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Mon. 07/13 – SiriusXM Makes the Biggest Podcast Acquisition Yet Jul 13, 2020

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SiriusXM looks like it is stepping up to be the big competitor to Spotify in the podcasting space by lining up Podcasting’s biggest ever acquisition. More worrying signs if you’re a regular user of TikTok. Again, everyone wants a piece of Reliance Jio and a piece of the Indian market. And why Apple is warning people about covering the camera on your laptop.

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SiriusXM Is Buying Stitcher in Deal Worth Up to $325 Million (Variety)
Amazon says it will not ban TikTok from employee phones (The Verge)
For TikTok, an Amazon Ban That Wasn’t, a Wells Fargo Ban That Was (The Information)
DNC and RNC warn campaigns about using TikTok (CNN Politics)
Google to invest $10 billion in India (TechCrunch)
Autonomous drone startup Skydio rises $100 million and launches the X2 commercial drone (TechCrunch)
The real reason Apple is warning users about MacBook camera covers (ZDNet)

Fri. 07/10 – Kuo: Apple Silicon Macs Coming THIS Year Jul 10, 2020

Show notes

We could get our first Apple Silicon Macs as soon as this year. Apple Glasses are still a ways away, but Foxconn is already making the lenses. Feverish last minute negotiations ahead of Peacock’s arrival next week. The PC market is definitively not shrinking, thanks to Covid. And as always on Fridays, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

How Prosperity Transformed the Falklands (The New Yorker)
Our Ghost-Kitchen Future (The New Yorker)
Is Anyone Watching Quibi? (Vulture)
How Wirecard Went From Tech Star to Bankrupt (WSJ)
DE-ESCALATING SOCIAL MEDIA (NickPunt.com)
Algorithms are now commodities (The Shape of Code)
Hacker News thread about the above (Hacker News)

Subreddit where you can answer my hive mind mystery!

.......

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Thu. 07/09 – Apple’s Not Gonna Abandon Thunderbolt Jul 09, 2020

Show notes

Coinbase might be the most important IPO of the next several years. More bad numbers from Quibi. Apple wants you to know it is not abandoning Thunderbolt. Elon Musk says he’s gonna win my self-driving by 2020 wager. And I explain my whole Clubhouse versus Twitter analogy from yesterday.

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Exclusive: Crypto exchange Coinbase readies landmark stock market listing, sources say (Reuters)
Quibi reportedly lost 90 percent of early users after their free trials expired (The Verge)
Apple promises to support Thunderbolt on its new ARM Macs (The Verge)
Nvidia eclipses Intel as most valuable U.S. chipmaker (Reuters)
Google launches Android 11 Beta 2 with final APIs and behaviors (VentureBeat)
Musk Says Tesla Is ‘Very Close’ to Developing Fully Autonomous Vehicles (Bloomberg)
Microsoft's plan to make video calls less miserable (Axios)

Wed. 07/08 – Facebook Fails Its Own Audit Jul 08, 2020

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Facebook fails its own civil rights audit. Details of the new Thunderbolt 4 standard. Details on the new Snapdragon chip. Unpacking what might be in store for the newly announced Samsung Unpacked event. And not an interesting raise, so much as a hella interesting product launch.

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Facebook Fails to Appease Organizers of Ad Boycott (NYTimes)
Facebook Decisions Were ‘Setbacks for Civil Rights,’ Audit Finds (NYTimes)
Exclusive: Apple is working on QR Code payments for Apple Pay, iOS 14 code reveals (9to5Mac)
Thunderbolt 4: A supercharged port upgrade with 8K monitor support (Digital Trends)
Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 865 Plus is its most powerful mobile chip, designed for gaming (The Verge)
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 event confirmed for August 5th (The Verge)
Twitter is working on a new subscription platform, hints job listing (The Verge)
Android 11's official launch appears set for September 8th (Android Police)
Mmhmm turns your boring Zoom call into a Weekend Update-style TV show (The Verge)

Tue. 07/07 – Will The US Government Ban TikTok? Jul 07, 2020

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TikTok pulls it’s app completely for the Hong Kong market. But could the US ban TikTok in the US market? And India shows us what happens when TikTok gets banned. Palantir is about to IPO. A new video compression standard is actually a big deal. And Alphabet’s Loon “moonshot” hits a major milestone.

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TikTok to pull out of Hong Kong (Axios)
U.S. is ‘looking at’ banning TikTok and Chinese social media apps, Pompeo says (CNBC)
India’s TikTok shutdown has left careers and fortunes in tatters (Wired)
Secretive data startup Palantir has confidentially filed for an IPO (TechCrunch)
Palantir Technologies Files to Go Public (NYTimes)
Fraunhofer’s VVC promises to reduce video file sizes by 50% to improve mobile network efficiency (VentureBeat)
73. "Father" of the MP3, Karlheinz Brandenburg (Internet History Podcast)
U.S. tech chiefs to testify before House antitrust panel on July 27: committee (Reuters)
A Bird? A Plane? No, It’s a Google Balloon Beaming the Internet (NYTimes)

Mon. 07/06 – Uber Buys Postmates Jul 06, 2020

Show notes

Uber buys Postmates for $2.65 billion dollars. There’s an Xbox Series X event coming later this month. An algorithm that could PREDICT Covid-19 outbreaks. Florida becomes the first to enact a DNA privacy law. And Sony’s new, wearable air conditioner, the Reon Pocket.

