WEBVTT - Talking Tech 3rd October 2023 0:00:36.192 --> 0:00:40.122 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:40.122 --> 0:00:44.082 October the 3rd, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have 0:00:44.082 --> 0:00:47.802 you with us. Listening maybe through Virgin Australia radio associated 0:00:47.802 --> 0:00:52.152 Stations of Australia or perhaps the Community Radio Network, there 0:00:52.152 --> 0:00:54.792 is also the podcast. If you haven't caught up with 0:00:54.792 --> 0:00:56.652 that yet, all you need to do is search for 0:00:56.652 --> 0:00:59.352 the two words talking tech and Dan It can all 0:00:59.352 --> 0:01:02.592 come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. 0:01:02.592 --> 0:01:05.892 Another option is to ask your Siri device or smart 0:01:05.892 --> 0:01:11.112 speaker to play Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech Podcast. Vision 0:01:11.112 --> 0:01:15.912 Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast. With me someone who can 0:01:15.912 --> 0:01:19.512 explain all this tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's National 0:01:19.512 --> 0:01:25.062 Advisor on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. David, let's start with 0:01:25.062 --> 0:01:28.482 the big news in the disability world. Last week that 0:01:28.482 --> 0:01:33.762 the report of the Royal Commission into Violence, abuse, neglect 0:01:33.762 --> 0:01:38.742 and exploitation of people with disabilities, that report was released 0:01:38.742 --> 0:01:42.702 and it's available and it's quite easy to access, isn't it? 0:01:42.882 --> 0:01:44.802 Mark It is indeed. And the fact that it's in 0:01:44.802 --> 0:01:49.992 various formats, which I think is absolutely fantastic, mind you, 0:01:49.992 --> 0:01:53.262 because it is a report about people with disability, you'd 0:01:53.262 --> 0:01:55.812 want to make sure it was accessible. But I think 0:01:55.812 --> 0:01:58.542 we're coming to the stage, Stephen, where I don't think 0:01:58.722 --> 0:02:03.702 stuff being inaccessible format these days is a strange thing. 0:02:03.702 --> 0:02:07.092 I think most of the things coming out, these are accessible. 0:02:07.332 --> 0:02:09.672 Certainly government stuff is Exactly. 0:02:09.672 --> 0:02:11.922 That's right. So I think it's nice that these days 0:02:11.922 --> 0:02:14.352 we can get the same amount of access to content 0:02:14.352 --> 0:02:18.252 than everybody else does. So I'm definitely looking forward to 0:02:18.252 --> 0:02:20.502 reading it. I think as you said before, we went 0:02:20.502 --> 0:02:23.592 on here today to read the executive summary, which is 0:02:23.592 --> 0:02:26.712 also quite large because it's 12 volumes. I can remember 0:02:26.712 --> 0:02:29.592 somebody in the media saying it's for people that remember 0:02:29.592 --> 0:02:33.222 the huge telephone books of yesteryear. It's about the size 0:02:33.222 --> 0:02:37.302 or thickness of an old fashioned telephone book. So if 0:02:37.302 --> 0:02:39.732 you want a very good read, start for the executive 0:02:39.732 --> 0:02:42.372 summary and see how you go. But again, the fact 0:02:42.372 --> 0:02:44.262 that it's accessible is fantastic. 0:02:44.262 --> 0:02:47.292 Yep. That's where you'll see the overview of the report 0:02:47.292 --> 0:02:49.212 with the recommendations in that volume. 0:02:49.362 --> 0:02:49.962 Exactly. 0:02:50.322 --> 0:02:55.452 Be my eyes, the AI aspect of it, artificial intelligence, 0:02:55.452 --> 0:03:01.182 the virtual assistant that's now gone into the public beta stage. 