AI is disrupting a lot of industries but will it also disrupt your paycheck? The Information reports that Meta told Quest Pro suppliers it would not need new components. Is this an early sign that VR is dying? Do couples who engage in “phone snubbing”—the act of cutting off conversations with others IRL using text or messaging instead, have a less fulfilling relationship?
AI is disrupting a lot of industries but will it also disrupt your paycheck? The Information reports that Meta told Quest Pro suppliers it would not need new components. Is this an early sign that VR is dying? Do couples who engage in “phone snubbing”—the act of cutting off conversations with others IRL using text or messaging instead, have a less fulfilling relationship?
Fun French Friday - GDI 4566 starts at 31:27
Would you want an AI life coach? Cou...
2023-07-21 21:18:18 +0000 UTC View Post
The UK government is looking to update its 2016 Investigatory Powers Act that would require companies to comply immediately if the UK’s Home Office demands technology companies disable security features before shipping them to consumers. Amazon says it’s bringing its Amazon One palm recognition technology to all of its 500 + Whole Foods stores in the US. In Netflix’s latest qua...
2023-07-20 21:45:22 +0000 UTC View Post
The UK government is looking to update its 2016 Investigatory Powers Act that would require companies to comply immediately if the UK’s Home Office demands technology companies disable security features before shipping them to consumers. Amazon says it’s bringing its Amazon One palm recognition technology to all of its 500 + Whole Foods stores in the US. In Netflix’s latest quarterly earnings, the company saw its second straight quarter of subscriber growth, up 5.9 million worldwide to ...
2023-07-20 21:27:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Conventional wisdom has it that choice is a good thing. Being able to select an option that best suits your lifestyle whether it's a cell phone plan, streaming service, investment plan, or whatever it is ensures you come away satisfied. Yet research into the psychology of decision-making shows the opposite. Contrary to what most of us believe too much choice can be a mentally debilitating c...
2023-07-20 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Why are TikTokers acting like NPCs in a video game? Netflix has removed the basic plan in the U.S. and the U.K. And we have the latest on the soap-opera that is the Microsoft-Activision acquisition.
May All Our Terminals Be Dumb - GDI 4565 starts at 33:22
No one is nudging anyone off a cliff. It's a different flag. Would you want to have no access to the ...
2023-07-19 21:54:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Why are TikTokers acting like NPCs in a video game? Netflix has removed the basic plan in the U.S. and the U.K. And we have the latest on the soap-opera that is the Microsoft-Activision acquisition.
May All Our Terminals Be Dumb - GDI 4565 starts at 30:01
No one is nudging anyone off a cliff. It's a different flag. Would you want to have no access to the internet while at work? If it would help with security, would that change your mind? How about going back to du...
2023-07-19 21:20:41 +0000 UTC View Post
How can chatbots replace human subjects in scientific research? Microsoft announced details on some new chatbot features coming to Microsoft 365 business users. And are people warming to “Apple’s Most Hated Product.” Apple Maps?
Resting Security Face - GDI 4563 starts at 33:20
A developer recreated Apple Vision Pro's front display on a Meta Quest Pr...
2023-07-18 21:59:51 +0000 UTC View Post
How can chatbots replace human subjects in scientific research? Microsoft announced details on some new chatbot features coming to Microsoft 365 business users. And are people warming to “Apple’s Most Hated Product.” Apple Maps?
Resting Security Face - GDI 4563 starts at 33:20
A developer recreated Apple Vision Pro's front display on a Meta Quest Pro using an iPhone. How creepy does that sound? If you could change the face that the world sees, what face woul...
2023-07-18 21:34:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Sony agrees to keep all of Duty available for PlayStation for 10 years after the Microsoft Blizzard acquisition closes. A Financial Times report found that the .mil domain used by the US military often gets typo’d as .ml the country code domain for the West African country Mali possible to data leaks. And TechRadar's Christian Guyton cites several users claiming that ChatGPT output...
