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Tue. 03/31 - Apple Buys Dark Sky! Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

Snapchat launches its Stories syndication program. Fitbit has a powerful new fitness tracker. Microsoft and Spotify release some family friendly features and apps. It’s time for Zoom to come under the spotlight for privacy concerns. And a court has ruled that simply breaking a site's terms of service does not constitute criminal hacking.

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Apple purchases hyperlocal weather app Dark Sky, ending API and killing Android apps (9to5Mac)
Snapchat preempts clones, syndicates Stories to other apps (TechCrunch)
Surprise! Fitbit's First New Product Since Google Deal Is A Fitness Tracker (Gizmodo)
Microsoft announces Teams for consumers, Skype daily active users up 70% to 40 million (VentureBeat)
Microsoft 365 bundles Office 365 with AI and cloud-powered features (VentureBeat)
Spotify Brings Standalone Kids’ App to U.S., Featuring a ‘Wash Your Hands’ Playlist (Variety)
New York Attorney General Looks Into Zoom’s Privacy Practices (NYTimes)
ZOOM MEETINGS AREN’T END-TO-END ENCRYPTED, DESPITE MISLEADING MARKETING (The Intercept)
Comcast says voice and video calls have skyrocketed 212 percent during widespread self-isolation (The Verge)
Apple Tests Its Secrecy Somewhere New: Employee Homes (Bloomberg)
Court: Violating a site’s terms of service isn’t criminal hacking (Ars Technica)

Mon. 03/30 – HQ Trivia Back From The Dead! Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

HQ Trivia resurrects itself thanks to an anonymous investor. Facebook tries to squeeze Apple out of the AR screen market. Some crowdsourced data reveals who where layoffs are happening in tech but also which companies are still hiring. And a major hack takes down a big chunk of the dark web.

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HQ Trivia Returns Thanks to Anonymous Investor (WSJ)
Facebook Strikes Deal for AR Displays, Squeezing Out Apple (The Information)
Government Tracking How People Move Around in Coronavirus Pandemic (WSJ)
Coronavirus has led to a 775 percent increase in usage of Microsoft Azure cloud services (BetaNews)
Apple's factories are running, but suppliers wary about iPhone demand (Reuters)
Candor: 267 companies have frozen hiring, 44 had layoffs, 36 rescinded offers, 111 are hiring (VentureBeat)
OneWeb files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (Space News)
Airbnb to Halt All Marketing, Most Hiring as Losses Mount (The Information)
Lyft Tells Drivers to Work for Amazon After Ridership Plummets (Bloomberg)
Bird lays off about 30% of workforce amid COVID-19 pandemic (TechCrunch)
Hack Attack Takes Down Dark Web Host: 7,595 Websites Confirmed Deleted (Forbes)

Fri. 03/27 - Apple's Covid-19 App Mar 27, 2020

Show notes

Apple has released an official Covid-19 App. Kuo says Arm-based Macbooks are coming next year. Sony is spinning off a lot of the parts of itself that make it a tech company. Instacart workers are planning a nationwide strike on Monday. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Apple releases new COVID-19 app and website based on CDC guidance (Apple Newsroom)
Kuo: Apple to Launch Several Macs With Arm-Based Processors in 2021, USB4 Support Coming to Macs in 2022 (MacRumors)
Sony Spins Off Camera Business Into Separate Company (PetaPixel)
Instacart’s Gig Workers Are Planning a Massive, Nationwide Strike (Motherboard)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Everything Is So Fucked, You Might As Well Get A Facebook Portal (Buzzfeed News)
We Need A Massive Surveillance Program (IdleWords.com)
Bosses Panic-Buy Spy Software to Keep Tabs on Remote Workers (Bloomberg)
Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising? (Wired)
DJI Won the Drone Wars, and Now It’s Paying the Price (BusinessWeek)
We visited a small Virginia town where drone deliveries have begun for real (Input Magazine)

Thu. 03/26 – No New iPhone Until 2021? Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

Apple is weighing its options, and delaying the release of the 5G iPhone until 2021 is being discussed. Airbnb is offering free housing for medical workers. An interesting raise Thursday that wants to be the flip side of Shopify in the ecommerce space. And a preview of Huawei’s upcoming Google-less flagship phone.

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Apple weighs delaying 5G iPhone launch by months, sources say (Nikkei Asian Review)
Apple Testing AR/VR Headset With HTC Vive-Like Controller, Crosswalk Bowling Game, and More (MacRumors)
What Qualcomm's new chips mean for upcoming true wireless earbuds (CNET)
Airbnb Hosts to Help Provide Housing to 100,000 COVID-19 Responders (Airbnb Newsroom)
TripActions, Zeus Living Laying Off Employees Due To COVID-19 Slowdown (Crunchbase News)
What it feels like to be laid off on Zoom during this crisis (Protocol)
Lime’s Valuation May Fall 80% in Emergency Fundraising (The Information)
StubHub furloughs employees, other ticket sites face challenges in wake of pandemic (ESPN)
Stripe leads $20M Series A into Fast, which is building a universal checkout service for e-commerce (TechCrunch)
LIVING A GOOGLE-FREE LIFE WITH A HUAWEI PHONE (The Verge)

Wed. 03/25 - Google Podcasts Comes To iOS Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

How Facebook is coping with Corona, Google Podcasts comes to iOS, ad blocking officially comes to Safari, when Apple thinks it can re-open stores, Singapore open-sources it’s Corona-contact-tracing app, and have your screen time notifications horrified you this week? You’re not alone.

