Hi, my name's Riley and I love tech news
even though it doesn't love me back. It can't. It's not
live yet. I'm working on something. Microsoft thinks it would just be swell
if every Windows app was updated through Windows Update, like how updates are
handled on phones. According to a post on the company's Windows IT Pro blog,
the post says this would help app updates on Windows feel less like a
fragmented experience, which oo that certainly sounds bad. We don't want
that. I think Microsoft says their new Windows update orchestration platform
can schedule updates to happen at the most ecoefficient times and ensure apps
get future enhancements automatically.
No, you don't get a say in that. That would be a fragment. That would be so
messy, trust me. Okay, now's the part where I admit that this feature is
clearly geared towards businesses and could make it easier for IT managers who
already limit which apps get updates and when. But can you blame regular users
for being wary given Microsoft's many attempts to funnel us all towards the
Microsoft Store? Not to mention springing updates on us at what seem
like intentionally bad times. Oh, what's this guy doing? Oh, he almost beat the
boss. Update time. Discord has introduced
orbs. Yeah, I think we could leave it there. Uh, just kidding. It's a new
in-app currency that users can earn by finishing quests, which involve things
like watching ads or playing a promoted game. Epic real hero stuff. Previously,
quests only rewarded players with in-game bonuses or Discord avatar
decorations, but now brands can choose to give orb. Please, sir, I want some
orb. I had to. I can tell you've got lots of questions and thankfully there's
an FAQ. Is there any other way to obtain orbs? No. Well, there is one other way,
but it's too dangerous. What should I do if I see someone selling orbs? Call the
police immediately. More importantly, what can one buy with orbs? Standard
cosmetics and stuff from the Discord shop, but also you can buy Nitro
credits, which can be used to experience the benefits of a Nitro subscription
until your credits run out. And it seems like grinding orbs for Nitro won't be a
viable strat forever because Discord doesn't want it to be. An exec told PC
Gamer, "We have a lot of control over the orbs economy right now." Not saying,
but heavily implying that once the orbs start to gain consciousness and begin
pondering themselves, well, all bets are off. The European Commission has
published its full ruling on whether Apple is compliant with the EU's Digital
Markets Act regulations. Although Apple was already fined 500 million euros last
month, the EU says it'll keep issuing more fines to the tech giant because it
has still failed to make enough changes to bring its policies in line with DMA
requirements, particularly the ones that say Apple has to stop restricting
developers from informing users about services outside of the app store. In a
statement given to 9to5 Mac, Apple responded with the usual stuff about
security issues and being forced to give away our technology for free, which is I
guess how they'd also describe allowing people to sideloadad and do whatever on
macOS. It's not like Apple hasn't had time to implement proper changes, but
they've probably been pretty busy working on a gaming focused app they'll
introduce later this year, according to Bloomberg. I mean, that doesn't seem that complicated, but gaming doesn't
come easy to them. What a weird dig. They're not real gamers like you and me.
Apple's also been developing a new naming scheme for their OSs. All of them
will be named after the following year like cars. So, the next major iOS
version will be iOS 26 instead of iOS
19. You think coming up with that idea was easy? Wait till you hear about our
sponsor, Ground News. The site recognized by the Nobel Peace Center as
an excellent way to stay informed, avoid echo chambers, and expand your
worldview. And also I say that too.
Seriously though, basically my whole job is researching news online. So I know it
is hard to figure out what the heck is really going on out there. I use ground
news all the time to understand how a story is being reported across the
political spectrum so I can see the bigger picture. That's how it works.
Take this story about a German court dismissing a request from consumer
rights groups and allowing Meta to train AI on its users data. This story does
have decent coverage from both sides, but they're emphasizing different things
with the left highlighting ethical and privacy concerns and the right focusing
on the need to allow AI innovation. If I want to go deeper, I can see who owns
each outlet and find stories I might be missing with a blind spot feature. So,
get some transparency in your media diet and save 40% on Ground News Vantage Plan
using our link in the description. Tech News will need companions when I bring
it to life. So, I'll also be doing that with the quick bits, despite warnings
from every scientist I know. Oh, you didn't think Intel was going to make
more Battle Mage gaming graphics cards? Then what are these device IDs for four
different Battlem GPUs and the Mesa graphics driver for Linux spotted by
leaking person Lassa Carcanan? You don't
have an answer, do you? Which is why you wait for me to talk. But hey, if this is
all a mirage, prices for RTX5090s have
reportedly fallen below MSRP in Finland for the first time. And while that
doesn't help us at all, we can all be happy for Finland. Texas has passed a
bill into law that will require the Apple App Store and the Google Play
Store to verify its users ages by January 1st, 2026. Meanwhile, the
European Commission said they're investigating a number of adult websites
that the EU says fail to prevent minors from accessing their content. It is
quickly becoming apparent that tech giants better figure out how to solve
the age verification problem because these laws are hitting the books faster
than I did in college after already spending the night before the big test
gaming until 3:00 a.m. It's more efficient that way. Got a couple fun
things left over from Computex, courtesy of Tom's Hardware. Turns out InWin
unveiled a 1650W power supply intended
just for GPUs. And so, accordingly, it only has four of the 12volt 16 pin
connectors best known for melting GPUs. It's supposed to sit in your system
alongside your regular PSU, so if one melts, you're still good. Uh, and also a
company called Utran showed off a $3,000
expansion card that can add up to 224 terabytes to your system in the form of
28 M.2 SSDs. Very nice. SpaceX
successfully got its massive Starship to orbit again using a super heavy booster
that was reused for the first time. But though Elon was 80% sure they'd solved
the engine bay issues that led to a fiery ending for the previous flight,
another issue came up. This time after reaching orbit, leaks caused a loss of
main tank pressure and Starship fell victim to yet another rapid unscheduled
disassembly. Contrary to popular belief, these incidents aren't actually
disasters. Rocket companies use all of the data collected to improve the
design. But I'm sure they'd still love to get their hands on whoever it is that
keeps disassembling these rockets. Is it Tardigrades in space? Can't rule it out.
And there's another AI game generator on the scene. We've already had AI
generated playable versions of Quake from Microsoft, Minecraft from Decart,
and some trippy demos from Google's Genie 2. But this one, a playable,
grainy walking simulator from a company called Odyssey, is not a game. Odyssey
is very clear that this is AI video. You
can both watch it interact with in real time. That sounds like a game, but no.
Actually, through Odyssey's research, we're now seeing the earliest glimpses
of an entirely new medium of entertainment. The company calls
interactive video, which looks like video you watch every day, but which you
can interact and engage with in compelling ways. Consider it an early
version of the Hollow Deck. So, like, okay, like this is a video game. It's
particularly remarkable that it can generate a new realistic video frame
every 40 milliseconds, which is it's 25
FPS. It's kind of low for a game actually. It's like a glitchy dream.
Raw, unstable, but undeniably new. I
deny it. So now, don't deny me the gift of your presence on Friday, and I won't
deny you tech news. You know, who knows?
Maybe I'll even throw in an orb or two. Okay.