Skip to main content

Archives

R
TikTok
Folding full screen.

Get a look at the new Motorola Razr Plus, its 3.6-inch cover screen, and the Magenta color option in this quick hands-on video with the foldable phone that’s launching later this month.

And check this page for updates on the Razr line, plus all of the new foldable phones we’re expecting to see for the rest of 2023.


R
External Link
Getting your money out of Apple’s new savings account could be tricky.

The Wall Street Journal reports on some customers who experienced delays stretching weeks as they attempted to transfer money from the Goldman Sachs savings account attached to their Apple Card, in amounts from $1,700 to as much as $100,000. (I guess they were really enticed by that 4.15 percent APY.)

After contacting Apple, Goldman Sachs VP Nick Carcaterra responded with the same statement given to the WSJ:

The customer response to the new Savings account for Apple Card users has been excellent and beyond our expectations.

While the vast majority of customers see no delays in transferring their funds, in a limited number of cases, a user may experience a delayed transfer due to processes in place designed to help protect their accounts.

While we would not comment on specific customer interactions, we take our obligation to protect our customers deposits very seriously and work to create a balance between a seamless customer experience and that protection.


R
Twitter
Triangulating.

Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky said it uncovered a new cyberattack delivered via iMessage. Dubbed Operation Triangulation, it apparently infected “dozens” of employees’ iPhones and was detected due to some anomalous traffic on the company’s network.

But, as TechCrunch reports, Russia’s FSB claimed the attack is the work of US intelligence, using vulnerabilities “provided by the manufacturer,” without providing any evidence to back that up. In a statement to the outlet, Apple spokesperson Scott Radcliffe said, “We have never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any Apple product and never will.”


E
External Link
JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and others are pushing into AI.

There’s a bunch of examples here but frankly, the nut of the piece is pretty far down:

Bankers have a fiduciary duty not to trade on unreliable information. That’s an issue as use of AI expands.

If you can’t explain where your information came from, is it reliable? Oh well, the hedge funds are at it, too.

“Isn’t this sort of exciting?” writes Matt Levine. “The widespread use of relatively early-stage AI will introduce new ways of making mistakes into finance.”


A
External Link
Can Twitter actually follow EU law? We might know later this month.

EU specialists are touring San Francisco performing “stress tests” of enforcement for the upcoming Digital Services Act, and Twitter is on the roster:

A team of roughly five to 10 digital specialists from the EU plan to put Twitter, and possibly other companies, through their content-policing paces during a visit to San Francisco in late June, Thierry Breton, the bloc’s commissioner for the internal market, said in an interview.

The test is voluntary, he said, and Twitter has agreed to be subjected to it. It won’t carry any fines or other enforcement consequences. It will offer companies a dry run for how the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA, will be enforced.

Elon Musk pulled Twitter out of a voluntary anti-disinformation program, but he’s promised to follow the EU’s rules... if Twitter’s skeleton crew can follow through.


J
External Link
Did you know Apple stores make a lot of money?

Joking aside, it seems they do make huge piles of cash. From this Mark Gurman report in Bloomberg:

Regular stores typically generate more than $40 million annually, while Apple Store+ locations bring in over $45 million, according to internal data. The flagships generate more than $75 million, while the flagship+ sites make over $100 million annually.

Unsurprisingly, Apple is working on a lot more stores, according to Gurman.


U
Vorsprung durch Technik.

That’s Audi’s German-language slogan meaning “advancement through technology.” Today, the automaker is living by these words remotely through its introduction of an in-car Cisco Webex meetings app designed for hybrid work.

Select 2024 Audi and future VW Group vehicles will have Webex available to download from the automaker’s in-car app store (or, you could tell your boss that they aren’t and have a peaceful commute), which includes TikTok as an option. The Cisco-Audi partnership comes after Webex became available on 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Ford vehicles, plus in-car Zoom in a Tesla.


interior of Audi vehicle showing steering wheel, dash, and infotainment screen with man waving hand on the screen.
Cisco Webex meeting running natively in an Audi. Click here for a larger image.
Image: Audi
U
External Link
PlugShare users have grown by a million in less than a year.

The EV charging guide app now has 3.5 million users according to EVgo, which acquired PlugShare in 2021. PlugShare’s been a boon to hundreds of early EV adopters looking for chargers. The interface is showing its age compared to Google Maps, but PlugShare users have logged over 6.5 million checkins worldwide and share useful tips on almost every charging station.


A
Twitter
Finger lickin’ good.


KFC, eat your heart out.


R
External Link
If you have an Nvidia GPU and more than one monitor, you might want to skip the latest driver update.

Many people (including yours truly) are having problems with Chromium browsers and other apps flickering after installing the 535.98 driver released May 30th.

The problem seems linked to multiple monitor setups and having G-Sync enabled. A post to Nvidia’s forums says they’ve identified a fix, but until it’s rolled out, you can try an earlier driver or disable hardware acceleration in any apps that are having problems.


S
Youtube
Will one of the CD-ROM’s original killer apps tempt you to VR?

You know Myst, but do you remember the CD-ROM’s other killer app? The 7th Guest is now 30 years old, and it’s getting remade in 3D for the first time to sell you on Meta’s Quest 2 (and just-announced Quest 3) headsets. It’ll still have something akin to full-motion video for its actors, too: volumetric video capture.


J
Twitter
Razer’s Kitsune is a new controller for fighting games.

Timely, given the upcoming launch of Street Fighter 6. Razer hasn’t said how much it will cost or when it will come out, but if you want a new arcade-style fighting game controller for PC or PS5, the Kitsune seems like a promising option.


J
Youtube
Meta’s VR gaming showcase is about to begin.

The pre-show kicks off at 12:45PM ET, with the main show starting at 1PM ET. You can watch it here on YouTube. Here’s hoping Meta sneaks in another look at the just-announced Quest 3 VR headset.


J
Youtube
Vampire Survivors’ newest DLC is backed by a full orchestra.

You can hear and watch a recording of the soundtrack on YouTube. This song in particular sounds like something you’d hear in a fantasy movie — which is fitting, given the DLC’s fantasy theme.


E
External Link
Google has already driven ad prices into the basement. Now, with AI, will it destroy online media completely?

“This is a facet of the larger AI story — which is to say it’s about automation,” writes John Herrman “But it’s also a story of a large platform deciding to compete more aggressively in the marketplace it controls.”

It’s unclear whether this is what users want. But there is a dark new future forming, one that might suggest fun new antitrust laws!


A
External Link
Boeing acquires autonomous air taxi startup Wisk.

This was probably inevitable after Kitty Hawk, the ambitious “flying car” startup funded by Google co-founder Larry Page, shut down last year. Wisk was formed in 2019 as a joint venture with Kitty Hawk and aerospace giant Boeing, so without Kitty Hawk, Boeing had the choice to either cut off funding for Wisk completely or acquire the startup. It went with option B.


J
Twitter
Sean Murray sure seems to be teasing No Man’s Sky for Apple’s unannounced VR headset.

The game just came out on Mac, already supports VR, and he tweeted about a surprise in the “VERY near future” and what appears to be a picture of the game’s Steam page with the Windows logo, Apple logo, and the words “VR Supported.”

With Apple’s WWDC keynote in the very near future, it looks like we might see No Man’s Sky as a featured game during the show.