SanDisk unveils storage drive for iPhone, Politics to be pushed on Instagram and Threads

SanDisk
The best iPhones are capable of recording incredibly high-quality ProRes video footage, but that means you can often find your device rapidly running out of storage. Thankfully, SanDisk has just launched a tiny SSD (solid-state drive) that attaches to the back of your iPhone using MagSafe. Dubbed the Creator Phone SSD, SanDisk’s storage drive magnetically snaps onto your iPhone, with a cable hooking up to its USB-C port. This blue-colored SSD comes in 1TB and 2TB sizes and offers USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity. That means you’ll get read speeds of up to 1,000MB/s and write speeds of up to 950MB/s. And because it’s got a USB-C cable, you can plug it directly into your laptop and transfer off your recorded files. Tech Radar 

It looks like Samsung is finally ready to roll out a paid subscription for its AI-powered smartphones, but it might not look like what we were expecting. According to ETNews, Samsung Electronics vice chair Han Jong-hee has confirmed that the company’s AI Subscription Club, which launched last December for some of Samsung’s home appliances in South Korea, will soon roll out to both Galaxy phones and the upcoming Ballie AI robot. “We will apply the subscription service to Galaxy smartphones starting next month,” he says. “Ballie will be introduced first in Korea and the US, and we plan to supply it as a subscription in Korea.” The Verge

Threads and Instagram users will no longer be able to opt out of being shown political content from people they do not follow, parent company Meta has announced. The firm says its part of its reorientation towards “free expression” – a move that saw it ditch fact checkers on Tuesday. The change will be introduced in the US this week before being expanded globally next week. Users will not be able to turn off unsolicited political posts but can choose between three settings – less, standard or more. The head of the two platforms Adam Mosseri – who had previously said he was opposed to news and political content – says users have “asked to be shown more” of such posts. BBC

The overhauled Tesla Model Y has dropped its camouflage in a series of new images circulated on social media ahead of its imminent launch. They confirm previous reports that the electric SUV will sport a radically different design from that of the outgoing model, with LED light bars at its front and rear end.  It also gets more prominent air intakes at the front, giving it a look that is distinct from the closely related Tesla Model 3, which was updated last year. The publication of images comes after the EV, which was the world’s best-selling car in 2023, was recently spotted testing in Europe.

 

Sweeping changes to the policing of Meta’s social media platforms have set the tech company on a collision course with legislators in the UK and the European Union, experts and political figures have said. Lawmakers in Brussels and London criticised Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to scrap factcheckers in the US for Facebook, Instagram and Threads, with one labelling it “quite frightening”. The changes to Meta’s global policies on hateful content now include allowing users to call transgender people “it”. The Guardian

 

 

Chris Price