ICYMI: The 8 Biggest Tech Stories of the Week, From the ChatGPT Meltdown to the Biggest Computex Announcements
I’d call this the week of the calm before the storm that will be Apple’s WWDC 2024 event on Monday – which is expected to show off its AI, or Apple Intelligence, as they apparently plan to rename it.
But it’s been another week in the tech world, so of course it’s been a busy week with ChatGPT meltdowns, legal dramas over the Galaxy Ring, and leaking Meta VR headsets from Meta itself.
To help you stay fully informed, let’s run through this week’s biggest tech news stories and be sure to check back in seven days for another quick catch-up.
8. We were at Computex for all the announcements
Computex is the world’s largest computer showcase and has been running all week. We traveled all the way to Taipei, Taiwan to bring you the latest news and coolest technology. Major players like Nvidia, AMD and Intel all had big presentations showing off their vision for the future of PCs β and unsurprisingly, much of it focused on AI.
Not everyone liked this direction β computer editor John Loeffler was particularly concerned about Nvidia’s AI ambitions and what that means for our planet and jobs.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm emerged as the clear winner of Computex 2024 thanks to the hype surrounding Windows laptops built on its ARM processors. We’ve also listed the best laptops announced at Computex 2024.
7. ChatGPT had the biggest outage of the year
ChatGPT fans had to find another way to get their essays, coding, and brainstorming done this week after the AI ββassistant went down twice in the same day on June 4.
OpenAI’s popular chatbot was out of action for several hours due to what the company rightly called a “major outage.” Strangely, no real official explanation was given for the problems, and some of ChatGPT’s rivals β including Claude and Perplexity β also had minor issues the same day.
Whatever caused the outage, it has confirmed one thing: some of us have become as hopelessly dependent on AI sidekicks as we are on the internet. Let’s hope ChatGPT stays fit and won’t have to take sick days soon.
6. Spotify raised its prices and pissed everyone off
Sonos has had quite a week making friends and influencing people ranging from its customers to the musicians who power the company.
Specifically, we saw a powerful one-two punch this week when Spotify raised the price of its Premium subscription in the US, right after CEO Daniel Ek claimed the “content” that makes the service fee “nearly zero.” We at home might wonder why the price continues to rise in that case, while musicians who struggle to keep music because they perform full-time might have a different idea of ββwhat the costs are than he does.
Despite this, one data company claimed that Spotify has the lowest churn rates of the major streaming services, meaning its users are the least likely to cancel and move elsewhere β and despite a rough week, that’s unlikely to change… right?
Meta keeps the Quest 3S a secret and a sieve holds water β because for the second time in as many leaks, an official channel has teased the rumored budget Quest 3.
Last week the Quest 3S was referenced on some Meta Quest Store pages, while on Tuesday it appeared in the background of a Wires video posted by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth. The headset looks identical to the leaked Quest 3S design (and crucially different from any other Meta VR headset), with Luna β the person sharing much of the leaked Quest 3S information β pointing out the flaw at Tweet.
Perhaps Bosworth acknowledged the error and then replied to Luna’s tweet saying, “I like that higher quality video on Threads…”
So folks, if you’re looking for a cheap VR headset, it might be time to mark your calendars for Meta Connect 2024 on September 25-26, as it’s now all but certain that the Quest 3S will make an appearance there.
4. The Samsung Galaxy Ring date was revealed
Mark your calendars, because the Samsung Galaxy Ring will launch around August, the first indication we’ve had yet of a date beyond a vague indication of “the second half of 2024”. While this information was technically revealed by Samsung, it wasn’t part of a splashy presentation or press release.
Instead, it was revealed in a lawsuit Samsung filed against Oura Health, makers of the Oura Ring, to prevent Oura from suing Samsung. Oura is quite litigious and has filed several infringement claims in recent months against other smart ring manufacturers such as Ultrahuman and Ringconn. Samsung, which did not want Oura to potentially tie up its planned release date in red tape, decided to sue Oura first to prevent the start-up from suing Samsung first. It’s very cyclical, almost like it’s moving in some kind of ironic circular shape…
3. Sonos has re-added some features to its divisive app
You may remember that a large number of Sonos owners took to the internet last month to express their frustration with the new and controversial Sonos app. Why? It was a major overhaul of an app that Sonos customers used every day, and it didn’t include some pretty basic features that they enjoyed using before the update, that’s why.
Now (and to the multi-room audio giant’s credit) Sonos has listened to customer feedback and re-added some of its most requested features in this second update β since the big update. (Understood? Good.)
Sonos said: βWe realize there are beloved features that our listeners would like to continue enjoying right now. We are working hard to reintroduce these in the coming months, along with additional improvements that will deliver an even better app experience. “
Following on from the first update, which arrived at the end of May, the new update brings three key features: sleep timers, “play next” and “add to queue”, plus support for the new Sonos Ace headphones.
It doesn’t tick off everything on the to-do list, mind you. Sonos plans to add more features in June, so you can expect a second update this month. And that refresh should add improved playback controls and also search for your local music library.
2. Panasonic unveiled the new GH7 video camera
Panasonic’s new Lumix GH7 is an update to the GH6 β a camera we’ve already given 5 stars β with crucial improvements that ensure the Micro Four Thirds format system will last another day.
A new 25.2MP sensor features phase detection autofocus and new capabilities including target areas, improved image stabilization that we expect to be the best in the industry, plus some powerful video recording features that don’t warrant a price of under $2,200 / Β£2,000 camera, like internal Pro Res raw 5.K video recording and unlimited recording times.
There’s also an impressive world first: 32-bit float audio recording, although you’ll need the optional XLR adapter and external microphone to get this high-quality and flexible audio in your video files. Simply put, the GH7 can do things that most other video cameras at this price can do.
1. A new Venom movie trailer has been released
Venom: The Last Dance probably won’t be one of the best new movies of 2024 β in fact, if we’ve learned anything about Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff films, it’s that they’re not very good. However, that doesn’t mean people aren’t excited about the release, as evidenced by the exciting discussions that arose after Poison 3‘s first teaser.
If the three minutes of footage is anything to go by, it will be just as chaotically messy as its predecessors. Venom: The Last DanceThe game’s first trailer teases everything from new symbiotes and the return of a Spider-Man villain to surprising MCU ties and even a Venom Horse (yes, you read that right). Expect the superhero movie starring Tom Hardy to rake in the cash in Eddie Brock and Venom’s last hurray on the big screen.