Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 01/06 – CES Wrapup Part 2

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

OpenAI is raising more money. Apple’s headset launch might be delayed to the summer. But no worries, cause HTC unveiled their 099 Vive XR Elite headset to beat them to the punch. And that leads us into the CES wrapup for day two, including, the most interesting two laptops I’ve seen in a very long time. A true smarthome solution if you care about power. And the new electric trucks that have turned my head. Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: ChatGPT Creator in Investor Talks at $29 Billion Valuation (WSJ) Kuo: Apple's Mixed-Reality Headset Likely to Debut at Spring Media Event or WWDC (MacRumors) HTC Vive XR Elite: Another Mixed-Reality Headset Arriving Ahead of Apple (CNET) Lenovo’s new Yoga Book 9i laptop has a second screen above its screen (The Verge) OLED plus E Ink: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Twist is halfway to my dream laptop (The Verge) Coming soon: smart homes where the electricity isn’t so dumb (The Verge) Ram 1500 Revolution brings muscle car energy — and tons of gimmicks — to EV truck race (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 6, 2023. I'm Brian McCullough today. OpenAI is raising more money.

Apple's headset launch might be delayed to the summer, but no worries because HTC unveiled their 5XR elite headset to beat them to the punch. And that leads us to the CES wrap-up for day two, including the most interesting two laptops I've seen in a very long time, a true smart home solution if you care about power, and the new electric trucks that have turned my head. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Sources are telling the journal that Open AI is in talks to raise more than $300 million

from Thrive and Founders Fund in a tender offer, valuing the company at around $29 billion, which would be up from the $14 billion valuation that it got in its 2021 tender offer. Quote, the deal is structured as a tender offer with the investors buying shares from existing shareholders such as employees, the people said. Microsoft has also been in advance talks to increase its investment in Open AI, the journal reported. In 2019, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI and became its preferred partner for commercializing new technologies for services like search engine, Bing, and design app Microsoft design. OpenAI, led by technology investor Sam Altman, was founded as a nonprofit in 2015,

with the goal of pursuing artificial intelligence research for the benefit of humanity. Its initial backers included Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, LinkedIn, co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Mr. Altman. Under Mr. Altman, OpenAI created a for-profit arm in 2019 so it could more easily raise money to fund the computing power needed to train its algorithms. It took a quicker approach to releasing its AI models to the public than larger competitors like Alphabet's Google, which has been slower to publicize its technology in part due to ethical concerns. Mr. Altman said in December that OpenAI has no plans to get acquired or go public, meaning investors would likely only be able to

cash out through secondary share sales. Mr. Altman, has recently told investors that the company would soon be able to generate up to $1 billion in annual revenue in part by charging consumers and businesses for its products. The journal has reported, end quote. Ming Chi Kuo says that due to various issues, Apple is more likely to debut its mixed reality headset in the spring or at WWDC rather than in January as previously predicted, quoting Mac rumors. Quo said the development delays with the headset currently stem from, quote, issues with mechanical drop testing and the availability of software development tools. Quoting, quote, directly, Apple's AR-M-R headset development is behind

scheduled due to issues with mechanical component drop testing and the availability of software development tools, meaning that mass shipment of this device may postpone from the original second quarter of 2023 to the end of the second quarter of 2023 or the third quarter. As a result, it is increasingly unlikely that Apple will hold a media event for the new device in January. At this point, it seems more likely that Apple will announce the AR-M-R headset at a Spring Media Event or WWDC based on the current development progress. An extensive report from the information earlier this week detailed a long list of features for the long-rumored device, including a digital crown-like dial for transitioning between virtual and physical view modes,

and potentially a waste-mounted battery pack, end quote. Well, more time for people to get out ahead of Apple's release, I suppose. At CES, HTC did just that, unveiling the $1,099-V-XR Elite headset with a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip, 110-degree field of view, and two 90-hertz 2K LCD displays available in February. Quoting CNET. While less expensive than the Quest Pro, the XR Elite's price costs about as much as buying a PS5 and PSVR2 together. It's far from an impulse purchase. But the hardware, which shrinks down the VR form to a pair of nearly glasses like goggles, and includes mixed reality capabilities that could allow for AR apps, looks to solve how we'll be using the Metaverse for more in our lives than just games, simulation, and fitness. No other company has really cracked

