Issue 2244 - Tuesday 7th January, 2025

Hey Sizzlers!

It was so great to hear from so many of you yesterday. Thanks for all the kind words and useful feedback. Things went mostly to plan, but there are a few things here and there that need fixing. Rather than list them all here and derailing the edition, I’ve made a post on the Sizzle forum that I will keep updating and answering questions on.

As always, please get in touch if you have any questions or feedback.

In Today’s Issue

• It’s gadget Christmas eve

• Apple’s hearing aid feature approved but don’t ask about AI

• OpenAI’s 2025 is its most perilous year yet

• Sneaky Bing

• Free Android camera app and cheap XCD over-ear headphones, Belong starter pack, SanDISk 256GB SSD, iPad (10th Gen) and Bambu Lab P1S 3D Printer and AMS.

The News

It’s gadget Christmas Eve

Starting tomorrow, the world’s gizmo and gadget makers will show off their latest creations at the annual Consumer Economics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. As a wizened old tech reporter, my CES philosophy is that it’s less about “commercially viable products that work as advertised” and more about signals, vibes and tech trends. The show’s previews suggest this year’s trends might be animal-shaped robots, AR wearables and stuffing everything with AI. There’s too much to sum up here — I recommend the Verge & WIRED’s liveblogs if you want good, detailed but non-sycophantic coverage — but my favourite oddities so far are: barbeque with generative AI, robot cat that blows on your food to cool it down and electric spoon that makes your food taste more salty.

A Sizzle-only dispatch from Nine papers’ tech editor David Swan: “A lot of the tech shown off at CES thankfully won't see the light of day. But the stuff here is, at a minimum, a damn interesting conversation starter. And I haven't been blown up in a Tesla yet,” he said over Signal.

Apple’s hearing aid AirPod features approved but don’t ask about their AI summaries

As usual, Apple did not lower itself to appearing at CES but it does have a few things going on. In Australia, the AirPods Pro 2’s new hearing aid and test features have been approved for use by our medical regulator, but the tech giant has yet to actually switch on the feature down under. (My former colleague Pranav Dixit wrote a really touching piece in 2023 about how his 95-year-old granddad was able to Airpods to hear him again). In general, Apple’s wearable health features give me that increasingly rare “tech is magic” feeling. Apple also dropped iOS 18.2.1 to fix a few bugs but the update does not include a forthcoming change to its AI-powered notification summary feature which has repeatedly incorrectly summarised BBC headlines, much to the public broadcaster’s ire. It’s not just the BBC either, I’ve seen examples of them messing up the Guardian Australia’s headlines. A forward sizzle for the Sizzle: I’ve got some reporting coming out probably tomorrow relating to Apple’s summaries. 

OpenAI’s 2025 is its most perilous year yet

Speaking of AI summaries, let’s briefly recap the state of OpenAI: The non-for-profit-but-wannabe-for-profit organisation AI maker took the world by storm with its 2022 release of ChatGPT but has struggled to convert the hype into dollars. The US$157 billion startup banked US$3.7 billion in sales from a reported 350 million monthly users last year but still was in the red by US$5 billion. But don’t worry, its newly released US$200/month tier is… also losing money, too. With competitors nipping at its heels, a slowdown in AI improvements and reported problems with its upcoming model GPT-5, this week CEO Sam Altman penned a blog featuring his latest spectacular claim that the company knows how to build “artificial general intelligence” (AGI) and is now focusing on building “superintelligence”. OK, sure. So, what is AGI? In one vague sense, it’s a benchmark for when AI can “outperform humans” at most things. In a more important sense, it’s when OpenAI generates $100 billion in profits, which will trigger a clause in a contract with Microsoft that will end the company’s access to OpenAI’s technology. All this is to say: OpenAI is in a surprisingly precarious position despite their enormous influence and Altman faces balancing feeding the hype, managing those soaring expectations, and turning the company from something that burns billions into one that makes ‘em. Easy, right?

Oh, Also

Sneaky Bing

You know that search engine owned by Microsoft whose primary users are people who don’t know how to change their default Windows search and punters who were trying to get to Binge but missed a letter? Well, add another use case for Bing: people who want to use Google but aren’t wearing their glasses. That’s because Microsoft has created a Google-like interface that is shown to users who search Google in Bing, complete with a Google-esque “doodle”. On one hand, there might be dozens of Bing users who are fooled. On the other hand, putting corporate resources to the digital equivalent of printing out a picture of your competitor’s face and sticking it on your own does reek somewhat of desperation. (I would love to hear from Sizzlers: what’s your search habits these days? Google? DuckDuckGo? Are AI chatbots working their way into your routine? LMK)

Bargains

• ProCam X - HD Camera Pro (Android) - Free 

• XCD XCD23008 Wired Foldable over-Ear Headphones -  $4.95 

• Belong Mobile $45 100GB 1-Month Starter Pack – $22 

• SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro Solid State Flash Drive USB3.2 - $84

• Anker MagGo Wireless Charging 3-in-1 Cube $109.99

• MSI PRO MP273U 27" 4K UHD EyesErgo 60Hz IPS Monitor -  $219

• TP-Link Archer BE550 BE9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - $374

• DJI RC 2 Remote Controller - $496.42 

• Apple iPad Wi-Fi 64GB (10th Gen) - $497

• Motorola ThinkPhone 5G 256GB - $699

• Bambu Lab P1S Combo, P1S 3D Printer and AMS - $1319.20

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday afternoon. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Gadigal 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.