Galaxy S26 Price Hike Rumor; Apple-Budget MacBook in 2026; OpenAI Launches Sora on Android; Norway Wealth Fund Thumbs Down on Elon Billion $ Payday

Posted: November 4, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung is expected to goose prices on the Galaxy S26 models. Bgr.com reports that no exact money amount has been leaked, but with suppliers struggling to crank out memory and storage chips due to AI, it is looking more and more likely. Samsung upped prices in 2024 by $100. Apple effectively did this with its iPhone line…although Apple just quietly dropped lower memory options, which was an effective price hike…but needed, since the cheaper phones wouldn’t run their AI backed systems. With mobile chip prices up about 12% year over year, and camera modules up 7%, some sort of increase seems highly likely. Since they raised last year by $100, maybe we will see something like just a $49 increase if you preorder. We should know something before the end of the year.

A contingent of users of Windows, led by gamers, is not happy with a lot of Windows 11 features…Copilot for one, but especially the intrusive Recall feature that saves screenshots of everything you do. Some users have bailed for Linux, but a lot of people don’t have the tech knowhow or inclination for that. With the possibility of Windows 12 being subscription based, even more folks will be unhappy. There’s always Chromebook…and now, another option may be coming for those that want to ditch Windows. According to macrumors.com, Apple may launch a budget MacBook in the first half of 2026. A Bloomberg report has it coming in at ‘well under $1,000,’ which puts it in direct competition with reasonably priced Windows and Chromebook laptops. Right now, the cheapest Mac is $999, with $100 off for educational buyers. You can always get a Mac Mini for $599…but have to tack on a monitor, keyboard, and mouse…so no bargain there. The cheaper MacBook will allegedly have a 13 inch display and an A series iPhone processor instead of the beefier Mac processor….probably the A18 that came out in the iPhone 16 Pro. Bright colors are forecast like with an iMac…Silver, Blue, Pink, and Yellow. If they are able to do it for…say, $600, it might be a really big hit for Apple.

Android is finally getting OpenAI’s video app, Sora. Theverge.com notes that this will let users on Android create, share, and remix AI generated videos. You can download it from the Google Play Store now. The app has been out since September on Apple’s iOS. The app has gotten flack for its approach to deepfakes and copyright protections. OpenAI had to reverse its opt-out policy for rights holders and go to opt-in. OpenAI has also introduced the ability to create “character cameos” with reusable avatars, and eventually plans to give rightsholders the ability to “charge extra for cameos of beloved characters and people.”

Norway’s wealth fund has given a ‘thumbs down’ to Elon Musk’s trillion dollar pay package. TechCrunch.com says that at a bit over 1% of Tesla stock, this alone may nt be enough to defeat the proposal, but it will add to the recommendations of ISS and Glass Lewis that have recommended votings against the ludicrous package. Musk insists the compensation isn’t so much about money as control. Tesla doesn’t throw off near the profit to cover this kind of pay over a 10 year period, and Elon’s promise of robots and an upcoming ‘flying electric car’ hasn’t really moved anyone to throw strong support towards making him the first ‘Trillion Dollar Baby.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judge Allows Books for AI Training; Meta Oversight Board Says AI Moderation is Uneven; Bezos Reaches Out to Trump after Musk Falling Out; Uber in Atlanta-May be Waymo Self-Driver

Posted: June 26, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It a ruling certain to upset authors and creators, a federal judge ruled that Artificial Intelligence companies don’t need permission from authors to train their large language models (LLMs) on legally acquired books. Arstechnica.com reports that Judge William Alsup made the ruling this week. It remains an open question with regards to pirated books. The judge did allude to the plaintiffs’ weak argument, and noted that authors would be able to raise new claims if they found evidence of infringing Claude outputs. That could change the fair use calculus, as it might in a case where a judge recently suggested that Meta’s AI products might be “obliterating” authors’ markets for works. The piracy case is still pending, so stay tuned…this isn’t the end yet.