0:03:01.602 --> 0:03:04.302 That's right. And when we say public beta stage, what 0:03:04.302 --> 0:03:09.822 they're doing is rather than making the whole thing public 0:03:09.822 --> 0:03:14.022 beta at once, which you can imagine would probably put 0:03:14.022 --> 0:03:18.612 a huge amount of strain on their service, they're sort 0:03:18.612 --> 0:03:22.872 of releasing it at about 10% of the user base. 0:03:23.142 --> 0:03:25.812 I think it's once a week, they said. So it'll 0:03:25.812 --> 0:03:30.222 take several weeks for everybody to get the quote, public 0:03:30.222 --> 0:03:33.882 beta so you won't have to subscribe to anything. It'll 0:03:33.882 --> 0:03:37.572 just come up and be live and, or like I 0:03:37.572 --> 0:03:40.332 did when I subscribed to the private beta, you'll probably 0:03:40.332 --> 0:03:43.002 get an email saying when you go into the app 0:03:43.002 --> 0:03:46.032 it'll be live. But it's basically the feature where you 0:03:46.032 --> 0:03:49.032 take a photo of something and then you can find 0:03:49.032 --> 0:03:53.622 out in great detail what the photo or the image 0:03:53.622 --> 0:03:56.472 is that you've just taken with the camera and explore it. 0:03:56.472 --> 0:04:00.192 And for those that haven't experienced it, it's absolutely amazing. 0:04:00.192 --> 0:04:04.722 I've taken photos of my backyard. I've taking photos of parks, 0:04:04.722 --> 0:04:07.512 I've taken photos of my son's school, and just the 0:04:07.512 --> 0:04:11.232 amount of detail that came out with the AI interpreting 0:04:11.232 --> 0:04:15.702 the photo was amazing. So enjoy that. Keep checking in 0:04:15.702 --> 0:04:19.182 maybe once a week and sooner than later. You'll definitely 0:04:19.182 --> 0:04:21.462 get access to it. But it's no longer in private, 0:04:21.462 --> 0:04:24.642 it's in public beta. But like I said, they're rolling 0:04:24.642 --> 0:04:26.052 out over the next couple of weeks. 0:04:26.322 --> 0:04:30.492 If you're a little bit nervous about taking photos, it 0:04:30.492 --> 0:04:34.272 will help you with that process. But also I actually 0:04:34.272 --> 0:04:38.532 have in my device my phone lots of photos that 0:04:38.532 --> 0:04:42.732 have been taken over the years. Also, there are lots 0:04:42.732 --> 0:04:45.582 of photos in Facebook that one can access. It's very 0:04:45.582 --> 0:04:49.242 easy to share those and have been my I tell 0:04:49.242 --> 0:04:51.852 you about them. So it's not just photos that you've 0:04:51.852 --> 0:04:54.402 taken yourself, but it's others that you have access to. 0:04:54.432 --> 0:04:55.302 It's terrific. 0:04:55.312 --> 0:04:58.062 True. That's a good point. And I remember individualism too, 0:04:58.062 --> 0:05:01.662 over the weekend where a lady said she'd had a 0:05:01.662 --> 0:05:06.312 photo taken of some artwork that was done on her 0:05:06.312 --> 0:05:09.072 by her brother a while ago, and she was able 0:05:09.072 --> 0:05:13.152 to actually have a look at the photo, so to speak, 0:05:13.152 --> 0:05:15.972 and it was able to describe it in full detail. 0:05:15.972 --> 0:05:19.092 So you're right. It's not just, you know, your own 0:05:19.092 --> 0:05:20.652 photos that you're taking at the time. It's all the 0:05:20.652 --> 0:05:22.932 past one. So enjoy, I think. 0:05:23.052 --> 0:05:27.942 Yeah, very true. The new iPhones are out. Have you 0:05:27.942 --> 0:05:31.682 had access to an iPhone pro yet, The 15 million? 