Apple Bows Fresh Air-MacBook Air Models; New Mac Studio Ultra; YouTube Premium Lite; Google Search gets ‘AI Mode’; Trump Tariffs on Mexico May Stifle Game Disc Production

Posted: March 5, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

No big, glitzy dog and pony show, but this week Apple continues to introduce refreshed hardware. Yesterday, we saw upgraded iPad Air models. Today, macrumors.com reports that the expected MacBook Airs with M4 chips are in the spotlight. Besides the newer, faster chips, Apple is offering a new ‘Sky Blue’ color…which will join Midnight, Starlight, and Silver. The new Air models also get a 12MP ‘center stage’ camera that keeps you centered in frame as you move around in front of the computer…handy for Zoom meetings. The new Air has a lower base price…it’s $999…with education pricing starting at $899. The Air can be preordered today and is out March 12th. 

If you are all about max power for creative work, Apple also rolled out a freshened Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. The Mac Studio starts at $3999 with the M3 Ultra, but if you really want to go nuts, and configure it with all the whistles and bells, expect to drop a bit over $14,000! By the way, the M3 Ultra is more powerful than the M4 Max…and Apple said that not every computer will have an Ultra version available. Confusing? Yes. Like the MacBook Airs, the Studios can be preordered now and will be out March 12th.

YouTube is launching YouTube Premium Lite at $7.99 a month. According to 9to5google.com, it will make ‘most’ videos ad-free. Standard YouTube Premium stays at $13.99 a month, nearly double the price of the new tier. A couple of notable changes with Lite. For one thing, YouTube Music is removed. You will see ads on music videos. You also can’t download videos or music for offline use. Besides that, Background play is not available. Lite starts out as a pilot program in the US, and will also be dropping in Thailand, Germany, and Australia, then to other countries. 

Google is rolling out a new ‘AI Mode’ experimental feature in Search that will compete head on with Perplexity AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT search. TechCrunch.com says that the new mode will allow users to ask complex, multi-part questions and follow-ups to dig deeper on a topic directly within Google Search. AI Mode will be available to Google One AI Premium subscribers starting this week, and it’s accessible via Search Labs, Google’s experimental division. It is powered by Gemini 2.0. As with everything AI, Google warns it isn’t perfect and is subject to ‘hallucinations.’

With the 25% Trump tariffs on Mexico, most think of big ticket items like vehicles, vehicle parts, appliances, etc. Here’s something that may have slipped under your radar…video game software and hardware. Arstechnica.com notes that physical game discs are overwhelmingly produced in Mexico these days. Ars says this may mean that some publishers will move to an all-digital strategy. This has been a trend for some time, but the tariffs appear poised to accelerate it. Game makers that do keep burning physical discs will probably pass all or most of the 25% tariff on to you, the consumer…just like every other sort of goods subject to tariffs. Another issue: around 75% of all game consoles are made in China, which is just now seeing tariffs go up from 10% to 20% under the new Trump rules. If you are waiting on a new Nintendo Switch 2, you may be ok, though. Over half of those are produced outside of China. This could let Nintendo just ship the units built outside of China to the US and they could hold the line on price increases.

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

New iPad Pro with OLED & M4 Chip; Disney Almost Breaks Even on Streaming; NHTSA Drops Massive Data Request on Tesla; Google I/O Rumors

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

Apple held their iPad event today, and as expected showed off the new iPad Pro models with OLED screens, new M4 chips, and a thinner case. Appleinsider.com reports that there are 11 and 13 inch displays, and that the cases on the Pros are slightly thinner than before. They also weigh a bit less. Apple crows that the new iPad Pros are the thinnest devices they have ever made. Part of the reason for the svelteness is the OLED panel, which is bright enough ton not need back lighting. Apple is using a two layer OLED panel to get the brightness. The new iPads are also jumping to the M4 processor as expected. This version of Apple’s latest chip has 4 performance and 6 efficiency cores, and a 10 core GPU. The wide camera at the back is 12MP, and again there is LiDAR included…but the ultra wide camera is gone. The iPads are available for preorder now and ship May 15th. The 11 inch iPad Pro starts at $999, and the 13 incher starts at $1299. 

