As every month, the best streaming services announce the titles arriving on their respective platforms and for Netflix, its April titles span a broad range of movies and shows of different genres – so expect a diverse month for streaming.
Netflix’s new drama-packed additions Baby Driver (2017), The Matrix (1999) and The Theory of Everything (2014) make for a quiet Saturday night in. On the other hand, its rom-com additions You’ve Got Mail (1998) and How to Be Single (2016) is Sunday easy-watching at its finest.
Whether you’re a sucker for a compelling drama or enjoy the simple viewings of a comedy, this month's new Netflix movies have you covered. But whatever you're into, if you take a closer look at the list below, you’re bound to come across a brand new show or movie to add to the top of your watchlist.
We're seeing a steady stream of iPhone 16 leaks now, and the latest one comes from a tried and trusted source of advance information: case designs. A newly leaked case molding looks to have once again revealed the rear camera redesign heading to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
This particular leak comes from serial tipster @SonnyDickson (via MacRumors), and shows the vertical pill-shaped look Apple is apparently going for this year when it comes to the two lenses on the back of the cheaper iPhone models.
It's a rumor that we've come across before, but the more leaks we see along the same lines, the more inclined we are to believe they're accurate – though nothing is certain until Apple gets around to an official launch (likely in September).
As well as renders showing the new design, we've also seen leaked schematics, and case molds, and dummy units revealing the new camera alignment, so that's a lot of leaks that need to be wrong if this isn't the design approach Apple is taking this year.
More spatial video?
First Cases for iPhone 16 pic.twitter.com/xCUOldA8I2March 29, 2024
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Recent iPhones have put the two rear cameras diagonally on a square bump. The vertical alignment we're seeing in these new leaks has been used by Apple before, but you need to go back to the iPhone 12 in 2020 to find it.
As for why the switch back could be made, it seems spatial video might be the reason: while the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can record this special 3D-enhanced video format (viewable on the Apple Vision Pro), the two cheaper 2023 models can't.
Having the dual cameras aligned vertically might enable the recording of spatial video, bringing it to more handsets and more people. Maybe Apple engineers just like the look of the new alignment too, and feel it's time for a change.
The three cameras we're expecting around the back of the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max don't appear to be shifting their position, and will most likely arrive in the standard triangle formation that's used on the current models.
According to a recent report by the Financial Times, a quarter of electric vehicles sold in the EU this year will be made in China. In addition to this, BYD, the largest EV maker in China, exported 19 per cent of its output overseas in February, its highest ratio ever.
Despite the likes of the UK, the Biden administration in the US and the French government all stating that they will attempt to block Chinese EVs from tax subsidies, or go so far as to impose a hike on import tariffs, the impending march of cheaper electric and hybrid vehicles from China shows no sign of abating.
Aside from appealing to governments and lawmakers to step in, some of the world's most recognized automakers have also kick-started their own reactionary measures in order to remain competitive. Be it partnering with their fiercest rivals or creating start-up style divisions to work out a way to produce more affordable, mass market electric vehicles, the likes of Ford, Nissan, Honda and more are fighting back.
Here's how some of today's car giants are planning to remain competitive in this new age of electrification.
Nissan and Honda
(Image credit: Nissan)
The two Japanese legacy automakers have been fierce rivals for decades now, battling over sales in both its domestic market and across the globe. But they have also been relatively slow in the adoption and innovation of fully electric vehicles, especially compared to their Chinese counterparts.
With brands like BYD aggressively pushing into the Japanese market, Nissan and Honda have put their existing rivalry behind them to sign a memorandum of understanding that will see the giants partner up on codeveloping EV technology, including software and components.
The Nissan chief executive, Makoto Uchida, said at the announcement: "Emerging players are very aggressive and are making inroads at incredible speed. We cannot win the competition as long as we stick to conventional wisdom and a traditional approach."
Despite Nissan proving quick off the mark with its mass-market Leaf, the product is now aging and only the Ariya, which is expensive compared to combustion engine Nissan models, has been launched in most Western markets as a viable all-electric alternative.
(Image credit: CarNewsChina/BYD)
What's more, the Japanese automakers, like so many others, are finding it difficult to produce smaller electric vehicles at the sort of price that BYD can. Its Seagull Honor Edition, for example, costs 69,800 yuan in China, which is around $9,700 / £7,600 / AU$14,700. Even with potential trade tariffs, it will be difficult to beat the diminutive EV on price when it goes on sale elsewhere.
In Japan, the BYD Dolphin hatchback is already on sale, costing as little as 3.6 million yen (about £18,900 / $24,000 / AU$38,000), cheaper than Nissan’s Leaf and Honda’s e:Ny1 SUV.
The major Japanese players, including Toyota, have pushed hybrids, rather than focussing solely on improving battery technology and driving down the cost of its manufacture, like BYD, Nio and Li Auto (three of China’s biggest automakers) have done over the past decade.
The partnership between Nissan and Honda is a pooling of resources to combat the "once-in-a-century transformation in the automotive industry" that Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s president, feels his company is currently in thick of.
Following the announcement, Nissan president Makoto Uchida vowed to cut the cost of EVs by a third, claiming that his company would launch 16 new EVs by 2026 through its Arc business plan to bolster its position in the global sales charts.
A major refresh of its hybrid and pure EV offerings sold in China would also bring the fight directly to its newest rivals.
