

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Jason Howell
This episode covers significant updates in tech news, including Amazon's discontinuation of its palm scanning service and Google's introduction of Gemini features in the Chrome browser.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes.
Discussing Amazon's layoffs and the end of its palm scanning service.
“They didn't promise they'll never lay off anybody again this year.”
Personal anecdotes about using Amazon's palm scanning technology.
“And I think that at least at some point, this was, well, let's say 2022, Amazon was probably testing local merchants like, hey, does this work with other merchants?”
Exploring studies on social media use and its effects on children.
“For example, if I go to my nearest corner store, the other day I was like, I don't have my wallet.”
Analyzing new research findings on social media and mental health.
“The study found that non-users in grades 10 through 12 had significantly higher odds of low well-being compared to moderate users.”
Discussing the complexities of youth social media use.
“And if you missed it, non-users had a higher odd of low well-being, especially for boys, as did extreme users.”
Introducing Moltbot and its implications in personal AI management.
“In the right situation, increased socializing can be helpful.”
Analyzing Spotify's financial contributions to the music industry.
“I don't want to spend the time I would need to properly maintain it when I can get 90 % of that from other tools.”
Explore how Spotify's model is financially benefiting more artists today.
“a year from Spotify alone than were getting stocked on record store shelves at the height of the CD era.”
Learn about the rising demand and pricing trends in the RAM market.
“Spotify is a great discovery tool for that sort of thing.”
Understand manufacturing shifts and their effects on RAM availability.
“That's partly due to rising demand, but also because manufacturers are pouring more resources into making DDR5 rather than DDR4.”
Stay updated with the latest tech developments and products in quick segments.
“And finally, some quick headlines that are just good to know might make you look smarter if you know this stuff.”
Delve into Google's latest Gemini features in Chrome and their implications.
“Yeah, so Google just unveiled new Gemini features for Chrome that attempt to bring more LLM and agentic functions into the browser used by 70 % of the world.”
Discover the potential and limitations of agentic browsing features in Chrome.
“How much of it is just, well, now it's in a sidebar, so it's easier to get to, which can be helpful, and how much of it is actually changing the way I'm going to use Chrome?”
Discover how Chrome's AI innovations might shift user behavior and browser dynamics.
“So if you wanted to help it construct a post for Reddit and go to this subreddit and then post this thing, it will auto-navigate and do all the things and get you there.”
Listen to personal experiences regarding age verification in relation to AI advancements.
“I know you've got your own coverage going on that digs a little deeper.”

Get the gist, explore an idea or ask about something said.
On Daily Tech News Show, what are the key points of this episode?
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.
0:03This right here is the Daily Tech News for Wednesday, January 28th, 2026. We tell you what you need to know, give you some context, and try to help each other understand. Today, Amazon ends its palm scanning service, and Google brings Gemini agentic skills to Chrome. I would say too soon, but it's been around since 2020. I'm Tom Merritt. I'm Sarah Lane. Let's start with what you need to know with the big story. So Amazon also announced layoffs affecting around 1 % of its workforce. But when your workforce is 1.5 to 1.6 million people, that's still a lot of folks, 16 ,000 folks. The affected roles are in corporate positions.
0:42So these are managers, not warehouse or retail. In a message to employees, Amazon's Beth Galetti, SVP of People, Experience and Technology, which I think is their name for HR, said this was the last phase of an ongoing effort to reduce layers and eliminate bureaucracy. They didn't promise they'll never lay off anybody again this year. But they did say this is part of an ongoing process and they're at the end of that process. Affected employees can look for a new role in the company. They'll have 90 days to do that before having to take their severance pay, which they will also get if they don't find a new role.
1:17And following on from yesterday's news that Amazon will shut down its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, company's support page also says they're shutting down Amazon One for retail on June 3rd. Amazon One was the thing that recognized your palm. So if you went into a Whole Foods, you could just scan your POM. If it was just walk out, then you could just walk out. That POM would be linked to your payment. You could then buy stuff in the store with it. There were a few other uses for it out there. Amazon says it will delete all user data, including POM scans once it ends this. However, it will continue to be available to patients for check-in at healthcare locations.