Streaming has been a tough nut to crack financially for everyone. Now, Disney is apparently almost at break even in streaming. According to CNBC, included in Disney’s second quarter earnings report…which beat the street’s estimates…the House of Mouse has seen total entertainment streaming segment operating income up 17%…this includes Disney Plus and Hulu. The division turned a profit for the quarter for the first time. Combined with ESPN+ though, the streaming businesses lost $18 million in the quarter. Still, that is way better than  the $659 million loss the division reported a year ago. Disney+ Core subscribers grew by over 6 million 2nd quarter, and the channel now has 117.6 million subscribers. Hulu went up 1% to 50.2 million, while ESPN+ dropped 2% to 24.8 million. 

Tesla has gotten a request for data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and it is a biggie. It concerns the investigation into the massive Autopilot recall of some 2 million cars…and some 20 crashes that occurred after the recall. Arstechnica.com says Tesla has until July 1st to comply. The NHTSA wants  a database with information for every car it has sold or leased in the US, with information on the number and dates of all Autopilot driver warnings, disengagements, and suspensions for each of those vehicles. Again, that’s about 2 million cars! Tesla must tell NHTSA how many “hands on wheel” warnings its cars have displayed, both pre- and post-recall. Tesla also has to explain to NHTSA why it decided to implement each of the five fixes the way it did, in laborious depth for each remedy. Elon may have to hire back staff of keep some he had planned to lay off in order to comply.

Now that Apple has rolled out updated iPads, etc. it’s on to the next big show…Google I/O. It’s coming up May 14th. Engadget.com says the big story will be AI…like every tech company now. Expect Google to talk about Gemini AI, which is rumored to be a total replacement for Google Assistant. They will also probably tell us more about the AI assistant called Pixie…which is an exclusive feature for Pixel devices. Pixie is Gemini based, and expected to bow on the Pixel 9 later this year. In addition to AI, we should hear more about Android 15…which is out in beta now. Google will probably tout the updated Privacy Sandbox, and also partial screen sharing…which allows you to record or share a certain app window instead of the full screen. Additional satellite connectivity will be announced…as Samsung and Apple also race to give users more ability to communicate via satellite later this year. 

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

Amazon Ends iRobot Deal, Roomba Starts Layoffs; New iPads & Macs in March; X Blocked Taylor Swift Searches after Porn Deepfakes Proliferate on the Platform; EV Battery Charges in 5 minutes

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

Amazon has ended its proposed $1.7 billion purchase of iRobot, the maker of Roomba robot vacuums after a report that the EU regulatory agency refused to give approval. The UK antitrust agency had ok’ed the deal, but without the EU, both Amazon & iRobot said there was  “no path to regulatory approval for the deal.” The Roomba maker also announced it would lay off 31% of its employees, around 350 people, and that its chair and CEO, Colin Angle, would step down effective immediately. Shares of iRobot fell 10% in morning trading on the news. Amazon will pay iRobot a $94 million break up fee.

Apple is expected to reveal new iPad Air, iPad Pro, and MacBook Air models “around the end of March,” according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman says new iPad Pros and a new 13 inch MacBook Air are already in production. The iPad Air collection will get a new 12.9 inch screen, and the 10.9 inch model gets a refresh…including an Apple M2 chip, and new rear camera. The Pros get OLED displays. Gurman expects both the 13 and 15 inch MacBook Airs to be updated to get the latest M3 chip. The MacBook Pros just got updated to the M3 last year. 