Ford forms a covert team
(Image credit: Ford)
Ford CEO, Jim Farley, revealed earlier this year that his company formed a “skunkworks” team of engineers and software designers, headed up by ex-Tesla employee Alan Clarke, to work on ways to produce a low-cost (sub-€25,000 / $26,838 / AU$41,000), high quality EV that could compete in the mass market.
According to Farley, the team has been busy at work for at least two years now, harnessing the know-how of Auto Motive Power (AMP), an energy management startup Ford acquired in 2023, to produce a flexible and all-encompassing platform that could underpin an entire range of competitive but affordable EVs.
Like most other legacy automakers, Ford has spent decades honing both the engineering and supply chain of the internal combustion engine, refining the formula to create the most cost effective production lines going.
However, the same focus hasn’t been placed on the electric vehicle, which relies on battery suppliers and a vast array of components, many of which are made in China and the Far East. The Chinese government, on the other hand, funded research into battery electric vehicles as early as 2001.
(Image credit: Tesla)
Through continual government funding, numerous financial incentives and the reports of cheaper labor, China has significantly improved the quality of its electric products and components at an astonishing rate.
What’s more, thanks to a lack of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in China, those automakers have also pushed forward on the software front, producing infotainment systems that run as slickly as the world’s most popular smartphones, which is not something Ford – nor its Western counterparts – can claim.
Farley’s recent 'skunkworks team' announcement comes as the American company faces fierce competition from both the Chinese market and Tesla closer to home, which has also revealed it is working on a Model 2 that could be half the price of the current cheapest Model 3.
That said, the fruits of Ford’s covert operation likely won’t be seen until 2026 at the very earliest, which could well be too little, too late.
Renault calls for a European alliance
(Image credit: Renault)
Luca de Meo, Renault’s charismatic CEO and president of the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers sent an open letter to Europe’s policymakers in March, calling for increased partnerships and greater cooperation among the major European carmakers to fend off the threat from China.
"I believe that we can achieve our aims through joint efforts and partnerships between the public and private sectors," de Meo wrote, moving away from the trend of imposing stricter tariffs on Chinese imports and instead shifting the focus on "consolidating forces" like China has done over the past few decades.
The Renault CEO wants Europe's leaders to subsidize and invest in homegrown EV technology, as well as creating major projects that investigate and improve smart charging and critical material supply.
"It is in Europe's advantage to learn from Chinese manufacturers, who are a generation ahead in terms of the performance and costs of electric vehicles”.
"Relations with China will need to be managed," he added. "Completely closing the door to them would be the worst possible response."
(Image credit: CarNewsChina/BYD)
While de Meo is opting for a collaborative and openly competitive approach, the Biden administration in the US is being more aggressive. The President opened a Commerce Department investigation that will look into the potential security threat posed by an influx of Chinese cars sporting constantly connected Chinese software.
Biden is yet to take any direct action against Chinese imports but administration officials have made it clear that they are investigating and preparing a wide range of policy responses in order to stem the flow of Chinese imports and protect its domestic carmaking industry.
However, BYD has previously gone on record saying that it has no plans to launch its cut-price passenger cars in the US market right now, despite already having a presence in North America with a facility that produces buses.
BYD Americas CEO Stella Li told Yahoo Finance that the US was "an interesting market, but it's very complicated if you're talking about EVs". Although reports suggest that BYD is eyeing up a manufacturing plant in Mexico, which would boost its share of the local market and theoretically make it easier to export to the USA.
Are the luxury automakers in trouble too?
(Image credit: BYD/Yangwang)
Premium marques, such as BMW, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and more recently Tesla, have proved popular in China, as Western luxury brands have been viewed as a status symbol for the rich and famous.
However, reports suggest that Gen Z customers are driving sales of luxury cars in China and this customer set, which has an average age of just 29, brings its own unique set of challenges. Digital natives with a penchant for personalization and electrification, China's young and affluent want ever-more software, computing power and digital entertainment within their vehicles.
What’s more, the car buying public in its domestic market is generally turning towards pure electric vehicles and most of those aforementioned luxury carmakers currently offer a very limited number of plug-in models.
This has sparked a reaction from China's own carmakers, with the likes of Yanwang, Nio, HiPhi and XPeng all producing high-end electric vehicles that are hoping to compete with the most desirable badges from the West, with a raft of innovative features and luxurious, infinitely customizable interiors.
(Image credit: YangWang)
Western luxury automakers are increasingly having to change tack in order to keep up with Gen Z demands, such as pivoting towards a 'digital first' approach, creating exclusive partnerships with mobile gaming companies and offering a level of personalization and specification that isn’t even available to Western buyers.
While companies like Rolls-Royce or Bentley have been offering a uniquely tailored service for years, other features like software, digital customer service, cutting edge in-car entertainment and synching with an owner's online ecosystem don't immediately spring to mind.
However, these ultra-luxury brands can likely play on their brand cache to a much greater degree than, say, Volkswagen or Ford can. Still, it won’t be long before Yangwang’s jumping, tank-turning and extremely powerful U9 model catches the eye of China's profligate population.
Sure, we have the 2022 iPhone SE, but it was a tad underwhelming. It has a design that’s positively ancient in phone terms, a 60Hz display, a single rear camera, and lacks a vast array of features. Compare the iPhone SE to some of the best cheap phones from Google, Samsung and OnePlus, and it looks almost like Apple is chancing its hand at pushing old leftover tech that’s had a simple reheat in a microwave oven before being punted out to consumers.
