Tomorrow’s the big day for Samsung as they will officially take the wraps of its new halo phone, the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. The phone is expected to be jam-packed with tech goodness, of course, but the real story here is how far it will go to shore up Samsung’s tarnished reputation following the Galaxy Note 7 “exploding phone” disaster.
Samsung is reportedly making the phone with three different battery suppliers, and they’ve been highlighting their 8-step battery safety check program for months now. Suffice to say, if any Galaxy S8 phones go pop, it’ll be a disaster that makes the Note 7 fiasco look like a minor stumble. But beyond battery concerns, we’re looking forward to seeing the new S8 in action, and we’ll have a full wrap up after Samsung’s big introduction party tomorrow.
Apple updates iPhone files for the future
One the Apple side of things, Cupertino dropped a big update for iPhones and other iOS devices yesterday. Don’t expect to see big changes right up front, the update is fairly lite on user things, but heavy on the back end. Give yourself some time for the update to execute – and definitely back up your phone or iPad first – as Apple moves away from the 30-year-old HFS file system in the phone and implements “APFS,” a more future-friendly file organization system.
APFS is faster, more efficient, and plays better with solid state drives and encryption schemes, and Apple says users should see speed improvements and better use of memory – as in it uses less of it – once 10.3 is installed. We’ve got a full breakdown of everything 10.3 brings to the iOS party, so hit this link for all the details.
The mind boggles at Elon’s latest mind-boggler
Just when you think Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk can’t top his last flight of fancy, out pops another one. Hyperloops and tunneling under cities to beat traffic? That’s so 2016. Now, Musk says what humanity needs is a big firmware upgrade, and he’s formed the Neuralink company to make it happen. OK, truth be told, Musk has talked about this idea in the past, saying that once AI really gets rolling, we’re gonna need to adapt to it.
How so? Musk envisions a literal personal neural net, a device he once called a “neural lace,” which will interface with our brains to speed up thought processes by facilitating a mind meld between our pea brains and computers, and eventually, a hopefully friendly AI. Now he’s dropping millions on Neuralink in an effort to jumpstart the project, and the Wall Street Journal says the company has been working in stealth mode since last July.
Harnessing, controlling and dealing with the human brainwaves is nothing new, but expressly starting a company to design a device to link brains to computers? That’s definitely some evil genius or Tony Stark action. Read more about Musk’s latest new company and let us know in comments if you’d be willing to lace up your brain to a computer or AI. Is it the beginning of the end of humanity – or how humanity and tech should move forward together?
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Close to the Metal (computers and such) on Tuesday, Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
