1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,980 Shall I compare the tech news to a summer's day? 2 00:00:03,980 --> 00:00:08,460 Why would I do that? They have nothing in common. At their unpacked event this morning, 3 00:00:08,460 --> 00:00:13,300 Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra, 4 00:00:13,300 --> 00:00:17,140 packed with new features powered by Galaxy AI, 5 00:00:17,140 --> 00:00:21,580 which as we'll see in most cases actually means Google AI. 6 00:00:21,580 --> 00:00:24,940 These companies are showing so much PDA, it's making me a little uncomfortable. 7 00:00:24,940 --> 00:00:29,380 The S24s all support Wi-Fi 7 and are powered by the slightly tweaked 8 00:00:29,380 --> 00:00:32,460 Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 4 Galaxy. 9 00:00:32,460 --> 00:00:37,420 At least in the US. Everyone else is going to get a Samsung Exynos processor, 10 00:00:37,420 --> 00:00:43,060 which have historically sucked. Promising 53% better ray tracing performance 11 00:00:43,060 --> 00:00:49,020 and the Twitch streamer that Samsung referred to as Pokemon said she's excited about that 12 00:00:49,020 --> 00:00:53,820 because ray tracing is one of the main reasons she's a PC gamer, even though consoles have it too 13 00:00:53,820 --> 00:01:00,740 and you're talking about gaming on a phone anyway, it doesn't matter. The S24 Ultra has a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, 14 00:01:00,740 --> 00:01:04,100 beating the iPhone 15 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro 15 00:01:04,100 --> 00:01:07,340 and making this Samsung guy say it's perfect for him 16 00:01:07,340 --> 00:01:12,820 since he loves gaming outdoors. I love gaming outdoors myself. 17 00:01:12,820 --> 00:01:17,940 There's just something about the squinting and the sweaty and or cold fingers that really works for me. 18 00:01:17,940 --> 00:01:22,460 I wanna fight a bear. As for camera upgrades, interestingly, 19 00:01:22,460 --> 00:01:26,500 the S23's 10X optical zoom has been cut in half. 20 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:30,020 The S24 can only do 5X optical zoom 21 00:01:30,020 --> 00:01:34,940 and 10 times at optical quality, although it is the first Samsung phone 22 00:01:34,940 --> 00:01:38,460 with five times optical zoom on 8K video 23 00:01:38,460 --> 00:01:41,820 and it can still do pretty good digital zoom up to a hundred times, 24 00:01:41,820 --> 00:01:44,900 which Mr. Beast was very excited about. 25 00:01:44,900 --> 00:01:50,460 He's always excited, just loves life. Samsung built the S24 Ultra with a titanium frame 26 00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:56,620 because that went so well for the iPhone 15 Pro, added brand new stronger Corning Gorilla Armor 27 00:01:56,620 --> 00:02:01,140 and is offering the phones in a range of gender-neutral colors. 28 00:02:01,140 --> 00:02:04,780 Thank goodness, I do not wanna seem like a p***y. 29 00:02:04,780 --> 00:02:10,060 Then there's the new AI features presented with the tagline Epic just like that, 30 00:02:10,060 --> 00:02:15,620 which has to be written by AI. The S24 lineup supports real-time translation 31 00:02:15,620 --> 00:02:20,900 in voice calls and text messages and in the latter, it can even translate your tone 32 00:02:20,940 --> 00:02:25,420 if you don't make words good. Generative edit can replace parts of a photo 33 00:02:25,420 --> 00:02:28,780 and fill outside the edges using Google's Imogen 2 34 00:02:28,780 --> 00:02:32,380 while Instant Slomo will insert AI-generated frames 35 00:02:32,380 --> 00:02:35,460 to your existing video if you wanna see what your skateboard trick 36 00:02:35,460 --> 00:02:41,340 would look like if you were dreaming or high on something. Galaxy AI features use some on-device processing 37 00:02:41,340 --> 00:02:46,940 powered by Google's Gemini Nano model or extra cloud processing, if you enable it, 38 00:02:46,940 --> 00:02:50,440 using Gemini Pro, which can summarize text in notes, 39 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,880 voice recorder, and Samsung keyboard. That's not all Google helped Samsung with. 40 00:02:54,880 --> 00:03:01,240 On January 31st, the Galaxy S24 series will be the only phones other than the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro 41 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,200 to support Circle to Search, which lets you circle anything in any app 42 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,520 to Google it with Google Lens. Galaxy phones starting with the S24 series 43 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,400 will also now get seven years of security and OS updates, 44 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,680 just like pixels. Plus, now that Samsung's QuickShare 45 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:22,920 works with every Android phone, it's definitely the airdrop of Android now. 46 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:29,600 Samsung and Google, why are you guys together all the time? And why did Samsung announce they're making a smart ring? 47 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,880 OMG, Samsung's gonna propose? 48 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,880 I couldn't think of a cuter tech giant couple. 