Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 12/21 – Big Galaxy S24 Spec Leaks; And What Is “Galaxy AI?”

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

The Galaxy S24 lineup had a big spec leak. So what do the new phones have and what is Galaxy AI? Get ready cause the Apple Vision Pro hype tsunami is about to wash over us. A big merger might happen soon to confirm the consolidation phase of the Streaming Wars is upon us. Waymo has data that says its robot drivers are safer. And Apple doesn’t do the little things anymore? How about making a version of Car Play just for two specific car brands? Links: Leaked Samsung S24 spec sheet offers complete picture of the upcoming lineup (The Verge) Apple Ramps Up Vision Pro Production, Aiming for Launch by February (Bloomberg) Apple loses attempt to halt Apple Watch sales ban (The Verge) Scoop: Warner Bros. Discovery in talks to merge with Paramount Global (Axios) Waymo has 7.1 million driverless miles — how does its driving compare to humans? (The Verge) Aston Martin, Porsche Preview Bespoke Apple CarPlay Interfaces (Car And Driver) 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 Thursday, December 21st, 2023. I'm Brian McCullough today. The Galaxy S-24 lineup had a big spec leak. So what do the new phones have? And what is Galaxy AI? Get ready because the Apple Vision Pro hype tsunami is about to wash over us all. A big merger might happen soon

to confirm the consolidation phase of the streaming wars is upon us. Waymo has data that says its robots are safer and Apple doesn't do the little things anymore. How about making a version of CarPlay just for two specific car brands. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. We are almost into January, y'all, which means the first half of the year gadget season is about to begin, which means CES, which means new galaxy flagship phones from Samsung. Prolific leaker Evan Blas has posted a spec sheet for the Galaxy S-24 plus and ultra phones.

Also a purported countdown to a Galaxy unpacked event, he says it's happening on January 17th. and he says it has the tagline Galaxy AI is coming. What is Galaxy AI? More on that in a second. First, the specs, quoting the verge. Samsung is once again planning to offer three models as part of the range. There's the standard Galaxy S24 with a 6.2 inch screen, the S24 plus, which goes up to 6.7 inches, and the S24 Ultra, which has a screen 6.8 inches in size. The spec sheet lists all three as being powered by Qualcomm's latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, although rumors suggest that outside the U.S., Canada, and China, the phones will be powered by Samsung's own Exinos 2400. For cameras, the S-24 Ultra looks to have a 200-mepixel main

sensor, same as the S-23 Ultra, while the S-24 and S-24 Plus top out at 50 megapixels. The S-24 Ultras telephoto lens will offer a zoom of up to 10x, while the other two models can go up to 3x. Other rumored camera specs include 10-machixel telephoto sensors on the S-24. 24 and S-24 plus, and a pair of telephoto lenses on the Ultra, 150 megapixel with a 5x optical zoom, which can reportedly be cropped to offer 10x zoom, and one 10 megapixel with 3x optical zoom. All three phones are rumored to have 12 megapixel ultra-wides and 12 megapixel selfie cameras. In terms of batteries, according to the leak spec sheet, the S-24 has a 4,000-m-a-hour

capacity, the S-24-4-900, and the Ultra 5,000-mila-a-a-a-a-hour capacity. There's IP68 water and dust resistance across the range, and the spec sheet confirms that the S-24 Ultra will use titanium in its construction versus aluminum in the S-24 and S-24 plus, end quote. Now, as for the question of what is Galaxy AI? Last month, the Korea Times revealed Samsung's gauze, an AI model possibly featuring in the new Galaxy S-24 series. It would be an on-device AI model that could generate and edit images, compose emails, summarize text, assist in coding, and translate calls in real time, potentially giving Samsung a competitive edge against Google's AI-powered pixel.