this challenge either, but this Vive headset looks more than ever like it's a stepping stone to future AR glasses. The XR Elite is primarily a standalone VR headset, and it looks like an impressive piece of tech. It has a familiar Qualcomm-Snapdagnon XR2 chip, much like the MetaQuest 2, Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Vives existing business focus, Focus 3. But it adds a higher resolution 110-degree field of view, LCD displays with 2K resolution per eye that can run at 90 Hertz. There's also a boosted 12 gigabytes of RAM along with 128 gigabytes of storage. It can connect to PCs to run Steam VR or HTC's VyVort software or connect with Android phones. But its potential as a bridge to AR experiences seems like the most impressive feature.

Those are just specs, though. The XR Elite is a VR headset with a similar proposition to previous models, but with expanded capabilities. Its compact size is the most surprising part. At 340 grams, it's less than half the weight of the Quest Pro. The rear-hot, swapable battery gives about two hours of life. It gets even smaller by unclipping the back battery strap and adding glasses arms that can turn the headset into a modified pair of VR glasses, which could just plug into an external USBC charger or battery for power. It's small enough to fit in a compact carrying case tube, but that compact size comes with a twist.

Instead of fitting on top of glasses, the XR Elite uses adjusting dials or diopters, which can change the lens prescription on the fly without you needing to wear glasses at all, for some people at least. The diopters only accommodate up to a negative six prescription, but my own vision is over negative 8 for near-sightedness. It's a challenge HTC faced with its even smaller Vive Flow phone-connected VR goggles, which also went for the glasses-free approach. The XR Elite has a dedicated depth sensor on the front, along with color pass-through cameras that can eventually show mixed reality experiences similar to the Quest Pro. The Quest Pro doesn't have the Elite's added depth sensor, but it accommodates for that with its onboard cameras, end quote. You know what? Since we just did that, let's go right into the CES wrap up with one of the wildest, coolest-looking laptops I've

maybe ever seen. It's Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i, a laptop with two 13.3-inch OLED displays. It's available in June 2023 for more than $2,100 with a 13th-gen-in Intel Core I7U15 chip and 16 gigabytes of RAM, but the key thing here is the two screens. You might need to click through to the video to see what we're talking about here, but quoting the verge, this device is part laptop, part tablet, and all quirks. It comes with a removable keyboard that can be positioned in a few different ways. It can be attached to the front of the laptop, with the two screens stacked vertically, attached to the front with the two screens spread open like a book, or placed on top of the lower screen for use like a slightly more typical laptop. I say slightly, because using the keyboard this

way either means a keyboard in the front setup, like the Asis Zenbook Pro 14 Duo Oled, or sliding it forward to get a virtual trackpad in front, making it reminiscent of another quirky Lenova laptop that had a lot of compromises. If that's not enough ways to use it, you can just nope that keyboard right out of those configurations and use it unattached from the device wirelessly. Lenova may refer to this thing as a laptop, but it's essentially a tablet with a bunch of options for transforming it into different laptop adjacent shapes. Myriad keyboard and virtual trackpad arrangements aside, the star of the show here are those double-stacked screens. Those two OLED panels support 2.8K resolution, HDR, multi-touch gestures, and are a matching 13.3 inches in size with a 16 by 10 aspect ratio for a little more vertical space.

Between them is where four Bowers and Wilkins' branded speakers are housed, which include two tweeters and support for Dolby Atmos. while the Yoga Book 9i may look massive and frankly like it might easily topple over, the laptop and its kickstand fold down to a fairly compact package, like toting around a regular 13-inch laptop and a mini portfolio with a pen. Lenovo sees this laptop as ideal for hybrid and on-the-go productivity so you can be the coolest-looking person at the cafe working on some incredibly tall spreadsheets, at least unless an absolute unit like this strolls in. The Yoga Book 9I will start at $2,99.99 with a 13th-gen-I-7U-15 processor, Intel Iris XE

