Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 01/05 – Bringing Back The Hardware Keyboard For Smartphones?

Starting point is 00:00:00 On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Friday, January 5th, 24. I'm Brian McCullough today. Another big Tesla recall this time in China. This time, all of them. Every car they ever sold, basically. BNPL is not dead, not if holiday shopping data is to be believed. That Blackberry-style iPhone keyboard case that everybody is talking about and, of course, the week on long-range suggestions. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Tesla is recalling virtually every car it ever sold in China, or more than 1.6 million vehicles. due to potential issues with autopilot, after you'll recall, a similar recall in the U.S. in December, quoting Bloomberg. The carmaker will deploy an over-the-air software fixed to more than 1.6 million

Starting point is 00:01:21 vehicles produced between August 2014 and December 20203, including locally built model 3s and model Ys and imported premium models, the state administration for market regulation said in a statement. Tesla drivers may misuse autopilot functions, increasing the risk of collisions and posing safety risk, the regulator said. The recall closely mirrors the carmaker's response last month to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, determining that it wasn't doing enough to ensure drivers were using autopilot correctly. NHTSA said it would keep open a years-long defect investigation to monitor the efficacy of the company's fixes to two million cars. Tesla also recalled 7,538 Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles in China to prevent

Starting point is 00:02:04 door latches from disengaging during a collision. This fixed vehicles produced between October 2022 and November 2023 also will be carried out via an over-the-air software update, end quote. Some interesting data from the holiday sales season, according to Adobe U.S. online holiday sales between November 1st and December 31st reached a record $22.1 billion, up 4.9% year-over-year. More interesting, buy now, pay later contributed a record $16.6 billion of that number up 14% year-over-year. I thought BNPL was dead, but, you know, 7% of online buying is not nothing, and it's apparently growing. Quoting payments. The season saw two other BNPL milestones.

Starting point is 00:02:57 November was the biggest month on record, $9.2 billion up 17.5% year-over-year, while Cyber Monday was the biggest day on record, 940 million, a 42 and a half percent increase from last year. In an uncertain demand environment, retailers leaned on discounting and flexible payment methods to entice shoppers this holiday season, Vivek Panya, lead analyst Adobe Digital Insight said in the news release, the strategy was effective, driving record spend online during big days like Cyber Monday and Black Friday and a record 11 days that surpassed $4 billion in daily spend this season, end quote. The holiday season also saw mobile shopping, outpace desktop sales, accounting for 51.1% of sales during November and December up from 47% in

Starting point is 00:03:38 2022. Mobile shopping hit its peak on Christmas Day, fueling 63% of all online sales. As consumers spend time with friends and family, many use their smartphones to take advantage of final deals or to redeem gift cards, Adobe said, end quote. Here's another interesting one. According to route package data, Amazon had 29% of global online order volume in the two weeks, before Christmas up from 21% in the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Quoting Bloomberg. It's a pretty sharp shift in how consumer shops said Michael Yamartino, Rout's chief executive officer. The top priority in the days leading up to Christmas is on-time delivery, and when Amazon says it will take two days, it only takes two days. It's a combination of speed and confidence, end quote.

Starting point is 00:04:23 Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, has touted speedy delivery as a key competitive advantage, saying shoppers are more inclined to buy something if they get it quickly. The company's logistics prowess has become increasingly important amid rising competition from such stalwarts as Walmart as well as Chinese e-commerce upstarts like Tamu, Shian, and TikTok, which offer steep discounts but can take a week or more to deliver packages, end quote. In July, Amazon announced its intention to expand its same-day delivery infrastructure twofold in the upcoming years. The company achieved record-breaking delivery speeds in the second quarter of 2023. Presently, Amazon operates over 50 same-day facilities across the United States, including in major urban areas. These facilities handle the shipping of approximately 200 million packages annually. Amazon's swiftest delivery services primarily accrue to its prime members. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reports that around 70% of prime orders in the U.S. are delivered within two days,

Starting point is 00:05:18 with nearly a quarter arriving within one day. In contrast, less than 15% of non-prime orders are delivered that quickly. Netflix is considering ways to make money from its foray into video games, which of course they are, but they seem to be focusing on in-app purchases and ads. Wait, I thought that gaming was just an audience retention thing. Maybe not, quoting the journal. Netflix games are currently free for all subscribers, part of a strategy, to keep users coming back to the streaming service when their favorite shows are between seasons as well as to attract new fans.

Starting point is 00:05:55 Some of the ideas that have been discussed include in-app purchases, charging for more sophisticated games it is developing or giving subscribers to its newest ad-supported tier access to games with ads in them, the people said. Such moves would mark a pivot for Netflix, which has resisted putting ads or in-app purchases in its games. Analysts have estimated that Netflix has spent about $1 billion on buying gaming studios and building the business. The company spends about $17 billion a year on its shows and movies.

