Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 11/26 – Apple Going Too Thin Again?

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Intel does get its money. Threads continues to feel the heat from Bluesky, and responds by… giving people what they want. The new Mate 70 flagship smartphone from Huawei. Is Apple trying to make the iPhone so thin it can’t put a sim card in it? And yes, the whole Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef. Sponsors: LegalZoom.com promocode: techmeme Links: Intel Gets Up to $7.9 Billion Award for U.S. Chip-Plant Construction (WSJ) Threads is testing the option to choose your own default feed (The Verge) Elon Musk Admits X is Throttling Links — Effectively Limiting People From Reading News (Mediaite) Starbucks, Other Retailers Hit by Ransomware Attack on Tech Provider (WSJ) China’s Huawei Takes Aim at Apple With Latest Smartphone (NYTimes) Apple’s Thin iPhone Has No Physical SIMs—That Could Dampen China Sales (The Information) Drake Accuses UMG & Spotify of Scheme to ‘Artificially Inflate’ Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ (Billboard) Link to AI avatar experiment 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, November 26, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough today. Intel does get its money. Threads continues to fill the heat from blue sky and responds by giving people what they want. The new Mate 70 flagship smartphone from Huawei is Apple trying to make the iPhone so thin. It can't put a SIM card in it.

And yes, the whole Drake Kendrick Lamar beef. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. A couple of follow-up segments up top today. First up, the U.S. has officially a lot. awarded Intel up to $7.865 billion under the Chips Act to help build or expand chip plants in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon, including more than $1 billion later this year, quoting the journal. The funds are less than the $8.5 billion estimated for Intel in the preliminary award in March. That is because of previously announced funding of up to $3 billion to build secure facilities producing microchips for U.S. military and intelligence applications, according to senior administration officials.

The grant money set aside under 2022's Chips Act aims to fund a resurgence of U.S. manufacturing to counteract any future COVID-era supply chain disruptions, such as, which happened during the COVID era, and address growing geopolitical tensions with China. Much of the world's chip production has shifted to Asia in recent decades, leaving the U.S. with around 12 percent of the world's manufacturing in 2020. The funds will be dispersed to Intel based on specific milestones, and Intel will get at least $1 billion in funds later this year, the administration officials said. Under the funding agreement, Intel has agreed to not engage in stock buybacks for five years, according to the Commerce Department.

Intel, the largest U.S. ship manufacturer by revenue, no longer plans to draw on up to $11 billion in government loans under the program, but still plans to apply for related tax credits, the administration officials said. The money will go toward new factories and expansion projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon, end quote. And again, I feel like it's threads that is feeling the heat from blue sky more than anybody else. Threads has begun testing an option to set for you, following, or a custom feed as the default feed in the app. You know, the thing everyone's been begging them to do from the very beginning, but they wouldn't because meta knows what you want, but they know what they want you to want more. But competition is a hell of a drug, quoting the verge.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the news on a post saying that you'll be able to choose between for you following or any custom feed that you've set up. Zuckerberg's post notes that Threads is testing this option and will also make different feeds more visible in the app. It took over a year to get here, but Threads is finally doing the obvious thing and allowing people to use the app however they prefer. Hopefully this test expands to all users before long. If you're in the test, here's how to set your default feed. Open the Threads app and tap and hold on any feed at the top. From there, choose Edit Feeds, and that's where you'll be able to reorder them. feed you put in the first slot will appear whenever you open threads. Increased competition from

blue sky has sparked many recent improvements to threads, including a reworking of the for-you algorithm to focus more on accounts you actually follow and less on suggested content. The services search feature is also being overhauled to be more useful. Oh, and there's landscape video now too, end quote. Also in algorithmic news, Elon Musk has appeared to confirm that posts containing links in their main text are being deep, prioritized on X, saying it is to stop lazy linking, quoting Mediaite. The famous venture capitalist Paul Graham, who has nearly two million followers on X, blasted, quote, Twitter's biggest flaw was the deprioritization of tweets with links in them in a complaint posted on Sunday. In reply,

