comes in 40 mm and 44 mm sizes, and it starts at $300. It is also open for preorders, with shipping July 24th.

Google has had ‘Dark web reports’ for Google One subscribers for a while now. With the Google One VPN shutdown in June, Google says the feature will become available to all Google Account holders starting in late July. 9to5google.com reports that after setting up a profile, Google monitors the dark web so you are aware if your personal data has been found in data breaches and leaks. At the time of writing, these reports are available in 46 countries. Instead of requiring the application or login to the Google One service, this information will now be integrated into the “Results about you” section to help you stay aware of any personal data breaches.

Microsoft is goosing up the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in September…it will go to $19.99, up from the present $16.99. Theverge.com says Redmond will also roll out a new ‘standard’ subscription that doesn’t include day-one access to first-party Xbox games for less money. The price hike will hit on September 12th. This all comes as Microsoft is going to add Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and some other big first-party games later this year. The Standard subscription will set you back $14.99 a month. 

Apple is shooting for shipping at least 90 million iPhone 16 models in 2024. That’s according to macrumors.com, citing a Bloomberg report. This would be 10% growth over 2023, when Apple shipped 81 million iPhone 15’s. Apple believes that Apple Intelligence will boost demand for the iPhone 16 models, and shore up sales in China, where Xiaomi and Huawei have AI features already, that has helped those brands to cut into iPhone sales there. 

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

Apple Watch 10 Grows & Siri Gets Smarter-Later; Amazon Updates Echo Spot; MS Notepad Finally Gets Spellcheck; YouTube Improved Eraser Tool

Posted: July 8, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

There has been more and more buzz about the upcoming Apple Watch 10. Now, 9to5mac.com reports that Mark Gurman in his PowerOn newsletter is confirming that both models of the Watch will have bigger screens…the larger one will be about the size of the Apple Watch Ultra screen. As others have leaked, the new Watch 10 series will be thinner, and will have a more powerful processor…possibly one that can run some of the Apple AI features coming soon. It looks like health features like blood pressure monitoring and sleep apnea monitoring won’t make it by the rollout in September. Apple has hit some speed bumps. Back to the Apple AI…word is, the fully upgraded Siri with AI won’t be ready for September, either. Now, it appears the better Siri will drop with iOS 18.4 in the spring of 2025. There will be some features like Chat GPT integration that will make the big fall Apple extravaganza. 

Aș a lead in to Prime Day, Amazon has bowed a refreshed version of the Echo Spot. According to TechCrunch.com, the Alexa-enabled smart alarm clock will sell for $79.99, but Prime members can pick it up on sale right now for $44.99. The upgraded Spot has better visuals and improved audio. It comes in Black, White, or Blue. The display shows alarms, the time, weather, and song titles. There’s a 1.73” front-firing directional speaker that Amazon says delivers ‘clear vocals and deep bass.’ The camera for video calling has been dropped…who ever wanted this in their bedroom, really? It relies on Alexa to set your time, alarms, play songs, make a phone call, or make intercom announcements through your home.

As amazing as it seems, Microsoft Notepad has been around 40 years, and Redmond has never gotten around to giving it spellcheck…until now. Engadget.com says the functionality has just been rolled out in the Notepad app for Windows 11. Not to snark too much, but I write these reports in Apple’s TextEdit, which has had spellcheck for years, and also has other correction features…some of which are irritating when writing about tech….it will un-helpfully change a word that is correct which it doesn’t know. Anyway, back to Microsoft…the spell check works the same as the one in Word or Edge…you see a red underline, then you can right click on the word and get a list of correct spellings. Amazingly, Microsoft has also just now added autocorrect! Maybe it will be smarter than Apple’s…which with some new AI seems to be less helpful than before!

YouTube released an updated eraser tool late last week. The tool makes it easy to remove copyrighted material from a video without affecting other audio like spoken word or sound effects. YouTube chief Neal Mohan posted about the tool on X and said, “Good news, creators: our updated Erase Song tool helps you easily remove copyright-claimed music from your video (while leaving the rest of your audio intact).” They have designed a new AI-powered algorithm that specifically detects and removes the song without impacting other audio in the clip. Note that YouTube says it still isn’t perfect, but it goes a long way towards removal without having to recut the whole video. 

