Entertainment Episodes

Roku launches a Streambar and an Ultra with Dolby Vision. Dell updates the XPS 13 lineup. TikTok is still ticking, as of this moment. Will we see the return of the mini moniker, with an iPhone 12 Mini that might not actually be that small? Amazon Prime day lives again, but the days are numbered for the original Farmville. Sponsors: Metalab.co Liftoff.to Links: Roku’s Streambar is a compact soundbar with built-in streaming smarts (The Verge) Roku Unveils Redesigned $100 Ultra Streaming Box, Will ...

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 attorne...

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 ap...

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 violati...

Has Oracle saved TikTok, in the US at least? Let me explain why it’s not actually buying anything, probably isn’t solving the security problem Microsoft says it would have, and China is keeping its hands on the algorithm. On a normal day, news of Nvidia buying ARM would have been the headline. Airtable is an interesting raise. And who has more pie on their face: OnePlus or US Customs agents? Sponsors: PayPal App BuyRaycon.com/tech Links: Oracle Wins Bid for TikTok in U.S., Beating Microsoft (WSJ...

The TikTok saga. It’s gonna end. Or it’s gonna happen. Or it’s gonna… something in the next few days. Will it be sold? Will it not be? Will it be banned in the US. There are so many angles here. So many interesting ways to tease out something that is unprecedented in the world of Tech. Alex Kantrowitz pinged me to talk about it and he’s a good dude to do so because he wrote a book about the big tech platforms, and, as we get into… this is so rare. A big up and coming platform that is just, for w...

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. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com BuyRaycon.com/tech Links: SiriusXM Is Buying Stitcher in Deal Worth Up to $325 Million (Variety) Amazon says it wi...

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. Sponsors: Metalab.co ApolloNeuro.com/ride Links: Facebook frustrates advertisers as boycott over hate speech kicks off (Reuters) Third of top brands likely to suspend social medi...

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. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Metalab.co Links: 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...

Is Uber about to gobble Grubhub? Twitter does something Facebook and YouTube did a long time ago. Details on Apple’s forthcoming over the ears headphones. New releases for developers and music producers. And look, let’s have a conversation about Quibi. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Rhone.com/ridehome promo code: ridehome Links: Twitter launches labels, warnings on misleading COVID-19 information (Reuters) Exclusive: AirPods Studio to feature head and neck detection, custom equalizer settings, more (...

New Surface Gos, New Surface Books, New Surface Headphones and the Surface Buds finally arrive. The rumored layoffs come to Uber and Airbnb. Disney+ is saving Disney’s bacon at the moment. And why Peloton is one of those companies having a positive Corona moment. Sponsors: Tibco.com/ride Caramba.store , code BRIAN50 at checkout Links: Microsoft’s new Surface Go 2 has a bigger display and better Intel processor (The Verge) Microsoft's Surface Book 3 has 10th-gen Intel CPUs and new NVIDIA GPUs (En...

Sonos launches its own streaming radio service, huge trove of Facebook accounts purchased on the dark web, Google goes with free to compete with Amazon in product search, Kickstarter is seeing a huge drop in project launches and we finally have a date for the HBO Max launch.Sponsors:TinyCapital.comRhone.com/ridehome promocode ridehome for 20% offLinks: Sonos launches its own streaming radio service (The Verge) 267 million Facebook profiles sold for $600 on the dark web (BleepingComputer) Ap...

Happy Quibi day everybody. Check out your Quick Bites for free while you can! Apparently the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook is a hella powerful laptop, but that’s apparently why the battery life sucks. And the Covid-related conspiracy theory inspiring people to set cellphone towers on fire in Britain. Sponsors: MindSET Podcast - Leidos.com/podcast Caramba.store , code BRIAN20 for 20% your first order Links: Quibi app review: shifting landscape (The Verge) How to stream Quibi (The Verge) SAMSUNG GALAX...

Tech companies are, in fact, stepping up to track Covid-19. We have a name for the new low-end iPhone. Tesla soars but the Space X Starship doesn’t. Watch some free HBO this weekend, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: No Parking Podcast TinyCapital.com Links: Google uses location data to show which places are complying with stay-at-home orders — and which aren’t (The Verge) In coronavirus fight, oft-criticized Facebook data aids U.S. cities, states (Reuters) PRIVACY EXPE...

