Tag: apple

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

January 28th, 2025

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.
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

January 21st, 2025

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.
Smartphone Sales Uptick in 2024; Biden Proposes Export Controls on GPUs; Apple Watch SE Gets Refresh; Government Turns Down Tesla Big Rig Charge Station Money Request

January 13th, 2025

The year 2024 showed a sales uptick in smartphones after a tough 2023. Smartphone sales overall grew by 4% year over year. Androidauthority.com reports that Chinese maker Xiaomi had the top growth, increasing market share by 1%. Both Apple and Samsung saw their 2024 market share drop by 1%. Xiaomi does not have a footprint in the US, either, which makes the increase more notable. Samsung and Apple still lead the smartphone market globally…Samsung with 19% market share, and Apple with 18%. Apple sales in China were apparently hurt by the lack of AI features in that country on the iPhone 16 Pro models. Counterpoint Research sees Generative AI capabilities being on some 90% of smartphones that sell for over $250 by the year 2028.

The Biden administration has revealed what it is calling its ‘AI diffusion rule,’ which is intended to restrict the export of GPUs that are most coveted for AI applications. Although it does not mention the nation by name, it’s widely viewed as a means to prevent China from outpacing the US in AI development. According to engadget.com, there are 3 licensing tiers. The first is unrestricted, and that’s for the US domestic market and 18 strategic allies. The second tier will have caps on computing power, and that will be for most countries. The third tier includes China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The government will effectively bar sales of the most powerful GPUs in those nations. The Semiconductor Industry Association objects to the rule making, as does AI chip industry leader NVIDIA. It’s not clear that the incoming Trump administration will let the rule survive.

Apple will launch an updated SE Watch later this year with an updated look. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that it is likely that the design may be more in line with the 2021 Watch Series 7…but it is possible it will be completely different…Apple is apparently considering a plastic case for the Watch SE…which could be available in a rainbow of bright colors. Think of the old iMac computers. The Watch 11 and Ultra 3 models will keep the present look but will get some upgrades. The Ultra 3 will probably get satellite connectivity and both the 11 and the Ultra 3 will likely get high blood pressure detection..not exact numbers, but just a warning to the wearer. The blood pressure feature was supposed to be out for the Watch 10, but was delayed.

The Department of Transportation has turned down a request by Tesla for $100 million in funding for big rig EV charging. Techcrunch.com reports that $636 million in funding will be split by 49 applicants for EV charging infrastructure. Tesla has only produced a small number of electric big rigs in Texas, and is building out their facility in Nevada to make the electric trucks…which they first showed 8 years ago in 2017. The company wants to build 9 semi-truck charging stations between its former headquarters in the Bay Area and its present one near the southern border of Texas. There will probably be a third round of funding released from the bipartisan infrastructure law, which originally allocated $2.5 billion in funds for charging infrastructure. Presumably, the incoming Trump administration will want to dole out more money to Tesla.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Planning Face ID Doorbell; Google Objects to DOJ’ s Interventionist Antitrust Remedies; X Jacks Up Premium Subscriptions; Honda & Nissan Look to Merge in 2026

December 23rd, 2024

Many times over the years, Apple has been late to the party, but has gone on to dominate categories of tech gadgets. The iPhone, of course, is the classic example. Now, 9to5mac.com reports that Cupertino is working on a Face ID compatible smart home doorbell cam, shades of the Ring. The device would offer “advanced facial recognition”, and integrate wirelessly with smart home locks. As a user of both Apple HomeKit and Ring, I have to say it would be cool to have my door cam integrated into HomeKit, but right now, it’s hard to imagine how an Apple device would really do a better job than the Ring does. The door lock thing is cool…unlock your door by scanning your face…but I don’t have an electronic door lock. I have a neighbor who does, but that is one area I just haven’t ‘technified.’ A lock can be picked, but the thief has to be right there…not a ways away like with a hack. Apple may have the thing on the market by the end of next year.

Google has come out blazing as they have floated their own proposal in the antitrust case from the US Department of Justice that argues that Google must sell off its Chrome Browser. According to techcrunch.com, Google says the DOJ proposal reflects an ‘interventionist agenda’ that “goes far beyond what the Court’s decision is actually about.” As an alternative, Google proposes that it still be allowed to make search deals with companies like Apple and Mozilla, but they should have the option to set different defaults on different platforms (for example, iPhone vs. iPad) and in different browsing modes.

In a move that is certain to vastly increase his user base, Elon Musk is raising prices for ad-free Premium Plus on X from $16 to $22 a month. If this was a Tom Swiftie, that would have ‘he said sarcastically’ after it! At any rate, engadget.com reports that the 37.5% price hike will kick in by January 20th, and will be for the US, Europe, the UK, Canada, and Australia. X has lost an estimated 2.7 million active users in the past 2 months, while new rival Bluesky has doubled in size in that same time period. This does not seem to be the move of a business genius…but I could be wrong.

