ICYMI: the week’s 7 biggest tech news stories from Meta AI clones to Amazon’s major product recall
This week we launched our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 reviews, we saw Amazon ordered to recall over 400,000 dangerous and faulty products, and learned how an incredible Olympics photo was shot using a Nikon Z9.
In case you missed this and more, we have this guide to get caught up to speed on the week’s biggest tech news stories. Scroll down for quick summaries of everything you need to know and links to the larger stories so you can learn more if you want.
Be sure to check back next week for another ICYMI round-up, but for now, let’s get into our first story…
7. We reviewed Samsung’s new foldables
There might be some quibbles that Samsung didn’t do enough to change its foldable lineup, such as too few camera updates and not enough of a redesign, but from our point of view, Samsung took the best in the foldable genre and polished and refined all of it.
The new looks are incredibly clean and durable, and what the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 lack in major photography updates, they more than make up for in impressive AI chops. There are so many cool things you can do with these new foldable, like creating pro-level art out of scribbles, adding photo-realistic elements to photos on the Fold 6, and making impressive image edits or adding post-video-capture slow motion on the Flip 6.
The Fold is more expensive than ever, but these foldable form factors, especially when it comes to the Fold 6, give you two devices in one. It would be great if the Z Flip 6 Cover screen did more, but still, it wins major points on cuteness. The Fold 6 on the other hand is a powerful big-screen phone with a lovely 7.6-inch tablet hidden inside. In a word, we are smitten.
Countless TV shows like the excellent Living With Yourself have explored the idea of cloning yourself to divvy life’s onerous chores – and this week, Meta introduced the digital equivalent with its new AI Studio. The new US-only feature lets pro Instagram creators “make an AI as an extension of themselves” to answer their DMs, and story replies.
If that’s not quite creepy enough, you can also make ‘AI Characters’ based on your chosen interests so you always have a virtual gym buddy on hand to grill with questions. Meta did at least retire its AI celebrity avatars this week. But with similar ideas explored this week by the weird AI Friend necklace, it definitely feels like we’ve forked off into a dystopian Black Mirror timeline.
5. Apple Intelligence made its first appearance
The developer betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 finally showed us an early form of Apple Intelligence, suggesting that rumors of its delay might have been greatly exaggerated.
When it launches, Apple Intelligence promises to bring features like writing assistance, natural language search, context persistence in Siri, and much more, though it wasn’t all available with this early preview. It focused on generative writing tools, email summaries, and some natural language search functionality in Photos, with Genmoji creation, Photo Clean Up, and ChatGPT integration all absent.
Google and Samsung have a significant lead in the smartphone AI game, and while this piecemeal arrival is a start Apple will need to be ready to blow our socks off when iOS 18 launches in full later this year.
4. The Olympics kicked off – and gave us some podium-worthy photos
It’s almost too surreal to be real, but the viral photo of the 2024 Olympics so far immortalizes the moment Brazilian surf star Gabriel Medina celebrated a near-perfect 9.9 score with a ‘kick-out’: several feet in the air, superhero-like and perfectly aligned alongside his surfboard. Taken by French photographer Jerome Brouillet with the Nikon Z9, the photo will go down in surfing and Olympic history, as will Medina’s record-breaking individual score.
Despite toting a pro camera that can shoot up to 20fps at full quality or 120fps with cropped JPEGs, Jerome only had time to capture four pictures of the moment, one of which is the one in everyone’s feeds.
Positioned in the right place on a boat, Jerome said that capturing the image was a matter of “preparation, devotion, timing, and a touch of luck,” and we’re the lucky ones that all the elements combined that day.
3. New Google Nest smart thermostat leaked in TikTok unboxing video
We got our first proper look at the slim, sleek, and entirely brand-new Google Nest Learning Thermostat thanks to a TikTok user who managed to get his hands on not one, but three of the unreleased devices. The fourth-gen thermostat has a curved glass front with virtually no bezels, a stainless steel case rather than plastic, and a customizable display. It’s smarter than its predecessor, too, and it is able to suggest tweaks to your heating schedule that will help save energy.
We’re not sure whether upgrading will be as simple as unclipping your old Learning Thermostat and slipping the new one into the mount, but all should become clear at the Made by Google event on August 13.
2. Amazon was ordered to recall over 400,000 items
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) told Amazon to recall 400,000 hazardous items sold through its store this week. What’s interesting is that these items weren’t sold by Amazon itself; instead, they’re part of the over 60% of sales through its site made by independent sellers who merely use Amazon as a virtual marketplace.
Amazon plans to appeal this decision, arguing that it already does enough to protect customers. However, the CSPC believes Amazon meets the legally defined definition of a ‘distributor’ and should be doing more.
This decision may not just affect Amazon, with it potentially having knock-on effects for other popular marketplaces like Temu, but we’ll have to see how things develop.
1. The leaked DJI Neo drone flew into dangerous ‘impulse buy’ territory
We don’t exactly need to buy a tiny drone, but DJI is about to test our weak resolve soon, according to fresh leaks of its incoming Neo. If those rumors are accurate, the Neo will be its lightest-ever drone and pretty much pocketable without its propeller guards.
What will the Neo actually do? Apparently, its 4K camera and AI-powered subject tracking could make it the ultimate selfie drone for travel photos and videos. There’s also a chance it’ll be compatible with FPV (first-person view) headsets to make it capable of shooting dramatic indoor videos. Either way, we’ve put the family cat up for sale in anticipation of a full launch soon…
This week we launched our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 reviews, we saw Amazon ordered to recall over 400,000 dangerous and faulty products, and learned how an incredible Olympics photo was shot using a Nikon Z9. In case you missed this and more, we have…