1:56So if you're part of the Amazon Healthcare, because they bought One Healthcare a while back. You'll still be able to use the Palm check-in for that, but not for buying stuff at retail. Now, I didn't actually shop regularly at an Amazon Fresh or Amazon Go store, so that didn't really affect me. The Amazon One Palm scan, though, did. I don't actually go to a Whole Foods all that often because, I don't know, there are just other grocery stores that are currently closer to me where I live now. But at my former residence, I had a really nice Whole Foods store that was close to me, and my gym was in the same shopping center.
2:34So it would be like, go to the gym, get groceries, one and done. And I think that at least at some point, this was, well, let's say 2022, Amazon was probably testing local merchants like, hey, does this work with other merchants? because my gym one day out of the blue, all of a sudden had Amazon's palm scan technology. And that's how you got in the gym, which I was like, great, I'm already set up. This is awesome. You know, and you know, the little doors open and, and you're in, I mean, it wasn't like high maximum security or anything, but, and I figure if someone was like, I refuse to use this, there was probably another way that they could, you know, authenticate themselves, but it worked great.
3:16I did have a number of folks, even at the Whole Foods store, say to me, if they're behind me in line, like, you really trust that thing? And I'm kind of like, they already know we're here. I mean, unless somebody stole your credit card before you noticed and bought a bunch of stuff and wasn't actually you, you've been tracked. We know where you are. Yeah. They had it at one of the Whole Foods near us, too. I mean, I guess they still have it until June 3rd, although they did say some stores will take it out earlier. It's a just walk out Whole Foods. So I'm guessing I'll still be able to do just walk out.
3:54I just won't be able to do the palm scan. I'll have to do the credit card tap or the app scan, which is actually the way I usually did it. I never signed up for Amazon one, so it wouldn't really affect me. But I had a friend who did, and they won't be able to do that anymore. I mean, the whole kind of, you know, simplify the process. We have a variety of ways to do this. For example, if I go to my nearest corner store, the other day I was like, I don't have my wallet. How is my wallet not in my purse? Do you guys take Apple Pay? And they were like, yeah, of course. And so I was like, okay, cool.
4:27But I mean, that requires me to pull the phone out of my purse or pull my credit card out of the purse. It's like, I feel like it's just giving more options rather than making things all that more simplified. Right. Right. And yeah, pulling your phone out of your purse is not the end of the world, but every little thing that makes life smoother, you know, builds up over time. So these are, these are nice conveniences. I I'm curious if we'll ever find out why they decided to end this at retail. I don't know if it just wasn't profitable or not enough people used it or what? Yeah. Yeah, I have to assume that there just wasn't enough adoption.
5:02I know that some people were just like, I'm not going to use that, paranoia, or you have some other reason. Yeah, yeah. So there's that. But I just thought it was like, I mean, talk about convenience. You're just like, yep, it's me. All right, cool. Too many people like that person behind you in line. Didn't trust it, I guess, and just didn't make it worth implementing. Maybe so. Well, DT &S, we trust all of you here on our show, and you make our show possible. Thanks to Chris Beneteau, Jeffrey Zilks, and Aloe, a.k.a. Adam L. Thanks, everybody. All right, there's a lot more to do today. Let's get to the briefs.
5:39Studies indicate social media harms children, and those sorts of stories get that press, but the issue is a little bit more nuanced and doesn't show a clear connection just yet. A study published in JAMA, J-A-M-A Pediatrics, followed more than 100 ,000 Australian teens for three years, found that children who used social media moderately had the highest well-being, while kids who used it either excessively or not at all had the worst outcomes. This was especially true for boys. The study found that non-users in grades 10 through 12 had significantly higher odds of low well-being compared to moderate users.
6:19The highest effect on well-being was found for girls with moderate use from middle adolescence onward. The study noted that, quote, heavy use has been associated with distress, while abstinence may cause missed connections. Another study out now from scientists at the University of Manchester, published in the Journal of Public Health, followed 25 ,000 11 to 14 year olds for three school years. That study found no connection between heavier social media use or frequent gaming and symptoms of anxiety and depression. So it depends on the kid, of course. But I think what I'm reading from this, Tom, is moderate use for the most part, you're kind of going along with the crowd.
