ICYMI: The 7 Biggest Tech Stories of the Week, From Netflix Enraging Users to the Rabbit R1 Disappointing Us All
Happy Star Wars Day to those who celebrate! But even on this nerdiest of holidays, the tech world moves so fast it seems like it has jumped into Hyperspace.
If you’ve missed the week’s top stories, we’re here with our trusty lightsaber to cut through the noise so you can stay up to date on the top tech news of the past seven days from Netflix, Rabbit R1, DJI, and Apple.
Speaking of which, be sure to come back here on Tuesday, May 7 to read more about the latest hardware announcements from the Apple event. And come back next Saturday for another ICYMI news roundup.
7. Apple teased βa different kind of Apple eventβ
Apple’s May 7 ‘Let Loose’ event is just around the corner, and while we’ll almost certainly see new iPads β specifically the iPad Pro 2024 and iPad Air 6 β unveiled next week, there could still be a few surprises.
In social media posts, Apple has described its upcoming showcase as “a different kind of Apple event,” which got us thinking about how this iPad-focused reveal might differ from previous Apple events we’ve tuned in to.
There are some obvious but boring conclusions to be drawn here, such as the fact that this ‘Let Loose’ event is being held slightly earlier than other Apple events β proceedings start at 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST, which is May 8 at 12pm AEST in Australia β but we’re hoping Apple justifies its own hype with a more exciting reveal (perhaps we can we’re getting a sneak peek at the company’s highly anticipated generative AI software?).
6. Netflix has started discontinuing the Basic level
Oh, Netflix, you just can’t help it, right? Three months after the streaming titan hinted it would phase out its Basic plan β starting with the U.K. and Canada β it’s moving ahead with the unpopular plan. Indeed, Netflix users in the aforementioned countries have reacted angrily to the removal of the basic subscription in June, with many subsequently threatening to close their accounts.
Other countries, including the US, are not yet affected. But since there will likely be a global rollout, we recommend you finish your watchlist of the best Netflix shows, best Netflix movies, and best Netflix documentaries as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may have to pay extra or be confronted with ads when you are automatically switched from the Basic level to the Standard level with Ads if you want to watch them on the best streaming service in the world.
5. The Rabbit R1 disappointed us
Welcome to the very disappointing era of personal AI devices. First there was Humane AI, a wearable AI pin that was dismissed by most major technology critics. Hot on the heels was Rabbit R1, a much cuter pocket-sized AI companion that at least has a screen.
Unfortunately, that’s the kindest thing we can say about it at the moment. This is a bright orange device that aims to bridge the gap between intention and action without having to navigate through different apps. In reality, it’s a strange little box with a terrible analog scroll wheel, inconsistent performance, and an average LLM. As far as we can tell, it doesn’t do anything that your iPhone with the Microsoft Copilot app installed can’t do, and the marquee feature – accessing app features without using apps – often doesn’t work. To make matters worse, it is now being claimed that the Rabbit OS is little more than an Android app. That may be the case, but it is certainly not the biggest problem with the device. At least it only costs $199.
4. The DJI Mini 4K has landed on Amazon
Aside from a possible DJI ban in the US, life has only gotten harder for DJI rivals making entry-level drones after the launch of the Mini 4K.
It’s DJI’s cheapest drone ever to record 4K video and it costs less than $300 / Β£270, which is an absolute bargain. With virtually the same hardware as the Mini 2 SE, the Mini 4K is ideal for beginners with simple flight movements, tutorials in the Fly app, a foldable design weighing less than 250 grams, a flight time of 31 minutes, downward object detection and Level-5 drag.
Where it improves over the 2.7K video-equipped Mini 2 SE is higher resolution video, higher bit rates and a 2x digital zoom. DJI’s cheapest drone just got more powerful and we expect it to be very popular.
3. The Arc browser came before Chrome for lunch
The Arc Browser finally came to Windows 11 after originally launching on macOS and iOS, and we already love it more than Google Chrome and especially Microsoft Edge. It’s fast, uses much less memory than Chrome, and lacks Edge’s annoying ads and all its other junk.
Obviously, things aren’t perfect in every way. Being a Chromium browser, the looming privacy threat from Manifest V3 is very real, and there is the problem that the browser can still track users if an ad block is installed.
While Arc has a lot of great things to offer, the team at The Browser Company that develops it has promised that major feature updates are coming, including support for Windows 10.
If you want to try Arc for yourself, you can download it for free here.
2. New VR games left the Quest 2
The price of the Oculus Quest 2 may have recently dropped to just $199.99 / Β£199.99 / AU$359.99, which is ridiculously cheap – but we’d highly recommend you ignore this and get one instead Meta Quest 3, even though it costs $499.99 / Β£479.99 / β¬799.99.
That’s because the first exclusive games of Meta Quest 3 were recently revealed Batman: Arkham Shadow was only announced a few days ago. So finally, after years of dominance, it’s officially time to put down your Quest 2 β as fantastic as it was β and pick up another standalone headset, since you can no longer enjoy the latest and greatest VR software on the aging Meta device.
See you in Quest 2, we will miss you.
1. ChatGPT has become a little more human
Artificial intelligence became a little more human for all ChatGPT Plus users this week after OpenAI rolled out its memory feature.
Just as the name suggests, memory allows the AI ββchatbot to remember important details from your past conversations. Suppose you mention that your birthday is next week, or that you just got a new cat, the bot will remember this and should use the information to respond to your questions in the future.
This should make it feel more like you’re continuing a conversation with the same person rather than with a complete stranger each time. But if the idea terrifies you, you can disable the feature, delete the bot’s entire memory, or just delete certain details. .