Chris Fralic of First Round Capital was involved in funding such companies as Ring, Hotel Tonight, Warby Parker, Rec Room, and as you’ll hear today, Roblox. But in addition to being a legend, as you’ll hear, Chris is just an all around good dude... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The biggest semiconductor companies in the world warn than the global chip shortage might roll on for years. Could that recent batch of Facebook accounts showing up on the dark web lead to the dreaded maximal GDPR action? Apple says it pays artists more than Spotify does, but is that really true? Depends on how you run the numbers. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Skiff.org/ride GivingMultiplier.org/techmeme Links: Intel, Nvidia, TSMC execs agree: Chip shortage could l...
Jeff Bezos pens his farewell to the troops, and also, the shareholders. A big Google Earth update. Some thoughts on yesterday’s Coinbase debut. DJI updates its mid-level workhorse drone. And Ford is taking baby steps to that sort of super cruise control that I really want while we’re wait for full autonomy. Sponsors: AirMedCareNetwork.com/tech offer code TECH AwayTravel.com/techmeme Links: Jeff Bezos says Amazon needs to do a better job for employees in his final shareholder letter as CEO (CNBC)...
Wed. 04/14 – Now It’s the FBI Doing The (Legal?) Hacking The FBI hacked into some Exchange servers to prevent further hacking of Exchange servers. Ming-Chi Kuo thinks the iPhone mini and the notch are both going away after this year. Sony wants you to think of their phones as cameras first. Oculus gets a key new wireless update. And yes, those Boston Dynamics robot dogs have been spotted on the streets of NYC. Sponsors: Startmail.com/Techmeme for 50% off your first year! Blockchain.com Links: FB...
Everyone announced something today. A new Surface Laptop 4. New Nvidia things. New Roku things. Something new from Spotify literally called Car Thing. Oculus is going to hold a product event. Siri leaked the next Apple event. And Grab is going public via a SPAC. Sponsors: LinkedIn.com/ride Fundrise.com/techmeme Links: Microsoft announces Surface Laptop 4 with choice of Intel or AMD processors (The Verge) Siri Reveals Apple Event Planned for Tuesday, April 20 (Mac Rumors) Facebook Announces Oculu...
Microsoft acquires the biggest name in speech tech. Apple is maybe developing some home gadgets I feel like they should have done years ago. Might we see new iPads by the end of the month? Google wants to stop you from walking and texting. And a review of the new Mercedes-Benz entrant into the EV wars. Sponsors: Skiff.org/ride Netgear.com/bestwifi and promocode:tech10 Links: Microsoft buys speech recognition firm Nuance in a $16 billion deal (CNBC) Apple Working on Combined TV Box, Speaker to Re...
Here was our Twitter Space from this week. We ended up talking all about Coinbase, helped by some great analysis from Romeen Sheth, who I think you’ll recall I quoted from when we talked about this on Wednesday. You can follow Romeen on twitter @RomeenSheth , link in the show notes. And also, he has a great podcast called Square One, where he interviews founders and investors, folks like Anthony Pompliano, Li Jin, David Sacks, even Andrew Yang. Give it a listen, search Square One on your podcast...
The counting is finally happening, and not to be all Nate Silver, but it’s looking fairly certain that Amazon won its big union battle. Apple and Epic Games are making their first arguments in that big lawsuit. A big new scraping hack, this time for half a billion LinkedIn users. Neurolink shows a monkey playing Pong with its brain. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Blockchain.com FundRise.com/techmeme Links: Partial tally in Amazon union drive favors ‘No’ votes . (NYTi...
If the chip shortage is now biting even Apple, things are getting real, y’all. Twitter apparently took a run at buying Clubhouse. Facebook has a new Clubhouse like product called Hotline. Lenovo’s new phone convinces me gaming phones are truly a thing. And are there signs we’re finally gonna see those Apple AirTags… or do the tea leaves reveal the exact opposite? Sponsors: Calderalab.com code TECHMEME at checkout Blockchain.com Links: MacBook and iPad production delayed as supply crunch hits App...
Coinbase has revealed the number behind their business, and they are brain exploding emoji. A big Patreon raise shows the moneybags are serious about this creator economy thing. Nobody is crying at Plaid over that failed Visa merger. There’s a new king of the gaming laptop hill. And I try my best to unravel the twisted tale of the latest Facebook data scandal. Sponsors: Kiwico.com , Promocode ride for 30 percent off Blockchain.com Links: Coinbase Posts Blowout Q1 Profit of $730-$800 Million, Day...
