Firstly…. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Hope Santa gave you what you wanted! Christmas is a great time of the year – and I just wanted to take this opportunity to all those who read my blog, a very Merry Christmas!
If you did receive some awesome tech presents – please share them with me! – you can tweet me, or share them on Insta and tag me. Or easier still… reply back to this blog post and tell me all about it!
Only 4 weeks left and 2021 is over.
I remember starting my Top Two Tech Stories in January, 2021 – and it’s been fun! Right now – not sure if i’ll continue into 2022.
For now, there’s alot going on in the tech world – with the whole metaverse etc.. but I’m going to bring it right home. And focus on two stories, that would’ve been relevant to folks here.
First up – it’s all about the Holiday Season!
Google announced this Wednesday on its Nest community blog the return of holiday-themed ringtones for Nest Doorbells (via 9to5Google). Visitors arriving for family holiday gatherings can now press the Nest Doorbell and be greeted with sounds of the holidays, including “Winter,” Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and New Year’s jingles.
Google did have holiday bell options last year as well — but only as a perk for subscribers to its Nest Aware smart alert service. This year, owners of both the battery Nest Doorbell and the wired version (formerly Nest Hello) can get in on the fun sans that subscription. Google mentions that the newer battery Nest Doorbell requires users to use the Google Home app with an account in order to activate the themes — while wired users can also enable them through the Nest app and site.
Google is setting the trend on having seasonal ringtones — in October of this year, the company released Halloween-themed ringtones with multiple spooky tunes. The ghostly ringtones also replicated onto accompanied Nest speakers and hubs inside the home — a feature now available for the new holiday ringtones so families and friends can get cheery together before even opening the door.
Next up… whilst most of us have Sky TV – there are some, who have Virgin Media TV and it’s not been great recently…
Some Virgin Media customers were left without access to TV services for more than 10 hours, after the firm suffered a nationwide outage.
The issue began at about 10:30 GMT prompting thousands of viewers to report problems.
The firm told customers its engineers were trying to fix the problem, which hit cities across the UK, including London, Birmingham and Manchester.
Virgin Media apologised, and said it would fix it “as soon as possible”.
The issue had been caused by “a major power outage”, the firm said.
The website Downdetector which tracks outages received more than 18,000 reports of problems at one point.
Many users tweeted their annoyance at the loss of service, and the way in which Virgin Media communicated: “Can you update please? No TV. Your status page down. No info on phone lines,” wrote one customer.
The company said it had identified the fault and its engineers were working flat-out to fix the issue.
At 13:45 GMT the company wrote: “We have now restored several channels with customers able to watch BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, ITV+1 and Channel 4. TV360 customers are also able to access apps on their box,” the firm wrote.
“We’re working to restore all channels as quickly as possible and continue to work towards having this resolved this afternoon.”
But the partial return did not please everyone: “Channels 1 to 4 are working, but the problem is it’s not the year 1985 and we pay for hundreds of channels,” one customer tweeted.
And some users complained that the channels had appeared then disappeared. Oh Lord.
There you go… all about TV going down and welcoming guests to a nice tune from your doorbell.. I’m sure my parents had a doorbell similar that played a christmas tune back in 1985!
Well… a number of folk asked me – Bal, where’s your regular blog post about the latest Black Friday Deals? – Well.. I didn’t do one on purpose this year. Because a) most have been on the same low price previously and b)… well, you’ll see below why.
And with that, first up – We may not have enough gadgets and tech items for Christmas!
As people rush to snap up their Black Friday deals, there are mounting worries that some gadgets won’t be available for Christmas.
Silicon, which is in most products, is in short supply because of high demand and manufacturing problems since the start of the pandemic.
The world now faces one of the most extreme chip shortages it has seen.
It means that this year, people may be disappointed when it comes to giving and receiving tech as presents.
According to technology experts Trusted Reviews, the Nintendo Switch is the UK’s most wanted piece of tech this year.
Earlier this month, Nintendo revised its sales forecast because of “the effects of the global semiconductor shortage”.
Chip designers ARM warned the scarcity could delay Christmas gifts like the Switch being delivered on time and said that, in some instances, the wait for chips is taking 60 weeks.
The PS5 and the Xbox Series X and Series S have been extremely difficult to buy since they launched last year. Demand for these new consoles would have been high regardless of the chip shortage. When they are occasionally restocked, they often sell out in minutes.
Apple’s iPhone is also a much wanted gift for Christmas, after its latest generation model was released in September.
