Tech Podcasts

Just ahead of Samsung's Unpacked event set for tomorrow, a press release for Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 lineup has been revealed by leakmeister Evan Blass, The Verge has reported. It confirms many key specs from earlier leaks, including the existence of an "Ultra model," the screen sizes, charging capacity and more.Samsung will have three models in the lineup, including the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S8, 12.4-inch S8 Plus and big 14.6-inch S8 Ultra. The latter will feature 2,960 x 1,848 resolution with a notch to accommodate the front-facing camera. The other two models will come with 2,560 x 1,600 and 2,800 x 1,752 screens, respectively. Other features include support for fast WiFi 6E (with optional 5G), 45-watt fast charging, and a new S Pen Stylus. All models offer a 13-megapixel + 6-megapixel ultrawide rear camera setup, with a 12-megapixel ultra front camera. The Ultra model, however, has a second front-facing 12-megapixel wide camera, hence the aforementioned notch. Samsung may also offer an optional keyboard cover. The Galaxy Tab S8 lineup will arrive on February 25th in select markets including the US, Europe and Korea, according to the press release. Pre-orders will open in those markets on February 9th at 10AM ET. 

Tinder says it will no longer charge older users more to use Tinder+, following a new report questioning the dating app’s practice of charging older users “substantially more.”The report, from Mozilla and Consumers International, detailed just how much Tinder+ pricing can vary based on users’ age. The report relied on “mystery shoppers” in six countries — the United States, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea, India and Brazil — who signed up for Tinder+ and reported back how much the app charged for the subscription. According to the report, Tinder users between the ages of 30 and 49 were charged an average of 65.3 percent more than their younger counterparts in every country except Brazil.Tinder’s age-based pricing for Tinder, which gives users access to premium features like unlimited likes, has long been a source of controversy for the dating app. When it launched, the company said it charged older users more because younger people were more “budget constrained.” Since then, the dating app has been hit with at least one class action lawsuit over the practice.But though Tinder had pledged to end the practice in some areas, like California where the class action suit originated, the company continued to offer different rates in many countries. The latest report from Consumers International highlights just how much the dating app’s subscription pricing could vary. In New Zealand, where the mystery shoppers were quoted a total of25 different prices, the lowest quoted price was $4.95, while the highest was $24.54, according to the report. In the Netherlands, there were 31 different prices, with the lowest at $4.45 and the highest at $25.95.Now, Tinder says it plans to abandon its age-based pricing altogether. In a blog post published Sunday, Tinder said younger users were offered subscriptions at different rates in order to “make Tinder affordable for those in school or early in their careers.” The company said it ended the practice in the US, Australia and UK, and that it plans on “eliminating age based pricing for all of our members in all markets by the end of Q2 this year.” The company says it never used other personal or demographic info to determine rates.In a statement, a Tinder spokesperson said the report from Consumers International was “deeply flawed and contains completely false and outrageous allegations,” but didn’t specify what those were. The spokesperson added that the company’s internal pricing tests could have “impacted the findings,” and noted that prices are “typically” lower on Tinder’s website than in App Stores due to Apple and Google’s commission structure.Going forward, Tinder says it plans to offer more “a la carte” features, rather than pricier subscriptions that bundle multiple capabilities. The app also recently introduced “coins” to allow users to make one-off in-app purchases.

Fly Fishing with Phil Kashian – EP 660 My brother Phil Kashian loves to fly fish. So he’s back to dork out about it all. You will love. Donate to The Dork Forest if you like the show. There’s paypal links is my email and venmo is jackiekashian. Links to everything is at www.dorkforest.com or . New album -STAY-KASHIAN is out NOW. Merch: TDF tshirts, standup shirts and other CDs and just videos of my comedy. Touring Info. All the things. jackiekashian.com Premium eps of TDF are taped live and available here: https://thedorkforest.bandcamp.com/ Youtube has everything too. It's @jackiekashian on all the social mediaz. Audio and Video by Patrick Brady Music is by Mike Ruekberg Website design by Vilmos #applepodcasts #spotify #pandora #youtube #tiktok

