Android Risk of Sideloading-According to Google; Amazon No-Shock New AI Search Angle-Suggesting Products; Rivian Births Micromobility Startup; Military Vehicles Getting Mixed Reality Windshields

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

Google has dropped a number on the risk of side loading Android apps, and it is a bit jaw-dropping. Androidpolice.com reports that Google says apps downloaded from places outside the Google Play Store are 50 times more likely to contain malware than apps from the Play Store. Google says its ‘stronger privacy policies’ and ‘AI-powered threat detection’ has prevented some 2.36 million suspicious apps from getting into the Play Store. Sometimes you can get some really cool apps from outside Google….or even by skirting Apple’s App Store…which Apple makes much more difficult. As always, just be extra careful of the source when you do so. 

Amazon…like all Big Tech…is going full bore on AI. They even have an AI assistant they call Rufus in the Amazon app now. Well, geekwire.com says now Amazon is using generative AI for a new feature called “Interests” that turns natural language queries into product recommendations — and updates shoppers when new items match their prompt. If you thought Amazon was really ‘sticky’ before as far as getting you to spend time on their platform and buy more, just wait! At present, the feature is only available to a small subset of US users on the website and mobile, but the online giant plans to roll it out to more people in the coming months. If that isn’t enough…well, according to CNBC, they are also testing a new chatbot for health and wellness questions. 

Rivian has spun off a division that has been something of the CEO’s baby since before he even founded the auto company in 2009. The focus will be on so-called ‘micro mobility.’ According to TechCrunch.com, the new firm is called Also. The team comes from Apple, Google, Specialized, Tesla, REI, and Uber. Although they haven’t been totally specific, the ‘micro mobility’ vehicle admittedly has a bike-like profile. Rivian’s CEO Scaringe will serve on the new spin off’s board, and Rivian holds a minority stake in the company. They plan to leverage Rivian’s tech, retail presence, and economies of scale. They hope to have a flagship product in production by next year. Scaringe has made it clear that they want to make a micro mobility product at affordable prices. The vehicle will have a screen, computers, and a battery. He has complained that nice e-bikes can run $6-8,000, or even $10 grand. It looks very much like they are aiming to make an e-bike or similar vehicle with top shelf performance for a fraction of the price, leveraging Rivian’s tech. 

A Finnish startup called Distance Technologies has come out of stealth with a tech it says can turn any transparent surface into a Mixed Reality Display. Thenextweb.com notes that the startup has the deep-pocketed backing of Google. Further, they are partnering with Patria to try out the tech on that defense firm’s armored vehicles. The partners will jointly develop a heads-up display for Patria’s six-wheel drive armored personnel carrier. The system will display 3D tactical data, terrain mapping, and AI-driven military insights directly onto the windshield, allowing military personnel to see in low-visibility environments like darkness and smoke. While Mixed Reality windshields on military 6 wheeled vehicles may not excite you, the thing is…this sort of tech always finds its way into commercial civilian use. With actual self driving still years away (and always promised within months…for at least the last 10 years), think about this tech making it easier to drive at night or through thick fog…hopefully not smoke, like on a battlefield! An unique feature of the display is that it isn’t static like on your car- if it has one. This tech tracks the user’s eye movements and then displays the correct light field to match where they are looking! The system is allegedly capable of ‘infinite’ pixel depth…that should mean indistinguishable from natural light.

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

23andMe Bankruptcy; Apple Watch May Get Cams and AI; Google Gemini Live-Is Live; CA Bill Update-Cheap Broadband for Poor Details

Posted: March 24, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

23andMe, the DNA testing firm, has filed for bankruptcy. The company intends to look for a buyer and continue to operate as a debtor in possession through the process. The CEO has resigned to bid for the company independently…engadget.com reports that the Board had previously rejected a bid from her. Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, has recommended that users contact the company immediately and demand that their data be deleted, to try to safeguard their private information and avoid misuse. 23andMe had been hacked in 2023, and the hackers got away with info on some 6.9 million customers. They were hit with a class action over it a year later. 

