Loading summary
Transcript15 lines
- [00:05]
Brian McCullough
Welcome to the Tech Brew Ride home for Tuesday, September 16, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough. Today looks like we're going to be getting new Meta smart glasses later this week. OpenAI wants to up its AI for coding game is the whole TikTok saga finally coming to a conclusion? Almost half a billion people use Spotify for free and how to use the best feature of the new iOS here's what you missed today in the world of tech. A now removed unlisted video on Meta's YouTube channel apparently revealed new Meta Ray Ban glasses with a heads up display shown to one eye. Also an SEMG wristband quoting Upload VR. To be clear, this is not true AR and it's far less ambitious than the Orion prototype. The clip shows the fixed HUD visible to the right eye only being used for Meta AI and on foot navigation, as well as the wristband being used for finger swiping letters on a physical service to respond to a message that Meta is launching smart glasses with a HUD controlled by its long and development SEMG wristband at Connect 2025 is not a surprise. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the Verge, the Information, the Financial Times and CNBC have all reported that Meta intends to release such a device this year and in July renders of it and its wristband were discovered in early firmware. But what is somewhat of a surprise is that it will be Ray Ban branded. Last year the Information reported that the glasses would be released by Meta without Esseler Luxottica because the Ray Ban and Oakley owner balked at how thick the temple of the glasses needed to be to deliver a display. According to that report, the glasses will weigh 70 grams compared to the 50 grams of ray Ban Meta glasses. Assuming the Information's reporting was accurate, what may have changed Elsa Luxottica's mind between then and now? Is Meta investing 3 billion euro into it, taking a 3% stake, with reports suggesting that Meta is considering further investment to bring this to over 5%. As we noted at the time, this likely gives Meta more of a say over which products get to ship with Essilor Luxottica's prize luxury branding. The decision may have happened earlier than this, however, back in January, the Financial Times reported that next generation Ray Ban glasses would get a display this year. The Ray Ban branding should lead to much wider consumer appeal than had Meta gone alone, as well as the potential to demo and sell the glasses in some of Esselor luxottica's thousands of stores worldwide.
- [02:33]
Narrator/Quote Reader
End quote.
- [02:35]
Brian McCullough
Again, note there that Meta Connect is happening later this week, so I assume this is why this is all trickling out now. But wait, there's more Quoting Upload VR again as well as the Meta Ray Ban display glasses, the leaked video also reveals the design of the rumored Oakley Meta Sphera glasses with a centered camera. The Ray Ban Meta glasses, the recently launched Oakley Meta HSTN glasses and the upcoming Meta Ray Ban display glasses all have their camera on one of the temples, capturing a slightly off center perspective. For months now, though, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported that Meta and Esseler luxottica are also working on smart glasses with a camera in the center. Leveraging Oakley's Sphaera design. A centered camera would be ideal for first person footage and the product will be marketed toward cyclists and other athletes, German said. Clips from the leaked Meta video clearly show the Oakley Meta Sphaera design and depict it being used to capture centered footage of skiing and running. To be clear, the Meta Oakley Sphaera glasses almost certainly do not have a display like the regular Ray Ban Meta and Oakley Meta HSTN glasses. They should have a camera, speakers and microphones.
- [03:44]
Narrator/Quote Reader
End Quote.
