Apple event this morning. The iPhone 13 comes in the same flavours as the iPhone 12 did (the mini lives!) and overall is a mild upgrade. A new A15 SoC is fast, but Apple is now comparing it to the wider market, instead of the previous iPhone, so it's likely not much of an improvement over the A14. The camera stuff on the iPhone 13 Pro is quite fancy. There's a 1TB storage option now. The notch is smaller. Apple Watch Series 7 has a bigger screen that allows for an on-screen keyboard, but not much more than that over the Series 6. The iPad and iPad mini got updates too. The mini has a style like the iPad Air and Pro, but the regular iPad still has the curved edges. There's an A15 SoC in the mini, and USB-C support. The iPad still has a Lightning connector and sports an A13 SoC.
NBN has finally released documentation about free FTTP upgrades, aka, "On-Demand Fibre Connection offer". Customers on FTTN who order a 100/20 or faster plan or 250/25 plan for those on FTTC will qualify for a free FTTP upgrade, but if they downgrade the speed in the first 12 months, there will be some sort of fee passed on to the ISP, which in turn, will probably pass it on to the customer. All FTTC connections are eligible, but FTTN upgrades are only available in certain areas - there's a list of suburbs at the bottom of this media release. NBN wants to start opening up applications for upgrades in November. All this will cost around $3b and will see about half of the FTTN upgraded. Would have been good if those FTTN areas were FTTP from the start, hey?
The co-founders of Canva, Cameron Adams, Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins are even more stupid rich as their company has yet again raised extra money and is now valued at a whopping $54.6b. Somehow this glorified Microsoft Publisher for the web is worth more than Rio Tinto (useful minerals!), Telstra (global communications!) and both Woolworths and Coles (food!). Cliff and Melanie's combined share (they're married) of Canva is valued at sixteen point thirty eight billion Australian dollars - they're cool though, because they've started the Canva Foundation with the aim of giving all their wealth away, just like Bill Gates, who is still somehow one of the world's richest people despite claiming over 20 years ago that he is gonna give all his money away.
Fresh off Facebook announcing their sunnies with cameras in em, Xiaomi has shown off a prototype of proper smart glasses. They've got a "a microLED display fires into a series of lenses and then into a waveguide lens" piped into your right eye, made even cooler that the microLEDs are only green, so everything overlaid in your vision looks like a retro green terminal. The frame looks a bit chunky, possibly even trendy chunky if you're that kinda glasses wearer. Reminds me very much like Intel's smart glasses from 2018 that never left the lab. I need to wear glasses all the time anyways, so hope Xiaomi succeed where Intel didn't and I get to walk around with computer augmented vision - pending approval from the Australian Privacy Commissioner, who isn't too impressed with Facebook's camera glasses.
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The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong 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.