Meta’s Oversight Board is calling out the firm’s approach to manipulated media as being ‘incoherent.’ According to engadget.com, the board has been urging Meta to update rules since a misleading video of Joe Biden went viral on Facebook. Meta’s software apparently does a reasonable job of spotting and labeling AI images, but isn’t as good with audio or video clips that have been manipulated. Meta has even told the board that it can’t automatically identify and apply labels to audio and video posts, only to “static images.” The board said the company should adopt a “clear process” for consistently labeling “identical or similar content” in situations when it adds a “high risk” label to a post. 

With Elon Musk out of Trump’s inner circle and the two at an uneasy truce after publicly throwing criticisms and insults at the other, Jeff Bezos is apparently trying to worm his way in…reaching out to Trump. Bezos, who is very publicly in the middle of his high dollar wedding festivities in Venice, which have cause protests there, is more privately reaching out to Trump. TechCrunch.com notes that Bezos has spoken to the president twice this month, and is angling for more government contracts for his space company Blue Origin. Look for Bezos to be much more under the radar and not try to ‘co-star’ or act like a co-president to Trump…which will likely get him a lot further with the president before an inevitable falling out. If he can get the administration to go with Blue Origin on more space spending and take that away from Musk’s SpaceX in the meantime, he will have gotten what he wants.

As of now, if you order an UberX, Comfort, or Comfort Electric ride in Atlanta…you may see a Waymo vehicle showing up instead of a live driver. 9to5google.com reports that Uber is saying customers will aways have an option to switch to a non-AV ride before a car is dispatched. If you do choose the Waymo self-driver, you can unlock the car, open the trunk, and start your journey, all from the Uber app. Uber says 24 hour customer service is available. The driverless Waymo cars will operate in a 65 square mile area of Atlanta. 

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

Nintendo Switch Date, Price, etc; Card Networks Spar Over Apple Card Account; Tesla-Worst Deliveries in 2 Years; Amazon-Last Minute Bid for TikTok US

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

Nintendo has finally announced a date and price for the upcoming Switch 2. Theverge.com reports that the new handheld gaming system will be available on June 5th. It reportedly will be priced at $499.99. The Switch 2 will ship rocking a bigger 7.9 inch, 1080p screen capable of 120Hz, a 4K dock that upscales games for your TV, and Joy-Con 2 controllers that can work like a mouse. It also has 256GB of internal storage, up from 32GB on the original Switch. A new Mario Kart world game will launch exclusively on the 2 on June 5th…with open-world mode, in-game atmospheric effects that depend on ‘the time of day and weather conditions,’ and up to 24 drivers per race. 

It has been no secret that Goldman Sachs has been itching to disengage from Apple’s Apple Card. The financial giant has reportedly lost money on the deal. Now, according to appleinsider.com, the card may not only be looking to land at a new banking home, but a new network. Apple Card has been affiliated with the Mastercard network since it rolled out. Mastercard would like to keep the deal, but apparently Visa has offered Apple $100 million to take over as payment network. American Express has also recently shown interest in grabbing the account. Apple can’t move from Mastercard until 2026 when their contract expires. If this quiet negotiation continues, Apple Card could see both a new banking home and a new payment network in 2026. I wonder if they will re-issue those titanium cards…they all have the Mastercard logo, so Visa or Amex won’t want that if they take the account!

Tesla recorded its worst deliveries in 2 years, mostly due to backlash over Elon Musk’s involvement in the US government via the so-called Doge. TechCrunch.com says the EV maker delivered 336,681 cars. Analysts had expected 408,000 for first quarter. The car maker delivered 495,570 vehicles in the 4th quarter of 2024, so this is quite a drop. European sales were off 49%, and sales in China were down significantly, with Chinese maker BYD passing up Tesla there. With drops like this, the stock is up almost 5% today. What gives? Well, word has leaked out of the White House that Musk’s days of meddling in the government are nearing their end. Apparently, in addition to his advisors and Cabinet Secretaries, even Trump is getting weary of Elon Musk’s antics. 

Amazon has put in an offer to buy US TikTok, just days before the deadline for the app to be banned or sold to US investors. Bloomberg.com reports that the offer was made in a letter sent to Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Details…such as the amount offered…haven’t leaked, and some parties involved aren’t taking Amazon’s bid seriously. That would give credence to it being something of a low-ball offer. President Trump is due to meet with officials to discuss the app’s fate today, with the April 5th deadline looming. Trump has said that a deal with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app will be finalized before that April 5th deadline.

