Wed. 10/09 - Where Would We Be Without Lithium-Ion Batteries?

Uber says it will be profitable quicker than it had expected to, yet another entrant into the lists at the Streaming Wars, what’s it like to use a 64-core processor, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Podcorn.com Links: Uber stock is on pace for its best day ever (CNBC) ViacomCBS to launch new streaming service blending CBS All Access with Paramount films, Viacom channels (CNBC) NYSE Owner Abandons Potential eBay Deal (WSJ) The 64 Core Threadripper 3990X CPU Review (AnandTech) Big Tech opponent Bernie Sanders raises more money from Big Tech employees than anyone else (Recode) Netflix will now let you disable its awful autoplaying feature (The Verge) The Weekend Longreads Suggestions: MICROSOFT’S WINDOWS FUTURE IS NOW TIED TO HARDWARE (The Verge) Steven Levy's Plaintext An Algorithm That Grants Freedom, or Takes It Away (NYTimes) ‘ClassPass Is Squeezing Studios to the Point of Death’ (Vice) Elon Musk Can’t Lose (BuzzFeed News) A SMALL ROCKET MAKER IS RUNNING A DIFFERENT KIND OF SPACE RACE (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Feb 202017min

Google Maps turns 15 and puts on a fresh coat of paint, it turns out you WILL be able to unlock your car via iPhone and really soon, Huawei is suing Verizon, Twitter impresses investors, Casper has a rollercoaster IPO, and does the fact that Google has stopped reporting a key metric basically guarantee that they have crossed the ad-load Rubicon? Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Podcorn.com Links: Google Maps gets a new icon and more tabs to celebrate 15th anniversary (The Verge) New ‘CarKey’ feature in iOS 13.4 beta brings built-in support for unlocking, driving, and sharing NFC car keys (9to5Mac) Apple now sells more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry (The Verge) Huawei sues Verizon for alleged patent violations (The Verge) Twitter reports $1.01B in Q4 revenue with 152M monetizable daily active users (TechCrunch) Casper surges nearly 30% in market debut (CNBC) The mysterious disappearance of Google's click metric (ZDNet) Ancestry to lay off 6% of workforce because of a slowdown in the consumer DNA-testing market (CNBC) U.S. allows SoftBank-backed Nuro to deploy driverless delivery vehicles (Reuters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Feb 202016min

Spotify officially buys The Ringer, we have the official Disney+ subscriber numbers, Jeff Weiner is officially stepping down as LinkedIn CEO, a Rockstar Games co-founder is apparently leaving the company, and what languages do most developers say they want to learn next? Sponsors: TinyCapital.com NetGear.com/bestwifi Links: Spotify is buying Bill Simmons’s The Ringer to boost its podcast business (Recode) Disney earnings beat expectations, fueled by strong Disney+ subscriptions (Yahoo! Finance) LG Electronics is withdrawing from Mobile World Congress due to coronavirus (The Verge) NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Makes Takeover Offer for eBay (WSJ) Instagram Brings In More Than a Quarter of Facebook Sales (Bloomberg) Jeff Weiner Updates His LinkedIn Profile (Wired) Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser is leaving the company (The Verge) Programming languages: Go and Python are what developers most want to learn (ZDNet) Why the N.Y.P.D. Dropped One of Its Oldest Crime-Fighting Tools (NYTimes) Steve Jobs' personality changed after Apple's success, Wozniak says (CNET) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Feb 202016min

We finally know how big a business YouTube is, the tech angle on that Iowa Caucuses mess IS the only angle, Mastercard explains why it pulled out of Libra, and why has the US Government decided to break up Big Razor, before it gets around to Big Tech. Sponsors: Capterra.com/ride WarbyParker.com/tech Links: YouTube is a $15 billion-a-year business, Google reveals for the first time (The Verge) This Is The Buzzy Democratic Firm That Botched The Iowa Caucuses (HuffPost) Some Google Photos videos in ‘Takeout’ backups were sent to strangers last November (9to5Google) Mastercard chief speaks out against nationalism and Facebook (Financial Times) Asana Says It’s Filed to Go Public Through a Direct Listing (Bloomberg) Chip Industry Had Worst Sales Year Since Dot-Com Bubble Burst (Bloomberg) Top Antitrust Official Is Said to Recuse Himself From Google Inquiry (NYTimes) The US government is breaking up Big Razor before it gets to Big Tech (Recode) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Feb 202016min