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

Meta Spars With EU over Pay or OK Model; Google-August 13th Pixel Event; YouTube Lets You Remove AI Generated Simulation of Your Face or Voice; Apple May Announce Google Gemini Deal This Fall.

Posted: July 1, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Last fall, Meta launched a model to try to get around the Digital Markets Act…called ‘pay or consent,’ users have a choice to either pay to access Facebook and Instagram, or agree to let them collect data to send you targeted ads. Now, arstechnica.com reports that the EU doesn’t find the Meta model to comply with the DMA. If that ends up as the final finding, and Meta doesn’t change, it means the EU could fine Meta up to 10% of their worldwide turnover…PLUS up to 20% for continued infringement if Meta continues to violate the DMA.

Google will hold their Pixel event on August 13th. According to 9to5google.com, we’ll get the see the Pixel 9 and Pixel Watch 3. The event will be in Mountain View this time, instead of New York City. It will start at 10 AM Pacific time. Besides the Pixel 9, there should be a couple sizes of Pixel 9 Pro phones, and also a Pixel fold. 

YouTube has rolled out a policy quietly that will allow people to request takedown of AI generated or other synthetic content that simulates their face or voice. Techcrunch.com reports that instead of requesting the content be taken down for being misleading, like a deepfake, YouTube wants the affected parties to request the content’s removal directly as a privacy violation. According to YouTube’s recently updated Help documentation on the topic, it requires first-party claims outside a handful of exceptions, like when the affected individual is a minor, doesn’t have access to a computer, is deceased, or other such exceptions. Be aware that even if you make a request, YouTube will make their own judgment…so the takedown isn’t guaranteed. 

If you aren’t a fan of ChatGPT, but you’re an Apple user who wants to try AI, you may be in luck. Theverge.com says that Apple will announce ‘at least’ one other AI deal this fall, and it looks like the one most likely to be added is Google Gemini. Anthropic is also possible, but it looks like Apple won’t be doing a deal with Meta for a while…Cupertino has decided Meta’s Llama just isn’t good enough. Of course this will all be in addition to Apple’s own Apple Intelligence..which we should at least see in beta this fall. 

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

EU Goes After Microsoft for Teams Bundling; Meta Replies Visible on Other Federated Platforms; Uber Locking Drivers Out of Apps; Apple Works to Automate iPhone Assembly

Posted: June 25, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The European Union has called out Microsoft for breaching competition rules. Techcrunch.com reports that the EU has put out a formal statement of objections to what they call abuse of antitrust rules, due to bundling Teams with their cloud based suites for businesses…those would be Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The EU just opened an antitrust probe a year ago, after 2 years of complaints from Teams rival Slack. Microsoft did partially unbundle Teams last August (which wasn’t fully in place until April of this year), but the EU says Microsoft has to do more. The EU says the bundling of Teams gives Redmond a ‘distribution advantage’ over rivals like Slack and German platform alfaview. They also point to the lack of interoperability between Teams and rival programs. Microsoft was invited to respond to the charges, but as yet hasn’t acted. 

Meta is getting set to let Threads users like and see replies to their Threads posts on federated platforms. According to theverge.com, up to now, if you made a post on Threads that was syndicated to another platform like Mastodon…you couldn’t see responses to that post while still on Threads…you would have to head over to Mastodon. Now, you can see those likes and replies right in Threads…although to reply to a reply on Mastodon, you will have to actually log in to it. 

New York City has had a pay rule for a half dozen years that has made companies like Uber and Lyft pay the drivers even during idle time between fares. Now, engadget.com says for the past month, Uber has been locking drivers out of its apps during low-demand periods. Lyft has threatened to follow suit. At least one drivers’ union says it may consider a strike if the lockouts continue. The drivers, of course are mad. Some of them blame Uber for over-hiring…saying that is one of the main causes of the problem.