The company recorded a 54% increase in revenue in the first three months of 2021, when compared with the same period last year.
But it faced “larger than expected supply constraints” between June and September, and said that the chip shortage is now affecting “most products”.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook previously warned investors that it could affect sales of the iPhone and the iPad.
There are less handsets available too. Apple had originally planned to produce 90 million iPhones in the final months of this year, but cut that figure by 10 million because there were not enough available parts.
There are also reports that Samsung and OnePlus are struggling to keep up with demand for their phones.
Earlier in the year, Google was forced to limit its Pixel 5a launch to only the USA and Japan.
The big question is – when will it end?
Experts have predicted the shortage could go on for another year or so.
Pedro Martins, co-founder of IT company Totality Services, said: “The reality is, the silicon chip shortage has been ongoing for some time now, it just wasn’t visible to the general public.
“It’s more prominent now because of the sheer volume of user devices that require chips. In the past it was mainly servers, workstations and laptops that needed the chips, that’s no longer the case.
“The reality is, no-one actually knows when the shortage will end, but it will without a doubt improve in the short term.”
Next up… It’s the end of the road for the Phone!
Apple’s AR headset could arrive in 2022, powered by two processors, according to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The device could support both Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) and could sport micro-OLED displays when it is launched next year. Apple has already made strides in AR technology on the iPhone and iPad with the addition of LiDAR technology on the iPhone 12 Pro. The company’s AR wearables have been rumoured for several months, and the analyst believes that the company could be looking to replace the iPhone within a decade.
While the Cupertino company is yet to announce any plans for AR or VR headsets in the coming year, Kuo believes that Apple could launch a powerful AR headset in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a report by 9to5Mac. The rumoured AR headset could feature processing capabilities similar to those of a Mac and could operate independently of a Mac (PC) or an iPhone (phone) while supporting a range of applications.
According to Kuo, Apple’s AR headset could be powered by two chips, a powerful one that offers similar power as last year’s M1 Mac, and a less powerful chip for handling sensors on the headset. It could come with VR support as well, according to Kuo, who adds that the device could come with two Sony 4K micro-OLED displays.
Kuo also suggests that Apple could eventually replace the iPhone with AR in a decade, “representing the demand for Ajinomoto Build-up Film (ABF) of AR headsets will exceed at least one billion pieces in ten years,” according to the analyst, who adds that the company will have to sell “at least one billon AR devices” in ten years, to replace the iPhone in a decade.
So there you go… gadget shortages for Christmas (so plan ahead!) and will you really need a phone for the future!
Life is short.
We say this often. But do we really understand it? Do we really believe it?
When you’re gone. You. Are. Gone. So whilst you are here, enjoy the time you have… go do the things you want to and make memories.
A lot happened this week! – So much so… I was tempted to share more than two stories, but no… we have a process and the process shall be followed, because expectations may rise, variation is not good…
So let’s get straight into it… here’s my Top Two Tech Stories of the Week!
Indiana (US) may very well be the primary state to have a wi-fi charging street that tops up your electrical automobile as you drive alongside it.
Because the 21st century rolls on, we’ve all had these one or two moments the place we see some new expertise and the tempo of innovation actually comes residence to roost in our heads, usually with some recollection of Star Wars or Star Trek.
Perhaps for some it might have been the self-driving characteristic of the Tesla, or good residence methods, however for motorists in Indiana, that second could come by means of a shiny new wi-fi street.
Whereas battery charging instances are getting better every year, it’s nonetheless essentially the most limiting issue relating to the acquisition of an EV. The Indiana Division of Transportation (INDOT) has determined to sort out that by burying electrified wire coils that create a magnetic subject alongside the street floor, mimicking the best way wi-fi charging stations for tablets and telephones are designed.
As a way to use the roads, vehicles can be fitted with a receiver coil to choose up the cost as they go alongside, and turning into magnetized, draw electrical energy from the coils themselves. How awesome is that!
2. Up next… 12 year old makes £290,000 from NFT’s!
A 12-year-old boy from London has made about £290,000 during the school holidays, after creating a series of pixelated artworks called Weird Whales and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
With NFTs, artwork can be “tokenised” to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold – you may remember this from a previous blog post of mine.
They do not generally give the buyer the actual artwork or its copyright.
Benyamin Ahmed is keeping his earnings in the form of Ethereum – the crypto-currency in which they were sold.
This means they could go up or down in value and there is no back-up from the authorities if the digital wallet in which he is holding them is hacked or compromised.
