A leaked version of Apple’s iOS 14 reveals a treasure trove of details about an upcoming iPhone and iPad, augmented reality software, and tracking tags; an analytics company has secretly operated VPN and ad-blocking apps and gathered data from tens of millions of users without proper disclosure, a company offering panopticon service to the state of Utah once developed disguised social-media scraping apps, Google adds quantum computing to its machine-learning open-source TensorFlow development ki...
Mar 10, 2020•19 min
Another day of markets in turmoil, another Robinhood outage. Jack Dorsey lives to fight another day. Apple is repairing some iPad Airs for free, and might bring 64 MP cameras to the iPhone 12. Gaming out the reality of a ARM-based Mac. And let me hip you to “sleep streaming” on TikTok. Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency Links: Robinhood goes down again, causing clients to miss out on another historic trading day (CNBC) Twitter CEO Dorsey keeps his job after company strikes investment deal with Elliott Ma...
Mar 09, 2020•17 min
I’ve said before, Steven Levy is the dean of the tech writers. All the way back in 1984 his classic book Hackers defined a tech space that wasn’t even fully aware of itself yet. Steven has written book length histories and examinations of Apple and Google, and now, with his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story , he finally tells the full Facebook story for the first time. Not the movie version, but the real story of how Facebook became Facebook from the earliest days at Harvard through the rise ...
Mar 07, 2020•30 min
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 ...
Mar 06, 2020•16 min
More Cornavirus worries, Apple is allowing ads in push notifications, Google is switching to mobile first indexing, hackers can hack your car keys, Samsung’s 4k and 8k tv lineup is here, and why I’m struggling to find a reason NOT to subscribe to DoNotPay at this point. Sponsors: Metalab.co Capterra.com/ride Links: Microsoft tells Bay Area and Puget Sound employees to work from home if possible as coronavirus spreads (CNBC) Apple Warns Stores About a Shortage of Replacement iPhones (Bloomberg) E...
Mar 05, 2020•16 min
You already know Tweets, but let me introduce you to Fleets. Robinhood explains its outages. Google assistant can now read you webpages out loud. Netlify is an interesting raise. And why getting a big-named VC in your seed round might actually be detrimental to your startup. Sponsors: Metalab.co Kiwico.com/ride Links: Twitter Is Finally Doing Stories (Buzzfeed) Robinhood offers $15 discount, blames outage on record trades (TechCrunch) Robinhood offers traders $15 for going down as markets gained...
Mar 04, 2020•16 min
Waymo has an interesting raise. Interesting for what it says about self-driving and about Google Moon Shots. Robinhood has the worst possible outages at the worst possible time. A new player in the quantum computing race. And sports tech offers a new way to watch… golf? Sponsors: Metalab.co Legalzoom.com Code: "ride" at checkout Links: Waymo raises $2.25 billion to scale up autonomous vehicles operations (VentureBeat) Robinhood Trading Site Seizes Up, Customers Miss Stock Rally (Bloomberg) Honey...
Mar 03, 2020•17 min
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.co Zapier.com/ride Links: Rajeev Suri to step down as Nokia CEO; Pekka Lundmark to take over (TechCrunch) Singer’s Elliott Seeks to Replace Twitter CEO D...
Mar 02, 2020•18 min
Are S10 sales in Korea the first indication of the Covid-19 effect? Is the FCC gonna fine the wireless carriers enough for selling location data? Is Apple going to release an iPad Pro with a trackpad? A hybrid scooter/tiny car. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: Amazon bars one million products for false coronavirus claims (Reuters) Initial sales of Galaxy S20 series downbeat amid virus fears (The Korea Herald) FCC to propose ...
Feb 28, 2020•17 min
What else? More Coronavirus stuff. F8 8'nt gonna happen. Roblox is the most interesting raise in a long time. DoorDash files for an IPO but don’t expect it soon. Nokia is exploring its options. Oh, and the first reviews for the Galaxy S20 Ultra suggest the cameras are having issues. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Links: Facebook cancels F8 developers conference over coronavirus (CNET) Microsoft warns it will miss guidance for segment that includes Windows because of coronavirus (CNBC) Roblox raises $...
Feb 27, 2020•17 min
Facebook bans ads around the Cornavirus, a deeper dive into how the Coronavirus crisis might be affecting iPhone development, Bob Iger is no longer Disney’s leader (kinda), why Waymo is hiring like crazy in hopes of a self-driving breakthrough, and if you see someone using an iPhone in a mystery movie, guess what? They’re probably not the bad guy. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com TryGrasshopper.com/ride Links: Facebook is banning ads that promise to cure the coronavirus (BusinessInsider) Coronavirus cl...