In a move that would create the world’s third largest car maker, Honda and Nissan plan to merge in 2026. Arstechnica.com reports that Honda would take the lead in the deal. The two firms already had a strategic partnership for software and electrification. Nissan has been in an alliance with France’s Renault and Japan’s Mitsubishi. Both are taking a wait and see attitude on the Honda-Nissan deal. If approved, the deal should be finalized by this coming June, with the new company formed by August 2026.

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

December 9th, 2024

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

December 4th, 2024

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.
SpyLoan Malware-Infected 8 Million Androids; GoBlue’s New App-Track Your Bluesky Stats; Apple Touts Privacy But Allegedly Spies on Own Staff; Intel CEO is Out After 3 Years and No Turnaround

December 2nd, 2024

It’s rare, but sometimes a bad app will get into the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. Androidpolice.com reports that McAfee has spotted issues with SpyLoan apps. These shady loan apps use social engineering tricks to target Android users worldwide. So far, 15 of these apps have been found, going after people in South America, Southern Asia, and Africa. They all share similar code and systems, stealing data and sending it to command-and-control (C2) servers. Most of these apps hide behind fake names and logos that look like real financial institutions. Some of the apps have been promoted on social media platforms. Google has removed most for the moment, and thankfully, none are big US financial institutions. Generally, they steal as much personal info as possible, they try to extort or blackmail users. Stick with your mainstream bank or credit union, and don’t fall for any come ons from emails or ads on social media!

Bluesky is ramping up remarkably fast considering the flood of users that have signed up. They have expanded staff, and are rolling out features, but don’t have quite the tools you might want to track your following. A new app called GoBlue is stepping in to fill the gap. According to techrunch.com, the app has a simple interface for tracing your own Bluesky analytics in an iOS dashboard. Right now, GoBlue just offers some basic tools to track metrics like new followers, comments, likes, and reposts. They show up as bar charts on the app’s home screen, and you can track by day, week, month, or year. If you want full access using the app, it’s a one time fee of $19.99 or a monthly fee of $3.99 a month or annual for $14.99 a year.

Apple is famously secretive about upcoming products and services, and has always bragged about the level of privacy they offer users. That privacy level is not extended to employees, however. Appleinsider.com says an Apple employee is suing the company, claiming that it forces staff to give up personal privacy, and demands that it be allowed to use surveillance even when they are at home. The employee, Amar Bhakta, works in ad tech at Apple, and has been with them about 4 years. Once they use a personal device and personal iCloud account as part of their work, Apple allegedly requires employees to agree to the company monitoring everything.”If you use your personal account on an Apple-managed or Apple-owned iPhone, iPad or computer, any data stored on the device (including emails, photos, video, notes and more), are subject to search by Apple,” the lawsuit claims Apple’s policies state. While there may be elements in the full suit that have yet to be made public, everything listed so far is common practice — even if it sounds draconian. Every place I’ve worked in the last 25 years has been able to track your info on company-issued devices or look at anything you stored on a company server. I think Mr. Bhakta is going to have an uphill battle trying to win this against Apple.

Intel’s board has apparently showed its CEO of less than 4 years the door, after he failed to turn the company around. Arstechnica.com reports that Pat Gelsinger is stepping down. Intel CFO David Zinsner and Client Computing Group Head Michelle Johnson Holthaus will share the title of interim CEO while the board does a search for new CEO. Gelsinger has also left his board seat. Gelsinger had worked at Intel since he joined the company at age 18.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Rumored iPhone ‘Air’ May Be Slimmest iPhone; DOJ Will Try to Break Up Google; Microsoft Makes $349 Hardware Device for Secure Cloud Connection; Door Dash App-Can Import Grocery Lists Now

November 19th, 2024

Jony Ive may be long gone, but apparently Apple’s fetish for thinness isn’t. Macrumors.com reports that Apple Analyst Jeff Pu agrees with a recent rumor saying the upcoming ‘iPhone 17 Air’ will be around 6 mm thick. If that turns out to be accurate, it will be the thinnest iPhone ever. Note that no one knows what the handset will be called, but most are dubbing it the iPhone Air. Up to now, the thinnest iPhone has been the iPhone 6 at 6.9 mm. The iPhone Air would be about 3/4 as thick as any of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models. It is expected to have a 6.6 inch display, A19 chip, and the dynamic island, but only one rear camera.

We’ve been waiting to see what the Department of Justice had in mind as far as its antitrust action against Google. now we have a better idea. According to theverge.com, the DOJ wants Google to sell off its Chrome browser. This after the judge ruled Google had maintained an illegal search monopoly. Chrome is the world’s most widely used browser. Other DOJ requirements include Google separating Android from Search and Google Play…but they don’t intend to make them sell off Android. It remains to be seen what the incoming DOJ will do with regards to keeping or changing these demands after January 20th.

