Plus: one good reason not to trust AI to plan your holiday ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 22, 2026 | Read online
# Apple, OpenAI try to dethrone the phone, Trump boycott apps and Australia helps UK teen ban plan Plus: one good reason not to trust AI to plan your holiday
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Edition 2486
"Big n8 at Home - man using home computer, 2001" by Nate Grigg is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Mentioned in today’s edition: OpenAI, UK government, Humane, Greenland, open source, Starlink, Wi-Fi 8, Threads, Anthropic and Tasmania Tours. Plus, deals on Sennheiser earbuds, Roborock vacuums and Anker chargers.
# The News
### Apple and OpenAI are racing to make a gizmo to dethrone the phone
The latest rumours are that OpenAI wants to ship its first hardware, a pair of AirPods-like earphones, by the end of the year (TechCrunch). It reckons the OpenAIPods will be able to do some AI tasks locally which seems like a big ask for that form factor. Not to be outdone, Apple is also taking design cues from another company by fast-tracking a Humane-like AI pin that will look like an AirTag with cameras and a button (AppleInsider). The Apple oracle Mark Gurman is also reporting that Cupertino has gotten over its anti-chatbot stance and will launch a ChatGPT-like Siri next year (Bloomberg, $).
The Sizzle: I'm very into thinking about the gizmo-side of the AI devices because it's fun to think about what's next. As previously mentioned, it's pretty hard to beat "a 6-7 inch screen". But I think there's a lot of potential in devices that could supplement phones rather than replace them (at least for the moment). I think both anti-phone backlash and pro-AI people could both get behind a device that can do some of those tasks that currently require a phone — think about the things that take like 2-3 steps, such as checking a map and texting a friend with your ETA — without needing to be taken out of the world while you scroll, search and tap on your phone.
While we’re in Gizmo corner: This smartphone runs Android, Linux, and even Windows 11 (Android Authority), Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra will have a 'privacy display' feature (9to5Google) and a company has produced an open source smart speaker that works with Home Assistant (Reddit)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Greenland residents fighting back against Trump takeover with apps
SCAN, TJEK, VAELG … what a beautiful language
The Europeans are fighting back against Donald Trump's mad king mission to acquire Greenland by boycotting US goods — and they're using apps to help (TechCrunch). NonUSA and Made O'Meter have shot to the top of the Danish App Store, as the good people of Greenland and Denmark are trying to ditch American products in retaliation. Relatedly, Timo in the Slack brought up how this Greenland stuff puts into relief just how perilous it is for the EU to rely on US tech like GPS etc. Relatedly: the EU is "calling for evidence" for how to move its tech systems to open source (i.e. away from US controlled) projects (More-Magic).
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Australia lending a hand to the UK's teen social media ban plan
The UK looks all but set to get a teen social media ban. The latest is that UK Parliament isn't happy to wait for consultation announced by the government into the idea, and doesn't want to wait for "evidence" or "hearing people's points of view" before legislating the ban (Guardian). My little scooplet is that members of the UK government have been in touch with their Australian counterparts to get some advice on the ban (Crikey, $).
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
The Sizzlefather decryption has launched a new little business selling laptop stickers which look cool as (LaptopStickers.store) Snapchat Accused of Reinstating Banned Teen Accounts, Stonewalling Complaints (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) Starlink has cut its entry level Australian price to $69/m (techAU) just after adding federal lobbyists -- interesting! New Wi-Fi 8 Router Demoed by Asus, But Is It Too Soon? (GadgetGuy) The Rapper, the Crypto Billionaire and the Instagram Mystery Man (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) hell yeah
Rest of World:
Meta Is Expanding Threads Ads to All Users Globally (Engadget) Anthropic releases a 57 page "constitution" document for its AI (The Verge) I know there's a lot of hype around Claude ATM so clearly they're doing something right but this document is really extra. Spotify Won Court Order Against Anna’s Archive, Taking Down .org Domain (Hacker News) Gates and OpenAI team up for AI health push in African countries (Reuters) Adobe Acrobat Now Lets You Edit Files Using Prompts, Generate Podcast Summaries (TechCrunch) sorry if any Sizzler works for Adobe but Acrobat is in my top 3 most annoying software Scammers Dupe Billionaires Seeking Access to Trump in Davos (Bloomberg, $) hahahaha Hate Is a Strong Word, But I Really Really Really Don’t Like Windows 11 (Urara's Blog) Data workers are being forced to work on-site during earthquakes and typhoons (Rest of World) Finally Finished My Kids’ “Command Center” (Reddit)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### One good reason not to trust AI to plan your holiday
There's a bit of a meme about how AI is always demoed showing how it can book a holiday for you. There's a couple of reasons that might be a bit risky. One of these is that AI might, um, hallucinate your destination, as has been the case in Tasmania where tourists have been sent to locations like the Weldoborough Hot Springs that do not exist.
it would be a great performance art piece for MONA to copy the hallucination imo
An ABC News article reports that local residents have been inundated with calls and even visitors trying to go to made-up landmarks promoted on the website of a local tour company, Tasmania Tours. At least the owner was straight up when asked about it: "Our AI has messed up completely" lol.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
20% off TCL TV + Soundbar Bundle at Harvey Norman Karaoke Bluetooth Microphone Pink or Blue - $7 at Kmart (Down from $20) My 2yo got one of these for Christmas and she LOVES it (do I love listening to her singing on it? That's a complicated question) Anker 735 Nano II 65W 3-Port GaN Charger - $33.24 at Amazon (Down from $59) Belkin BoostCharge Pro Dual USB-C 67W GaN Charger - $33.96 at The Good Guys Commercial (Down from $59) Sennheiser CX True Wireless Earbuds - $77 at The Good Guys (Down from $199) JAYO Filament: Buy 6, Get 4 Free - $118 at Jayo-3D eBay (20% off code) Roborock Qrevo C Robotic Vacuum Cleaner - $599 at Costco (Down from $699
Computing
Gawfolk 34 inch Curved ultrawide Gaming Monitor, UWQHD 3440x1440 - $263 at Amazon (Down from $329.99)
# The End
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