### Issue 1936 - Wednesday 20th September, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- FTC leaks plans for updates to Xbox Series X and a new Xbox controller
- ISPs give up trying to convince NBN to lower wholesale pricing
- Neuralink wants human testers, Google updates Bard AI, UK passes Online Safety Bill
- iFixit reverses praise on iPhone 14's easy repairs due to excessive parts signing
- Cheap CatchConnect SIM, portable USB-C monitor, 15% off Ultimate gift cards, Samsung 990 Pro SSD, EA Sports FC24

## The News

### FTC leaks plans for updates to Xbox Series X and a new Xbox controller

An update to the Xbox Series X and a new controller were accidentally leaked via court documents made public in the legal fight between the USA's FTC and Microsoft regarding the purchase of Activision Blizzard. The main changes are a larger (2TB) internal drive, wi-fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, a 6nm die shrink so the SoC is more power efficient and no more optical disc drive. The controller has a "two-tone color scheme and will support a direct connection to cloud, Bluetooth 5.2, and a presumably updated 'Xbox Wireless 2' connection. Microsoft also lists 'precision haptic feedback' and 'VCA haptics double as speakers' as specs for the controller. It will also have quieter buttons and thumbsticks, a rechargeable and swappable battery, and modular thumbsticks". Both were set for announcement early next year.

⬆ Share or Discuss

### ISPs give up trying to convince NBN to lower wholesale pricing

The prolonged process to revise the NBN's special access undertaking (SAU) is almost complete, with most ISPs not happy with it, but ultimately just want to move on as they can see that NBN has no appetite for lowering its wholesale pricing. It's all but locked in now that every year NBN will increase the wholesale price based on the consumer price index, which ISPs will likely pass on to customers. This is really shit. Within 3 years time, assuming CPI hovers around 5%, a $99 plan (which is already twice what it should cost IMHO) will set you back $115 a month, with the price to go up indefinitely. Optus rightfully points out that "end-users who are in a position to consider alternatives may well do so or further downgrade their NBN services instead of taking up poor quality NBN services whose prices continue to increase over the life of the SAU".

⬆ Share or Discuss

### Neuralink wants human testers, Google updates Bard AI, UK passes Online Safety Bill

- Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implant is currently looking for human test subjects. Specifically, they're after "people with quadriplegia due to vertical spinal cord injury or ALS who are over the age of 22 and have a consistent and reliable caregiver to be part of the study". They are not testing Musk's brain fart of a Cyberpunk 2077 style brain computer interface, but a device that can translate brain signals into computer actions.
- Google's Bard AI got a decent update. It can now connect to Google tools like "Gmail, Docs, Drive, Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Flights and hotels" so you can ask it questions while you're using that stuff. Bard also now has a "Google It" button (lol) so you can "more easily double-check its answers". Bard also takes advantage of an updated PaLM 2 model so should give better responses. I've been using Bard to do a lot of basic coding stuff lately and it's pretty good for a free product. GPT-4 seems to understand be better though.
- The UK's 300-page Online Safety Bill has passed Parliament and is now waiting for Royal Assent. While the bit that pissed off Apple, WhatsApp and Signal is still in there, but inactive until it's technically feasible (never?), there's still a lot of bad shit in there that'll introduce a broad internet censorship regime in the UK. If you think this will influence Australia to do the same - too late, we were first! Will be interesting to see if their regulator is as pissweak as eSafety.

⬆ Share or Discuss

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### iFixit reverses praise on iPhone 14's easy repairs due to excessive parts signing

iFixit has downgraded its 7/10 repairability score for the iPhone 14 down to 4/10. While they were initially excited about the fresh design on the iPhone 14 (not the Pro, just the iPhone 14) that made DIY repairs much easier, they've now realised it only makes the device's internals easier to replace, not actually repair, due to Apple's use of parts signing. This is a process where if you take the camera from one phone with a broken screen for example and pop it in another phone that needs a working camera, you can't do this because the parts are locked to the original phone and when you boot up the device, will throw a warning about not using genuine parts and block the use of the replaced part. It makes it impossible for independent repair shops and individuals to scavenge parts from other broken devices.

⬆ Share or Discuss

## Bargains

- Catch Connect 365-day SIM with unlimited calls & SMS plus 60GB data - $99 from Catch
- ZSUS 15.6" IPS 1080p 144Hz USB-C portable monitor - $137 from Aliexpress
- 15% off Ultimate gift cards (Good Guys, JB, EB, Officeworks & more) from giftcards.com.au, includes $500 cards
- Samsung 990 Pro 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD - $127.41 from Amazon USA
- EA Sports FC24 pre-order (PlayStation & Xbox) - $76 from The Gamesmen's eBay store

## Image Of The Day

Atari Discovery Xtra - 1991 compilation of 4 games, 6 programs, 4 desk accessories and various support files over 5 disks for the Atari ST (Mikerochip / Internet Archive)

## The End

📻 Blue Collar Love (Silver Album Version) - Starflyer 59

😎 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.

👋 Forums not your thing? The Sizzle has a Slack group you can procrastinate in and chat with other nerds bored at work.

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

🎁 Make someone's day and buy them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.

📚 Browse The Sizzle Archive. A few issues are missing and it's not searchable, but it's better than nothing.

🫂 Friends of The Sizzle is a small group of businesses or organisations operated by Sizzle subscribers. Support your fellow Sizzler!

💔 Tired of my bullshit? Unsubscribe and I'll never speak to you again.

## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

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.