S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: September the 5th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us wherever you're listening, perhaps through Vision Australia Radio,
S1: associated Stations of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network,
S1: there is also the podcast. If you haven't caught up
S1: with that yet, all you need to do is search
S1: for the two words. Talking tech and Downer can all
S1: come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced.
S1: Another option is to ask a Siri device or smart
S1: speaker to play Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech Podcast. Vision
S1: Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast. With me someone who can
S1: explain all this stuff really well. Vision Australia's National Advisor
S1: on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. David, let's reach out a
S1: little bit and start today talking about the Deep Space Network.
S2: This is actually really fascinating because we take sort of
S2: space in some ways for granted, but when you think
S2: about some of the stuff that we've been using for
S2: quite a long time, you start to wonder about where
S2: things are going to be going in the future, because
S2: at the moment the Deep Space Network comprises three locations.
S2: You've got California in the US, you've got Spain, and
S2: then of course you've got Australia. They currently handle about
S2: 40 missions at the moment and that includes the Artemis
S2: Space Mission to the moon. It also includes all the
S2: other deep space missions, such as the Voyager staff going
S2: out into the the universe. Most of this stuff has
S2: been upgraded with the antennas and so on. You know,
S2: since I think the first one came online in California,
S2: I think in 1966, and we all know about the
S2: Apollo mission and how Australia helped with that 1 in 1969.
S2: I want to say, Stephen, that's right. But they were
S2: saying that in the future there's going to be another
S2: 40 missions on top of the existing 40 which will
S2: still be going. And not only do we send rockets
S2: with people in them and voyages out to the universe,
S2: but we also have these hundreds and thousands probably by
S2: the time it happens in the future, satellites orbiting around
S2: the world, which all need to be tracked when they
S2: get launched. So even the Artemis one mission, I think
S2: it deployed ten cube satellites, which are tiny little satellites.
S2: And I just thought we sort of just really take
S2: this stuff for granted. So I'm going to be interested
S2: to see over the next maybe 3 to 5 going
S2: ten years and more into the future how NASA and
S2: also around the world or the science agency start to
S2: manage all this local space stuff, I want to say
S2: around the earth, then, of course, around the moon. And
S2: then we've got the Mars rover on Mars, the deep
S2: space missions and goodness knows what else. So it's almost like,
S2: you know, the house you built, the three bedroom house
S2: you built back in the 19 6660s, even though it's
S2: been upgraded, maybe you need to move and buy a
S2: bigger house. Yes, there's.
S1: A bit of a traffic problem up there and we
S1: need a good tracking network to to keep on top
S1: of it all. I nearly said to keep track of
S1: it all. But now another thing is space. We hear
S1: more and more about them, and I'm going to be
S1: sending some more satellites of interest up there.
S2: Yes. So apparently this article is to do with I
S2: think it's 2025. So it's where basically SpaceX so via
S2: their rocket is going to put more satellites. Speaking of
S2: satellites into orbit specifically for the emergency SOS system that
S2: Apple users and you know, we've already heard about other
S2: manufacturers doing more work with satellites, including Google and so on.
S2: But hopefully if they start putting these type of satellites
S2: and communication communication satellites into orbit, I'm hoping that beyond
S2: SMS messages to emergency services, we sort of maybe start
S2: having more text messages involved, being able to send people
S2: via text messages if you're out in the back of
S2: his house, Australians like to say whoop up somewhere or even,
S2: dare I say it, proper data communication to your Internet provider,
S2: sending an email and perhaps even accessing the internet correctly.
S2: Because I think sometimes we forget that beyond your cellular
S2: network and beyond your wi fi little Wi-Fi network at home,
S2: we still actually have a lot of satellite communication type stuff.
S2: So you can actually get a satellite phone to use.
S2: You can also get a satellite hotspot. And just like
S2: a normal hotspot you'd have on your phone, these hotspots
S2: can share to other Internet enabled devices like your smartphone
S2: and your laptop and that sort of stuff. So again,
S2: it's one of those things. It's sort of like sight
S2: unseen and we've got all these satellites whizzing around the earth,
S2: but I don't think we realize how much we actually
S2: use these things. So that's another thing besides the deep.