7:05No use, you're feeling left out. Too much use, there's some anxiety going on there. Yeah, a lot of the studies that have showed harm have either been anecdotal. In other words, they're not peer-reviewed, but they get a lot of press. Or they were small use cases, or they were misreported. In a lot of cases, there was correlation, not causation that was purported. And the actual paper, if you read it yourself, was pointing out like there may be other reasons for this. And so I think it's important to pay attention to what Sarah said here. The highest positive effect was for girls with moderate use.
7:42And if you missed it, non-users had a higher odd of low well-being, especially for boys, as did extreme users. So, yes, that study found extreme use did have a correlation with low well-being, but also no use had a correlation with low well-being. And that study from the University of Manchester was like, we didn't find any connection at all. This is the kind of thing you need. You need multiple studies to build up and start to see like, okay, is it correlation? Where's the pattern really? Maybe there is not a causation. And I think jumping to banning use could have a negative effect. Now, granted, the negative effect could be feeling left out.
8:22So I guess if everyone's banned from social media use, then you may get rid of the negative effect. But are you really solving a problem there when you have another study that's saying, actually, we're not finding any indication that there is a problem. and now you're causing a lot of distress and you're causing people to try to get around the rules and all of that. It's important to not just go with whatever headline you saw, but keep an eye on all the papers to see what's actually being found in the studies as they continue to go on. These two studies aren't the last word on this. And if you read the papers, the scientists say that in these papers.
9:00Yeah. I mean, it's been a long time since I was in the age group that was being monitored, but there was no internet. at the time. So, you know, it was sort of like, I guess the only thing I can really equate this to is telephones. You know, if you don't have a telephone at home, then nobody's calling you, and you don't get to talk to your friends after school. Maybe you see them at school. But, you know, there's, yeah, there's not just sort of like, oh, I'm not popular enough, I'm feeling left out. I mean, certainly, that's just part of growing up, right? For some kids. But that whole, like some people have access to things that I don't have access to, or we all have access, but I can't really put that down.
9:43You know, that would be the extreme, you know, part of the scenario. And I think it's interesting the more studies like this come out to realize that, first of all, kids are not all the same. But being social in some capacity turns out maybe pretty good for you. Yeah. In the right situation, increased socializing can be helpful. We want you to understand what's going on when you hear crazy words out there on the internet. And if you've heard someone talking about Claudebot with a W or maybe Moltbot, we're going to explain what that means. Moltbot getting a lot of buzz among folks who tinker with agentic stuff.
10:24Moltbot is the new name for Claudebot. It was created by an Austrian developer named Peter Steinberger. He spelled it with a W, Claude, C-L-A-W-D, in honor of Claude, C-L-A-U-D-E, because he was a big fan of Anthropik's chatbot. Anthropik was not as excited about him naming it Claude, so it's now called Moltbot, M-O-L-T, bot. It has more than 44 ,200 stars on GitHub, and it is open source. This runs locally on your computer or server. Once you set it up, you control it, and you can control it by Messenger. So you can put it on a server in the cloud, you can put it on a standalone machine that you never use for anything else, and then you just talk to it over WhatsApp or Telegram or Slack or Discord or Google Chat or Signal or iMessage or Microsoft Teams.
11:14There's a lot of platforms you can configure it to work with, and then you tell it what you want it to do. It's agentic, so you can have it answer your email, manage your calendar, screen your phone calls, book your restaurant reservations, all the things you hear people talk about agents doing. But it's configured by you and under your control. And you can configure it to be proactive and reach out with briefings and reminders and alerts. And the people who are enthusiastic say, if you configure it right, it is the best agent you'll ever have. Now, you will need to subscribe to the LLMs you want to connect it to.
