'Curved iPhone', Intel Arc 24GB card, China Tariffs paused + more!

Summary

TechLinked Podcast Summary Episode: "Curved iPhone", Intel Arc 24GB Card, China Tariffs Paused + More!
Release Date: May 13, 2025
Host: Linus Media Group

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1. Apple’s Ambitious 2027 Product Lineup

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into Apple’s rumored product innovations slated for 2027. According to Mark Gurman—dubbed the "Oracle at Germanopoulos"—Apple is expected to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iPhone with groundbreaking releases.

• Curved iPhone: Apple is projected to introduce the first foldable iPhone featuring a subtle display crease. However, later in the year, a predominantly glass curved iPhone without any display cutouts is anticipated. Riley humorously notes, “No one asked for this” (01:14).

• Smart Glasses and Hybrid Devices: Alongside the curved iPhone, Apple plans to launch smart glasses to rival Meta’s offerings and develop a hybrid device merging the functionalities of a foldable iPad and a touchscreen Mac. Riley sarcastically remarks, “But at least they have the common decency to hold off that until 2028” (01:29), hinting at potential delays.

2. Intel’s Intel Arc B580 Graphics Card Reveal

Next, the discussion shifts to Intel’s advancements in the GPU sector. A regulatory filing by MaxSun has unveiled details about the Intel Arc B580, which boasts an impressive 24GB of VRAM.

Riley expresses excitement, stating, “All PC gamers want is more Intel ARC cards” (02:20). However, skepticism is raised regarding its classification, suggesting it might be an Intel ARC Pro workstation card rather than a consumer GPU. This aligns with Intel’s announcement to showcase these cards at Computex 2025 in Taiwan.

3. Nvidia’s RTX 5050 and the Impact of Price Hikes

The conversation then transitions to Nvidia’s latest offering, the RTX 5050, highlighted by its modest 8GB VRAM. Riley quips, “At least the memory will be the least of your worries with that card” (03:04), pointing out concerns beyond VRAM, such as performance and pricing.

Amidst Nvidia’s reported substantial price hikes across its GPU lineup—attributed to ongoing tariff issues—the community is left questioning the value proposition of the RTX 5050. The anticipated price increases are expected to strain gamers’ budgets further.

4. Significant Reduction in US-China Tariffs

A major highlight of the episode is the announcement of a mutual reduction in tariffs between the United States and China. Both nations have agreed to lower tariffs by 115% for a 90-day period. Specifically:

• US on Chinese Goods: Tariffs drop from 145% to 30%.
• China on US Goods: Tariffs decrease from 125% to 10%.

Riley sarcastically comments, “Okay, can we quit the bull now?” (04:28), referencing the awkward joint statement release. However, complexities remain as the tariff reduction excludes small packages under $800 from China, which will continue to face high tariffs or flat fees.

5. Controversy Surrounding Shira Perlmutter’s Departure

The episode delves into the sudden pause of Shira Perlmutter, Director of the U.S. Copyright Office. This action follows her office’s preliminary report on the legal ambiguities surrounding AI models training on copyrighted works.

Riley speculates, “The firing may have been influenced by Trump's good old buddy and ex AI founder Elon Musk” (04:46), suggesting political and industry pressures. This incident underscores the growing tensions between government regulations and the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

6. Samsung’s Odyssey OLED G6: A Gamers’ Dream?

Samsung’s latest gaming monitor, the Odyssey OLED G6, is spotlighted for its groundbreaking 500Hz refresh rate—the world's first OLED monitor to achieve this feat. Launching initially in Southeast Asia, the 27-inch 1440p display is priced around $1,440.

Riley enthuses, “You gotta check this out” (06:05), emphasizing its potential to revolutionize the gaming experience, especially for high-paced genres like hero shooters.

7. Whoop’s Controversial Hardware Upgrade Policy

Fitness tracker company Whoop is under scrutiny for altering its free hardware upgrade policy. Initially promising free upgrades to members with six months of membership, Whoop retracted, citing a policy amendment that only applies to users with twelve months remaining on their membership.