Musk suggested a workaround. Just write a description in the main post and put the link in the reply. This just stops lazy linking. Musk's comments align with past guidance from X that encourages users to post native content, such as videos and articles directly to the platform rather than linking to third-party sites. While the rationale appears to be a bid to increase user engagement within X's ecosystem and discourage users from leaving the platform, the revelation renews scrutiny of Musk's past use of the technology to settle personal scores or manage narratives. A Washington Post analysis in August 2023 revealed that X had imposed delays on links to rival platforms like Facebook, Blue Sky, and Substack, as well as news outlets, such as a news outlet,

the New York Times. These delays routed through X's t.CO domain reportedly reduced traffic to targeted websites potentially impacting their ad revenue. The New York Times expressed concern at the time about targeted pressure applied to any news organization for unclear reasons. Substacks founders similarly criticized the practice, stating that such behavior undermines creators' ability to sustain independent platforms, end quote. A ransomware attack on major supply chain software provider, Blue Yonder is disrupting operations at Starbucks, the UK's Sainsbury's, and Morrison's, among others, quoting the journal. Starbucks said Monday the ransomware attack affected company-owned stores in its network of around

11,000 sites in North America. It disrupted the coffee chain's ability to pay baristas and manage their schedules, leaving cafe managers to manually calculate employees pay. Starbucks, for now, is paying employees for their scheduled shifts, meaning they could be overpaid or underpaid depending on the hours actually work. The company said it would ensure baristas are eventually paid for all hours worked. Automaker Ford Motor says it uses Blue Yonder technology and was investigating whether the outage affected its operations. Blue Yonder said it didn't have a timeline for when services would be restored.

The company said the attack didn't affect systems that run on public cloud-based platforms. Sainsbury's and Morrisons, two of the UK's largest grocery change, said they have turned to backup plans to keep operations running. Morrison's, which has about 1,600 convenience stores and 500 supermarkets across the UK, said the outage affected its warehouse management system for fresh foods and produce. We are currently operating satisfactorily on our backup systems, and we're working very hard to deliver for our customers across the country. A spokesperson for Morrison said,

Sainsbury's, which has 600 supermarkets and more than 800 convenience stores across the UK, said it is in close contact with Blue Yonder and has put contingency processes in place. Blue Yonder, owned by Japanese conglomerate Panasonic, makes software for retail companies and manufacturers to oversee operations from managing warehouses and transportation to handling returns. Its customers have included grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, consumer goods, supplier, proctor, and gamble, and retail pharmacy chain Walgreens. Those companies didn't respond to request for comment Monday, end quote. Huawei has unveiled the $760-plus Mate 70 series, powered by its Harmony OS Next, calling the flag. ship device the smartest mate phone ever as it faces U.S. chip curbs, quoting the times.

Last year, the tech giant Huawei catapulted to the top of the smartphone market in China when it released the Mate 60 Pro, a phone that contained a tiny computer chip more advanced than any previously made by a Chinese company. The chips used by Huawei's smartphones have become a symbol in the struggle between China and the United States for control over advanced technology. Policymakers in Washington have spent years trying to prevent Chinese companies from being able to make the kind of chip Huawei uses in its mate phone, but Huawei has pressed ahead, and the phone has burnished its image as a national leader, triumphant in the face of U.S. restrictions. Shoppers in China were excited to buy a phone with state-of-the-art components that had been made

entirely at home. Huawei was able to appeal to Chinese customers who previously would have been more likely to buy iPhones eating into Apple's most important market outside the United States. On Tuesday, Huawei unveiled the next generation of that phone, the Mate 70 series, from its offices in southeastern China. Richard Yu, Huawei's Consumer Group Chairman, called the flagship device the smartest mate phone ever.