Apple has been concerned for years about over reliance on production of iPhones in China. Macrumors.com reports that Apple has instructed managers at Foxconn and other assembly partners to reduce the number of workers on assembly lines by up to 50% the next several years. There is already a significant amount of automation in the iPhone 15 lines, but some work is just too complex yet to automate. Cupertino has shelved some further automation for iPhone 16 due to a ‘high rate of defects.’ The goal doesn’t seem so much to cut humans to save costs as to be able to move even more iPhone assembly to countries outside of China, such as India, Vietnam, and Thailand.

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

EU Says Apple Breaches the DMA-Big Fine Looms; Amazon’s AI ‘Remarkable Alexa’-for a fee; Google Bringing Gemini Access to Teens in School; Dozens of Cybertrucks Vandalized 

Posted: June 24, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The European Union has announced preliminary findings that Apple is in breach of its Digital Markets Act. 9to5mac.com reports that violating the DMA’s App Store anti-steering rules could get Cupertino socked with and enormous fine…up to 10% of the company’s worldwide revenue. A final decision is expected by March 2025. The DMA rules require that an app store should inform customers of alternative purchase options, direct them to those offers and make those purchases — free of charge. Apple doesn’t do that at present. The DMA does say Apple may charge a fee for facilitating ‘the initial acquisition of a new customer’ via the App Store…it just can’t charge for each ongoing transaction. Expect Apple to fight this. 

Amazon is getting set to unleash what they are calling ‘Remarkable Alexa.’ The AI powered version will hit users with a monthly fee of $5-10 a month. According to androidpolice.com, there will still be a free tier of Alexa. Amazon has been playing catch up on the AI front, as has Apple. Remarkable Alexa (sorry, sounds clunky Amazon) will feature improved home automation…although users will probably have to buy additional Alexa-branded hardware to use that. The paid tier won’t be bundled with your Prime subscription, it will be on top of that $139 per year. The company has apparently set a deadline of this August for Remarkable Alexa to be ready, so you early adapters be ready to shell out another $120 a year. 

Google has announced that it is bringing its Gemini AI tech to teens using their school accounts. This is in addition to allowing them to access it through personal accounts. Techcrunch.com says that Google believe3s this will help prepare them with skills they will need in the future when generative AI is more commonplace. Google also says it will not use data from chats with students to train and improve its AI models, and has taken steps to ensure it’s bringing this technology to students responsibly. Gemini has guardrails that will prevent inappropriate responses, such as illegal or age-gated substances, from appearing in responses. It will also actively recommend teens use its double-check feature to help them develop information literacy and critical thinking skills.

This was obviously not a Musk super fan or fans. Dozens of Cybertrucks in Fort Lauderdale got a paint job of sorts last week. Someone sprayed the tailgates with ‘EFF’ Elon. Theverge.com reports the trucks were being held on a public parking lot due to a reported warranty problem with the windshield wiper. The tagging was apparently easily removed from the stainless steel trucks. One reporter said it wouldn’t surprise him if Elon started selling EFF Elon decals for a price…as he has monetized insults in the past.

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

TikTok Unveils New App Whee; Threads Launches API for Developers; Apple Watch 10-Thinner with Bigger Screen; US Sues Adobe Over Fees

Posted: June 18, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Without fanfare, TikTok has dropped Whee, its new Instagram-like app. Androidpolice.com reports that although the app resembles Instagram, it has a bit more of a personal touch…for sharing photos with friends and family only. It is only out in select countries on Android at the moment, but worldwide release may be coming. The app has a simple interface, with just tabs for camera, feed, and messages. With ByteDance already having the Notes app out…which is also Instagram-like, it’s not clear if Whee will stay as is, or eventually be rolled into Notes as a function for keeping pictures friends and family only. 

Meta has finally launched its long-due API for Threads, so that developers can build around it. According to techcrunch.com, Mark Zuckerberg posted that “The Threads API is now widely available and coming to more of you soon.” With the new API, developers can publish posts, fetch their own content, and build reply management tools. Meta will also allow developers to tap into analytics, with measurements like the number of views, likes, replies, reposts, and posts. 