49 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:41,560 But that marriage may get off to a rocky start. It's otherwise been a bad week of news for Google 50 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,740 who are reportedly laying off hundreds of employees from their ad sales team. 51 00:03:45,740 --> 00:03:49,120 For at least the last few months, the company has been moving staff away 52 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:54,260 from serving its largest advertising clients as it increasingly automates those services 53 00:03:54,260 --> 00:03:57,680 through AI-powered products like Performance Max. 54 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,080 Essentially, Google is replacing many of its former sales force 55 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,360 with the AI created by Google's own engineers, 56 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,840 which has got to make the water cooler talk a little awkward. 57 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:14,120 Perhaps trying to avoid further negative attention, Google also quietly updated its incognito mode disclaimer 58 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,320 in a canary build of Chrome to inform users that the company is, in fact, 59 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:23,320 collecting their information while they're in incognito mode and they always have been in the aftermath 60 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:28,640 of a class action lawsuit. In not Google's fault, but definitely Google's problem news, 61 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,600 a recent study by German researchers has confirmed that Google search results 62 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,440 are indeed getting worse, as are all other search engines, 63 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,800 because they're absolutely swamped with SEO spam. 64 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,360 Worse, Google's attempts to address this flood of informational sewage seems to have only 65 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:50,680 a minor temporary impact. But there was one bright spot in Google's week so far. 66 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:56,000 Turns out that the noticeable slowdown on YouTube for ad blocker users wasn't a punishment from Google, 67 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,760 but a bug within ad block and ad block plus itself 68 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:04,100 after their recent update. Guess we'll chalk one up for the little guy, 69 00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:07,440 the massive international conglomerate little guy. 70 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,800 The Supreme Court has declined to hear either Epic 71 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,880 or Apple's appeal in their longtime legal dispute 72 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,800 over Apple's iOS store rules, meaning that the case is mostly over 73 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:26,480 and the lower court's ruling stands. I say mostly because now Apple is seeking $73.4 million 74 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,480 from Epic in order to cover its legal fees. And Apple needs the money, 75 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:36,840 considering how it was overtaken by Microsoft as the world's most valuable company just last week, 76 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:41,320 despite Apple selling the most phones out of any OEM in 2023. 77 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,760 Basically broke. I mean, Tim Cook hasn't left his office. 78 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:51,080 He's just sobbing. As a refresher, the lower court ruling wasn't totally in Apple's favor, 79 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,200 however, and they will be forced to relax their anti-steering policies for the US App Store 80 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:00,760 and allow app developers to direct users to alternative payment methods. 81 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,520 However, according to Apple's newly revised App Store guidelines, 82 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:10,320 Apple will still take a commission on those sales, 12% for members of the App Store small business program 83 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:15,960 and 27% for everyone else. Thus, while this doesn't eliminate App Store fees, 84 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:21,480 given the sheer number of developers involved, it does make them harder for Apple to collect and enforce. 85 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:27,520 It'd be like if instead of lowering taxes, the government just banned the IRS from snooping. 86 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:33,160 Snooping dropped the G. Some are born quick, some achieve quickness, 87 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:38,480 others have quick bits thrust upon them. This episode is all about the modified quotes. 88 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:43,840 With the US presidential election coming this year, OpenAI has announced new rules intended to prevent 89 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:47,760 its AI tools from being used to propagate political misinformation, 90 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:53,960 including banning chatbots intended to impersonate government officials or political candidates. 