NVIDIA's has abandoned its plans to purchase ARM, the UK-based business that licenses chip technology used in most smartphones, NVIDIA and Softbank announced. The deal collapsed on Monday, a year and a half after NVIDIA revealed that it was purchasing the Softbank-owned chip business for cash and stock then valued at $40 billion. Based on NVIDIA's current stock prices, the deal would've been worth over $60 billion if it had gone through today."ARM has a bright future, and we’ll continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come,” said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. "Though we won’t be one company, we will partner closely with ARM. I expect ARM to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade."The planned takeover was met with opposition from the start. ARM customers Qualcomm and Microsoft objected to the deal, raising concerns that NVIDIA might prevent ARM from licensing its chip designs. The massive acquisition, which would've been the largest in the chip sector, was also intensely scrutinized by regulators. UK's Competition & Markets Authority investigated it twice over its impact product prices and quality, as well as on its implications on national security. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the purchase over concerns that it would stifle competition for multiple technologies. Previous reports said NVIDIA has been preparing to walk away from the deal since early January, seeing as it has made little progress on convincing regulators to approve the purchase. As The New York Times notes, NVIDIA repeatedly told authorities that it will keep ARM's business model and even proposed to set up a separate licensing entity for its chip designs. It also said that it will license any ARM-based IP that it develops to all companies without discrimination. "There is no evidence that a combined NVIDIA and ARM would have either the ability or the incentive to harm competition," its lawyers said in a response to FTC's lawsuit. ARM-owner Softbank will get a break fee of up to $1.25 billion as a result of the failed purchase, the sources said. SoftBank confirmed that it would take ARM public, though it didn't provide any further details."ARM is becoming a center of innovation not only in the mobile phone revolution, but also in cloud computing, automotive, the Internet of Things and the metaverse, and has entered its second growth phase,” said SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. "We will take this opportunity and start preparing to take ARM public, and to make even further progress."Update February 8, 2022 2:46 AM ET: The post has been updated with NVIDIA and SoftBank's official announcement that NVIDIA has ended its plans to acquire ARM. Steve Dent contributed to this post.

Electronics giant Samsung announced that its upcoming Unpacked event, to be aired this Wednesday, will be accessible in both virtual reality and actual reality. Metaverse-minded fans can watch the event at 837X, a recreation of Samsung’s flagship New York City store location, recreated within virtual reality platform Decentraland.What makes Samsung’s venture into the metaverse so interesting is how little the company has had to say about VR in recent years. The South Korean giant was one of the first companies to make strides in the world of augmented reality and virtual reality when it released Gear VR, a smartphone-based virtual reality platform. Once known as one of the cheaper and more popular options for a VR headset Samsung announced it was planning on retiring Gear VR last December with no plans for a replacement.It’s prudent for any company to tread lightly in the metaverse, especially since a great deal of experts in business and tech think it’s just a gimmick. Facebook parent Meta’s stock fell more than 26% last week after an earnings call last week where it also revealed it lost over $10 billion on Reality Labs, its AR and VR division. Still the considerable hype behind the metaverse doesn’t seem to be dying down. A number of companies including Walmart, Microsoft, Nike and Disney are investing heavily in the metaverse. While interest in VR is greater than ever (sales of AR and VR hardware nearly doubled in 2021), it’s still widely considered a niche product.Broadly, the issue with the metaverse writ large is that no one seems entirely sure what problem it exists to solve. Other than a vague tweet alluding to the unveiling of some new feature, Samsung has not given much indication of how watching this week's Unpacked in VR is better than, or even meaningfully different from, just streaming it on any of the eight other places it will be available. Those platforms include Samsung's various accounts on YouTube, TikTok and Twitter, as on Twitch and Reddit. The event is expected to include the debut of the Galaxy S22, Samsung's new flagship phone.