Another flaw in Intel chips, this time unfixable. Y Combinator demo day is going online only. Sonos won’t brick your old hardware anymore. Jack Dorsey probably won’t be moving to Africa anymore. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: Metalab.co TheUSample.com/product Links: 5 years of Intel CPUs and chipsets have a concerning flaw that’s unfixable (Ars Technica) Apple is rejecting coronavirus apps that aren’t from health organizations, app makers say (CNBC) YC W20 Online Demo ...

Some investors want Jack out as Twitter CEO. Apple settles a class action lawsuit for half a billion dollars. If you listen regularly, I bet you can guess why some game developers don’t want to work with Stadia. Spotify wants artists to pay to promote their own songs. And AT&T TV is a new way to re-invent the cable bundle.Sponsors:Metalab.coZapier.com/rideLinks:Rajeev Suri to step down as Nokia CEO; Pekka Lundmark to take over (TechCrunch)Singer’s Elliott Seeks to Replace Twitter CEO Dorsey...

Spotify officially buys The Ringer, we have the official Disney+ subscriber numbers, Jeff Weiner is officially stepping down as LinkedIn CEO, a Rockstar Games co-founder is apparently leaving the company, and what languages do most developers say they want to learn next? Sponsors: TinyCapital.com NetGear.com/bestwifi Links: Spotify is buying Bill Simmons’s The Ringer to boost its podcast business (Recode) Disney earnings beat expectations, fueled by strong Disney+ subscriptions (Yahoo! Finance) ...

More trouble for Softbank startups, more layoffs at scooter startups, VC deals plateaued last year but music streaming continues to skyrocket, how much money does Netflix lose to password sharers and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Stackbit.com/techmeme Tiny Capital Links: SoftBank-Backed Oyo Firing Thousands Across China and India (Bloomberg) E-scooter startup Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100 (Axios) The Q4/EOY 2019 Global VC Report: A Strong End To A Good, ...

A late holiday gift for YouTube creators, an important new rule for drone operators, to what degree has the Chinese government enabled Huawei’s success, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: GiveWell.org/ridehome Mealime Links: YouTube gives creators more control over copyright claim disputes with new update (The Verge) New rule would make it possible to track and identify nearly all drones flying in the U.S. (CNBC) State Support Helped Fuel Huawei’s Global Rise (WSJ) Insid...

That big NYTimes piece about location data, is Facebook taking another run at creating its own OS, is Apple considering buying James Bond, is Spotify building a social graph, and do e-athletes need gaming socks? Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Rhone.com/ridehome Links: Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy (NYTimes) Facebook will bar posts, ads that spread disinformation about the U.S. Census (Washington Post) To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware (The Information) Apple Hel...

WhatsApp sues the NSO Group about that crazy exploit, Uber is threating to sue Los Angeles about a crazy tracking program that I’m not sure about, we’ve got the full details surrounding HBO Max, an activist is taking Facebook’s political advertising policy to its logical conclusion, and how come none of you told me about Mario Kart Tour? Sponsors: Tiny Capital Pessimists Archive Podcast Links: Why WhatsApp is pushing back on NSO Group hacking (Washington Post) WhatsApp Says Israeli Firm Used Its...

Earnings from Alphabet and Shopify, hacking the Olympics, the Rise of the Rest rides again, Amazon is making grocery delivery free and letting you pay your electric bill via Alexa, and don’t update your HomePod, or you might brick it. Sponsors: Tiny Capital leap.fidelitycareers.com Links: Alphabet Earnings Dented by Spending on Cloud Business (Bloomberg) Shopify Shares Tumble After Surprise Loss on Spending Boost (Bloomberg) Microsoft: Russian hackers are targeting sporting organizations ahead o...

Apple might have just given us the final reason to delete iTunes, Sonos has its first portable speaker, the Attorney’s General are targeting Facebook as well, it’s duplicating Google services all the way down, and, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com CognitoHQ.com Links: Apple Music launches a public beta on the web (TechCrunch) Sonos’ first portable speaker is the $399 Move (The Verge) Streaming makes up 80 percent of the music industry’s revenue (The Verg...

Twitter suspends a bunch of China-linked accounts, is Apple TV+ dead on arrival? 23 towns in Texas are hit with ransomware, and why isn’t Alexa in your car? Sponsors: DataTribe.com/challenge PixelUnion.net BRD's Longread About Libra Links: Information operations directed at Hong Kong (Twitter) Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From China (Facebook) Updating our advertising policies on state media (Twitter) Apple Targets Apple TV+ Launch in November, Weighs $9.99 Price After Free Trial (B...