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I would call this the week the quiet before the storm that’ll be Apple’s WWDC 2024 event coming on Monday – where it’s expected to show off its AI, or Apple Intelligence as they’re apparently set to rename it.
But it’s been another week in the world of tech, so of course it’s been a busy one with ChatGPT meltdowns, Galaxy Ring legal dramas, and Meta VR headset leaks from Meta itself.
To help you get caught up let’s go through this week’s biggest tech news stories, and be sure to come back in seven days for another quickfire catch-up.
8. We attended Computex for all the announcements
Computex is the world’s biggest computing showcase, and it’s been running all week – and we’ve traveled all the way to Taipei, Taiwan, to bring you all the latest news and coolest tech. Major players such as Nvidia, AMD and Intel all had big presentations where they showed off their visions of the future of PCs – and unsurprisingly a lot of it was AI focused.
Not everyone loved this direction – computing editor John Loeffler was particularly concerned about Nvidia’s AI ambitions and what that means for our planet and jobs.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm emerged the clear winner of Computex 2024 thanks to the hype surrounding Windows laptops built on its ARM processors. We’ve also listed all the best laptops that were announced at Computex 2024.
7. ChatGPT had its biggest outage of the year
Fans of ChatGPT had to find another way to get their essays, coding and brainstorming done this week, after the AI assistant went down twice in the same day on June 4.
OpenAI’s popular chatbot was out of action for several hours in what the company accurately branded a “major outage”. Strangely, there was no real official explanation given for the problems, and some of ChatGPT’s rivals – including Claude and Perplexity – also had minor issues on the same day.
Whatever caused the outage, it did confirm 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 doesn’t need to take any more sick days soon.
6. Spotify raised its prices and angered everyone
Sonos had quite the week of making friends and influencing people, ranging from its customers to the musicians who power it.
Specifically, we saw a powerful one-two punch this week of Spotify raising the price of its Premium subscription in the US, right after CEO Daniel Ek had claimed the ‘content’ that powers the service costs ‘close to zero’ to make. We at home might wonder why the price keeps rising in that case, while musicians struggling to keep music as their full-time gig might have a different idea of what the costs is than he does.
Despite that, a data company claimed Spotify has the lowest churn rates of the major streaming services, meaning that its users are the least likely to cancel and move elsewhere – and despite a rocky week, that probably won’t change… will it?
Meta is keeping the Quest 3S a secret as well as a sieve holds water – as 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 background of a Threads video posted by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth. The headset looks identical to the leaked Quest 3S design (and crucially unlike any other Meta VR headset) with Luna – the person sharing a large chunk of the leaked Quest 3S info – pointing out the error on Twitter.
Perhaps confirming the error Bosworth then replied to Luna’s tweet saying, “love that higher quality video over on Threads…”
So folks, if you’ve been after a cheap VR headset it might be time to mark your calendars for Meta Connect 2024 on September 25 and 26 as it’s now all but certain the Quest 3S will appear there.
4. The Samsung Galaxy Ring date was revealed
Mark your calendars, because the Samsung Galaxy Ring will be launched around August, the first indication we’ve had yet of a date beyond a vague “back half of 2024” intimation. 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 filed by Samsung against Oura Health, makers of the Oura Ring, to prevent Oura suing Samsung. Oura is quite litigious, and in recent months, has filed several infringement claims against other smart ring manufacturers such as Ultrahuman and Ringconn. Samsung, which did not want Oura potentially tying up its planned release date in red tape, has moved to sue Oura first in order to prevent the start-up from suing Samsung first. It’s very cyclical, almost like it’s moving in some sort of ironic circular shape…
3. Sonos re-added a few features to its divisive app
You may remember that last month, swathes of Sonos owners took to the internet to voice their frustration with the new and controversial Sonos app. Why? It was a significant overhaul of an app that Sonos customers used on a daily basis, and it didn’t include some pretty basic features they’d been happily using before the update, that’s why.
Now (and to give the multi-room audio giant its dues), Sonos has listened to customer feedback and has re-added some of the most requested features in this second update – since the big update. (Got it? Good.)
Sonos said: “We realize there are beloved features our listeners are eager to continue enjoying now. We are working diligently to reintroduce them in the coming months, alongside additional enhancements that will make for an even better app experience.”
Following on from the first update, which arrived in late May, the new update delivers 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. Sonos intends to add more features in June, so you can expect a second update this month. And that refresh should add improved playback controls and search for your local music library too.
2. Panasonic unveiled the new GH7 video camera
Panasonic’s new Lumix GH7 updates the GH6 – a camera that we already gave 5 stars to – with crucial improvements that ensures its Micro Four Thirds format system lives to fight another day.
A new 25.2MP sensor is equipped with phase detect autofocus and new skills that include target areas, improved image stabilization that we expect to be the best in the business, plus there’s some powerful video recording features that have no right to be on a sub $2,200 / £2,000 camera, such as internal Pro Res raw 5.K video recording and unlimited record times.
There’s also an impressive world-first: 32-bit float audio recording, though you’ll need the optional XLR adaptor and external mic to gain this high-quality and flexible audio in your video files. Put simply, the GH7 can do things that most other video cameras at the price point can do.
1. A new Venom movie trailer dropped
Venom: The Last Dance probably not going to be one of 2024’s best new movies – indeed, if we’ve learned anything about Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off movies, it’s that they’re not very good. That doesn’t mean that people aren’t hyped for its release, though, as proven by the excitement-laced discussions that emerged following Venom 3’s first teaser.
If the three minutes’ worth of footage is anything to go by, it’ll be as chaotically messy as its predecessors, too. Venom: The Last Dance’s first trailer teases everything from new symbiotes and a Spider-Man villain’s return, to surprise MCU ties and even a Venom Horse (yes, you read that right). Expect the Tom Hardy-starring superhero flick to rake in the money in Eddie Brock and Venom’s last big-screen hurrah.
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