Although some Apple Intelligence features have been delayed until late this year, with analysts dinging Apple over that…now, it looks like Cupertino is doing anything besides sitting still. According to theverge.com, they are working on adding cameras to the Apple Watch in order to enable AI features like Visual Intelligence in the next two years. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter that the cams will live ‘inside the display’ on the standard Watch, but the Ultra will have them on the side, next to the digital crown and button. What the cameras will bring is that the Watch will be able to “see the outside world and use AI to deliver relevant information.” We had reported previously that Apple was working on adding cams to the AirPods, so it looks like they are going all-in on Apple Intelligence. The cam-equipped Watches and AirPods could roll out in 2027. Visual Intelligence will bow on the iPhone 16’s.

Google has added features to Gemini which are pretty cool. Androidpolice.com notes that Gemini has added new live video AI features. A person with a Google One subscription can now not only engage in live discussion about a screenshot from your device, but (at least on an Xiaomi phone right now) can share their screen in real time with the AI. You can ask the AI anything about what’s on the screen. Up to now, this only was expected to work with static screen shots. No announcements have been made, so it sounds like maybe there is a rolling worldwide staggered release. 

We reported earlier that California had introduced a bill that would make ISPs provide cheap broadband to low income folks like New York has. Now, arstechnica.com reports that it has been amended with details. The Internet service providers would have to furnish 100Mbps download speeds and 20Mbps upload speeds for $15 a month. The Supreme Court has twice refused to step in and stop this, so expect California to move forward on this. and for other states to follow suit. In New York, AT&T stopped offering home 5G internet due to the law there, but they won’t be able to do that so easily in California. That’s because they offer DSL and other fiber internet in the Golden State, and still are classified as a carrier of last resort for landline service.

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

Google Maps to Rename Gulf of Mexico for Trump; Apple’s Big Release of Year; Waymo Starts Testing Robotaxis on LA Freeways; Google Store Adding ‘Verified’ Badge to VPN Apps

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

In a stunning and embarrassing move, Google Maps will rename the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America,’ in order to appease new president Donald Trump. 9to5google.com reports that the rest of the world besides the US will see both Gulf of Mexico and ‘Gulf of America.’ The name of Mount Denali in Alaska will also revert to Mount McKinley. Again, non-US users will see both names. Google says it has had a ‘longstanding practice to use official government sources.’ Expect to see these ridiculous changes soon. I can sense the laughter from the rest of the world right now. 

Apple’s big release of the year may not be an iPhone Air or whatever they decide to call the skinny phone. Some Apple watchers think the big push will be the new home unit, being dubbed the ‘HomePad’ instead. According to bgr.com, the gadget will have a 7 inch screen and can be attached to a wall or a base with built in speakers. Such a device will be a major expansion into the home hub market for Apple. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman thinks it will be smaller and cheaper than an iPad and will run its own operating system. With an A18 chip in it, it will be significantly more powerful than the HomePods, which run on an Apple Watch chip. 

Little by little, they keep expanding the territory. Now, Waymo’s robotaxis in Los Angeles are moving from city streets to the metro’s famous…or infamous…freeway system. Techcrunch.com says to expect to see the Alphabet-owned robot vehicles on I-10, 110, 405, and 90 for the time being. The cars will NOT have a safety driver behind the wheel! At first, they will only be transporting company employees, but plan to expand to the general public. Waymo has already been running on highways in the Bay Area on Peninsula and San Francisco freeways.

The Google Play store is adding ‘Verified’ badges of consumer facing VPN apps. 9to5google.com notes that the store already introduced a ‘Government’ badge last year, so this is something of an expansion of that. Google says the VPNs have an ‘independent security review’ in the Data safety section. A banner will also appear in search results. The new ‘Verified’ badge with shield and checkmark will show up next to the app rating and above the install button. Google has a list of requirements the VPN must meet to get verified. 

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

Samsung Galaxy S25’s at Unpacked; Netflix Announces Price Hikes for All 3 Levels; Microsoft No Longer Open AI Exclusive Cloud Provider; Meta-First True AR Headsets by 2027

Posted: January 22, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung held their Unpacked event this morning. With all the leaks, we weren’t really surprised by a lot. We do have pricing though…Mashable.com reports that the Galaxy S25 will be $799, the S25 Plus is $999, and the S25 Ultra runs $1299. The base model has a 6.2 inch AMOLED screen, 12 gigs of ram, either 128 or 256 gigs of storage, and 3 rear cams…50 MP wide, 12 MP ultra-wide, and 10 MP telephoto. It has a 4,000 mAh battery. The extra 4 gigs of RAM will help it run Samsung’s AI. The S25 plus has a 6.7 inch screen, with the same RAM and processor, and same cameras…but a 4,900 mAh battery…and you can opt for 512 gigs of storage. For the S25 Ultra, you will get the biggest 6.9 inch display, 12 gigs of RAM, either 256, 512, or 1 TB or storage, and better cameras…200 MP wide, 50 MP ultra-wide, and 10MP/50MP telephoto. The Ultra also has a fat 5,000 mAh battery. Look for AI in the photos and videos, improved generative editing, and Audio Eraser like on the Pixel phones. As we had heard, no price hike..that’s maybe the best thing of all.