Microsoft has announced the Windows 365 Link. The gadget “enables desk-based users to work securely on a familiar Windows desktop in the Microsoft Cloud with responsive, high-fidelity experiences.” Engadget.com notes that the 365 Link is a small, lightweight device that Microsoft claims can immediately wake from sleep, boot up in seconds and locally process video conferencing solutions like Microsoft Teams. It doesn’t store local data or apps, has security baseline policies enabled and doesn’t allow for individuals to disable security features. Plus, logging in requires Microsoft Entra ID along with the Microsoft Authenticator app or USB security keys. The box should be available in what they are calling ‘select areas’ in April 2025 for $349. Kind of sounds like a larger, more expensive but more secure dongle to me!

Door Dash’s app is now able to import your grocery list for faster shopping. Techcrunch.com reports that you just choose a store where you want to shop and select the button Create a list or Import a list. With the create, you can copy and paste from anywhere on your phone. Import only works with Reminders on iOS at the moment, but Android support is coming. You can also now search for an item across different merchants, displaying prices and estimated delivery times all in one place.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Amazon Goes After Temu; Apple Plans Ring Alternative; FTC Gets Day in Court to Break Up Meta; VW and Rivian Joint Venture

November 13th, 2024

Amazon has bowed a discount store to compete with China’s Temu. Everything in the store will be under $20. Think of it as Amazon’s online Dollar store! It is called Amazon Haul, and can be reached via the Amazon mobile app. They are touting $1 eyelash curlers and oven gloves, and a $3 nail dryer. Free shipping on orders of over $25…or $3.99 shipping if less than that. Almost $4 for shipping kind of takes them out of Dollar Store territory, don’t you think? Hey, if you are of a mind to, try their self-described ‘crazy low prices!’

Apple appears to be planning to jump into competition with Amazon’s Ring cameras and others. According to Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, they are planning to release their first smart cam in 2026. The initial models will probably be aimed more at 3rd party cams that work with Apple’s Home Kit system. Kuo says the cams will have ‘rich integration with Siri and Apple Intelligence features.’ Apple is also planning a wall mounted home display to control their internet of things devices.

The Federal Trade Commission has gotten the go-ahead to argue for Meta’s break up in court. Engadget.com notes that US District Judge James Boasberg is allowing the FTC suit against Meta to go forward. The suit dates back to 2020, and the FTC wants to see Meta divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp (and now presumably Threads, which is a part of Instagram.) In a slight win for Meta, the judge did make the FTC narrow its case.

Volkswagen and Rivian have officially formed their $5.8 billion joint venture. Theverge.com report that it is called Rivian and VW Group Technology, and it will be lead by Rivian’s software chief and VW Group’s chief technology engineer. The company will be based in Palo Alto for now. As Rivian hasn’t been making money, it’s a good deal for them, but also for VW…which has been selling plug in hybrids well, but is struggling with its EVs. VW had to close at least 3 German factories and downsized the remaining plants. Buggy software has been partly to blame, according to reports.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Google Pre-Black Friday Deals; Apple Vision Pro Fall 2025; TSMC Cuts Advanced Chip Shipments to China; Researchers-Harvest Electricity from Styrofoam

November 11th, 2024

The Google store has dropped some nice pre-Black Friday deals. 9to5google.com reports that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is now $1499, a $300 discount. You can pick one up at that price for now at Amazon and Best Buy. The base Pixel 9 has been cut $150 to $649, from those same sources. You can pick up a Bluetooth Pixel Watch 3 for $70. Hurry…the bargains are only in effect until midnight tomorrow night, November 12th.

Although we reported last week that Apple has all but flushed the cheaper headset…at least for now, the Vision Pro 2, successor to Apple’s pricy mixed reality headset, is still in the works for release either by next fall, or by spring of 2026. This according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg. The Vision Pro 2 is expected to get the M5 chips…at virtually the same time the Macs get that next system. Expect the 2.0 version to look virtually identical to the original, with all the updates coming to internals. Don’t expect a cheaper price…it’s Apple, are you kidding?

At the request of the US Department of Commerce, Taiwan Semiconductor has halted advanced chip shipments to Chinese customers. TechCrunch.com says this will particularly hurt Huawei, which already faced significant trade restrictions from the US. The feds are now checking to see if other companies are diverting chips to Huawei. The advanced chips are most often used on artificial intelligence systems. Nvidia had already been under chip export restrictions to China.

Researchers at RMIT University have found a way to generate electricity from Styrofoam. Bgr.com reports that they capture the static electricity generated by the stuff when it is exposed to flowing air…thereby converting an environmental headache into useable power. The scientists put the Styrofoam near places air was flowing…like HVAC systems, and a continuous stream of small current was generated…helping offset the energy draw of the HVAC units themselves. If it scales up well, this could be yet another way to ween ourselves off fossil fuel power.

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