The problem here is that unless you go down the pre-owned route, there’s no other option for a budget iPhone.
The rumors so far hint at an iPhone SE 4 being on the horizon, and they seem to promise a fresher design that borrows from the likes of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15. That’s good news, as both phones have a pleasing look and an aesthetic language that harks back to the Jony Ive era of Apple’s industrial design.
However, when it comes to a release window things are unclear – we don’t know whether to expect an iPhone SE this year or in 2025. For what it’s worth I hope Apple comes up with a new SE this year.
Cheaper, cheerful
We’re living in a time when the cost of living has skyrocketed and smartphones show no signs of being cheaper. At the same time, phones don't offer great bang for the buck like they once did, especially if you’re stuck in the Apple ecosystem.
As an iPhone 15 Pro Max user, I’m a big advocate for Apple’s Pro iPhones, with the current models offering a suite of upgrades over the predecessors that place them among the best phones overall. But you need a healthy chunk of change to be able to buy them; even on a carrier contract, Apple’s flagship phones are hardly cheap.
The more affordable iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are both very good phones, but for their respective prices – with a 60Hz display and cameras that, while impressive, aren’t pushing the envelope – the phones aren’t inspiring. Comparatively, around the same money will get you a Samsung Galaxy S24 with its trio of rear cameras, 120Hz display, and a whole host of generative AI features.
Going by the iPhone 16 rumors so far – and admittedly, it’s early days on that front – Apple’s next-generation smartphones won’t be a huge evolution over their predecessors. One can expect a boost in performance, which is almost moot as the past few generations of iPhones have more than enough power.
We can also expect a dose of generative AI features for at least the iPhone 16 Pro models. Otherwise, I doubt there’ll be much to separate the next-gen iPhones from today’s models. Nor do I expect the prices to drop, either.
With that in mind, I want a new budget iPhone that offers a modern design and features would be very much welcome, as we likely wait for the iPhone 17 to bring in truly novel upgrades.
Some say Apple fans will swallow whatever’s presented to them. That may have been true in the past, especially when phones could jump a decent amount each generation in terms of performance, cameras and features.
Today, consumers are more tech-savvy and the best Android phones are so well-equipped that one doesn't need to remain stuck in Apple’s ecosystem. As such, high prices and a ‘meh’ budget option could drive people to the Android camp.
Of course, Apple phones still sell like crazy, with various data showing how the iPhone 15 models have sold better than their predecessors. So it’s not like Apple’s fortunes are going to suddenly wane.
But I feel there's an opportunity in the budget phone arena that Apple could tap. A capable but affordable iPhone could see more people sign up to services like Apple Arcade, Apple Music Plus and Apple News Plus, potentially putting the money saved on phone hardware into Apple’s growing services suite.
Apple is also a mover and a shaker when it comes to phone tech, so it could help shake-up the status quo with affordable phones and help set a standard for others to follow (though the Google Pixel a-series do that well) or inject some refreshed non-Android competition into the market.
Perhaps this is all wishful thinking on my part, as Apple tends to do what Apple wants and to hell with the general consumers. But I’m still going to cross my metaphorical fingers for a new iPhone SE this year that embraces Apple’s latest design language and doesn't skimp on features. If that doesn't happen, then I’ll be looking for the rumored Google Pixel 8a to be the budget phone of 2024.
It took me less than a week to chew through The Gentlemen, a new Netflix series based on the premise of Guy Richie’s movie of the same name. Yet despite my capacious appetite for it, I’m still not convinced The Gentlemen is all that good.
Like the movie, the core conceit of The Gentleman is marijuana farms being built under the land of stately homes in England; the farms are kept out of sight, and cash-strapped landed gentry get money to keep their estate running.
Only rather than focus the action around a weed baron and his slick accomplice as they navigate a potential takeover and the prying eyes of a corrupt private investigator, the Netflix series focuses on a newly minted Duke of Halstead, one Edward "Eddie" Horniman, who is suddenly pulled out of the army to take over his father’s estate after his older brother, the would-be heir, is passed over.
A takeover is still in the cards, but the Duke (played by Theo James of The Divergent series fame) needs to keep the current occupants – who happen to be led by a prominent London crime syndicate – happy, while also trying to extract his estate from being a component in a massive weed-farming enterprise.
The premise here is fine, and would work well as a follow-up movie to the original The Gentlemen; not that such a sequel is needed, as Richie’s movies tend to be very self-contained. However, I wasn’t sure the plot could sustain eight episodes.
Snatch-ing at stories
And I’m still not sure.
A lot happens in the Netflix series, with the Duke inevitably ending up rubbing shoulders with Britain’s criminal underworld, with both dire and comedic effects. But the show bounces around a lot – the first episode alone sees the Duke introduced to Susie Glass (played by a Kaya Scodelario of Skins fame) a second in command of the marijuana organization, a brutal Liverpudlian gang with twisted religious undertones, and Stanley Johnston (played by Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito) a polite billionaire drug lord looking to buy the weed business from the Duke and Glass.
So enough is going on at speed to keep my attention, something that’s been a hallmark of Richie’s gangster films. But while the tight pacing of a Richie movie lends itself to a decent suite of characters and moving parts, when stretched over a series the seams of intertwined characters start to come apart.