Just yesterday, we reported on Apple going for making everything from iPhones and MacBooks thinner…again. Watches were also in their sights for a reducing plan. Now, macrumors.com finds that analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the Apple Watch 10 will not only be thinner, but will also get a bigger screen. Kuo says the smaller watch will go from 41 mm to 45mm…the size of the current larger watch. The bigger watch will get its screen increased from 45mm to 49mm. As for the Apple Watch Ultra, it will stay ‘roughly the same’ size this year…but may get a new dark or black case color option. As we reported months ago, Apple may be changing to a magnetic band attachment system…which will not only allow for the thinness and bigger screen, but also a bigger battery. It’s unclear if the new band system will be out this fall…we’ll just have to wait and see about that.

The Department of Justice has sued Adobe, saying in a complaint that it has been hiding expensive fees and that it makes it difficult to cancel a subscription. Theverge.com reports that the DOJ filing says Adobe “has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms.” The suit alleges Adobe “hides” the terms of its annual, paid monthly plan in the “fine print and behind optional textboxes and hyperlinks.” The DOJ goes on to say that in doing so, the company fails to properly disclose the early termination fee incurred upon cancellation “that can amount to hundreds of dollars.” Recall just recently we reported the popup about changes to Adobe’s terms of service, where you couldn’t get rid of the box without checking yes…even to delete the app!

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

Apple-Thinner iPhone, MacBook Pro; Surgeon General Wants Warning Labels on Social Media; McDonald’s Drops Drive-Thru AI from IBM; YouTube is Trialing Notes

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

After a bit of a waver when they dropped the miserable butterfly keyboard, it looks like Apple is back on its crusade to be thinner than ever. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the company wants to make a thinner iPhone and a MacBook Pro that will be perhaps thinner than an iPad Pro! The Apple Watch won’t evade the thinning, either. Gurman goes on to say that Apple is on the brink of introducing “a new class of Apple devices that should be the thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the whole tech industry.” The skinny new Cupertino gadgets may hit as soon as 2025 with the iPhone 17. As for the near future, here’s something cool in the upcoming iOS 18…you can change the wake word for Siri. No more Hey, Siri, or just Siri if you want. With Vocal Shortcuts, you can use your own…like Computer…like on Star Trek. This will only work on the iPhone at first…I can’t wait to say ‘Computer,’ instead of Siri…now if I can just find a reasonably priced Captain Kirk chair!

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is pressing Congress to pass legislation to introduce warning labels for social media platforms…much like the ones tobacco and alcohol products have had for decades. According to theverge.com, Murthy wrote in an essay that was published widely “The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor.” The chief doc pointed to studies that found almost half of adolescents say social media gives them body image issues and that those who spend over three hours a day on it are twice as likely to face symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition to warning labels, Murthy is calling for legislation that shields young people from online harassment, abuse, exploitation, and exposure to extreme violence and sexual content in social media algorithms. Murthy proposed these protections alongside others that recommend banning platforms from collecting children’s data and restricting features like push notifications, autoplay, and infinite scroll, which he says “prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use.”

Along with a few colleagues, I have been both amazed and amused at the hype over AI…which often doesn’t seem terribly intelligent. Now, gizmodo.com says McDonald’s is sunsetting its partnership of 2 year with IBM to test AI’s ability to replace drive-thru workers at over 100 restaurants. McDonald’s told Gizmodo this experiment with IBM has “given us the confidence that a voice-ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants’ future.” Apparently it isn’t ready for prime time yet, though. One customer watched in disbelief as the AI system malfunctioned and ordered 2,510 McNuggets Meals, totaling $264.75. Another customer struggled with the AI system for roughly a minute attempting to order a Big Mac and drink, before a human took over to speed things along. Someone else tried to order a large water and ice cream, and the AI ended up ordering them three butter containers, four ketchup packets, and a caramel sundae!

YouTube is testing out a new feature that will allow viewers of videos to add ‘Notes’ to provide more context and info. Techcrunch.com reports that it sounds much like the Community Notes on X…which started when it was Twitter. According to Google, the Notes feature can be used for things like clarifying when a song is meant to be a parody, or letting viewers know when older footage is being portrayed as a current event. The pilot program is available for starters on mobile in the US in English. A limited number of users are initially going to get invites to write notes. 

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

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