Tech Brew Ride Home - Mon. 10/02 – Apple Blames Instagram

Episode Date: October 2, 2023

Apple says your iPhone might be heating up because of… Instagram? Rumors suggest Apple has a search engine in its back pocket if it ever wants one. Chromebook Plus is the moniker for high end Chromebooks. And we have our first glimpse of that Humane wearable AI device. Sponsors: Collective.com/ride Kolide.com/ride Links: Apple Says iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Due to iOS 17 Bug, Not Hardware Design (CNET) Apple Has What It Needs to Launch Its Own Google Replacement (Bloomberg) Chromebook Plus is Google’s new certification for premium Chromebooks (The Verge) The synthetic social network is coming (Platformer) Humane shows off its wearable AI pin at Paris Fashion Week (Apple Insider) The official podcast development partner! Uptech.team! 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 TechMean right home for Monday, October 2nd, 2023. I'm Brian McCullough today. Apple says your iPhone might be heating up because of Instagram. Rumors suggest that Apple has a search engine in its back pocket if it ever wants to use one. Chromebook Plus is the moniker for high-end Chromebooks, and we have our first ever glimpse of that humane wearable AI device.

Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Apple has confirmed issues causing, quote, iPhone to run warmer than expected. like bugs in iOS 17, and apps like Uber and Instagram, which, hmm, quoting CNET. The company said the new phones' titanium frame and aluminum structure aren't contributing to the issue and that they dissipate heat better than the stainless steel used in prior pro models. We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected. Apple said in a statement to CNET, the device may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of increased background activity.

we have also found a bug in iOS 17 that is impacting some users and will be addressed in a software update. Another issue involves some recent updates to third-party apps that are causing them to overload the system. We're working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out, end quote. Tech reviewer Farouk Korkmas published a video earlier this week documenting his iPhone 15 Pro Max's temperature climbing to 98 degrees within minutes after he opened the Instagram app. The same thing occurred on his iPhone 14 Pro Max running iOS 17. Apple explained that recent updates to some third-party apps on iOS 17 like Instagram, Asphalt, and Uber overload the A17 Pro chip's CPU, causing the iPhone to get warmer than normal. The company is working with third-party developers to implement fixes. As a result, Instagram released an updated version of its app on September 27th. Neither Instagram, Uber nor Asphalt 9 developer GameLoft immediately responded to requests for comment. There's no word when the software update that addresses the iOS 17 bug will come out, but Apple did explain that the fix won't reduce the iPhone's performance.

In terms of charging, Apple said the 15 Pro and Pro Max support any USBC adapter that's compliant with the USBC standard, including USB power delivery. The company said the iPhone regulates itself to cap charging to a max 27 watts, and that if you're using a 20-watt or higher charger, the phone can temporarily get warmer as a result. Apple's support page notes that the iPhone may feel warm, when you first set it up, restore it from a backup or wirelessly charge it. That's been my experience with a number of previous iPhone models and Android phones. If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max and are experiencing overheating, there are a few things you can try until Apple releases the iOS 17 update.

Turn on low power mode from the control center or in the battery section of the settings app. This will kill any background tasks, temporarily limit the display's refresh rate to 60 hertz, and reduce the brightness. Don't keep your phone in direct sunlight or in an extremely hot environment for prolonged periods, and if, like Corkmas, you suspect an app might be the issue, disable background refresh for that app under the general section in the Settings app, end quote. Now, I said, hmm, at the start of this, because people have some theories like Patrick Moorhead, who said on Twitter, quote, I stick with my thesis that the three nanometer TSM

system on a chip didn't come in at spec. How many years have these issue-causing apps been on iOS? Instagram, 13 years, Uber, 13 years. Asphalt, 11 years. Sure, the code and OS has evolved, but there should be no surprises like this. Maybe the new and giant NPU, end quote. But other people are suggesting sabotage, like is Zuck finally getting his revenge on Apple by making Instagram make the iPhone look bad? Probably not, but as Sebastian DeWith said on Twitter, quote, "'20203. iPhone can take 30S photos at night showing the Milky Way. It can analyze and identify plant species in real time with AI and send an SOS message to a satellite in space.

