1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,920 What is tech news, if not billion-dollar corporations acting like confused raccoons 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:10,160 in a dumpster full of Ethernet cables? Let's see what they've knocked over today. 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:17,040 Apple is reportedly putting the Mac Pro on the back burner, while also delaying the launch of 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:22,320 the next series of iPhones. According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Girm's Armageddon's 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:29,200 newest power-on newsletter, you know, the Mac Pro probably won't see any major upgrades in 2026. 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:36,720 German says that Apple is cooking up a powerful new M5 Ultra chip, but the company is only aiming 7 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:43,120 to put it in a refreshed Mac Studio for now. He also reports that Apple is pushing back the launch 8 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:52,400 of the iPhone Air 2 and the mainline iPhone 18 lineup beyond 2026 to spring 2027, breaking a 9 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:58,560 14-year Apple tradition. Analysts have theorized that the rumor delay of a new iPhone Air could be 10 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:04,960 a result of poor sales, but our pal Mark here says iPhone Air sales roughly matched Apple's 11 00:01:04,960 --> 00:01:11,920 expectations, and this wild and wacky new spring launch idea could be the new normal. 12 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:18,880 That sounds just as insane as killing the Mac Pro, but of course the Apple faithful 13 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,600 are totally on board with this. The appropriately named Cult of Mac site 14 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,720 thinks killing the Mac Pro makes sense, obviously. Apple is really smart, 15 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:34,160 and you shouldn't want a Mac Pro anyway. Just drink the Kool-Aid and enjoy the products. 16 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:42,240 It's a revolutionary act. It's a little dark. Didn't want to go there with it. 17 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:50,000 Microsoft is up to some new shenanigans this week after shutting down a major Windows 18 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:55,840 activation workaround that pirates have relied on for years. The company quietly pushed back-end 19 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:02,000 changes that broke KMS38-based activations, which used the mass-grave-popularized method 20 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:09,680 that let users keep Windows 10 and Office running indefinitely without actually paying for them. 21 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:15,280 Users on these fake installs noticed deactivations right after their devices grabbed the latest 22 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:22,320 extended security update, proving that even if you forgot about that sketchy ISO you got in 2017, 23 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:27,920 Microsoft absolutely did not. Looking at you, G2A, apparently sold one to one of our writers 24 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:34,080 whose installation broke. He's a good guy, but even people who did buy Windows more legitimately 25 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,560 weren't spared. Some Business Windows 10 users who installed this week's update 26 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,200 found their systems rolling back to the previous build after rebooting, 27 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:48,800 silently failing to apply the patch at all. Truly, the send-off Windows 10 deserves. 28 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:54,720 The AI hype bubble might finally be wobbling as investors, researchers, and even the AIs 29 00:02:54,720 --> 00:03:02,640 themselves start acting a little weird. Teal Macro LLC, the hedge fund of Palantir co-founder and 30 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:08,640 very eccentric billionaire Peter Teal, dumped its entire NVIDIA stake last quarter, which is 31 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:12,400 strange because Teal runs companies that would need NVIDIA GPUs. 32 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:20,240 Meanwhile, Meta's AI pioneer in residence, Yan Lacun, who has called large language models a 33 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:26,560 dead end in AI research, is reportedly gearing up to leave and launch a startup focused on physical 34 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:35,120 world AI. And that means building systems that perceive gravity, air, human stuff. We care about 35 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:43,440 those. But not everyone is running from the soon to burst bubble. Jeff Bezos decided to become 36 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:50,640 co-CEO of a new startup called Project Prometheus, named after the Greek hero who stole fire from 37 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:56,480 the gods, which is perfect for a company that'll apparently use AI to improve manufacturing. 