Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2018 - Google Wants to Save Journalism

SAP buys Qualtrics, the Galaxy S10 might be coming in February and the Galaxy F might be coming in March, what exactly is TikTok and why you should care, and Jony Ive has an exclusive new product design. Links: SAP to buy Qualtrics for $8 billion (Axios) How One Family Built $8 Billion Startup Far From Silicon Valley (Bloomberg) Samsung Electronics to release first foldable smartphone in March: sources (Yonhap News Agency) Snap’s former No. 2 exec Imran Khan is building an online shopping startup (ReCode) Facebook quietly launches a TikTok competitor app called Lasso (The Verge) A Guide to TikTok for Anyone Who Isn’t a Teen (Slate) Netflix to Test Lower-Price Plans as It Seeks More Asian Users (Bloomberg) At Netflix, Who Wins When It’s Hollywood vs. the Algorithm? (WSJ) Jony Ive’s latest design is the ultimate diamond ring – made only of diamond … (9to5Mac) The Fading Battlefields of World War I (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Nov 201817min

The great winter of tech worker discontent is definitely here, Disney’s streaming service has a name, Vine might be coming back, Github hits a major milestone and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: Amazon is finally selling new iPhones after a long and complicated 'turf war' with Apple (BusinessInsider) A note to our employees (Google) #GoogleWalkout update: Collective action works, and we need to keep working. True equity depends on it. (Google Walkout For Real Change) Amazon Execs Addressed Concerns About Amazon Rekognition And ICE At An All-Hands Meeting (BuzzFeed) Vine co-founder plans to launch successor Byte in Spring 2019 (TechCrunch) GitHub passes 100 million repositories (Venture Beat) The Betterment Weekend Longreads: Why Technology Favors Tyranny (The Atlantic) Tech C.E.O.s Are in Love With Their Principal Doomsayer (NYTimes) HQ Trivia was a blockbuster hit — but internal turmoil and a shrinking audience have pushed its company to the brink (ReCode) ‘It’s Giant and Has Like Five Million Buttons.’ The Office Desk Phone Won’t Die (WSJ) Why Doctors Hate Their Computers (The New Yorker) Here Comes ‘Smart Dust,’ the Tiny Computers That Pull Power from the Air (WSJ) ASTRONOMERS SEE MATERIAL ORBITING A BLACK HOLE *RIGHT* AT THE EDGE OF FOREVER (SyFy Wire) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Nov 201819min

Foldable phones are officially a thing, Tesla names a new board chair, Amazon’s mailing a physical toy catalog, Ford doesn’t want to miss out on scooters, and Comcast doesn’t want to miss out on home hubs. Stories from: @albertwenger, @dmac1, @meganrosedickey Tweets: @bryce Links: This is Samsung’s foldable smartphone (The Verge) Google says Android will natively support ‘foldables’ to limit fragmentation (The Verge) Amazon is mailing a printed holiday toy catalog to millions of customers (CNBC) Google Plans Large New York City Expansion (WSJ) The Anchor Tenant (Fred Wilson/AVC) Google's Gift to NYC (Albert Wenger) Ford buys electric scooter startup Spin (TechCrunch) Comcast is developing a video-streaming platform for broadband-only customers (CNBC) So I sent my mom that newfangled Facebook Portal (TechCrunch)   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Nov 201816min

Silicon Valley’s special election day vote, why robocalls have taken over your phone, Jeff Bezos’ clever HQ2 bonus, making 911 calls better and why Jake Tapper is a digital media pioneer. Links: San Francisco has passed a first-of-its-kind tax on big businesses — like Square and Stripe — to help the homeless (Recode) Scoop: AT&T to cut off some customers' service in piracy crackdown (Axios) Why robocalls have taken over your phone (The Verge) Amazon gained a huge perk from its HQ2 contest that's worth far more than any tax break (Business Insider) Chinese ‘gait recognition’ tech IDs people by how they walk (The Associated Press) RapidSOS, an emergency response data provider, raises $30M as it grows from 10K users to 250M (TechCrunch) Newsonomics: “Digital defeats print” is the headline as Gannett steps away from printed election results (NiemanLab) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Nov 201816min