0:05:31.722 --> 0:05:35.682 No, I haven't. But apparently one of the existing issues. 0:05:35.752 --> 0:05:39.772 Is with the the phone is that for some apps 0:05:39.772 --> 0:05:44.002 it's obviously what they call clocking the CPU or the 0:05:44.002 --> 0:05:47.632 processor too fast. And of course once you start doing 0:05:47.632 --> 0:05:53.512 that with software using the the chips to fast, you 0:05:53.512 --> 0:05:56.212 generate heat. And of course, some people have been actually 0:05:56.212 --> 0:05:59.422 saying that some of their iPhone 15 and 15 pros, 0:05:59.422 --> 0:06:03.142 I'm assuming as well, have been overheating. And Apple says 0:06:03.142 --> 0:06:05.902 it's not due to the fact that they're using titanium. 0:06:05.902 --> 0:06:09.232 It's due to the fact that the software or the 0:06:09.232 --> 0:06:11.842 apps that are running are taking advantage of, I guess, 0:06:11.842 --> 0:06:15.292 the extra speed in the processor. So there'll be another 0:06:15.292 --> 0:06:19.282 bugfix coming out from Apple to fix that issue. So 0:06:19.792 --> 0:06:22.642 I'm assuming it's ever going to be changes with the 0:06:22.642 --> 0:06:25.492 the library routines, the apps you accessing or something else. 0:06:25.492 --> 0:06:28.732 But yeah, don't be worried. Your hardware is not overheating. 0:06:28.732 --> 0:06:30.802 It's the software that's making it overheating. 0:06:30.802 --> 0:06:33.892 Yeah. Watch out for those little updates to iOS 17. 0:06:33.892 --> 0:06:36.292 They'll be coming thick and fast for the next little while. 0:06:36.292 --> 0:06:39.502 Probably you're having an irritation that you're not getting the 0:06:39.502 --> 0:06:41.092 warning about. Low battery. 0:06:41.542 --> 0:06:44.692 No. And look, I don't know. This is I think 0:06:44.692 --> 0:06:46.462 it's been happening for a while that I've just I've 0:06:46.462 --> 0:06:49.282 just been ignored and getting grumpy. So what it is 0:06:49.282 --> 0:06:51.232 remember in the old days, I can't remember how long 0:06:51.232 --> 0:06:53.242 this was ago now, but I used to get a 0:06:53.242 --> 0:06:56.812 warning when my battery was at 20% and at 10%, 0:06:56.812 --> 0:06:59.842 you know, go and plug in your power. Well, I'm 0:06:59.842 --> 0:07:03.172 sure I'm right in thinking over the last maybe. Jeez, 0:07:03.202 --> 0:07:06.742 I want to say six months. I haven't been receiving 0:07:06.742 --> 0:07:08.662 that warning. Now, when you're like me and you're in 0:07:08.662 --> 0:07:10.162 bed at night time having a bit of a sleep 0:07:10.162 --> 0:07:14.182 or going to sleep, I listen to an audiobook and 0:07:14.182 --> 0:07:16.222 the only reason why now, when my battery goes flat, 0:07:16.222 --> 0:07:18.082 is because my book stops and then of course wakes 0:07:18.082 --> 0:07:21.952 me up. So there was apparently a fix that that recommended, 0:07:21.952 --> 0:07:24.382 I think it was on Apple vs where you could 0:07:24.382 --> 0:07:28.372 go into your verbosity settings for voiceover and change your 0:07:28.372 --> 0:07:32.392 system notifications to speak. So I did that and it 0:07:32.392 --> 0:07:35.032 hasn't made any difference at all. So I've been writing 0:07:35.032 --> 0:07:39.082 to find out if other people have been getting that 20% 0:07:39.082 --> 0:07:44.242 or 10% battery warning and if they have, that's fantastic. 