Tech News – Page 31 – by Arlin Schaffel

Keep losing your key fob? Ford’s new “Truckle” is the answer.

It's called the "Truckle," and it's a hand-crafted silver and bronze belt buckle that might be the envy of every other cowboy out there, since this one has a place to keep your F-150's key fob without ruining the lines of your jeans. "Once you have it in there, you're not going to lose that key fob. You’re not going to be scratching your head (wondering) where it’s at. It's right there with you in the Truckle."
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/10/keep-losing-your-key-fob-fords-new-truckle-is-the-answer/

California enacts law giving consumers ability to universally opt out of data sharing

The bill signed Wednesday would require them to set up an easy-to-find mechanism that lets Californians opt-out with the push of a button, instead of having to do so repeatedly when visiting individual websites. “These signals are going to be available to millions more people and it's going to be much easier for them to opt out,” said Matt Schwartz, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports.
https://therecord.media/california-signs-law-opt-out-browsers

HMD’s Touch 4G is a dumb-smart-phone

The new HMD Touch 4G — only available in India for now, and unlikely to ever come to the US — splits the difference between smartphones and feature phones, offering a touchscreen and video calling, but with the small size (and price) of feature phones. It looks mostly like a smartphone, but oddly smushed down: its screen is just 3.2 inches, and the whole thing only weighs 100g.
https://www.theverge.com/news/795993/hmds-touch-4g-is-a-dumb-smart-phone

You Can Now Add Spotify, Zillow to ChatGPT, But Don’t Call It an App Store

ChatGPT can now run third-party apps, including Spotify, for an experience that OpenAI says is closer to an operating system than an app store. “The magic of this new generation of apps in ChatGPT is how they blend familiar interactive elements–like maps, playlists, and presentations–with new ways of interacting through conversation,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/you-can-now-add-spotify-zillow-to-chatgpt-but-dont-call-it-an-app-store

California bans loud commercials on Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services

“We heard Californians loud and clear, and what’s clear is that they don’t want commercials at a volume any louder than the level at which they were previously enjoying a program,” Governor Newsom said in a press release. “By signing SB 576, California is dialing down this inconvenience across streaming platforms, which had previously not been subject to commercial volume regulations passed by Congress in 2010.”
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/07/california-bans-loud-commercials-on-netflix-hulu-and-other-streaming-services/

If you can get past the terrible logo, Audacity 4 looks pretty great

Over 25 years Audacity has gone from simple audio editor, to a UX nightmare. If you can get past the terrible logo, version 4 looks like it might fix that. It was no surprise that when Audacity revealed its new logo people on the internet got a little worked up. And look, there’s no two ways about it, the logo is pretty bad. The font it quite nice, but the bewildering take on its traditional headphone icon is rough.
https://www.theverge.com/news/792368/if-you-can-get-past-the-terrible-logo-audacity-4-looks-pretty-great

The First 24 Hours of Sora 2 Chaos: Copyright Violations, Sam Altman Shoplifting, and More

On Tuesday, OpenAI released Sora 2, the latest version of its video and audio generation tool that it promised would be the “most powerful imagination engine ever built.” Less than a day into its release, it appears the imaginations of most people are dominated by copyrighted material and existing intellectual property.
https://gizmodo.com/the-first-24-hours-of-sora-2-chaos-copyright-violations-sam-altman-shoplifting-and-more-2000666216