Starting point is 00:06:24 Overall, Netflix games were downloaded 81.2 million times globally last year, a nearly threefold increase from the 28.7 million downloads it had in 2022, according to Censor Tower. That latest total is a fraction of the hundreds of millions of downloads for game companies such as Roblox and Activision, the publisher of the mega hit Candy Crush saga, end quote. Well, the cost of the investment may be explains why they suddenly want to charge for games or at least make money on them. $1 billion in gaming and you can't even best a middling hit in mobile app stores. Plus, according to Aptopia in October, less than 1% of Netflix users were gaming on the platform daily, less than 1%. So you can see Netflix probably needs to start making the experiment pay for itself if they want to keep running it.

Starting point is 00:07:17 OpenAI apparently plans to launch its GPT store next week. The store was originally slated to open in November. I did not know this, though it does make sense retrospectively. The rollout of the GPT store was delayed after that whole OpenAI leadership crisis. Meanwhile, remember this continuing narrative of AI companies going to media companies' checkbooks in hand? Well, the information says OpenAI offered some media firms only in the neighborhood of $1 to $5 million per year to license news articles for model training. That leaves an opening for, you know who, potentially, somebody with an infinite checkbook. Quote, meanwhile, Apple, which is trying to catch up to Open AI and Google in the generative artificial intelligence sector,

Starting point is 00:07:59 is also trying to strike deals with publishers for use of their content, said one executive, Apple is offering more money, but also wants the right to use content more widely than what Open AI is seeking, according to a person familiar with the matter. Apple wants to be able to use content for future AI products in any way the company deems necessary, this person said. Open AI is holding talks with as many as a dozen publishers, executives say, hoping to strike deals similar to those it is already done with Axel Springer, publisher of Politico and Business Insider, and the Associated Press. The owner of ChatGPT has concentrated most recently on negotiating deals with owners of global news publications rather than firms that

Starting point is 00:08:34 publish other types of content on subjects such as entertainment and lifestyle, said one executive. Details of the Axel Springer and AP deals couldn't be learned, but Axel Springer is receiving tens of millions of dollars over several years, according to industry executives. Axel Springer declined to comment, and the AP didn't respond to a request for comment. Publishers may be able to pressure Open AI to improve its terms by striking deals with rivals such as Apple. In recent weeks, Apple executives have told industry executives they are nearing AI. deals with about a dozen media companies, this person said. Apple had offered multi-year deals worth at least $50 million to news organizations, including NBC News, Condé Nast, which owns the New Yorker,

Starting point is 00:09:10 and IAC, parent company of the Daily Beast, the New York Times reported. Then there's Google. The search giant has developed its own LLMs. It is rolling out to consumers and corporate customers, but it has fallen behind Open AI and Apple in negotiating licensing agreements with publishers, a person familiar with the matter said. But Google has deeper ties than OpenAI and Microsoft. to publishers through existing products like Google News, a major source of traffic for news sites. It also has bespoke agreements with some publishers like The New York Times, under which the companies collaborate on distribution and advertising. A Google spokesperson didn't comment, end quote.

Starting point is 00:09:50 Every idea can come around again, even if it's been slightly discredited. Apple seemingly killed the idea of a hardware-blackberry-style keyboard for smartphones with their iPhone software-only keyboard. But there's a new company that wants to bring the physical, keyboard back even for iPhones via an attachment called Clicks. And even Apple partisans like John Gruber and Joanna Stern are seemingly on board with the idea and ordering some. Clicks is $139. It's basically a glorified iPhone case, but with a chin that plugs into the lightning or USB port at the bottom, and by doing so, gives you a physical keyboard once again. The versions for the iPhone 14 Pro ship

Starting point is 00:10:30 February 1st and 15 Pro versions mid-March, the 15 Pro Max. The 15 Pro Maxx. model runs you $20 more, and that doesn't ship till the spring. The folks behind this are Michael Fisher and Kevin Mitchelluk, aka Mr. Mobile and Crackberry Kevin on YouTube, quoting the verge. It connects to your phone like a backbone controller. Slide the phone in, carefully line up the phone's power port with the USBC or lightning connector jutting out from the inside edge and snap the case around the top. Clicks doesn't use Bluetooth, nor does it contain a battery, instead drawing power directly from the phone. According to Clix's site, the case supports pass-through fast-charging on the iPhone 15 Pro.

Starting point is 00:11:10 Fisher mentioned some drawbacks in his video about the new case. The obvious one is the size. Clicks will give the iPhone TV remote-like proportions, and that will probably feel pretty awkward at first. The case also doesn't have a built-in magnet, he said, so MagSafe accessories like chargers and wallets won't stick to it very well. But wireless charging should still work, end quote. According to Clix's press release, the Clix case was developed to address the issue of smartphone keyboards consuming too much screen real estate.

