Fri. 01/22 – Alphabet Sends Loon To The Deadpool
What does it mean for Alphabet if it’s starting to cut bait on its “moonshots?” Is Google going to cut bait entirely, on the entire country of Australia? More signs that Apple is atoning for their laptop design sins. Looks like we were right, Plaid is very much, no Visa, no cry. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Metalab.com Links: Alphabet Pops Loon’s Balloons—but Won't Call It a Failure (Wired) Google threatens to shut down search in Australia if digital news code goes ahead (The Guardian) Apple Plans Thinner MacBook Air With Magnetic Charger in Mac Lineup Reboot (Bloomberg) Plaid Shareholders Field Offers at $15 Billion After Merger Collapse (The Information) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Biden picks Jessica Rosenworcel as acting FCC chief (NBC News) The Inside Story of How the Lowly PDF Played the Longest Game in Tech (Marker) The Moderation War Is Coming to Spotify, Substack, and Clubhouse (OneZero) SAMSUNG GALAXY S21 ULTRA REVIEW: THE REAL DEAL (The Verge) Samsung Galaxy S21 review: The best Android phone for the money (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
22 Jan 202119min
Thu. 01/21 – Mark Gurman Dishes On The Apple VR Headset
Apple’s first foray into VR is coming next year, says Mark Gurman, but the real game is in AR and that’s a ways down the road. Amazon wants to help roll out the vaccines. Are laptops getting taller? One chat app to unify them all? And everybody wants a dark mode, even the White House. Sponsors: NewYorker.com/techmeme promocode: techmeme Tovala.com/ride Links: Apple’s First Headset to Be Niche Precursor to Eventual AR Glasses (Bloomberg) LG considers exiting smartphones in 2021 (The Verge) Amazon sends letter to President Biden, says it is ‘ready to assist’ with U.S. vaccination efforts (GeekWire) Facebook refers Trump ban to independent Oversight Board for review (Axios) Goodbye and good riddance to the 16:9 aspect ratio (The Verge) Pebble founder promises iMessage on Android and Windows with universal chat app (The Verge) WhiteHouse.gov now has dark mode (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
21 Jan 202119min
Wed. 01/20 – A16Z To Get Into The Media Business?
Is Andreessen Horowitz about to spin up its own media platform? Anthony Levandowski gets a pardon and Jack Ma resurfaces. Netflix is about to start printing money, and they’re about to give you a “shuffle play” button. And why Ben Thompson thinks Intel is in even more trouble than everybody thinks. Sponsors: Grammarly.com/techmeme Tovala.com/ride Links: Andreessen Horowitz Looks to Launch Opinion Publication as Its Media Ambition Grows (The Information) The Unauthorized Story of Andreessen Horowitz (Newcomer) Donald Trump pardons ex-Waymo, Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski (Engadget) Jack Ma Emerges for First Time Since Ant, Alibaba Crackdown (Bloomberg) Brave becomes first browser to add native support for the IPFS protocol (ZDNet) Netflix shares rise on strong subscriber growth, considers share buybacks (CNBC) Netflix’s ‘Shuffle Play’ feature will roll out to all users worldwide this year (TechCrunch) Intel Problems (Stratechery) Twitter Thread on the Intel stuff Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
20 Jan 202116min
Tue. 01/19 – Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon 870
Qualcomm unveils the Snapdragon 870. Cruise, Microsoft and GM all get together in a beautiful marriage that is just as much about cloud computing as it is self-driving. Has the policy controversy endangered WhatsApp in India? And why the whole Smart Home and Internet of Things industry might be taking a breather. Sponsors: Fundrise.com/techmeme MintMobile.com/ride Links: Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 870 reheats the Snapdragon 865 for 2021 phones (The Verge) Microsoft invests in Cruise in new $2 billion round (TechCrunch) India asks WhatsApp to withdraw new privacy policy over ‘grave concerns’ (TechCrunch) 5G Rivals Face an $81 Billion Tab After Spectrum Buying Spree (WSJ) DuckDuckGo surpasses 100 million daily search queries for the first time (ZDNet) Electric car batteries with five-minute charging times produced (The Guardian) CES 2021: A deep breath for the smart home to determine its future (Stacey On IOT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
19 Jan 202118min
(Bonus) Interesting Raise Episode 1!