Why is Google demoting its Stadia project? And is Meta expecting its earnings to take another dip? Starring Sarah Lane, Rich Stroffolino, Roger Chang, Joe, Amos MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org Follow us on Twitter Instgram YouTube and Twitch Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. Subscribe through AppleContinue reading "Poor Meta. What An Underdog! – DTNS 4207"

Don't expect to receive more updates for your Pixel 3. Esper's Mishaal Rahman has learned Google is delivering one last security update to the Pixel 3 and 3 XL. The company previously said the Pixel 3 would get one last update in the first quarter of 2022, and confirmed to Engadget this represents the device's last hurrah.It's not certain what the patch fixes. However, DarkPlayer noted the build ID matches that for an October patch that targeted newer Pixel models on Verizon. This is a catch-up release rather than an up-to-the-moment patch.You can expect more if you have a recent Pixel, at least. Google has posted a February 2022 update for the Pixel 3a and newer phones. The revision tackles several significant problems, including reboots during camera use, Bluetooth audio disconnection and quality problems, carrier-specific connection woes and keyboards that override input text in some cases.This won't thrill you if you're fond of the Pixel 3 — you'll have to upgrade if you want up-to-the-minute security fixes. Don't fret if you have a Pixel 6, though. Google has promised five years of security updates for its latest phone line, so you might not have to worry about patches until 2026.The Pixel 3 and 3 XL are getting what's presumably their final updatehttps://t.co/YkzqbwvrTENot sure what's included in the update. Has anyone gotten the update on their Pixel 3 or 3 XL yet?— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) February 7, 2022

Peter Thiel is leaving the board of Meta, more than 16 years after becoming one of Facebook's earliest investors. In a statement, Mark Zuckerberg said that “we've always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests.” The New York Timesreported that those interests include “influencing” the upcoming November midterm elections and "backing candidates who support the agenda of former president Donald J. Trump."“Peter has been a valuable member of our board and I'm deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company — from believing in us when few others would, to teaching me so many lessons about business, economics, and the world,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. “Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions.”Thiel has advised Zuckerberg from the earliest days of Facebook. He joined the board of the social media company in 2005 after investing $500,000 in the fledgling social network. In a statement, he called Zuckerberg "one of the great entrepreneurs of our time." The billionaire is also one of the more controversial members of Meta’s board. After cofounding PayPal, he started Palantir Technologies, a secretive data mining and analytics company that contracts with numerous government agencies. Thiel’s venture capital firm, Founders Fund, was also an investor in Oculus founder Palmer Luckey’s virtual border wall startup. He also funded the multimillion-dollar lawsuit that resulted in the 2016 bankruptcy of Gawker Media.Most controversially for Facebook and Zuckerberg, Thiel was an early supporter of Trump, and was at a White House dinner in 2019 when Zuckerberg reportedly “came to an understanding” with the president’s team that Facebook would not fact check the president. Critics have long questioned Thiel’s position on Meta’s board of directors given his close ties to Trump, but Zuckerberg has always defended him. In 2016, Zuckerberg told employees it was an issue of “diversity” and “standing up for the rights of people with different viewpoints.” (Notably, not every company insider agreed with Zuckerberg. Netflix CEO and one-time Facebook board member Reed Hastings reportedly told Thiel his support of Trump showed “catastrophically bad judgment.”)

Even vintage gaming platforms aren't immune to Wordle's cultural dominance, it seems. Kotakunotes security researcher Stacksmashing has ported the hit word game to the Game Boy. The 1989-era handheld's ROM size prevented him from including the full word list, but he used a (somewhat inaccurate) filter to help the console determine if you're using one of the 8,000 most common English words.The port is free and available to download, although you'll need to load it on a Game Boy-friendly cartridge if you intend to play on a console. And not everyone has one of Nintendo's earlier handhelds sitting around. You may want to play Wordle on a modern machine like the Analogue Pocket, particularly if you aren't keen on the first Game Boy's lack of built-in display lighting.This isn't the first retro Wordle port, and it might not be the last. Huxley Dunsany recently ported the title to a Palm PDA, for instance. In that regard, this could be the new Doom — that is, the game adapted to run on seemingly every platform imaginable. Don't be surprised if Wordle is seemingly ubiquitous before long, even if you're unlikely to play it on ancient devices.Want to give it a try? You can play it online here: https://t.co/V4FjDMtVgd (even works on mobile).Or download the ROM for both the original Game Boy and the @analogue Pocket here: https://t.co/Nxq74MVDLYpic.twitter.com/pSxon3vDsP— stacksmashing (@ghidraninja) February 6, 2022