Starting point is 00:11:39 By incorporating physical keys, it allows users to fully engage with their apps and content. Clix is also launching a companion app in the Apple App Store, which promises to enhance the keyboard's capabilities over time. Initially, the case will be available in two colors, bumblebee yellow and London Sky Blue. As per Fisher's announcement, early purchasers will receive the Founders' editions of the case, granting them VIP support and early access to upcoming color options. The Clicks team also comprises former employees from notable companies like Apple, Blackberry, and Google. The company highlights that the keyboard is designed, especially for creators, which I kind of don't get.

Starting point is 00:12:15 Fisher points out the irony that smartphones abandoning physical keyboards happen while creators consistently use them on laptops and other devices. And yeah, did you know, iPhone keyboards have a command key, which means you can do keyboard shortcuts like typing Command H to go to the home screen. You probably didn't have a use for that before now, but I can see that being useful if the physical key is sitting right there. Take that copilot key on your Windows laptop. Time for the weekend long read suggestions.

Starting point is 00:12:55 First up, Politico takes a look at the odd fact that if you're a prominent, famous person, someone in the public eye, anyone can create a chatbot based on, say, your writings, your public appearances, and it's perfectly legal. Well, at least it's not illegal. They start with the example of famous psychologist Martin Seligman, quote, over two months by feeding every word Seligman had ever written into cutting edge AI software, he and his team had built an eerily accurate version of Seligman himself, a talking chatbot whose answers drew deeply from Seligman's ideas, whose pros sounded like a folksier version of Seligman's own speech and whose wisdom anyone could access. Impressed, Seligman circulated the chatbot to his closest

Starting point is 00:13:38 friends and family to check whether the AI actually dispensed advice as well as he did. I gave it to my wife and she was blown away by it, Seligman said. The bot, cheerfully nicknamed Ask Martin, had been built by researchers based in Beijing and Wuhan, originally without Seligman's permission or even awareness. In Southern California, tech entrepreneur Alex Fermanski created a chatbot version of Belgian celebrity psychotherapist Esther Perel by scraping her podcasts off the internet. He used the bot to counsel himself through a recent heartbreak, documenting his journey in a blog post that a friend eventually forwarded to Perel herself. Perel addressed AI Porell's existence at the 2023 South by Southwest conference. Like Seligman, she was more astonished than angry

Starting point is 00:14:20 about the replication of her personality. She called it artificial intimacy. Both Seligman and Perel eventually decided to accept the bots rather than challenge their existence. But if they wanted to shut down their digital replicas, it's not clear they would have had a way to do it. Training AI on copyrighted works isn't actually illegal. If the real Martin had wanted to block access to the fake one, a replica trained on his own thinking, using his own words to produce all new answers, it's not clear he could have done anything about it, end quote. Then the New York Times takes a look at how one of the new hot areas for VC investment, recently at least has been in defense tech, selling stuff to the military. This has led to a series

Starting point is 00:15:00 of Pentagon officials becoming VCs themselves or else joining or consulting for VC firms. Quote, retiring generals and departing top Pentagon officials once migrated regularly to the big established weapons makers like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Now they are increasingly flocking to venture capital firms that have collectively pumped billions of dollars into Silicon Valley-style startups offering the Pentagon new war-fighting tools like autonomous killer drones, hypersonic jets, and space surveillance equipment. This new route to the private sector is one indicator of the ways in which the United States is trying to become more agile and harnessing technological advances to maintain military superiority over China and other rivals. But the close ties between

Starting point is 00:15:37 venture capital firms and defense department decision makers have also put a new twist on long-running questions about industry access and influence at a time when the Pentagon is under pressure to rethink how it allocates its huge procurement budget, end quote. Finally, if you didn't hear, a 13-year-old boy in Oklahoma is believed to be the first person ever to beat Tetris, reaching a score of 999,999, thereby basically breaking the game. In the show notes, I'll link to both The Times article about this and the actual YouTube video if you want to watch the whole thing. It's pretty fun. This is the modern-day version of being the first person to climb Mount Everest, I would say. If you think I'm being facetious, I'm not. Look at how important

Starting point is 00:16:21 gaming is to modern life. Tetris is a totemic game in the history of video games. You wouldn't laugh at this achievement if someone, I don't know, beat chess, if that were even possible. That is all for you for me this week. No bonus episodes this weekend, but we've got some big ones coming down the pike. Get ready. Talk to you on Monday.

Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 01/05 – Bringing Back The Hardware Keyboard For Smartphones?

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