With the story written by Richie, there’s a whole load of callbacks to his previous gangster movies; we see foppish upper-class folks attending seedy underground boxing matches, cockney gangsters a-plenty, Irish travelers, Vinnie Jones, and more. It’s hard to stop watching when one wonders which type of gangster we’ve seen in Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels will pop up next.
However, none of these have enough time to have much impact. Outside of a scene-chewing performance by actor and comedian Peter Serafinowicz as a brutal Scouse gangster with a warped sense of justice, other elements of The Gentleman feel slightly undercooked.
The Liverpudlian gang seems set up to be an amusing adversary to the Duke and Glass, especially given its leader, The Gospel, has a chilling habit of preaching scripture while dispatching his victims. However, the potential for a story to bloom here, complete with darkly amusing deaths, never takes root.
Then we have Stanley Johnston, furnished with the sophisticated menace previously seen in Esposito's portrayal of Stanford Edgar in The Boys and Gus Fring in Better Call Saul. It’s nice to see Vinnie Jones back playing enigmatic characters, but his story in The Gentleman is so undercooked it would probably give one salmonella.
Too often I felt like compelling storylines were set up only to whither as The Gentlemen threw more characters into the mix. I won't argue that Richie’s movies have highly nuanced and layered characters, but in a short-sharp movie that’s fine – in a series I need more.
That’s not to say The Gentleman wasn’t enjoyable, as there were some neat subplots following weed-growing expert Jimmy and the Duke’s hapless brother Freddy. And there’s a comedic edge to the series that means you’re not meant to take it too seriously, which makes The Gentlemen very bingeable.
No characters to leave me Swept Away
(Image credit: Netflix )
However, my issue with The Gentlemen’s pacing also affects its characters. Esposito is consistently great in his scenes if underused, but I’m not convinced by James’ portrayal of the Duke of Halstead – I can’t tell if he’s trying to play a fish-out-of-water or a cool upper-class James Bond; at times he’s a little too slick. Scodelario’s Susie Glass adopts a convincing cockney accent that’s a far cry from Skins' Effy Stonem, but too often she feels like an imitation of Michelle Dockery’s Rosalind Pearson of The Gentleman movie; I never felt there was much growth or depth to Glass, despite her popping up in every episode.
Somewhat two-dimensional characters framed in glamorous locations make me feel like The Gentlemen is more of a side-glancing pastiche of the movie; were this the seedier side of the internet, I’d not be surprised if it segued into a NSFW parody.
But there’s fun to be had with some of the minor characters. The cocaine-addled Freddy, played by Daniel Ings, is gloriously chaotic. Elsewhere, Michael Vu’s Jimmy offers innocence mixed with stoner logic. It’s also fun to spot seasoned TV actors pop up, including Max Beesley – a veteran of British drama – and Kristofer Hivju, who many will know as Game of Thrones' Tormund Giantsbane.
This and the constant compulsion to see what Richie-isms the next episode will bring led me to binge through The Gentlemen. And if you’re a fan of his previous gangster movies then the Netflix series will likely hold some appeal to you.
Yet when the metaphorical final curtain landed on The Gentlemen, I felt a tad unsatiated. Pacing aside, it felt like The Gentlemen was missing a killer hook, likely because Hugh Grant isn't playing a seedy cockney private detective who steals every scene.
There are murmurs of a second series, so perhaps that’s where The Gentlemen will find its footing, but right now it falls short of the movie’s slick dark comedy yet is still fine for fodder for a bit of low-stakes binge-watching.
Twelve years on from its launch, Siri now feels like a modern-day Apple Newton. Both started life as bold new personal assistants, only to stagnate and fall by the wayside. And both have been the butt of jokes on big comedy shows – the Newton was famously skewered on The Simpsons, while Siri has more recently 'starred' in the latest season of Curb your Enthusiasm (warning: the scene in question contains a tirade of expletives).
Yet while the Newton was put out of its misery and canceled in 1998, Apple has kept Siri ticking over in our iPhones. Well, barely – anyone who's used Siri will have their own tale of frustration about its seemingly diminishing IQ. Apple can't let this continue. And fortunately, the evidence is mounting that we'll finally get a Siri reboot (or at least, a makeover) at WWDC 2024.
Apple is strongly hinting that AI and, to a lesser extent, Siri will be at the forefront of its annual developer's conference. Its SVP of Marketing Greg Joswiak posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the event will be "Absolutely Incredible", with the capitalization unsubtly spelling AI. Plus, the promo's typography (below) also has echoes of Siri's color scheme.
(Image credit: Apple)
But a wave of credible rumors and Apple's own machine learning research also support the theory that Siri could soon become, if not great, then at least not an anachronistic embarrassment.
How exactly might Apple reboot Siri in June? It's a long road back. Every time I've spoken to ChatGPT's baked-in Voice function I've marveled at how natural it feels in comparison. The trouble is, ChatGPT doesn't have direct access to iOS for controlling my phone (unless you use Shortcuts). And Apple seemingly doesn't have the generative AI chops – or the willingness to compromise on privacy – to do proper cloud-based AI.
The solution is likely to be a compromise, combining Apple's latest on-device machine learning with third-party AI models like Google Gemini. That might result in a full Siri reinvention, but if it rescues the voice assistant from its current malaise, that'd be good enough for me...
