# In This Issue

- CES 2020: Day 2

- Australian bushfire conspiracy theories and disinformation spreading around social media

- Sonos is suing Google for infringing on their wireless speaker patents

- Microsoft, Google and Amazon are making it cheaper to extract oil and damage the planet

- Cheap Telstra & Optus MVNO plans, Logitech G MX518 mouse, RX5700 8GB graphics card

# News

#### CES 2020: Day 2

Let the deluge of tech stuff you’ll look at once then never think of again continue!

- Wireless headphone users are gonna get a bump in audio quality in the near future thanks to Bluetooth LE Audio that introduces a new baseline codec for better sounding & more reliable audio.

- Lenovo’s sticking an e-ink screen on the outside of a laptop for some reason. It isn’t even a prototype, but something they’re gonna sell. Who wants this and why? Please tell me.

- Samsung really wants Bixby to be a thing, announcing the Galaxy Home Mini smart speaker. They announced a bigger speaker at last year’s CES and it’s still not released.

- Samsung also ripped off Apple’s Face ID icon, but who cares besides Apple nerds with a chip on their shoulder.

- LIFX has a bunch of new light related products, if you’re still into LIFX and not on the Philips Hue bandwagon. An all new LIFX app for iOS is coming next week too, no purchase required.

- Intel showed off a prototype folding 17” laptop (like Lenovo’s) called Horseshoe Bend. Intel also let loose that Thunderbolt 4 is coming with their next generation of CPUs, but didn’t say anything else.

- Google WearOS smartwatch fans have something to get excited about - the Skagen Falster 3. Has the latest Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC and a bunch of modern features other smartwatches have had for a while.

- Smartphone gamers will like Razer’s new Kishi gamepad that snaps on to your device and connects over USB-C/Lightning. No need for Bluetooth and the latency it introduces.

- Mobileye (owned by Intel) have demonstrated their latest generation robocar tech in this video. It’s impressive considering it’s on the market now/soon for automakers to install in their cars and doesn’t need any extra sensors beyond cameras.

- PopSockets are a thing people put on their phones for a better grip, but it gets in the way of wireless charging. Not anymore, as PopSockets now have a wireless charger with a built in hole so the rest of the device is flush with the charger.

#### Australian bushfire conspiracy theories and disinformation spreading around social media

Dr Timothy Graham from the Queensland University of Technology is looking in to why there's so many tweets with the hashtag #ArsonEmergency and blaming The Greens for Australia's current bushfires. He got a bunch of tweets from Jan 1 to Jan 6, pumped them into an R package called tweetbotornot and found that there was a much higher amount of likely bots using that hashtag than other hashtags, leading him to believe there's some sort of disinformation campaign going on, but probably not a massive one and it's unsure as to who is doing it. Buzzfeed has compiled a bunch of bushfire related bullshit circling the internet. I don't know what's worse - the fact people are gullible enough to believe this stuff or that people spend their timing making it all up.

#### Sonos is suing Google for infringing on their wireless speaker patents

Sonos is suing Google, accusing them of infringing on their patents for syncing and connecting wireless speakers. Sonos also wants Google to stop selling speakers that use these patents (i.e: Nest Mini, Home Max, etc). Apparently back in 2013, Sonos showed Google how it was able to send music to multiple speakers so reliably over wi-fi in an effort to get support for Sonos gear in Google software. Two years later Google released the Chromecast and a year after that a range of smart speakers. Sonos also reckons Amazon is infringing on their patents with Echo speakers, but can't afford to sue Google and Amazon at the same time. As if Google doesn't know it ratfucked Sonos, that's the kinda thing US$960b companies do all the time and hope nobody bothers to fight it.

# Not News

#### Microsoft, Google and Amazon are making it cheaper to extract oil and damage the planet

Vox has uploaded a video to YouTube that tries to explain how Microsoft, Amazon and Google are two-faced fucks when it comes to combating climate change. In their marketing materials and public messaging, they’re all about how their datacentres use renewable energy and that they love the planet. But not so proudly, they sell cloud services and AI/machine learning technology to fossil fuel companies that helps them find and extract the shit easier, faster and cheaper than ever before. If these giant tech companies truly gave a rats arse about climate change, they’d stop selling being enablers of cheap fossil fuels so renewables and other technology can take over.

# Bargains

- Telstra 12m contract with 60GB/m data for $65/m and free $400 JB Hi-Fi gift voucher

- Moose Mobile (Optus MVNO) 8GB/m no contact plan for $14.80/m

- Logitech G MX518 mouse - $42 from GeekBuying

- ASUS Radeon RX5700 8GB graphics card - $459 from Mwave

🎶 Gamma Ray - Beck

😁 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.

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.​