Tech News Weekly (Audio)

In this episode of Tech News Weekly, Mikah Sargent and CNET's Abrar Al-Heeti talk the latest developments in self-driving tech, Sonos' work on a new streaming box, an AI-assisted Beatles song winning a Grammy, and the current state of Meta's Quest platform according to developers.

- Uber is expanding its partnership with Waymo, allowing people in Austin to summon a Waymo robo-taxi through the Uber app. Abrar shares her experiences with self-driving cars and discusses the evolving relationship between Uber and Waymo.

- Sonos is reportedly working on a new streaming box codenamed "Pinewood," which includes an HDMI switch to address inconsistencies in smart TV firmware and software. The device is expected to cost between $200 and $400, and it aims to provide a full-featured streaming sound setup.

- An AI-assisted Beatles track, "Now and Then," won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance, sparking conversations about the role of AI in music and art. The US Copyright Office has stated that AI tools used to assist in the creative process don't undermine the copyright of the work.

- Developers are struggling with declining sales and visibility on the Meta Quest app store, despite record revenue for Meta Reality Labs. Meta's focus on its own Horizon Worlds app seems to be at the expense of traditional VR games. Some developers find it more profitable to sell on other platforms like Steam and PlayStation VR.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

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Bookshop.org is now offering a Kindle alternative. How hackers are hijacking WordPress sets to put out malware. And how people are freaking out about DeepSeek since it made a huge splash this past week.

• Dan Moren is joining Mikah Sargent this week! Dan talks about how Bookshop.org is now selling e-books, but Dan has concerns about how this could present technological challenges with DRM and app store fees.


• Mikah shares how hackers are hijacking WordPress sites and using them to push out malware for both Windows and Mac machines.


• Mikah also talks about how DeepSeek has made a huge splash in the technology world since this past Sunday and what has happened with the technology community and AI as a whole.


• And Eric Migicovsky, founder of the smartwatch company Pebble, joins Mikah to talk about exciting news with Pebble.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guest: Eric Migicovsky

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A massive data breach affected millions of students, parents, and teachers. Someone discovered security flaws within Subaru vehicles. And everything that was announced at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025.

• Emily Forlini is joining Mikah Sargent this week! Emily talks about a massive security incident with software company PowerSchool, in which 62 million students' personal data was stolen, along with parents and teachers.


• Mikah talks about how a security researcher discovered a security flaw within a Subaru vehicle that gave them access to its location data through web vulnerabilities.


• And Patrick Holland from CNET joins the show to discuss everything unveiled at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event, including the S25 phones.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini

Guest: Patrick Holland

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A whole slew of smart products were unveiled at CES 2025 this year. Could this year be the year of smart home devices? TikTok is inching closer to being shut off in the US in a few days. And following Microsoft's announcement of end of support for Windows 10, the company announced it will no longer offer support for the Office 365 apps on Windows 10 after October 14th, 2025.

• Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has returned from CES 2025! She spent her time at the convention checking out all things smart home devices on the show floor and shares with Mikah Sargent some of her favorite devices she covered for The Verge.


• Kaya Yurieff of The Information joins Mikah to talk about the latest on the imminent shutdown of TikTok in the US that is scheduled to happen on Sunday, January 19th.


• And Ben Wilson from Windows Central stops by to talk about Microsoft's announcement that the Office 365 apps on Windows 10 will no longer be offered support after October 14th, 2025, coinciding with the end of support for the operating system.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Guests: Kaya Yurieff and Ben Wilson

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This week on Tech News Weekly, host Mikah Sargent is joined by guest co-host Dan Moren to discuss Siri privacy concerns and how Apple could leverage AI to improve the user experience. Jason Hiner of ZDNET.com reports on CES 2025 on the latest TV displays, NVIDIA's AI innovations, and more. Then Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, weighs in on Meta's controversial decision to end fact-checking on its platforms.

• Dan's latest column explores how Apple could use AI to benefit users by improving spam filtering, search capabilities, and automation. Implementing these features would align with Apple's focus on simplifying technology.


• Apple released a statement clarifying that Siri recordings are not being used to build ad profiles, despite an ongoing conspiracy theory that devices are always listening. In reality, ad targeting is based on online behavior.


• At CES 2025, new TV display technologies were announced including brighter OLED panels likely using "tandem OLED" and a new mini-LED backlight system from Hisense for improved color depth.


• Lenovo showcased an expensive laptop prototype with a screen that rolls up to double in size, though it may have limited practical appeal for now.


• NVIDIA unveiled COSMOS, an AI framework to generate synthetic training data for robots and self-driving systems, which could accelerate future autonomous innovations.


• Offbeat CES products included an electric spoon that makes low-sodium foods taste saltier to promote healthier eating, and aggressively priced TVs from TCL.


• Meta announced it will end fact-checking and rely on community moderation, which CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed argues will amplify the spread of misinformation and cause real-world harms.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guests: Jason Hiner and Imran Ahmed

Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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