Plus: LegoGPT is the AI model I never knew I wanted ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 12, 2025 | Read online
# What's post-phone? Bluetooth change and using 50 billion cash transaction data Plus: LegoGPT is the AI model I never knew I wanted
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Issue 2329 - Monday 12 May 2025
Flickr: CNE CNA C6F
We’ve had a small issue with newsletter topics auto-posting to the forum but it should be fixed now!
# The News
### What’s after the phone? Here’s how Apple and ex-Apple are trying to figure it out
What’s next after the phone? For Ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive, his work on an OpenAI post-phone device is inspired “unintended consequences” of the damage caused by smartphone use (The Verge). For the place he left, Apple, it’s about figuring out how to prove it hasn’t grown lazy after the iPhone’s stratospheric success and that it can still make cool, new things. In practice this means, according to Apple oracle Mark Gurman, that the company is planning on bringing the following devices to market by 2027: a foldable iPhone, a curved, bezel-less iPhone, smart glasses, a proper Apple Intelligence and something robotic (Bloomberg, $). I’m still convinced the device that will replace my iPhone will first be used with my iPhone: something like a combination of smart glasses, headphones, maybe even the Apple Watch that lets me keep my phone in my bag — until I don’t need it any more. Curious to hear what you think?
### Bluetooth update makes it harder to track you
At the moment, your phone probably changes its Bluetooth address every fifteen minutes (or another regular interval). This is supposed to make it harder for someone with a bunch of scanners to track the movement of your phone and, therefore, you. However, the fact that this address changes on a regular interval makes it possible to guess it might still be you. For example, if a scanner picks up address A at 12:00, then address B at 12:15, and there’s no other device around, then it can probably assume that address A and B are the same device. Bluetooth’s latest update, 6.1, changes this interval is random lengths of time to thwart this technique (Bluetooth). The updated specification, which also has the benefit of improving battery life, won’t be seen in chips until at least 2026 (Bleeping Computer).
### Australia’s anti-money laundering agency got handed data about 50 million transactions from the big banks
Staying below the $10,000 mandatory deposit reporting cut-off isn’t stopping Australia’s money laundering regulator from catching criminals because it has gotten access to a lot of bank data (AUSTRAC via my Google Docs). AUSTRAC says its “Fintel Alliance” has given it access to “50 million data points” of cash deposits from the big four banks that it has analysed to catch people money laundering below the threshold. A write-up in Nine papers said the data has helped it catch people who would tour around the same area, putting amounts of money just below the threshold into ATMs (SMH, $). Very sad to hear about the government putting these small business owners out of work like this!
Seized assets from a money laundering ring. Not very impressive, is it?
#### Leftovers
Australian Warhead Technology Development (Tenders.gov.au) Editor’s note: just a cool tender Australian politician who sparked social media ban says it's 'worth it' even if kids find way around it (RNZ) Ed Husic: Ten years to build technology policy expertise (InnovationAus, $) Why Snapchat has struggled to grow while TikTok, Facebook surge (AFR, $) Meta tipped to pay charge rather than strike media deals as sector awaits Jones' successor (Capital Brief, $) Small electric bus made by world’s biggest bus maker approved for sale in Australia (The Driven) AI job recruitment tools could 'enable discrimination' against marginalised groups, research finds (ABC News) Special Editorial: Artificial intelligence – Transformative technology (Australian Journal of General Practice) IAB Australia forms AI working group to guide digital advertising ecosystems (Mi3) Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service (CXDive) OpenAI negotiates with Microsoft to unlock new funding and future IPO (FT) Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected (The Conversation) Paul McCartney and Dua Lipa among artists urging Starmer to rethink AI copyright plans (The Guardian) In 2025, venture capital can’t pretend everything is fine any more (Pivot to AI) Chinese researchers develop silicon-free transistor technology, claimed to be fastest and most efficient ever - here's what we know (TechRadar) Australia has been hesitant – but could robots soon be delivering your pizza? (The Guardian)
# Oh, Also
### LegoGPT is actually, honestly, cool
OK, even the AI skeptics can’t deny that this looks cool: a bunch of Carnegie Mellon University researchers have built a transformer model that turns your prompts into Lego designs that can can be built using real pieces (GitHub). Honestly, it’s less about the technology behind it — I don’t know if this is a breakthrough with broader applications or just a simple application — and more about the presentation: there’s cool spinning videos of Lego and robotic arms putting them together. I haven’t been able to use it but there is a model of the demo hosted online if you want to have a go (Hugging Face). I wish I got to build Lego for work.