Amazon informed employees about a major change coming to their pay structure Monday morning. The company raised the cap for its base pay to $350,000 as part of its larger package of stock and cash compensation for corporate and tech employees. The maximum base pay has long been $160,000. The move has implications not only for Amazon employees but for the broader tech industry.  Garry Straker, senior compensation consultant at salary.com, spoke with GeekWire's Todd Bishop about the Amazon news, the future of work and the major changes taking place in the world of employee pay. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The co-producer of The Matrix Resurrections, in a new lawsuit, is blaming the film’s lackluster box office numbers on a same-day streaming release. According to The Wall Street Journal, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group filed a lawsuit today against Warner Bros., the owner of streaming platform HBO Max. The suit alleges that both the same-day release of The Matrix Resurrections and pushing up the film’s release date was a breach of contract. The suit also claims that moving the movie’s release date from 2022 to 2021 was a bid by Warner Bros. to drive up subscriptions to HBO Max.Last year’s decision by Warner Bros. to release an entire slate of new films concurrently on HBO Max and in theaters raised many eyebrows. In addition to The Matrix, the 16 other films in Warner Bros’ simultaneous release strategy included Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, King Arthur, and others. The experiment likely doomed their box office fates, as The Wrapnoted. Only two of the 17 films made more than $100 million in domestic box office sales.The Matrix Resurrections, which was released in December, normally a peak time for box office earnings, has grossed over $37.2 million in domestic box office sales, according to BoxOfficeMojo. This is a noticeable decline compared to a number of other blockbusters with theater-only releases from last winter, such as Spider-Man:No Way Home, which has made more than $748 million in the domestic box office and the James Bond film No Time To Die, which has earned more than $160 million in the domestic box office.Village Roadshow also alleges that Warner Bros. is attempting to keep the company out of future movie and TV deals. “WB has also been devising various schemes to deprive Village Roadshow of its continuing rights to co-own and co-invest in the derivative works from the films it co-owns,” the suit alleged.The Matrix lawsuit is the latest conflict between Hollywood studios and the media companies that own the streaming platforms. Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson last year sued Disney over the film’s simultaneous release strategy, which she claimed harmed its box office prospects and her own earnings. Johansson subsequently received an undisclosed settlement from Disney last fall.

Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty ImagesThe Joe Rogan situation at Spotify keeps getting more confused. As the situation has evolved, so has the company’s treatment of its star podcaster. One day, it says it’s a hands-off platform that treats all creators the same. The next, it admits to having backdoor discussions with Rogan and pulling episodes due to outrage over language used on the show. The whiplash undermines Spotify’s narrative about how it interacts with Rogan and other podcasters and offers a window into the delicate relationship between Rogan and the company that depends on him to stay differentiated. Let’s dive into where things aren’t lining up. Spotify has reiterated multiple times now that it considers itself merely a platform for podcasts — despite paying Rogan a reported $100 million to distribute his show. That Spotify wants to believe Rogan is an audio creator like any other has been a constant refrain since Neil Young and other musicians pulled their music from the platform nearly two weeks ago over their belief that Rogan and his guests spread COVID-19 misinformation. Spotify responded to that controversy by saying that it would only take moderation actions against content that violated its rules — rules that were not public until The Verge first reported on them, and then which Spotify itself published days later. That Spotify was paying $100 million to exclusively distribute The Joe Rogan Experience should not change anything, according to CEO Daniel Ek, who directly addressed that relationship in an internal town hall last week: “Even though JRE is an exclusive, it is licensed content,” Ek said in remarks obtained by The Verge. “It is important to note that we do not have creative control over Joe Rogan’s content. We don’t approve his guests in advance, and just like any other creator, we get his content when he publishes, and then we review it, and if it violates our policies, we take the appropriate enforcement actions.” Ek was also clear that Rogan was critical to the company’s success, telling employees that the Spotify catalog wasn’t differentiated from rivals and that signing exclusives like Rogan gave the company leverage in negotiations with Amazon, Google, and Tesla. Signing Rogan helped turn Spotify into the number one podcasting app in the US, he noted. At this point, Spotify’s position seemed to be clear: Rogan was critically important to Spotify’s success, and he would be allowed to say whatever he wanted, so long as it fit within the bounds of Spotify’s moderation rules. Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s head of global communications and public relations, affirmed to Spotify employees that Rogan would be treated like any other creator under those rules: “We apply our policies consistently and objectively,” she wrote in a note to staff seen by The Verge. On the company’s February 3rd earnings call, Ek was clear that the rules were the rules and Spotify would not “change our policies based on one creator nor do we change it based on any media cycle or calls from anyone else.” Then the next Joe Rogan media cycle arrived. Musician India Arie pulled her music from the platform last week over Rogan’s repeated use of the n-word and shared a viral video montage of Rogan using the racial slur on his podcast — a montage that had originally been made in January of 2020. In stark contrast to how it handled Young and Joni Mitchell protesting COVID misinformation, Spotify quickly stepped in. Spotify’s public content rules don’t appear to prohibit the use of the n-word. Here’s the most relevant section on what’s prohibited: “Content that incites violence or hatred towards a person or group of people based on race, religion, gender identity or expression, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, age, disa