graphics, 16 gigabytes of RAM, and a 512 or 1 terabyte SSD when it arrives in June. It also comes with a pen for note-taking or drawing on either display, end quote. But that's not all. This also seriously gets my attention, also from Lenovo, adding color E-ink to save on battery life on a laptop. Say hello to the Thinkbook Plus Twist. Quoting the Verge again, not only does it have a 13.3 inch 400-knit 60 Hertz 2.8K OLED touchscreen that covers 100% of the DCIP3 color gamut. You can swivel its screen around to reveal another 12-inch color E-ink touchscreen on the back, one that refreshes 12 times a second at 12 hertz, which definitely felt slow in a demo,

but isn't bad for E-ink technology. In case you need a refresher, E-Aink is an ultra-low-powered screen tech, thanks to dye-filled microcapsules that largely stay stable, continually displaying an image until you refresh the screen to show something else instead. They're used in e-readers like the Amazon Kindle that measure their battery life in months instead of hours, but can't display many colors or offer smooth refresh rates. But with Lenova's laptop, they don't necessarily need to, because you've also got that glorious OLED panel on the other side. as a writer who sometimes needs my laptop to go a full workday and beyond, but also sometimes watches video. This could be the best of both worlds. Windows on E-ink for reading and writing,

Windows on O-led for everything else. Just don't expect Kindle battery life out of a laptop like this, since you've got the overhead of running Windows on its 13th gen Intel processor, up to 16 gigabytes of RAM and 1 terabyte of PCI-E Gen 4 storage, rather than a simple E-reader chip. Lenovo's estimating up to 21 hours of battery life from its 56 watt hour battery using the E-ink screen, and it isn't providing context about what kind of content you can run for 21 hours at a time. This also isn't quite my next laptop because it's lacking any full-sized ports with just a pair of Thunderbolt 4 USBC jacks and a 3.5 millimeter audio jack to its name, and I hesitate to buy a laptop with a squared-off front edge that'll likely dig into my wrist. Plus, the OLED screen should

probably be a high refresh rate 120 hertz 16 by 10 panel, like the ones that ASIS is shipping if you really want my money. This isn't the first Lenovo laptop with an identically twisty hinge or the first to add a second E-ink screen, but I've always been mystified by where Lenovo chose to put those secondary screens in the past. First, it tried to replace the keyboard with E-ink, and then it effectively stuck an E-reader on the lid of a laptop that you could only really use closed. Now it feels like it's finally in the right place. And even if it's, if it's not my dream laptop yet, it's a working blueprint, end quote. Dad, tech nerd, me really wants to make my home a smart home, not the gadget way, but for the power.

I might need to get on board with this particular wagon, quoting the verge. I don't know if Schneider Electric will be the one to crack it, but I like what it's promising here at CES 2023, a smart home where the electrical circuits themselves are smart enough to keep your house powered, save on your energy bill, manage solar and charge electric vehicles all through a single app. Schneider Electric isn't a household name, but there's a good chance you've got one of its Square D circuit breakers in your home. The company says four in ten U.S. households already do. Today it's announcing an ecosystem of gadgets that won't be hidden inside your walls, including an entire smart main electrical panel called the Schneider pulse that can control its own relays and act as the brains. A 7.6 kilowatt inverter large enough, for whole home solar and a pair of batteries with a dedicated EV charging port. A wall-mountable,

stackable 10-kilowatt-hour battery called the Schneider boost that can fit right beneath the inverter, an 11.5-kilawatt level 2 EV charger, which sadly only charges rather than using your EV as a battery for your home, and an array of smart outlets, dimmers, and light switches that the system can both control and monitor, which work with Alexa and Google Home. What's the big deal, might ask, can't you buy all those pieces from any number of companies? Yes, you can, and some systems try to balance solar, battery backup, and car charging to some degree. But if you buy two or more of these Schneider home products, the company is promising some snazzy synergy. Want to know how much power every individual device in your home is using? Combine the main

panel and outlets, and you'll be able to measure that three different ways. Not only can it calculate consumption at each outlet, but also every breaker. And it's got an integrated algorithmic energy monitor powered by sense that can try to estimate what each individual device is using by listening for its electronic signature. Power outage, if you've got the inverter and backup battery, the app promises to let you selectively choose which devices should keep running and which to turn off at the circuit, outlet, switch, or even light fixture level. In Schneider's example, it'll even nudge you into choices that might make a difference, like remotely turning off an air conditioner or EV charging. Then it'll tell you when the power returns so you can resume.

