Thank you for tuning in to the show, which airs each Saturday morning from 10.30am on Radio 2CC Canberra, 1206AM. You can also listen via the free Radio App, on the 2CC.net.au website (just press play at the top left), and later on Saturday, embedded via YouTube into this article.
Science fiction never stops becoming science fact! In today’s world, we have smartphones upgraded with AI robot brains that live in our hands and pockets, and in apps and websites. We have tech that saves lives, ever faster Internet, robots set to roll into homes by mid-year and more, so let’s get to it!
1. Will Australian prices rise due to Trump’s tariffs?
A new survey and an update on US/China tariffs and how they affect Aussies from Interparcel shows Aussie e-commerce retailers show US tariffs are hitting closer to home than many expected.
Australian website Internet Retailing has posted an article quoted Interparcel CEO Steve Zammit saying: “Australian e-commerce brands are facing increasingly higher costs and growing shipping complexities. For many, adapting quickly will be crucial to survival”.
The survey also found that many Australian businesses have been rethinking their supply chains in order to achieve long-term sustainability.
Extra costs will be borne all around until the tariffs are repealed, so you may well some higher prices in the months ahead. If there’s something important you want to buy, right now might be the best and cheapest time to do it.
2. Scientists develop a hologram you can feel, touch and manipulate, but it’s an early prototype and nothing like that seen in the movies, but even so – the age of touchable holograms has finally arrived! Tell us more..
Scientists have finally succeeded in displaying three-dimensional graphics in mid-air that can be manipulated with the hands – although it’s an early prototype that I hope will start advancing really quickly!
One of the principle authors said: “What we see in films and call holograms are typically volumetric displays… These are graphics that appear in mid-air and can be viewed from various angles without the need for wearing virtual reality glasses. They are called true-3D graphics.’
The author highlighted that “She also highlights that ‘”they are particularly interesting as they allow for the ‘come-and-interact'”‘ paradigm, meaning that the users simply approach a device and start using it.”
The press release explains: “This innovation enables new ways to interact with 3D graphics, allowing users to grasp and manipulate virtual objects naturally.
“For example, grasping a cube between the index finger and thumb to move and rotate it, or simulating walking legs on a surface using the index and ring fingers.”
“Displays such as screens and mobile devices are present in our lives for working, learning, or entertainment. Having three-dimensional graphics that can be directly manipulated has applications in education — for instance, visualising and assembling the parts of an engine. Moreover, multiple users can interact collaboratively without the need for virtual reality headsets. These displays could be particularly useful in museums, for example, where visitors can simply approach and interact with the content,” explains the research team.
More here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079350?
3. Google’s April 2025 update for its Pixel smartphones has arrived, with the latest Pixel 9 smartphones getting a new free of charge capability that was previously only available to those paying extra for Gemini Advanced, now with camera and screen sharing to the AI. Which other smartphone gains this feature free of charge, too?
The April Pixel Drop for Pixel phones has arrived with the Pixel 9 Series and soon to be released Pixel 9a, along with new Gemini AI vision capability where what you see can be questioned about and you can be given an answer.
The blog post is here and the official video is, too.
Samsung S25 smartphones get this exact new capability now, too, which It calls real-time visual AI, which is exactly what it is!
4. Google’s new Pixel 9a smartphone is arriving in stores from April 16 – and is primed to take advantage of this new real-time visual AI Gemini feature that now is standard for Pixel 9 series phones!
All the details of the new AUD $849 Google Pixel 9a phone here and the official video is below!
5. Apple launches new TV commercial showing how a man saved his life when caught in a rip 1.6k off the coast of Byron Bay, in what is yet another win for wearables that are not only waterproof, but are also mobile phones. What are the details and where can we watch this video?
6. Samsung’s rolling ball robot, called Ballie, was showcased at last year’s CES for the first time, and is due to arrive in the US by the middle of the year. But before it has launched, it has received a big upgrade, so what can this little rolling robot do?
7. The ACT Government has decided to fix up the NBN’s “fibre to the premises” rollout in the Tuggeranong suburbs where many houses are already connected directly to fibre, but puzzlingly, some are not. Which suburbs are getting this fixed, and by when?
This Facebook post explains all, but in short, the Tuggeranong suburbs of Bonython, Calwell, Fadden, Gordon, Kambah, Monash and Wanniassa that don’t have FTTP will get it by the end of 2025, with the ACT Govt to work with the NBN to make sure it happens.
8. In the US, the Reddit Answers feature will now be powered by Google’s Gemini AI, delivering answers based on the posts people have made in Reddit forums. How can Aussies access this feature right now if they want to try it out?
Reddit Answers is a new way to get answers, perspectives and recommendations from all of Reddit. It leverages generative AI to help find, synthesize, and deliver easy to understand answers from real posts and comments from redditors.
This experience is currently in beta in the U.S. and Canada on reddit.com and Reddit’s iOS app. There are a few different ways to access Reddit Answers depending on the platform you’re using.
If you’re a Reddit user and you set your VPN to the US, you can access the feature on the site, in the app, and here.