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

DeepSeek-Much Higher Failure Rate; Another Reason to Avoid DeepSeek; Sen Cruz Tries to Block Hot Spots for School Kids; iOS 18.3 Gets Starlink Support for T-Mobile

Posted: January 29, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

DeepSeek, the buzzy AI from China is now getting some not-so-good buzz. NewsGuard reports that the chatbot failed to provide accurate results about news and information topics 83% of the time. It scored 10th out of 11 compared to leading Western competitors. A NewsGuard audit found that DeepSeek debunked false claims only 17% of the time. 

If that poor a return doesn’t bother you, here is more food for thought about DeepSeek. According to bgr.com…and frankly pretty widely reported elsewhere too…there is built-in censorship about anything sensitive to China. It’s not only built in…the app censors itself in real time. An example from reporters at The Guardian…DeepSeek AI worked well until they asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan. The report also details cases of censorship that other DeepSeek users experienced, including the remarkable discovery that censorship doesn’t happen before DeepSeek starts formulating its chain-of-thought approach to handle a sensitive topic. Instead, DeepSeek tries to answer the question just like ChatGPT and other similar AI models would. A user from Mexico shared their experience with DeepSeek when asking whether free speech was a legitimate right in China. Now, today, the app has apparently been removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Italy. Caveat Emptor. 

Poor kids have enough of a time trying to keep up with learning in our connected world. The FCC voted last July to adapt a rule allowing a plan to distribute Wi-Fi hotspots to school kids, so that kids without reliable internet access could complete their homework. Now, arstechnica.com notes that Senator Ted Cruz at a hearing this week came out in favor of blocking the plan…claiming it will lead to unsupervised Internet usage, endanger kids, and possibly restrict kids’ exposure to conservative viewpoints. “The government shouldn’t be complicit in harming students or impeding parents’ ability to decide what their kids see by subsidizing unsupervised access to inappropriate content,” Cruz said. A press release from Cruz’ office said the FCC action “violates federal law, creates major risks for kids’ online safety, [and] harms parental rights.” He has introduced a resolution to nullify the FCC rule. 

With Apple’s update to iOS, version 18.3, T-Mobile subscribers with a compatible iPhone and Starlink beta access are able to connect to Starlink satellites, reports Bloomberg. Apple quietly worked with SpaceX and T-Mobile to add support for Starlink to its ‌iPhone‌ lineup, and T-Mobile’s website confirms the new integration. Macrumors.com says that T-Moblie partnered with Starlink in 2022, and as of December 2024, opened up a beta program allowing subscribers to use Starlink satellites for texting in areas without cell towers. At the time, the T-Mobile Starlink beta program was limited to Samsung smartphones, and iPhones weren’t supported. The iPhone 14 and later already support satellite connectivity for text messages through Apple’s partnership with Globalstar, so ‌iPhone‌ users who are able to use Starlink can also opt to text with Apple’s built-in satellite service. Both Apple’s service and Starlink are only available when there is no nearby cellular network.

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

Threads 275 Million Users & Meta AI 500 Million; Microsoft-Win 10 Users $30 for Year Security Updates; Zoox Co-Founder—Tesla Self-Driving Tech Doesn’t Work; Dropbox Chops 20% of Staff

Posted: October 31, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

With the announcement of good earnings…with third quarter earnings up 19% and net income year over year up 35%, Meta also has announced some big increases in usage of its AI and of Threads. Engadget.com reports that Threads is now up to “almost 275 million” monthly users, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “It’s been growing more than a million sign ups per day,” Zuckerberg said, adding that “engagement is growing too.” Meta AI has now passed the 500 million user mark, and Zuck says they are on track to become the most-used generative AI assistant in the world. Meta AI has only been out about a year, too. 

There is always major resistance when Microsoft finally gets serious about dropping support for an operating system in order to get users to move on to the latest one Redmond offers. According to engadget.com, Windows 10 will see support end on October 14, 2025. Now, Microsoft has thrown laggards a lifeline with an Extended Security Updates program for regular users. If you are one of those, you will be able to buy a one year extension for $30. ESU programs have been in place for a long time for commercial users, but this one is for personal users. Commercial users can buy up to 3 years of ESU support, which takes them to 2028…BUT the commercial licenses double in price every year until 2028. Defender Antivirus will get updates for Windows 10 until at least October 2028. Kicking or screaming or not, Microsoft is going to drag all Windows 10 users to Windows 11. 