A private chat
A Siri reboot isn't certain at WWDC 2024, with the latest rumors a little confusing. This week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed that Apple "isn't planning to debut its own generative AI chatbot" at WWDC 2024.
But that doesn't mean Apple isn't planning some Siri upgrades. Apple has never seen Siri as a chatbot like ChatGPT – since June 2021, the voice assistant has processed our questions on-device by default. "This addresses one of the biggest privacy concerns for voice assistants, which is unwanted audio recording" Apple said in a press release at the time.
Apple almost certainly won't have changed its mind since then. So the improvements to Siri's on-device performance will have to come from Apple – and there's evidence that the tech giant has been exploring this.
Mark your calendars for #WWDC24, June 10-14. It’s going to be Absolutely Incredible! pic.twitter.com/YIln5972ZDMarch 26, 2024
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Last week, Apple researchers published a March 2024 paper that tested whether or not it's possible for voice assistants to ditch trigger words like 'Siri' and instead use on-device AI to tell whether you're speaking to your phone or someone else. This followed Apple's quiet publication of a family of multimodal models (AI models that can simultaneously interpret different types of data) called MM1.
For the voice assistant paper, Apple's researchers trained a large language model (LLM), based partly on OpenAI's GPT-2, to look for voice patterns that signify whether or not we're asking for help from our phone. That's pretty futuristic stuff. While the results were promising, it's likely too soon for this kind of tech to find its way into iOS 18 or our iPhones.
Still, Apple is clearly working hard on voice assistant tech and we'll likely see some of the fruits of this at WWDC 2024. Only six months ago, Apple was rapidly increasing its spending on conversational AI to "millions of dollars per day", according to a report from The Information. Given the rapid advances of its rivals, some of this investment will surely go towards improving Siri.
(Image credit: Apple)
New Siri announcements also haven't been completely extinct in recent months. In December 2023, Apple announced that its new S9 SiP (system in a package) meant the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 could "now process Siri requests on device". This meant you could now ask Siri about over 20 health data markers, because your data wouldn't leave the smartwatch.
None of this is the work of a company that's given up on its voice assistant. The question is what Apple will do about the bigger part of the puzzle – answering queries that on-device Siri won't be able to answer...
I'm not sure I understand...
If Siri can't answer a question, you can ask it to search the web for you. This is where Apple might be looking to outsource to an external AI model to help with more challenging queries – with Bloomberg predicting that this could be Google Gemini in the US and Europe, with Apple also in talks with Baidu in China according to the Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg's report says this generative AI "heavy lifting" could include functions like "creating images and writing essays based on simple prompts". But these AI features will be delivered via the cloud, with Apple still using its own AI models to process on-device functions and Siri actions.
(Image credit: Shutterstock/Tada Images)
This mooted Google Gemini deal wouldn't be unusual for Apple. The tech giant doesn't have its own search engine, so it's long had an agreement (reportedly worth $18 billion a year) with Google for it to be the default option on Safari. That deal is now under threat from EU regulators.
Bloomberg says that a similar deal for Google's Gemini AI models would simply build on this existing partnership between Apple and Google – again, if regulators allow it. It could even be a convenient replacement for that current deal between the tech giants, if it doesn't crumble from the pressure of regulatory scrutiny.
Whatever happens with these talks, Apple seems unable to solve the whole generative AI puzzle on its own – and unwilling to shift its stance on privacy. That will likely mean some compromises for an upgraded Siri, rather than a giant leap.
Baby steps
The thing is, I'm not demanding (or expecting) a full Siri relaunch at WWDC 2024. All I want is for Apple to acknowledge Siri's existence, make it less cloth-eared, and lay out how it's going to make it a more conversational iPhone assistant. Right now, Siri is a brake on the potential of products like the AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, but it can start turning over a new leaf in iOS 18.
For years, Siri has been held back by internal squabbles, a lack of tech breakthroughs, and the wider problem that voice assistants don't generate much revenue. But if Apple does, as the rumors suggest, outsource some of its generative AI features to the likes of Gemini AI, then it could play catch-up while reducing its liability when the occasional controversy inevitably strikes.
(Image credit: Apple)
None of this would rocket Siri towards being a voice assistant leader. But it'd be enough to keep Apple in the AI game, while reinvigorating one of the iPhone's most frustrating features. At this point, Siri is damaging Apple's reputation, so WWDC 2024 has to be a tipping point one way or the other.
Tim Cook has already promised during an earnings call with Apple's annual shareholders that the company will "break new ground" this year in generative AI. While that doesn't necessarily refer to Siri, could Apple do all of that while leaving Siri as it is? I don't think so. And while Cook said the technology will "unlock transformative opportunities for our users", I'm just hoping it'll turn Siri into more than just a cooking timer.
In case you missed the last week in the busy world of tech we’re here with your weekly update that’ll catch you up to speed on all the most important stories.
This week we finally got a date for Apple’s WWDC 2024 event – which might very well be the most important conference in Apple’s history. We also saw some weird creations from OpenAI’s Sora bot, got to hear some impressive ANC earbuds, and even witnessed the marriage of Disney Plus and Hulu.
To find out about these, and the other biggest stories of the week scroll down this page – and be sure to check back next Saturday for another quickfire round-up.
7. Apple WWDC 2024 was announced for June 10
(Image credit: Apple)
Apple’s next Worldwide Developer Conference got a date this week – and it’s due to land on June 10, 2024. During the opening keynote we expect to get our first look at Apple’s next batch of software updates – iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 – as well as some hardware reveals – perhaps new Macs, a new Apple silicone chipset, or maybe even a Vision Pro successor (though that seems unlikely).