Netflix is hiking prices again…this time on all three of its plans. According to 9to5mac.com, the cheapie plan will go to $7.99 a month, while the top-line, gold-plated Premium plan with 4K streaming will whack your pocketbook for a princely $24.99 a month. The Standard plan without Ads is now going to be $17.99 a month. These price boosts will be for the US, Canada, Portugal, and Argentina. 

Microsoft has inked a new deal with OpenAI giving Redmond the ‘right of first refusal’ on any new OpenAI cloud computing capacity. That means that if Microsoft can’t meet OpenAI’s needs, it is free to use a rival cloud provider. Techcrunch.com notes that OpenAI has made a larger new Azure commitment with Microsoft, so it’s not like they are completely splitting the sheets. OpenAI has griped about a lack of available compute space that delayed its products, and that has been a source of tension with the company and Microsoft. Last June, in fact, Microsoft let them sign a deal with Oracle for additional capacity. The new Microsoft OpenAI agreement runs through 2030.

A report out by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Meta is working on at least 3 new smart glasses models and is on the road to making their first true augmented reality glasses. Of course, Meta presently has the Ray-Ban smart glasses, and it is expected that there will be a newer model of those with a display. One new model may have a cam in the middle of the frames, with the target users being cyclists and other athletes. Those will be produced in partnership with Oakley. Another model called Hypernova internally will run simple software apps, let the user view notifications, and display photos taken. The price target is $1000. The true AR glasses may hit the market as soon as 2027.

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

TikTok Exec Order-Online Stores Still At Risk; Diabetic-Weight Loss Drugs Top List for Price Negotiations; Samsung Unpacked is Tomorrow; Apple Drops to 3rd Place in China

Posted: January 21, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

As expected, Donald Trump signed an executive order granting an extension to TikTok so it can stay in the US until it finds a US buyer. Theverge.com notes that the law passed and signed gave President Biden an option to extend the time by 90 days, but he didn’t do so. The Trump executive order really doesn’t do anything…the law passed doesn’t actually ban TikTok and never did. It does ban the app stores from offering it or updates to it, so it will work when the operating systems are updated. So far, The app stores haven’t started allowing downloads again, as the executive order is very likely illegal, and the fines for the Apple and Google stores could run up to $850 billion. Trump might be able to certify to Congress that TikTok has agreed to sell…which it has not, and then the 90 day extension might be triggered. It would be lying to Congress, but until a court found the certification invalid, Apple and Google would probably be safe. Stay tuned, this is going to get crazy!

After the first round of negotiations reducing prices on 10 high cost drugs took place last August, and those went down in price anywhere from 38 to 79 percent. we are ready for round two. This group of 15 drugs could see prices dropped, but not until 2027. According to arstechnica.com, topping the list are diabetes and weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. Right now, Wegovy runs about $1350 a month, and Ozempic is about $1000. Even chopping those prices by half would save the government a ton on Medicare drug expense. Note that the drug companies have sued over negotiation process required in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Samsung Unpacked is tomorrow at 10am  Pacific. We should see a preview of the three big models…the S25, the S25+, and the S25 Ultra. As always with Samsung, techcrunch.com says there has been a flood of leaks. One that just hit indicates that there will be either a slight price increase or none at all. That’s some pretty good news. Galaxy AI will be a big star of the show. One possible announcement is a successor to the Galaxy Ring, but that is a bit sketchy. We will have a recap of all the major announcements tomorrow after the Unpacked event.

Apple has dropped to third place in the Chinese smartphone market 4th quarter, after being the top line up to then. Macrumors.com reports that iPhone shipments in China dropped by 18.2% year to year in 4th quarter…giving Apple a 17.1% market share. Chinese makers Huawei and Xiaomi were #1 and#2 with 18.1% and 17.2% market share respectively. Apple watchers think one major reason for the falloff by Cupertino’s phones is the lack of Apple Intelligence in China. Apple hasn’t put their AI on the phone due to Chinese regulatory constraints. Overall, the China smartphone market had a 3.2% decline year over year. 