In his robotaxi presentation, Elon Musk claimed that Tesla would be launching a robotaxi ride-hailing service in California next year. Now, Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson has opined that Tesla won’t be launching anywhere next year. TechCrunch.com says Levinson was quoted as commenting that the “fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” Levinson said Wednesday at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024.” His remarks came at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 yesterday. Levinson went on to say he was differentiating between a driver assistance system that drives most of the time, but requires human intervention “versus a system that’s so reliable and robust that you don’t need a person in it.” He continued, “Our perspective is you really do need significantly more hardware than Tesla is putting in their vehicles to build a robotaxi that is not just as safe, but as especially safer than a human,” he said. Levinson said he believes that Tesla full self driving is “about 100 times less safe than a human if you look at all the metrics that are publicly available.”

In a statement saying it had over invested and underperformed, Dropbox has chopped 20% of their global staff. Arstechnica.com reports that CEO Drew Houston wrote that Dropbox’s core file sync and sharing “business has matured, and we’ve been working to build our next phase of growth with products like Dash,” an “AI-powered universal search” product targeted to business customers. The company’s “current structure and investment levels” are “no longer sustainable.” With several cloud services offering easier large file sharing, it shouldn’t be a big surprise. Box had things to itself for a while, but competition makes for real challenges. 

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

Apple Finally Approves Epic Game Store; Tesla Insiders-Musk Ordered Optimized Self Driving for Self & Influencers; Meta Expands Policy Removing More Posts Attacking ‘Zionists;’ Chinese Self-Driving Cars-Mapping & Gathering US Data

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

The third time is apparently the charm…after a couple of rejections, Apple has finally approved the Epic Games Store app for iOS in the European Union. Arstechnica.com reports that this will move Apple into compliance with the letter of the law under the Digital Markets Act, although not necessarily the spirit. The latest squabble involved Apple claiming that the shape of the buttons in the app too closely resembled Apple’s own. After kicking up a fuss on social Media, Epic finally got approval…with the caveat that they have to change the buttons going forward. Epic can now finish building out its game store, which will be available soon to EU users. 

A lot of people have figured out that when it comes to Tesla and other Elon Musk controlled companies…it’s always all about Elon. Now, according to electrek.co, insiders are saying the Muskman had his Full Self-Driving team optimize routes that he himself takes as well as routes taken by Tesla FSD content creators, which would explain the discrepancies in the efficacy of the system. Business Insider put out a report today based on conversations with current and former Tesla workers who claim Tesla has been optimizing its self-driving neural nets specifically for routes taken by CEO Elon Musk and Tesla influencers producing FSD content. The report claims that data annotators, people who review clips from Tesla vehicles to help train its self-driving neural nets, were given the task to focus on two categories: “Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a select set of “VIP” drivers.” Several confirmed that they were told specifically to focus on routes around Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter locations, and also a mansion previously owned by Musk. Now there’s a good personal use of corporate resources!

Facebook and Instagram will start removing more posts that attack ‘Zionists’ when the term is used to represent Jewish people or Israelis in general. Bloomberg.com says that Meta is putting the term into what they call attacks on a person’s ‘protected characteristics.’ Up to now, that has just included their race, nationality, or religion. Posts will still  be allowed that refer to actual Zionists, but just not Jewish or Israeli people more broadly. 

There has been a good deal of reporting about the Chinese weather balloons flying near US bases inside American borders. There is also ongoing coverage about buyers who might or do have connections to China buying land near US military bases. Now, it turns out that 7 Chinese self-driving car makers have had vehicles cruising US roadways…mostly in California and on the west coast, quietly mapping and shooting pictures, with the data going back to servers in China. They have traveled 1.8 million miles! Slashdot.org reports that around 30 cars owned by Chinese companies and equipped with cameras and geospatial mapping technology were navigating the streets of greater Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. They collected detailed videos, audio recordings, and location data on their surroundings to chart out California’s roads and develop their autonomous driving algorithms. The data could provide a foreign adversary with a treasure trove of intelligence that could be used for everything from mass surveillance to war planning, according to security experts who spoke with Fortune Magazine. At present there are no rules in place preventing such activity. Let’s hope our political leaders get in gear!