Instagram showing a feed of photos, however, can stress it to the point of heating up to 100 plus degrees, end quote. Sticking with Apple for a second, sources are telling Bloomberg that John Giann Andrea's team inside Apple have built a next generation search engine, codenamed Pegasus, for Apple's own apps, might already be used right now in Spotlight and Siri, but it might also be coming soon to the App Store. Quote, If the iPhone maker's internal search technology ever gets into tip-top shape, Apple could theoretically offer customers a more integrated and private solution compared

with Google. The public has already gotten a glimpse of what this could look like. The company built its own search engines for services like the App Store, Maps, Apple TV, and News. John G. and Andrea, a former Google executive who now oversees machine learning and AI at Apple, has a giant search team under him. Over the past few years, his group developed a next-generation search engine for Apple's apps codenamed Pegasus. That technology which more accurately surfaces results is already available in some Apple apps, but will soon be coming to more, including the App Store itself. But the best evidence of Apple's search efforts can be seen in Spotlight, which helps users find things

across their devices. A couple of iOS and MacOS versions ago, Apple started adding web search results to this tool, pointing users directly to sites that might answer their questions. During different points in time. Those results were powered either by Microsoft's Bing or Alphabet's Google. Siri also uses that technology to offer up web results. G&Andrea's team is now looking to more deeply integrate Apple's search features into the iOS and macOS experience and potentially bolster the technology with its new generative AI tools. A few years ago, Apple introduced a web crawler called Applebot, light crawlers from Google and Microsoft. This system scours the internet to index websites for future search results. It essentially exists to find sites that it can provide to users

in Siri and Spotlight. Apple also has its own advertising technology team, which will be helpful if its search ambitions grow. That group runs the search ad functions in the app store, delivers ads to Apple News, and the stocks and weather apps, and negotiates the advertising deals for streaming sports. That group already has many of the skills and salespeople needed to become the start of an advertising group for web search. To be clear, the technology at the heart of Spotlight and App searches is limited compared to what Google can do, but it does provide the underpinnings if Apple ever wanted to release a full search engine. AI also gives Apple a potential opening. The company's machine learning team has been seeking new engineers to work on search

technologies, and Apple has made acquisitions that could lay the groundwork for a search engine. In 2019, it bought Laser-like, an AI-based search engine founded by former Google employees. Many of its leaders have since returned to Google, but the team still operates at Apple, end quote. Google has announced the Chromebook Plus certification for premium Chromebooks, with qualifying specs like a 1080P webcam and display, 8 gigabytes of RAM, and at least 128 gigabytes of storage. Quoting the Verge. Much like Intel's Evo program for Windows PCs,

the Chromebook Plus branding will be awarded to laptops that meet a set of minimum requirements. The idea is that even a shopper who's not familiar with PC specs can see the Chromebook Plus label on a product, and be assured that Google thinks it's a good product. Chromebook Plus devices must have an Intel Core I3 or Higher or AMD Risen 7,000 CPU, an iPS panel with at least 1080P resolution, a 1080P webcam, 8 gigabytes of RAM, and at least 128 gigabytes of storage. There's an interesting absence here, battery life. In fact, the phrase battery life does not appear once in Google's press release. Curious.

I asked Google spokesperson Peter Do about this, and he provided the following statement, quote, All Chromebooks are required to meet a 10-hour's battery life requirement based on internal testing standards. While not a new requirement for Chromebook Plus, like the 1080P screen or 8 gigabytes of RAM, Chromebook Plus laptops must also adhere to this, end quote. I mean, I suppose, I'd love to know what these internal testing standards are. Regardless, Chromebooks are generally thought of as portable devices. Battery life contributes heavily to our product's viability as an on-the-go driver, and I have to wonder why it wasn't any sort of a priority here.

Chromebooks that receive the Plus certification will have access to a few exclusive AI-powered features, some, but not most of which, were demoed at a press event last week. These include a magic eraser tool in Google Photos, which can automatically remove background elements, improvements to lighting and noise cancellation in video conferencing and offline file sync, which automatically downloads files from Drive onto your device, something I'd be nervous about considering the sheer volume I have stored on Drive. More fancy things are on the way, including AI-generated wallpapers that you can create with text prompts, and a personal writing assistant, which sounds incredibly entertaining.

Chromebook Plus products also come with a three-month subscription to Photoshop on the web, and three months of G-Force Now's priority tier, RIP stadia, end quote. In one of his newsletters last week, Casey Newton made the point that between ChatGPT's surprisingly human voices that they introduced last week and Meta's AI characters recently introduced, we may be witnessing the rise of a new consumer internet era featuring synthetic companions. In other words, the world of that movie, Her, might be closer than we think. Quote, on Monday, OpenAI announced the latest updates for ChatGBTGPT. One feature lets you interact with its large language model via voice.