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

New Smart Glasses at CES-Project Screen Not on Lenses; Open AI Moving to ‘Superintellegence’; Samsung Galaxy S25 Leak; United-Tests Starlink on Flights Starting in Feb.

Posted: January 6, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Most smart glasses or goggles display on the lenses. Now, a startup at CES is showing something a bit different. Halliday is planning to start shipping their new smart glasses by the end of the first quarter of 2025. These glasses actually project a 3.5 inch ‘screen into the wearer’s upper right field of view.’ Bgr.com reports that there is a tiny projector in the frame. This allows viewing the screen with minimal interference and without needing specific lenses. The system works for people with or without prescription lenses, and is allegedly visible even in bright sunlight. The glasses feature Halliday’s built in AI. You control them with voice commands or buttons built into the frame. They also plan to ship a ring-like track pad you can wear on your finger to control them. They will launch on Kickstarter, and the glasses will retail for $489.

Open AI CEO Sam Altman has posted to his personal blog that he believes OpenAI “know[s] how to build [artificial general intelligence]” as it has traditionally understood it — and is beginning to turn its aim to “superintelligence.” According to techcrunch.com, Altman continued with “We love our current products, but we are here for the glorious future,” Altman wrote in the post, which was published late Sunday evening. “Superintelligent tools could massively accelerate scientific discovery and innovation well beyond what we are capable of doing on our own, and in turn massively increase abundance and prosperity.” That all sounds amazing, but a lot of us would love to see actual artificial intelligence, not the artificial stupidity we get in answers a lot of the time from these products. You have to give it to Sam, though…he doesn’t lack for confidence in himself or in OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Samsung has never been known for its tight grip on information when it comes to products in the works, and now we have a couple more leaks describing the upcoming Galaxy S25…which should bow later this month. Androidpolice.com says that like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, the Galaxy S25 series will include a free Gemini Advanced subscription. The handsets will also have new blue colors and some MagSafe-type case options. The colors are reportedly ‘Icy Blue’ for the Galaxy S25 Plus and ‘Titanium Blue’ for the S25 Ultra. The latter is a lighter shade of blue. As for the wireless charging, the case images show a MagSafe-line ring, but word is the Galaxy S25 won’t natively support Qi2 charging, but will rely on external accessories to do so. This is also true with other Android lines…they rely on cases for the charging abilities. 

United is going to start testing out Starlink satellite connectivity on flights next month. Engadget.com notes that UA announced a partnership with SpaceX back in September. If the testing goes as expected, United plans to have the first commercial flight with Starlink to be in place by later this spring. It will start out on an Embraer E-175. The rest of the airlines ‘two-cabin regional fleet’ should have Starlink installed through 2025, with the first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air before the end of 2025. Starlink will be free to all members of United’s Mileage Plus program. 

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

Bluesky Tests Trending Topics; Galaxy Ring 2 May Bow Soon; Why Apple Won’t Build a Search Engine; Next Gen Meta Ray-Bans May Get Small In-Lens Screen

Posted: December 26, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

As they press forward in building out an app strikingly similar to the old Twitter, Bluesky is now testing out a trending topics feature. Techcrunch.com reports that the feature showed up in beta on Christmas Day. It is available on both the desktop and mobile versions of the platform. Look for it on the right sidebar on the desktop, and on mobile, you can tap the search button to look for them. Threads rolled out trending to US users on March, and now is in Japan, but the Bluesky beta is available worldwide.

We may be seeing a Galaxy Ring 2 at Samsung’s January Unpacked event, in addition to the Galaxy S25 phones and perhaps new AR glasses. According to androidpolice.com, some ring improvements may include more size options, better sensors, smarter AI, and better battery life. If the Ring 2 does make an appearance, don’t expect it to be immediately available…the OG ring took several months to hit stores after being unveiled. If the Ring 2 gets a couple extra sizes, say 14 and 15… it would match ring leader Oura. 

