The Weekly Tech Rant with Jay and Karl

This week we covered: US Air Force confirms first successful AI dogfightBoston Dynamics’ new Atlas robot is a swiveling, shape-shifting nightmareAfter Embracer Group's acquisitions and subsequent troubles, the company is splitting into three oddly-named entitiesMeta Rebranding Quest Software Horizon OS, Will Run On New Headsets From ASUS, Lenovo, MoreThe full Snapdragon X CPU line-up has now been unveiled, and according to Qualcomm's numbers it should put the fear of ARM into AMD and Intel's laptop divisions12.9-inch iPad Air will use same display technology as current larger iPad Pro As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prisonMicrosoft hiring Inflection team triggers interest from EU's antitrust chiefD-Link issues rip and replace order for besieged NAS drivesElon Musk returns to his ultimate galaxy brain plan for Twitter: charging people to postGoogle merges the Android, Chrome, and hardware divisionsVision Pro engineers moved to folding iPhone project; delayed to 2027 As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Super Soaker spiritual successor Spyra just shrank its USB-C water blasterSpaceX is reportedly building a network of spy satellites for US intelligenceApple acquires fundamental AI smarts by buying DarwinAIApple might use Google Gemini to power some AI features on the iPhoneUS sues Apple for illegal monopoly over smartphonesiPhone 17 rumor: Apple developing new anti-reflective display technology As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: House passes bill that bans TikTok unless ByteDance sellsRoku hackers breach 15,000 accounts and are selling them onlineEpic Games just got unbanned by Apple — againMicrosoft confirms Russian spies stole source code, accessed internal systemsMicrosoft’s AI Copilot for Security launches next month with pay-as-you-go pricingSpaceX is cleared to attempt its third Starship test flight As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: The MacBook Air gets an M3 upgradeHere are the new iPhone case and Apple Watch band colors for springThat 189GB Epic Games "hack" may have been a scam aimed at other hackers VMware EUC by Broadcom to be Acquired by KKRApple hit with first-ever EU fine following Spotify complaintBambu Lab Mini A1New CAD renders reveal iPhone SE 4 redesign that finally ditches the Home button As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Samsung has big ambitions for the Galaxy RingMWC 2024: all the phones, wearables, and gadgets announced in BarcelonaNvidia’s role in the AI wave has made it a $2 trillion companyAs $500m EU fine looms, Apple accuses Spotify of wanting ‘limitless access’ to its tools for freeKilling the Apple car is depressing and sadMeta and Microsoft ask EU to reject Apple’s new app store termsSony are officially working on PC game support for the PS VR2 headsetA new MacBook Air coming soon: Here’s what we know As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: iMessage antitrust threat removed, as EU says it’s not a dominant serviceNvidia’s Chat with RTX is a promising AI chatbot that runs locally on your PCBroadcom-owned VMware kills the free version of ESXi virtualization softwareAfter trying the Vision Pro, Mark Zuckerberg says Quest 3 ‘is the better product, period’Microsoft confirms new Xbox hardware will be announced this holiday seasonMicrosoft: four Xbox-exclusive games are coming to PS5 and Nintendo SwitchMicrosoft’s Xbox Game Pass service grows to 34 million subscribers As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Microsoft lays off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employeesMeta ‘optimistic’ about Vision Pro as it hopes to be the ‘Android’ of the AR/VR worldApple announces reduced commission structure for apps in EuropeApple announces support for third-party iPhone app stores in the EU, coming with iOS 17.4Apple says third-party app marketplace creators must have €1,000,000 ‘letter of credit’Apple will prompt users to set default browsers and allow third-party web engines on iPhone in the EUApple lets apps feature streaming games, chatbots and other built-in experiencesiPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: The Apple Vision Pro will launch in FebruaryPrescription lenses for Vision Pro to cost $149 – far less than predictediPhone from onboard Alaska Airlines incident found; survives 16,000-foot dropIntel's next gen Battlemage GPUs are up and running in its labs, and work on its next-next generation Celestial architecture is well underwayXreal Air 2 Ultra ‘Vision Pro competitor’ has been announced – at $699Apple CEO meets with EU competition chief to talk sideloading iPhone appsReport: iPhone 16 to feature more RAM and faster Wi-Fi; upgraded 5G coming to iPhone 16 Pro As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 is the funkiest gadget mashup at CES 2024The Wi-Fi 7 era officially begins with the introduction of certified devicesIntel reveals its full 14th-gen CPU family at CES, including a powerful 24-core laptop chipAMD Unveils Ryzen 8000G Series Processors: Zen 4 APUs For Desktop with Ryzen AIAMD releases even more Ryzen 5000 CPUs, keeps its last-gen AM4 platform aliveTCL came to CES 2024 with a 115-inch MiniLED Quantum Dot TVThe $2,000 ASUS ZenScreen Fold solves the biggest issue with portable monitorsAsus unveils its ROG NUC, packing up to a Core 9 Ultra and RTX 4070 graphics into a compact 2.5-liter chassisThe first Steam Deck competitor with SteamOS is almost hereThe SEC’s X account was hijacked to post a fake approval of Bitcoin ETFs As always, we'd love to hear your comments

