Plus: What if you were on your phone? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

March 10, 2025 | Read online
# Apple's Siri headache, Australia's new EVs and charging problems; Reddit's moderation tools don't like Luigi Plus: What if you were on your phone?
Issue 2287 - Monday 10 March 2025
# In Today’s Issue
Apple’s Siri delay shows the company’s big AI problem Australia’s new EVs and charging problems Reddit’s moderation tools flag potential rule breaks before posting and if you mention Luigi What if you were on your phone?
# The News
### Apple’s Siri delay shows the company’s big AI headache
Things aren’t great in Apple AI land. The company is struggling to execute its promise for a souped-up Siri this year (Bloomberg, archived), which now means it is pushing back its Alexa-rival wall tablet that was slated for release this month (Bloomberg, archived). This Siri is not to be confused with Apple’s Siri 2.0 which is supposed to launch next year with all of those whizz bang generative AI features but also looks a bit shaky. I owe a bit of a Sizzle mea culpa on this topic. My coverage last month of the Alexa upgrades framed it as Amazon catching up but the truth is that no one yet has successfully taken these next gen LLM-powered AI advances and put them in smart phone devices yet (including Amazon, which hasn’t let anyone use its new Alexa). The problem Amazon, Apple and Google are all grappling with is that smart home stuff needs to work all the time. It’s a bad experience if you say “Siri turn on my lamp” and it doesn’t, or it opens your garage door, even 10% of the time. Generative AI stuff just doesn’t work or makes things up sometimes, and incorporating that into home hub devices actually risks making them worse. This is the same problem writ large for Apple. Its polished “just works” philosophy is at odds with gen AI’s inconsistency — hence why Apple Intelligence is such a disappointing product.
### Australia’s new EVs and current charging problems
At the Sydney Everything Electric show late last week, yes, there was a Cybertruck and some desperate-sounding Tesla staff telling people that sales were about to pick up (AFR, $) amid its well-publicised drop-off (The Guardian Australia). What was more interesting was the rest of the vehicle lineup: the Driven’s David Leitch had a short write-up of Saturday’s show (The Driven) with highlights including the surprisingly cheap SUV Skyworth BE11, the more spenny Zeekr 009 and this general observation:
The general vibe was that the Chinese wave has yet to really hit. There were lots of left hand drive models shown, but not obviously launched in Australia. 2025 might not be the year for mass adoption of EVs, but the underlying ground swell is strong.
David Leitch, The Driven
I was also alarmed to see this over the weekend: maintenance of EV chargers, particularly those in regional areas, appears to be an issue for some according to TechAU reporting on a seemingly abandoned EV network provider Everty (TechAU). Have you come across problems like this? LMK.
### Reddit’s new AI rule breaking flagging and a Luigi error
Here’s a one-two punch of Reddit-related moderation stories: 1. Reddit is testing a way to let you know if your post breaks a subreddit’s rules before posting (Reddit Blog). 2. Someone trying to post about 2019 Switch game Luigi’s Mansion 3 found that Reddit is flagging the word Luigi as potentially “indicating violating content”, presumably because of UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione (The Verge). My swerve is: this is probably fine? Using AI in a way that flags content before it is posted and explaining why is a transparent use the technology. In the case of Luigi-posting, the flagging kicked in because the subreddit, r/popculture, only had a single mod which means Reddit automatically steps up its moderation options to handle the load, and it didn’t actually remove the Luigi’s Mansion 3 content. It’s good that tech companies are coming up with creative ways to use tech to help with content moderation, and we should encourage them to try this stuff when the errors are limited to flagging and suggestions, not actual censorship.
#### Leftovers
Draft Five-year spectrum outlook 2025–30 – consultation (ACMA) Melbourne start-up launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells (ABC News) The Australian innovation in Google's new quantum chip (Information Age) McDonald’s Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover (Wall Street Journal) Whistleblower complaint expands on claims that Facebook once built a censorship tool to win over China (Engadget) Best of MWC 2025: The top 25 futuristic mobile and AI winners at Mobile World Congress (The Shortcut) Internet shutdowns at record high in Africa as access ‘weaponised’ (The Guardian) 'Edit Wars' on Middle East Page Raise Tensions on Wikipedia (Bloomberg, archived)
# Oh, Also
### What if you were on your phone?
From the person who brought you ‘It is as if you were doing work’ (Pippinbarr) and ‘It is as if you were making love’ (Pippinbarr), comes the new — err… game? Sure — that’s taking the internet by storm: It is as if you were on your phone (Pippinbarr).