11:48So you'll need API access for Claude or ChatGPT or something or Gemini. If you want anything more powerful than a local model anyway, and local models just aren't quite as powerful enough to get the best use out of this. And that means API costs could rack up if you're not careful. There's also a lot of other things to be careful. You want to sandbox it. A lot of people just buy a Mac Mini and run it on a Mac Mini as a dedicated device that's sandboxed from everything else. Some people buy a virtual private server from a web host. But like any DIY project, the security implications of getting things wrong are almost endless.
12:24And of course, because it's an agent, you got to watch out for prompt injection attacks as well. So a lot of people are very enthusiastic. I heard Andrew Main talking about it on Attention Mechanism this week saying, yeah, it looks great. I don't want to spend the time I would need to properly maintain it when I can get 90 % of that from other tools. Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of with Andrew on that one. This sounds very promising. it also sounds like something that is overkill for my life. And maybe, you know, maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm like, you know, I don't, I just don't need like an agent for that many things in my life.
12:59I have most things in order, but at the same time, if I didn't have to do all the things that I do on a daily basis, how would my life change? I think I'm kind of in that camp of, okay, but so how is it going to make my life better? Yeah. Yeah. The thing is, you can do this with Atlas. And as we're going to hear Jason talk about later, you can do it now with Chrome. It's just that you can do it better if you're in control of it. But that's kind of like saying, you know, running your own web server in 1999 is better than Geocities. But a lot of people are like, yeah, Geocities was good enough for me.
13:35So it's all about how much DIY and how much risk you want to assume too. Well, Spotify announced on Wednesday it paid out$11 billion to the music industry in 2025, up$1 billion from 2024, so prices are increasing, or payouts anyway, with half the money going to independent artists and labels. Spotify alone now accounts for about 30 % of recorded music revenue. Spotify's head of music, Charlie Hellman, claims there are now more artists generating over$100 ,000 a year from Spotify alone than were getting stocked on record store shelves at the height of the CD era. Yeah. The fact that half of that money goes to independent artists and labels is interesting to me.
14:19I assume that a lot of the complaints about Spotify have to do that. It makes a lot of money as it clearly is shown by these new numbers. But I thought, well, probably a lot of that is going to the major labels and that's why people complain. It sounds like it's just there's a lot of musicians out there and not all of them get paid a lot. And the amount you get paid per stream is small. So until you hit a certain amount of streams, you're not making anything close to$100 ,000 a year. But what Spotify is trying to say is, yes, there's a long tail of musicians not making a living on Spotify. But there are more people making a living on Spotify than have ever made a living in music before.
14:55Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that is interesting to me. And for those of you out there who are like, I love independent artists. Spotify is a great discovery tool for that sort of thing. I can only imagine that an indie artist is also like, well, you know, this is the new normal that we live in. And this is a great platform for me. Because how are you going to get any recognition otherwise? And honestly, you're never going to hear from the indie artist that is doing well, right? They're just going to be talking about their music. It's the ones that don't do well that you're going to hear talking about the system.
15:31So I think that skews our perspective a little as well. uh good thing they're making a hundred thousand dollars a year because they might need it for ram uh let's move to a ram roundup of who's doing well and who's not in the world of ram and how it may affect you uh no surprise that a report from supply chain monitor ct notes that goldman sachs data indicates the cost of older ddr4 ram is now beginning to rise as people turn to it as the more affordable option to DDR5. That's partly due to rising demand, but also because manufacturers are pouring more resources into making DDR5 rather than DDR4.
16:11So you got more people wanting DDR4 and fewer people making it, so the price is going up. It's still more affordable though, if you can live with the lesser performance, just maybe not as much more affordable as you would have thought. A good sign for increased manufacturing capacity, which will be needed to increase the amount of RAM and bring the price down is that ASML, which makes equipment used by chip makers to make chips, announced its bookings for the purchase of new equipment were about double expectations and guidance for 2026 is also ahead of expectations. Now, ASML also announced it would cut 1 ,700 jobs, but those are in management to improve efficiency, very similar to what Amazon is doing.