One reveal that seems all but certain is the announcement of Apple’s big generative AI plans. While it hasn’t said anything specifically, Apple's senior VP for marketing Greg Joswiak gave a less than subtle hint with a Tweet saying of WWDC 2024 “It’s going to be Absolutely Incredible!” – note the capitalization of Absolutely and Incredible.
We’ll have to wait until June to know what’s in store, but WWDC 2024 looks set to be an Apple event you won’t want to miss.
If you’re like us (and who isn’t?) you’ve been watching OpenAI Sora videos on TikTok with an increasing level of wonder and worry. The company responsible for DALL-E and ChatGPT has been posting all manner of bite-sized video creations that, if they weren’t so other-worldly, would look as if they were filmed in a real world. Put simply, this prompt-based generative AI video tool is unlike anything we’ve seen before, and no one really knows what it’ll do to the film, television, and animation industry.
With an apparent nod to that concern, OpenAI recently opened up Sora to a set of independent artists and creators. Instead of throwing their hands up and running away in fear for their livelihoods, they created a set of unforgettable short films, including one that might rival an Oscar-winning short (okay, a very short film). You just have to see these AI-generated films to believe them. We guarantee you’ll be shocked and a little entertained. It won’t be long, we think, until Sora is credited as the cinematographer on a full-length film.
5. The Samsung Galaxy Ring dropped another big launch hint
(Image credit: Samsung)
Sometimes it feels like the Galaxy Ring is launching in slow motion, but the wearable inched closer to lift-off this week when it was spotted inside the battery widget on Samsung phones.
This didn’t really tell us anything new about the Oura rival, other than hinting that it’s on track for a full launch – most likely in July alongside phones like the Galaxy Z Flip 6. But it got us excited about the Galaxy Ring’s potential again, particularly for sleep tracking. If all goes well, it could be one of the gadgets of the year.
Hulu and Disney Plus have officially tied the knot. Now in the US alongside hubs for Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and National Geographic you’ll see a Hulu option that’ll show you shows and films from the Hulu catalogue.
Of course, to watch this content you’ll need to pay for a Hulu subscription. A Disney Plus and Hulu bundle will start at $9.99/month for the standard subscription with ads (just $2 more than Basic Disney Plus). Meanwhile, you’ll pay $19.99/month if you want a Premium subscription to both services that offers 4K video and no ads.
Just note that some shows – like Modern Family and Love Island – won’t appear in Disney Plus right away thanks to “content licensing restrictions” per Variety. It’s unclear when these restrictions will stop getting in the way of Disney's new one-stop streaming service shop, but we hope it’s soon.
We get the occasional 10x optical zoom lens for DSLR and mirrorless cameras, but 14x? That’s unheard of, until now. Nikon dropped the new Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR, which looks like a superb all-in-one zoom lens for its full-frame mirrorless cameras such as the Nikon Z6 II. Its wide end covers shooting everyday observations and landscapes, its telephoto setting is ideal for distant wildlife and landmarks, and its close-up photography skills are super impressive thanks to its close minimum focus distance.
At 725g it’s pretty compact, too, ideal for your travels. The lens also comes equipped with 5 stops of image stabilization which is exactly what you’ll need for those telephoto snaps. It won’t be as sharp as a prime lens, but the 28-400mm could just be the last Nikon lens you ever buy.
2. Cambridge unveiled its first-ever noise-cancelling earbuds
(Image credit: Cambridge Audio)
The company that launched one of our all-time favorite sets of earbuds (namely the 2021-issue Melomania 1 Plus) is back with a new earbuds proposition – and the fact that they’re CA’s first noise-canceling option isn’t even their biggest selling point.
The firm has actually launched two models: the regular Melomania M100 and a limited edition Melomania M100 How High Edition. The latter comes in a bright yellow case that's an homage to the music video for The Charlatans' hit How High, in which singer Tim Burgess wore a glorious bright yellow mackintosh. But both products come with a veritable ace up their sleeves: the slinky vocal stylings of Matt Berry, aka Steven Toast (Toast of London/Toast of Tinseltown), aka Lazslo (What We Do in the Shadows). That’s right, Matt Berry will purr ‘Noise canceling’ or ‘Transparency’ in your ear as often as you’d like, for the princely sum of £169 (about $219 / AU$326). If that doesn’t make Apple nervous, we don’t know what will.
This week Google unceremoniously killed off the Pixel 6a – with the budget smartphone being pulled from all of its official online stores all over the world. Even the official protective case has disappeared from the digital shelves.
Of course, you can still buy the device from third-party retailers, but you might not want to as we believe this is a sign that Google is planning to launch the Pixel 8a very soon.
Intel’s Battlemage graphics cards have been something of a worry of late, what with the lack of leaks around these next-gen GPUs, but we’ve just been treated to another piece of spillage on the 2nd-gen products (following hot on the heels of a leak a few days ago).
This comes from @momomo_us on X (formerly Twitter) who has been busy sharing a bunch of hardware shipment manifests, one of which pertains to Battlemage, the follow-up to Intel’s ever-improving Alchemist GPUs.
It shows a pair of desktop Battlemage (Xe2-HPG) graphics cards, one of which has the codename BMG-G10 and the other is BMG-G21.