0:07:44.242 --> 0:07:46.252 Let me know. And if they haven't, I wonder if 0:07:46.252 --> 0:07:49.162 there's actually a workaround because I'm one of these very 0:07:49.162 --> 0:07:51.892 naughty people that I tend to use. Use my iPhone 0:07:51.892 --> 0:07:54.232 until it practically dies and then I plug in my power. 0:07:55.032 --> 0:07:59.232 Now, what about the Apple Watch and the new operating system, 0:07:59.232 --> 0:08:01.242 the Apple watchOS ten? 0:08:01.872 --> 0:08:04.722 This one actually surprised me a little bit. I get 0:08:04.722 --> 0:08:07.152 the feeling saying that we're spending about this show so 0:08:07.152 --> 0:08:10.812 far talking about things that Apple hasn't done properly. And 0:08:10.812 --> 0:08:12.732 this is sort of another one that Apple hasn't done 0:08:12.732 --> 0:08:16.302 really properly either. And that's the fact that remember when 0:08:16.302 --> 0:08:19.722 the the watchOS ten was announced in Series nine and 0:08:19.722 --> 0:08:22.572 the ultra two watch were announced, they were talking about 0:08:22.572 --> 0:08:24.852 the double tap or double pinch. And that's where you 0:08:24.852 --> 0:08:28.332 put your index finger and thumb together and you tap 0:08:28.332 --> 0:08:31.302 them twice or pinch them twice. And that's to do 0:08:31.302 --> 0:08:34.572 things like play music or answer and hang up a 0:08:34.572 --> 0:08:37.272 phone call. Now, I thought when it was announced it 0:08:37.272 --> 0:08:40.212 was ready to go, but it wasn't. So it's only 0:08:40.212 --> 0:08:44.802 at the moment in the current public beta of 10.1 0:08:44.802 --> 0:08:48.012 for the Apple Watch that it's actually available. Now. Remember, 0:08:48.012 --> 0:08:51.342 this is only available on the Series nine and Ultra two, 0:08:51.822 --> 0:08:55.062 but it just reminds me of again today that it's 0:08:55.062 --> 0:08:59.442 almost sounds like in a way, software wise, Apple wasn't 0:08:59.442 --> 0:09:03.282 ready to go with the software. So I don't know 0:09:03.282 --> 0:09:06.402 what's happening in Apple land, but they seem to be 0:09:06.402 --> 0:09:08.232 losing the plot slightly lately. 0:09:08.712 --> 0:09:11.082 The weather complication on the watch. 0:09:11.412 --> 0:09:14.712 Yep, that's another one that hasn't been happening. So for 0:09:14.712 --> 0:09:18.852 some people, apparently when you go into the weather complication 0:09:18.852 --> 0:09:22.242 on your watch face rather than having like conditions and 0:09:22.242 --> 0:09:25.302 rainfall and that sort of stuff, it has dash dash, 0:09:25.302 --> 0:09:28.362 which means there's no content there. And apparently the fix 0:09:28.362 --> 0:09:32.502 from Apple was to go in and change your location 0:09:32.652 --> 0:09:34.302 to turn it on and turn it back off again 0:09:34.302 --> 0:09:38.262 on the watch or your iPhone. And the other recommendation, 0:09:38.262 --> 0:09:41.262 which was put forward by Macrumors was to change your 0:09:41.262 --> 0:09:44.532 clock from 12 to 24 hour time and back again. 0:09:44.532 --> 0:09:47.112 That was also supposed to fix it. Other people are 0:09:47.112 --> 0:09:51.672 still saying it's wrong, so keep having a look at 0:09:51.672 --> 0:09:55.752 to see if you are having troubles with your watch. Complication. 0:09:56.142 --> 0:09:58.032 Have a look at the link in the show notes. 0:09:58.152 --> 0:10:01.062 Try the things I just suggested. But at the moment 0:10:01.062 --> 0:10:03.852 they're sort of more this is what we think is 0:10:03.852 --> 0:10:06.762 causing the problem. So see what happens. But the weather 0:10:06.762 --> 0:10:09.882 app itself is working fine. It's just the weather complication. 