Mon. 02/26 – Mobile World Congress Is All About AI This Year (Corrected)

Amazon is creating a system to test its own employees for Coronavirus, Google creates a system to help with unemployment claims, one more attempt to keep track of the Google messaging branding mess, more evidence Zuckerberg really is jealous of Instagram, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Caramba.store Code: Brian50 Links: Apple, Google debut major effort to help people track if they’ve come in contact with coronavirus (Washington Post) Amazon developing coronavirus testing lab for workers (Washington Post) The pandemic is playing to almost every one of Amazon's strengths (CNN Business) Google creates online unemployment application with state of New York (CNBC) Google is rebranding Hangouts Chat as just Google Chat (The Verge) Everyone can now access their Instagram DMs on the web (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Can Airbnb Survive Coronavirus? (Citylab) Atlassian’s tools helped build today’s tech. How’s it prepping for the future? (Protocol) Zuckerberg’s Jealousy Held Back Instagram and Drove Off Founders (Bloomberg Businessweek) Was Leisure Suit Larry Really an Accomplice in Early Banking Cyberattacks? (Vice) Has Apple finally bitten off way more than it can chew? (WiredUK) Apple, Amazon, and Common Enemies (Stratechery) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Apr 202019min

Disney+ continues to blow the doors off the place. Good old phone calls are back, along with the Desktop web. Don’t expect to see new emoji for a while. Stadia is free for anyone with a Gmail account, COBAL skills are in high demand and why the pandemic might be a long-term good for Internet infrastructure. Sponsors: Caramba.store CognitoHQ.com Plume.com/techmeme Links: Disney+ Surpasses 50 Million Paid Subscribers After Launches in Europe & India (The Streamable) Zoom removes meeting IDs from client title bar to boost security (Bleeping Computer) MICROSOFT THINKS CORONAVIRUS WILL FOREVER CHANGE THE WAY WE WORK AND LEARN (The Verge) The Humble Phone Call Has Made a Comeback (NYTimes) Microsoft: Don't expect any Windows 10X devices this calendar year (ZDNet) No one’s getting new emoji in 2021 because of the pandemic (The Verge) Google Stadia now free to anyone with a Gmail address (Polygon)  Now It’s Falling Apart (OneZero) Why the coronavirus lockdown is making the internet stronger than ever (MIT Technology Review) Twitter notifies users that it’s now sharing more data with advertisers (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Apr 202016min

Jack Dorsey literally puts his money to work for Coronavirus relief. More details on that Airbnb lifeline raise. Details on an interesting telemedicine raise. Netflix has increased parental controls, Google is pushing a mandatory new setup for Android development and why the desktop web is back, for the time being anyway. Sponsors: Caramba.store; promocode: BRIAN50 CognitoHQ.com Links: @jack's tweet storm Airbnb Paying More Than 10% Interest on $1 Billion Financing Announced Monday (WSJ) Airbnb In Talks To Raise More Debt (Bloomberg) Update on Zoom’s 90-Day Plan to Bolster Key Privacy and Security Initiatives (Zoom Blog) Netflix will allow parents to remove movies and shows, filter by rating in new update (The Verge) Google is requiring Virtual A/B on new Android 11 devices, paving the way for mandatory Seamless Updates (XDA Developers) Microsoft is freezing hiring except in some unspecified 'strategic areas' (Business Insider) All Microsoft events will be digital-only until July 2021 (The Verge) The Virus Changed the Way We Internet (NYTimes) Restaurant management platform Toast cuts 50% of staff (TechCrunch) Tyto Care raises $50 million to grow its telehealth examination and diagnostic platform (VentureBeat) Google's video chat service adds 2 million users a day amid coronavirus (CNET) Don’t be surprised when ‘Hangouts Meet’ becomes ‘Google Meet’ (9to5Google) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Apr 202017min

WhatsApp wants to make it harder for things to go viral. Airbnb buys some runway. Foursquare merges with another location data company. Checking in with Masa Son. And the latest startup to say it wants to blow up email and unseat Gmail. Sponsors: Caramba.store code: Brian20 F5.com/ride Links: WhatsApp to impose new limit on forwarding to fight fake news (The Guardian) Airbnb is raising $1 billion amid fallout from coronanvirus (CNBC) Foursquare Merges With Factual, Another Location-Data Provider (WSJ) Masayoshi Son Talks WeWork, Vision Fund and Softbank Under Siege (Forbes) Pixel April updates land, bringing eyes-open face unlock setting to the Pixel 4 (Android Police) Microsoft Buys Corp.com So Bad Guys Can’t (KrebsonSecurity) This tiny startup thinks it can do email better than Google (Protocol) Subscribe to the ad free feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Apr 202016min