2023-07-17 21:47:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Sony agrees to keep all of Duty available for PlayStation for 10 years after the Microsoft Blizzard acquisition closes. A Financial Times report found that the .mil domain used by the US military often gets typo’d as .ml the country code domain for the West African country Mali possible to data leaks. And TechRadar's Christian Guyton cites several users claiming that ChatGPT output quality decreased since switching to OpenAI’s GPT-4 model.
🚧 GDI Is Under Construction 🚧...
2023-07-17 21:15:25 +0000 UTC View Post
What's the deal with carmakers signing deals to use Tesla's SuperCharger network? Twitter has begun compensating some of its popular creators with a share of ad revenue from ads served in tweet replies. Will this be enough to turn the company around? And is Dutch ebike maker VanMoof approach to the market a little too smart for its own good?
We Want the Frunk, Give Up t...
2023-07-14 21:56:28 +0000 UTC View Post
What's the deal with carmakers signing deals to use Tesla's SuperCharger network? Twitter has begun compensating some of its popular creators with a share of ad revenue from ads served in tweet replies. Will this be enough to turn the company around? And is Dutch ebike maker VanMoof approach to the market a little too smart for its own good?
We Want the Frunk, Give Up the Frunk - GDI 4561 starts at 33:27
The EV charging conversation continues. Do you want a frunk?...
2023-07-14 21:39:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Rolls-Royce introduces the first EV in its 150 year history, the Spectre. Tom’s Hardware notes that the IEEE has added the 802.11bb standard for light-based wireless communication. Yep. LI-FI. And Chatbots face a rocky road as new obstacles cloud their advancement.
Rolls Royce: "I Can't Hear You", Dodge "What?!" - GDI 4560 starts at 30:02
Tim returns to...
2023-07-13 21:54:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Rolls-Royce introduces the first EV in its 150 year history, the Spectre. Tom’s Hardware notes that the IEEE has added the 802.11bb standard for light-based wireless communication. Yep. LI-FI. And Chatbots face a rocky road as new obstacles cloud their advancement.
Rolls Royce: "I Can't Hear You", Dodge "What?!" - GDI 4560 starts at 30:02
Tim returns to Engadget after 10 years. Would you want a Lotus SUV? Tim did a test drive and has thoughts. How quiet do you w...
2023-07-13 21:18:14 +0000 UTC View Post
The world of retro gaming has been a thing since the advent of the first home Pong machine and Atari 2600 made way for PlayStations and Xbox. Gamers who spent their formative years playing games on older game consoles and arcade machines often have fond, if not entirely accurate, memories of their experiences. Those gamers are two choices. One option is to wait for a compi...
2023-07-13 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
The Video Game History Foundation and Software Preservation Network claim that 87% of classic video games (that means games released before 2010) in the US are “critically endangered”. What’s being done to preserve these games? Meta announced that open beta for Roblox on the Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets will launch in the “coming weeks.” Reuters reports that industry sour...
2023-07-12 21:50:52 +0000 UTC View Post
The Video Game History Foundation and Software Preservation Network claim that 87% of classic video games (that means games released before 2010) in the US are “critically endangered”. What’s being done to preserve these games? Meta announced that open beta for Roblox on the Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets will launch in the “coming weeks.” Reuters reports that industry sources say Huawei has designed its own 5G chips and is working with China’s SMIC to produce them. SMIC’s N+1 p...
2023-07-12 21:24:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Thinking about upgrading your PC but not sure where to start? Will Smith is here to give us pointers on your PC upgrade path. A judge has ruled *against* a preliminary injunction to stop Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard from completing their merger. Did Microsoft win? And a Pew Research Center study indicates 59% of US adults surveyed see TikTok as either a major or minor threat to ...
2023-07-11 21:55:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Thinking about upgrading your PC but not sure where to start? Will Smith is here to give us pointers on your PC upgrade path. A judge has ruled *against* a preliminary injunction to stop Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard from completing their merger. Did Microsoft win? And a Pew Research Center study indicates 59% of US adults surveyed see TikTok as either a major or minor threat to national security.