- [03:52]
Brian McCullough
OpenAI has debuted GPT5 codecs, a version of GPT5 optimized for agentic coding in codecs, and says this model spends its thinking time more dynamically than previous coding models. Quoting TechCrunch, the new model could spend anywhere from between a few seconds to seven hours on a coding task. As a result, it performs better on agentic coding benchmarks. The new model is now rolling out in Codex products, which can be accessed via a terminal IDE, GitHub or ChatGPT to all ChatGPT Pro, business, edu and enterprise users. OpenAI says it plans to make the model available to API customers in the future. The update is part of OpenAI's effort to make codecs more competitive with other AI coding products, such as Claude Code, Anysphere's Cursor, or Microsoft's GitHub Copilot. The market for AI coding tools has become much more crowded in the last year as a result of intense user demand. Cursor surpassed $500 million in ARR earlier in 2025, and Windsurf, a similar code editor, was the subject of a chaotic acquisition attempt that saw its team split between Google and Cognition. OpenAI says that GPT5 codecs outperforms GPT5 on benchmarks measuring agentic coding abilities, as well as benchmarks measuring performance on code refactoring tasks from large, established repositories. The company also says it trained GPT5 codecs for conducting code reviews and asked experienced software engineers to evaluate the model' review comments. The engineers reportedly found GPT5 codecs to submit fewer incorrect comments while adding more high impact comments. In a briefing, OpenAI codecs product lead Alexander Ambrosios said that much of the increased performance was thanks to GPT5 Codex's dynamic thinking abilities. Users may be familiar with GPT5's router in ChatGPT, which directs queries to different models based on the complexity of a task. Ambrosio said GPT5 codecs works similarly but has no router under the hood and can adjust for how long to work on a task in real time. Ambrosios says this is an advantage compared to a router, which decides how much computational power and time to use on a problem at the outset. Instead, GPT5 codecs can decide five minutes into a problem that it needs to spend another hour. Ambrosios said he's seen the model take upwards of seven hours in some cases.
- [06:15]
Narrator/Quote Reader
End quote.
- [06:23]
Brian McCullough
Could this whole saga at long last be reaching some sort of a conclusion? China says a US spinoff of TikTok will use ByteDance's Chinese algorithm and a deal made with the US includes licensing the algorithm and other IP rights. Quoting the ft, Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China's powerful cybersecurity regulator, told reporters on Monday night that U.S. and Chinese officials had agreed a framework that included licensing the algorithm and other intellectual property rights. He said ByteDance would entrust the operation of TikTok's US user data and content security. Without elaborating, TikTok's powerful recommendation algorithm has been at the heart of a geopolitical tug of war over the short video app since the first Trump administration, when Beijing unveiled export controls on algorithms to thwart a forced sale of the app. The AI algorithm underpins the app's prized ability to serve up addictive videos tailored to individual users, but has also raised fears among national security hawks that it could be manipulated to push Chinese propaganda or polarizing material to users. US officials have insisted that any deal must ensure TikTok's recommendation algorithm is fully severed from ByteDance, warning that continued cooperation could allow Beijing to maintain influence over content seen by Americans. It remains unclear to what extent TikTok's Chinese parent would retain control of the algorithm in the US as part of a licensing deal. An Asia based investor of ByteDance said the new US TikTok entity would use at least part of the Chinese algorithm, but train it in the US on American user data. Beijing's bottom line is a licensing deal, said the investor. Beijing wants to be seen as exporting Chinese technology to the US and the world, end quote. It's the ultimate taco trade, said one US Advisor close to the deal, referring to the acronym. Trump always chickens out. After all this, China keeps the algorithm American and Chinese officials reached a framework agreement on Monday after two days of talks in Madrid to hammer out a deal that could keep the Chinese owned app online in the US China's top two trade negotiators, Vice Prem He Lifing and Deputy Commerce Minister Li Chenggang, indicated that Beijing would approve the export of TikTok's algorithm. U.S. treasury Secretary Scott Besant separately told reporters that the spun off app would be controlled by American investors but preserve some Chinese characteristics, according to Reuters. Another person familiar with the matter said TikTok had been developing a standalone US app in anticipation of a deal, but was keen to ensure that content generated by American users would still be available to users in the rest of the world app and vice versa. Ahead of a previous April deadline, the White House was close to an agreement that would have spun off US TikTok into a company receiving new investment, potentially diluting the stakes of Chinese investors. Under the terms of that deal, investors including Andreessen, Horowitz and Blackstone would have owned about half of TikTok's US business, while large existing investors including General Atlantic, Susquehanna and KKR would have held about 30% of the new entity. As part of that deal, Oracle, which already stores the personal data of American users on its US Cloud servers, would have taken a small holding in the new business and also been responsible for securing the US Apps data. It is unclear whether the broad contours of the current deal will match the April proposal, however. New investors are expected to join the consortium, according to people familiar with the matter, after some investors such as Blackstone pulled out.
