Latest / Connecting the Dots / Connecting the Dots - 5-13-2025

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Connecting the Dots - 5-13-2025 · Connecting the Dots

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  Today's tech news moves fast, but understanding
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  it shouldn't be hard. That's why Snarful Solutions
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  Group brings you Connecting the Dots, where we
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  break down what's happening in tech and why it
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  matters to you. Now, let's dive in with your
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  hosts. Welcome to Connecting the Dots. It is
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  Tuesday, May 13th, 2025. And we're your hosts
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  from Snarful Solutions Group, coming to you from
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  Sacramento, California. Yep. Hello, everyone.
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  It's lovely here today, really bright and sunny,
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  about 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Nice day here. Nationally,
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  though, it's a bit more varied. Looks like heavy
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  rain over in the mid -Atlantic. Oh, yeah. And
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  unfortunately, still seeing critical fire weather
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  warnings across the northern plains, upper Midwest,
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  down into Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas,
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  too. So stay safe out there, folks. Definitely
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  and just a quick look back at the markets from
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  yesterday's close Tuesday the 13th the Dow Jones
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  ended the day at four two two forty eight point
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  eight six right so today We're gonna do a deep
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  dive into well three of the biggest tech stories
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  happening right now Yeah, and kind of explore
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  how they might actually you know impact your
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  daily life exactly first up Samsung's just launched
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  the new Galaxy s25 edge Ah, yes the edge and
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  the big buzz seems to be all about the design,
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  right? Super thin incredibly thin we're typing
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  just five point eight millimeters thick Wow,
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  and it weighs only 163 grams. It's Quite a contrast
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  to some of the well heftier flagships out there
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  definitely feels like they're prioritizing that
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  slim profile But what about the actual tech inside
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  did they have to compromise? Well, it seems like
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  they've still packed quite a bit and you get
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  a nice six point seven inch Dynamic AMOLED screen.
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  Okay. It's got that adaptive refresh rate 1 to
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  120 Hertz and peak brightness is 2600 nits Pretty
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  bright. Yeah, that sounds good for outdoors and
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  the build is premium to titanium frame IP68 water
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  and dust resistant standard stuff there, right
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  and it's got the latest Gorilla Glass Ceramic
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  2 on the screen and Vicus 2 on the back comes
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  a jet black icy blue and titanium silver nice
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  color choices. What's powering it? Under the
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  hood, it's the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.
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  Elite, okay, top tier. Yeah. Paired with 12 gigs
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  of RAM, and you can choose between 256 or 512
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  gigs of storage. Pretty generous specs. And does
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  it have all the Samsung software features? Yep.
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  The full Galaxy AI suite is included, and it
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  runs one UI 7, which is based on Android 15.
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  And the updates. Samsung's been pretty good lately.
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  They're making a big promise here. Seven years
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  of software updates. Seven years, wow. Okay,
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  that's... That's really significant. It really
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  is. That kind of longevity is becoming a key
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  factor for people. Battery is 3 ,900 millina
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  with 25W wired charging. Hmm, 3 ,900. A bit smaller
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  than some, maybe, to fit that thin design. That's
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  likely the trade -off, yeah. And the camera setup
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  is also, well, interesting because of that thinness.
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  It's a vertical module. Okay. You get a huge...
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  200 megapixel main camera. 200 megapixels, wow.
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  Although reports say the sensor itself is about
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  18 % smaller than the one in the S25 Ultra. Oh,
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  okay. Another compromise for the thinness, perhaps?
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  Probably. It also has a 12 megapixel wide angle
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  and a 12 megapixel selfie camera. But here's
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  the thing, no dedicated telephoto lens. Really?
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  No optical zoom lens? How do they handle zoom
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  then? They're saying the main 200MP sensor can
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  provide a 2x optical quality zoom. So basically
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  a high resolution crop. Hmm. Okay. We'll have
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  to see how that actually performs in real life.
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  It's clear they really, really wanted that thin
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  design above all else. It seems like it. Pre
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  -orders actually start today, May 13th. Oh, right
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  now. Yep. And the phone will be available on
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  May 30th. Pricing is set at $199 US or when they're
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  in 99 UK for the 256 GB model. Okay. And $1199
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  or $1199 for the 512 GB one. And interestingly,
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  in the UK, they're offering a Galaxy Club financing
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  option. Financing, huh? Okay. You know, it's
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  funny you mentioned the focus on thinness because
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  we saw this piece on Tom's Guide that kind of
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  pushes back on that. Oh, yeah. What's their take?
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  They were actually arguing for smaller phones,
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  not just thinner ones, like bringing back something
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  compact and easy to hold. Smaller, like a...
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  They specifically mentioned the Samsung Galaxy
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  Alpha. Remember that one from like 10 years ago?
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  Vaguely, yeah. You had that metal trim, right?