Amazon and Nike both reportedly discussed acquiring Peloton internally, Stadia reportedly more focused on white-label services, and the FCC tells Congress replacing ZTE and Huawei networking equipment is going to be more expensive. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanksContinue reading "Amazon and Nike Interested in Peloton – DTH"

Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are basically digital certificates of ownership, a virtual claim that an image or gif or even a song belongs to you. And while some artists are happy to jump into this new space, others have been surprised — or furious — to find that strangers beat them to owning and selling NFTs of their work. Just last week, several musical artists publicly complained after the website HitPiece temporarily listed NFTs for their songs or albums without the artists’ permission. But does selling someone else’s art as an NFT break the law? Aram Sinnreich is a professor and chair of the communication studies division at American University. He said this gets into a gray area, at least when it comes to existing copyright law.

Meta earnings flop, Amazon Prime price hike, NFT celebrity complex Meta Erases $251 Billion in Value, Biggest Wipeout in History. Facebook blames Apple after a historically bad quarter, saying iPhone privacy changes will cost it $10 billion. Meta lost $10 billion on AR and VR in 2021. Zuckerberg Tells Staff to Focus on Video Products as Meta's Stock Plunges. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian wasn't shocked by Meta's 26% plunge, saying Facebook's ad model 'doesn't cut the mustard' anymore. The EARN IT Act Is Back, and It's More Dangerous Than Ever. Google parent company Alphabet broke $200 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Google's Pixel phones had their best quarter ever. Amazon confronts pandemic costs and raises the price of Prime. Here's The Boat That Won't Bring Jeff Bezos's Hair, Or Wife Back. Joe Rogan Apologizes for 'Shameful' Past Use of Racial Slur. Why is Joe Rogan So Popular? What is the current state of COVID and WFH? GoFundMe removes the donation page for the Canadian trucker protest. Silicon Valley loves mafias and you should, too. Wordle Is Joining The New York Times Games. Apple blasted over a paltry 3% fee reduction for external payments in the Netherlands. Tesla recall: 'Full Self-Driving' software runs stop signs. Mapping the celebrity NFT complex. We Found The Real Names Of Bored Ape Yacht Club's Pseudonymous Founders. Report: Stadia deprioritized as white-label 'Google Stream' aims for Bungie, Capcom deals. North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet. BlackBerry to sell patents related to mobile devices, messaging for $600 million. House OKs bill to boost US chip fabrication and R&D. Car companies stand to make billions by charging you monthly fees for add-on features like heated seats. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Nicholas De Leon, Dan Patterson, and Owen Thomas Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors:linode.com/twit podium.com/twit ourcrowd.com/twit nureva.com