Riley remarks on the user backlash, “Please stop yelling at us” (06:42), highlighting the tension between company policies and customer expectations.

8. Google’s VO2 Video Generator and Privacy Settlement

Google is set to integrate its VO2 video generator—a tool capable of creating five-second deepfake clips—into the upcoming Honor 400 and 400 Pro phones, releasing on May 22. Riley warns, “This will put the incredible power of deepfakes in everyone's pocket” (06:50), pointing out the potential risks to privacy and misinformation.

Additionally, Google faces a significant $1.375 billion settlement with Texas over data privacy violations, a move that underscores the increasing legal challenges tech giants face concerning user data protection.

9. Giant Bomb’s Ownership Transition Amid Layoffs

The podcast covers recent upheavals at Giant Bomb, a prominent gaming news site. After layoffs initiated by former owner Fandom, the site's staff, led by Jeff Scrub and Bacalar, have purchased the Giant Bomb website and podcast.

Riley optimistically states, “Here’s hoping they don’t cross any wires” (08:28), expressing hope for a smooth transition and future stability under new ownership.

10. Invent Wood’s Revolutionary "Super Wood"

In an innovative twist, Invent Wood is on the verge of mass-producing “super wood”—a treated wood variant that surpasses steel in strength and lightness. This breakthrough not only promises environmental benefits but also introduces a durable and aesthetically pleasing material alternative to traditional steel.

Riley humorously connects this innovation to pop culture, stating, “Super wood could be alluding to Superman, who's the man of steel” (09:10), adding a light-hearted note to the discussion of material science advancements.

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Conclusion

This episode of TechLinked offers a comprehensive overview of upcoming technological advancements, industry shifts, and the interplay between policy and innovation. From Apple’s forward-thinking gadgets to the geopolitical nuances of US-China trade relations, listeners are provided with insightful commentary and timely updates. The blend of serious analysis with Riley’s signature humor ensures an engaging and informative listening experience for tech enthusiasts.

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Timestamps

• 01:14 - Riley on Apple’s curved iPhone
• 01:29 - Discussion on Apple's smart glasses and hybrid devices
• 02:20 - Excitement over Intel Arc B580
• 03:04 - Nvidia RTX 5050 and VRAM concerns
• 04:28 - US-China tariff reductions
• 04:46 - Shira Perlmutter’s firing speculation
• 06:05 - Samsung’s Odyssey OLED G6
• 06:42 - Whoop’s upgrade policy backlash
• 06:50 - Google’s VO2 video generator and settlement
• 08:28 - Giant Bomb’s ownership change
• 09:10 - Invent Wood’s super wood innovation

Note: Timestamps are indicative and based on the provided transcript for reference.

Transcript

[Susan Ettlinger]

The PC gave us computing power at home, the Internet connected us, and mobile let us do it pretty much anywhere. Now, generative AI lets us communicate with technology in our own language, using our own senses. But figuring it all out when you're living through it is a totally different story. Welcome to Leading the Shift, a new podcast from Microsoft Azure. I'm your host, Susan Ettlinger. In each episode, leaders will share what they're learning to help you navigate all this change with confidence. Please join us, listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[Riley]

Look, I know you were expecting to see Riley, but his lips are tired.

[Unknown]

Don't say that.

[Riley]

Don't worry, Riley, you rest those smackers. What? I got this Apple is reportedly planning to launch some decidedly wacky new products in 2027, according to Mark Gurman, known by the Greeks as the Oracle at Germanopoulos. German. Hardly know him. In his latest newsletter, the ruler of Grimulon 7 reiterated previous claims that Apple would release the first foldable iPhone with a display crease. That's barely there in 2027, but apparently later in the year, Apple's going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of iPhone by launching a mostly glass curved iPhone without any cutouts in the display. No one asked for this.

[Unknown]

Cut it out.