If you have a good memory, the G10 label might ring a bell, mainly because there were a few rumors swirling around concerning this GPU back in 2023, and that it would be the ‘enthusiast’ level offering for Battlemage sporting a peppy level of performance.
Yet here it is, showing up in said manifest, which might stoke some excitement among gamers looking for Intel to provide a more powerful offering with its Battlemage range – one that could make a mark on our list of the best graphics cards with any luck.
Analysis: Let’s be cautious – but this is a hopeful sign
We’d be very careful about getting excited here, though. Mainly because all the recent chatter from the grapevine is about how Intel is narrowing down the focus of Battlemage to lower-end graphics cards, or mid-to-lower tier products.
Still, you never know what might be in the cards, and it’s intriguing to get a glimpse of G10 again – although we don’t know for sure what GPU is behind the codename, of course.
On a broader level, it’s just good to see some activity and leaks with Battlemage, coming on top of the recent spillage we mentioned at the outset. That leak from earlier this week showed a couple of lower-end GPUs, which falls more in line with expectations from the rumor mill of late.
What we take from this more than anything is the hope that Battlemage could still arrive before 2024 is out, perhaps. And this possibility has still been raised in recent rumors elsewhere, even if there are definite concerns that Intel’s 2nd-gen Arc products won’t turn up until 2025, and maybe not that early next year, either.
The US government says Apple is holding back smartphones. Using tactics that make its competitors seem worse, rather than making its own phones better, Apple has unfairly hurt competitors like Samsung and Google, says the Justice Department. Whether or not the government is right, one thing is clear – Samsung has been making terrible software for years, and it can’t blame Apple.
Among all the major smartphone makers, Samsung saw the threat from Apple’s iPhone earlier than most. Among the biggest phone makers of the day (2007), Blackberry execs dismissed Apple as a consumer play, and Nokia stuck to its aging and unfriendly software. Only Samsung changed course quickly to meet the iPhone.
The Nokia N95 was the coolest phone ever before the iPhone came along(Image credit: Future)
Unfortunately, Samsung thought the iPhone was all about features. It never understood that the iPhone’s real advancement was making those features so incredibly easy to use with intuitive software.
The first Samsung competitor to the iPhone was the silly little Samsung Instinct, a feature phone running Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, with a better-than-average web browser, music player, and even simple apps. It was terrible, especially compared to the iPhone. But it looked like an iPhone, if you squinted just right. It was a poor replacement, but it checked most of the same boxes.
With Android came a win, but it was the wrong win
Samsung’s first Android phones were equally terrible. Before the Galaxy came along, we got the Samsung Behold, which was the worst smartphone I ever used. It stacked that TouchWiz feature phone interface on top of Android. On a spreadsheet of features, the Behold could match the iPhone row-for-row, but actually using the phone was a terrible ordeal.
When the Samsung Galaxy phones came along, they represented the first win for Samsung, but this victory only pointed the company more firmly in the wrong direction. What made the original Galaxy phone great, especially compared to the iPhone, was the OLED display. Apple didn’t adopt OLED for its iPhone display panels until the iPhone X. Samsung’s OLED Galaxy phones gave the company a win on paper, and that’s the only win that matters to Samsung.
The iPhone X was the first iPhone to match Samsung's OLED display(Image credit: TechRadar)
Why is OLED better? First of all, OLED looks fantastic, especially on a small display where you can see the difference in contrast up close. Colors pop on an OLED display, and because black areas are completely dark, the contrast level approaches infinity. Second, OLED provides some minimal battery saving, since the dark parts of the screen are not drawing any power. In practice, it’s a small advantage, maybe 5% per day, but it’s measurable.
Samsung had a spec win. It won with a feature the iPhone wouldn’t match. It still used terrible software, still a version of the same terrible TouchWiz interface that it used on the Samsung Instinct feature phone. Even with hardware that could compete with the best, Samsung was hobbled by software that was born in the days when phones were plastic toys.
Fifteen years of spec improvements and bad software
Over the next 15 years, Samsung would follow the same pattern. It would aspire to beat Apple in terms of specs and hardware features. It would win on paper. It would launch phones with more and more.
First we got phones with larger displays. We got a stylus built in, even though we all knew styli were dead. We got more cameras, zoom cameras, then space cameras. We got glass that curved, then glass that folds. Features upon features. No improvement to the software.
Samsung can make phones that fold in half but not good software(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
In all those years, Samsung never made its software better, not better than Apple. We heard about every superlative spec, every clock-beating feat, but as much as reviewers griped and complained about bad, confusing, and overwrought software, Samsung never budged. It never improved significantly.
Samsung was able to give up glossy plastic phones, removable batteries, home buttons, and everything else, just to beat the iPhone. Somehow, it never cared enough about improving its software. Or else, it never thought beating Apple at software would be possible.
Maybe Apple is winning because ... it's better?!
There are many reasons why Apple has the huge market share it claims, and Samsung lags far behind in the US. I’d say that Apple simply makes a superior product. The iPhone, and I mean every iPhone from the least to the best iPhone, is better than the Samsung Galaxy S24. Unless you are buying the absolute best Galaxy S24 Ultra, you are buying an inferior phone.
The reason is software. Apple’s iOS 17 software isn’t just better, it is an entire experience. The features and the hardware and the software all work together seamlessly. Sometimes it works so well it can be frightening.