Another lets you upload images and ask questions about them. The result is that a tool which was already useful for lots of things suddenly became useful for much more. For one thing, ChatGPT feels even more powerful as a mobile app. You can now chat with it while walking around town or snap a picture of a tree and ask the app what you're looking at. For another, though, adding a voice to ChatGBTGBTBT begins to give it a hint of personality. I don't want to overstate the case here. The app typically generates dry, sterile text unadorned by any hint of style. But something changes when you begin speaking with the app in one of its five native voices,

which are much livelier and more dynamic than what we are used to with Alexa or the Google Assistant. The voices are earnest, upbeat, and by nature of the fact that they are powered by an LLL L.M. Tireless. It is the earliest stage of all this. Access to the voice feature is just rolling out to chat GPT plus subscribers and free users won't be able to use it for some time. And yet, even in this 1.0 release, you can see the clear outlines of the sort of thing popularized in the decade-old film, Her. A companion so warm, empathetic, and helpful that in time, users fall in love with it. The Her comparisons are by now cliche when discussing AI in Silicon Valley, and yet, until now, its basic premise has felt like a distant sci-fi dream. On Thursday, I asked the speaking version of

chat GPT to give me a pep talk to hit my deadline. I was running back from the code conference and already behind schedule. And as the model did its best to gas me up, it seemed to me that AI had taken an emotional step forward. And you can imagine the next steps from here. A bot that gets to know your quirks, remembers your life history, offers you coaching or tutoring or therapy, entertains you in whatever way you prefer, a synthetic companion not unlike the real people you encounter during the day. Only smarter, more patient, more empathetic, more available. Open AI tends to present its products as productivity tools, simple utilities for getting things done. Meta, on the other hand, is in the entertainment business, but it too is building LLMs, and on Wednesday the company

revealed that it had found its own uses for generative AI invoices. In addition to an all-purpose AI assistant, the company unveiled 28 personality-driven chatbots to be used in meta's messaging apps. Celebrities including Charlie Demelio, Dwayne Wade, Kendall Jenner, Mr. Beast, Snoop Dog, Tom Brady, and Paris Hilton lent their voices to the effort. Each of these characters comes with a brief and often cringeworthy description. Mr. Beast's Zach is billed as the Big Brother who will roast you because he cares. A new chapter of social networking may be beginning. Until now, when we have talked about AI and consumer apps, it has mostly had to do with ranking. using machine learning tools to create more engaging and personalized feeds for billions of users.

This week, we got at least two new ways to think about AI and social feeds. One is AI-generated imagery in the form of the new stickers coming to the meta's messaging apps. It's unclear to me how much time people want to spend creating custom images when they text their friends, but the demonstrations seemed nice enough. More significantly, I think, is the idea that meta plans to place its AI characters on every major surface of its products. They'll have Facebook pages and Instagram accounts. You will message them in the same inbox that you message your friends and family. Soon, I imagine, they will be making reels. And when that happens, feeds that were once defined by the connections they enabled between human beings will have become something else, a partially synthetic social network. Will it feel more personalized, engaging, and entertaining, or will it feel uncanny, hollow, and junkie? Surely there will be a range of views on this, but either way, I think something new is coming into focus, end quote. Today, apparently at Fashion Week in Paris, we got our first teased look at the Humane

Wearable AI thingy. And it looks kind of like how we thought, quoting Apple Insider. For more than five years, Humane was the firm founded by ex-Apple executives. That was definitely going to make something big someday. Then, for the start of what has become a teasingly slow rollout, Humane revealed that it was making a new wearable that looks like the communicator badges in Star Trek the next generation. In July 2023, the company announced that the device would be called the Humane AI PIN. Despite one short demo, which revealed some of its functions without really revealing its form, the devices remained a mystery. However, black and white versions of the Humane AI PIN have now been seen worn by models from the Paris-based fashion house Coperni at their

24 spring summer show at Paris Fashion Week. Humane describes the device as a, quote, screenless, standalone device and software platform built from the ground. up for AI. While not saying whether wearers need to tap the device and only then say things like Picard to Enterprise, the company does say that there is no wake word and therefore no always on listening. Humane has also repeated that the pin doesn't need to be paired to a smartphone and that it is powered by an unspecified Snapdragon processor by Qualcomm. Some sort of unveiling of the device is coming on November 9th. It's not known whether this will be an actual launch of the product. However, Humane has a priority access wait list for people to do.

to be alerted when the device goes on sale, end quote. Click through to the link to the story in the show notes to see a picture. One week from today, I will be in San Francisco for the first ever AI Engineers Summit, and I'd like to see if we could set up a listener meetup for a week from today for October 9th. The conference itself is at the Hotel Niko, which is 2-2-2 Mason Street, and the last time when I was out there for the comedy show, folks were able to hook us up with a bar nearby the show to host a mutant podcast army get together. So I'm putting the word out again, but this time does anyone know a bar nearby

the Hotel Nico that could host, if it's the same as last time, around 30-ish people for a happy hour around, let's call it 7 p.m. If so, get in touch with me at Brian at Techmeme.com. Thanks in advance.