Episodes
Why are people getting tired of on-demand video streaming and what does that mean for streaming services? Plus as TikTok faces legislative action in the US, regulators in Europe are turning a more skeptical eye to the social media platform. And will Rabbit’s R1 AI personal assistant device avoid the fate of the Humane AI pin? Starring Sarah Lane, Nica Montford, Charlotte Henry, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/25/24
What does Meta hope to achieve by opening up their Meta Horizon OS to third party hardware developers? And Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X Plus which the company aims to put on more Windows laptops. Plus Apple releases small, open source AI models designed for on-device usage called OpenELM. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Amos, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/24/24
Published 04/24/24
Adobe announces that Photoshop will get the ability to generate images from a text prompt in the app. Plus Ray-Ban’s Meta Smart Glasses now have multimodal AI support. And Apple has an announcement set for 10 AM Eastern time May 7th. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/23/24
The US House passed another bill on Saturday, that would require ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US arm within 9-12 months of being ordered to do so. We explore what happens next. Plus is subscribing to a service to watch a specific show and then canceling the new way we watch TV? And Swedish company Embracer Group is splitting into three companies. Starring Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/22/24
What options does Meta in operating in the EU if they can't offer a free version that allows them to collect user data or a paid version that charges for the service? Plus in the age of AI powered services is the term “user” outdated? And Netflix announced its Q1 earnings report on Thursday. How well or not did they do? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Nate Lanxon, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe,  Link to show notes.
Published 04/19/24
How can learning about how bacteria swim help us stop infections and make more agile nanobots? Plus will Google’s latest reorganizing really help bring AI to all of its products? And the latest Meta AI roundup. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Dr. Niki Ackermans, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/18/24
We evaluate the leaked specs for Sony’s upcoming PS5 Pro. Plus power demand from data centers is holding back AI development. What are the solutions? And US cybersecurity firm and Google subsidiary Mandiant said Wednesday that a hacking group with ties to the GRU was behind the January cyberattack that caused a tank at a water facility in Muleshoe, TX, to overflow. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/17/24
How is YouTube expanding its efforts to stop ad blocker use on YouTube? Plus we take a closer look at why Humane AI pins have been poorly received. And we explain the buzz around the audio based social media platform, Airchat. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/16/24
Adobe is integrating generative models for Adobe Premiere, its video editor. Plus after Apple made changes to its App Store policy allowing emulators, the company booted off its first emulator iGBA. And Samsung has taken its crown back as the leader in global smartphone shipments. Starring Tom Merritt, Nica Montford, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/15/24
Tech layoffs have been a common occurrence over the past several months. But what is it like after you’ve been laid off and where do you go from there? Plus OpenTable is informing members that all reviews on the platform will now show members’ profile pictures and first names starting May 22nd. And a roundup of the latest Chatbot stories. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Nicole Lee, Veronica Belmont, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/12/24
The first round of reviews for Humane’s AI Pin have been published. We parse out what reviewers had to say. Plus Instagram announced a new safety feature that will automatically blur out nude images sent via direct message on the platform. And how is anti-deepfake porn legislation bringing together lawmakers from across the political spectrum. Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/11/24
Microsoft has plans for new Xbox hardware. Plus Blizzard announces its games will return to mainland China in summer 2024 after signing a new deal. And after EU legislation forced Google, MS, and Apple to make it easier for users to switch to rival browsers, independent browser companies have seen a spike in users. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/10/24
Android’s enhanced Find My Device network was rolled out yesterday. What can it do and what do you need to use it? Plus we share the big news from Google’s Next conference in Las Vegas today. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Ron Richards, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/09/24
Ford delays its EV rollout and refocuses on hybrids as public interest in EV ownership wanes. What’s going on? Plus Apple’s new app guidelines allows for game emulators and in the EU music apps can take users to an external website. Starring Sarah Lane, Chris Ashley, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/08/24
Google Podcasts is no more. What are your options? Plus OpenAI CTO Mira Murati wouldn’t confirm if its Sora model was trained on any data from YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. And Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the company will begin its password-sharing crackdown in June. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Tasia Custode, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/05/24
We share long time supporter Craig Porter’s insight into the connectivity and internet situation in the Antarctic. Plus Social Media service X is doling out free blue checks to users that have more than 2500 premium followers. And how do you determine if you actually need a VPN? Patrick Norton is here to explain. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Patrick Norton, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/04/24
Microsoft is testing an AI chatbot for Xbox support services, but has bigger plans for the technology. Plus Stable Audio 2.0 now lets users upload their own audio samples to create text-prompt AI-generated songs. And we discuss what impacts yesterday’s earthquake in Taiwan has on chip production and why Threads is suddenly so popular in the island nation. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/03/24
Scientists from Trinity college Dublin published a paper in the journal PLOS ONE that found that some people perceive more images per second than others. Plus Yahoo and Artifact jointly announced Tuesday that Yahoo will buy Artifact, an AI-generated news aggregation and recommendation app. And why does the New York Times consider games like World and Connections new classified section? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/02/24
Microsoft and OpenAI are jointly working on a data center featuring an AI supercomputer named “Stargate”. Plus what’s the current status on that legislative bill to force ByteDance to sell TikTok or block its use in the US? And a backdoor was found in a widely-used compression program called XZ Utils for Linux and Unix-style OSs by Microsoft developer named Andres Freund. Starring Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 04/01/24
In a recent study China pulls ahead of the US when it comes to developing AI talent. What is AI talent and what skills do you need to become one? Plus The Drive reports the Old Westbury Police Department in NY state is using GPS trackers embedded in foam darts with sticky glue on them fired from special launchers on police vehicles. Four school boards in Ontario, Canada are suing Meta, Snap and ByteDance for $4.5 billion, alleging their products negatively affect children. Starring Tom...
Published 03/29/24
Is a recent half-a-billion plus donation to Future of Life Institute, an AI think tank, set the stage for AI regulation? Plus why are Intel’s and Microsoft’s idea of what constitutes an AI PC confusing? And Google announced it’s rolling out an update to its Search Generative Experience (SGE). Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe Link to the Show Notes.
Published 03/28/24
What does Microsoft’s Phil Spencer think is happening to the video gaming business? Plus Disney officially adds Hulu as a category inside of Disney+. And why are Apple users getting dozens of password reset notifications? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 03/27/24
We discuss the emergent capability of generative video LLM as a world simulator. What does it mean and what can it do? Plus we examine David Pierce’s The Verge article called “Here’s why AI search engines really can’t kill Google.” And online design company Canva will acquire professional design software company Affinity. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Andrew Mayne, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 03/26/24
How are game microtransactions infuriating game players and why might we see more of them in the future? Plus Spotify is testing a fourth category of content alongside music, podcasts and books; online courses. And did Microsoft’s Phil Spencer hint about a future handheld Xbox? Starring Tom Merritt, Trisha Hershberger, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes.
Published 03/25/24