Happy Quibi day everybody. Check out your Quick Bites for free while you can! Apparently the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook is a hella powerful laptop, but that’s apparently why the battery life sucks. And the Covid-related conspiracy theory inspiring people to set cellphone towers on fire in Britain. Sponsors: MindSET Podcast - Leidos.com/podcast Caramba.store, code BRIAN20 for 20% your first order Links: Quibi app review: shifting landscape (The Verge) How to stream Quibi (The Verge) SAMSUNG GALAXY CHROMEBOOK REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL TO A FAULT (The Verge) Samsung Galaxy Chromebook review: Great, until the battery runs out (Engadget) Tim Cook: Apple shipping custom face shields to medical workers as mask donations cross 20M (9to5Mac) Call for social media platforms to act on 5G mast conspiracy theory (The Guardian) Russian telco hijacks internet traffic for Google, AWS, Cloudflare, and others (ZDNet) Microsoft Edge is now 2nd most popular desktop browser, beats Firefox (BleepingComputer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Apr 202017min

Tech companies are, in fact, stepping up to track Covid-19. We have a name for the new low-end iPhone. Tesla soars but the Space X Starship doesn’t. Watch some free HBO this weekend, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: No Parking Podcast TinyCapital.com Links: Google uses location data to show which places are complying with stay-at-home orders — and which aren’t (The Verge) In coronavirus fight, oft-criticized Facebook data aids U.S. cities, states (Reuters) PRIVACY EXPERTS SAY RESPONSIBLE CORONAVIRUS SURVEILLANCE IS POSSIBLE (The Intercept) Exclusive: iPhone 9 launch imminent, 2020 ‘iPhone SE’ in red, white, and black with up to 256GB (9to5Mac) Tesla soars on delivery numbers -- company delivered 88,400 vehicles in Q1 (CNBC) A third prototype of SpaceX’s Starship rocket bursts on the test stand (The Verge) Airbnb lowers internal valuation by 16% to $26bn (FT) HBO Will Stream 500 Hours of Free Programming, Including Full Seasons of ‘Veep,’ ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘Silicon Valley’ (Variety) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Google Data Centers’ Secret Cost: Billions of Gallons of Water (Bloomberg Green) Microsoft Edge is becoming the browser you didn’t know you needed (Ars Technica) The Xbox Series X master plan (Polygon) From courts to consoles: With live sports canceled, pro athletes join the streaming surge (The Washington Post) Telemedicine, Once a Hard Sell, Can’t Keep Up With Demand (WSJ) The Medical News Site That Saw the Coronavirus Coming Months Ago (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Apr 202017min

Zoom apologizes, but also reveals some INSANE growth numbers. Facebook Messenger comes to desktop. YouTube wants to clone TikTok. Apple let’s some people avoid the App Store tax. More gross firings by teleconference and a timely interesting raise. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com No Parking Podcast Links: A Message to Our Users (Zoom Blog) Facebook debuts standalone Messenger app on Mac and PC (Engadget) 'Content network effect' makes TikTok tough to copy (TechCrunch) YouTube Plans ‘Shorts’ to Rival TikTok (The Information) Apple Lets Some Video Apps Sell Shows Without Taking 30% Cut (Bloomberg) 'It Felt Like a Black Mirror Episode' The Inside Account of How Bird Laid off 406 People in Two Minutes via a Zoom Webinar (dot.LA) Notion, Maker of Collaboration Software, Raises $50 Million (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Apr 202017min

We’ve reached the end of the John Legere era. Samsung thinks we’ve reached the end of the LCD era. Comcast is inadvertently proving ISP datacaps are BS. Is Zoom a victim of its own success? And it’s maybe not overstating things to say it’s past time Amazon should start thinking more humanely about… people. Sponsors: No Parking podcast TinyCapital.com Sponsors: Legere is out as T-Mobile CEO as Sprint merger officially closes (CNBC) Samsung Display to end all LCD production by end 2020 (Reuters) Marriott discloses new data breach impacting 5.2 million hotel guests (ZDNet) Comcast waiving data caps hasn’t hurt its network—why not make it permanent? (Ars Technica) Zoom Lets Attackers Steal Windows Credentials via UNC Links (Bleeping Computer) @c1truz_ thread about Zoom Amazon's Covid Hiring Boom Has Applicants Packed Into Job Fairs With No Special Precautions (Bloomberg) Amazon Struggles to Find Its Coronavirus Footing. ‘It’s a Time of Great Stress.’ (WSJ) Amazon's past catches up with it (The Interface) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Apr 202018min