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Snap releases its first true AR glasses, and buys the company that helped make them a reality. Is Netflix going to get into gaming to help juice growth in North America? Is the IRS going to crack down ever harder on Crypto? Twitter’s newly revamped verification system. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Skiff.org/ride Tovala.com/ride Links: Snap’s new Spectacles let you see the world in augmented reality (The Verge) Snap is buying its AR display supplier for more than $500 million (The Verge) Spotify finally adds offline music downloads on Apple Watch (The Verge) Netflix Seeks Executive to Expand Game Efforts (The Information) U.S. Treasury calls for stricter cryptocurrency compliance with IRS, says they pose tax evasion risk (CNBC) Twitter is letting anyone apply for verification for the first time since 2017 (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Now that WarnerMedia and Discovery have tied the knot, the pressure’s on ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal (CNBC) $ASS

The newly announced electric F-150 is maybe the biggest EV effort since the launch of Tesla. Google is launching its first ever retail store. Internet Explorer is finally going to that great recycle bin in the sky. But could Google be breathing new life into RSS feeds in web browsers? Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Kraken.com/techmeme Links: Ford’s Electric F-150 Pickup Aims to Be the Model T of E.V.s (New York Times) Ford unveils the F-150 Lightning, its all-electric pickup truck that will start under $40,000 (Tech Crunch) 'I'm not very social': ByteDance founder to hand CEO reins to college roommate (Reuters) Google is opening its first physical retail store this summer in NYC (The Verge) Apple cites 'significant' malware on Mac while defending iOS App Store in Fortnite trial (CNet) Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer in 2022 (The Verge) Chrome testing RSS-powered ‘Follow’ button & feed that keeps the Google Reader dream alive (9to5 Google) Learn more about your ad choices

Google I/O continues and continues to produce new headlines for us to cover. Nvidia is nerfing the ability to mine crypto. Ethereum says it’s going to go super energy efficient real soon. Microsoft10X is officially, no longer a thing. And reviews of the new iPad Pro reveal it to be… an iPad. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride AirMedCareNetwork.com/tech offer code TECH Links: Helping all your devices work better together (Google) Google plans to build a commercial quantum computer by 2029 (Engadget) Google’s Project Starline Videoconference Tech Wants to Turn You Into a Hologram (Wired) Nvidia is nerfing new RTX 3080 and 3070 cards for Ethereum cryptocurrency mining (The Verge) Ethereum Staking Will Drop Power Consumption by 99% (Crypto Briefing) Microsoft officially acknowledges Windows 10X isn't happening (ZDNet) IPAD PRO (2021) REVIEW: DREAM SCREEN (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the headlines from Google I/O. Amazon is in talks to acquire MGM and James Bond. When we might expect those new MacBook Pros, the first reviews of the M1 iMacs and what’s the deal with the new lossless streaming not working with most of Apple’s hardware? Sponsors: Cybereason.com TinyCapital.com Links: ANDROID 12 PREVIEW: FIRST LOOK AT GOOGLE’S RADICAL NEW DESIGN (The Verge) Amazon Pondering Deal to Buy MGM (The Information) Apple Readies MacBook Pro, MacBook Air Revamps (Bloomberg) APPLE’S NEW IMAC BRINGS M1 GOODNESS TO THE DESKTOP (The Verge) Censorship, Surveillance and Profits: A Hard Bargain for Apple in China (NYTimes) Exclusive: These are Apple’s new truly wireless in-ear Beats Studio earbuds (9to5Mac) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple Music and Amazon Music HD bring better audio quality to everyone. AT&T throws in the towel on Warner Media by doing a shotgun marriage with Discovery. GitHub now lets you add video. Jane Manchun Wong says the subscription service is going to be called Twitter Blue. And what we might be able to expect from Google’s I/O tomorrow. Sponsors: Kiwico.com promocode: ride Cybereason.com Links: Apple announces lossless Apple Music is coming in June at no added cost (The Verge) Amazon Music Drops HD Tier to $9.99, Shaking Up Hi-Fi Streaming Market (Billboard) AT&T to spin off and combine WarnerMedia with Discovery in deal that would create streaming giant (CNN Business) Microsoft Teams launches for friends and family with free all-day video calling (The Verge) GitHub now lets all developers upload videos to demo bugs and features (Venture Beat) ‘Twitter Blue’ subscription service to include undo tweets feature and ‘Collections,’ priced at $2.99 (9to5 Mac) Bill Gates Left Microsoft Board Amid Pro