Powered by its homegrown operating system, Harmony OS, next, which was officially launched last month. The Mate 70 series has artificial intelligence-enabled functions, including improved photography, live transcription, and translation of phone calls. Apple has yet to release its AI features in China. Starting at $760,

the price of the Mate 70 is meant to compete with the iPhone in China. Harmony OS Next allows phones to connect with Huawei's other products, electric cars, smart speakers, and watches. But widespread commercial success for the Mate 70 could depend on Huawei's ability to secure a steady supply of chips. The company relied on the Chinese chip maker semiconductor manufacturing international corporation or SMIC to make the chips in the Mate 60 Pro. SMIC, which is partly state-owned, is the only maker of advanced chips in China. Analyst said they believed Huawei had again turned to SMIC for the Mate 70. Huawei did not reveal details on Tuesday about the chips and the new phone.

A critical question is how advanced the chips are, because that can determine whether they can perform more sophisticated tasks like AI at a faster speed. U.S. officials seeking to control China's chip development say advanced technology is essential not just for consumer technology like chatbots, but also for military superiority. They have tried to prevent Chinese companies from buying these kinds of chips and related machinery, leaving SMIC dependent on dated tools. Experts say SMIC has strained to make enough chips for Huawei, even though production for some parts in Huawei's latest phones began in July.

The Mate 70 has not gone on sale until now because it has been challenging for Huawei to acquire enough chips, said Lori Chang, a senior analyst at Isaiah Research, a market research company. As of Tuesday, over 3 million people had signed up on Huawei's website to reserve the company's latest flagship phone, which does not require a deposit. The premium version of the Mate 70 is set to go on sale in China on Tuesday, according to Huawei's website, end quote. I've said it before on this show many times, but sometimes Apple's obsession with making things thinner can go too far. The information says that Apple's newest super-thin iPhone prototypes are a mere 5 millimeters to 6 millimeters thick below the iPhone 16's 7.8 millimeter thickness. Problem is,

That might be too thin for a physical sim, which may hurt China sales. Quote, Apple plans to release its slim iPhone next year, alongside new versions of its traditional models, aiming to rejuvenate iPhone sales by providing customers with a compelling reason to upgrade their devices. The company is particularly hoping the new models will boost sales in China, where its sales have dipped for the last three consecutive years amid intense competition from two local brands, such as Huawei and Vivo. The prototypes of the thin iPhone are B.D.

5 and 6 millimeters thick compared with 7.8 millimeters for the iPhone 16. So far, Apple's engineers haven't been able to fit a physical tray for a SIM card in the thin device, according to two people working on the project and two others with direct knowledge of it. Instead, the device relies on embedded sims, a chip significantly smaller than a physical SIM card tray that Apple first introduced in the iPhone in 2018. Since then, the company has been gradually phasing out the use of physical SIM trays, which haven't been in US iPhones for two years. Unless Apple's engineers can figure out how to include the physical SIM card tray, the company may not be able to sell the phone in China. Chinese regulators still haven't approved the

sale of smartphones containing E-Sims. Apple will drop the iPhone Plus from its product line to make way for the new thin model, internally codenamed D23. The company has asked at least one manufacturing partner in China to double production of the thin iPhone compared to the iPhone plus, a sign of its confidence in the new device, two people said. Apple's other iPhone models will also undergo significant design changes next year. For instance, they'll all switch to aluminum frames from stainless steel and titanium. One of the people said, the back of the pro and pro max models will feature a new part aluminum part glass design. The top of the back will comprise a larger rectangular camera bump made of aluminum rather than traditional 3D glass.