[Riley]

I have a feeling the curve here refers more to the edge of the phone being curved, like Samsung's discontinued edge design from back when you were six years. But at this time we also can't rule out an Ibanana phone.

[Unknown]

The evidence is there because I don't.

[Riley]

Know, somebody's tripping here. Whether it's Apple or no, Girm limits himself. But 2027 is apparently also the year Apple will launch their smart glasses to compete with Meta's products. And they're also developing some kind of cross between a foldable iPad and a touchscreen Mac. But at least they have the common decency to hold off that until 2028.

[Unknown]

We're reasonable people.

[Riley]

We'll all be dead by then. You'll wanna start saving up for these probably very expensive devices, so make sure you don't accidentally delete an email titled Lopez Voice Assistant Class Action Settlement if you've owned an Apple device in the last decade, it's telling you how to claim 20 bucks or so per device from Apple's recent settlement over Siri spying on people by accident. Now the new fancy AI powered Siri won't spy on you, it'll just lie to you if Apple ever launches it.

[Unknown]

Got em.

[Riley]

Show us your wrists, Apple, so we can slap them References to a version of The Intel Arc B580 with 24 gigabytes of VRAM were spotted in a regulatory filing submitted by card manufacturer maxsun, which is exciting because all PC gamers want is more Intel ARC cards. And for our other dad, Pat Gelsinger, to come back.

[Unknown]

Pat? Pat?

[Riley]

No, he went out for smokes. But don't get too excited. It's likely that this is an Intel ARC Pro workstation card, given that intel explicitly said that that's what they'll be showing off at Computex 2025 in Taiwan, where I'll be there eating noodles, going for a walk. First time dumplings. First time dumplings. Stinky tofu. People burn their mouths. I heard. I gotta be careful.

[Unknown]

You've never been there.

[Riley]

Another Maxon filing also mentioned an Nvidia RTX 5050. My favorite name so far, with what else? 8 gigabytes of vram. But at least the memory will be the least of your worries with that card. Hey, look, we'll take what we can get at a time when, according to Digitimes, Nvidia is reportedly implementing some pretty hefty price hikes across its lineup of GPUs. And of course they're gonna blame the tariffs, but.

[Unknown]

What? Why are you pausing?

[Riley]

What?

[Unknown]

Say something.

[Riley]

Those tariffs are paused. Oh, or some of them are, anyway, as the US And China have agreed to mutually cut tariffs on each other by 115% for a period of 90 days. In an extremely rare joint statement that was also probably pretty awkward to write, like which language do you use? Both nations announced that the Trump administration's recently imposed tariffs on Chinese goods will drop from 145 to 30%, while China's tariffs on American goods are going from 125 to 10%. The CCP's Ministry of Commerce also released their own statement, though roughly translated as okay, can we quit the bull now? Not quite, because this tariff reduction does not apply to small packages under $800 coming from China, which will still be subject to 120% tariff or a flat fee of $100, which goes up to 200 on June 1. De minimis to the max. To celebrate, Trump also put a pause permanently on the Director of the U.S. copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, one day after her office published a preliminary report arguing that AI companies might not have the legal right to train their commercial models on unlimited amounts of copyrighted works.

[Unknown]

I'm skeptical.

[Riley]

The House Administration Committee published a statement implying that the firing may have been influenced by Trump's good old buddy and ex AI founder Elon Musk likely disliking that report along with the leaders of every other AI company, almost all of whom are embroiled in AI copyright lawsuits. Up to the Ketamine Holes. Ketamine holes, Ketamine holes.

[Unknown]

They all have fun.

[Riley]

I feel like they should take a break and check out our sponsor Holes Micro center and their newest store in Santa Clara, California which they promise is opening really soon. And they mean it this time. They are super so super cereal. So you better sign up to get a free free 128 gigabyte flash drive in store when it opens. Which is soon for sure. Until then though, all may long it's desktop deals at Micro center with great deals on more than 150 desktops, including the MSI Aegis ZS2 with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D and an RTX 5070. Are you kidding me? I mean, what else would you expect from the tech retailer rated number one overall in PCMag's Reader's Choice Awards? You don't have to answer that. You just have to go check out the sale and learn more about the Santa Clara store at the link in the description. How do those gums feel, Riley? Tell you what, flap them around a bit while I do these quick bits.

