Hey folks,
Yes, your free newsletter came on Friday this week because of the short holiday week.
I’ve got a great CES preview for you and an interesting bit about space-based data centers. But there are also some important announcements.
Next week these audio versions will sound more like a podcast episode. These posts will carry the analysis of the CES news we think is most worth paying attention to.
Then on Monday, January 13, this becomes DTNS - Briefing! These audio reports will also be carried in the DTNS podcast feed. Those will have ads, these will not. So if you’re paying for a newsletter subscription here you’ll get DTNS ad-free. Yay! They will also feature more than just me. Jason Howell will be on multiple days a week and I’ll also get help from Robb Dunewood, Huyen Tue Dao and Jenn Cutter.
If you like the DTNS discussions Sarah and I have those will continue as DTNS Live! So you can get those too. Check out dailytechnewsshow.com/subscribe for the details.
(If you still just want one ad-free episode a week for free, that will continue on Thursdays)
Now on to the news!
Tom
Big Story
CES 2025: AI, Robots, Wearables And More | Investor's Business Daily
CES 2025: What Is the Huge Tech Show and What Trends Do Experts Predict? - CNET
LG’s new projector looks like a stand fan - Engadget
Hisense's new laser projector is so sharp and color-accurate, it may just replace your 4K TV | ZDNET
Samsung’s Bespoke smart fridges bring AI-powered shopping to Instacart - The Verge
The Consumer Electronics Show is coming, with media day on Monday, and the official show opening on Tuesday. That means we're getting all the "what to expect at CES" pieces. These are based in part on the avalanche of press releases that come out in advance of the show, trying to get reporters to come to booths and cover products. So I took a look at a few of them to identify what the media thinks are the trends going in. And then I asked a couple of "friends."
Mashable hits on a couple of the common items to expect, new Nvidia GPUs, big car announcements, specifically name-checking Honda, 4K and 5K OLED monitors galore, and AI everything. It also mentions the possibility of Lenovo's GO gaming handheld and specifically calls out an emotional-support AI robot from Mixi.
Investor's Business Daily also calls out the Nvidia GPU announcement, car tech and AI in everything. It also bets on smart glasses and satellite internet services being a big trend. Iridium, Globalstar and Starlink are all at the show. Oh and an obvious one, huge TVs with 100-110 inch sizes.
CNET mentions AI, of course, car tech and Nvidia but also reminds us AMD will have a big RDNA 4 GPU announcement as well. And it rightly notes that Qualcomm often comes with something. There's also brief mentions of robots in most of these prediction pieces.
Next, I turned to my friend Chad, or ChatGPT, as it is known to most of you. I asked it, "Can you look at the CES 2025 preview pieces and summarize what you think the major trends people are expecting at the show will be?" It identified AI and display tech (aka OLED monitors and huge TVs). It noted wearable tech like smart glasses but also the satellite services was lumped in here because of mobile connectivity. And it called out increased security measures for the conference in general.
Then I turned to my friend Claude from Anthropic and asked it the same thing. Unfortunately, Claude said its knowledge cut off at April 2024.
So, at last, I turned to Gemini. Oddly, it told me that as of October 26, 2023, CES 2025 is a long way off. But then gave me an answer anyway, telling me that AI, Extended Reality, green tech, and car tech were among the top trends. It seems like these are 2024 trends, but hey, they're not far off. That says something.
That inspired me to ask Google Search, and I got a summary of a Forbes article. "Expect major announcements from leading computing brands featuring upgraded chipsets from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, all of which are rumored to reveal new processors at the event. AMD and Nvidia are also expected to unveil new GPUs and graphic cards. AI will undoubtedly make its presence felt."
In the end, I think it's safe to say everybody is expecting the big Nvidia GPU announcement to be newsworthy, but let's not forget AMD and Qualcomm. AI and car tech will be big as will display tech. The only thing that surprised me in this overview was satellite service. That makes sense though. Smart devices that can get connectivity anywhere are going to want to tout that. Mark that as a sleeper trend.
Let’s wrap up with a few pre-CES announcements from Friday:
LG showed off a CineBeam portable 4K UHD projector that is also a Bluetooth speaker and LED mood lamp and looks like a standing fan. It’s a lovely design, and with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 300 ANSI lumens, and up to a 120-inch display image size, it seems like a capable projector.
HiSense announced the Google TV L9Q projector which can do 5,000 lumens and up to 150 inches and is touted as "the largest and most flexible laser TV on the market." It also has a 5,000:1 contrast ratio, which is very good.
And to get a jump on the AI trend, Samsung announced the Bespoke refrigerator that uses cameras in your fridge to identify items you might need to order and lets you shop Instacart from a touchscreen. Samsung has been promoting refrigerators that can tell you what food you need to order for years, but this is the tightest integration with the ability to order them they've yet done.
More to come from CES all next week!
More Stories
Meta's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, announced Thursday that he's leaving the company. Joel Kaplan, who has been at Meta since 2011, will take over the role. Clegg joined Meta in 2018 after being Deputy Prime Minister of the UK from its third most popular party at the time, the Liberal Democrats. Don't be confused by the name if you're not from the UK, it's a centrist party, albeit US folks would consider it left-leaning. Kaplan is definitely from farther to the right. He was once deputy chief of staff to US President George W. Bush. Every article notes that this seems to be Meta positioning itself to deal better with the incoming US administration. As I said on DTNS Live on Thursday, it's also a pivot to the domestic.
