Sony is going to launch their portable PlayStation later this year. The PlayStation Portal handheld will stream PS5 games over Wi-Fi, and will sport an 8 inch LCD screen running at 1080 pixel resolution and at 60 feet per second. Theverge.com reports that the Playstation Portal should be priced at $199.99. The unit has controllers attached to each side that look very much like the PS5 DualSense controllers. In an interesting twist, the device won’t work with Sony’s upcoming cloud streaming for PS5 games. the PlayStation Portal is really a way to stream PS5 games you already have installed on your own PS5 onto a handheld for remote play. You’ll need an internet connection capable of at least 5Mbps, and Sony is recommending 15Mbps for the best experience.

It won’t be the first time, but it looks like Apple’s top line iPhone Pro Max will be delayed 3-4 weeks beyond the on sale date for the rest of the line. According to 9to5mac.com,  Sony will not be able to provide the image sensor used by the iPhone 15 Pro Max in time for it to ship alongside the other new models. The Pro Max is thought to be getting a periscope zoom lens that will give much greater optical zoom. The present model has a 3 power zoom, and the periscope may have 6 to 10. Optical zoom is cleaner than the electronic zoom, which is virtually useless if you are filming something like fast moving sports activities. The optical zoom will catch those moments without any smearing. Most Apple watchers expect Cupertino to show off the new phones and apple Watches on September 12, with all but the Pro Max being delivered or available by September 22nd. 

Google has announced several security-related enhancements to Google Workspace and Gmail and Drive that will use AI to automate certain tasks. Techcrunch.com says the features will probably be released by late this year and early 2024. Google is enhancing its so-called zero trust model. It will use AI to support this model, which it describes as “a cloud security model designed to secure modern organizations by removing implicit trust and enforcing strict identity authentication and authorization. Under zero trust, every user, device, and component is considered untrusted at all times, regardless of whether they are inside or outside of an organization’s network.” Google will be adding data loss prevention controls to Gmail…so admins can keep users from inadvertently attaching sensitive data…that could avoid some embarrassing moments. Again, the AI assisted features are in development, so don’t expect any of them until late this year at the earliest. 

Twitch is experimenting with a feature that shows clips in a new vertically-scrolling feed it calls the ‘discovery feed.’ Theverge.com reports that the feed is rolling out to select users. Twitch joins companies like Spotify, Amazon, and Reddit in introducing a TikTok-like format. The streaming company announced the discovery feed in July as one of a few forthcoming new features involving clips, including the ability to directly export clips to TikTok. Twitch also announced in July that they intend to bring stories to the platform. 

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