This week we covered: Microsoft’s OpenAI-powered Copilot app comes to iPhone and iPadMicrosoft’s new Copilot key is the first big change to Windows keyboards in 30 yearsThe New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringementCrypto-crook Sam Bankman-Fried spared a second trialCES 2024 Rumours and thoughts!CES 2024 preview: The future of PC gaming hardwareIntel's 6.2GHz uber CPU expected to launch at CES 2024 as new image emergesKuo: 24-megapixel upgraded front camera coming with iPhone 17Siri generative AI capabilities to be announced at WWDC – leaker As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Our picks of the best gadgets, games, films and TV of 2023! As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Epic decision sees jury find Google's Play store is illegal monopolyMicrosoft exec hints at free ad-supported Xbox Cloud GamingMicrosoft is killing its Windows VR platform — announces deprecation of 'Windows Mixed Reality'Apple Has Reportedly Been Aiming To Launch Vision Pro In JanuaryUniFi devices broadcasted private video to other users’ accountsApple may unveil M3 MacBook Airs in March alongside new iPad Pro and iPad Air modelsUnder-screen Face ID camera after 2026, suggests supply-chain reportApple Watch X - new DESIGN, new MAGNETIC BANDS, Blood Pressure, and more! As always, we'd love to hear your comments.

This week we covered: Nvidia sells half a million AI chips and bags $14.5 billion in just three monthsMicrosoft joins OpenAI’s board with Sam Altman officially back as CEOEU’s iMessage antitrust investigation looks set to rule in Apple’s favorA bitter pill: Amazon calls on rival SpaceX to launch Internet satellitesBroadcom to divest VMware's end-user computing and Carbon Black unitsYorkshire Tea is now selling branded Xbox and PS5 controllers for £150 and the designs are something to beholdSega just announced new Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, and Shinobi gamesRockstar announces next GTA game trailer As always, we'd love to hear your comments

This week we covered: Meta's controversial ad-free subscription is facing scrutiny from EU privacy campaignersIKEA's new smart home sensors focus on safety and avoiding water damageUK watchdog slams the brakes on Adobe’s $20 billion bid for FigmaAWS unveils core-packed Graviton4 and beefier Trainium accelerators for AIGoogle Drive users say Google lost their files; Google is investigatingMicrosoft could offer one of the first third-party app stores on iPhonesRockstar announces next GTA game trailer As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Sam Altman fired as CEO of OpenAIOpenAI reportedly considering reinstating just-ousted CEO Sam AltmanMicrosoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam AltmanBreaking: Sam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAISpaceX’s second Starship flight test ends in an explosion minutes after launchGearbox and Crystal Dynamics owner Embracer report 900 layoffs during "one of our strongest quarters for new releases everBroadcom closes its $61 billion megadeal with VMwareMonarch: Legacy of Monsters episode 1 and 2 review and references you might have missedThe Creator (2023 film)iPhone SE 4 Likely to Use Modified iPhone 14 Chassis As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Apple says it is not making a new 27-inch iMacApple says iPhones will support RCS in 2024Brits make Amazon, Meta stop using third-party data to undercut rivalsxAI’s ‘Grok’ chatbot will be available to X Premium+ subscribers onlyQualcomm and Iridium's satellite link-up loses signalThe first GTA 6 trailer will launch in early December 2023, Rockstar confirm Kuo: Apple to update all iPad models next year, including OLED iPad Pro and new 12.9-inch iPad Air As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraudAll the news from Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ Mac eventX launches two new subscriptions to boost your repliesMillions of smart meters will brick it when 2G and 3G turns offQualcomm Snapdragon X Elite looks like the Windows world’s answer to Apple SiliconApple decides to launch Apple Pay Later now, no longer ‘early access’Forza MotorsportNVIDIA and AMD reportedly gearing up to offer ARM CPUs for Windows PCs As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Meta’s $499.99 Quest 3 headset is all about mixed reality and video gamesXbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Meta Quest 3 in DecemberThe Google Pixel 8 is official with 7 years of updatesThe Pixel Watch 2 is official with a Snapdragon W5 chipGoogle's Tensor G3 chip is focused on speeding up AI for the Pixel 8 phonesFolding iPad as soon as 2024, says report – but 2025 more likely As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant

This week we covered: Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal gets preliminary approval from UK regulatorGame on: FTC tries again to block Microsoft Activision mergerAnother console dad hangs up his spurs as PlayStation boss Jim Ryan announces he's retiring from Sony next yearCisco to acquire Splunk in $28B mega dealOnline Safety Bill passes in the UK w/o iMessage impact, but government not giving upNASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time — here’s why it mattersEpic Games is laying off more than 800 people: 'We've been spending way more money than we earn'Leaked Microsoft Docs Indicate Xbox Is Planning Next-Gen Hybrid Console For 2028 As always, we'd love to hear your comments Find us on Twitter @WeeklyTechRant