And with the main panel and inverter, Snyder claims homeowners will be able to install an EV charger, even if the electrical service line running to their house would normally be undersized for the task, end quote. And finally, today I continue to be impressed with how electrification is allowing automakers to rethink the truck. The Ford F-150 Lightning takes full advantage of basically being a battery on wheels to power a whole construction site, all of your tools, and whatnot. Well, RAM is a bit behind the game when it comes to electric trucks, but their RAM-1-500 revolution suggests that they want to catch up fast. Quoting the Verge. With a low roof line relative to the truck bed and aggressive LED lighting up front and outback,

complete with very lit-up RAM tuning fork logos, the concept is a little bolder and more experimental in design than direct competitors from Ford and GM. It's more Rivian than F-150 Lightning. It also has a full glass roof with electrochromatic panels that darkened on command. The Ram Revolution looks and feels like a truck companion to the Dodge Charger Daytona EV concept that debuted a few months ago. And like that, Electric Muscle Cars artificial whale to simulate engine noise, Dodge apparently decided it's just not the same if the car doesn't wake up the entire neighborhood upon even a modest application of throttle. The RAM concept goes heavy on gadgets and

special features. Here, though, many of them aid in towing, hauling, parking, or just impressing passengers. The concept features a pass-through midgate, remember the old Chevy Avalanche. It's a feature beloved by many truck owners, but still not a common one, although more EVs like the Electric Silverado and GMC Sierra are going that route. That helps with accommodating big items for storage and hauling, as does the RAM Revs Frunk, which includes hooks for groceries, power outlets, and storage accessories. The Midgate also has third row jump seats that can exist slightly outside the vehicle, though they're not quite as in the bed as a Subaru brat. Safety rules have changed a lot since 1978. Then there's shadow mode, which lets the truck follow the driver walking ahead of it.

This voice-activated feature can be useful in situations where the driver needs to move a short distance and doesn't want to get back in the truck, such as when picking up tools or equipment from a job site, Ram said in a statement. The truck will follow the driver at a safe distance, using sensors and camera technology to navigate around obstacles, end quote. Inside, there are almost no buttons, as most functions are relegated to a touchscreen, but that screen can be removed and used as a standalone tablet. And the EV's packaging advantage allows the whole cabin to be four inches longer than a conventional RAM-1500.

And in yet another sign that automakers are getting serious about virtual assistance and Metaverse-style features. See also BMW's entire CES keynote presentation and concept car. The Revolution also features an AI-powered voice. assistant with a ram-shaped 3D avatar that functions as the truck's face. There's more, including a retracting steering wheel when level 3 plus autonomous driving is engaged, an exterior projector that plays movies outside the truck, smart home adjustments from the infotainment system, and an intelligent storage app that uses augmented reality to let drivers measure objects to make sure

they'll fit in the truck. What we do know is that the revolution is a proper body-on-frame truck that directly integrates the battery pack and sends electric power to all four wheels. It also features four-wheel steering to ease lower speed maneuvers like parking and towing. When it goes into production, the truck will need to bring big range numbers, something American drivers are obsessed with, especially in non-urban areas where trucks dominate, including when it has to tow something heavy. The competition is heating up. Rivian's large battery pack gets around 300 miles, and the even bigger max battery aims to put down around 400 miles.

The F-150 Lightning currently offers up to 320 miles of range, and GM Silverado EV is claiming up to 400. With more and more EVs targeting 500 miles of range or more in the coming years, Ram's final production truck could swing for the fences. The automaker does say the Rev concept here can add up to 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes on an 800-volt DC fast charger, end quote. No bonus episodes this weekend, but that gives me a chance to suggest you try out our sibling podcast once again. It's called Cool Stuff Ride Home. And instead of just covering the coolest new tech, it's the coolest things in everything, culture, science, history, what have you.

This week, Jack covered a vaccine for bees, a device that won't let you type LOL unless it actually hears you laughed out loud. A global vault holding poop might be joining the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to preserve the human microbiome. And why the body of Gregor Mendel, father of genetics, was dug up. It was to check his DNA, of course. Search your podcast app for Cool Stuff Ride Home and check it out. Talk to you on Monday.