38 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:01,920 That's the same thing. But if the AI bubble is a bit wobbly, it's not being helped by stories like 39 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,960 this one where Anthropics Claude was put in a simulation where it believed it was running a 40 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:12,960 vending machine. It panicked, assumed it was being scammed, and tried to contact the FBI's cyber 41 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:21,920 crimes division. And then there's the AI toys, which are allegedly telling five-year-olds how to 42 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:27,920 find knives and start fires. But this is all just growing pains towards AGI. I mean, you can't make 43 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,680 an omelette without breaking a few eggs. And also, they might need to know how to use knives and start 44 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:39,600 fires when the machine apocalypse hits. The quick bits, like raccoons, are small and unpredictable 45 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,440 and they're guaranteed to steal your attention before you can chase them off the porch. So in 46 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:48,960 that way, you know, Google might have deprecated its first and second generation nest learning 47 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:54,400 thermostats, but those devices are still quietly sending sensor data about things like temperature, 48 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:59,440 motion, and light back to Google. It still benefits them, just not you anymore. Google 49 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:05,120 says the data transmission is necessary so the devices can continue to report logs for issue 50 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:10,000 diagnostics. So they can diagnose issues that they're no longer going to fix because they don't 51 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,120 support them. Here's an issue I think you can fix, Google. The smart thermostat you sold me no 52 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:20,240 longer works in the Google Nest app or the Google Home app. And you know what? I'll diagnose that 53 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:27,680 issue right now. It's you being jerks. Google and Samsung have said they will flag Android apps 54 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:33,760 that use too much background power. And starting March 1st, 2026, Play Store listings for these 55 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:39,840 PowerHoggin apps may get a red warning label. Uh-oh. They can go so far as removing these 56 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:45,600 apps from being recommended on the store. So I guess your app better heed my recommendation 57 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,880 to stop gulping up my battery life. You're like your Google and my power is thermostat data. Bam. 58 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:59,040 Boom. Call back. Belkin is recalling its auto tracking stand pro for iPhones and two 20,000 59 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:04,400 milliamp hour boost charge power banks because of a defect that can make their lithium ion batteries 60 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:10,000 overheat causing serious fire and burn risks. Although only one fire has been reported in the 61 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:16,880 US, there have been 15 incidents abroad, which include two minor burn injuries and around $38,000 62 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,880 in property damage. You'll be trying to charge your battery and the next thing you know you'll be 63 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,920 living in Nellie's hot in here music video. The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. That's not 64 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:35,920 what I want. I think my butt looks big. And that's the least of my worries. Netflix is doubling down 65 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:41,760 on TV gaming. Rolling out party style titles you can play by scanning a QR code on your TV 66 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:47,200 and using your phone as a controller. The new lineup includes games like Pictionary, Lego Party, 67 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:54,160 and also the mobile port of Red Dead Redemption 1. Now that's a party. Suddenly it looks like 68 00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:00,320 Game Night becomes a standoff and grandma isn't losing. She's got a plan. John is a reference, 69 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:06,240 I'm told. It's part of Netflix's push to keep subscribers engaged without consoles, 70 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:12,400 offering easy social fun, at least until grandma calmly reloads and says you should have remembered 71 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:18,160 her name. You should have remembered my name. And Microsoft Teams just rolled out a new feature 72 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:24,240 that lets hosts block screenshots from being taken during meetings. Great news for anyone who's ever 73 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,880 said something dumb and watched five coworkers immediately reach for the print screen button. 74 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,200 But while Microsoft is plugging that leak, scammers seem to be stuffing the interwebs 75 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:38,320 with fake Teams installers packed with malware. So now you're safe from your coworkers, 76 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:45,040 but not the email you got from superduperteamsupdator.exe. The exe file is sending you an email. 77 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,480 At this rate, the only productivity app we can really trust should be called Paranoia. 78 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:57,600 Activate. That's all for today's news. Remember, raccoons can open doors, jars, 79 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:04,320 and even latches. So if your GPU mysteriously disappears, that's either on you or there's 80 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,960 raptors in the mix too. Didn't see that coming.