This week, things were a little quieter as we wait for the Samsung Unpacked reveals next week, but that doesn’t mean it was boring.
YouTube fell, Apple moved up its next product event, and Discord’s rivals collapsed under the weight of new users fleeing to their platforms.
7. The Discord exodus began
Discord has inadvertently ruined its reputation over the past week, with the announcement that it will introduce its strict age verification plans to its users worldwide, following the UK’s updated Online Safety Act. Unsurprisingly, it sparked outrage among Discord users, who fled to multiple alternative social platforms, to the point that it gave one in particular, Stoat, server capacity issues.
It comes after a large number of users canceled their subscription to the platform’s Nitro service, with many seeking to force Discord to rethink its strategy. Unfortunately, Discord has yet to make any adjustments to its verification plans set for March and has only issued an update to its initial press release, providing additional “clarification” for those plans.
6. We tested the strangest electric bike yet
AI is really finding its way into everything, as this week we tested Acer’s ebii 20, an electric bike with AI features aimed at improving the rider’s experience.
There’s something to be said for safety protection and AI pedal assistance, but the mid-motor lacks the power most would expect from an e-bike in this price range.
It also has poor weight distribution and made some annoying ticking and white noise while we were testing it, probably because we didn’t equip the bike with a SIM card, leading to frustrations that meant we were only able to give it three and a half stars in our review.
5. Movie studios fought AI clones
Netflix and Paramount might be fighting over which of them will buy Warner Bros., but for now, the trio, and some other Hollywood studios like Disney, are allies in pushing back against Seedance 2.0, a new AI-powered video generator from ByteDance (the owner of TikTok).
This is because everyone claims that the platform is using their characters and IPs without permission.
Several Seedance videos have gone viral recently, including one starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in a fight scene, with dialogue in which Pitt accuses Cruise of killing Jeffrey Epstein; the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA) called the video “unacceptable.”
The Chinese company has since said it will take measures “to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property and images by users.”
4. We analyze the new Game of Thrones trailer
Luckily, we didn’t need AI to get us excited about a major entertainment property this week, as the House of the Dragon season 3 trailer dropped.
With last season’s finale suggesting that the Targaryen Civil War will finally take center stage this season, its first trailer, which you can watch above, is completely explosive.
Unfortunately, the only thing we’re still missing is an official release date. It will arrive in June, but for now it’s still a mystery when exactly.
3. Ring defended its leaked plan to “reduce crime to zero”
Privacy has been a huge topic this week, and Discord (see above) wasn’t the only company to shoot itself in the foot. Ring also had to defend itself against accusations that it plans to create an opt-out system that borders on mass surveillance.
A leaked email from Ring founder Jamie Siminoff added fuel to a controversy that was sparked by the company’s Super Bowl ad for its ‘Search Party’ feature. That feature is designed to help lost dogs, but the email said it could lead to a “future where we can reduce neighborhood crime to zero.”
Understandably, that hasn’t gone down too well with privacy advocates, but Ring told us it’s standing firm, despite the backlash.
2. YouTube fell into a very rare outage
We’re getting pretty used to outages on X, which went down twice this week, but seeing YouTube go offline is a panic-inducing oddity. Well, that unfortunate incident occurred on Tuesday night when YouTube gave millions of people a taste of what life was like before 2006.
The 90-minute outage affected all parts of YouTube, from the website and app to YouTube Music and TV, and was caused by an innocent “issue with our recommendation system,” according to Google. The experience made many realize how dependent they have become on the video-sharing site, which is so culturally important that it is now an exhibit at London’s V&A museum.
1. Apple announced a big event in March
We may currently be gearing up for Samsung’s next Unpacked next week, but since we don’t want to be left out of the conversation, Apple has moved up a showcase for March 4, and it could be a blast.
As always, the company is keeping its mouth shut about what product launches we might see at the event, without mentioning anything specific in the press invitation; However, there are suggestions of leaks and speculation that he will have a wide range of products to announce.
This could include new MacBook Pros, iPhone 17e, a new iPad Air, and possibly a new Mac Studio. We’ll have to wait and see what’s announced, but if you’re an Apple fan looking to upgrade your tech, you might want to wait a week or so to see what Apple has up its sleeve.