16:51But they are selling a lot of equipment, which is good news because that means people are building more capacity to make more chips. Directly benefiting from increased RAM demand is RAM maker SK Hynix, which reported revenue jumped 66 % in Q4 over last year. For end users, Tom's Hardware reports that AMD says that its 9850X 3D CPU, one of the new CPUs that just came out, does not require high-speed DDR5, meaning you can go with the cheapest DDR5 that you can find. You don't have to go for the higher cost, high speed DDR5. And finally, Ming-Chi Kuo reporting his sources indicate Apple intends to eat the price of RAM in the next iPhone.
17:33They want to keep that price flat despite the increase in prices for RAM and storage. Well, as somebody who is eyeing another iPhone, perhaps this year, I love that story. But yeah, I don't know, the RAM stuff. It sounds like on the surface, at a very high level, it's like the companies that saw this coming some years ago and are now making strides to make sure that the RAM is either available or the cost is not prohibitive to the end consumer. Those are the companies that are doing the best. I just ask everyone to stay RAM tough. RAM tough. I haven't heard that in a while. Well, if you want honest reviews from people like us who actually buy and live with tech, and of course, you are one of those people as well, you need Live With It.
18:29Join me for a weekly look at all the tech that we have spent months living with because we needed it, or did we? Patrick Norton talks headphones. Roger Chang talks wise cameras. Was the accidental purchase of an iPhone Pro Max too big for Eileen Rivera's hands? Those are some recent episodes. We went through all of it. It's a lot of fun. Do find out with us. We have so many more reviews coming up as well. No handshake agreements with companies. We are just honest reviewers. Watch Live With It at youtube.com slash daily tech news show or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
19:08And finally, some quick headlines that are just good to know might make you look smarter if you know this stuff. New York's Fauna has introduced Sprouts, a lightweight, soft, humanoid robot designed for helping developers and schools build applications for humanoid robots in non-industrial situations, trading off functionality for safety. 9to5 Google reports that a bug report on Chromium issue tracker inadvertently leaked the new Android interface for desktop computers, Aluminum OS, showing an Android-style taskbar, the Play Store, windowed apps, split-screen multitasking, and a version of Chrome with an extension button.
19:44That'd be new for Chrome OS. Thanks to PJ Kreese and Motang, who both posted on our subreddit that the government of France announced that by 2027, all government departments are switching from using Microsoft Teams and Zoom to French-made Visio. Apple Creator Studio is out. It gives you access to Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and Mainstage for$13 a month. China has finally approved the first imports of NVIDIA's H200 chips, which were approved for sale to Chinese companies by the U.S. earlier this year, but paused by China while it evaluated whether the orders were truly necessary in all cases.
20:26Snap created a new company. It's a subsidiary of Snap called Spex. It will handle business for its consumer augmented reality glasses that they're set to launch later this year. OpenAI launched a chat GPT for science, a tool to help scientists take advantage of LLM assistance when writing papers, the way coders can use it to assist coding. And Ted Lasso is coming back this summer for a fourth season where Ted coaches the Richmond women's soccer team, and Apple published some images confirming that production is underway. Those are the essentials for today. Let's dive a little deeper into Google's announcement of its new features in Chrome.
21:04Yeah, so Google just unveiled new Gemini features for Chrome that attempt to bring more LLM and agentic functions into the browser used by 70 % of the world. So this would affect a lot of people potentially. We got a side panel that lets you access Gemini from any tab. The Nano Banana Image Tool now works on any image open in a tab without you needed to download it. Access to connected apps in the browser, letting you ask Gemini to pull info from Gmail, Calendar, YouTube, Maps, or Shopping. Integration of personal intelligence into Chrome, if you have it on, so it can remember past conversations and context and provide proactive assistance.
21:41Pro and ultra subscribers in the US get a first crack at auto-browse. That's an agent that can do research, fill in forms, check if your bills are paid, stuff like that. It won't take actions that involve purchasing or posting. Supporting Chrome for Universal Commerce Protocol, aka UCP, that can understand and interact with shopping sites. This is a standard that was developed in cooperation with stores like Etsy, Shopify, and Target. And the new Gemini and Chrome is available on Windows, Mac OS, and Chromebook plus in the US. If that all sounds interesting to you, well, Jason Howell got a sneak peek at all of this, the new Gemini and Chrome, and we got his first impressions.