Another thing I need to prepare you for is that we are about to hit a major Apple product hype cycle in the next couple of months. This isn't the usual, oh, there's an Apple event, a new iPhone, new Macs, whatever. No. This is a major new product rollout from Apple, something that happens only every five years or so. This will be only the fourth major new product rollout of the modern Apple era, the iPhone, of course, the one that kicked off the modern era, the iPad, the Apple Watch, and now the Vision Pro. It's coming. Mark German says that Apple expects customer-bound units

of the Vision Pro to be ready by the end of January with a retail debut planned for February. Battened down the hatches, people, gird your loins, whatever analogy you want. Forget about New Year predictions for what will be big in tech in 2024. For the first few months of 2024, it'll be all about the Vision Pro in terms of hype, even if very few people actually buy them. Quoting Bloomberg, production of the new headset is running at full speed at facilities in China and has been for several weeks, according to the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The company sent an email to software developers on Wednesday, encouraging them to, quote, get ready for the Vision Pro by testing their apps with the latest

tools and sending their software to Apple for feedback. It's another sign of an approaching release. The rollout will be Apple's most complex product launch yet, requiring entirely new sales strategies and equipment. The headset has customized components that need to be assembled and boxed up at the point of sale. It's also a delicate process. If the Vision Pro isn't fitted to a user's head correctly, the device won't show content properly and may feel extra heavy. Apple is focused on making a good first impression. That includes sprucing up its retail stores, which will make room for inventory and new fixtures for the $3,500 device. In addition to stocking up on headsets, stores will need accessories like head straps, light seals, and prescription lenses.

The Vision Pro's multiple sizes and configurations will necessitate more storage space, and Apple will need new demonstration areas and places for employees to box up the headset with correctly sized accessories, end quote. Mark says that Apple is hard at work, prepping retail workers to demo this new fangled product. The company plans to host extensive training sessions at its headquarters next month. Those sessions scheduled to start in the first week of January will be conducted in multiple waves each lasting two days. The goal is to equip at least two employees from every Apple retail store with in-depth knowledge about the Vision Pro. These selected employees responsible for overseeing the sales of the Vision Pro at their respective stores and imparting their newfound expertise to their colleagues, essentially. become product ambassadors and trainers within their stores. During their time at Apple HQ and Cupertino, these retail representatives will receive hands-on training on the Vision Pro's functionalities and features. Their curriculum is designed to cover everything from the basic operations of the device to the nuances of its special features, such as attaching the headband,

fitting optional prescription lenses, and properly using the light seal, which is apparently crucial for optimal user experience by preventing external light interference. A significant part of the training will delve into developing new customer interaction skills, particularly focusing on the proper etiquette for fitting the device on customers. This includes ensuring comfort while adjusting the device around the face and head. To complement this, Apple is also developing a specialized app that scans customers' heads to suggest the most suitable headband and light seal. However, it will be up to the trained retail staff to verify and confirm the app's recommendations during the actual sale, ensuring a personalized and accurate fitting for each customer.

Mark says, we're unlikely to have another event for the Vision Pro, because Apple knows not everyone is going to rush right out and buy a $3,500 device. Better to have everyone line up to demo it. Also, if somehow these things do fly off the shelf, that would be a problem in and of itself because Apple would suddenly find itself unable to manufacture enough devices to meet demand. So they're trying to thread a needle here in terms of hype, but not too much hype. I think that actually if we did see an event of some kind, something tells me we would see it around something like education. Apple wants to sell these things to schools, which is a market

no one has quite cracked in the VR-A-R space. Kind of makes you realize why they spent so much effort, allowing you to see people's faces inside the goggles. Imagine a room full of school kids wearing these things, but still being able to see and interact with their teachers. We should probably follow up on this because it's still happening in the background. The USITC has denied Apple's motion to stay the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 import and sales ban while they're waiting for an appeal

to work its way through the courts. Now, President Biden can veto this ban, but if he doesn't, doesn't that mean these devices start becoming unavailable, what was it, a few days from now? Quoting the verge. On Monday, Apple announced its plans to pool the watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from store shelves in response to an October ruling from the ITC, which said the company's SPO2 sensors infringed on patents from medical device maker Massimo, the last day to purchase the watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from Apple stores is December 24th, while the import ban officially goes into effect on December 26. Apple is already exploring ways it can avoid the ban, including by implementing software changes, according to Bloomberg. For the reasons discussed in the Commission opinion issued

