Bad weekend to buy Apple or Amazon gear

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New Apple and Amazon products are dropping soon. If you’re thinking about upgrading, wait a few days or risk buying last year’s tech.

Kindness + Tech = Heroes: After Hurricane Helene and the Eaton Fire, Taylor Schenker and Claire Schwartz are reuniting lost photos with their owners. They find damaged pictures, clean them, and post them on Facebook and Instagram to match them with the right families. Here are photos found from the Eaton Fire. So nice.

🩸 Elizabeth Holmes’ life in vein: Convicted felon and former CEO of Theranos wants us to feel sorry for her after cheating and stealing $724 million for tech that didn’t work. In a PR puff piece interview, she says prison is “hell and torture,” waking up at 5 a.m., earning 31 cents an hour and only seeing her kids twice a week. This criminal’s best asset is her lie ability.

February 15th, 2025

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U.S. companies had tech on that Chinese spy balloon two years ago. Plus, UnitedHealthcare sues a doctor for her viral post, your car might show ads at red lights, and why Silicon Valley is getting a high-fashion makeover.

 

Don’t buy any Amazon tech now: They’re showing off new gadgets on Feb. 26. Rumor has it we’ll meet the next-gen Alexa that can handle “complex requests,” along with new Echo speakers and earbuds, too. Probably no Kindles since new models dropped in October.

🙏 Siri to the rescue: I love stories about tech saving lives. A 70-year-old in Florida had a stroke and couldn’t reach his landline. He spent 48 hours drifting in and out of consciousness, then he crawled into the living room. He yelled for Siri to call his daughter, who then contacted 911. He’s doing well! Most stroke patients need help within an hour. Talk about beating the odds.

You didn't believe that was a weather balloon, did you?

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The Chinese spy balloon was packed with American tech from at least five U.S. companies, and the government knew.

ROG Ally X: Can this gaming handheld replace your laptop?

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Andrew and new co-host Joey put the ROG Ally X to the test. Sure, it’s great for gaming, but can it really replace your computer? Plus, a deep dive into the Insta360 camera and its AI tricks. Are these guys the tech experts we need? Listen to find out!

Assume any photo you post can be traced: This tech is something else. GeoSpy analyzes every single pixel, background object, shadow and landmark in your photos to identify the exact spot it was taken. Within seconds, they can pass that along to the government, police or anyone else willing to pay. The old way of tracking using the photo’s metadata is over.

👔 From hoodies to high-end: Remember when tech CEOs’ unofficial uniforms were T-shirts and dorky sneakers? Now, Mark Zuckerberg rocks a $895,000 watch and Jeff Bezos is at fashion shows in leather and sunglasses. It’s not just that they grew up; tech drives our economy, and the billionaires in charge aren’t hiding their wealth anymore. In 1999, when Bezos was already a billionaire, he was driving a 1997 Honda Accord. Those days are long gone!

🎈 American tech spying on Americans: It turns out the 200-foot-tall Chinese spy balloon shot down two years ago was packed with U.S. tech from at least five American companies, including Iridium Communications, Texas Instruments, Omega Engineering, Amphenol All Sensors and Onsemi. China claims it was a weather research airship that accidentally strayed into U.S. territory. Yeah, right.

🤝 I want to be your secret helper and mentor: I’ve been around tech forever. My business has thrived for over 20 years without debt or investors. If you have an issue, problem or question about your life or business, I’d love to help you. Ask me here on my site. I read every single note.

🩸 Follow the money: People with kidney failure rely on dialysis machines to remove toxins from their blood, but the tech is outdated and a hassle to move around. That’s why researchers are developing smaller options, like the AKTIV. They’re struggling to secure funding, which is no surprise, given the dialysis market is worth $26 billion a year. They don’t want change.

🎓 This makes cents: Tech is moving so quickly, the firms in Silicon Valley are hiring prodigies without college degrees. Not just that, but they’re handing out $100,000 checks just to get them to drop out. If you know someone struggling in college or not going because they can’t afford it, pass this one along.

Super Bowl vs. hobby drones

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Fly an FPV near the Superdome? New Orleans isn’t playing. Military-grade anti-drone tech will track you down in seconds, here’s the scoop. 

3 must-know Super Bowl tech tips

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Everyone’s watching the big game. Is your tech ready for Sunday? Here are some easy tricks to get set up.

🍏 I called this months ago: A foldable iPhone is coming, finally. Rumor has it it’ll be ultra-thin, at just 4.6mm unfolded, and will use a Samsung foldable OLED panel since they’ve already figured out the tech. It could be a massive 12 inches, with two 6.1-inch displays connected by a hinge. The price is TBA, but I bet it’ll cost a fortune. We’ll find out in 2026.

Attention, parents: New research says 77% of educators think kids are losing their fine motor skills because of tech. Kids aren’t playing outside as much or using their hands to draw and build, so they’re having trouble holding pens, turning pages and tying shoelaces (paywall link). Remember, Play-Doh is cheap, fun and doesn’t need Wi-Fi.

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS): This tech detects when two aircraft are about to converge and gives pilots a warning. The alerts are limited at low altitudes, though, to prevent risky maneuvers. That’s why it couldn’t help the jetliner and military helicopter in last week’s crash in Washington, D.C., which killed 67 people (paywall link). The jet and copter were flying somewhere between 200 feet and 400 feet above surface level. So sad.

💰 Apple Watch class-action settlement: The tech giant is coughing up $20 million for selling Apple Watches with batteries that swelled up. You could get up to $50 if you bought a first-gen model or a Series 1, Series 2 or Series 3 Apple Watch between April 24, 2015, and Feb. 6, 2024. Confirm your payment info by April 10.