[Unknown]

What does that mean?

[Riley]

Yow. Was that Samsung's new Odyssey OLED G6? The world's first 500Hz OLED gaming monitor? Was it?

[Unknown]

I don't know.

[Riley]

It's launching in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia for around 1440 US dollars. They always get the good stuff before launching worldwide later this year. It's a 27 inch 1440p display, just like LG's OLED GX7. But the key difference here is that Its refresh rate is 20Hz faster. You'll notice your last few games of popular hero shooter, Marvel Rivals or equivalent title have probably sucked. And now you know the reason. You gotta check this out.

[Unknown]

You just gotta but that was not a sponsor spot.

[Riley]

Didn't even see that. Oh wow, you would with a better oled. You know. Accident prone fitness tracker company Whoop is once again offering its users free hardware upgrades. Customers revolted last week when Whoop went back on their original promise of a free tracker upgrade reportedly offered to any user who had been a member for six months or more. But Whoop. Whoop says that was a typo in an old support article and once found the company amended it to their actual policy, which is that you get a free upgrade if you had six or more months remaining on your membership. And that seems to be true, according to both a company blog post and a Forbes interview from 2021. Fast forward to today and Whoop is now offering free upgrades for users with 12 months or more remaining on their membership. So that's definitely worse, but not as worse. Please stop yelling at us. And whoop. There it is. Google's VO2 video generator, capable of turning images into five second clips, will be included for free on on Honor 400 and 400 Pro phones when they come out May 22. This will put the incredible power of deepfakes in everyone's pocket, which is exactly the type of danger that led fresh new Pope Leo XIV to choose his name.

[Unknown]

He's Pope and Fresh.

[Riley]

The previous Pope Leo presided over the Industrial Revolution, and this Leo sees the AI revolution posing similar risks to human dignity and privacy. Heck, it just came out that Google will pay Texas a groundbreaking $1.375 billion to settle a data privacy violations case. Hey, can we get a settlement to compensate for all the extra thinking we have to do to figure out whether any given image or video of the new Pope is AI?

[Unknown]

There's no way he has that much drip.

[Riley]

Is that his coat or is that.

[Unknown]

A part of his body?

[Riley]

Over a week ago, gaming news site Giant Bomb was hit by a blast of layoffs by its owner Fandom. Or should I say former owner because the site's staff just bought Giant Bomb from Fandom with the Jeff Scrub and Bacalar taking ownership of the Giant Bomb website and podcast. Here's hoping they don't cross any wires.

[Unknown]

It's not a real bomb.

[Riley]

It could explode and get hyped for a mind blowing next gen tech product wood. A company called Invent Wood is ramping up to begin mass production of what they call super wood, a specialty treated wood that is stronger and lighter than steel. Actually really cool and prettier the grain.

[Unknown]

Oh yeah.

[Riley]

Now I think there's something we said here about wood being better for the environment than steel, but there's also the fact that super wood could be alluding to Superman, who's the man of steel, which is now weaker than wood. I don't know, there's something there, but University of Maryland researcher Lian Bing Husband published this method to strengthen wood back in 2018 when you were six years old and is now one of the founders of Invent Wood, which is launching its huge manufacturing facility this summer. So if anything happens to them, look to Big Steel.

[Unknown]

They invented wood.

[Riley]

The man.

[Unknown]

Big steel. Oh, now we're onto something.

[Riley]

Trying to keep your wood down. Look at your screen once again on Wednesday, when we'll be back with more tech news. More tech wood. It'll be so good. You might. You wrote that you might get wood.

[Unknown]

Yeah, but we can't say that Tech wood.