concurrently, herewith, the Commission has determined to deny Apple's motion to stay the remedial orders pending appeal and or in light of a potential government shutdown, the ITC's filing reads. Apple didn't immediately respond to the Verge's request for comment, end quote. So, I mean, it would be pretty wild, wouldn't it, if Apple got some sort of last-minute Christmas pardon from the president, like a turkey on Thanksgiving? The long-anticipated consolidation phase of the streaming wars looks like it has finally arrived. Sources say Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zazlov met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Backish

on December 19th to discuss a possible merger of their companies. quoting Axios. The combination would create a news and entertainment behemoth that would likely trigger further industry consolidation. Zazlov has also spoken to Sherry Redstone, who owns Paramount's pair company about a deal. WBD's market value was around $29 billion as of Wednesday, while Paramounts was just over $10 billion, so any merger would not be of equals. The meeting between Zazlov and Backish, which sources say lasted several hours, took place at Paramount's headquarters and Times Square. The duo discussed ways their companies could complement one another, For example, each company's main streaming service, Paramount Plus, and Max, could merge to better rival Netflix and Disney Plus.

It's unclear whether WBD would buy Paramount Global or its parent company National Amusements. But a source familiar with the situation says that both options are on the table. WBD is said to have hired bankers to explore the deal, end quote. Again, this is all about the streaming wars, and as we've been talking about recently, all about them trying to find a way to not lose billions of dollars fighting the, streaming wars, WBD's extensive global distribution network could significantly enhance the reach of Paramount's franchises. Conversely, Paramount's rich portfolio of children's programming is poised to play a pivotal role in WBD's streaming strategy. A potential merger of CBS News with CNN would

birth a dominant force in global news broadcasting. Additionally, the crime drama lineup of CBS featuring hits like NCIS and Criminal Minds could be synergistically integrated with investigation, true TV's content. I mean, I just saw a piece yesterday suggesting that all of the top 10 streamed shows this past month were reruns of comfort food dramas like suits. So there you go. But also sports. CBS Sports could merge its capabilities with those of WBD. A noteworthy example of this potential synergy is the shared television rights for March Madness by CBS and WBD's Turner Sports. Amidst a challenging financial situation marked by substantial debt, Paramount is actively seeking a strategic partner or buyer.

The executives are optimistic about obtaining regulatory approval for such a deal, which is maybe iffy, considering the current vigilant antitrust atmosphere in Washington, D.C. An important factor in this equation, though, is Warner Brothers' discovery's lack of a broadcast network, which potentially simplifies regulatory approval compared to a merger with a company that owns a broadcast network, such as Comcast, the owner of NBC. David Zazlov addressing investors last month highlighted WBD's recent focus on cost-cutting and debt reduction. Those measures he emphasized have strategic. position the company to divert more resources toward growth opportunities indicating a readiness

for such expansive collaborations. Really, my only remaining question about all of this is what the combined streaming service would be named. After all, these are the people that gave you Max instead of HBO. As M.G. Siegler said on threads, please, please just grace us with the name Warner Brothers Discovery Max with Paramount Plus and Showtime, end quote. After analyzing more than 7 million miles driven Waymo claims its autonomous driving system had an 85% reduction in injury-causing crash rates compared to human driver benchmarks. Quoting the verge, Waymo analyzed 7.13 million fully driverless miles in three cities, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and compared the data to human driving benchmarks to determine whether its cars were involved in fewer

injury-causing and police reported crashes. And it was the first time the company studied miles from fully driverless operations only rather than a mix of autonomous and human monitored driving. The conclusion, Waymo's driverless cars were 6.7 times less likely than human drivers to be involved in a crash resulting in an injury or an 85% reduction over the human benchmark and 2.3 times less likely to be in a police reported crash or a 57% reduction. That translates to an estimated 17 fewer injuries and 20 fewer police reported crashes compared to if a human driver would have driven the same distance in the cities where Waymo operates. Waymo's millions of miles were not totally incident-free. The company said that in total,