The United Federation of Platforms - GDI 4558 starts at 31:55
W...
2023-07-11 21:23:29 +0000 UTC View Post
The Wall Street Journal’s sources say Google is testing a language model called Med-PaLM 2 with some health care companies, including the Mayo Clinic. Is the start of AI integration into healthcare? We discussed Engadget’s article about NYU Media Lab’s AI & Local News Initiative. And Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed that Meta’s Threads app surpassed 100 million accou...
2023-07-10 21:51:03 +0000 UTC View Post
The Wall Street Journal’s sources say Google is testing a language model called Med-PaLM 2 with some health care companies, including the Mayo Clinic. Is the start of AI integration into healthcare? We discussed Engadget’s article about NYU Media Lab’s AI & Local News Initiative. And Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed that Meta’s Threads app surpassed 100 million accounts since launching on July 5th. Is this the start of a new social media platform comparable to Twitter?
...
2023-07-10 21:16:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Can you use a thumbs-up emoji to sign a contract in Canada? Maybe? We explain what went on and what is and isn’t affected. Plus Sega is withholding its big franchise IP from third-party blockchain gaming initiatives. And Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s sources say the retail launch for Apple’s Vision Pro headset may involve in-store appointments.
Judges Have Dogs, Jus...
2023-07-07 22:07:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Can you use a thumbs-up emoji to sign a contract in Canada? Maybe? We explain what went on and what is and isn’t affected. Plus Sega is withholding its big franchise IP from third-party blockchain gaming initiatives. And Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s sources say the retail launch for Apple’s Vision Pro headset may involve in-store appointments.
Judges Have Dogs, Just Not in This Fight - GDI 4556 starts at 35:05
The group does a reading from the emoji case. Nex...
2023-07-07 21:28:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Instagram launched its new Twitter clone called Threads yesterday. After a full day we dive into the app and what we think. Plus Twitter is still busy looking for a new way to make money. And on Tuesday Federal Judge Terry A. Doughty issued an injunction barring some officials in the White House, CISA, the FBI, and Homeland Security from contacting social media companies about modera...
2023-07-06 21:58:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Instagram launched its new Twitter clone called Threads yesterday. After a full day we dive into the app and what we think. Plus Twitter is still busy looking for a new way to make money. And on Tuesday Federal Judge Terry A. Doughty issued an injunction barring some officials in the White House, CISA, the FBI, and Homeland Security from contacting social media companies about moderation content protected under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
W...
2023-07-06 21:39:59 +0000 UTC View Post
In a previous column, I wrote about Europe, or rather the EU's penchant for writing legislation to regulate the tech industry. In short, the EU used invasive regulation because it found itself unable to compete in the broader tech space. With the passing of Bill C-18, Canada now finds itself in the same uncomfortable position of trying to legislate wishful thinking into a media landscape wracked by challenges.
Like the US, the Canadian media landscape has seen revenues diminish and read...
2023-07-06 18:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostTom talks about the new show Ron Richards and Huyen Tue Dao are hosting called Android Faithful! Go subscribe now www.androidfaithful.com
2023-07-06 16:43:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Instagram is launching a Twitter-like microblogging service called Threads. We explain how it compares and possible issues with it. The Recording Academy announced some changes to who can receive future Grammy Awards with one new rule stating "only human creators" could win. And Vox.com's Sara Morrison has a writeup today asking if the apps being developed should keep older users in ...
2023-07-05 21:58:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Instagram is launching a Twitter-like microblogging service called Threads. We explain how it compares and possible issues with it. The Recording Academy announced some changes to who can receive future Grammy Awards with one new rule stating "only human creators" could win. And Vox.com's Sara Morrison has a writeup today asking if the apps being developed should keep older users in mind.
Coldplay Layaway - GDI 4554 starts at 31:24
The Netherlands announced a phon...
2023-07-05 21:17:35 +0000 UTC View Post