That Hot rod is pretty neat
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Click Product Range at Bunnings 2m USB Lightning Cable (TAS) for $0.51 2m USB Lightning Cable (VIC/SA) for $1 30W USB & USB-C PD Charger (VIC) for $2 30W USB & USB-C PD Charger (Elsewhere) for $7 VEEKTOMX 30W 10000mAh Power Bank & Wireless Apple Watch Charger at VEEKTOMX via Amazon AU - $24.29 at VEEKTOMX via Amazon AU Reolink Smart 2K+/5MP Wired Poe Video Doorbell with Chime at Bunnings - $99 at Bunnings (Special Order) Apple Beats Fit Pro True Wireless Earbuds Sage Grey at JW Computers - $199 at JW Computers Harman Kardon Go + Play 3 Portable Bluetooth Home Speaker at Bing Lee - $288 at Bing Lee Reolink Altas PT Ultra with 12W Solar Panel at Reolink - $306 at Reolink Roborock F25 Wet and Dry Vacuum at Horizon Store - $349.50 at Horizon Store GoPro HERO12 Black at Tristar Online via Lasoo - $419 at Tristar Online via Lasoo Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K at JB Hi-Fi (Price Match with Perks Voucher for $564) - $594 at JB Hi-Fi Lenovo Legion Go S Z2 Go 512GB. at Lenovo EPP Partner Website - $851 at Lenovo EPP Partner Website Legion Go Lenovo at Officeworks - $997 at Officeworks LG C4 Evo OLED48C4PSA 48" at Appliance Central (Excl. TAS) - $1585 at Appliance Central
Computing
Kingston DataTraveler Exodia 128GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive at Amazon AU - $12 at Amazon AU ASUS Routers at Amazon AU TUF-AX4200 for $165 TUF-AX6000 for $249 TUF-BE3600 for $279 RT-AX86U Pro AX5700 Wi-Fi Router for $298 TUF-BE6500 for $349 Dell Latitude 5400- Intel i5-8250u, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, FHD Graphics, Win11 (New Battery) at Corporatepc - $299 at Corporatepc (Used) Apple iPad 11" A16 Wi-Fi 128GB at Costco - $469.99 at Costco Seagate 22TB Expansion External Hard Drive at QuickDealStore Amazon US - $487 at QuickDealStore Amazon US Crucial RAM 128GB Kit (2x64GB) DDR5 SODIMM 5600MT/s at Amazon Germany via AU - $497 at Amazon Germany via AU BOSGAME P3 Lite Mini PC: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H 24GB RAM 1TB SSD Win11 Pro at BOSGAME via Amazon AU - $539 at BOSGAME via Amazon AU Lenovo Legion Go 512GB Handheld Gaming Device at Officeworks - $997 at Officeworks Dell AW3425DW 34" WQHD 3440x1440 240Hz QD-OLED Curved Monitor at JB Hi-Fi - $1199 at JB Hi-Fi Palit GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB w/ Coupon at Scorptec - $1409 at Scorptec Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition, Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB/256GB (+$200 Gift Card) at Harvey Norman - $1498 at Harvey Norman ITX Gaming PCs at GALAPOWER 7800X3D 9070XT for $2799 7800X3D 5070 Ti for $2999 9800X3D 5080 for $3999
Mobile
ALDI pre-paid mobile with unlimited Standard Calls, SMS & MMS, 250GB Data - $229 at ALDI Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen, USB-C) at BIG W (Price Beat $318.25 @ Officeworks) - $335 at BIG W Apple iPhone 16 Pro 256GB at Costco - $1719 at Costco
# The End
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