### Issue 1750 - Wednesday 7th December, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Apple changes App Store price tiers, adds karaoke to Apple Music, gives Europeans access to self-service repairs
- TSMC to build 2nd fab in Arizona, will use N3-processes and be ready by 2026
- Conditions for animals used in tests at Elon Musk's Neuralink under scrutiny
- Tony Fadell is making hardware cryptocurrency wallets now
- Cheap refurb Lenovo laptops & tiny PCs, Philips Hue kits, gift cards for many popular stores, JBL bluetooth speaker, Jackson USB powerboard, Boost Mobile SIM, Meross smart plugs, S7 Apple Watches, Creative Pebble V3 USB speakers

## The News

### Apple changes App Store price tiers, adds karaoke to Apple Music, gives Europeans access to self-service repairs

Apple's got a bit going on today. Developers selling on the App Store can now "select from 900 price points", which "will start as low as $0.29 and, upon request, go up to $10,000" in various increments. This is due to a settlement they agreed to in a class action with US developers. If you like karaoke, you'll enjoy Apple Music Sing. Vocals are lowered via some machine learning stuff so you can sing along in real-time to practically any song in Apple Music's library. It'll launch later this month. Meanwhile, some European countries have access to Apple's self-service repair program now. Australia still hasn't got it.

### TSMC to build 2nd fab in Arizona, will use N3-processes and be ready by 2026

TSMC announced it will increase its investment from US$12b to US$40b to build a second semiconductor factory in Arizona. According to the US government, "at scale, these two [factories] could meet the entire U.S. demand for U.S. chips when they're completed. That's the definition of supply chain resilience. We won't have to rely on anyone else to make the chips we need". The fab currently under construction will manufacture wafers with TSMC's N5, N5P, N4, N4P, and N4X processes by 2024. The new one will use the N3, N3E, N3P, N3S, and N3X processes and go online in 2026. That's pretty good, but I assume the most cutting edge processes will still be made in Taiwan.

### Conditions for animals used in tests at Elon Musk's Neuralink under scrutiny

According to a Reuters investigation, the US Department of Agriculture's Inspector General has kicked off an investigation into Neuralink and its animal testing practices. The article states that Neuralink has "killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018". I don't know if this is normal for this kind of research and the article does say that "Neuralink has passed all USDA inspections of its facilities". Musk also frequently used a weird analogy to motivate employees, telling them to "imagine they had a bomb strapped to their heads in an effort to get them to move faster".

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Tony Fadell is making $430 hardware cryptocurrency wallets now

Tony Fadell will always be remembered as Mr. iPod, having been the lead person on that iconic product we all loved almost 20 years ago. Now he's fucking around with hardware cryptocurrency wallets. The device is called "Ledger Stax", looks nice, I assume is easy to use and can be pre-ordered now for $430 (oof). Almost iPod in size, but much thinner, with an e-ink screen that wraps around the edge to make a spine that can be labelled. I assume so you can easily view your cryptocurrency wallets all nicely stacked on a shelf. The article tries to make Fadell's new project something profound or important, but it's just a thingy to store cryptocurrency on. Doesn't really deserve the full "Steven Levy puff piece in Wired" treatment.

## Bargains

- Refurbished Lenovo ThinkCentre M910q Tiny (i5-6500T, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) - $199 from PC Store Melbourne
- Philips Hue A60 B22 Bluetooth White Starter Kit (2x Bulb + Hub) $70.99 from Amazon
- 10% off EB Games, Xbox, Kayo, Binge & Twitch gift cards on Amazon
- JBL Charge 4 Portable Waterproof Speaker Black & Red - $124.95 from Amazon
- Jackson surge protected powerboard with 4x individually switched outlets and 4x USB ports - $19.75 at Woolworths
- Boost Mobile 365-day SIM with 260GB data - $200 via Cashrewards
- 4x Meross Smart Plug Wi-Fi Outlets (HomeKit, Google & Alexa supported) - $59.99 from Amazon
- Refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T480s laptop (i5-8350U, 12GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p display) - $404.80 from Bufferstock's eBay store
- Apple Watch Series 7 45mm/41mm - $454/$419 from Amazon
- 10% off JB Hi-Fi gift cards at Target
- 10% off Nintendo eShop gift cards at Target
- Creative Pebble V3 USB speakers - $49.95

## Image Of The Day

Telecom Australia 1984 (Geoff Nowak / Flickr)

## The End

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