Facebook takes down more accounts ahead of the election, the new Chrome might block ALL ads on some websites, Macbook Air reviews, and why you might not be able to read election results in tomorrow’s newspaper. Links: Medium Post on Facebook and the Election (Jonathan Albright) Chrome will soon ad-block an entire website if it shows abusive ads (The Verge) Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities (WSJ) APPLE MACBOOK AIR (2018) REVIEW: THE PRESENT OF COMPUTING (The Verge) The 2018 Retina MacBook Air (Daring Fireball) India's Meesho, which enables social commerce via WhatsApp, raises $50M (TechCrunch) PredictHQ exits stealth with $10 million to help Uber and others forecast demand surges (VentureBeat) VMWare acquires Heptio, the startup founded by 2 co-founders of Kubernetes (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Nov 201816min

Has Amazon decided on the location of its new HQ? What do people think of the new iPad Pros? Why are recently IPO’d tech companies hoarding cash? And why you might want to think twice about taking a selfie in the voting booth tomorrow. Links: Amazon in Late-Stage Talks With Cities Including Crystal City, Va., Dallas, New York City for HQ2 (WSJ) Amazon waives $25 minimum spend to offer free Christmas deliveries for all U.S. customers (Venture Beat) APPLE IPAD PRO REVIEW 2018: THE FASTEST IPAD IS STILL AN IPAD (The Verge) Apple’s first 5G iPhone will arrive in 2020 (Fast Company) YOU TOO CAN BUILD YOUR OWN CHIP – FOR ONLY $30 MILLION (Digits to Dollars) Newly Public Tech Firms Race Back to Market as IPO Frenzy Continues (WSJ) Did You Vote? Now Your Friends May Know (and Nag You) (NYTimes) You can't take a 'ballot selfie' in Illinois, Florida, or 25 other states — see where it's illegal to take a photo in the voting booth (Business Insider) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Nov 201818min

Apple makes a pile of money and their stock tanks, Flickr ends its mega-free-storage plan, a classic internet cartoon gets a 4K makeover, browser extensions steal Facebook private messages, testing the latest smartphones to see how their batteries hold up, and the weekend longreads suggestions. Tweets: @neilcybart, @textfiles Links: Apple results: A record September quarter with $62.9B revenue (Six Colors) Apple’s price hike strategy is paying off (The Verge) Flickr will end 1TB of free storage and limit free users to 1,000 photos (The Verge) Several thoughts from your old pal Jason (Jason Scott/Twitter) The Cartoon That Invented Internet Culture Gets a High-Definition Rerelease (Intelligencer) Private messages from 81,000 hacked Facebook accounts for sale (BBC News) It’s not your imagination: Phone battery life is getting worse (Washington Post) ‘How the Internet Happened’ Review: Building a World Online (Wall Street Journal) The Betterment Weekend Longreads: The Facebook Dilemma, Part 1 (Frontline on YouTube) and The Facebook Dilemma, Part 2 (Frontline on YouTube) A Cryptocurrency Millionaire Wants to Build a Utopia in Nevada (New York Times) The Man Behind the Scooter Revolution (CityLab) A Fork in the Road for Avis (Fortune) The Encyclopedia of the Missing (Longreads) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Nov 201814min

Google employees stage a walk-out protest around the globe, Vox swallows Recode, the new devices this week continue Apple’s push to increase ASP, and maybe it’s subscriptions that are eating the world. Stories from: @rustybrick, @benlovejoy Tweets: @lizthegrey, @ingridlunden Links: Google walkout: Pictures of Google workers leaving their desks in protest over sexual misconduct (Business Insider) Recode Tech and Media Website to Be Folded Into Vox.com (WSJ) New MacBook Air threatens both MacBook and MacBook Pro with Function Keys (Apple Insider) Opinion: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again (9to5Mac) Apple's new T2 security chip will prevent hackers from eavesdropping on your microphone (TechCrunch) WhatsApp found a place to show you ads (The Verge) Google My Business Adds Setting For Google Assistant Calls Over Duplex (Search Engine Roundtable) Spotify is just $6.8 million away from profitability (Engadget) Liftoff: Mobile users are embracing subscription app economy (Venture Beat) Tickets for: Brian's 92Y Book Event Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Nov 201818min