Admit it, iOS 17 just looks cooler than anything from Samsung(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Samsung’s Galaxy phones are good in spite of the software, just barely. Its best Ultra phones are so packed with useful features that we must forgive the terrible interface, clogged menus, and overwhelming home screens. However, if you don’t find those features useful, or if you never find those features at all, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra won’t be a phone you enjoy, unlike the iPhone.
Whatever the Justice Department decides to do about Apple, I hope Samsung turns a blind eye, because its problems have nothing to do with Apple’s market power. Samsung has had the same problems for years, and if it expects sympathy for falling so far behind, it must fix its terrible software first.
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With “digital” now a key part of every aspect of business activity, the ability to deliver innovation at speed is do or die. In a highly co...
Integrating continuous testing for digital success
With “digital” now a key part of every aspect of business activity, the ability to deliver innovation at speed is do or die. In a highly competitive marketplace with growing expectations of customer experience, the timely release of top-notch digital products and services is no longer a bonus, it is fundamental to customer acquisition and retention. The smallest of delays might be the opportunity a competitor needs to gain market share and become the new disruptor.
This makes empowering software teams to deliver flawless digital experiences at speed and scale of great strategic importance. To achieve this, organisations need feedback to determine if the latest development will either function as intended, break core functionality or, even worse, fail in a real-world setting. Software testing, once perceived as an impediment to speed and innovation, has now become a critical component of development activity.
This represents a huge perspective shift from the classic, waterfall approach to software development in which testing was often left until the end. Now, the move to DevOps and Agile methodologies means testing is essential for accelerating the delivery of innovative applications without incurring unacceptable business risk. But Agile and DevOps initiatives are also pushing traditional testing methods to their breaking point. Automation and testing throughout the development lifecycle are new must-haves.
Facing the challenges of continuous delivery
Organizations are releasing much more frequently— even as often as multiple times per hour. Testers are expected to test each user story as soon as it’s implemented, even when that functionality interacts with other functionality which is evolving in parallel. Testing is also expected to alert the team when changes unintentionally impact the legacy functionality that was implemented, tested, and validated in previous weeks, months, or years.
As organizations increasingly edge towards continuous delivery with automated delivery pipelines, go/no-go decisions will ultimately hinge upon test results. Test automation is required, but it’s not sufficient. Even with the most comprehensive automation, there is not enough time to test everything. When organizations adopt modern architectures and delivery methods, even teams experiencing clear test automation success will face challenges.
For example, realistic tests cannot be created or executed fast enough or frequently enough. Teams are overwhelmed by a seemingly never-ending stream of false positives and incomplete tests—not to mention all the test maintenance required to address them. And finally, they can’t confidently tell business leaders whether a release candidate is fit to be released.
It’s impossible to test every possible path through a modern business application every time an organization prepares for a new release. However, if the testing approach is reconsidered, it’s possible to achieve a thorough assessment of business risk with much less testing than most companies are doing today.
Bringing continuous testing into play
This is where continuous testing comes into play: providing the right feedback to the right stakeholder at the right time. For decades, testing was traditionally deferred until the end of the cycle. But by that point it was too late. There was little the team could feasibly do to address tester feedback except delay the release.
With continuous testing, the focus is on accelerating innovation by providing actionable feedback at the point at which it’s possible to act on it. This helps development teams identify and fix issues as efficiently as possible. It accelerates delivery by supporting business leaders to determine when it’s reasonably safe to release. This is achieved by mastering—and going beyond—test automation. It requires aligning testing with business risks, ensuring that testing effectively assesses the end user experience, and providing the instant quality feedback required at different stages of the delivery pipeline.
Therefore, organisations should implement a structured testing approach for new functionality. Development and testing teams must be able to know which environments have deployed new code, when new pieces of software need to be tested, what kind of coverage various tests provide, and what additional testing is needed. But test case portfolios typically suffer from the same problem — a large volume of tests with very little coverage of the application.
This results in duplicate test cases and more maintenance to cover the ever-growing suite of tests - an impractical and cost-intensive process. By adopting risk-based test optimization, unneeded tests can be reduced while enhancing the risk coverage dramatically. It’s also possible to see which business-critical functionality has passed or failed, allowing organizations to make faster, more informed business decisions on releases. This results in maximum coverage of the highest impact business functionality, with the least effort. At its core, continuous testing is about evaluating the effect of change – using risk-based criteria to prioritize testing and evaluating business risk when determining when to ship.
Therefore, the approach must also be driven by change, not only within technology, but people and processes too. Organizations must consider what they can do from all perspectives to facilitate the transition from their present state to a continuous testing process that accomplishes the organization's quality, speed, and efficiency goals.
By adopting continuous testing, teams can disclose significant issues early in each cycle, reducing time-to-release by over half the time it traditionally takes, and reducing production errors dramatically in the process, too. Even better still, testing costs can often be tangibly saved and measured - a significant ROI given the current economic environment.
A strategic imperative to digital success
The bottom line is that testing is now a strategic imperative to digital success. Continuous testing helps test smarter for rapid insight into what matters most to the business. It repositions testing from a bottleneck to a trusted coach that helps push limits and surge ahead of the competition. Along with a better product, it’s possible to uncover development areas where incredible levels of productivity gains can be achieved and financial savings can be made. Without it, you might just find that your competitors have gained the upper hand.
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