One thing Apple has always relied on others for is a search engine…notably Google, which has paid a ton of money to be the default one on Apple devices…some $20 billion a year as revealed in legal actions. Why hasn’t Apple rolled their own? 9to5mac.com says Apples Eddy Cue has given 3 reasons why Cupertino won’t do that. Cue says first off, Apple is focused on other growth areas…he notes it would cost billions and take many years. Second, Cue points out the ongoing movement in AI, and says it would be economically risky to divert cash from that into a search engine. Finally, he says that to have a viable search engine, you have to build a platform to sell targeted advertising, which he notes isn’t a core business of Apple….and would go against Apples longstanding privacy commitments. 

The next iteration of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses may have a couple of nice adds…a ‘small in-lens’ screen and a wristband controller. Zdnet.com reports that the display would introduce an AR component to the glasses with a holographic interface while capturing your surroundings with a pass-through display that may be controllable with a wristband sensor. It’s a sensible step up from the current smart glasses model, which only allows for audio-based interactions and photo and video-taking. Right now, it looks like the earliest we may see these added features is 2027, but Meta has said that these are two of the most requested features. 

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

Google Bows Amazing Quantum Chip; Apple-Playstation Support for Vision Pro & Cellular for Macs; Diamond Battery Could Run Low Power Items for Eons; TikTok Asks Appeals Court for Temp Block of Sale-or-Ban Law

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

Google has just revealed its latest quantum computing chip…Willow. Gizmodo.com reports that Google claims the new chip can perform calculations in five minutes that would take the world’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years. For reference, the universe isn’t even 14 billion years old—a fraction of a fraction of that timescale. Quantum computers operate and calculate in a manner that is fundamentally different from regular or so-called classical supercomputers. They won’t be a desktop or portable item any time soon or ever though….quantum computing requires a lab environment with temperatures near absolute zero to work! Google sees some commercial applications for their quantum computing as being within the next 3 to 5 years now instead of decades away.

Apple has some interesting things in the works, according to 9to5mac.com, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. One is that they are planning to support VR game controllers, and have approached Sony about supporting PlayStation games on the headset. You would still need third party controllers, although th field of view in the Vision Pro would be amazing. Apple is also looking at bring cellular to the Mac for the first time. As they move to their now modems and away from Qualcomm, the Mac might join iPhones and iPads, as well as Watches with their own cellular connection. This could reportedly happen by 2026. 

British scientists have successfully created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery…which could run low energy devices like satellite communication equipment for over 5,000 years. Thenextweb.com notes that the battery is made of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, encased in a thin layer of synthetic diamond. As the carbon-14 decays it emits electrons. The diamond acts like a semiconductor, converting these electrons into electricity. Since carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years, scientists expect the battery to last for millennia. Besides satellites, the diamond batteries could power pacemakers, hearing aids, watches, computer chips — any low-power device in environments where frequent battery replacement isn’t feasible. Shortwave radiation from the decaying carbon-14 doesn’t pose a risk — it is fully absorbed by the diamond casing, the researchers said. The battery can also be recycled at the end of its life — if anyone is still around by then!

TikTok and parent company ByteDance have filed an emergency motion with a federal appeals court asking it to temporarily block the law that would ban the app in the US unless the social network divests from Chinese ownership by January 19. The companies are asking for the hold in order to give the Supreme Court a chance to assess the case. Techcrunch.com reports that more than 170 million people in the US are on the app monthly or more. As a back up, TikTok is also appealing to president-elect Trump, who had promised voters he would save the app if elected. 

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

Samsung’s Upcoming Smart Glasses; Apple HomePod with Smart Display Late ’25; 12 Days of ‘Shipmas’ from OpenAI; Amazon Unveils New Nova AI Models

Posted: December 4, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Along with their latest, greatest Galaxy smartphones to be shown in January, reports have Samsung at least teasing their first smart glasses. Zdnet.com reports that they will look a lot like Meta’s Ray-Bans, but a bit thicker and heavier. They will come with the expected voice assistant and audio playback, but also are expected to have additional features like gesture recognition and the ability to make payments. They won’t have a built in augmented reality display, though…and it’s unclear if they will feature cameras. an official launch is expected in July. 

There has been plenty of buzz about Apple bringing out a smart home display. Right now, it looks like this will happen in the third quarter of 2025, with a reveal at WWDC in June. According to macrumors.com, there have been several versions tested by Apple…one we reported on was a 6-7 inch display on a robot arm, and another was a wall mountable iPad-like display. It is entirely possible that both these form factors could come out. A new HomePod smart speaker will have Apple’s A18 processor and will support Apple intelligence. My gen two HomePods use an Apple Watch processor like the first generation had, so no chance of those running Apple Intelligence…which I could care less about, since I only use them to play music and control home automation like lights, cameras, and outlets. Apple is going conservative on these HomePod units….only about 500,000 units are planned.