- [09:37]
Narrator/Quote Reader
End quote.
- [09:43]
Christian McCaffrey
I'm Christian McCaffrey, pro running back and Abercrombie is an official fashion partner of the NFL. I'm not kidding when I say NFL by Abercrombie broke the Internet last year and I think this season's lineup is even cooler and so does my wife who keeps stealing all my hoodies. Stay fit for the season and Abercrombie's newest arrivals shop NFL by Abercrombie in the app, online and in store.
- [10:13]
Brian McCullough
We've all been there. Too many SaaS, tools, not enough visibility at all, and way too much access for you to keep track of it's the stuff security nightmares are made of. That's where Trelica by1Password comes in. They inventory every app your company uses and create app profiles to help you easily assess risks, manage access, and make sure your password security is locked down tight. With 1Password's extended access management, you can control your company's many, many SaaS tools securely, onboard and offboard your people and actually hit your compliance goals. I've been telling you about 1Password Extended Access Management all year, and now Trelica comes along to make things even better. Sleep Easy with Trelica by 1Password. Learn more at 1Password.com ride. That's 1Password.com ride. Heard of Klarna? You probably have. They burst onto the e commerce scene back in 2005 to challenge traditional credit during a time when consumer trust was at an all time low. Since then, Klarna has won the trust of 111 million customers by providing a more flexible, transparent way to shop and pay online. And now they're also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, underscoring their scale and credibility. In case you didn't know, Klarna helps consumers split the costs into four interest free payments with no hidden fees, no confusing terms, and no revolving debt. Klarna has helped save consumer billions in interest. Millennials and Gen Z are also using this AI powered payment tool to help budget smarter and avoid interest fees. Learn how you can pay smarter with klarna@l.klarna.com 22xc KlarnaTechbrew and look out for the pink Klarna logo at checkout next time you shop online. That's l.klarna.com 22xc Klarna Tech Brew I've got some news for those of you who use Spotify but don't pay for it. And apparently there are a lot of you out there because Spotify reported there were 433 million ad supported monthly active users of the service as of Q2. Spotify has added new features for free users globally, among them allowing you to search for and play any song you want. Quoting TechCrunch, the company calls the new features Pick and Play, Search and Play, and Share and Play respectively. With the former, free users can hit Play in the Spotify app to pick and play any song they want, or can even search for a particular song and play it. The Share and Play feature could encourage free users to open Spotify when they come across music on social media. For instance, Instagram lets users share a Spotify track to stories with sound and allows users to share music on Instagram Notes previously, free users could shuffle songs with limited skips on mobile devices. Spotify says the new features will roll out globally to free users, but there will still be some restrictions that premium users won't face. When reached for clarification, the company told TechCrunch that users on the free mobile experience will have an allocation of on demand time, and when they reach that daily limit, they'll then be restricted to a limited number of skips per hour. Spotify did not share what that time limit is, but noted that premium users will not have these restrictions.
- [13:34]
Narrator/Quote Reader
End quote.
- [13:43]
Brian McCullough
Finally, today they're here. And by they I mean iOS 26, iPadOS 26, Mac OS 26, Tahoe, WatchOS 26, VisionOS 26 and TVOS 26 featuring that new Liquid Glass design. Quick Note though, on iOS 26 quoting MacRumors, a new support document explains that major iOS updates require background setup like indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets and updating apps. Further, Apple says that new features could require more resources, leading to a small impact on performance and battery life. There are often complaints about battery life after a new software update, which is likely why Apple linked the new support document in the iOS 26 release notes. While the impact of software updates on battery life has been mentioned in past support documents, Apple has not explained possible battery drain after updates so explicitly.