The first ever interesting raise omnibus episode! Links: Hipcamp, ‘Airbnb of the Outdoors,’ Raises $57 Million (The Information) Local news app News Break raises $115M (TechCrunch) Perfect Corp., developer of virtual beauty app YouCam Makeup, closes $50 million Series C led by Goldman Sachs (TechCrunch) Veo raises $25M for AI-based cameras that record and analyze football and other team sports (TechCrunch) Graphcore raises $222M for its ultrafast AI chips (SiliconAngle) AI chipmaker Graphcore raises $22M at a $2.77B valuation and puts an IPO in its sights (TechCrunch) Fintech startup Oxygen raises $17M in Series A round (SiliconAngle) AMP Robotics raises $55 million for AI that picks and sorts recyclables (VentureBeat) WeLink raises $185M to deliver high-bandwidth wireless internet to the home using 5G (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
16 Jan 202125min
Fri. 01/15 – Are We Really Getting the MacBook of My Dreams?
Is Apple finally throwing in the towel and giving us the sort of laptops we actually want? With these IPO first-day pops, forget banks screwing startups, are VC’s also undervaluing companies right now in a way that is unfair? Amazon wants to do in cars what it’s done successfully in homes. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Oracle For Startups - oracle.com/goto/ride Metalab.co Links: Kuo details 2021 MacBook Pro: new design with squared-off sides, MagSafe connector and IO return, Touch Bar removed (9to5Mac) Apple Plans Upgraded MacBook Pros With Return of Magnetic Charging (Bloomberg) Online clothing reseller Poshmark closes up more than 140% on first day of trading (CNBC) Amazon opens Alexa AI tech for the first time so car makers can build custom assistants (The Verge) Galaxy Book Flex2: Samsung’s first 5G laptop has an 11th-gen Intel Processor (Digital Trends) Shares in China’s Xiaomi tumble after US investment ban (Financial Times) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Is Letterboxd Becoming a Blockbuster? (NYTimes) Why the Canadian Tech Scene Doesn’t Work (AlexDanco.com) An Oral History of Wikipedia, the Web’s Encyclopedia (OneZero) CRISPR and the Splice to Survive (The New Yorker) Spotify Bets Big on Podcasts as a Path to Profitability (Bloomberg Businessweek) Subscribe to the premium feed here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
15 Jan 202120min
Thu. 01/14 – Samsung Unpacked Brings The New Galaxy S21 Lineup
All the news from the Galaxy Unpacked event. The tech stock IPO first day pop bubble continues. Asus persists with that dual screen laptop thing. BMW has a new way to unlock your car with your phone. And Google absolutely swears it won’t use your fitbit data against you. Swears. Sponsors: Metalab.co TinyCapital.com Links: SAMSUNG GALAXY S21, S21 PLUS, AND S21 ULTRA FIRST LOOK: POLISHED DESIGN (AND PRICES) (The Verge) The Galaxy S21 Ultra packs two telephoto lenses and supports the S Pen (Engadget) Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag is a $29.99 Tile competitor (The Verge) Max Levchin’s Affirm pops nearly 100% in market debut (CNBC) Asus’ 2021 laptop line includes two new dual-screen ZenBooks (The Verge) BMW’s Digital Key Plus will let iPhones unlock the iX from a pocket or bag (The Verge) Google's Fitbit acquisition is official (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
14 Jan 202120min
Wed. 01/13 – The Visa/Plaid Merger Is Called Off
The Visa/Plaid merger is called off, and I’ll tell you why I think this is a sign of the current situation for tech. More tectonic shifts in the chip industry including Qualcomm acquiring a startup and Intel losing its CEO. More smoke around the fire story of an Apple Car. And Facebook has noticed you downloaded Signal. Sponsors: Netgear.com/bestwifi Metalab.co Links: Visa Abandons Planned Acquisition of Plaid After DOJ Challenge (WSJ) Qualcomm eyes challenge to Apple, Intel with $1.4 billion deal for chip startup (Reuters) Intel CEO Bob Swan to step down, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger to replace him (CNBC) AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su: Interview on 2021 Demand, Supply, Tariffs, Xilinix and EPYC (AnandTech) Every Deleted Parler Post, Many With Users' Location Data, Has Been Archived (Gizmodo) Parler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows (Gizmodo) Exclusive: Apple held talks with EV startup Canoo in 2020 (The Verge) WhatsApp clarifies it’s not giving all your data to Facebook after surge in Signal and Telegram users (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
13 Jan 202119min
