Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 05/13 – The Thin-Phone Era Is Here

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

The new thin phone era is definitively here with the Galaxy S25 Edge. Apple is working on a way to control your iPhone with your brain. For the first time a flagship DJI drone is NOT available in the US. And flying drones are cool, but you know what else is cool? Submarine drones. Sponsors: For 40% off your order, head to Udacity.com/RIDE and use code RIDE Links: Samsung Debuts $1,099 S25 Edge, Kicking Off Wave of Thin Phones (Bloomberg) Galaxy S25 Edge Hands-On: This Thin Phone Left a Deep Impression (CNET) Apple to Unveil New AI Tool to Increase iPhone Battery Life (Bloomberg) DJI is skipping the US with its most advanced drone yet (The Verge) German defence start-up plans underwater drones for naval surveillance (FT) Audible to Partner With Publishers to Create AI-Voiced Audiobooks (Bloomberg) 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 TechMeme right home for Tuesday, May 13th, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough today. The new thin phone era is definitively here with the Galaxy S25 Edge. Apple is working on a way to control your iPhone with your brain for the first time ever. A flagship DJI drone is not available

in the U.S. and flying drones are cool, but you know what else is cool? Submarine drones. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Samsung has unveiled the 1100. $100 plus Galaxy S25 Edge, which is 5.8 millimeters thick and weighs 163 grams, making it 30% thinner and 25% lighter than the S-25 Ultra. It's arriving on May 30th. I'm highlighting this first because this is the tip of the spear for the current and coming rage for super thin phones. Quoting Bloomberg, the amount of weight we've pulled out of this device and the slimness of this device is just dramatic. Blake Gaser, the company's head of smartphone product manager, for the Americas said in an interview,

we've been hearing from our customers over the last few years that weight and hand feel is something very important to them. As phones are getting bigger and heavier, they've really been looking for something that would just disappear in their pocket, end quote. The launch comes months ahead of Apple's slimmed down iPhone 17 model. That device is expected to come in at around the same thickness as the Galaxy S-25 Edge and its plan to have a single back camera compared with two on the new edge handset. Gaser said he's very confident our customers and others will find the S-25 Edge very compelling.

Samsung teased the new phone in January without revealing its specifications, price, or release date. The phone has a 6.7-inch screen, matching the screen size on the S-25-plus, as well as 12 gigabytes of memory, and storage options of 256 and 512 gigabytes. At $1,99, it's $100 more expensive than the Plus model, and $200 cheaper than the S-25 Ultra. Samsung said, it always intended to launch the headset at this price point and that tariffs weren't a consideration in this case. The company manufactures devices for the U.S. market in South Korea,

Vietnam, and India rather than in China, where Apple has long made the majority of its phones. Still, to make the device one of the thinnest in the industry, there are some trade-offs. The S-25 Ultra has a larger 6.9-inch screen and supports the S-Pen stylus. The S-25 Edge also lacks a 1-terabyte storage option and telephoto cameras for optical zoom. Users may not care too much about the camera specifications given they're probably buying this phone for the design,

but they may be concerned about battery life. Having less space to include a larger battery pack could affect how long the device can be used on a single charge, though Samsung claims the S-25 Edge is capable of all-day battery life. The internal battery is rated at 3,900-m-amp hours that compares with 4,000. 4,000 as the capacity on the base S-25 model and a 5,000-m-amp hour pack inside the S-25 Ultra. Samsung said AI optimizations are embedded in the software to make the battery last longer than last year's entry-level Galaxy S-24, end quote. All right, but is thinner and lighter worth it? Quoting CNET, who got a hands-on, the biggest question leading up to the release of the

S-25 Edge has been, why would someone want a thinner phone anyway? After spending a little time with the device, I began to see the appeal. While the S-25 edges thickness may not be visually striking at first glance, getting your hands on the phone is a different story. Comparing how the S-25 edges 5.8-millimeter, 163-gram frame feels to the S-25 and S-25-plus, I registered just how much thinner and lighter it really is. For reference, the baseline S-25 is 7.2 millimeters thick and weighs 162 grams, but has a smaller 6.2-inch screen. The S-25 Plus has the same 6.7-inch display as the edge, but it is 7.3 millimeters thick and weighs 190 grams. It's a noticeable difference. The moment of truth was applying some force to the phone

to see if it gave at all. Impressively, it felt quite sturdy. If not, I'd probably have got myself into some trouble with Samsung. It touts a corning gorilla glass ceramic two display, along with a gorilla glass Victus II backing. My initial impression is that you shouldn't have to worry about accidentally turning the S-25 edge into a foldable by keeping it in your back pocket, but that's certainly something I'll have to test in my review. The S-25 Edge also maintains the same IP68 rating for dust and water resistance you'll find on the other S-25 series phones. The biggest trade-off, at least on paper, appears to be the battery capacity. The Galaxy S-25 Edge's 3,900-m-m-amp-hour battery pales in comparison to what you'll get