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  Kind of a departure for Samsung back then. Exactly.
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  It had a 4 .7 -inch screen, which they point
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  out, without a home button and with smaller bezels,
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  could easily be a 5 -inch screen today. Right.
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  Screen real estate has changed. And it was praised
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  for being easy to hold, only 0 .26 inches thick
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  and super light, just over 4 ounces. OK, so how
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  does that compare to this new S25 Edge? Well,
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  the S25 Edge is thinner. at 0 .23 inches, but,
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  and this is the key point Tom's guide made, it's
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  significantly heavier at 5 .75 ounces. Ah, heavier.
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  So maybe thinness isn't the only factor for,
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  like, pocketability or handling. Exactly. Their
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  argument is that Alpha's overall size made it
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  much better for one -handed use, which is something
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  a lot of people miss with today's bigger phones.
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  Yeah, I can see that. trying to reach the top
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  corner of these massive screens. Right, and Tom's
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  guide kind of imagines a modern alpha, give it
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  tough glass, like Victus 2, maybe that same dual
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  camera setup as the S25 Edge, like the 200MP
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  main, and a 12MP ultra -wide. And what about
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  the battery? The original Alpha's was tiny, wasn't
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  it? It was, yeah, only 1 ,860 mAh, but they figure
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  with modern chip efficiency, you could maybe
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  fit, I don't know, around a 3 ,000 mAh battery
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  in a similar sized phone today, plus fast charging,
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  obviously. Hmm, 3 ,000 mAh. Might still be a
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  bit tight for some users, but definitely better.
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  It really makes you think, though. It does. So
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  for you listening, what's more appealing? Is
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  it that super sleek, ultra thin profile of the
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  S25 edge? Or is it the idea of a more compact,
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  maybe slightly thicker, but easier to handle
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  phone? Yeah, it's a fundamental choice in phone
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  design right now. Interesting stuff. OK, let's
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  shift gears a bit. There's some significant news
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  on the international trade front. Oh, yeah. What's
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  happening? It seems the US and China have reached
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  an agreement, a temporary one. Mind you, to lower
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  some tariffs. Really? Lowering tariffs? That
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  feels like a shift in direction. It does. The
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  reports say it's for a 90 -day period. Kind of
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  a sign of maybe easing tensions a little. Specifically,
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  the plan is for the U .S. to cut tariff on certain
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  Chinese goods pretty dramatically. That's dramatic.
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  From 145 % down to 30%. Whoa! Okay, 145 down
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  to 30. That's a huge drop. On which goods, though?
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  The details on specific goods aren't fully clear
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  yet, but it's a significant move. However, there's
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  a catch. Oh, always a catch. This deal apparently
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  doesn't apply to those low -value e -commerce
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  packages, the de minimis shipments from China
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  to the US. Ah, so things you buy directly from,
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  like AliExpress or Tmoo. Exactly. Those tariffs
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  are reportedly staying put at 120%. Okay, so
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  that's important for online shoppers, 120%. Wow.
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  Yeah. And Treasury Secretary Scott Besson commented
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  on this. He said basically both countries want
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  to avoid a full economic split, you know, that
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  decoupling people talk about. Right. But he also
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  stressed that the U .S. will still keep tariffs
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  on specific things tied to national security.
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  Think semiconductors, certain medicines, steel.
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  So it's not a blanket reduction, more targeted
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  easing perhaps. For 90 days anyway seems that
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  way and the market seemed to like the news at
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  least initially the S &P 500 was up about two
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  point six percent yesterday Okay, and the Nasdaq
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  Q composite climbed around three point five percent
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  decent bumps still below the record highs though
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  Yeah, still got some ground to make up to reach
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  those peaks, but you know positive movement We
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  saw a quote from Ziwei Zhang an economist over
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  at pinpoint asset management in Hong Kong. What
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  did he say? He viewed this 90 -day deal as quote
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  better than expected He thinks it's good for
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  both the US and Chinese economies, and importantly,
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  for global supply chains. Might calm some nerves
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  there. That makes sense. I mean, wasn't it just
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  last month in April that the US actually raised
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  tariffs on China while pausing hikes elsewhere?
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  That's right. And the US also just finalized
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  that trade deal with the UK recently. So yeah,
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  the whole global trade picture is constantly
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  shifting. So what is this temporary truce, if
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  you can call it that, mean for, you know, regular
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  people and businesses? Could we actually see
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  lower prices on some things? That's the big question,
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  isn't it? A 90 -day window is pretty short in
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  the grand scheme of supply chains and pricing.
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  It might take time for any reductions to filter
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  down if they do it all. True. But it certainly
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  raises questions about the longer -term direction
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  of this trade relationship. Is this a temporary
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  blip or the start of a more stable phase? We'll
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  have to wait and see. Definitely one to watch.