Apple Fitness Plus and Strava collaborate with a new integration
Apple Fitness Plus and Strava announced new features of their integration. Strava Athletes will now appear in Fitness Plus content, Strava subscribers will get a free three-month trial of Apple Fitness Plus in Australia, Canada, and the US, and workout summaries can now be more detailed to bring them in line with Strava's integration with Peloton and Ladder.
iPhone sales in China fell for the 4th month in a row
9to5Mac
Why Apple is offering rare iPhone discounts in China - BBC
China to Subsidize Smartphone Purchases in Bid to Lift Spending - Bloomberg
Apple iPhone sales in China fell for the fourth month in a row as non-Chinese brands fell 47.4% across the board. Domestic Chinese users may see owning a foreign-made phone as unpatriotic given the US-China trade war, but whatever the reason, the numbers bear out a turn toward home brands like Xiaomi and Vivo but especially Huawei, which has been targeted the most by the US. Vivo is the best-selling phone in China, according to IDC, but Huawei's sales rose 40% in the most recent period.
As a result, Apple is offering a rare sale on iPhones for four days starting Saturday. Huawei is also running a discount. Additionally, China's government trade-in program, which subsidizes new purchases of home appliances and cars, will be extended to phones, tablets, and smartwatches. The program is expected to benefit domestic device makers.
Russian Court Tells Yandex to Hide Refinery Images Over UAVs
A court in Moscow ordered Yandex to block access to maps and images of an oil refinery in order to deter drone attacks from Ukraine. Yandex is the most popular search engine in Russia. Yandex would have the most up-to-date images because of its domestic operations, but one presumes Google's images would also be useful and in use by the Ukrainian military.
A TikTok Ban Looms. Creators Say They’ll Believe It When They See It.
The Wall Street Journal reports that most TikTok users in the US are acting as if the app will not be blocked from distribution. The company is in court trying to stop the block from taking effect on January 19th. Even advertisers, while prepared to move their spending to other platforms if necessary, seem to believe the block will likely not happen.
TikTok makes up 4% of ad spending in the US, and most of it looks like it would shift to YouTube and Instagram. Meanwhile, it’s worth repeating that even if the block takes effect, it does not stop users in the US who already have the app from continuing to use it, so there would be no immediate effect on existing users.
Net neutrality eviscerated by appeals court ruling
The US Sixth Court of Appeals struck down the FCC's attempt to reclassify the Internet as a telecommunications service and impose net neutrality rules on it. The Internet has switched from being classified as telecommunications or information (phone or cable TV) depending on which party controls the FCC.
The decision rested on the US Supreme Court's overturning of the "Chevron defense" in 2024. The Chevron defense meant courts deferred to government agencies when there was ambiguous language in legislation. The Supreme Court ruled in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo that "agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities." Courts had upheld changes in Internet classification based on Chevron; now that it's gone, they aren't.
This isn’t the court ruling on whether the internet should have net neutrality rules or not. Instead, the court is saying Congress should decide by passing a law. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely Congress will act.
USB-C gets a bit more universal as the EU’s mandate goes into effect
The Common Charger Directive is now in effect for the EU. The rule means that if "radio equipment" can be powered or charged through a wired connection, then it must do so by USB-C. The rule applies to devices "placed on the market" after December 28th.
Laptops get a special dispensation of this requirement to April 2026. Also, drones don't appear to fall under this yet, but they will at some point. It also doesn't apply to devices with non-rechargeable batteries or devices that only charge wirelessly.
Cloudflare's VPN app among half-dozen pulled from Indian app stores
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued removal orders for around six VPN apps from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Affected apps include Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1, Hide.me, and PrivadoVPN.
India implemented rules in 2022 requiring VPN operators to keep records of customers, including name, address, IP address, and transaction histories for five years. Some VPN app makers have withdrawn from the market as a result. NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark continue to operate but have stopped marketing their apps. They have not been ordered removed.
Data centres in space: they’re a brilliant idea, but a herculean challenge
The Conversation features an article by Domenico Vicinanza, Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems and Data Science at Anglia Ruskin University, discussing the advantages of putting data centers in space.
The benefits include:
Power-hungry installations wouldn't pull from the ground-based grid, as they'd be powered by solar energy, unencumbered by clouds.
Cooling systems wouldn’t be necessary due to the cold environment of space.
No need to deal with permits and regulations from local governments.
Challenges include:
Latency in data transmission.
High monetary and carbon emission costs of launches.
Risks from space debris and solar flares.
Lumen Orbit plans to build a full-scale prototype this year, and the EU’s Ascend project, backed by France's Thales, says it can launch 25 gigawatts of capacity over the next 25 years.
Interesting Reads
Anthropic agrees to work with music publishers to prevent copyright infringement - Engadget
Over 3 million mail servers without encryption exposed to sniffing attacks | BleepingComputer
Florida Porn Ban Sees Searches for Free VPNs Skyrocket - Newsweek
Facebook and Instagram Ads Push Gun Silencers Disguised as Car Parts | WIRED
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