Daily Tech News Show

How are game microtransactions infuriating game players and why might we see more of them in the future? Plus Spotify is testing a fourth category of content alongside music, podcasts and books; online courses. And did Microsoft’s Phil Spencer hint about a future handheld Xbox?

Starring Tom Merritt, Trisha Hershberger, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are robotaxis facing a losing war in gaining broad public acceptance? Nicole shares her experience riding in them and what she thinks needs to be done. Plus seven US researchers have identified a new side-channel attack called “GoFetch” that impacts Apple M1, M2, and M3 processors. And OpenAI pitches its technology to film studios and directors.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Nicole Lee, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Microsoft announces new Surface PCs for Business with Copilot integration. Plus Neuroscience startup Neuralink live-streamed an interview Wednesday with 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, the first person to be implanted with Neuralink’s brain-computer interface. And the US Department of Justice files a lawsuit against Apple for monopolistic behavior.

Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unity’s 2024 Unity Gaming Report notes an increase in multiplatform game development. What’s behind this trend and is it good for the industry? Plus Meta’s Peter Cottle shows off a brief demo of how users can eventually connect their accounts and posts to the Fediverse through Threads. And Ubisoft revealed at GDC that it has been developing an NPC that uses Large Language Models to have more realistic conversations with players.

Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Patrick Beja, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meta is reducing the fee for EU users to €5.99 a month plus €4 for additional accounts to assuage regulators' concerns about economic coercion. Plus we share the highlights from Nvidia’s keynote at its GTC developer conference.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How has GDC 2024 pivoted to meet the needs of laid off game developers. Plus why has Sony paused the manufacture of its PlayStation VR2 headset? And Bloomberg reports sources say Apple and Alphabet are in negotiations to use Google Gemini for some AI services in a future version of iOS.

Starring Tom Merritt, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ars Technica posted a story on Thursday called “Hackers can read private AI-assistant chats even though they’re encrypted.” Which Chatbots are affected and what should users do about it? Plus Walmart begins selling Macs for the first time! And The US Supreme Court will hear the case of Murthy vs. Missouri on Monday. At issue is whether it is a violation of free speech protections for the US government to directly call out social media posts it thinks are harmful or misinformation.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the US Congress pass a bill forcing the sale of TikTok? How is Google’s artificial intelligence-powered search engine, Search Generative Experience, impacting publisher’s ad revenue? Hugo Barra, former VP of Android and head of Meta’s phased-out Oculus headset brand, has some thoughts about Apple’s Vision Pro.

Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sea of Thieves briefly took the top spot for PS5 game pre-orders Monday. Is this that Microsoft’s new Xbox strategy is paying off? Plus Google DeepMind researchers trained a model that’s learned to play multiple 3D games like a human. And a team of researchers at the University of Chicago say they’ve figured out a way to hack into Meta Quest headsets without the user knowing.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ray-Ban’s Meta glasses has updated the visual search feature to recognize landmarks and describe them. Plus a startup called Empathy is looking to simplify the process of closing a deceased person’s affairs. And a nurse in the UK used an Apple Vision Pro during a spinal surgery to identify instruments and processes as a double check on accuracy.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, Joe.

Link to the Show Notes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.