Tech News – Page 4 – by Arlin Schaffel

Winamp is back and wants a piece of Spotify’s business

At the end of the 20th century, as digital music was first becoming a thing, Winamp was must-have software for many people. The audio player, which famously featured a llama mascot and sounds of a bleating llama when you started it up, has never completely gone away, but it has long since been overshadowed by embedded media players from Microsoft, Apple, and other companies. The beloved MP3-era music player is teaming up with Deezer to launch a subscription streaming service next year.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91610440/winamp-is-back-and-wants-a-piece-of-spotifys-business

Converse forced to remove ad over racist allegations

Converse has been forced to remove an ad after receiving heated criticism online, with claims that the design evoked extreme racist imagery. While harmless in theory, the misplaced lighting and composition were enough to spark outrage among critics who called the advert "disgusting" and "abhorrent". The advert in question stars K-Pop artist Karina holding a pair of Converse Chuck 70 X trainers. Lighting on her white skirt makes a sharp triangular shape thanks to a projection of the Chuck Taylor star logo, which critics claimed resembled hoods worn by the KKK.
https://www.creativebloq.com/design/advertising/converse-forced-to-remove-ad-over-racist-allegations

Napster Is Back, and It Wants to Digitally Clone Teachers

“The name has always been about giving power to the users,” says Huber. “Twenty-five years ago, it was about music and how music should be owned by people, not the gatekeepers. And now this is the same fight, the same ethos, but it’s about data and intelligence.” Napster will provide dedicated design, development, and product management resources based on Napster Learn, its AI-powered learning system. Digital twins of teachers, for example, will provide around-the-clock support.
https://www.wired.com/story/napster-is-back-and-it-wants-to-digitally-clone-teachers

$2,195 for Smart Glasses? Snap’s New Specs Are an Engineering Marvel…With Two Massive Flaws

Snap officially launched its new Specs, lifting the curtain on a surprisingly robust feature set and a high-profile lineup of launch partners. With self-contained processing powering motion tracking, environment scanning, and gesture controls, these might be the most technically ambitious smart glasses on the market—easily outpacing the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display in pure hardware sophistication. But at $2,195, Snap faces monumental hurdles before its bleeding-edge tech can win over everyday buyers. I’ll give the Specs a rigorous hands-on test once a pair lands in PC Labs. For now, here's a close look at how they work, what they can do, and where they fit in an increasingly chaotic wearable ecosystem.
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/2195-for-smart-glasses-snaps-new-specs-are-an-engineering-marvelwith-two

AI Really Is Eviscerating Entry-Level Jobs, New Data Shows

According to a new report on New York City jobs data compiled by the nonprofit Center for an Urban Future — first reported by the City — job postings for entry-level roles in “computer and mathematical” occupations has plummeted by 49 percent since 2022, the latest indication that tech firms are using AI to justify a massive slowdown in new hires. Though computer science grads are bearing the brunt of the mayhem, tech jobs may just be the first domino to fall. As Urban Future’s executive director Jon Bowles told the City, “entry-level postings” overall have “fallen off a cliff, and the first rung of the ladder in tech is under pressure.”
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-eviscerating-entry-level-jobs-data-labor-nyc

‘The end of the keyboard is near’: SAP CEO predicts voice translation will be the next workplace advantage | Fortune

The deleterious effects of AI on the humble keyboard might not be top of the list of business leaders’ priorities when it comes to mapping out the technological future. But SAP’s prediction that “data-inputting” via typing will end in the next two to three years at the firm has significance well beyond the death of QWERTY.
https://fortune.com/2026/09/16/end-of-keyboard-near-christian-klein-sap-predicts-voice-translation-next-workplace-advantage

Valve’s virtual reality plans hit actual reality

The Steam Frame headset is here, and it may not surprise you: it was supposed to cost less than $1,059. “We set out to come out with a device that would have been far more affordable, but the global RAM market, the global storage market have impacted us the same way they’ve impacted everybody,” Valve developer Jeremy Selan told the BBC. “We fought hard to get it even to this price.”
https://www.theverge.com/tech/995055/valve-steam-frame-price-ram-impact