S2: Space stuff and the satellites in general. I want to
S2: really see how all this satellite communication stuff really impacts
S2: our lives in the coming years because I think we're
S2: just going to get to the stage where we will
S2: be able to communicate almost with anything in the next
S2: five years or so.
S1: Of course, already a lot of people in regional Australia
S1: are using satellite technology for their TV. Well even in
S1: metropolitan areas with pay television services, Foxtel and of course
S1: for their broadband internet, they're using the satellite technology. So
S1: it continues to be very important and it's grown a
S1: long way since Alan Shepard first went into space. Let's
S1: talk now batteries and what are Nissan up to?
S2: This was another interesting talk that I'm really interested in.
S2: And we're talking about the Nissan Leaf, which is the
S2: electric vehicle from Nissan. And I've always wondered what happens
S2: to all the batteries that make up the whole system
S2: in an electric car. And what Nissan is going to
S2: be doing is they're going to be repurposing those batteries
S2: instead of two major ways. One, of course, they're going
S2: to be recycling them if they're not good enough to
S2: be used for this second purpose. And the second purpose
S2: is as a power battery source that you may be
S2: able to use in your home when you're 240 volt
S2: power goes out on the main grid. You can switch
S2: over to your backup battery and you can still use
S2: things like your fridge, your washing machine, your air conditioner
S2: and that sort of stuff. What happened to us, I
S2: want to say about two years ago now, when the
S2: bushfires were particularly here in New South Wales, we actually
S2: lost power for five days straight. So we had food
S2: going off in the fridge and no hot water and
S2: this and that. The other thing, and I just think
S2: battery backup sources are very expensive. I mean you're talking
S2: from anything from $7,000 minimum up to $18,000. And I
S2: thought with places like, you know, the Nissan car maker Tesla,
S2: which I know already has a battery called the battery wall.
S2: I just hope these sort of prices come down and
S2: you won't have to look for special subsidies to put,
S2: you know, either solar or solar and batteries into your house. So, again,
S2: I'm going to be watching, along with SpaceX, satellites and
S2: communication on Earth with batteries, because, again, remember, all our
S2: electricity prices are going up. So I think more and
S2: more people are going to start looking at battery systems
S2: to use particularly the sunlight, to give you a bit
S2: more power at home. And you won't have to use
S2: the grid all the time.
S1: What are Anker up to?
S2: So what Anchor is doing is they've brought out two batteries,
S2: one that's coming next year and one that's already out already.
S2: And this is primarily in the United States. So you
S2: go out into the countryside and you can use your
S2: power bank, which is extremely big, by the way, to,
S2: you know, charge your your cooking charger lighting, run your
S2: TV off, your laptop, everything else. But what they're also
S2: bringing out next year is what they call a portable
S2: stackable power source. So what you can do is you
S2: can have one battery and I can't remember how many
S2: watts it had, but it's a decent wattage. They said
S2: to run again, an air conditioner, a washing machine, a
S2: fridge and so on. But what they're also enabling you
S2: to do is to stack another five batteries with the
S2: initial one without having to do any major electricity work
S2: to build up your battery bank, if you like, at home.
S2: So if that stuff comes to Australia, then I think
S2: it's going to be really interesting for people that can't
S2: get these subsidies to look at having a battery backup
S2: at home. So again, that's what I'll be looking at
S2: hopefully in the next couple of years or so.
S1: Let's talk now about the Microsoft navigation app soundscape, which
S1: was dropped, I think, at the end of June springing
S1: up from that and based on soundscape was Voice Vista.
S1: That's still going strongly, but soundscape has been revived by
S1: a third party.
S2: Now I'm a bit confused. I didn't spend too much
S2: time looking at the developer, but it actually says the
S2: Scottish Tech Army and I'm assuming the Scottish Tech Army
S2: is not the Scottish Army, but yes, it's the full
S2: blown soundscape. So the soundscape you loved from Microsoft, which
S2: became open source in January and was, as you said,
S2: discontinued in June, that's now back on board. Just one warning, though,
S2: if you have your beloved soundscape still working and you
S2: install the new one, it will overwrite the old one,
S2: which means, like me, if you had your 75 points
S2: of interest or markers in the app, it'll wipe them
S2: all out.
S1: Yeah. Good one. To keep in mind the annual Apple
S1: event where the new iPhones and other things are announced.
S1: We now know when it's going to be.