0:10:10.602 --> 0:10:12.582 Meter, the meter connect event. 0:10:13.382 --> 0:10:14.432 So they had this big. 0:10:14.432 --> 0:10:18.572 Announcement last week about the the new glasses, the new 0:10:18.572 --> 0:10:22.382 smart glasses from Meta, which is Facebook, if you like. 0:10:22.502 --> 0:10:25.262 The other announcement, which we may need to keep a 0:10:25.262 --> 0:10:27.062 bit of an eye on the next 12 months or 0:10:27.062 --> 0:10:32.672 so or sooner is the Ray-Ban smart glasses, which looks 0:10:32.672 --> 0:10:36.032 fairly interesting because you can you can stream audio to 0:10:36.032 --> 0:10:39.872 your Facebook page and other services that people can see 0:10:39.872 --> 0:10:42.632 what you're looking at. So the question is, well, could 0:10:42.632 --> 0:10:45.902 you use this like a video system where somebody could 0:10:45.902 --> 0:10:48.362 help you if you needed help? So I don't know 0:10:48.362 --> 0:10:50.702 how accessible this is or anything else about at the moment, 0:10:50.702 --> 0:10:52.652 but I think it's one of these things as of 0:10:52.652 --> 0:10:56.072 all the stuff coming out of Ara, AR and VR 0:10:56.192 --> 0:10:57.902 that we just need to keep track of over the 0:10:57.902 --> 0:10:59.462 next 6 to 12 months. 0:11:00.002 --> 0:11:01.892 Here's chat. GPT going. 0:11:02.402 --> 0:11:05.762 Chat. GPT is feeling a lot better because apparently there 0:11:05.762 --> 0:11:08.162 were some issues with it. They I remember the story 0:11:08.162 --> 0:11:13.982 was that it would only access a database up to 2021. Well, 0:11:13.982 --> 0:11:16.202 then it started accessing the internet and then they took 0:11:16.202 --> 0:11:18.002 it off again and now they've put it back on again. 0:11:18.002 --> 0:11:23.642 So now when you access ChatGPT, particularly via Bing, then 0:11:23.642 --> 0:11:26.642 you'll have direct access to the internet so you can 0:11:26.642 --> 0:11:30.482 ask real time questions rather than sort of historical ones. 0:11:30.482 --> 0:11:32.042 Before 2021. 0:11:32.642 --> 0:11:35.012 Let's go back to Apple. Can't stay away for too long. 0:11:35.522 --> 0:11:40.022 The Mac operating system Sonoma has now been released. 0:11:40.322 --> 0:11:43.802 Yep. It's got an update for people with older Macs. 0:11:43.802 --> 0:11:46.412 And when I say older, max mean before the M1. 0:11:46.412 --> 0:11:48.992 So the Intel series you may not get all the 0:11:48.992 --> 0:11:52.202 features come with the main features that I've noticed on 0:11:52.202 --> 0:11:55.232 my Mac and I've got an M1 is I now 0:11:55.232 --> 0:11:57.352 have widgets that I can put on my desktop that 0:11:57.362 --> 0:12:00.392 come from my iPhone i.e the battery widget. I can 0:12:00.392 --> 0:12:04.452 run websites as if they were applications, which is really, 0:12:04.512 --> 0:12:06.932 really cool. And the third one which is more of 0:12:06.932 --> 0:12:11.342 a under-the-hood thing. But Apple has said that the pdf 0:12:11.342 --> 0:12:15.992 file reading with voiceover has been improved. Lots of other 0:12:15.992 --> 0:12:18.632 under-the-hood things, but do the three main ones that stand 0:12:18.632 --> 0:12:19.322 out for me? 0:12:19.442 --> 0:12:21.482 Pixel phones. Any news? 0:12:21.752 --> 0:12:22.562 As usual. 