Clubhouse isn’t messing around when it comes to flipping the monetization switch. TikTok translation might make that platform even more global. Yahoo Answers circles the drain. Are NFT prices already dropping? And with the new digital Yuan, would the Chinese government be able to literally turn off the money in your wallet? Sponsors: Today In Digital Marketing Podcast Kraken.com/techmeme Links: Clubhouse’s new direct payments let you toss a coin to creators, and they get 100 percent (The Verge) ...
The Supreme Court has ruled on APIs in a way that should make most developers happy. Though, the punted on the President blocking people on Twitter. LG is exiting the smartphone business. And we already knew half a billion people’s Facebook data was out in the wild, but now that we’ve SEEN it in the wild, I’ll tell you why you should take notice. Sponsors: Blockchain.com NewYorker.com/techmeme promocode techmeme Links: Supreme Court rules in Google’s favor in copyright dispute with Oracle over A...
We didn’t go as long as last time because after about 45 minutes, somehow no one could hear me, even though I was the space commissar, or whatever they term it. Anyway, as you’ll hear, we ended up talking about that big AR story with Microsoft and the HoloLens and the Pentagon. Robert Scoble, who has been on this beat for years showed up serendipitously, to give us some schooling in the space. Enjoy… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Coinbase is going public and sharing its numbers ahead of time, which is rare and probably a sign of confidence. The App Store has started rejecting apps ahead of that big new privacy change. Has Tencent’s gaming studio become the biggest in the world? Another Clubhouse clone, this time from Discord. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: MasterWorks.io promocode ride GivingMultiplier.org/techmeme Links: Coinbase To Go Public on April 14, Announce Q1 Earnings Beforehand (Dec...
Microsoft’s big HoloLens deal with the Pentagon is maybe the big bang for the augmented reality industry. Amazon says their folks can come back to work soon, and in fact, they’d prefer if you did. Bearish signs for the work remotely movement? Why these are boom times for chip makers. And why Siri’s new voices think of gender as a spectrum. Sponsors: Today In Digital Marketing Podcast AirMedCareNetwork.com/tech offer code TECH Links: Microsoft wins U.S. Army contract for augmented reality headset...
Facebook has announced News Feed changes to bring chronology back. LinkedIn is working on a Clubhouse rival and I think that makes total sense. Apple actually leads an interesting investment round. Deliveroo has a disastrous first day on the public markets. And how about Roblox, but inside the Unreal Engine? Sponsors: PingIdentity.com TinyCapital.com Links: Facebook Adds New 'Most Recent' Timeline to Switch to Chronological Posts (MacRumors) LinkedIn confirms it’s working on a Clubhouse rival, t...
It’s actually a nutso butso news day. Spotify is launching a Clubhouse competitor. Amazon is spinning up a new line of custom silicon. Big updates to Google Maps. We know the dates for WWDC. Amazon seems to be doing some Twitter sock puppetry. A bunch of new phones from Xiaomi. Substack is raising another big round. And that’s not all. There’s so much that happened today in the world of tech, that I can’t even promo it all, so let’s just get to it. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com Metalab.com Links: Sp...
New York, Japan, China and the EU are all gonna try out digital vaccine passports. Visa is gonna try out a stablecoin to settle transactions. The official PHP Git repository was hacked. Boston Dynamics has a new robot that isn’t as scary… unless you’re a warehouse worker. And what is Amazon’s aggressive PR recently all about? Sponsors: Fundrise.com/techmeme Grammarly.com/techmeme Links: New York launches nation's first 'vaccine passports.' Others are working on similar ideas, but many details mu...
This is the clubhouse room from Monday, March 22nd. Topics discussed here include the situation with the Dispo app. Zoom’s new SDK. The fate of the HomePod and that secret new gizmo inside the HomePod Mini, and a deep dive into two of the longreads from LAST week: Moore's Law for Everything post and Tim O’Reilly’s piece The End of Silicon Valley as We Know It? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
So, as I said, this is one of the clubhouse rooms we did this week. In fact, it’s the one from last night. Chris convinced me to split the two rooms into two episodes, so I’m releasing this one, from Friday first, and tomorrow I’ll post the one we did Monday night. Topics for this episode: Slack getting into social audio, Microsoft buying Discord, what the heck is BitClout! The great Brady Dale @BradyDale from Coindesk helped us out with that. And more explication of my rant concerning the whole...
