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Discord hopes to expand its reach with its Social SDK enabling game devs to integrate Discord features into their games. Google is turning its Taara incubator into its own company. Taara uses laser light to transmit data at 20 Gbps over 20 km lowering the cost to deploy high speed broadband into remote and rural areas. Plus Would you take orders from a robo-boss? Scientists in Poland ran a study to find out. And Warner Bros. Discovery is experimenting with releasing a premium series first on its cable outlets before moving them to streaming.Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

Bloomberg’s sources say Apple is developing a new AirPods feature to do translations during in-person conversations. Apple says it will support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users. Plus what does equivalent title mean when it comes to swapping out unplayable DVDs? And its Friday and its time for the first great debates of the new year!Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

Comcast signed a $3 billion deal with the IOC to retain U.S. broadcasting and streaming rights for the Olympics through 2036. What does it mean for Peacock and what are Comcast’s obligations? Google has released Gemini with Personalization, a new experimental feature designed to enhance user experience by leveraging personal data from Google’s ecosystem to deliver tailored responses. How does generative AI flatten indigenous cultures? And OpenAI wants the U.S. government to establish a copyright strategy to train AI models on copyrighted material under “fair use.”Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

Microsoft is planning 3D gaming experiences for Copilot. What would that look like? Niantic announces it has agreed to sell Pokémon Go to Saudi Arabia based Scopely. Gizmodo thinks ChatGPT short stories are terrible despite what Sam Altman says, and are you pulling back your online footprint and how?Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

Paranoid about being tracked online or malicious actors eavesdropping on your messages? Patrick Norton has some useful tips on protecting yourself. Can Wordle help you break up the monotony of the workday and make you more productive? TikTok announces a new “wind down” feature that coaxes teens younger than 16 to shutdown the app and go to bed. And we discuss the ways Facebook Marketplace is keeping young people on the platform.Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Patrick Norton, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

What’s the story behind the agentic AI Manus and why is it making waves in the AI community. Is your DVD and Blu-ray collection a risk from disc rot? Skype is going away May 5th so why is Microsoft issuing an update for it? And after delaying the rollout of its upcoming Siri AI upgrade Apple is now delaying its rumored smart display.Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Justin Robert Young, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

Can LEDs banish the blight of acne? Is Apple’s AI push stalled? Meta’s Threads is testing a feature that lets users add interests to their profiles. And we got another end of the week Quiz with focus on ionic phones from pop culture.Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

When is thin too thin for smartphones? Why are so many sites moving content behind a paywall and does it bode for tightening the ad sector? Reddit is introducing new tools to improve user engagement and help prevent rule violations. And 1Password has a new feature to add a specific physical location to items.Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.

Apple’s unveiled refreshes for the Mac Studio and MacBook Air. Are they enough of uplift to warrant an upgrade? Plus cheap EVs are still unfulfilled wishes. But VW plans on changing that with new entry-level EVs next year and in 2027. And users of Sesame’s demo of its conversational speech model report feel emotionally connected to it. Google announced an experimental “AI Mode” in Search to compete with services like Perplexity AI and ChatGPT Search.Starring Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes.