Jay Peters
The game based on Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land comes out in April.
You can play it starting April 26th, according to a new trailer. The animated Sand Land series is launching soon, too — it’s set to debut this spring on Hulu.
Tech Archive
Archives for January 2024
Emma Roth
The FCC wants to know what automakers are doing to protect domestic violence survivors.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote letters to nine major automakers, including GM, Toyota, Ford, and Tesla, to ask what kind of data they collect about their drivers and how they protect their privacy. Rosenworcel sent similar letters to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, too.
The letters came in response to a report from The New York Times last month, which detailed how a domestic violence survivor was harassed by her abuser using her car’s connected services. “We must do everything we can to help survivors stay safe,” Rosenworcel said. “We need to work with auto and wireless industry leaders to find solutions.”
Jay Peters
Detroit’s big auto show is moving back to January.
The next North American International Auto Show will kick off on January 10th, 2025, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The show has traditionally happened in January, but a planned 2020 June event was canceled due to covid, and in 2022 and 2023, the show took place in September.
Detroit auto show to return to its January roots, organizers say
[Detroit Free Press]
Ariel Shapiro
Jay Peters
Al Gore and James Bell are retiring from Apple’s board of directors as Dr. Wanda Austin joins.
Gore has been on the board since 2003 while Bell has been a member since 2015. Both are leaving because “the board has a longstanding policy that directors generally may not stand for reelection after reaching age 75,” according to Apple’s press release.
Austin, the former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, will join the company’s board.
Tim Cook:
Wanda has spent decades advancing technology on behalf of humanity, and we’re thrilled to welcome her to Apple’s board of directors. She’s an extraordinary leader, and her invaluable experience and expertise will support our mission of leaving the world better than we found it.
1/2Al Gore. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures,
Sean Hollister
A set of Hyundai wheels is the best thing I saw at CES.
Wheels that turn sideways to crab-walk into a parking spot. 360-degree spins so I don’t have to back up as often. Diagonal driving. I want this Ioniq 5 so bad.
The chief engineer tells us they haven’t tested the tech beyond 50MPH yet — but it should hit highway speeds by 2026, could make it into EVs by 2028, and he claims it shouldn’t cost much more than a car without.
Ariel Shapiro
Audible is laying off 5 percent of its staff.
After laying off hundreds of employees at Twitch and Prime Video, Amazon is cutting staff at its audiobook and podcast platform, Audible. According to a memo obtained by Business Insider, Audible CEO Bob Corrigan said that the cuts were made “to position us for continued success in the coming year and into the future” and it’s really not worth finishing the quote, because you know the drill by now. Variety reports that the cuts will include more than 100 staffers, but will not impact the content teams.
Nathan Edwards
It’s “put MacOS on the iPad, you cowards” season.
Lenovo’s new 2-in-1 is a Windows laptop with a detachable Android tablet. They run on separate hardware. This is the least awkward way Lenovo could have done this.
Apple, on the other hand, uses the exact same chips for iPads and MacBooks and could simply make an iPad Pro that runs MacOS when the keyboard is attached. And yet!
Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards
Monica Chin
Amrita Khalid
An AI data-labeling firm is paying workers $2.20 an hour to view violent, horrifying content.
Content moderators for the San Francisco-based AI firm Sama — who are based in its Nairobi, Kenya hub — are suing the company and its client Meta, alleging that the job required countless hours of viewing disturbing content, including sexual abuse and grisly murders, according to FT.
The Verge has reported on how AI efforts at companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Meta are supported by “a vast tasker underclass” of workers across Africa, Asia, and South America.
Emilia David
I’ll take my apartment key that gets stuck all the time over this, thanks.
Smart locks are a great idea but terrible in execution — especially when they don’t work. Many New York apartment buildings installed Latch (soon to be rebranded as Door) smart locks and residents are not happy.
As if accidentally locking tenants out of their apartments weren’t enough, Latch has an added “benefit” for landlords: constant surveillance!
More important, Latch allows landlords to keep tabs on their tenants. It lets them know every time a renter or guest enters a building’s front door, which in theory makes it more difficult to run an Airbnb, underground casino, or illegal wildlife trade out of one’s rental apartment. Each Latch device keeps a log of when and by whom it’s opened, and main-entrance locks even take pictures of residents as they arrive home. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered the Latch app’s “history” tab, which contains an archive of the worst pictures of me that I have ever seen, shot at gut level through a fish-eye lens while I scowl and fumble my phone.
Richard Lawler
Vision Pro launch prediction: 60k to 80k units.
Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo closely follows Apple’s production plans and is saying that for the February 2nd launch day, “Apple will produce 60,000 to 80,000 units of Vision Pro,” with around 500k shipping in 2024.
We had our first Vision Pro experiences last year at WWDC, and in just a couple of weeks, everyone can decide if they’re ready to spend $3,499 for an early entry to the world of spatial computing.
Emma Roth
The FAA is investigating Boeing after a door plug blew out during a flight.
The agency ordered a temporary grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes after the incident occurred on an Alaska Airlines flight over the weekend, but now it’s opening a formal investigation.
A group of senators are also pushing Boeing to cooperate with an investigation from the NTSB, which will focus on missing or loose bolts meant to hold the door plug in place — something United Airlines also found on its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.
Adi Robertson
Where’s WDADO!?
Bluesky user Illumi found another fun example of lingering challenges for AI tools: grasping the concept of a “Where’s Waldo” illustration. I tried making ChatGPT create one for myself, and, well... you can see the results below.
Bonus: Somebody should remind Google Bard it can’t draw.
1/2
Jay Peters
Felix the Cat and Sparkster are back.
Konami and Limited Run Games are partnering on physical rereleases of two Felix the Cat games and three Rocket Knight games for PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. I was obsessed with Rocket Knight Adventures as a kid, so I’m happy to see it available in physical formats on modern consoles.
Image: Konami and Limited Run Games
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