0:12:22.562 --> 0:12:24.842 There's an event after we finish going to air this 0:12:24.842 --> 0:12:28.322 week and that's the Google event. And of course there'll 0:12:28.322 --> 0:12:31.352 be the pixel eight being announced and the Pixel Pro 0:12:31.352 --> 0:12:34.952 and the pixel two. Watch again that people are saying 0:12:34.952 --> 0:12:40.442 it's under the hood. Hardware changes, not so much software changes. 0:12:40.442 --> 0:12:43.322 So I'm showing people like double tap and those sort 0:12:43.322 --> 0:12:45.512 of people will get their hands on a pixel eight 0:12:45.512 --> 0:12:48.602 and a pixel two. Watch. And I'll let you know 0:12:48.602 --> 0:12:52.472 what Steven Scott says and about either the phone and 0:12:52.472 --> 0:12:53.132 or the watch. 0:12:53.982 --> 0:12:56.562 We haven't talked much about Apple TV for a while. 0:12:57.202 --> 0:12:58.122 No, look. 0:12:58.122 --> 0:13:00.792 Since I was 17, came out and we now have 0:13:00.792 --> 0:13:03.852 FaceTime on a 4K Apple TV. I went and bought 0:13:03.852 --> 0:13:07.032 a new Apple TV to test out FaceTime, which worked 0:13:07.032 --> 0:13:12.432 really nicely. However, when I went into the settings to 0:13:12.432 --> 0:13:16.602 remove a few apps off my desktop, the whole screen 0:13:16.602 --> 0:13:18.372 when I was just, you know, flicking down and moving 0:13:18.372 --> 0:13:20.592 the other down, I just said remove button, remove button, 0:13:20.592 --> 0:13:22.902 remove button. It didn't say the name of the app, 0:13:22.902 --> 0:13:24.402 it only said them when I was going back the 0:13:24.402 --> 0:13:27.432 other way. So I've reported that bug to Apple as 0:13:27.432 --> 0:13:30.582 a voiceover bug and there were a few little other 0:13:30.582 --> 0:13:35.172 things that I noticed with voiceover on the Apple TV interface. 0:13:35.172 --> 0:13:38.142 So again, there are a few bugs that I think 0:13:38.142 --> 0:13:40.632 some stage Apple needs to sit back and do a 0:13:40.632 --> 0:13:45.102 bit of quality control, at least with voiceover, not so 0:13:45.102 --> 0:13:47.922 much on the Mac, but definitely on the watch, the 0:13:47.922 --> 0:13:52.242 iPhone and the Apple TV, because to me these are 0:13:52.242 --> 0:13:55.662 just more sort of lazy coding bugs that have crept in. 0:13:55.752 --> 0:13:59.832 So if you do have a new Apple TV 4K, 0:14:00.012 --> 0:14:02.352 if you do notice any further bugs, please let me 0:14:02.352 --> 0:14:04.512 know and I'd love to report them for Apple for you. 0:14:04.692 --> 0:14:08.112 So on the midterm report card for Apple shows promise 0:14:08.112 --> 0:14:09.142 but can do better. 0:14:09.162 --> 0:14:10.422 That's exactly correct. 0:14:11.202 --> 0:14:13.662 Just before we go, a reminder of where people can 0:14:13.662 --> 0:14:16.422 find details of what we're talking about in this and 0:14:16.422 --> 0:14:17.802 previous editions of the program. 0:14:17.922 --> 0:14:19.842 As always, you can check out my blog site, which 0:14:19.842 --> 0:14:24.162 is David would be a dot podbean pad by incom. 0:14:24.312 --> 0:14:30.582 David would be dot podbean Podbean. To write to the program. 0:14:30.732 --> 0:14:32.802 You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, 0:14:32.802 --> 0:14:37.392 which is David Woodbridge, How it Sounds and Vision Australia. Org. 0:14:37.602 --> 0:14:42.222 David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org This has been 0:14:42.222 --> 0:14:45.252 talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's National Advisor 0:14:45.252 --> 0:14:49.482 on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care. 0:14:49.482 --> 0:14:51.072 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.