Tech Brew Ride Home

Twitter suspends a bunch of China-linked accounts, is Apple TV+ dead on arrival? 23 towns in Texas are hit with ransomware, and why isn’t Alexa in your car? Sponsors: DataTribe.com/challenge PixelUnion.net BRD's Longread About Libra Links: Information operations directed at Hong Kong (Twitter) Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From China (Facebook) Updating our advertising policies on state media (Twitter) Apple Targets Apple TV+ Launch in November, Weighs $9.99 Price After Free Trial (Bloomberg) Apple splashes $6bn on new shows in streaming wars (Financial Times) States to Move Forward With Antitrust Probe of Big Tech Firms (WSJ) Sony to acquire Insomniac Games (Polygon) Over 20 Texas local governments hit in 'coordinated ransomware attack' (ZDNet) The first Lightning security key for iPhones is here, and it works with USB-C, too (The Verge) Amazon Wants to Put Alexa in Cars. Google and Apple Are There Already (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Aug 201917min

Libra gets competition, Spotify and Roku get family friendly, Amazon is sitting out the launch of Disney+ (for now), Ikea is serious about becoming a smart-home player, and can the world’s largest semiconductor chip kickstart an AI revolution? Sponsors: Pixelunion.net BRD.com Links: Binance planning to launch ‘Venus,’ similar to Facebook’s upcoming cryptocurrency Libra (The Block) Spotify's Premium Family plans get an explicit content filter (Engadget) The Roku Channel is adding a kids and family section with free TV shows and movies (The Verge) Disney+ will stream on these devices at launch (The Verge) Ikea goes all in on smart home tech (The Verge) Hacker Releases First Public Jailbreak for Up-to-Date iPhones in Years (Motherboard) A new unicorn is born: Toor Insurance raises $100 million for a $1 billion valuation (TechCrunch) Root raises $350 million to drive auto insurance change (Axios) Cerebras (Pierre Lamond) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Aug 201919min

On a recent weekend longreads segment, I recommended a piece by The Verge’s Julia Alexander asking whether Netflix’s recommendation algorithms were broken, or maybe borked. We’re going to talk a bit about that today, but since Julia is on the Streaming Wars beat at The Verge, you know how I love to talk about the streaming wars, and we are right about at the point where the battle is going to be joined in earnest.  Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com Wix.com/podcast :) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Aug 201926min

Coinbase says all your bitcoin base are belong to us, Apple sues a “virtualization” company, was Amazon offering vendors a pay to play scheme with Amazon Choice, and, as always, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Metalab.co MacStadium.com/ridehome Links: Exclusive: Coinbase Buys Xapo Custody for $55 Million, Eyes Lending Business (Fortune) Apple Files Lawsuit Against Virtualization Company Corellium for Illegally Replicating iOS and Apple Apps (MacRumors) Amazon offered vendors ‘Amazon’s Choice’ labels in return for ad spending and lower prices (Digiday) YouTube shuts down music companies' use of manual copyright claims to steal creator revenue (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Weird gadgets that are actually really useful (ZDNet) Trump Tumult Has Gadget Giants Splitting Along U.S.-China Lines (Bloomberg) THREE YEARS OF MISERY INSIDE GOOGLE, THE HAPPIEST COMPANY IN TECH (Wired) WEWORK ISN’T A TECH COMPANY; IT’S A SOAP OPERA (The Verge) WeWTF (ProfGalloway.com) Elon Musk’s Neuralink: Both an evolution and a plan for radical change (Ars Technica) SpaceX’s First Astronauts Train Up for Space, but Crew Dragon Faces Delays (Inverse.com) HOW A 'NULL' LICENSE PLATE LANDED ONE HACKER IN TICKET HELL (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Aug 201917min

Facebook tweaks groups, Google Assistant lets you remind family members, can we be training voice AI in a better way, say hello to the Sega Genesis Mini, and the free app that can save your life out in the wilderness. Sponsors: Metalab.co Macstadium.com/ridehome Links: Facebook is simplifying group privacy settings and adding admin tools for safety (The Verge) THE SEGA GENESIS MINI BUILDS ON WHAT MADE NINTENDO’S TINY CONSOLES GREAT (The Verge) UPS has been quietly delivering cargo using self-driving trucks (The Verge) Stay organized and productive with new Assignable reminders (Google) Do Tech Companies Really Need to Snoop Into Private Conversations to Improve Their A.I.? (Slate) What3words: The app that can save your life (BBC News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Aug 201918min

WeWork files for its IPO, a huge data leak reveals fingerprints, facial recognition data and more, are you going to have trouble taking your MacBook Pro on your next flight, why Two and a Half Men is the next big piece in the streaming wars and why I’m bullish on an Airbnb for boats. Sponsors: Metalab.co MacStadium.com/ridehome Links: WeWork files for long-awaited IPO (Axios) Major breach found in biometrics system used by banks, UK police and defence firms (The Guardian) FAA Bans Recalled MacBook Pros From Flights (Bloomberg) AI Startup Boom Raises Questions of Exaggerated Tech Savvy (WSJ) HBO Max eyeing ‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Two and a Half Men’ in $1.5 billion deal (The Daily Dot) Facebook Paid Contractors to Transcribe Users’ Audio Chats (Bloomberg) Peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace Boatsetter raises $10M as it looks to grow globally (TechCrunch) Subscribe to the ad-free feed right HERE in your podcast browser! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Aug 201919min

Tumblr finds its final home (hopefully), new Snap Spectacles, a new gaming startup tries to one-up Fortnite’s social model, why your DSLR camera is a prime ransomware target, and yes, Twinfluencers are apparently a thing. Sponsors: MacStadium.com/ridehome Metalab.co Links: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to WordPress.com Owner (WSJ) Snap Unveils a New Version of Video-Recording Spectacles (Bloomberg) Microsoft Cancels Super Duper Graphics Pack for Minecraft (Thurrott.com) Singularity 6 raises $16.5M from Andreessen Horowitz to create a 'virtual society' (TechCrunch) Security researchers find that DSLR cameras are vulnerable to ransomware attack (The Verge) Twinfluencers Are Taking Over the Internet (The Atlantic) Design Memes: The Origin of those Helvetica List T-Shirts (HowDesign.com) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Aug 201916min

Would you want (or need) a 108MP smartphone camera? The “Ninja” Blevins/Twitch breakup explained. The cat-and-mouse between Chrome and paywalls explained. Credit where due for Apple on wearables, and why touchscreens might not be a user interface panacea. Sponsors: Metalab.co Legacybox.com/ride Links: Samsung's 108-megapixel mobile sensor closes in on mirrorless cameras (Engadget) Ninja calls out Twitch after his dormant channel highlights porn (updated) (Engadget) The New York Times is still detecting Chrome Incognito Mode after Google’s fix (9to5Google) Apple Deserves More Credit for Wearables (Above Avalon) How Facebook Is Changing to Deal With Scrutiny of Its Power (NYTimes) Navy Reverting DDGs Back to Physical Throttles, After Fleet Rejects Touchscreen Controls (USNI News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Aug 201919min