### Issue 1477 - Thursday 21st October, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Senate Committee gives cryptocurrency some love
- mmWave 5G networks go live in Australia
- Random news dump
- Microsoft releases beta of Android app support in Windows 11
- Cheap Sonos One, Optus pre-paid, Rode NT-USB mini mic, Logitech MX Keys, Shure MV7 mic

## The News

### Senate Committee gives cryptocurrency some love

The Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre has published its latest report and in there among the fintech stuff most of us don't really care about, they have been deliberating about various cryptocurrency topics. Some stuff considered includes a tax concession if you mine crypto using renewable energy, asking government to further investigate an Aussie dollar stablecoin, making a new market licence specifically for crypto exchanges so they can be better regulated and ways to stop financial service providers "de-banking" crypto exchanges. Fuck knows if any ideas in this report turn into laws, but it's a start. Full report is here as a PDF.

### mmWave 5G networks go live in Australia

mmWave 5G is now a thing in Australia thanks to the release of the Pixel 6 - the first phone sold in Australia with support for it. iPhones overseas support mmWave, but not the ones sold here. For those unfamiliar, this is a different range of frequencies for 5G with support for fat bandwidth channels allowing for greater speeds. 3000mbit+ downloads according to the Speedtest screenshots Optus and Telstra's PR goons sent to the media. The catch is they're usually in the upper ranges of the radio spectrum. Tesltra said they have 65 mmWave 5G sites around the country. Optus didn't say how many they have, but did say they're going to call it 5G Max, to differentiate it from their normal 5G network.

### Random news dump

- The 2GB RAM variant of the Raspberry Pi 4 is going up in price due to parts shortages, but to compensate, a 1GB version at the old price is coming. There's also supply constraints on the Pi 3B+.
- Facebook got fined £50.5m by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority because it "consciously refused" to hand over info it's legally required to as part of an investigation of Facebook's acquisition of Giphy.
- Pierre Omidyar, the stupid rich founder of eBay who has morphed into a media philanthropist the last few years, is funding/aiding Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen with cash, lawyers and PR reps.
- Bitcoin is currently at an all-time high, most likely due to ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF going live on the NYSE. This ETF will track Chicago Mercantile Exchange bitcoin futures contracts, not the price of Bitcoin itself.
- Rumours are floating around that the world's third largest smartphone maker, Oppo, is going to hook up with TSMC and design its own SoCs for release in 2023-2024. Never used an Oppo phone any good, doubt a custom SoC would improve things.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Microsoft releases beta of Android app support in Windows 11

Microsoft's released an update to the Beta Channel of Windows 11 that includes support for Android apps. That's right, you can run Android apps, on your Windows PC. There's now a Windows Subsystem for Android that's just like the Linux one Microsoft's had in Windows for a while now, that effectively runs the Android app in a virtual machine. There's a bit of a catch though, as you can only install Android apps via the Amazon App Store. It doesn't look like you can just double click on an APK and go hog wild, or even get the Google Play Store (where most Android apps live). Microsoft's website has a bit more info.

## Bargains

- Sonos ONE Speaker (Gen2) - $279 from Living Sound + Vision
- Optus 365-day SIM with 300GB data & unlimited calls/SMS - $225 from Optus
- Rode NT-USB Mini microphone - $99 from Amazon
- Logitech MX Keys for Mac - $169.15 from digiDIRECT
- Shure MV7 USB Podcast Microphone - $249 from Amazon

## The End

📻 Ashes to Ashes - A Perfect Circle

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

💬 Checked out the paid subscriber only forum? It's a tidy little place to discuss tech with like minded Aussies.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info or change email address? Visit the customer portal.

The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.