on the baseline S-25, which is 4,000 millanph hours, and the S-25-plus 4,900. Samsung isn't sharing how many hours you'll get out of the S-25 Edge's battery other than stating it'll last you all day. That's something else I look forward to testing. The S-25-Ege supports 25-watt wired charging and 15-watt wireless charging. With thinner phones, camera hardware can also be scaled back, but the S-25 Edge boasts three cameras, a 200-Megu-Pixel ultra-wide, and a 12-Magixel selfie camera. Megapixels aren't everything, so I'm eager to see how that all translates into real-world photography. Samsung points to Galaxy AI for helping to boost camera quality and for powering photo editing features like Generative Edit, end quote.

Grab bag of three different Apple stories here. First up, Apple has unveiled iOS and MacOS accessibility features including App Store accessibility, nutrition labels, magnifier for Mac, accessibility reader, Braille access, and more. But also, German is reporting that Apple is planning an AI-powered battery management mode for iOS 19 that analyzes how a person uses their phone and makes adjustments to conserve energy. Quote, to create the technology part of the Apple Intelligence Platform, the company is using battery data. It is collected from users' devices to understand trends and make predictions for when it should lower the power draw of certain applications or features. There also will be

a lock screen indicator showing how long it will take to charge up the device, said the people. The driving force behind the battery feature is the company's upcoming slimmed-down iPhone 17, which will be offered as an alternative to the standard and pro models. Because of its thinner design, the new iPhone will have a much smaller battery and fewer hours of life than other models. By optimizing battery life with AI, Apple is aiming to offset these physical constraints. Still, the battery function will be available for all iPhones that have iOS 19, end quote. But if that's not enough of a new feature for you, try this on for size.

Apple is partnering with brain computer interface startup Synchron, to explore letting iPhone users control the device using brain signals via a stent-like implant. Quoting the journal, the device called the Stentrode has electrodes that read brain signals. It translates the signals into selecting icons on a screen. Apple took a similar step in 2014 when it launched a technology standard for hearing aids to communicate with iPhones via Bluetooth, a standard most hearing aids have since adopted. Mark Jackson, an early tester of the Stentrode implant, was able to peer over the ledge of a mountain in the Swiss Alps and feel his legs shake. Jackson can't stand up, and he wasn't in Switzerland.

He was wearing an Apple virtual reality headset, which was connected to his implant. Jackson can't travel from his home outside Pittsburgh because he has ALS. Still, he is learning how to control his iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro headset, thanks to a connection between his Stentrode implant and Apple's various operating systems. The Synchron device effectively translates brainwaves, allowing a user to navigate around a screen and select an icon. It works with a feature inside Apple's operating system, called switch control, which literally switches control to a new endpoint device like a joystick, or in this case, a brain implant. Jackson cautioned that Synchron's technology is still early in

its development. He can't use it to mimic moving a cursor with a mouse or a touchscreen with fingers, so navigation is more slower than normal interaction with a computer or smartphone. Today, brain computer interface companies have to trick computers into thinking the signals coming from their implants are coming from a mouse, said Synchron Chief Executive Tom Oxley. More is possible with a standard built specifically for these implants, he said. Apple will release a new standard later this year for other developers, end quote. Chinese drone company DJI has unveiled the 2,100 euro Mavik4 Pro with a 360-degree rotating gimbal, but says it won't be available in the U.S. at launch a first ever for its drones.

Quoting the verge. Today, D.J.I is officially announcing the Mavik 4 Pro, which, could be the most versatile drone it's ever made. It's the first with a 360-degree rotating gimbal for footage that tilts, rolls, and offers true vertical filming. It's the first Mavik to offer 51 minutes of battery life tied with the old mini-3 and close to the longest flight times DJI has achieved. It's the first with a built-in 100-machixel camera, which can also record 60K-60 frame per second HDR as part of its triple camera array. Another important distinction? It's the first off-the-shelf DJI drone that won't launch in the United States. Today, it's going on sale in