S2: That's right. So it's on September 12th US time, which
S2: means the 30th. Our time frame in the morning and
S2: it's called wanderlust. So I have completely no idea what
S2: that's in reference to, but we'll see what happens. And
S2: of course, it's going to be the iPhone, which will
S2: probably have Usbc. Who knows. Some people have said the
S2: new AirPods and of course, the updated Apple Watch. So
S2: let's see what happens. And probably next week Steve will
S2: talk a little bit more about some stuff that can
S2: set you up for the the time when we talk
S2: about on the show after next week.
S1: Yes, well, a little bit convoluted, but we can give
S1: you an idea next week when you can hear about
S1: it before we talk about it the following week. What
S1: we do know, though, is that iOS 17 will be compatible,
S1: as is the usual case, with quite a number of
S1: Apple devices going downwards. But it does stop.
S2: That's right. So effectively it's going to be any iPhone
S2: after 2017, which effectively means that everything above the iPhone ten,
S2: so not the iPhone ten, but the iPhone ten S
S2: and so on. And as far as the eye pads
S2: are concerned, roughly the same thing. But if you've got
S2: an original iPad Pro and so on, they definitely won't work.
S2: But if you've got an iPad Pro 11, that will
S2: be okay. So I've got a link in the show
S2: notes for both of those types of things, iPhone and iPad,
S2: just so that you can double check.
S1: One thing I wanted to talk to you about is
S1: that you have a pretty active X feed, so I
S1: didn't even say Twitter. People might like to follow that
S1: because it can point you to some quite interesting stories.
S2: I spend a lot of time every day going through
S2: a lot of social media stuff that I send out
S2: to the x feed and to the mastodon feed as well.
S2: So if you want to follow me in that, if
S2: you just search for David Woodbridge, you'll definitely be able
S2: to find me. I think I must have in my
S2: list at least every week around about 40 to 50 stories.
S1: And talking of events, as we mentioned, the Apple event,
S1: there's an Amazon event coming up soon.
S2: On September 20th, which of course is going to be
S2: in the US. So 21 hour time and I'm looking
S2: forward to this one because I want to see what
S2: Amazon is eventually going to do with the Echo, you know,
S2: whether our good old lady is going to turn into
S2: a proper AI rather than a personal assistant. So I
S2: really don't care about the hardware. I want to see
S2: what they're going to be doing with the software.
S1: We're not going to lose. The thing that we can
S1: speak to, though. You don't think?
S2: No, no, no. I think I think a lady will
S2: transform herself into a large language model with access to
S2: the Internet. So I think we'll get the best of
S2: both personal assistant and AI as well.
S1: What about the Google devices?
S2: Look, I think the same thing is going to happen
S2: with Google when we've got barred from Google as well.
S2: And I think we're going to see those transforming. The
S2: only one that's not talking about it is Apple. But
S2: Siri is doing a lot of AI things in the background.
S2: It's just that Apple doesn't talk about them as being AI.
S2: So I wouldn't be surprised in the next 12 months,
S2: our personal assistants won't be personal sense anymore. They'll be
S2: AI systems that we just use the way we used
S2: to use our personal assistants and a lot more.
S1: And of course as that smart wearable device vision pro
S1: that Apple's going to be presenting to us in the
S1: next year or so, I'm sure there will be a
S1: fair bit of AI in that.
S2: Absolutely. Particularly for object recognition and distancing and all that
S2: sort of stuff. So no, I think it's going to
S2: be very interesting with this type of stuff, particularly over
S2: the next 2 or 3 years. There will be, particularly
S2: when you talk about augmented reality, virtual reality, and then
S2: of course your layering or the accessibility stuff on top
S2: of that, which also includes artificial intelligence. So good times ahead,
S2: I think.
S1: Now just before we go, a reminder of where people
S1: can find details of what we've been talking about in
S1: this and the previous editions of the program.
S2: As always, you can check out my blog site, which
S2: is David would be dot podbean pad and.
S1: David would be art dot podbean podbean.com. To write to
S1: the program.
S2: You can write to me at Vision Israel, where I work,
S2: which is David Dot Woodbridge. How it sounds at Vision Australia.
S1: Org David Dot Woodbridge at Vision australia.org. This has been
S1: talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's National Advisor
S1: on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care.
S1: We'll talk more tech next week. See you.