ICYMI: the week’s 7 biggest tech stories from AI grannies taunting scammers, and Amazon shuttering freevee
ICYMI here’s the biggest tech news stories from Amazon, Sony, O2 and more for November 16, 2024.
This week we were treated to plenty of excellent early Black Friday deals, Amazon launched a new TV, and it killed freevee.
To find out more about this and other stories you might have missed, we’ve gathered the 7 biggest tech news stories from TechRadar.com this past week so you can catch up in no time at all.
Once you’ve finished here, remember to check out our picks for the 7 new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend (November 15).
1. Black Friday deals arrived in full-force
While we’re still a couple of weeks from the big day itself, Black Friday 2024 deals are starting to appear across the internet.
The PS5 Pro got a surprise price drop, as did the Meta Quest 3S, even though they both released so recently. The Apple Watch 10 crashed to a stunning price, and we’ve seen deals across various tech sectors like savings on tablets.
As Black Friday approaches, make sure to follow our guides for help finding the best deals throughout this sales period.
Read more: Black Friday deals 2024, the 55+ best early offers chosen by experts
2. AI grannies wasted scammers time
One of the most original uses we’ve seen for AI so far has to be Daisy the AI grandma. Taking advantage of the fact that telephone scammers often target senior citizens and try to get them to enter their credit card details into bogus websites, Daisy is an AI designed to keep them on the phone for as long as possible with a neverending series of meandering stories that ultimately lead nowhere.
The object is simply to waste as much of the scammers’ time as possible because it means that’s time they are not spending trying to trap real people in their nefarious scams. Listening to Daisy get deliberately confused and send the scammers crazy by calling them “dear” all the time has to be one of the most satisfying things we’ve ever heard.
Read more: Daisy the AI grandma is here to answer calls from scammers and waste their time
3. Amazon shut down its Freevee TV service
(Image credit: Unsplash)
Amazon Freevee will soon cease to exist, and it’s all down to Prime Video’s increasingly popular ad-supported tier. News of Amazon pulling the plug on the free streaming service was first revealed in an exclusive article by Deadline on Tuesday, which detailed plans to phase out the app in “coming weeks” across the US, UK, Germany, and Austria.
To be honest, we weren’t completely surprised by this announcement. Ever since Prime Video introduced a new and cheaper ad-supported tier at the start of the year, there’s been no real point of difference between the two services, especially considering a lot of Freevee content is available on Prime Video. A full migration of its library is underway, but if you still have the app, then check out these three movies on Amazon Freevee with over 83% on Rotten Tomatoes before they go.
Read more: Amazon Freevee is being shut down
4. Amazon also made a mini-LED TV
(Image credit: Amazon)
This week, Amazon announced that it’s adding two new products to its Fire TV range: the Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED series TV and the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus. It also refreshed the Amazon Fire TV 4-series.
Amazon says the Omni Mini-LED series can deliver 1,400 nits of peak brightness and has 1,344 local dimming zones for improved backlight control over standard LED and QLED models in the Fire TV range. It’ll also feature what Amazon calls ‘Intelligent Picture Technology,’ which combines AI with the new mini-LED backlight to optimize and analyze scenes on screen and adjust color and detail.
The Amazon Omni Mini-LED and Amazon Soundbar Plus are available in the US and UK, starting at $819 / £649.99 for the 55-inch TV and $249.99 / £249.99 for the new soundbar.
Read more: Amazon unveils all-new Fire TV products, including an Omni mini-LED TV
5. Sony teased its first big camera launch of 2024
(Image credit: Sony / Future)
Sony’s camera department’s quietest year in memory could go out with a bang before 2025 kicks in, after it officially announced the A1 II will be its next mirrorless camera, with a live event set for November 19 at 9am EST / 2pm GMT (that’s November 20 at 1am AEST) when all will be revealed. Succeeding Sony’s current flagship, the Alpha A1, will be no mean task.
When it was launched in January 2021, the A1 was a true game changer, becoming the first high-resolution and high-speed camera. With 50MP photos and burst shooting up to 30fps, pros no longer needed to choose between detail and speed; they had both in one hybrid camera.
We don’t know how the A1 II will upgrade the A1 yet, but expect it to be Sony’s most powerful and versatile mirrorless camera ever.
Read more: It’s official, Sony’s next camera will be the A1 II
6. Disney Plus dropped its 2025 teaser trailer
As we approach the end of 2024, Disney Plus dropped its 2025 teaser trailer, which gave first-look footage of some of its most anticipated shows of the next year. In its line-up of new and returning titles, Disney revealed a sneak peek of its brand new Marvel shows Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart, while its new sci-fi series Alien: Earth points to an action-packed extension of the beloved movie franchise.
Alongside these new titles, returning shows that have proved to be fan favorites among subscribers were also featured. Most notably, The Bear season four sees Jeremy Allan White and Ayo Edebiri return to their roles in the comedy-drama – with the added comeback of Jamie Lee Curtis. Star Wars fans will also have Andor season two to look forward to, which is heavily speculated to recall the four years leading up to the discovery of The Death Star.
Read more: Disney Plus reveals first looks at The Bear season 4, Andor season 2, and more
7. More people dumped Twitter and joined Bluesky
(Image credit: Bluesky)
Bluesky continues to add millions of new users as people and organizations flee Twitter (now known as X) in the wake of the US election on November 5. Twitter boss Elon Musk will soon take up a newly created role in Donald Trump’s incoming government, which seems to have turned a fair few users away from the social media platform he acquired in 2022.
As a decentralized platform, Bluesky isn’t entirely controlled by any person or organization; instead, it allows users and communities to set up their own ‘instances’ of the network. It’s otherwise very similar to Twitter and began life as a spin-off of the site under the leadership of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. While Dorsey isn’t involved anymore, Bluesky has kept up its initial momentum, with a few unofficial tools now available to help Twitter users make the switch.
Read more: Bluesky is the new home for millions of disillusioned Twitter users