Canada, Mexico, and every other country where DJI sells drones, but the company tells the verge it has no timeline on bringing it to the U.S. DJI won't honor its limited warranty. If you cross the border to purchase one in Canada or Mexico, it's not even sending the drone to U.S.-based technology reviewers. We don't have one, and we're not sure when we'll get one. Why is the Chinese drone maker doing this? The company says Trump's tariffs were among the top reasons it chose to abandon a U.S. launch, and there's also the fact that seven months later, U.S. Customs is still holding up DJI's ability to import drones into the country. Last October, DJI said that a misunderstanding initially forced the company to abandon its plans

to offer the Air 3S at retail, this time DJI may not sell its new drone here at all. While it only weighs about three ounces, 105 grams more than its triple camera predecessor, their 2.3-pound, 1.06 kilogram Mavik4 Pro offers up eight more minutes of flight time from its new 95-watt-hour pack, the most battery capacity DJIs ever put in a consumer drone, and just shy of the typical limit for lithium batteries that you can bring on a plane. All three of its cameras now offer 4K 120 frames per second modes, in addition to 4K-60 HDR, and the gimbal can tilt up twice as far, 70 degrees for upward shooting. Top speed is now nearly 56 miles per hour, 90 kilometers per hour, up from nearly 47 miles per hour or 75.6 kilometers per hour previously, and it can travel over 25 miles

or 41 kilometers on a charge up from its predecessor's 17 miles or 28 kilometers. Not that you can send it quite that far away, as its maximum transmission range has merely doubled to 18.6 miles or 30 kilometers. Also, it can pull the same trick as the Air 3S, where it can map its path using forward-facing LiDAR sensors, then return to home without needing GPS satellite signals. DJIs also touting its new for Mavic tracking abilities. Once tracking begins, Mavik 4 Pro can keep a subject in focus, even if partially obscured by bushes or if they are standing on a bridge. It also detects vehicles up to 200 meters with directional awareness ideal for delivering professional-grade automotive cinematography, the company brags, end quote. Also in drone news, but very much from the Defense

Tech file, German defense tech startup Helsing has unveiled an autonomous underwater drone fleet, the SG1 Fathom, powered by its AI system Laura to detect and classify sounds, quoting the FD. The company said its autonomous glider, SG1 Fathom, would be able to patrol underwater for up to three months at a time. It will be equipped with an artificial intelligence system dubbed Laura, which will be able to detect and classify sounds made by nearby ships and submarines faster and with greater accuracy than available alternatives, Helsing said. Gunbert Sherf, co-founder and co-chief executive of Helsing said the Laura platform would detect so our navies can deter. Laura would be able to detect the so-called acoustic

signatures of vessels up to 40 times faster than human operators, and at volumes 10 times quieter than other AI models, Helsing claimed. The company added a single operator would be able to monitor hundreds of SG1 Fathom Gliders receiving intelligence at just 10% of the cost of crude anti-submarine warfare patrols. Helsing plans to deploy the system within the next 12 months. The war in Ukraine has underlined a shift in modern warfare from the use of traditional hardware such as tanks, guns, and munitions, to more technologically sophisticated alternatives, in particular autonomous systems.

Western governments have, meanwhile, been scaling up their underwater reconnaissance capabilities amid rising attacks on sub-sea cables and other critical infrastructure on the ocean bed. The UK Royal Navy earlier this year outlined plans to deploy a fleet of both crude and uncrewed vehicles to provide an anti-submarine warfare capability. Under the program known as Project Cabot, the Navy will work with defense contractors to use underwater drones to collect acoustic data, which can then be processed using AI to detect potential threats. In a second stage, the Royal Navy plans to conduct surveillance in the Atlantic Ocean using its own vessels, including unmanned naval drones, end quote. Give me a ping for silly. One ping only, please.

Finally today, Audible is partnering with U.S. publishers to convert print books and e-books into AI-narrated audiobooks with more than 100 AI voices in English, Spanish, French, and Italian. Quoting Bloomberg, every book deserves to be heard in audio. Bob Kerrigan, Chief Executive Officer of Audible said in an interview. view. Audio books are the fastest growing format in publishing, according to Audible, but only two to five percent of existing print and e-books exist in audio form, he said. Our goal is to close that gap. Publishers can select from more than 100 AI-generated voices across English, Spanish, French, and Italian, including numerous accent and dialect options. Titles can be either created exclusively for Audible, with a more favorable royalty rate or for distribution outside its platform. Soon, Audible will also offer a translation feature that can

convert text and audio into multiple languages in addition to the original. The opportunities to use AI to bring more storytelling to more people and more languages is a really exciting one, Kerrigan said. Audible membership, which costs 1495 a month for audiobooks and podcasts, is at an all-time high, Kerrigan said late last year. It's launched in some new territories recently, including Brazil, and has been experimenting with new subscription tiers and royalty models to keep its edge against Spotify, which most recently incorporated audiobook listening into its music streaming and podcasting app. The company generally doesn't allow publishers to upload AI-voiced audiobooks that were made using third-party tools, suggesting they'll have to work with Audible's technology

to tap into its significant audience. Audible has been letting self-published authors in the U.S. employ these virtual voices to turn their e-books into audiobooks. More than 60,000 such titles are marked as narrated by these voices on Audible up from 40,000 around this time last year, end quote. If you haven't watched the movie The Hunt for Red October in a while, it is definitely worth your time revisiting. Believe me, talk to you tomorrow.