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  Okay, for our third story, let's talk about something
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  a bit lighter music streaming. Spotify's made
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  some changes. That's right. They've updated their
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  AI DJ feature. This is for the premium subscribers.
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  The AI DJ. I remember when that launched, the
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  AI voice that picks music for you. Exactly. The
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  big update now is that you can use English voice
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  commands to customize what it plays. Oh, interesting.
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  So you can talk to it, like ask for specific
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  artists or genres? Yeah. Or even ask for a certain
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  mood, apparently, like play some upbeat pop or
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  find chill electronic music. Huh. That makes
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  it much more interactive than just letting the
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  algorithm guess. Definitely more user control.
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  And they've rolled out a few other things for
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  premium users, too. The cue feature has been
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  revamped. The cue? What's new there? Easier access
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  to controls like shuffle, smart shuffle, repeat,
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  the sleep timer. And it now suggests songs to
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  play after your cue runs out. if you want. OK,
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  some quality of life improvements. Yeah, and
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  there's a more powerful hide button now. If you
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  hide a song, it gets removed across all your
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  devices and playlists, not just in that one spot.
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  Oh, that's actually useful. Sometimes songs just
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  follow you around. Tell me about it. And they're
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  testing something called a 30 -day snooze feature,
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  which would just temporarily hide a song from
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  your recommendations for a month. Hmm. Interesting.
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  Like you're tired of it now but might want it
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  back later. Exactly. But it's not just premium
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  users getting updates. Oh. What about for everyone
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  else? All users should see new tools at the top
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  of their playlists, buttons for add, sort, and
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  edit, making it easier to manage them. That sounds
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  handy. Playlist management can be a bit fiddly
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  sometimes. Totally. And in some countries, including
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  the U .S., you can now turn your... liked songs
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  collection directly into its own playlist. Oh,
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  finally. People have wanted that for ages. Right.
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  Plus, on mobile, there's a new create button,
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  like a plus sign, for quickly starting playlists,
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  doing collaborative blends, or for premium users,
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  jumping into a jam session or using the AI playlist
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  generator. So lots of little tweaks focused on
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  usability and control. But going back to that
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  AI DJ voice command update, it's interesting
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  how they keep pushing that feature. Yeah, they
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  initially pitched it as this personalized AI
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  guide that really knows your taste, almost like
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  a personal radio host. Which sounds cool in theory,
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  but you know, we also saw that article on T3
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  where the writer really did not like the AI DJ.
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  Oh, right. What was their main issue? They just
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  found the voice and the whole delivery kind of
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  grating, I think, compared it unfavorably to
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  actual human radio DJs. Ah, the uncanny valley
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  of AI voices, perhaps. Maybe. And they even mentioned
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  being a bit worried about how it might influence
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  their kids' music tastes or something. It was
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  a pretty strong reaction against it. It just
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  shows, doesn't it? People have very different
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  reactions to AI stepping into these creative
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  or curated roles. Some love the personalization.
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  And others really miss the human element or just
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  find the AI version kind of, well, annoying.
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  Exactly. So it poses a good question for you
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  listening. Yeah. Have you actually tried the
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  Spotify AI DJ? What do you think? Yeah. Are you
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  using these AI music recommendation tools? And
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  how do you feel about AI voices in general for
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  this kind of thing? Is it better or worse than
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  traditional radio or just different? It's definitely
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  part of that bigger conversation about AI's place.
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  in our entertainment and daily lives. For sure.
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  Well, that wraps up our main stories for this
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  deep dive. Yeah. So just to quickly recap, we
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  talked about the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge,
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  focusing on that super thin design and the counter
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  argument for smaller, more hand -friendly phones.
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  Right. Then we looked at that surprising temporary
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  deal between the US and China to lower some tariffs
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  and what that might signal for trade and potentially
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  for prices Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. And finally the
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  updates to Spotify Especially giving the AI DJ
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  voice commands and the mixed feelings people
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  seem to have about AI music curation And you
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  can see how all these things the phones we carry
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  global economics how we listen to music They
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  all connect and potentially change how we experience
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  technology day to day. Absolutely Which leads
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  us to maybe a final thought for you to chew on.
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  As phones keep getting thinner, like the S25
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  Edge, are we okay with the potential trade -offs?
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  Like maybe slightly smaller batteries or different
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  camera systems? And on the trade front, how might
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  these ongoing shifts and temporary agreements
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  between major players like the US and China ultimately
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  impact the cost and availability of the tech
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  products you use every single day? Lots to think
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  about. Indeed. Well, thanks for joining us. We
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  are here to help here at Snarful, so reach out
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  on our website if you have any more questions.
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  That's a wrap on today's top stories. Remember,
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  tech doesn't have to be complicated, and we're
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  here to help connect the dots. If you've got
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  questions or want to learn more, visit us at
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  snarful .com. Thanks for listening, and we'll
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  catch you next time.