Feb 26, 2020•18 min
Netflix launches Top 10 lists, Firefox rolls out DNS over HTTPS, Amazon Go Grocery means no cashiers or checkout lines, consolidation or super app in the Southeast Asian on demand transport space, and why this might be Signal’s moment to go mainstream. Sponsors: Facebook: The Inside Story by Steven Levy Tinycapital.com Rhone.com/ridehome Promocode: ridehome for 20 percent off Links: New Netflix feature reveals the top 10 most popular programs on its service (TechCrunch) Netflix added a top 10 li...
Feb 25, 2020•16 min
The phantom announcements from MWC start trickling in. Safari might be getting strict with HTTPS certificates. Apple might release an ARM-based Mac as soon as early 2021. TONS of specs revealed concerning the Xbox Series X. And Fintech continues to be on a roll. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com MintMobile.com/ride Links: Huawei unveils the Mate Xs and MatePad Pro 5G w/ no Play Store access (9to5Google) Intel debuts 5G server and base station chips, plus a PC network card (VentureBeat) Apple drops a bom...
Feb 24, 2020•18 min
I am honored to be speaking today to Lloyd Minor, the Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has a new book out called Discovering Precision Health , and if you are interested in health tech at all, ESPECIALLY if you are interested in trying your hand at a health tech startup? This is required reading. And for the rest of us, it’s also a great primer on how tech is about to transform health, and what we can (hopefully) look forward to as tech finally (again, hopefully) disrupts t...
Feb 23, 2020•24 min
Well, we mentioned it a couple weeks ago, but Tesla has had quite the month. Maybe one of the banner months of its entire life as a company. No better time to check in on the world of Elon Musk with Rob Mauer of the always excellent Tesla Daily podcast. Why did Tesla’s stock shoot to the moon, come back down a bit, and then inch back up toward the moon this month? What are the fundamentals behind that excellent earnings report? Is this it? Have the Tesla bulls won? Such a fascinating company… Sp...
Feb 22, 2020•32 min
Shopify joins the Libra Association, Facebook will pay you for your data in one specific instance, Google is cutting down on apps using background location, more Coronavirus cancellations and the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Metalab.co Podcorn.com (promocode: "ride" at checkout) Links: Shopify joins Facebook's cryptocurrency Libra Association (TechCrunch) Google Resists Demands From States in Digital-Ad Probe (WSJ) Facebook will now pay you for your voice recordings (The Verge) Googl...
Feb 21, 2020•18 min
Apple might let users choose third-party default apps, Twitter further embraces tweet storms, Morgan Stanley buys E*Trade, a rundown of all the stuff in the new Android developer preview, and if anything, it looks like cord cutting is just accelerating. Sponsors: Metalab.co Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: Apple Weighs Letting Users Switch Default iPhone Apps to Rivals (Bloomberg) Microsoft plans antivirus software for Android and iOS devices (CNBC) Twitter rolling out new ‘Continue thread’ option fo...
Feb 20, 2020•20 min
The ways in which Twitter might be taking a page out of Facebook’s book, and Facebook might be trying some Twitter-like feed experiments. Spotify finally starts showing lyrics. Ring finally requires two factor authentication. And be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to hear about our new Gaming Ride Home podcast. Sponsors: Radar.io Metalab.co Links: Twitter acquires Stories template maker Chroma Labs (TechCrunch) Facebook prototypes tabbed News Feed with Most Recent & Seen (TechCr...
Feb 19, 2020•21 min
The Coronavirus crisis forces Apple to miss their already cautious revenue guidance. Wait. Is the Galaxy Z Flip using real glass or not? Qualcomm claps back at Apple with its next gen 5G modem. And Jeff Bezos plans to donate $10 billion dollars to combat climate change. Sponsors: Metalab.co Capterra.com/ride Links: Investor update on quarterly guidance (Apple Newsroom) APPLE WARNS THAT CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN CHINA WILL AFFECT REVENUE THIS QUARTER (Daring Fireball) Forget foldable: These leaked ...
Feb 18, 2020•20 min
The world’s most powerful climate supercomputer, HQ Trivia joins the Deadpool, Apple isn’t happy with Qualcomm’s chips again, foldable phones are having crease issues again, and a bit of an explainer about the Indian e-commerce gold rush. Sponsors: Metalab.co Wealthfront.com/techmeme Links: UK to spend $1.6 billion on the world's fastest weather supercompute r (Engadget) Game over for HQ Trivia (CNN Business) Exclusive: Apple is designing its own antenna for this year’s 5G iPhone (Fast Company) ...