A confirmation has come from X that it is blocking searches of Taylor Swift’s name after pornographic deepfakes of the artist began circulating on the platform this week. Engadget.com notes that the X head of business operations said, “This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.” This step comes days after the problem first became known. X has drawn plenty of ire for being slow to curb the spread of nonconsensual, sexually explicit images. Taylor Swift fans went into action, mass-reporting the images and flooding the hashtags relating to Swift with positive content. Before X acted though, one post was viewed more than 45 million times. The deepfakes are believed to have originated from a Telegram group known for creating nonconsensual pornographic images of women. 

As anyone, whether an EV owner or not, knows…the fact that it takes 30 minutes or more to ‘fast charge’ an EV is a drag on sales of the electric cars. Now, a group of researchers working at Cornell University have made an interesting breakthrough. According to a new paper the researchers published in Joule, their charger could make it possible to charge an EV battery in just five minutes, a nice upgrade from the current EV fast chargers that take at least 30 minutes to charge up. Bgr.com reports that the key to the 5 minute charging is use of a metal called indium for battery anodes. The metal is already used in touchscreens and solar panels. If the battery catches on, it could make EVs more affordable…smaller batteries with less than 300 miles of range would work for a lot of folks, if they could recharge in 5 minutes. If a buyer wanted to spring for the bigger battery, they could surpass the mileage of a gas powered car. 

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

Last Minute Apple Tidbits

Posted: September 12, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

From an Apple sitemap leak noticed by AllThingsHow: iPhone names are confirmed — iPhone Xs (or XS), iPhone Xs Max (or XS Max) iPhone Xr (or XR)

iPhone XS will be available with three storage options: 64GB, 256GB and 512GB

6.1-inch iPhone ‘iPhone Xr’ — will be available in black, white, red, yellow, coral and blue colors

The new Watches will come in new sizes: 40 mm and 44 mm (up from 38 and 42)

NO new iPad Pro will be introduced today.

Apple’s event starts at 10AM this morning.

Last Minute Apple Rumors; Ford’s Electric Crossover; AT&T Adding 5 Cities to 5G Coverage

Posted: September 10, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, known for pretty reliable Apple rumors, has dropped a few today, ahead of the Apple rollout Wednesday. According to macrumors.com, Kuo says Cupertino will replace Lightning with a USB-C port on the upcoming iPad Pro. The new iPhones will have 5W power adapters…not the rumored higher wattage ones. The new, cheaper MacBook will have TouchID but won’t have a Touch Bar, and the Watch 4 will all have a ceramic back and support EKG in addition to a thinner bezel and bigger face. As for the iPhones, Kuo thinks the new 6.1” one (which will ship late September or early October) will account for 65-70% of the new iPhone models shipped.

We’ve been hearing that Ford is aiming to drop all sedans save the Mustang, and focus primarily on SUVs and pickups as they move to electric vehicles. Now, that automaker has teased an electric performance crossover SUV codenamed the ‘Mach 1.’ Theverge.com reports that Ford has increased its investment in EV tech to $11 billion. Note that in the teaser image, the tail lights mimic those on the original Mustang.

AT&T has announced they are adding 5 more cities to their 5G network by the end of the year. Houston, Jacksonville, Louisville, New Orleans, and San Antonio will join the 7 cities already announced: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Raleigh and Waco. Waiting to get the faster service until early 2019: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. The carrier is also working on its Project AirGig, which is designed to cover rural populations that don’t have access to high speed internet. They will apparently roll out cheaper plastic antennas that can be mounted on existing poles, buildings, etc to increase coverage.

iPad Pro May Get Face ID; Google Looking to Release 3 Pixel 3’s; Asus ZenBook Pro Replaces Touchpad with Touch Screen; Firefox Tests Side by Side Browsing

Posted: June 5, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

After yesterday’s preview of iOS 12 at Apple’s WWDC, some techies have noticed changes that indicate that the upcoming refresh of the iPad Pro will have Face ID and no home button. Macrumors.com reports that the higher line iPads will also get gestures that match the iPhone X, like swiping up from the dock to open the home screen, and a swipe from top right to open the Control Center. Since no hardware was shown at WWDC’s keynote, most analysts think freshened iPads and maybe MacBook Pros may come later in the fall, after the iPhone rollout in September.

