Episode 555: After the Dream

This week, we discuss Gemini powering Siri, AWS’s biggest competitor, and AWS strategy choices. Plus, when should your next meeting actually start?

Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode (https://www.youtube.com/live/bkN3SDWXYZE?si=5RoIyZ6lz_Hfi7nE) 555 (https://www.youtube.com/live/bkN3SDWXYZE?si=5RoIyZ6lz_Hfi7nE)

Runner-up Titles

• Swedish Death Cleaning

• Give it a best effort

• Trying it bad for profits.

• That pen better be really good

• You do all the nerd shit, we’ll be cool

• Looking at a hundred rabbits’ assholes.

• The Kremlinologist of AWS

• The aaSes of Cloud

• They’ll like our apples better

• Running on hopes and dreams until you’re sure they don’t exist

• What we have is a situation

Rundown

• Apple gets AI from Google

• Joint statement from Google and Apple (https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/company-announcements/joint-statement-google-apple/)

• Kuo: Apple's AI Deal With Google Is Temporary and Buys It Time (https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/apple-google-ai-deal-is-temporary/)

• Google's Apple AI deal marks 'huge loss' for OpenAI (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/googles-apple-ai-deal-marks-huge-loss-for-openai-110002996.html)

• AWS in 2026: The Year of Proving They Still Know How to Operate (https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/aws-in-2026-the-year-of-proving-they-still-know-how-to-operate/?ck_subscriber_id=512840665&utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%5BLast%20Week%20in%20AWS%5D%20AWS%20in%202026:%20The%20Year%20of%20Proving%20They%20Still%20Know%20How%20to%20Operate%20-%2020306960)

Relevant to your Interests

• Anthropic reportedly raising $10B at $350B valuation (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/anthropic-reportedly-raising-10b-at-350b-valuation/)

• Dell Reverses Course, Brings Back XPS Laptops (https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/dell-reverses-course-brings-back-xps-laptops/)

• Google is unleashing Gemini AI features on Gmail. Users will have to opt out (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/08/google-adds-gemini-features-to-gmail-message-summaries-proofreading-.html)

• Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of bricking them (https://www.theverge.com/news/858501/bose-soundtouch-smart-speakers-open-source)

• Google Guys Say Bye to California (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/technology/google-founders-california-wealth-tax.html)

• Amazon gives managers a new way to spot who's barely coming into the office (https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags-employees-rto-office-2026-1)

• A decade of open source in CNCF with 300,000+ contributors and counting (https://www.cncf.io/blog/2026/01/12/a-decade-of-open-source-in-cncf-with-300000-contributors-and-counting/)

• CrowdStrike to Acquire SGNL to Transform Identity Security for the AI Era (https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/press-releases/crowdstrike-to-acquire-sgnl-to-transform-identity-security-for-ai-era/)

• Snowflake Announces Intent to Acquire Observe to Deliver AI-Powered Observability (https://www.snowflake.com/en/news/press-releases/snowflake-announces-intent-to-acquire-observe-to-deliver-ai-powered-observability-at-enterprise-scale/)

• Nvidia Hires Google Veteran as Its First Chief Marketing Officer (https://www.wsj.com/articles/nvidia-hires-google-veteran-as-its-first-chief-marketing-officer-3dc2163f?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqc78O9yWpx28YbHsHhkY4UbuzPDNulddaijRt3y9rnPs3uRo18V4ghRRgo3AzQ%3D&gaa_ts=6966a608&gaa_sig=B3ADjcK4inCRjSkACod4QU-1HTE-j0gP27wIE9LUarawkBMmDw9Pap591kz2CPTAjiCKbOqUkbQyYLlxQr0Nmw%3D%3D)

• The Fediverse Experiment (https://www.searchengine.show/the-fediverse-experiment/)

• RIP the metaverse (https://sherwood.news/tech/rip-the-metaverse/)

Nonsense

• American Airlines rolls out free Wi-Fi to loyalty members (https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/american-airlines-rolls-out-free-wi-fi-loyalty-members/809135/)

Conferences

• cfgmgmtcamp 2026 (https://cfgmgmtcamp.org/ghent2026/), February 2nd to 4th, Ghent, BE.

• Coté speaking - anyone interested in being a SDI guest?

• DevOpsDayLA at SCALE23x (https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x), March 6th, Pasadena, CA

• Use code: DEVOP for 50% off.

• Devnexus 2026 (https://devnexus.com), March 4th to 6th, Atlanta, GA. Coté has a discount code, but he’s not sure if he can give it out. He’s asking! Send him a DM in the meantime.

• KubeCon EU, March 23rd to 26th, 2026 - Coté will be there on a media pass.

• Whole bunch of VMUGs: Amsterdam (March 17-19, 2026), Minneapolis (April 7-9, 2026), Toronto (May 12-14, 2026), Dallas (June 9-11, 2026), Orlando (October 20-22, 2026)

SDT News & Community

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• Book offer: Use code SDT for $20 off "Digital WTF" by Coté (https://leanpub.com/digitalwtf/c/sdt)

• Sponsor the show (https://www.softwaredefinedtalk.com/ads)

Recommendations

• Brandon: Google Nest Doorbell (Wired, 3rd Gen) (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN7GWSHV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1)

• Matt: MTV Rewind (https://wantmymtv.vercel.app/)

• Coté:

• “These 36 Airlines Offer iPhone Feature That Helps Find Your Lost Bags.” (https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/12/iphone-airtag-bag-tracking-airlines-list/)

• Distroless, Helm Charts, & Hardened Images: Security That Ships (with William Jimenez) (https://www.youtube.com/live/9Jc1xH65msg)

Photo Credits

• Header (https://unsplash.com/photos/talking-people-sitting-beside-table-PTRzqc_h1r4)