Feb 17, 2020•18 min
When a company does one of their big product events late in the day, it’s always a mad rush for me to get it out. Apple events are hard, but at least they start a bit earlier. The Samsung event this week just felt like me making a mad list of everything announced and hoping I wasn’t missing anything. So I really felt it was worth sitting back, taking a breath, and looking at everything that was announced in depth. We’re speaking to Gizmodo’s Sam Rutherford today who has actually be hands on with...
Feb 15, 2020•24 min
The DOJ charges a bitcoin mixing service. A judge has blocked Microsoft’s JEDI contract. What happens if the PlayStation 5 is $500? Google takes down some malicious browser extensions. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: Ohio man arrested for running Bitcoin mixing service that laundered $300 million (ZDNet) Judge temporarily blocks Microsoft Pentagon cloud contract after Amazon suit (CNBC) Sony Is Struggling With PlayStation 5...
Feb 14, 2020•17 min
The US charges Huawei with racketeering. Could the future of the Apple Watch be modular? Uber trials ordering an Uber via 800 number. Interesting raises in robotics and in space. And why quantum entanglement could lead to a truly secure internet. Sponsors: Doubleup.agency BuyRaycon.com/tech Links: The US is charging Huawei with racketeering (TechCrunch) Andy Rubin’s Start-Up, Essential Products, Shuts Down (NYTimes) Apple Watch of the future could have a modular back for upgrades & new senso...
Feb 13, 2020•18 min
Does Uncle Sam have a smoking gun when it comes to Huawei? Could Airbnb’s recent financials imperil its IPO plans? Is Apple Pay eating the payments market? Is the CISO job actually a miserable one? And might the Z Flip actually be the first good foldable phone? Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency Zapier.com/ride Links: U.S. Officials Say Huawei Can Covertly Access Telecom Networks (WSJ) Facebook accuses telecoms groups of disinformation tactics (Financial Times) FTC Expands Antitrust Investigation Into Bi...
Feb 12, 2020•17 min
All of the headlines from the big Samsung Unpacked event, the T-Mobile-Sprint merger is officially a go… mostly, Brandless is the first Softbank company to shut down entirely, a Sirius lifeline for Soundcloud, and has the CIA quietly been the real owner of the leading encryption company for decades now? Sponsors: DoubleUP.agency LinkedIN.com/ride Links: SAMSUNG’S GALAXY S20, PLUS, AND ULTRA FIRST LOOK: CAMERAS, 5G, AND 120HZ SCREENS (The Verge) Samsung’s new foldable Galaxy Z Flip will arrive on...
Feb 11, 2020•19 min
The DOJ says the Chinese were behind the Equifax hack, MWC is becoming a ghost conference, the Razr reviews are in, the Corp.com domain name is a weird story, and why ARM’s new edge chips could revolutionize the Internet of Things. Sponsors: Netgear.com/bestwifi Ashford.edu/ride Links: U.S. charges Chinese military hackers with massive Equifax breach (Politico) As top exhibitors pull out of MWC, organizers implement stringent safeguards (TechCrunch) Coronavirus: Sony and Amazon pull out of major...
Feb 10, 2020•17 min
Uber says it will be profitable quicker than it had expected to, yet another entrant into the lists at the Streaming Wars, what’s it like to use a 64-core processor, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Podcorn.com Links: Uber stock is on pace for its best day ever (CNBC) ViacomCBS to launch new streaming service blending CBS All Access with Paramount films, Viacom channels (CNBC) NYSE Owner Abandons Potential eBay Deal (WSJ) The 64 Core Threadripper 3990X ...
Feb 07, 2020•17 min
Google Maps turns 15 and puts on a fresh coat of paint, it turns out you WILL be able to unlock your car via iPhone and really soon, Huawei is suing Verizon, Twitter impresses investors, Casper has a rollercoaster IPO, and does the fact that Google has stopped reporting a key metric basically guarantee that they have crossed the ad-load Rubicon? Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Podcorn.com Links: Google Maps gets a new icon and more tabs to celebrate 15th anniversary (The Verge) New ‘CarKey’ feature in...
Feb 06, 2020•17 min
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) ...
Feb 05, 2020•17 min
We finally know how big a business YouTube is, the tech angle on that Iowa Caucuses mess IS the only angle, Mastercard explains why it pulled out of Libra, and why has the US Government decided to break up Big Razor, before it gets around to Big Tech. Sponsors: Capterra.com/ride WarbyParker.com/tech Links: YouTube is a $15 billion-a-year business, Google reveals for the first time (The Verge) This Is The Buzzy Democratic Firm That Botched The Iowa Caucuses (HuffPost) Some Google Photos videos in...
Feb 04, 2020•17 min