- [14:38]
Narrator/Quote Reader
End quote.
- [14:39]
Brian McCullough
Hmm. So keep your eyes out for that. But also, what can you expect with the new? Well, let's just do iOS 26. According to CNET, liquid glass is not just eye candy, it's a cohesive design pivot that Apple can ride for years. The interface leans into rounded, translucent surfaces, depth and dynamic lighting extending across system Chrome app icons, notifications and buttons. As you'll recall, it is a bold change, they say, but it doesn't force you to relearn the phone. Navigation and core behaviors remain familiar, which helps the transition feel confident rather than jarring. Early beta legibility quirks have been tuned and Apple will likely keep refining edges now that it's in the wild. Beyond aesthetics, they say the update bundles practical upgrades that smooth everyday friction. The phone app adds call screening to shoo away spam, a hold assist to wait on hold for you haptics on Kinect. Quick remind me to call back prompts from recents and live on on call translations, small conveniences that add up if you spend time on the line messages gets quality of life updates like richer customization and organizational tweaks and the long promised shift to RCS keeps cross platform threads more modern. A new system wide games app replaces the old Game center, which surfaces and centralizes achievements and social bits. CNET emphasizes consistency as the hidden headline here. Liquid Glass shows up across Apple's platforms this year. IPados, WatchOS, macOS, Tahoe, etc. So your iPhone no longer feels like it's living in a separate design era. That cross device harmony in the fonts motion translucency interactions gives the whole ecosystem a cleaner, more premium feel without sacrificing speed or battery life on recent devices. The point isn't novelty for novelty's sake, it's unifying the experience so your eyes and thumbs don't context switch. Still, they say, not everything lands. The review notes that the glassy sheen can flirt with readability issues in certain lighting or wallpapers, and some of the Agent Y ambitions are clearly staged for later. Apple's deeper Siri revamp isn't here at launch, which leaves iOS 26 feeling visually new but only incrementally smarter from day one. And as ever, features skew to newer hardware so older iPhones see this facelift. But not every single trick. But hey, if the big feature is that call screening, here's how to turn that on. Quoting CNET Tap on Settings, Tap Apps near the bottom of the menu, then tap Phone under the section screen Unknown Callers. You'll see three Never Ask Reason for Calling and Silence. Choosing never lets calls from unsaved numbers come through and ring on your phone. It also lets missed calls be documented in your recent list in your phone app. Just like before Call Screening was available, this is your phone app's default option. If you tap Ask Reason Calling, your phone will ask anyone who calls you from an unsaved number the reason for their call without ringing your iPhone. After the caller answers a few questions, your iPhone will notify you with a transcript of the caller's answers. Then you can decide whether or not you want to answer the call. You can also pick Silence, which is the nuclear option for phone calls. Any unsaved number that calls you will be silenced and sent to voicemail, no questions asked. Ask reason for Calling is probably the best option for most people who want to screen calls. I chose it, and while it notified me when scam callers answered some question, which they rarely did, it also notified me when my doctor's office called to go over some test results. If I had chosen silence, I would have missed my doctor's office, and choosing never would mean checking every call if I was expecting something important. If you choose ask reason for calling and dislike it. You can always follow the steps above again and choose one of the other options. And remember you can always silence your phone and not be bothered by any phone calls. My wife has not taken her phone off silent in months and she remains blissfully unbothered by spam calls. Reminder to Please take the Podcast Listener Survey which is the bottom link in the show notes today. Do this for three reasons. Number one it helps us get a higher tier of advertiser. Number two it lets you tell me what you do and do not like about the show and thereby helps me make the show better for you. And number three if you take the survey you are entered into a Raffle win a $500 gift card so do it up. Talk to you tomorrow.
- [19:19]
Narrator/Quote Reader
Trip Planner by Expedia you were made to outdo your holiday, your hammocking and your pooling. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia made to travel.