
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
đ Good morning, and welcome to Tuesdayâs Daily Authority. Itâs the last day of the month and though January hasnât been a bad one, today weâve got not one but two top stories for you, including some Facebook controversy.
Facebookâs battery controversy

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
If youâve noticed Facebook being a battery hog, you might be onto something, as a former Facebook employee claims the company can secretly drain your phone battery.
- Data scientist George Hayward told the New York Post that Facebook is participating in ânegative testing.â
- This is a form of software testing that applies unexpected behaviors and circumstances to an app or software to see how it copes.
- The former employee was fired for refusing to participate in the practice, believing it could be harmful.
- However, we may never know whether Haywardâs claim was true, as he only mentioned having seen a document entitled âHow to run thoughtful negative testsâ but failed to divulge any examples from the document.
- Negative testing isnât uncommon or controversial, either, though if Facebook was deliberately draining phone batteries, thatâs a definite no-no that could put people in harmâs way, for example, if theyâre unable to use their phone in a life-or-death situation.
- Draining the battery in this way also means more frequent charging, contributing to battery degradation.
- If youâre noticing faster than usual battery drain, you might want to grab one of the best battery saver apps.
Samsung expects dip in smartphone demand ahead of Galaxy S23 launch

Robert Triggs / Android Authority
The fourth quarter of 2022 was a rough one for Samsung, as the company posted numbers that matched its bleak predictions of profit decline from January 2022.
- Itâs fair to say business hasnât been booming for the worldâs largest smartphone maker, with uncertain economic times, reduced chip demand, and a reduction in customers buying new gadgets all to blame.
- The company shared weak profit numbers, but the hardest hit was Samsungâs chip division, which saw profits plunge over 90% in Q4 2022.
- Samsungâs predicting smartphone demand wonât pick up until the second half of 2023, despite tomorrowâs Galaxy S23 launch.
- However, itâs not all doom and gloom, as the Galaxy S23 series and an enhanced product portfolio, including new PCs, wearables, and tablets should help sales expand this quarter.
- And it could mean weâll see the Galaxy Watch 6 land earlier than expected this yearâŚ
Tuesday thing

David Nguyen / Android Authority
The beta version of speech AI startup ElevenLabsâ Prime Voice AI platform launched just a few days ago, but itâs already being used for nefarious purposes (h/t Engadget).
- The company Tweeted itâs seeing âan increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases.â
- Perhaps we shouldnât be surprised that âdeepfakeâ audio clips are simply the new deepfake videos.
- Motherboard revealed several 4chan posts with clips featuring voices generated by speech AI tools that sound like celebrities â including Emma Watson and Joe Rogan â saying or reading questionable things, though itâs not clear if all the clips used ElevenLabsâ technology.
- There will always be people using the latest tech to spread homophobic, racist, transphobic, or violent messages, but that doesnât mean tools like this canât be used for good.
- AI voice generators can be used for film and game voiceovers, audiobooks, and more, and it looks like 2023 could be the year we see more of them emerge.
- ElevenLabs is already coming up with ideas on how to prevent abuse of its technology, including requiring payment info or ID from users, additional layers for account verification, or even making users verify they own copyright for the voice they want to clone.
- This is why we canât have nice things.
Have a great week!
Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.