The tech world never sleeps, and after CES 2024 last week we have another seven big days behind us, headlined by the first Samsung Galaxy Unpacked of the year.
It’s no surprise if you’ve missed the latest tech news – which is why we’ve put together this comprehensive round-up of all the week’s biggest stories to keep you up to date with the latest announcements.
The most important thing to watch out for in the coming weeks is the launch of Apple Vision Pro – scheduled for February 2. Vision Pro pre-orders went live yesterday (January 19), so if you’re still unsure about the new Apple headset, I’ll be able to check it out in person soon. But that is yet to come. Before that, here’s what you missed this week.
8. ChatGPT’s AI store is flooded with chatbot friends
Another week, another example of AI being used in a way it wasn’t intended. Seriously, we can’t be trusted with anything. We will always find a way to spoil it.
Anyway, despite ChatGPT’s new GPT Store stating very clearly that “We do not allow GPTs dedicated to promoting romantic companionship or engaging in regulated activities,” the store has apparently been flooded after just seven days with virtual girlfriends – an issue it has apparently tried to limit by removing the search bar on the Discover tab.
Nevertheless, we were still able to find a selection of these virtual friends via third-party sites and click through to the official GPT Store. And provided you pay for ChatGPT Plus (for $20 / £16 / AU$20 per month), Enterprise or the new Teams plan, select users and official partners can still create and try out these romantically priced GPTs (read: Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformers – or AI bots).
There’s a lot to unpack here from a moral perspective, so forgive us for closing on a glib note. But it’s a way to combat those January blues…
7. YouTube wasn’t responsible for CPU spikes, it was your ad blocker
There was trouble in YouTube land this week, with ad unit users accusing the video platform of spiking the CPU usage of their PCs as the latest method to convince people to stop using them. That follows other strict tactics, such as a three-strike video policy and annoying five-second delays on videos if the site detects an ad blocker being used.
However, this was not the case. In a statement, YouTube categorically denied throttling people’s PCs and said the issues people were experiencing were “not caused by our ad blocking detection efforts.” Instead, it appears that faulty code in Ad Block and Adblock Plus caused the problems. Uncomfortable.
Fortunately, updates for the software have now been rolled out. Download Adblock 5.17.1 or Adblock Plus 3.22.1 and you should not experience any issues related to the bug.
6. Microsoft Edge has a fantastic new search feature
Microsoft hasn’t given up on the browser wars yet, and the latest feature introduced in Edge could even see it regain some ground from Google’s Chrome.
This option allows users to search the Internet simultaneously using two search engines, toggling between default settings. For example, if Bing is the default, clicking the new search icon will bring up results from an alternate engine like Google.
That may seem like a relatively minor feature, but considering the amount of time most people spend searching every day (and how bad Google’s results have become over the past two years), it’s still a welcome feature.
5. Xiaomi unveiled five new smartphones with impressive specifications
Not content to let Samsung steal all the smartphone headlines this week, Xiaomi also had a party of its own. And in a way, it even surpassed the Galaxy launch, unveiling five Redmi Note 13 series phones to Samsung’s three.
We were at the event and spent some time with the two premium models, the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus 5G (great name) and the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G – although ‘premium’ is probably pushing it a bit, as they are still closer at the mid-range and are priced accordingly.
The top-tier Pro Plus uses the Medatek Dimensity 7200 Ultra processor, has a slightly curved design and uses 120W fast charging. The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G, on the other hand, uses the respectable Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, has a flatter appearance and uses 67W charging.
The real stars were the cameras. Both feature a 200-megapixel main sensor, 8MP ultra-wide angle and 2MP macro, and we were impressed with their low-light performance and versatility. They also get a number of AI-enhanced editing features, including a sky replacement tool, an object erase tool and a beautification mode, plus you can output 200-megapixel images to set aspect ratios; perfect for social media.
Even the most expensive of the five, the Pro Plus 5G, costs just £449 (about $570 / AU$860), and we’ll be putting them to the test in a full test soon.
4. QDEL has arrived to take over OLED as the TV technology of the future
There’s a lot of secret technology being shown off behind closed doors at CES, and this year that included a technology that could one day be the new future of TVs.
QDEL stands for Quantum Dot Electroluminescent and brings the quantum dot technology of QLED TVs to their end game. In QLED TVs, quantum dots are used to convert light into the different colors you see, but on the QDEL screen (we hope you follow these nearly identical acronyms), the quantum dots emit the light themselves. This makes it look more like an OLED TV, with incredible contrast per pixel, but with the promise of incredibly pure colours. It also potentially makes them much cheaper, as QDEL screens can be made using the same technology as LCD TVs.
That’s all according to Sharp, who showed off a QDEL prototype at CES. There’s still a long way to go before you buy a QDEL kit, but the technology has just gone from theoretical to something you need to know.
3. Apple Vision Pro pre-orders have gone live
The Apple Vision Pro revolution in spatial computing officially kicked off this week with pre-orders for the $3,499 mixed-reality headset finally going live yesterday (January 19). It’s a big moment for the long-in-development headset, for Apple — which is banking on people embracing this new form of immersive computing — and for consumers, who may have wondered what all the fuss is about.
Ahead of this big moment, Apple gave us another hands-on experience. Our US Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff is the lucky man who got to try it on, and he says he’s learned a little more each time Apple has let him wear the £1 visor. In his own words, it’s like peeling back a mixed reality onion. Most interestingly, Apple has made subtle software and even hardware tweaks to the headset since its June unveiling at WWDC 2023.
This time we discovered new portability options and were finally able to use Siri and productivity features. Still, all these practical reports in the world don’t compare to trying it yourself. Expect plenty of options in store for curious consumers soon, and full reviews will appear between now and when the headset ships on February 2.
2. Samsung teased the Galaxy Ring
The biggest announcement of Unpacked 2024 may not have been the Galaxy S24 phones (see below), but rather the surprise reveal of the Samsung Galaxy Ring in classic ‘one more thing’ style. Granted, all we really got was a short teaser instead of a full showcase, but it was still an exciting moment.
Besides this brief look at the design (it’s a ring, what else did you expect?) virtually no other details have been released, but it could come quite soon. Following the reveal, Samsung shared a surprise update on the Galaxy Ring’s availability, telling us that “the hardware is ready and the product is beautiful,” adding that the release will happen “a little later in the year.”
Hopefully we’ll hear more at the next Unpacked event, which will likely take place between July and August.
1. Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S24 series phones
We’re only a few weeks into the year, but we’ve already had our first big launch. And it was a really big one.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S24 series during the first Galaxy Unpacked of 2024. The trio of handsets consists of the standard model, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra, and all three seem like strong candidates for our best phones guide.
Sure, at first glance these phones are just updated versions of their predecessors, but if you look closer there are some nice tweaks, such as the Standard and Plus models getting larger screens that can be dropped from 120 Hz to 1 Hz. Moreover, all three phones come with the latest chips from Exynos and Qualcomm.
A bigger problem, however, is the Galaxy S24 family’s use of generative AI. This smart technology enables everything from live voice translation to full photo editing without the need for Photoshop skills. Many of these skills are inherited from the Google Pixel 8 phones, and they could really make generative AI mainstream given the larger audience for Samsung devices.
We’ve already played with all three phones, so check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 review, hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review and hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review for our first impressions.