Mon. 06/02 – How DoorDash Has Quietly Been Killing It

Eugene Wei and Sonal Chokshi explain plainly how and why TikTok is an evolutionary (and algorithmic) step beyond the social graph. Eugene's original essay, TikTok and the Sorting Hat Subscribe to 16 Minutes News by a16z (podcast) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Sep 202040min

All the headlines from Amazon’s hardware event. New Echo devices. Amazon is getting into cloud gaming with Luna. And ring has a literal drone that will fly around the inside of your house for the purposes of sentry duty. Interesting acquisition from Apple continues to point to them doing something big in podcasts. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: PayPal App Amazon.com/techmeme Links: A closer look at Luna, Amazon's cloud gaming service (Engadget) Amazon announces all-new Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Dot with Clock (CNBC) AMAZON’S NEW ECHO SHOW 10 MOVES TO LOOK AT YOU (The Verge) Ring’s latest security camera is a drone that flies around inside your house (The Verge) Amazon’s Bizarre Home Drone Flies Around Inside Your House (Wired) Apple Buys Startup That Creates Radio-Like Stations for Podcasts (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Huang’s Law Is the New Moore’s Law, and Explains Why Nvidia Wants Arm (WSJ) How Nvidia’s CEO Cooked Up America’s Biggest Semiconductor Company (WSJ) This Deal Helped Turn Google Into an Ad Powerhouse. Is That a Problem? (NYTimes) The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite (The Atlantic) Why iPhone users are suddenly going wild creating custom looks for their home screens (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Sep 202020min

The Rebel Alliance has a name: The Coalition for App Fairness. Microsoft will make office available without a subscription. Software as a purchase, if you will, instead of a subscription. Radical. Say hello to the Galaxy S20 FE. And does the gaming industry make pre-orders and console launches so messy on purpose? Sponsors: Amazon.com/techmeme PayPal App Links: Epic, Spotify and others ally against Apple and Google app policies (Engadget) New Microsoft Office on the way for people who don't want a subscription (Windows Central) The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE brings some flagship specs at a $699 price (The Verge) Google Maps gets a COVID-19 layer (TechCrunch) Sneaker Platform Goat Group Raises $100 Million to Fund Expansion Plans (WSJ) How a marked-up term sheet and messy rollout threw TikTok deal into disarray (Reuters) THE GAMING INDUSTRY KEEPS FAILING MISERABLY AT SELLING ITS MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCTS (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Sep 202018min

All the announcements and headlines from Microsoft’s Ignite 2020. Microsoft is exclusively licensing Open AI’s GPT-3. Google has debuted an Airtable rival called Tables. Ming-Chi Kuo thinks we’ll see an iPad with mini-LED by the end of the year. What happened during Tesla’s “battery day.” Pinterest has launched Story Pins and how Spotify is enabling SEO spam in audio form. Sponsors: Amazon.com/techmeme PayPal App JoinFightCamp.com/techmeme Links: Microsoft challenges Twilio with the launch of Azure Communications Services (TechCrunch) Azure Orbital launches Microsoft into cloud-based space race with Amazon (GeekWire) Microsoft Teams is getting virtual commutes and Headspace meditation (VentureBeat) Google launches a work-tracking tool and Airtable rival, Tables (TechCrunch) Swift language tools now available for Windows 10 (iMore) Kuo: Mini-LED Displays to Debut in Apple's Next iPad Pro (MacRumors) Tesla CEO Elon Musk says company can build a $25,000 self-driving car within three years (CNBC) Elon Musk promises $25,000 Tesla and says Model S 'Plaid' is coming soon (CNN) Pinterest officially launches new Story Pins format in beta (TechCrunch) Why Spotify Has So Many Bizarre, Generic Artists Like ‘White Noise Baby Sleep’ (OneZero) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Sep 202016min