22:22Jason, thanks for coming back. Sounds like Google is coming for, well, everything. But I was thinking particularly of OpenAI's Atlas, but there's also Perplexity's browser and everybody else. Comet and everything like that. Yeah. And this has been, for me, this has really been a question of when, not if. The fact that I do use Perplexity Comet on a pretty regular basis, it helps me in doing certain parts of my job. Google has had Gemini integrated into Chrome, but it's kind of been on top of it, not into it, in my opinion. And now it seems like some of the changes that they're rolling out today are more of a true integration that puts it side by side with OpenAI's version, with Perplexity's version, and others.
23:11Yeah, I think a lot of people were wondering why this hadn't happened yet, and so now it has. Give us the layout from your experience looking at it. How much of it is just, well, now it's in a sidebar, so it's easier to get to, which can be helpful, and how much of it is actually changing the way I'm going to use Chrome? Well, I mean, I think to a certain degree, it's going to be a little easier to answer once I actually get my hands on it and get to play around with it. I got to see it in action, but I didn't get to test it, even though it's rolling out today. Maybe by the time this is playing, I will have the ability to do that.
23:45But I think the sidebar integration helps it feel a little bit more combined with the experience as opposed to on top. Now, I don't know that it... Well, no, actually, I do know that it gives you extra capabilities because there's multiple parts of today's news. But having it in the sidebar from a productivity standpoint, for me, having Having the floating on top, it was always very difficult for me to kind of keep track of where the thing was and to know exactly how much it had access to. And I don't know. I'm so used to having this sidebar experience that it's nice to finally have it because that feels familiar.
24:20It's also not an extension sort of thing. It's literally baked into the Chrome browser. So essentially what this means is Chrome is quickly becoming an AI browser just like those others. And then when you're talking about capabilities, I mean, there are some really deep fundamental changes in capability of what this brings. So it's called the side panel that pulls out. But that, of course, gives you access to all of the different tabs that are open. So one of the examples that they showed, and simultaneously, by the way, but one of the examples they showed was like you're researching trips across like multiple tabs.
24:57And you've got in each of those tabs, you've got the different dates of the trips, and you want to know which of these trips matches my kid's spring break. And so you fire that off in there. And the demo that I saw, it knows the kid. It knows who your kid is. That's thanks to personal intelligence, which is another piece of news that they have announced the last couple of weeks coming into Gemini. It might even know what school your kid goes to. And so then through that sidebar, it's integrating all those tabs into the single experience to then go to the school site. It could potentially find a calendar on the site, find when spring break is, then compare that against the other tabs.
25:38And it does all this to ultimately propose to you a trip that might match best with all of that information. having it in the sidebar i don't know if i don't know if it needs to be in a sidebar versus like a little pop out but it just feels like more a part of the experience from my kind of perspective than it does when it's floating on top or in a completely different area of the os or whatever i just like it better yeah i mean that is the right story to tell me uh although it's always vacation planning and honestly i'm not sure how often people are really going to be using that but it's a good demo.
26:12Yeah, totally. My immediate reaction is always like, yeah, but how many mistakes is it going to make? How many things am I going to have to go? Well, hold on, you left out that option or you assumed this and that's not our correct assumption because I try to use as many of these as possible just to keep my finger in them. I probably end up using ChatGPT and Gemini the most and I definitely run into situations where I'm asking specifically about this kind of stuff where they get it 90 % right. And for me to rely on a tool like this, they need to get it 99.9999. You know, lots of nines. The more nines, the better.
26:48Yeah, and especially when you consider the other part of their announcement, which I was kind of alluding to there. If you heard me talking about that, you're like, oh, that sounds like an agent. That's exactly what it is. They're basically rolling out a feature called auto-browse, which is essentially agentic browsing coming to Chrome for the first time. It's going to be in preview for pro and ultra users at first. But this is essentially the ability for that agent inside of Gemini to take control of your browser. And when you're talking about trust, when you're talking about accuracy, all of these things get exponentially more important because you don't want an agent taking an action on behalf of you that's incorrect or based on false information or whatever.
