This week things were a little quieter while we wait for next week’s Samsung Unpacked reveals, but that doesn’t mean it was boring.
YouTube went down, Apple announced its next product event, and Discord’s rivals crashed under the weight of new users fleeing to their platforms.
7. The Discord exodus has begun
Discord inadvertently spoiled its reputation over the past week, announcing that it would introduce its strict age verification plans to its users worldwide, after the UK’s online safety law was updated. Unsurprisingly, this sparked outrage among Discord users, who fled to several alternative social platforms, so much so that it caused server capacity issues for one in particular, Stoat.
This comes after a plethora of users unsubscribed from the platform’s Nitro service, with many looking to force Discord to rethink its strategy. Unfortunately, Discord has yet to make any adjustments to its planned verification plans for March and has only issued an update to its initial press release, providing additional “clarification” on those plans.
6. We’ve tested the strangest e-bike yet
AI really has a place in everything, as this week we tried Acer’s ebii 20, an electric bike with AI features aimed at improving the rider experience.
There’s something to be said for safety protection and AI pedal assist, but the hub motor doesn’t have the power you’d typically expect from an e-bike in this price range.
It also has poor weight distribution and made annoying ticking and white noise noises while we were testing it – probably because we hadn’t fitted the bike with a SIM card – which led to frustrations that meant we were only able to give it three and a half stars in our review.
5. Movie studios fought against AI clones
Netflix and Paramount may be fighting over which of them will buy Warner Bros., but for now, the trio and some other Hollywood studios like Disney are allied in fending off Seedance 2.0 – a new AI video generator from ByteDance (the owner of TikTok).
Indeed, they all claim that the platform uses their characters and their IP address without authorization.
Several Seedance videos have gone viral recently, including one featuring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in a fight scene, with dialogue in which Pitt accuses Cruise of killing Jeffrey Epstein – with the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA) calling the video “unacceptable.”
The Chinese company has since said it will take measures “to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property and image by users.”
4. We dissected the new Game of Thrones trailer
Luckily, this week we didn’t need AI to get excited about a major entertainment property, as the House of the Dragon season 3 trailer dropped.
While last season’s finale suggests that the Targaryen Civil War will finally take center stage this season, its first teaser, which you can watch above, is totally explosive.
Unfortunately, the only thing we’re still missing is an official release date. This will happen sometime in June, but the precise date still remains a mystery for the moment.
3. Ring defended its leaked plan to ‘eliminate crime’
Privacy has been a major theme this week – and Discord (see above) isn’t the only company that’s shot itself in the foot. Ring also had to defend itself against accusations that it planned to create an opt-out system bordering on mass surveillance.
A leaked email from Ring founder Jamie Siminoff has added fuel to a controversy sparked by the company’s Super Bowl ad for its “Search Party” feature. This feature is designed to help lost dogs, but the email says it could lead to a “future in which we are able to eliminate crime in neighborhoods.”
Naturally, this didn’t go down well with privacy advocates – but Ring told us it stood firm, despite the backlash.
2. YouTube went down in a very rare outage
We’re pretty used to outages on X, which happened twice this week – but seeing YouTube go offline is a panic-inducing rarity. Well, this unfortunate incident happened on Tuesday evening when YouTube gave millions of people a taste of life 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 recommendations system”, according to Google. The experience made many realize how dependent they have become on the video-sharing site, which is so culturally significant that it is now on display 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 not wanting to be left out of the conversation, Apple has announced a showcase for March 4 – and it could be a real headache.
As always, the company is remaining tight-lipped about what product launches we might see at the event, with nothing specific mentioned in the press invite itself; However, leaks and speculation suggest that there will be a wide range of products to be announced.
This could include new MacBook Pros, the 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 their technology, you might want to wait a week or so to see what Apple has up its sleeves.