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

Apple Advanced AI Features Likely Opt-In; Samsung Foldables Leak; Twice is Twitching Subscription Pricing Up; Musk Diverting Tesla GPUs to His Other Companies

Posted: June 5, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Just a few days until next Monday’s Apple WWDC keynote, and Bloomberg is reporting that the advanced AI features in iOS 18 will most likely be an opt-in service. As we have reported here, Apple has been working with OpenAI for over a year to incorporate its ChatGPT tech into iOS 18. The partnership will be fleshed out for us at the keynote. Meanwhile, Apple has also been hedging their bets, talking to Google about utilizing its Gemini in Apple operating systems. Apple has been working on their own large language model, but apparently felt they were behind the curve enough that they needed to partner with a competitor. It is expected that Apple’s own LLM will be limited to new Siri features, and that they will work on device. the more advanced AI will rely on cloud servers. 

Design info has been leaked about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 and they’re more ‘chonky’ as the saying goes. According to androidpolice.com, the handsets will adapt a boxy design much like the Galaxy S24 Ultra. When they are shown off in about a month, expect new AI features like live translator, circle to search and more. They also will have upgraded camera features and will run on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon. One widely anticipated change…both phones will have a less visible crease! The Z Flip 6 may get an upgraded 50 MP rear cam, too. 

Apparently, ’Tis the Season…we just reported on Spotify jacking up prices, and now here comes Twitch, joining Spotify, Peacock, Max, and others in increasing prices. Engadget.com says starting July 11th, Twitch Tier 1 subscriptions will go up a buck from $4.99 to $5.99. In Twitch’s defense, this is the first increase of monthly subscriptions to US users. Twitch already goosed prices up on Canada, Australia, the UK, and Turkey. 

Again, Elon Musk is being accused of diverting Tesla resources to his other privately owned companies. CNBC reports that…according to emails from Nvidia staffers…he’s redirected some 12,0000 GPUs to his social media platform X. Musk told investors in April that Tesla had spent about a billion dollars on GPUs the first quarter of this year…nearly as much as the car maker dropped on R & D, despite being desperate for new models to add to what is now an old and very limited product lineup that is suffering rapidly declining sales in the US and China. Tesla has been working on its own in-house supercomputer for AI, named Dojo. Musk was accused of diverting Tesla resources previously to his other companies…back in 2022. Senator Elizabeth Warren noted in a letter to Tesla that this could violate what are called ‘anti-tunneling rules’ that are in place to prevent corporate insiders from extracting resources from their firms.

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

Wireless Carriers to Appeal Big FCC Fines; Tesla Investigated for Securities and Wire Fraud; Amazon Rolls Out Fleet of EV Big Rigs; US Revokes Intel & Qualcomm Licenses to Sell Huawei Chips

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

We just reported a few days ago on big fines totaling almost $200 million for the Wireless carriers…AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, and suggested that they wouldn’t just pay up. Now, in statements released, the big 3 wireless carriers have expressed their intent to appeal the FCC fines. Mashable.com reports that the fines were over the companies’ selling customer location data to aggregators, who then resold the info to third-party location-based service providers. In a statement, AT&T said “The FCC order lacks both legal and factual merit. It unfairly holds us responsible for another company’s violation of our contractual requirements to obtain consent, ignores the immediate steps we took to address that company’s failures, and perversely punishes us for supporting life-saving location services like emergency medical alerts and roadside assistance that the FCC itself previously encouraged.” Verizon issued a similar statement. Expect the carriers to not only appeal, but to continue to appeal to higher courts to draw things out for years…so they avoid paying the big fines, or perhaps get out of them entirely. 

