Today in Tech IDG

Before we all got obsessed with generative artificial intelligence, the technology world was obsessed with connecting everything to “the Internet of Things” – street lights, water sensors, buildings, locks, cameras, etc. Disruptions from the pandemic era quelled a lot of that movement, so where are IoT deployments happening now? Keith chats with David Howard, director of technical sales at Quectel and an industry leader on IoT matters, about where IoT stands these days.

Advances in battery performance, design, form factors and lightweight materials are all contributing to a potential boost in wearable computing devices that move beyond the smart watch. Whether devices will be worn on your face, neck, hands or even feet, companies are looking to find new ways for users to monitor their health or provide other data for convenience purposes. Keith chats with Semir Haddad, chief product and strategy officer for MicroEJ, about the new world of wearables we might see in the next five years.

With the arrival of the Apple Vision Pro and renewed interest in virtual reality offerings by Meta, it looks like shipments of the devices will grow in 2024 and beyond. Keith chats with IDC’s Ramon Llamas about the impact of Apple’s entrance into the market, and what the future holds for the augmented reality / virtual reality / mixed reality / spatial computing world.

OpenAI announces a tool that can clone a person’s voice based only on a 15-second audio clip, while a song generator can now generate a three-minute song from natural language prompts. Brandon Mahne joins the crew as guest co-host as they also discuss Amazon ditching its ‘Just Walk Out’ grocery technology, and we find out who was really responsible for the MGM Resorts hack.

The rise of social media addiction and behavioral issues has also corresponded with the rise of smartphone usage, especially among adolescents. When talking about the behavioral issues caused by social media addiction, how much of this can also be attributed to a device that we have attached to our hip almost 24 hours a day? Keith chats with Professor Joseph Trunzo, a professor of psychology at Bryant University about how smartphones are affecting behaviors, as well as whether there will be long-term effects of social media addiction as this generation moves into the workforce.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be in federal prison for a very long time for his role in conspiracy and fraud charges from the collapse of the crypto exchange he started. Guest co-host Brandon Mahne joins Keith and Chris to discuss these and other tech stories of the week, including the under-the-radar rise of NVIDIA and Anthropic, as well as the new AI song-writing tool that everyone is obsessed with.