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Thu. 08/17 – Sometimes Startup Acquires You Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

OpenAI makes its first acquisition. Has AI really done anything for Bing marketshare? A really cool looking new gaming handheld. The most recent tally of tech industry layoff numbers. And Eric Schmidt says he wants to pull a Sam Altman.

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Links:

OpenAI acquires AI design studio Global Illumination (TechCrunch)
Microsoft Struggles to Gain on Google Despite Its Head Start in AI Search (WSJ)
Exclusive Images: This is the Lenovo Legion Go Gaming Handheld (WindowsReport)
Cyber security researchers become target of criminal hackers (FT)
Tech Firms Are Slowing Layoffs But Still Not Yet Resuming Hiring (Bloomberg)
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt to launch AI-science moonshot (Semafor)

Wed. 08/16 – And Now I’m A Blue Subscriber Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

By the time you hear these words, I guess I’ll be a blue subscriber cause I’m locked out of Tweetdeck otherwise. Coinbase gets regulatory approval from one agency, while another is suing them. Generative AI in Google search, while Google DeepMind is contemplating doing it for everything. And I guess we’ve entered the true first self-driving car test phase. Hold on to your hats.

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Links:

TweetDeck is officially becoming a paid service (The Verge)
Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to websites he dislikes (The Washington Post)
Coinbase obtains regulatory approval to offer crypto futures trading to eligible clients (The Block)
Google’s AI search experience adds AI-powered summaries, definitions and coding improvements (TechCrunch)
Google Tests an A.I. Assistant That Offers Life Advice (NYTimes)
Robotaxis are driving on thin ice (The Verge)

Tue. 08/15 – iPhone “Maximum Capacity” Concerns Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

Very interesting executive departure at Amazon. A popular Mac service is gonna launch an alternative iOS app store. Now nation states are trying to stockpile Nvidia chips, not just tech companies. And what is the maximum capacity of your iPhone’s battery, and should you check on it?

Links:

Amazon’s Leader on Alexa, Echo and Other Devices Plans to Leave (WSJ)
Scoop: X shuts down $100M promoted accounts ad business (Axios)
Setapp plans to launch EU-only alternative iOS App Store (Apple Insider)
Saudi Arabia and UAE race to buy Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions (FT)
Linear TV Falls Below 50 Percent of Viewing for First Time (The Hollywood Reporter)
iPhone 14 Pro users complain of major drops in battery health and capacity after less than a year (9to5Mac)

Mon. 08/14 – An Apple Watch X? Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

Apple is planning a huge revamp for the Apple Watch in honor of it’s 10th birthday. Amazon is using generative AI to summarize product reviews. It’s finally official. Paying for all the big streaming services is now more expensive than just paying for cable. And if that self driving car is rocking, maybe don’t go a-knocking.

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Links:

Apple Plans Major ‘Watch X’ Overhaul for Device’s 10-Year Anniversary (Bloomberg)
Amazon taps generative AI to enhance product reviews (TechCrunch)
Google-backed Anthropic raises $100 mln from South Korea's SK Telecom (Reuters)
Hollywood calls time on golden era of cheap streaming (FT)
Could a True Streaming Bundle Be Upon Us? (Vulture)
San Franciscans Are Having Sex in Robotaxis, and Nobody Is Talking About It (The San Francisco Standard)

Fri. 08/11 – Unleash The Robotaxis! Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

A major regulatory breakthrough is going to open the floodgates for self-driving taxis in California. Two different stories about dealing with the China restrictions, including one US company that is directly benefiting, and Meta’s AR ambitions, which are not. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

Robotaxis score a huge victory in California with approval to operate 24/7 (The Verge)
Skydio closing consumer drone business (TechCrunch)
Behind Meta’s ‘Made in USA’ AR Glasses: a Military-Grade Material (The Information)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Where have all the fitness bands gone? (The Verge)
4 Actual Use Cases for Blockchain and AI That Are More Than Just Hype (CoinDesk)
The Looming Catalog Crisis (Vulture)
Paul F. Tompkins Is Getting Back Into It (Vulture)

Thu. 08/10 – Streaming $$$+ Aug 10, 2023

Show notes

Oh why not? Disney+ is raising prices too. A new executive order targeting Chinese tech. New features in Threads, but not the ones they need. Are the robot card shufflers in Vegas easily hackable? And we did the Flip. Now the Galaxy Z Fold 5 review.

Links:

Wed. 08/09 – CAPTCHA Supremacy Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Slack announces its biggest ever redesign. Sony signals that the smartphone recession is real and is not getting better anytime soon. Is WeWork circling the drain? Why a Gizmodo editor is suing Apple over Tetris. And guess what? The bots are better at solving CAPTCHAs than you are. Something something, Turing Test.

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Links:

Slack’s biggest redesign ever tries to tame the chaos of your workday (The Verge)
Netflix launches a game controller app for playing games on your TV (TechCrunch)
Sony Expects Smartphone Rebound Only in 2024 After China Fizzles (Bloomberg)
WeWork Tumbles After Raising ‘Substantial Doubt’ About Future (Bloomberg)
Apple's 'Tetris' movie ripped off tech writer's book, lawsuit says (Reuters)
New ‘Downfall’ Flaw Exposes Valuable Data in Generations of Intel Chips (Wired)
Bots are better than humans at cracking ‘Are you a robot?’ Captcha tests, study finds (The Independent)

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Tue. 08/08 – UK Election Hack? Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Hackers accessed the UK Electoral Commission, so how worried should we be? Apple, Samsung and others can’t wait to buy Arm stock. OpenAI explains how its bot is crawling the web. More details on the new M3 chips Apple is testing. And Apple Music finally edges closer to the one thing Spotify still does so much better.

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Links:

Millions of UK voters’ data accessible in cyber-attack, says Electoral Commission (The Guardian)
Apple, Samsung to invest in Arm as it eyes September IPO (NikkeiAsia)
OpenAI Launches GPTBot With Details On How To Restrict Access (SearchEngineJournal)
Zoom can now train its A.I. using some customer data, according to updated terms (CNBC)
Even Zoom Is Making People Return to the Office (NYTimes)
Apple Tests M3 Max Chip, Setting Stage for Most Powerful MacBook Pro Yet (Bloomberg)
Apple Music debuts new algorithmic Discovery Station radio (AppleInsider)

Mon. 08/07 – Is Apple Facing An iPhone Recession? Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

In earnings last week, Apple was forced to admit softness in iPhone sales. But the big question is, will the iPhone 15 be enough to turn things around? A stablecoin from PayPal. What the world being flooded with cheap AI-produced content already means in the real world. And a review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

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Links:

Apple Admits There Is a Smartphone Slowdown Ahead of iPhone 15 Debut (Bloomberg)
PayPal Launches a Stablecoin in Latest Crypto Payments Push (Bloomberg)
New acoustic attack steals data from keystrokes with 95% accuracy (BleepingComputer)
A New Frontier for Travel Scammers: A.I.-Generated Guidebooks (NyTimes)
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: the flip phone we’ve been waiting for (The Verge)

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