The WAN Show - Apple Sued over "iWatch" Trademark & Samsung Patents "Fat Detector" - July 17, 2015

The WAN Show episode dated July 17, 2015, opens with Linus addressing audio issues and the challenges of broadcasting from a new location. He explains the makeshift setup, including cameras, capture cards, and ethernet adaptors, and acknowledges feedback about mic levels and echo. The discussion then shifts to early-week tech topics, starting with the sudden death of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, outlining his long career from directing Kirby and Earthbound to steering Nintendo through the Wii and DS era, and noting his passing at age 55 due to bile duct cancer. The host next covers Star Wars Battlefront on PC, noting its lack of local split-screen co-op and how console expectations for co-op do not directly translate to PC setups. Linus emphasizes the broader point that PC gamers often desire features traditionally common on consoles, including local co-op play. The show briefly touches IBM and NVIDIA’s announcement of Centers of Excellence for supercomputing, detailing the Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore partnerships and the plan to deploy Summit and Sierra by 2017-2018 for tasks like weather modeling and interior Earth mapping. A major segment discusses Samsung’s patenting of body fat sensors in smartphones, and Linus shares his skepticism about health-tracking features, highlighting accuracy concerns and the potential for self-image driven purchases. He pivots to the idea that such sensors could, if properly integrated with reliable data, provide meaningful long-term health insights, even though current devices like the Apple Watch struggle with heart-rate accuracy. The discussion then moves to Apple’s market profits, noting that Apple reportedly accounts for around 92 percent of smartphone profits despite only a portion of overall sales, and he analyzes how pricing, R&D investments, component costs, and ecosystem lock-in contribute to this disparity. The host uses straw polls to explore whether future technology, such as new process nodes, should be used to extend battery life or make devices thinner, and presents the poll results showing a strong preference for battery life improvements among viewers. Linus then answers questions about the economics of high-end processors, explaining the cost structures of flagship CPUs and GPUs, the impact of manufacturing processes, and how high-end R&D expenditure can influence product pricing and profitability across the market. The show touches on Intel’s 10nm delay, elaborating on the Tick-Tock cadence, poor yields on 14nm, and the potential implications for the broader industry, including Nvidia’s progress on Kepler to Maxwell and AMD’s Zen roadmap. He comments on the possible revival of enthusiast interest if AMD’s Zen delivers competitive performance, reflecting on past brand loyalties and the enduring appeal of real-world performance. Throughout the broadcast, Linus showcases desk hardware in NCIX’s studio, including SSDs, SLI bridges, and other components, while joking with the audience about NDA leaks and the firepole gag that often features in WAN Show episodes. He concludes with optimism about the upcoming FinFET designs from AMD, and the potential to disrupt the market if Zen achieves its promised gains, while acknowledging the limitations of current silicon manufacturing. The show closes by acknowledging the audience’s engagement and teasing further coverage of tech news, industry dynamics, and upcoming product reviews, as Linus thanks sponsors and signs off with the familiar banter that characterizes WAN Show. The overall tone blends humor with candid analysis of tech industry shifts, hardware advancements, and the sometimes conflicting priorities of performance, power efficiency, and consumer features.

Topics · technology news · hardware · consumer electronics · business & industry