Having to give up a lot of data to the NHTSA is one thing, but now it turns out that Tesla is being investigated by the Department of Justice for securities and wire fraud concerning its self-driving claims. Wire fraud is never good…the government is pretty accomplished at proving cases centered around that. According to theverge.com, an investigation over self-driving claims has been ongoing since late 2021. Federal prosecutors are now starting to zero in on specific charges though…securities and wire fraud. For years, Elon Musk has been promising fully autonomous Tesla vehicles are just around the corner — while also admitting that he often sets overly optimistic timelines. Meanwhile, the company’s advanced driver-assist features, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, do not make the vehicles autonomous and require drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. The DOJ is also looking at Tesla’s over-optimistic range claims…although as any gas car owner can tell you, it’s a pretty rare moment when your gas car makes the claimed EPA mileage, too. 

Amazon is hitting the road with 50 heavy duty electric semi-trucks in Southern California. Geekwire.com says it is the largest such fleet to handle first and middle mile operations, as Amazon moves further towards decarbonizing operations. You have probably already seen Amazon electric delivery vans…I have seen a number of them the last few months, but the new big rig EVs will move goods move from where they are manufactured, through customs, across oceans, into ports, and then into Amazon’s fulfillment network….so-called first mile. Middle-mile trucks move Amazon orders between fulfillment centers, sort centers, air facilities, and delivery stations, where packages are finally loaded into last-mile vans to be delivered to customers. Amazon has deployed 35 electric heavy-duty vehicles for such transportation in Southern California and installed more than 45 direct current fast chargers across 11 sites to power the trucks.

The US government has pulled licenses that let Intel and Qualcomm buy and sell chips to Huawei of China. This is the latest in trade restrictions placed on the Chinese company, which has been under other restrictions since 2019. Engadget.com notes that The decision will impact chips Huawei uses for computers and mobile phones and is effective immediately. You may recall that a few years ago, both the US and UK blocked use of Huawei cell tower equipment when it was discovered that they had back doors that allowed them to scoop up information for the Chinese government. 

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

Meta Oversight Board Will Rule on AI-Generated Content; Tesla Pauses Cybertruck Production; Apple Considers Expanding to Indonesia; Ecovac Window Cleaning Robot

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

Meta’s Oversight Board is handling a couple cases involving AI generated explicit images of public figures. Although engadget.com notes that Facebook and instagram prohibit nudity, the board is concerned about what is known as deepfake porn. That usually involves AI generated images of female celebrities, politicians, and other public figures. The board seems to be leaning towards pushing Meta to adopt new rules to address harassment by use of deepfakes on Meta’s platforms. The oversight board is looking for public comment in the next couple weeks, and after that will publish a decision in a few more weeks. It’s debatable whether platforms can keep up with AI generated deepfakes, which continue to get better, but good they are trying. A realistic fake video of President Biden earlier got Meta to agree to label AI generated content.

Tesla has stopped production and deliveries for the Cybertruck…all due to a serious safety issue. According to mashable.com, the pedal cover can come loose and slide up the pedal. It becomes wedged in an indent in the floor of the Cybertruck when the vehicle is floorboard. After that, the truck tries to continue to go flat out…you can counter it by jamming on the brake and holding that down, but it has caused some scary moments for new owners. A couple of Elon fan sites say the production pause is just for 7 days, but as with a lot of things Tesla…since Musk fired the PR department years ago…no official word.

As Apple continues to pull away from dependency on production in China…having set up shop in India, Vietnam, and South America, now Cupertino is eyeing Indonesia. Macrumors.com says that CEO Tom Cook recently met with the president of Indonesia. During the meeting, Cook apparently highlighted mutual interest in boosting local manufacturing. Cook visited Indonesia right after a trip to Vietnam where he met with the Prime Minister. 

Lots of folks have robot vacuums. I even have a relative that has two of the handy…but pricy little rascals. Now, after some 10 years of making them, Ecovac has a really well working robot window cleaner. Zdnet.com reports that you can put on a cleaning pad, fill the tank…they recommend just water, and turn the little gadget loose and get those hard to reach outdoor windows sparkling clean. The latest greatest is called the Winbot W2 Omni, and while it sounds pretty great from reviews, it runs a substantial $600. When you can buy a Dyson vacuum for that or less, and robot vacuums for not a lot more, you may have to think twice about it…but what a slick deal. It can run about 110 minutes…unless you have a mansion or something like the Crystal Cathedral, you should be able to polish off your windows inside and out on one charge.

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

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