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Metalab.co
Rhone.com/ridehome Promocode: ridehome for 20 percent off

Links:

Facebook Is ‘Just Trying to Keep the Lights On’ as Traffic Soars in Pandemic (NYTimes)
The Coronavirus Revives Facebook as a News Powerhouse
More than half of all news consumption on Facebook in America (NYTimes)
Google Podcasts is finally available of iOS (TechCrunch)
Apple updates Safari’s anti-tracking tech with full third-party cookie blocking (The Verge)
Apple May Start Reopening Stores in First Half of April (Bloomberg)
iPhone Makers Suspend India Production Due to Lockdown (Bloomberg)
Coronavirus: S'pore Government to make its contact-tracing app freely available to developers worldwide (The Straight Times)
Court in Telegram case blocks gram token issuance, says token distribution likely violates securities law (The Block)
Our iPhone weekly screen time reports are through the roof, and people are ‘horrified’ (Washington Post)

Tue. 03/24 - Instagram Co-Watching Mar 24, 2020

Show notes

A wicked Windows zero day is out in the wild without a patch. Google is open sourcing a cool new AI architecture. Instagram wants you to co-watch your feed with a friend. A popular “challenger bank” comes to the US. And the iPad Pro reviews are in.

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Microsoft says hackers are attacking Windows users with a new unpatched bug (TechCrunch)
Apple promises App Store expansion to 20 new countries starting next month (9to5Mac)
Google open-sources framework that reduces AI training costs by up to 80% (VentureBeat)
Google opens Stadia Makers program for indie game developers (9to5Google)
Google unveils Android Performance Tuner, Android GPU Inspector, and Cloud Firestore for game developers (VentureBeat)
Instagram has a new way for people isolated by coronavirus to connect: sharing posts via video chat (CNBC)
Exclusive: Disney+ Sees Huge Subscription Spike As Homebound Audiences Clamor For Content (Forbes)
Revolut launches its neobank in the US (TechCrunch)
Review: Apple iPad Pro (2020) (Wired)
APPLE IPAD PRO REVIEW 2020: SMALL SPEC BUMP, BIG CAMERA BUMP (The Verge)

Buy my book for $2.99 (Kindle)

Buy my book for $2.99 (B&N)

How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone

Mon. 03/23 - The Pros And Cons Of Surveilling Against Covid19 Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

The pros and cons of using big data, cellphones and the surveillance economy to combat the coronavirus. More iPhone rumors from Ming-Chi Kuo. Is the Oculus Quest bringing VR into the mainstream? And how to block your messy background when you’re on a Zoom conference call for work.

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Glenn's FREE Book: Take Control of Working from Home Temporarily - TakeControlBooks.com

(Bonus) WFH With WSJ's Chris Mims Mar 21, 2020

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WSJ Technology columnist Chris Mims and I talk WFH best practices, and how the Tech Industry has responded to the Covid-19 crisis thusfar.

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DoubleUp.agency *

KeepComingBackPodcast.com

Fri. 03/20 - Instagram Copies The Last Snapchat Feature Left Mar 20, 2020

Show notes

Yelp is showing how the restaurant industry is in deep trouble. Instagram makes ready to clone the last Snapchat feature it hadn’t copped yet. The very interesting lessons behind a self-driving startup closing its doors. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Links:

Amazon AWS launches $20 million initiative to help fight the coronavirus (CNBC)
Instagram prototypes Snapchat-style disappearing text messages (TechCrunch)
Microsoft’s DirectX 12 Ultimate unifies graphics tech for PC gaming and Xbox Series X (The Verge)
Ex-Uber executive Anthony Levandowski pleads guilty to trade-secret theft (Washington Post)
The End of Starsky Robotics (Medium)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

How Reddit's coronavirus community became a destination (NBC News)
Can Smart Thermometers Track the Spread of the Coronavirus? (NYTimes)
Correlation and Market Meltdowns (Fred Wilson/AVC)
Zoom conquered video chat — now it has even bigger plans (Protocol)
The tech industry’s quest to help us sleep better is just beginning (Fast Company)
How TikTok Is Taking the Tunes out of Pop (HighSnobiety)

Thu. 03/19 - This Is The Microsoft Teams Moment Mar 19, 2020

Show notes

Square wants to become a bank. Microsoft Teams might be rocketing ahead of Slack in terms of user numbers. The EU wants streaming companies to cut back on HD streams. Covid might be depressing music streaming, and some analysis of the iPad becoming a regular old computer.

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Square gains FDIC conditional approval for a banking license (Silicon Angle)
Microsoft Teams passes 44 million daily active users, thanks in part to coronavirus (VentureBeat)
What worries Mark Zuckerberg (The Interface)
EU warns of broadband strain as millions work from home (Financial Times)
Improved iPhone, AirPods availability suggests Chinese production nearing normality (Apple Insider)
Music streaming may actually be falling because of coronavirus (QZ)
Apple's iPad Pro becomes more like a Surface, and that's a problem for Microsoft (Windows Central)
Steven Sinofsky tweet thread about the iPad

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