27:29And they have put in some, I guess, restrictions into this. In other words, you can use it for all of the agentic actions, shopping and finding that gray jacket that I ordered at Banana Republic last year in the same size. Find me a discount code for that. And the agent can kind of go through and do that. That was one of the demos they showed. But it gets to the end. It's not allowed to check out for you. Or rather, it's not allowed to make the final purchase, push the button that says buy this. It's not allowed to post for you. So if you wanted to help it construct a post for Reddit and go to this subreddit and then post this thing, it will auto-navigate and do all the things and get you there.
28:11And you can watch the whole process while it works, but it's not going to hit the post button. So at least you have this point that is essential to finally execute the whole process to say, yes, I'm here. I put my eyes on it, and I'm saying go. Yeah. So that's something. Well, I think, you know, yes, it's going to take a while for this sort of thing to become trusted by a large number of people. But it just takes enough first early adopters being enthusiastic for it to get better and better and start to see what it's best at. I feel like everyone's wondering, well, if Google's doing this in Chrome, does that pretty much does that is that game game over for for all the other browsers?
28:54Or are we entering a world which, because Chrome now has this, people are more likely to take a look at Comet and Atlas and Via and all the others? I mean, that's a really good question. This is honestly what Google has that so many of these other players do not, which is the already massive amount of people using these products that have these things embedded into it. Like personal intelligence, all that stuff. Personal intelligence. But I mean, even just having that slide out with Gemini integrated. I think of the everyday user that isn't following this news super closely, probably isn't the person that's going to even know what perplexity is or why they should use it, let alone download, comment, and install it and then commit themselves to using it all the time.
29:38They're already using Chrome. And there it is. And suddenly they are inclined or they feel inclined in the moment to try it out. And then it comes down to, okay, well, does it do the thing that you wanted it to do well? Like it might do the thing, but did it do it well to the point to where you are pulled out of the illusion to go, oh, why did it do that? That isn't what I wanted. And so I think it's one of Google's real strengths in all this is just that people already have access to and use all of their products so deeply that having these AI features embedded into them, it puts them at a serious leg up.
30:18Yeah. Well, Jason, thank you for giving us a scoop on this. I know you've got your own coverage going on that digs a little deeper. Where can people go to find all of that? Well, we are certainly me and Jeff Jarvis, my co-host on AI Inside podcast. We're certainly talking about it today on the podcast. So AIinside.show. Fantastic. Thanks, man. Thank you. And if anybody wonders, you can turn it off. You don't have to use the sidebar. You just go into your Chrome settings and look for the AI innovation section. You can turn off stuff there because I bet that's a question somebody out there had. Well, we like to end every episode of DTNS with some shared perspectives.
30:55Today, Jay explains his own run-in with age verification. Yeah, Jay wrote, I eventually gave up and verified my age through Persona for OpenAI. I was 100 % ready to switch to Gemini, but the features and integration I need just aren't there yet, even if the model itself may be better. I'm still not happy about the trend of reducing privacy and security for the vague promise of security for the children. Dot, dot, dot. so uh i'm actually curious with the gemini integration into chrome if that makes any difference to you jay uh or if there were other things so give us an update on that um but yeah i know what you mean where sometimes you you just like okay fine okay fine i'll show you my face i'll prove i'm not a 16 year old just let me in want my palm i need groceries yes exactly well if you're like jane you have something that's on your mind based on what we talked about on the show today or what we might talk about on a future show, share it with us.
31:50Feedback at DailyTechNewsShow.com. Yes, thanks to Jason Howell for giving us that scoop. Thanks to Jay for contributing to today's show. And thank you for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You keep us in business. Become a patron at Patreon.com slash DTNS.
32:20The DTNS family of podcasts, helping each other understand. Diamond Club hopes you have enjoyed this program.
Google launches Gemini into the Chrome browser and Amazon ends Palm scanning.
Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, and Jason Howell.
Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here.
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