It looks like Google will be following Apple in adding a 3rd phone to the Pixel line with the Pixel 3’s. According to bgr.com, there will be a Pixel 3 and larger Pixel 3 XL, as expected, but also a cheaper Pixel 3 version…probably coming in 2019, which will run a midrange Snapdragon 710 processor instead of the latest and greatest ones expected in the other Pixel 3’s. The cheaper model just went into development last month, but should be out the first half of next year.

First we got the MacBook Pro with the semi-useful ‘Touch Bar.’ now Asus has introduced the ZenBook Pro with a 5.5 inch touch screen in place of the touch pad. Although kind of gimmicky, the touch screen may be more useful overall than Apple’s Touch Bar. Theverge.com says it adds, rather than taking away features from the keyboard. The touch screen can be used as an app launcher, calculator, calendar, or numeric keypad. You can even play back YouTube videos via a Chrome extension. Asus has partnered with Microsoft, and you can get access to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint shortcuts and adjustments via the pad. It hits the market the middle of next month starting at $2299.

Firefox has released a pilot of some features. One is a Theme Editor that lets you choose colors and even textures and background….if you happen to be very OCD about your browser. The other feature reported by techcrunch.com is pretty cool if you’ve used a later model iPad. With the iPad, you can pull in another window and run a second app, switching between the two…I have found this handy with social media like Facebook and a slide over of my Twitter feed. Firefox is piloting Side View..you can use a widescreen monitor and display two tabs side-by-side inside the browser without having to open a second Firefox window. This can be very handy…here’s hoping they make it a standard feature.

Next iPad Pro Gets Face ID; Microsoft Joins AirDrop Party; Amazon Makes Sub-$100 Sound Bar

Posted: November 9, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple is going all-in on Face ID. The iPad Pro will get it in 2018, according to a Bloomberg report picked up by 9to5mac.com. The top line Apple tablet will also get an improved Apple Pencil, and smaller top and bottom bezels, but no OLED screen, which could be quite pricey on a 12.9 inch device.

Just a couple days ago, there was a report that Google was working on an answer to Apple’s AirDrop over Android, which allows sharing between devices nearby that are connected via WiFi or Bluetooth. Now, theverge.com reports that Microsoft has begun testing its own similar system called ‘Near Share’ for Windows 10 devices. It’s available now on the latest Insider build of Windows 10, and makes sharing documents or photos to nearby PCs virtually seamless over Bluetooth. Redmond is also adding a mute tab to the Edge Browser.

Amazon has brought out its own sound bar for under $100 under the AmazonBasics line. Bgr.com says the $94.99 system works over Bluetooth, and has a built in subwoofer. It has 3 sound modes: Standard, News, & Movie, plus its own remote (it’s not compatible with universal or TV remotes.) If you want to spring for a few bucks more, and get a sound bar with a REAL, 6” subwoofer, check Amazon’s deal on the Klipsch Reference Series R-4B, for just under $150 while supplies last.

2018 iPad Pro May Get Face ID; Apple’s Amazing Market Penetration; Galaxy S9 Will Rock Advantage Over All Other Androids; Waymo’s Self-Driving Education Campaign

Posted: October 10, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s looking like Apple’s 2018 iPad Pro models will have a True Depth cam and support Face ID. Macrumors.com reports that KGI Securities sees the features migrating over from the iPhone X. The system will only be on the Pro models, not the other iPads.

A lot of us can remember when Apple’s Mac had 3% or 5% of the PC market. According to a new survey picked up by appleinsider.com, that puny penetration is not Apple’s problem in the US anymore. The CNBC All-American Economic Survey finds that 64% of all Americans own an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, or iPod product! Not only that, the number of Apple products in active use has gone from 1.6 to 2.6 products per household. If you think Apple stuff is a little rich…you’re right…87% of households claiming an income over $100,000 have at least one Apple product.