Quibi is exploring its options, as they say. The Google Antitrust suit could come next week. Why do you have to return the entire Apple Watch if your wristband doesn’t fit? The CIA has a new plan to compete with Silicon Valley for talent. The SEC and OCC sign off on stablecoins. And the strategy behind Microsoft’s big play for Bethesda. Sponsors: Amazon.com/techmeme PayPal App Links: Quibi Explores Strategic Options Including Possible Sale (WSJ) Justice Department expected to brief state attorneys general this week on imminent Google antitrust lawsuit (Washington Post) PSA: New Apple Watch Owners Have to Return Entire Device for Ill-Fitting Solo Loop or Braided Solo Loop (MacRumors) A $50 Phone is Ambani's Weapon to Dominate India Telecom Market (Bloomberg) SEC, OCC Issue First Regulatory Clarifications for Stablecoins (CoinDesk) CIA’s new tech recruiting pitch: More patents, more profits (MIT Technology Review) You can now stream your Xbox One games to your Android phone for free (The Verge) Microsoft to Buy Bethesda for $7.5 Billion to Boost Xbox (Bloomberg) Microsoft to acquire Elder Scrolls, Fallout, other hit games in $7.5B deal for Bethesda Softworks parent (GeekWire) Watch a demo of Royole’s new folding phone, on sale today for roughly $1,500 (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 Sep 202016min

It looked like we had a TikTok deal the president liked. Then ByteDance went and pointed out they still had control. Now, I dunno where we’re at. Microsoft buys Bethesda. The founder of Nikola steps down in murky circumstances. And Amazon wants to use your Echo and Tile devices for a true Internet of Things network. Sponsors: Amazon.com/techmeme PayPal App Links: Trump Blesses Oracle’s TikTok Deal, Delays App Store Ban (Bloomberg) TikTok deal hit by confusion over who will own and control the app (FT) Judge halts Trump administration order banning WeChat from Apple and Google app stores (CNBC) Microsoft purchases Bethesda Softworks in industry-changing acquisition [Updated] (ArsTechnica) With $100M in funding, Playco is already a mobile gaming unicorn (TechCrunch) Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Resigns as Executive Chairman Amid Fraud Allegations (WSJ) Nikola’s chairman steps down, stock crashes following allegations of fraud (TechCrunch) Amazon details its low-bandwidth Sidewalk neighborhood network, coming to Echo and Tile devices soon (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Sep 202018min

The Commerce Department officially has brought the hammer down. WeChat is banned on Sunday. TikTok banned on Sunday too, but it’s complicated. PayTM is banned from the Google Play Store in India. Facebook decides that Facebook is too toxic for its own workers to use. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Fundrise.com/techmeme PayPal App Links: Trump to block downloads of TikTok, WeChat on Sunday (CNBC) Google pulls India's Paytm app from Play Store for repeat policy violations (TechCrunch) iOS 14 default app settings automatically reset to Mail and Safari after reboot (9to5Mac) Apple is making Shazam a bigger part of your iPhone (The Verge) Facebook is cracking down on groups that give health advice and promote violence (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Exclusive: The Billionaire Who Wanted To Die Broke . . . Is Now Officially Broke (Forbes) ‘Interactive entertainment is the standard bearer of the entertainment business’ (Protocol) Remote Work Is Killing the Hidden Trillion-Dollar Office Economy (Marker) Your Teenage Email Account Is a Lost Time Capsule (One Zero) Why the Apple II Didn’t Support Lowercase Letters (Vintage Computing And Gaming) This unheard Steve Jobs tape is part of an amazing trove of tech history (Fast Company) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Sep 202021min

We have the launch date and price for the Playstation 5. An update on the TikTok and WeChat situations. Why the Snowflake IPO was such a big deal, and such a big success. Red Ventures is affiliate marketing on steroids. And what if I told you the coolest new bit of gear that people got turned on to during the last Apple event was an office chair. But it is Jony Ive’s favorite office chair. Sponsors: Liftoff.to PayPal App MarketingPlay.com; email info@marketingplay.com Links: PlayStation 5 preorders: Sony reveals release date and price (VentureBeat) The PS5 will launch on November 12th for $499.99 (The Verge) Sony confirms PS5’s first-party launch lineup and free game upgrade plans for PS4 titles (The Verge) Oracle’s TikTok Bid Leaves Open Some U.S. Security Concerns (Bloomberg) Pro Rata Newsletter (Dan Primack/Axios) Snowflake IPO Spurs Flood of Wealth for Silicon Valley Elite (Bloomberg) ‘Helping people discover information’: How Red Ventures grew into a giant (Digiday) Sit Like an Apple Engineer in This 70s-Era British Office Chair (Gear Patrol) Subscribe to the ad-free feed and support the show directly! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Sep 202016min