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Fri. 12/10 – Google Play Games Coming To Windows Dec 10, 2021

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Google Play games are coming to Windows, while Microsoft was apparently willing to bend over backwards if Apple had let xCloud games into the iOS app store. Meta’s first tangible foray into the Metaverse. The English Football punters buying into NFTs. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Google is bringing Android games to Windows in 2022 (The Verge)
MICROSOFT QUIETLY TOLD APPLE IT WAS WILLING TO TURN BIG XBOX-EXCLUSIVE GAMES INTO IPHONE APPS (The Verge)
Meta opens up access to its VR social platform Horizon Worlds (The Verge)
Football fans spending millions on club crypto-tokens (BBC News)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Pokémon and the First Wave of Digital Nostalgia (The New Yorker)
Half a Billion in Bitcoin, Lost in the Dump (The New Yorker)
Amazon is making its own containers and bypassing supply chain chaos with chartered ships and long-haul planes (CNBC)
HOW AN EXCEL TIKTOKER MANIFESTED HER WAY TO MAKING SIX FIGURES A DAY (The Verge)
Three Steps To The Future (Ben Evans' 2022 Slide Deck)
On “Succession,” Jeremy Strong Doesn’t Get the Joke (The New Yorker)

Thu. 12/09 – Instagram To Return To A Chronological Feed Dec 09, 2021

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Instagram is going to bring back a version of its chronological feed, sort of. The congressional hearings about Instagram, but also crypto. I was wrong: we are seeing Novi in the wild as WhatsApp starts testing it in the US. Deep Mind unveils its language model, and say goodbye to… checks notes… Alexa?

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Instagram Chief and Lawmakers Clash Over App’s Real World Harms (Bloomberg)
Instagram will bring back a chronological feed in 2022 (Engadget)
What we learned at Congress' much-anticipated summit of crypto execs (The Block)
Epic v. Apple ruling put on hold after appeals court grants a stay (The Verge)
Italy fines Amazon €1.13B for abusing market dominance (Politico.eu)
WhatsApp launches cryptocurrency payment in the US with Novi (9to5Mac)
Kickstarter Will Move Its Crowdfunding Platform to Blockchain (Bloomberg)
DeepMind says its new language model can beat others 25 times its size (MIT Technology Review)
Amazon is shutting down web ranking site Alexa.com (BleepingComputer)

Wed. 12/08 – AWS Outage Is Why You Didn’t Get Your Package Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

That AWS outage yesterday disrupted Amazon’s own delivery efforts. When we might see the AirPods Pro 2. More specific details on the Apple AR thingy. Ubisoft is the first major player to bring NFTs to games. And a look at the records being set in the African startup investment scene.

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An Amazon server outage caused problems for Alexa, Ring, Disney Plus, and deliveries (The Verge)
AWS Outage Grinds Amazon Warehouses and Deliveries to a Halt (Motherboard)
Kuo: AirPods Pro 2 With New Design and Improved Chip to Launch in Late 2022 (Macrumors)
Kuo: Second-Generation Apple AR Headset to Launch in 2024 With Lighter Design, Redesigned Battery System, and More (Macrumors)
Ubisoft Becomes First Major Gaming Company to Launch In-Game NFTs (Decrypt)
Roku, Google settle messy battle over YouTube distribution (Axios)
Facebook's new website lets fans buy 'Stars' without paying the app stores' commissions (TechCrunch)
African Startup Inflows Seen Hitting Record $5 Billion This Year (Bloomberg)
Twitter’s New CEO Agrawal Got Early Nod From Dorsey a Year Ago (Bloomberg)

Tue. 12/07 – Tim Cook’s Secret China Deal? Dec 07, 2021

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The Information has a story about a secret deal Apple struck that really solidifies Tim Cook as the China whisperer. Intel proves itself to be an astute investor as it weighs a public spinoff of Mobileye. European tech startups raise all-time record amounts. Quantifying this year’s emerging NFT market. And the first ever marketable quantum computing product?

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Mon. 12/06 – DoorDash Tries Something Radical: Employees Dec 06, 2021

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DoorDash tests a wildly new business model: employees! Apple launches a Winter War in Russia. Two stories of US telecom companies doing what US telecom companies do: act shady. And Buzzfeed finally hits the public markets.

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DoorDash breaks gig worker model to hire couriers as employees in New York trial (Financial Times)
Apple Attempts to Stop Developers Promoting Alternative Payment Options for In-App Purchases in Russia (MacRumors)
Crypto exchange BitMart confirms hack resulting in loss of $150 million in crypto (The Block)
The Verizon app might be collecting your browsing history and more (The Verge)
Apple iPhone 13 Rebates Fail to Deliver for Some Buyers (Bloomberg)
BuzzFeed Tumbles in Turbulent Debut for Digital Media (Bloomberg)

(TWTR SPC) Jack Dorsey, Halo Infinite And Foldable Phones Dec 04, 2021

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Mulling over the whole legacy of Jack Dorsey and name changes for tech companies in general. The weird way gaming is changing right now (see: Halo Infinite). And are foldable phones ready for the big time? With Bloomberg's @vladsavov

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Fri. 12/03 – Acquisition Deathwatch: Nvidia/Arm Dec 03, 2021

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Another tech deal goes on a deathwatch, but this time it’s Nvidia and Arm, and this time I think it’s for real. Google is probably working on its own smartwatch. Didi is the first Chinese stock to delist in the west. Instagram is ENCOURAGING you to create a Finsta. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Thu. 12/02 – Square Changes Its Name To Block Dec 02, 2021

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Square changes its name to Block. Apple is hinting at unexpectedly weak iPhone demand. TikTok adds monetization tools. How many people have never used the Internet? And the story behind that whole Spotify Unwrapped thing.

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Jack Dorsey’s Square changes corporate name to Block (CNBC)
Apple Tells Suppliers iPhone Demand Has Slowed as Holidays Near (Bloomberg)
Instacart Plans 15-Minute Delivery Trial as Rival Startups Grow (The Information)
Microsoft Teams Essentials is a new standalone version for small businesses (The Verge)
TikTok adds creator monetization features, including tips and video gifts (TechCrunch)
37 Percent of the World's Population Has Never Been Online, U.N. Report Finds (Gizmodo)
The art and science of Spotify Wrapped (Protocol)

Wed. 12/01 – Twitter Bans “Private” Sharing Dec 01, 2021

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Twitter bans “private” sharing, but there’s some confusion about what that actually means. A big executive departure throws more doubt on Meta’s crypto ambitions. There’s a new Snapdragon flagship chip and I’ve got the specs. And we get some raw data to answer the question: are foldable phones actually a thing or not?

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FirstRepublic.com

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Tue. 11/30 – Meta Might Do The Giphy Deal Anyway Nov 30, 2021

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Tue. 11/30 – Meta Might Do The Giphy Deal Anyway

The UK quashes the Giphy acquisition, but is it actually dead? Maybe not. Was Cyber Monday a bit of a disappointment this year? Why your Pixel phone might reject your cheap charging cable. AWS’s new tools to help you build robots. And a profile of Twitter’s new CEO.

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