The House tech hearings were a nothing burger, but I’ll try to explain what that means for us. Apple is considering a more rugged Apple Watch. Slack is doing a Clubhouse clone and… stories. WeWork is back, with a SPAC. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: EditorX.com ThoughtWorks Technology Podcast Links: Yes or no: Are these tech hearings doing anything? (The Verge) Apple Considers Launching Rugged Watch for Extreme Sports (Bloomberg) Slack is getting new audio features (...
Remember that Onion headline, F- Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades? Well, Samsung says welcome to the DDR5 era. There’s more tech testimony on Capitol Hill today. That Arizona bill that would have regulated the App Store mysteriously disappears. Deliveroo is facing a full on revolt. And my wife covers the Chrissy Teigen twitter news . Sponsors: Calderalab.com use code TECHMEME (all caps one word) at checkout Masterworks.io , promocode ride Links: Samsung Announces 512GB DDR5 Memory That Is Twi...
You can now use Bitcoin to buy a Tesla. You can now DM anyone on Slack. Intel is now doing what Ben Thompson has been telling them to do for years. What Medium is doing to journalists is dumb. What Verizon is doing with Yahoo+ is dumb. And is the Chief Impact Officer title a real role, or is it… dumb? Sponsors: The Hello, User Podcast From Ping Identity BuyRaycon.com/tech for 15% off Links: Elon Musk says people can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin (CNBC) WhatsApp for work: Slack is turning into a f...
Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy Discord but Discord might just take itself public instead. A ton of video game news including an Xbox rebranding, a new Niantic partnership with Nintendo, and new rumors of that upgraded Nintendo switch. A new consortium wants to take the pain out of browser compatibility and Apple faces a class action lawsuit over the butterfly keyboards. Links: Microsoft in Talks to Buy Discord for More Than $10 Billion (Bloomberg) Microsoft rebrands Xbox Live to Xbox ne...
Red hot app Dispo is losing some big name investors and the founder is leaving the startup’s board. As anticipated, Zoom goes platform. Microsoft is beginning a soft HQ reopening. The secret sensor found in the HomePod mini. And the smart startup that has cloned Amazon’s biggest competitive moats, to make them available to everybody. Sponsors: Kiwico.com , promocode "ride" for 30 percent off! BuyRaycon.com/tech for 15% off Links: David Dobrik, Losing Sponsors and Fans, Steps Down From App He Co-...
Last weekend a listener to this show, Ti Zhang, ( @zero_chill_tea ) tagged me on twitter around a conversation they were having about NFTs and the degree to which, lots of folks in the art world are not so thrilled with the advent of NFTs. They said, sure, we see all the headlines around famous artists and celebrities and all the money being made. But was I aware that artists were seeing their work stolen and sold as NFTs? That artists were taking their work down from the internet to make sure i...
It’s app platform product news day! Instagram is working on a version of the service suitable for kids. Twitter wants you to watch YouTube in-stream. Telegram is basically adding all the Clubhouse features I’ve been dreaming of. Was an anti-Apple rebel alliance born last night in a Clubhouse room? Why China is banning Tesla in some cases. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: EditorX.com Molekule.com , code "techmeme" at checkout to save as much as $120! Links: Facebook Is ...
It’s an Apple rumor Thursday from both the boys, Gurman and Kuo. Sony is taking what it’s learned from the DualSense controllers and bringing that to VR. YouTube rolls out its TikTok rival. Spotify wants you to know it gets artists paid. And I do my best to explain the whole creator economy controversy that has sprung up over at Substack. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Links: Apple Nears Launch of New iPads After Stay-At-Home Sales Boost (Bloomberg) PS5's VR 2.0: First Look At New Controllers (GameSp...
Samsung’s second Unpacked event of the year brings new midrange phones. But are they really discontinuing the Galaxy Note, and are chip shortages the real reason why? Are reductions in app store fees really what they’re cracked up to be? Has Uber had a change of heart or just an acknowledgement of the inevitable? And the bear case for Clubhouse that everyone is talking about. Sponsors: NewYorker.com/techmeme promocode techmeme Tovala.com/ride Links: Samsung’s midrange phones now feature fast ref...
Google’s 2nd gen Nest Hub gets sleep tracking thanks to the Soli chip. Intel’s 11th Gen desktop chips launch. Xi brings the hammer down on Chinese tech. And the craziest cellphone hack I’ve ever heard isn’t a hack at all, since it’s in a nutso-buttso unregulated grey area. Sponsors: Fundrise.com/techmeme Tovala.com/ride Links: Google announces 2nd-gen Nest Hub with Soli-powered ‘Sleep Sensing’ for $99 (9to5Google) Intel’s 11th Gen desktop chips are here with faster speeds but fewer cores (The Ve...