over the entire 7 million-plus miles in all three cities, its vehicles were only involved in three crashes that resulted in injuries. Two in Phoenix and one in San Francisco. All three injuries were minor, according to Christopher Cusano, safety researcher at Waymo, and a co-author of the study. Still, that's significantly less than the crash rate for human drivers. Another way to look at it is to look at the crash rate per million miles of driving. The human benchmark is 2.78 incidents per million miles. Waymo's benchmark for its driverless vehicles was only 0.41. The analysis comes on the heels of a study that Waymo published in conjunction with Swiss

re that found that the company's driverless vehicles reduced the frequency of bodily injury claims by 100% compared to Swiss Re's human baseline of 1.11 claims per million miles, end quote. G, I wonder why they're releasing this data now. something, something, remember what happened to cruise recently. Funny thing about this is they've had to wait all this time to get these numbers out because they had to wait to get enough miles to make it statistically significant. Only now have they driven enough to start extrapolating from the data in a meaningful way.

Seven million miles driven in this study. But Americans drive 3.2 trillion miles a year. We take 1.1 billion trips a day, for, by the way, for every person. So somebody do the math for me. How many miles is that a year or a day? It's obviously in the billions, probably hundreds of billions. The fact that they've only driven 7 million miles in the study shows you the vast yawning gap that they have to jump in terms of scale to compare this with real-world driving. I'm not snarking here. This data is great. We all expect and hope that autonomous vehicle cars will be safer than far more fallible human drivers. I'm just saying for all of the talk of autonomous vehicle hype, Look at how early this all still is. Finally, today, since it's been an Apple heavy day, and we were just talking about cars, I thought I'd mentioned that Apple has designed bespoke interfaces of Apple CarPlay just for Aston Martin and Porsche vehicles. What I'm saying is the digital displays inside Aston Martins and Porsches will be unique to them.

The rest of us will have to get by with the regular old carplay, quoting car and driver. This next generation CarPlay builds upon previous versions by integrating into all the displays of a given vehicle and not just the central infotainment system. Though the familiar CarPlay experience remains, multiple template options and special details ensure that the interface reflects the ethos of a given brand. For instance, the preview of Porsche's CarPlay interface shows that it features a trio of circular gauges in the cluster and a background wallpaper that mimics the brand's distinct houndstooth, or Pepita in Porsche-speak, seat pattern. Aston Martin, on the other hand, goes a slightly different route. Its cluster includes a central information screen, bookended by a circular speedometer and tachometer, the latter of which integrates hand-built in Great Britain wrap-around text. Although Apple's Next Generation CarPlay still requires an iPhone to share app-related information, the system relies on its host vehicle to provide driving-specific data.

Apple's keen to note that connected iPhones neither store nor track this vehicle's sourced information. This connection to the vehicle also means this new generation of carplay can cohesively display information from the vehicle's native infotainment system, think tire pressure information and the like as well, end quote. No word on when this is rolling out, but car and driver hints that maybe next year for Aston Martin vehicles like the 2024 DB12 coupe and DB12 convertible. So I once promised to tell you when, for the purposes of producing this show, threads or some other alternatives, overtook Twitter in terms of utility for me. Well, I have to report, we're nearly there. Like, everybody signed up for Threads back in July when it was fresh and new, but then it sort of got Ghost Townie for a while.

Then a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, it really started picking up, at least Tech Threads did. And now that the Europeans are on there, it really seems to be kicking off. I don't know if you saw, but Threads is currently the number one free app in the iOS App Store. I'd say we're crossing the tipping point like right now, like it's 50-50 in terms of surfacing information from X or from Threads for doing the show this week.

So just the heads up, it might finally be happening. As ever, I'm at Brian MCC on threads, but I'm also at Brian MCC on X slash Twitter too. So follow me in either place if you never have. Talk to you tomorrow.