91 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,600 Though considering that OpenAI has also banned AI girlfriends 92 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,200 and its own GPT store is still packed to the rafters 93 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,360 with robo waifus, it's not entirely clear how well enforced 94 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,640 these new rules will be. OpenAI has likewise silently deleted language 95 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,240 from its terms of service, banning military use of chat GPT. 96 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,280 So I'm personally looking forward to this November 97 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:22,480 when an AI-powered Hatsune Miku gets voted into the White House in a landslide 98 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:28,080 and immediately declares war on someone. It's gonna be the cutest war you've ever seen. 99 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:33,720 Time for the Miku Fizz. Huh, Hatsune? Dell's pretty cool CAM memory technology, 100 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,280 they announced a few years ago, was adopted as a new standard 101 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:43,240 by the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association last month under the name LP-CAM2 102 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,680 and modules were unveiled by Micron last week. 103 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:51,000 The new standard allows for the benefits of faster LP DDR memory 104 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,720 without soldering it directly to the motherboard and it requires much less space 105 00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:01,020 than the existing SODIM standard. I feel bad for SODIM being replaced, 106 00:08:01,020 --> 00:08:06,960 but I kind of had it coming with a name like that. Executives of Fujitsu have finally acknowledged 107 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,160 that the company should help compensate the victims of the British post office scandal 108 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,960 where over 900 postal service contractors were falsely charged with theft and fraud 109 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,960 between 1999 and 2015 due to errors caused 110 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,320 by the buggy Fujitsu accounting software. Fujitsu has also admitted 111 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,440 that the company knew the software was defective even as it helped the Royal Mail 112 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:36,400 prosecute hundreds of innocent people leading to imprisonment, bankruptcy, 113 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:41,160 and at least four suicides. Postal workers traditionally hold a place of trust 114 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,200 and respect in British society and many children grew up 115 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,920 watching classic stop motion cartoon Postman Pat. 116 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,360 Little did they know that the show would end with poor Pat doing hard time 117 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:56,160 after he gets framed for high crimes and misdemeanors by a malfunctioning computer. 118 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,480 I had never heard of this story before today and it's wild. 119 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:04,680 Non-profit organization Fairly Trained has launched a new certification program 120 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:08,120 for AI models that respect relevant copyright 121 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,520 similar to the Fair Trade label on coffee and other similar goods. 122 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,360 Fairly Trained was founded by stability AI's XVP for audio, 123 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:22,440 Ed Newton Rex, cool name, who reportedly left the company over concerns 124 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:27,680 that they were exploiting creators. In order to acquire the Fairly Trained stamp of approval, 125 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:33,440 generative AI models must have clear permission to use all of the copyrighted material they're trained on. 126 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:38,880 Wow. Now, if only we had some way to tell which AI models are gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic. 127 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:44,160 It's none of them. And Will I Am is launching a serious XM podcast 128 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,840 and co-hosting it with an AI. Because of course he is. 129 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,240 Will.i.am is so 3008 130 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,720 that he has already transcended mortal concerns like how to spell names without periods 131 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:02,880 in the middle of them. Naturally, his AI co-host name is spelled Q-D-Period-P-I, 132 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,600 but pronounced Q-D-Pi. Again, of course. 133 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,840 The AI is powered by Williams AI app, FYI, 134 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,600 which stands for Focus Your Ideas. 135 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:19,280 What tremendous advice from the writer of the 2005 masterpiece, My Humps. 136 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,760 And you better write a comment promising to come back on Friday for more tech news. 137 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:32,440 We won't have an AI co-host as far as you know, but seriously, there's no AI here. 138 00:10:34,940 --> 00:10:35,780 There isn't.