He has never had a traditional bank account! Crazy – right?!
“It was a little bit of a fun exercise – but I picked up on really early that they were really receptive to it and they were really good,” Imran said.
“So then we started getting a little bit more serious – and now it’s every single day… but you can’t cram this stuff, you can’t say I’m going to learn coding in three months.”
The boys did 20 or 30 minutes of coding exercises a day – including on holiday, he said.
So there you go… a 12yr old who’s made £290,000 from NFT’s and wireless charging for electric cars!
One has been on holiday… hence the delay in this week’s Top Two Tech Stories… however, here they are!
Lamborghini actually did it. For the first time in the history of Lamborghini supercars, the storied company from Sant’Agata Bolognese revived a nameplate for a new vehicle. It’s not just any nameplate either – the Countach is arguably the exotic car that created the supercar segment. And now, after 30 years, it lives again.
And let’s be honest… how awesome does it look!
Why is this close to my heart… when I was a kid, I had a poster of the original.
First thing’s first. You can’t have a Lamborghini Countach without a V12 and this one has it in spades. The familiar 6.5-litre naturally aspirated engine develops 769 bhp (573 kilowatts) on its own, but it has help in the form of a 34-bhp (25-kW) electric motor powered by Lamborghini’s 48-volt supercapacitor tech. With everything combined, the Countach cranks out 803 bhp (599 kW) to all four wheels through a seven-speed gearbox. Lamborghini says it reaches 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, 124 mph in 8.6 seconds, and if you never lift, wind resistance will stop you at 221 mph. It’s easily the quickest, fastest Countach ever.
2. Tik Tok helping you work rest and sleep…
TikTok has announced a series of changes it says are designed to protect its teenage users’ wellbeing.
Users aged 13-15 will not receive push notifications from 21:00 – and for 16- and 17-year-olds, from 22:00.
This is to help them focus on work, study, relaxation and sleep, the video-sharing app says.
It is also changing its default settings so 16- and 17-year-olds will have to opt in to receive direct messages.
About time some of these apps took some responsibility and ensured that well-being is a priority.
So there you go…. from the new Countach (even though it’s not electric… but I’m looking forward to it very much!) to wellbeing is being taking seriously by Tik Tok!
Quite simply really. Stay Happy. Be Good… and Enjoy yourself.
In life… you need three hobbies.
One – for those creative juices. Keep that brain ticking over, exploring, understanding, learning, growing…
Two – for that body of yours. You only have one. Take care of it. Keep in shape – even if it’s going for walks listening to my podcast – Think Lean Get Digital (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc…)
Three – for living. Let’s be honest – any hobby or passion can help you make money. Find a hobby that will generate money for you. Or understand/learn something – that will earn you a passive income.
I saw a tweet say, ‘pub quiz question one day will be, what year did the Olympics Tokyo 2020 take place?’.
The pandemic has a lot to answer for but here we are, and the Olympics are in full swing. A bit subtle, which is understandable with everything going on.
One thing you can rely on in 2021 is my weekly update of my Top Two Tech Stories!
Amazon is hiring a digital currency and blockchain product lead for its payments team, according to a
Amazon is hiring a digital currency and blockchain product lead for its payments team, according to a new job listing. First reported by Insider, the ecommerce giant is looking for an “experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap.” The listing, which Amazon has confirmed is legitimate, continues:
You will leverage your domain expertise in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger, Central Bank Digital Currencies and Cryptocurrency to develop the case for the capabilities which should be developed, drive overall vision and product strategy, and gain leadership buy-in and investment for new capabilities.
Amazon.com doesn’t accept cryptocurrency as payment, but a spokesperson told Insiderthat the company was “inspired by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency space and are exploring what this could look like on Amazon.”
2. Next up, who remembers clippy?
Microsoft’s much-maligned mascot Clippy is coming back from the dead – but only as an emoji.
Clippy the paperclip was a simplistic virtual assistant who offered tips and advice to Microsoft Office users, from 1997 and until the mid-2000s.
Its constant pop-ups to suggest “help” with the simplest of tasks – such as writing a letter – annoyed many.
But Microsoft says it is now bringing back the design, for its modern Office products.
Clippy would replace the existing paperclip emoji in its Microsoft 365 products, including its cloud services and the modern, online version of Microsoft Office, the technology giant tweeted, but only it that tweet received 20,000 “likes” – and within hours, it had surpassed 100,000.
So there you go, everything from Amazon job postings to clippy who’s making a comeback! Woohoo!!!!!