ICYMI: The 7 Biggest Tech News Stories of the Week, From Meta AI Clones to Amazon’s Major Recall
This week, we published our full reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, saw Amazon ordered to recall over 400,000 dangerous and defective products, and discovered how an incredible photo from the Olympics was taken with a Nikon Z9.
In case you missed this and more, we’ve got this guide to catch you up on the biggest tech news stories of the week. Scroll down for quick summaries of everything you need to know, as well as links to the bigger stories so you can learn more if you want to.
Be sure to come back next week for another ICYMI recap, but for now, let’s get started with our first story…
7. We reviewed Samsung’s new foldable phones
There may be some criticisms that Samsung hasn’t made enough changes to its foldables, such as too few camera updates and too little redesign. However, we believe that Samsung has taken the best of the foldable genre and polished and refined it.
The new looks are incredibly sleek 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 with impressive AI chops. There’s so much cool stuff you can do with these new foldables, like turning scribbles into professional-grade art, adding photorealistic elements to your photos on the Fold 6, and making impressive image edits or adding slow-motion footage to your videos 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 it still wins big points for cuteness. The Fold 6, on the other hand, is a powerful phone with a big screen and a nice 7.6-inch tablet hidden inside. In short, we absolutely love it.
Numerous TV programs such as the excellent Living with yourself have explored the idea of cloning yourself to help out with life’s hard tasks – and this week, Meta introduced the digital equivalent with its new AI Studio. The new feature, available only in the US, lets professional Instagram creators “create an AI as an extension of themselves” to answer their DMs and story comments.
If that’s not creepy enough, you can also create ‘AI characters’ based on your chosen interests, so you’ll always have a virtual gym buddy on hand to ask questions of. Meta has at least retired its AI celebrity avatars this week. But with similar ideas explored this week by the strange AI Friend chain, it definitely feels like we’ve spiraled 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 a delay may have been greatly exaggerated.
At launch, Apple Intelligence promises to bring features like writing support, natural language search, context persistence in Siri, and more, though not all of it was available with this early preview. It focused on generative writing tools, email digests, and some natural language search functionality in Photos, with Genmoji creation, Photo Clean Up, and ChatGPT integration all missing.
Google and Samsung have a big lead in smartphone AI. This incremental introduction is a start, but Apple should be ready to blow our socks off when iOS 18 fully launches later this year.
4. The Olympics have begun – and given us some podium-worthy photos
It’s almost too surreal to be true, but the viral photo from the 2024 Olympics has so far immortalized the moment Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina celebrated a near-perfect 9.9 with a “kickout”—feet in the air, superhero-like, and perfectly aligned next to his surfboard. Shot by French photographer Jerome Brouillet with the Nikon Z9, the image will go down in surfing and Olympic history, as will Medina’s record-breaking individual score.
Despite Jerome having a professional camera with him that can shoot up to 20 fps at full quality or 120 fps with cropped JPEGs, he was only able to capture four photos of the moment, one of which is in everyone’s feed.
Jerome said that capturing the shot at the right spot on a boat was a matter of “preparation, dedication, timing and a bit of luck.” We were the lucky ones that all the elements came together that day.
3. Google Nest’s new smart thermostat leaked in TikTok unboxing video
We got our first real look at the sleek, streamlined, all-new Google Nest Learning Thermostat thanks to a TikTok user who got his hands on not one, but three of the unreleased devices. The fourth-gen thermostat features a nearly bezel-less curved glass front, a stainless steel body instead of plastic, and a customizable display. It’s also smarter than its predecessor, able to suggest adjustments to your heating schedule that can help conserve energy.
We’re not sure if the upgrade will be as simple as unplugging your old Learning Thermostat and popping the new one into its holder, but all will become clear at the Made by Google event on August 13.
2. Amazon was ordered to recall more than 400,000 items
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) has ordered Amazon to recall 400,000 dangerous items sold through the store this week. Interestingly, these items were not sold by Amazon itself; instead, they are part of the more than 60% of sales through the site made by independent sellers who use Amazon solely as a virtual marketplace.
Amazon plans to appeal the decision, arguing that it is already doing enough to protect customers. However, the CSPC believes that Amazon meets the legally defined definition of a “distributor” and should do more.
This decision may not only affect Amazon, but could also affect other popular marketplaces such as Temu. However, we will have to wait and see how things develop.
1. The leaked DJI Neo drone entered dangerous ‘impulse purchase’ territory
We don’t necessarily need to buy a tiny drone, but DJI is going to test our weak will soon, according to new leaks of its upcoming Neo. If the rumors are true, the Neo will be its lightest drone ever and will be virtually pocketable without its propeller guards.
So 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 will be compatible with FPV (first-person view) headsets to allow it to capture dramatic indoor videos. Either way, we’ve put the family cat up for sale in anticipation of a full launch soon…