The bottom half will remain glass to accommodate wireless charging, two people said. The SIM card trace struggle isn't the only issue Apple is having with the thin iPhone. Engineers are also finding it hard to fit the battery and thermal materials into the device, one of the people said. The episode underscores how Apple's attempt to push the boundaries of industrial design and technology can unexpectedly cause clashes with local regulations. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the EU, where officials have criticized Apple's use of proprietary ports and non-removable batteries

and have passed laws forcing the company to redesign its hardware. Apple has argued that such regulations can stifle innovation, end quote. Yeah, they're not running into the laws of physics so much as, I guess, the theoretical thinness of an iPhone is now bounded by the thickness of a USBC port. As Lewis Anslow tweeted, This is the kind of innovation USBC mandates threaten. If there are physical limits of wireless charging hardware, then phones will be as thick as USBC plugs,

forever, end quote. And finally, news to stay hip-with. Recording artist Drake has launched legal action against UMG and Spotify for allegedly using bots, Paola, and more, to inflate Kendrick Lamars, not like us, a track attacking Drake, quoting Billboard. In a filing Monday in Manhattan court, Drake's Frozen Moments LLC accuses UMG of launching an illegal, quote, scheme involving bots, Paola and other methods to pump up Lamar's song, a track that savagely attacked Drake amid an ongoing feud between the two stars. UMG did not rely on chance or even ordinary business practices, attorneys for Drake's company, Wright. It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves. Drake's attorneys accuse UMG of violating the racketeer

influenced and corrupt organizations act, the Federal RICO statute, often used in criminal cases against organized crime. They also allege deceptive business practices and false advertising under New York state law. The court filings are a remarkable twist in the high-profile beef between the two stars, which saw Drake and Lamar exchanging stinging disc tracks over a period of months earlier this year. That such a dispute would spill into business litigation seemed almost unthinkable in the world of hip-hop. It also represents a stunning rift between Drake and UMG, where the star has spent his entire career, first through signing a deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money imprint, which was distributed by Republic, then by signing directly to Republic. Lamar, meanwhile, has also spent his entire

career associated with UMG, first through the TDE imprint, which was distributed by Interscope, and more recently, through his own company, P.G. Lang, which he licenses through Interscope. In technical terms, Monday's filing is not yet a full lawsuit, but a so-called pre-action petition, a procedure under New York law that aims to secure information before filing a lawsuit. Parties named in such petitions will not necessarily be targeted in the eventual lawsuit, and the allegations in Monday's filing seem more squarely aimed at UMG than Spotify. Drake's attorneys claim that UMG carried out its scheme in a variety of ways, including by charging Spotify vastly reduced licensing rates in exchange for the streamer

recommending the song to users who had searched for unrelated songs and artists. They also claim UMG paid influencers to boost the song on social media and also hired armies of bots to fraudulently spike the numbers. In one particularly eye-catching claim, the petition claims that UMG paid Apple to have its voice assistant feature Siri, quote, purposely misdirect users to Kendrick's song, end quote. So remember when I asked if anybody had a tool to make me into an AI avatar so I could record the audio of the podcast in my nice, perfectly set up recording booth, but then use that audio to create video without me having to stand in front of a camera and read from a teleprompter. Well, the very last link in the show notes is to the results of that request. Thank you again, Hivemind.

It's a YouTube video from today's segment about iPhone thinness. As you'll see, it's my audio, the exact audio you just heard, and it's an AI avatar of me. That is me from this weekend. But obviously, the animation is all AI. I used a tool called HeyGen to do it, mixed in with a little help from headliner app. So here's the thing. Number one, are we coming up against any ethical lines here? The content is mine.

I wrote it and recorded it. The only thing that is AI is the image of me, but that is me. I didn't use someone else as an avatar. But again, the audio is not AI, though that's possible, as we've seen in other experiments. So is this still permissible, or should I do, like, a content label or something? Also, is this watchable? Will people like this? It's very clearly an AI avatar.

Does that turn people off right away? Or are we on the cusp of an era where this is not only acceptable as content, but maybe expected almost? You tell me, this is basically an audiogram, but instead of a waveform animation and the transcript, it's an animation of me and the transcript. Watchable or no, you tell me, I'm honestly asking, because I could produce clips like this every day. Talk to you tomorrow.