In one of the dorkiest marketing moves in a long time, OpenAI has announced the 12 Days of ’Shipmas.’ I have a former colleague who worked with Sam Altman years ago, and this now confirms what he said about Sam being a dork. Theverge.com notes that the announcements will include OpenAI’s long-awaited text-to-video AI tool Sora and a new reasoning model. The days start tomorrow, December 5th. One holiday related announcement may be a new Santa-inspired voice for ChatGPT. Ho, ho, ho! Merry Shipmas, boys and girls.

More from the hype-o-sphere surrounding all things AI…Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took the stage yesterday at the AWS re:Invent get together, and announced a new set of AI foundation models called Nova. The Nova models represent one of the biggest attempts yet by the tech giant to make its mark in AI. The company is seeking to overcome the perception that it was slow out of the gate in the early days of the generative AI revolution. Geekwire.com reports that the Nova family includes: 

* Amazon Nova Micro, a text-only model that delivers low-latency responses at low cost.

* Amazon Nova Lite, a low-cost multimodal model for processing image, video, and text.

* Amazon Nova Pro, a multimodal model that combines accuracy, speed, and cost for a wide range of tasks.

* Amazon Nova Premier, which Amazon describes as “the most capable of Amazon’s multimodal models for complex reasoning tasks and for use as the best teacher for distilling custom models.” Premier will be available in the first quarter of next year, according to Amazon.

* Amazon Nova Canva for image generation

* Amazon Nova Reel for video generation.

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

Lower Priced Galaxy Flip Rumor; Bluesky Passes 20 Million Users; GrayKey Police Hack Having Trouble With iOS 18; Starlink Back to Waitlisting Some Places

Posted: November 20, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Folding phones are growing more popular, especially with a less noticeable crease on the screens, but they are still really expensive. Now, bgr.com reports that we may be seeing a relatively cheap Samsung Galaxy Z Flip FE sometime in 2025. In addition, Samsung is reportedly working on a thin Z Flip 7 SE. If the rumors are true, Samsung may field 4 Galaxy Z foldable in 2025: the regular Flip 7 and Fold 7, and the cheaper Flip SE, and ultra-thin Fold 7 SE. If they keep making the crease less visible, and can drop prices, folding phones may become relatively mainstream. Since Apple is reported to be working on a folder, you can expect they will join the party just as that mainstreaming occurs!

Bluesky, the app that would replace old Twitter, has now blown past 20 million users. It is now gaining on Meta owned Threads, as well as X, which continues to bleed users. TechCrunch.com notes that Threads still has a massive lead at 275 million monthly active users, but up to the election they had 5 times more daily users than Bluesky. That has not been cut to 1.5 times! Even with the recent exodus from X, the Musk-owned app still has 10 times the users of Bluesky for now. Bluesky has been #1 at the US Apple App Store since the election, while Threads is now #4, and X has ominously dropped to #41!

You may have heard of Graykey…we’ve reported on it here…it’s something law enforcement and government agencies can use to break into locked iPhones. Now, macrumors.com says officials are having issues trying to hack into phones running iOS 18 and 18.01. Apparently, the product can ‘partially’ unlock some phones…in fact iPhone 11 models can be unlocked in full. Newer iPhones are more hack proof. Magnet Forensics, maker of Graykey, had no comment, but Israel-based Cellebrite reportedly can’t unlock iPhones running iOS 17.5.1 and later. Apple has said that the idea is to make the phones worth less and less of a theft item since a locked phone you can’t hack into is not worth much. For some, the fact that governments and police agencies can’t get in either is a plus. 

Only about a year after dropping waitlisting, Starlink is back to ‘sold out’ in parts of the US. Arstechnica.com reports that the areas you’ll be waiting in include the areas around Seattle, Spokane, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento, and Austin, Texas. There are also some sold-out areas in parts of Colorado, Montana, and North Carolina. Worldwide, there is still little availability in Africa. If you are so inclined, you can jump the wait list by subscribing to the pricier Starlink Roam tier. Be aware though, that they may block Roam service in specific areas due to lack of capacity. 

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

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