April 2025 – Tech News

Millions of Apple Airplay-enabled devices can be hacked via Wi-Fi

Apple’s AirPlay feature enables iPhones and MacBooks to seamlessly play music or show photos and videos on other Apple devices or third-party speakers and TVs that integrate the protocol. Now newly uncovered security flaws in AirPlay mean that those same wireless connections could allow hackers to move within a network just as easily, spreading malicious code from one infected device to another. Apple products are known for regularly receiving fixes, but given how rarely some smart-home devices are patched, it’s likely that these wirelessly enabled footholds for malware, across many of the hundreds of models of AirPlay-enabled devices, will persist for years to come.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/millions-of-apple-airplay-enabled-devices-can-be-hacked-via-wi-fi/

PSA: Google Ending Support for Early Gen Nest Learning Thermostats

This means users will no longer be able to control these models remotely from their phone or via Google Assistant, but they’ll still be able to adjust the temperature and modify schedules directly on the thermostat itself.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/psa-google-ends-support-for-early-gen-nest-learning-thermostats

This 1987 Prediction of What Technology Would Be Like Today Will Make You Gasp and Wheeze

More than three decades ago, the BBC envisioned what today's consumer technology would look like — and their predictions were somehow both astonishingly accurate and hilariously misfired.
https://futurism.com/future-tech-prediction-1987

Looking for a Job in Tech Is More Confusing Than Ever

A similar role at different companies might be titled with “AI,” or “machine learning,” or “data” or “computer vision,” followed by “engineer,” or “developer” or “architect,” with jargon like “senior” or “associate” or “specialist” thrown in for good measure. “In the last two to three years, we’re seeing an acceleration in the job market’s evolution,” she said, adding that some 20% of the people in the U.S. who took on a new job in the past 12 months took on a job title that didn’t exist in 2000, according to LinkedIn’s data.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/looking-for-a-job-in-tech-is-more-confusing-than-ever-58fbaea1?mod=tech_lead_story

Meta conducts layoffs in Oculus Studios, impacting VR exercise app Supernatural

Meta laid off employees on Thursday in its Reality Labs division, which encompasses various virtual and augmented reality projects. The cuts impact employees within Oculus Studios, which develops apps and games for Meta’s Quest headsets. Reality Labs has been a massive cost for Meta, losing almost $5 billion in the last quarter of 2024 while generating about $1 billion in sales. Meta has reported billions of dollars in operating losses on Reality Labs each year since rebranding from Facebook and emphasizing its commitment to the “metaverse.”
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/meta-conducts-layoffs-in-oculus-studios-impacting-vr-exercise-app-supernatural/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Ai Pin returns from the dead, no thanks to printer maker HP

Ai Pin is dead, long live the OpenPin. Same great hardware with none of the hubris. Check out the open-source project at openpin.org if you have a bricked Ai Pin just collecting dust — or if you’re now more interested in owning one than ever like us.
https://9to5mac.com/2025/04/23/ai-pin-returns-from-the-dead-no-thanks-to-printer-maker-hp/

Roku says its ads aren’t meant to be ‘interruptive’ after controversial test

Rost didn’t say as much directly, but it’s apparent that Roku was keenly aware of the bubbling up of complaints. “Advertisers want to be part of a good experience. They don’t want to be interruptive,” he told me. “We’re always testing. We listen to consumer feedback, we do all of our own A/B testing on the platform. We’re constantly tweaking and trying to figure out what’s going to be helpful for the user experience.”
https://www.theverge.com/tech/654389/roku-2025-event-ads-interview