Samsung strikes again….strikes a deal on processors, that is. Bgr.com says they have inked a deal with Qualcomm to have an exclusive on the upcoming Snapdragon 845 chip for the Galaxy S9 and S9+. In addition to getting the jump on other Android makers with faster silicon, Samsung will allegedly roll out the new handsets a month earlier…probably in February 2018, but some rumors say they will drop even before Mobile World Congress…maybe in January.

Some people are super excited about self-driving cars, and others are honestly a little put off if not scared by the proposition. Now, Google division Waymo is launching a campaign to teach people about self-driving cars. Mashable.com reports that Way is partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Foundation for Blind Children, the National Safety Council, and Foundation for Senior Living in developing a website and ad and promotion materials extolling the virtues of self-driving cars. Ads will run on the internet and digital and radio outlets as well. The campaign is called ‘Let’s Talk Self Driving.’

Samsung Delays Bixby for the US Again; 5 New Macs & 4 iOS Devices on Horizon

Posted: May 31, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung rolled out its latest Galaxy phones, the S8 models, without the virtual assistant Bixby in the US. It was due by now, but has been delayed a month. The Wall St. Journal reports that they are having trouble getting it to understand English syntax and grammar. Virtual assistants haven’t been the ‘killer app’ on smartphones anyway…only about 9% of users use the AI feature on a regular basis, according to research firm Ovum. Half of smartphone owners either had no interest in the feature or didn’t even know about it. It has been a different story with talking speakers, which the public seems to be accepting more quickly….with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant in the lead.

There are armies of people digging through regulatory filings around the world to bring you tidbits like this: a Russian filing points to 5 new Macs and 4 new iOS devices on the way from Apple. According to apple insider.com, we could see some rolled out at WWDC. There has already been speculation that Apple would show a new mid-sized iPad Pro at WWDC, fitting in between the 9.7 inch and 12 inch iPad Pros. A recent shortage of MacBooks seems to point to a refresh of MacBook Pros and Airs as well.

Lyft & Waymo Partner on Self-Drivers; EV Battery That Charges in 5 Min; 10.5 Inch iPad Pro at WWDC, Google Asst Coming to iOS

Posted: May 15, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lyft and Google’s Waymo will team up on self-driving cars, according to a report from the New York Times. The plan is to introduce a wide swath of people to them using fleet services. Waymo had already started a public pilot in Arizona where they will pick up people and families on demand. The Lyft deal will quickly help them to expand that, and explore not only demand modeling, but efficient routing as well. Meanwhile, a judge has banned a Uber employee, who was a former Google manager and is the subject of a lawsuit, from working with Lidar at all for the time being.

If this pans out to any degree, it will be a game changer for electric vehicles. StoreDot, and Israeli startup, has shown its new battery model for EVs at the CUBE Tech Fair in Berlin. Engadget.com reports that the battery can reach full charge in FIVE minutes, and run the car for 300 miles! Compare that to Tesla’s Supercharger, which takes two hours to fully charge a Tesla EV. StoreDot also claims their batteries are safer than litihum-ion. They use layers of nano materials and proprietary organic compounds not used in batteries before.

Apple will probably show a new 10.5 inch iPad Pro at WWDC next month. Theverge.com says KGI Securities, generally one of the most reliable sources, is reporting this. Ming-Chi Kuo, of KGI also says it’s 50-50 that Apple will launch their Siri powered speaker at WWDC.

Siri could be in for some ‘Siri-ous’ competition soon. Google may be rolling out Google Assistant on iOS, and could show it at I/O this week! It will debut first in the US, and apparently will be slightly different than the Android version. The voice controls will be the same, but it will used the chat style fro Allo. This is probably necessary since it will be a free standing app, and not a baked in extension that’s part of the Google platform.

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