Transcript
Susan Ettlinger (0:00)
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.
Jez Cordon (0:31)
Surprise. I got you Tech news. You knew that? That's why you clicked the video. And you want me to just get to it? I knew this was stupid. An Xbox gaming handheld is being planned by Microsoft to launch later this very year, according to fairly reliable Xbox Insider. And no big deal if you say his name with a southern accent, Jiz Kordon, it's just Cordon. According to Cordon sources, the handheld will be an Xbox branded device made by a manufacturing partner. Kind of like how Lenovo made an officially licensed SteamOS device, the Legion Go S. That handheld was apparently so good it made this laptop Mag Writer want to buy Valve's first party Steam Deck instead, which is maybe Microsoft's end game? Jez also says the company plans to launch a property first party Xbox handheld in 2027 along with a premium Series X console successor. Corden elaborated on the Xbox two podcast, saying that there may not be any developer kits for this round of consoles. Game devs will just need a set of specs to target because this Xbox will essentially just be a PC in a TV friendly shell, as opposed to normal PCs, which when placed near a television can erupt into hissing and growling. The news of upcoming Xbox hardware reassure some fans worried about former Xbox exclusives being published on other platforms like Forza Horizon 5, which will launch in April on PlayStation 5 with a Microsoft account login requirement because that went so well for Sony's PC games. That'll show em. That'll show those dirty PlayStation fans that their parents should have bought an Xbox instead when they were children so they'd form a ridiculous social attachment to the brand I like. Speaking of branding, specs and images have leaked of Nvidia's Blackwell powered Pro workstation card called the RTX Pro 6000. Blackwell. As with the card's predecessor, the RTX 6000 ADA generation, the 6000 means this is Nvidia's flagship Pro model, but this time they threw a Pro in there too, in all caps. Just to be sure, it's only for pros Stop looking video cards found the images after Twitter leaker Harukaze leaked specs, which led Mark Brown to find a listing from card manufacturer LedTech. Great job everybody. But gamers are probably more interested in the leaked specs for the RTX 505060 and 5060 Ti, which were posted by other Twitter leaker whose name I will always pronounce as Kopita7 Kimmy because it pleases me. Unfortunately, the specs for these low to mid rangers likely won't please low to mid gamers, which is a half hearted diss I already regret. We're talking specs that barely improve on their predecessors, if at all, but with a launch expected sometime in the next few months, Nvidia still has time to add a qualifier to the name RTX Fun 5050. Don't take it too seriously following reports that Apple has delayed its LLM powered Siri upgrade indefinitely, some, like Mac Rumors contributor Aaron Paris, wondered if Apple would pull ads that specifically advertise the feature since it's not a thing. Turns out Apple would. They took down the ad shortly after Paris tweeted about it, leaving no evidence of any false advertising. Except for, as pointed out by Snazzy Labs, aka Quinn Nelson, this whole section of Apple's iPhone 16 Pro page full of false advertising. Yeah, the text there makes it sound like Siri can do advanced AI assistant stuff right now. Instead of saying that at some future point she'll be able to do them about 2/3 of the time, and the remaining 33% she'll hallucinate and book your grandma a flight to Siberia. But those 2/3 times magical. A magic you could also feel through our sponsor Babbel, one of the top language learning apps for anyone who wants to visit another country, say the Netherlands. And ask varesattreinstation to find out where the train station is while feeling like an absolute master of the communicative arts. Yes. I mean, yeah, even learning just a few key phrases can help you avoid miscommunication and show locals or your business partners that you're a thoughtful, capable and intelligent person who deserves some directions to the train station. How could they not love ya? Babbel gives you access to lessons created by more than 650 real language experts that will help you learn how to have practical, real world conversations at a pace you're comfortable with. In fact, Babbel researched this and found that users could begin speaking a new language within three weeks. But if you don't make it that long, they have a 20 day money back guarantee period and it's been a new year for like two months already. How are those resolutions going, huh? Get back on track, use our link in the description or scan the QR code to get 60% off your subscription. I put the hat back on for the quick bits cause it was. I mean it was just sitting there and I was like stick to the bit. And so I thought, you know. You know what? Nah, it's fine, it's okay. Scammers selling fake hardware online is nothing new, but the problem seems to be affecting seemingly legit listings on Amazon even more these days, as evidenced by this supposed Ryzen 7.9800x3D purchased by YouTube channel Hardware Busters that turned out to be a 14 year old AMD FX4100 with a sticker on it. That sticker was really on there though, so. So be careful out there if you're shopping for the Ryzen 9.9950X3D, which will supposedly launch this Wednesday for 700 bucks. Maybe. Who knows. Turns out that battery demolishing update for the Pixel 4a was pushed by Google to prevent battery overheating risk, which was bad enough that Australia issued a formal recall of the devices, although in the age of software updates, a recall often just means an urgent notice to update, which is the case here. But all Google said when they first issued the update was that it was necessary to improve the stability of the battery's performance, which doesn't sound nearly as dire as Phone could splode. But hey, why do we need to know why a tech giant is fundamentally altering something about a device's performance? It's their phone. We just gave them some money to use it. Speaking of borked Google Things owners quote unquote of 2nd gen Chromecast and Chromecast Audio devices were frustrated to be met with untrusted device errors this week, leading some to worry the Google graveyard had come for their dongles, as it shall for us all. But nope, it was just a glitch and Google's working on a fix. Just be glad the issues weren't the result of a massive cyber attack like the one Elon Musk said was responsible for stability issues experienced by X users this morning. They don't want you to tweet Better tweet even harder. And Grok writes the funniest Best tweets ever. So subscribe to that. Some DVDs released by Warner Bros. From the years 2006 to 2008 have been found to go bad due to a manufacturing defect known as disc rot, which is way more biologically related terms than I'm used to using when speaking about optical discs, which I do each morning when I wake up. The issue was investigated by Chris Bumbray of movie news site JoBlo, and Warner Bros. Has now stated they're working with consumers to replace defective discs. So you might wanna check your DVDs if you have any of that released from 2006 to 2008. Especially because you probably got some good ones in there. The Prestige, the Departed, Children of Men, the Devil Wears Prada, Pan's Labyrinth, Step Up. That's all one year because movies used to be good and the Compal Infinite is a laptop with a screen that rolls outward to expand itself horizontally. Horizontally as opposed to vertically like the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6. The Infinite even won an IF Design Award, which doesn't mean much because they've gotten the same award for a number of other cool products that never came to market. You want a real innovative screen type product. Asus just launched monitors with built in air purifiers so you don't actually have to go touch grass to get fresh air. Take that moment. Here's something else you can touch your mouse or phone or whatever to click the next Tech News video when it comes out on Wednesday. Grass Tech News is just as healthful.