The end might truly be nigh for Blackberry this time. Will the Corona Virus mean we won’t have an Apple event next month after all? Leaked video of the Galaxy Z Flip. Did Jeff Bezos succumb to Elon Musk envy? And why one of the most popular music streaming services in the world is one you’ve probably never heard of. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com LegalZoom.com (code: ride at checkout) Links: BlackBerry’s Android smartphones will stop being sold in August 2020 (9to5Google) Ming-Chi Kuo Says Coronavirus Outbreak Impacting iPhone Supply, Lowers Shipment Forecast (MacRumors) Uber Suspends 240 Mexican Accounts to Prevent Coronavirus Spread (Bloomberg) Microsoft Teams goes down after Microsoft forgot to renew a certificate (The Verge) Alleged leaked video shows off Samsung’s folding Galaxy Z Flip (The Verge) Disney Takes Tighter Control of Hulu After Disney+ Bundle Revs Up Growth (Bloomberg) Behind Amazon’s HQ2 Fiasco: Jeff Bezos Was Jealous of Elon Musk (Bloomberg) Spotify, Apple Music Trail Little-Known Rival in Music-Obsessed India (WSJ) A guy carted 99 phones around to create traffic jams on Google Maps (Updated) (Android Authority) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Feb 202018min

This is the promised interview with Angela Strange from Andreessen Horowitz. I told you about it on the weekend longreads segment yesterday, so no more need to explain it: let’s talk about why soon, every company could be a Fintech company. Sponsor: Tinycapital.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Feb 202021min

Amazon earnings, the new Apple Maps is rolling out in the US, Uber and DoorDash held merger talks at Softbank’s behest, who’s number two to TikTok in short form videos, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsor: Metalab.co Links: Amazon Revenue Jumps on Holiday Sales as Profit Rises (WSJ) Apple's redesigned Maps app is available across the US (TechCrunch) Uber and DoorDash held merger talks after SoftBank push (Financial Times) SoftBank Is Funding Every Side of a Bruising Startup Battle (WSJ) EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, overwhelmingly vote to push for charging cable standard (Apple Insider) How Dubsmash revived itself as #2 to TikTok (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Every Company Will Be a Fintech Company (Angela Strange/A16Z) Don't Brush Off Mouth Tech As a Passing Fad (Wired) The iPad's original software designer and program lead look back on the device's first 10 years (InPut) Super Bowl 2020: The madness and magic behind the game’s first 4K HDR broadcast (Digital Trends) Researchers Are Racing to Make a Coronavirus Vaccine. Will It Help? (NYTimes) How Do Bats Live With So Many Viruses? (NYTimes) Facial Recognition- The controversial and nearly ever-present technology that could replace the fingerprint (California Sunday Magazine) CollegeHumor Helped Shape Online Comedy. What Went Wrong? (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 Jan 202018min

Its Earnings Bonanza Day! Tesla, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung… Facebook pays a record fine to Illinois, the Switch has outsold the SNES, three interesting Apple stories, Avast changes its business model and the new Fantastical app. Sponsors: Metalab.co BelovedRobot.com/nolowcode Links: Tesla’s record 2019 has bought it some breathing room (The Verge) We’re about to enter a world where Tesla is the cheaper electric car (Quartz) Facebook plunges, wiping out more than $50 billion in market value (CNBC) Xbox revenue falls 21% as Microsoft gears up for Xbox Series X debut (GeekWire) Samsung Posts Lower Profit, Anticipates End of Chip Slump (WSJ) Facebook to Pay $550 Million to Settle Facial Recognition Suit (NYTimes) Avast winds down Jumpshot, cites user data sale privacy concerns (ZDNet) Nintendo upgrades fiscal-year forecast as Switch hits 52.5 million consoles sold (VentureBeat) Apple Hires Key Netflix Engineer in Bid to Boost Subscription Services (WSJ) Apple Ends AI Startup’s Work on ‘Project Maven’ After Acquisition (The Information) Kuo: Apple to Launch AirTags, Small Charging Mat, New iPads and Macs, High-End Headphones, and More in First Half of 2020 (MacRumors) Say hello to the new Fantastical: one robust calendar for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac (9to5Mac) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Jan 202018min