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Uber agrees to buy food-delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock (CNBC)
Uber acquires meal delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion (The Verge)
Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter Suspend Review of Hong Kong Requests for User Data (WSJ)
Microsoft announces Xbox Series X games event for July 23rd (The Verge)
iOS 14: iCloud Keychain now alerts users about leaked passwords, more (9to5Mac)
Can an Algorithm Predict the Pandemic’s Next Moves? (NYTimes)
Florida becomes first state to enact DNA privacy law, blocking insurers from genetic data (Washington Examiner)
SONY’S WEARABLE, POCKET-SIZED AIR CONDITIONER IS FINALLY AVAILABLE FOR SALE! (Yanko Design)

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Thu. 07/02 – ALL of Silicon Valley (kinda) Has A Date With Washington Jul 02, 2020

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Zuckerberg has told Facebook staff he’s not overly worried about the boycotts. The Fab 4 CEOs of the biggest tech companies (minus Microsoft) all have a date to testify before Congress later this month. Police hacked an encrypted phone network popular with mafia types and the results won’t surprise you. And also, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Zuckerberg Tells Facebook Staff He Expects Advertisers to Return ‘Soon Enough’ (The Information)
Apple CEO Tim Cook agrees to testify in House antitrust investigation (Apple Insider)
Facebook is shutting down Lasso, its TikTok clone (TechCrunch)
How Police Secretly Took Over a Global Phone Network for Organized Crime (Motherboard)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Mirror Wanted to Be the Next iPhone. Instead, It’s Selling to Lululemon. (Marker)
There are more streaming choices than ever — why are prices going up? (The Verge)
Apple’s Relentless Strategy, Execution, and Point of View (Learn By Shipping)
Strategy Behind Blockbuster Grubhub Deal: Don’t Deliver (WSJ)
Networks of self-driving trucks are becoming a reality in the US (recode)
Did a Chinese Hack Kill Canada’s Greatest Tech Company? (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Disney's Developed Movie-Quality Face-Swapping Technology That Promises to Change Filmmaking (Gizmodo)

Wed. 07/01 – YouTube TV Has Recreated The TV Bundle At Essentially The Same Price Point Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

The reckoning for social media ad spend might be hitting critical mass. Spotify gets more affordable for couples. YouTube TV gets more expensive for everyone. Apple IS struggling with iPhone 5G delays, but it SHOULDN’T delay things into 2021. And when will Silicon Valley offices reopen? Not anytime soon, it sounds like.

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Facebook frustrates advertisers as boycott over hate speech kicks off (Reuters)
Third of top brands likely to suspend social media spending, survey finds (Financial Times)
Spotify brings its Premium Duo plan to the US, UK and dozens more countries (updated) (Engadget)
YouTube TV hikes price to $64.99 per month following new channel additions (TechCrunch)
Apple races to push ahead with 5G iPhone mass production (Nikkei Asian Review)
Apple Cancels Some Arcade Games in Strategy Shift To Keep Subscribers (Bloomberg)
Google Pushes Back U.S. Office Reopening Plan After Virus Surge (Bloomberg)
Twitch breaks records again in Q2, topping 5B total hours watched (TechCrunch)

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Tue. 06/30 – Amazon Prime Video Launches Watch Party Jun 30, 2020

Show notes

Lululemon wants to buy Mirror. We think Uber is thinking about buying Postmates. Amazon Prime Video launches Watch Party. Android’s AirDrop competitor is rolling out. And why cloud gaming is the impetus for a new data center race.

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Lululemon set to acquire home fitness startup Mirror for $500M (TechCrunch)
Uber in Talks to Buy Postmates for About $2.6 Billion (WSJ)
Amazon Prime Video introduces 'Watch Party,' a social co-viewing experience included with Prime (TechCrunch)
Nearby Sharing — Android's AirDrop competitor — is rolling out now in beta (Android Police)
CodeGuru, AWS's AI code reviewer and performance profiles, is now generally available (TechCrunch)
Exclusive: Facebook changes algorithm to boost original reporting (Axios)
An Infrastructure Arms Race Is Fueling the Future of Gaming (Wired)

Mon. 06/29 – Reddit Bans r/The_Donald and The Facebook Ad Boycott, Explained Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

Reddit bans r/The_Donald and I try to break down the almost hour by hour, day by day timeline of the whole Facebook/social media ad boycott situation. Apple might not include a charger (!) in the iPhone 12 box, much less earbuds. Amazon cuts back on waste in India. India cuts off Tik Tok completely. And some news you can use if you need to recover lost files in Windows.

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Reddit bans r/The_Donald and r/ChapoTrapHouse as part of a major expansion of its rules (The Verge)
Exclusive: Facebook ad boycott campaign to go global, organizers say (Reuters)
The hard truth about the Facebook ad boycott: Nothing matters but Zuckerberg (CNN Business)
Kuo: Apple will not include earbuds or charger in iPhone 12 box (9to5Mac)
Amazon eliminates single-use plastic in packaging in India (TechCrunch)
Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok as border tensions simmer in Ladakh (India Today)
Microsoft’s new Windows File Recovery tool lets you retrieve deleted documents (The Verge)

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