Starting July 1, ads on streaming services will have to turn the volume down in California as a new state law comes into effect. The legislation addresses a complaint that’s older than streaming itself. Since the dawn of television, viewers have griped that commercials tend to be louder than the shows they accompany.

The promise of streaming was that it could fix much of what was wrong with TV. It gave us on-demand libraries so we could watch what we wanted, when we wanted, and it was a welcome escape from bloated cable bundles that didn’t seem worth their price.

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Meta is lowering the entry price for AI glasses in what appears to be the clearest sign yet that the company wants to turn smart glasses into an everyday device for the masses.

On June 23, the company introduced its new Meta glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, with prices starting at $299. Buyers can choose from 26 style combinations, and the glasses are compatible with prescription lenses.

As one might expect, Meta’s latest smart glasses come packed with features, including hands-free photo and video capture, open-ear audio, live translation, pedestrian navigation, and Meta AI powered by Muse Spark. However, not all of those features will be available at launch.

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Apple is facing a £3 billion (about $4 billion) class action lawsuit in the UK over claims that the company turned its iCloud storage service into a Big Tech trap.

Consumer group Which? filed the complaint, in which it alleges that Apple used the control it had over iPhone and other iOS devices to encourage its customers to use iCloud while making it harder for competing cloud storage providers to gain traction.

Apple has denied the allegations.

The court hasn’t yet ruled on whether Apple broke any of the UK’s competition laws. However, the Competition Appeal Tribunal has allowed the case to move forward as a collective action, with the trial expected to begin in October 2028.

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Commodore is back with a flip phone for people who want their phones to do less.

The Callback 8020 is what the company calls a new “not dumb dumbphone” that blocks time-sucks like social media and web browsers while keeping the apps people need most on the device.

That means buyers won’t have to give up WhatsApp, Google Maps, Spotify, rideshare apps, podcasts, QR codes, calendars, 2FA apps, and SMS.

If the Commodore name rings a bell, it may be because of the Commodore 64, one of the best-known home computers of the 1980s.

Continue reading “Commodore’s Callback 8020 Wants to Make Smartphones Less Addictive” →

The price of Apple devices will go up in the not-too-distant future, as the AI boom continues to drive up the cost of memory and storage chips.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on June 17, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that higher prices are coming as DRAM and NAND costs rise across the consumer electronics industry.

“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook said, adding that Apple had tried to keep the costs down for its customers as long as possible but wouldn’t be able to do so indefinitely.

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