It is as though you were on your phone
If you’ve run out of newsletters to read, or can’t be bothered scrolling through anymore TikToks, this phone simulator lets you feel like you are using your phone without the effort of actually using your phone. This eerily nails a feeling that I’ve felt but never even thought to express before.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Basesailor Flat USB-A to USB-C Cable 2-Pack (3m) - $4 at Basesailor AU via Amazon AU Panasonic Eneloop Smart & Quick Battery Charger + 4 Eneloop AA - $37 at The Good Guys Commercial (Members Only) ORICO USB Charger Station 120W 10-Port Charging Station - $44 at ORICO AU Direct eBay Store Xiaomi Yeelight LED Bedside Lamp D2 - $61.65 at Yeelight AU Samsung Galaxy Fit3 Watch - $67 at Big W (Everyday Extra) Edifier MR4 Studio Monitor - Black/White - $109 at Centre Com Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Silver - $204 at TechintheBasket Panasonic 27L Flatbed Microwave Oven 1000W NNSF57QSQPQ - $254.99 at Costco (Requires Membership) Flashforge Adventurer 5M 3D Printer - $327 at Flashforge 3D PRO eBay Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 44mm Silver Bluetooth - $376 at BecexTech via Amazon AU Panasonic Lumix S 50mm F/1.8 L Mount Camera Lens - $436 at Amazon US via AU Audio Technica AT-LP120xBT-USB Turntable - $545 at Klapp Audio Visual Apple Watch Series 10 GPS 42mm - $569 at Costco (Membership Required) Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (47mm Case 4G LTE) Titanium Grey - $608.90 at BuyMobile Apple Watch Series 10 GPS 46mm - $619 at Costco (Membership Required) SONIQ G75UW62A 75" UHD Android TV - $699 at SONIQ (Pickup Only: Truganina, Regents Park, Berrinba, Gillman) EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus Portable Power Station - $1329 at Ecoflow Sony Alpha A6700 Mirrorless Camera (Body Only) - $1695 at VideoPro
Computing
Apple Education Store: 6% Cashback Uncapped (Online Only Exclusions Apply) @ TopCashback AU Lenovo Tab M8 (4th Gen) 32GB Android Tablet - $99 at Centre Com ORICO 1TB External SSD Up to 1050MB/s - $108.49 at ORICO G.O.A.T via Amazon AU Lexar NM790 4TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe - $341 at Amazon AU Seagate 16TB Expansion External Hard Drive - $404 at Amazon US via AU Intel 12th Gen Core i9-12900KS Unlocked Special Edition Desktop Processor CPU - $469.95 at Tech Junction via Kogan MINISFORUM UN1250 Mini PC: Intel Core i5-1250P CPU 16GB RAM 1TB SSD - $479.99 at MINISFORUM Store Amazon AU Apple iPad 10.9-inch 64GB Wi-Fi [10th Gen] - $497 at JB Hi-Fi NetGear Orbi RBE772 BE11000 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 7 Router System (2-Pack White) - $842.45 at Amazon AU MINISFORUM Bd790i X3D Motherboard (7945HX3D Included) - $975 at Minisforum Store Dell Inspiron 14 Laptop: Snapdragon X Plus 16GB RAM 512GB SSD FHD+ - $1059.30 at Amazon AU ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Quad-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - $1099 at Amazon AU Gaming PCs at Nebula PC 8700F RX 9070 XT 32GB CL32 RAM 1TB M.2 750W Gold PSU for $2048 9700X for $2448 7800X3D for $2648 Gaming PC: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X RX 9070 XT GPU -$2399 at GALAPOWER ITX Gaming PC: Ryzen 7 7800X3D RX 9070 XT - $2899 at GALAPOWER
Mobile
USA eSIM Including 3GB Free Data Per Month 100 Min Calls 300 Text & US Number - Free at Helium Mobile LISEN Phone Car Mount at Amazon Holder for $12.73 Magnetic for $13.99 Lebara 30-Day 16GB Prepaid Starter SIM - $7 at Woolworths in-Store Only Vodafone 60GB 28-Day Prepaid Starter Pack - $10 at Vodafone HMD Pulse+ 4G 4GB/128GB - $99 at Vodafone Lebara Prepaid Mobile 360-Day 220GB - $139 at Lebara Mobileciti Android phones Nokia XR20 5G (128GB/6GB) for $298.80 OPPO Find X5 Lite 5G (256GB/8GB) for $298.80 Samsung Galaxy A55 5G (8GB RAM 128GB) - $497 at Amazon AU Samsung devices at Samsung Tab S9 from $609.30 after Trade-in Bonus S24+ from $779.40 Tab S10+ from $999 Google Pixel 9 128GB - $949 at amaysim (new customers must add plan from $30/28-Day) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 at Centre Com 256GB for $1379 512GB for $1399
# The End
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