From Friday, May 14, 2021. A long discussion about tipping as the base unit (???) of the creator economy? Featuring @gregarious as well as @NigelKofi (check out Ko-fi at https://ko-fi.com/) and @reeshahoward. Sponsor: Porkbun.com/tld/design  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A ransomware attack has brought down large sections of the Irish health service. Why Disney+ numbers are suddenly looking so weak to investors. A deep dive review on whether or not, or even to what degree, Elon’s internet service from space can free us from ISP hell. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: AwayTravel.com/techmeme Streak.com/techmeme Links: Cyber attack 'most significant on Irish state' (BBC) Disney Plus Hits 103.6 Million Subscribers as Rapid Growth Slows, ESPN Plus Perks Up (Variety) STARLINK REVIEW: BROADBAND DREAMS FALL TO EARTH (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: To Understand Amazon, We Must Understand Jeff Bezos (New York Times) The PlayStation 5 Is Starting to Look Like the Revolution It Promised (Wired) Apple is Holding Back the Creator Economy (Every) Robinhood’s Big Gamble (The New Yorker) What Is an Entertainment Company in 2021 and Why Does the Answer Matter? (Matthew Ball) How the Personal Computer Broke the Human Body (Vice)

The whims of Elon Musk go both ways when it comes to crypto markets. SpaceX signs a deal with Google Cloud to do battle with AWS and the Kuiper Project. Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid the ransom and is getting back online. Will Facebook’s crypto project ever see the light of day, part 12. And the Ethereum creator donates Crypto to help India. Sponsors: Skiff.org/ride Cybereason.com Links: Tesla stops taking Bitcoin for vehicle purchases, citing environmental harm (The Verge) Elon Musk’s SpaceX inks satellite connectivity deal with Google Cloud (The Verge) Biden signs executive order designed to strengthen federal digital defenses (Washington Post) Roku will launch original programming fueled by Quibi’s content on May 20 (Tech Crunch) Apple parts ways with employee amid backlash (Axios) Facebook-backed crypto project Diem abandons Swiss license application, will move to the U.S. (CNBC) Ethereum creator donates meme coins worth $1 billion to help India fight COVID-19 (Tech Crunch)

The US lets Xiaomi out of the blacklist. GitHub ads security key support and wants to move on from the password era. eBay wants in on the NFT action. WhatsApp is gonna turn the screws until you agree to their terms. And speaking of, Brian Krebs outlines how that group suspected to be behind the pipeline hack has sophisticated ways of getting you to pay up. Sponsors: NordVPN.com/ride coupon code: ride LinkedIN.com/ride Links: US agrees to drop Xiaomi from blacklist after lawsuit (Bloomberg) Amazon updates the Echo Show 8 and 5 with better cameras (The Verge) GitHub shifts away from passwords with security key support for SSH Git operations (ZDNet) EBay officially opens its platform to NFT sales (The Block) WhatsApp will gradually stop you calling or messaging contacts if you don't agree to its new privacy policy (Insider) E-scooter company Bird will go public via SPAC (Axios) SoftBank joins corporate heavyweights with $37 bln Vision Fund profit (Reuters) A Closer Look at the DarkSide Ransom

It’s new chip day. Intel unveils it’s 11th-gen Core Tiger Lake-H 10nm chips, while Nvidia unveils the RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti laptop GPUs. So expect a bunch of laptop lines to be refreshed. And, oh, look at that. The Dell XPS lineup already has been. Details on the next gen PlayStation VR hardware. And an argument that Apple’s recent privacy movies are a naked and ugly power play that harms the open web. Sponsors: Cybereason.com Kiwico.com promocode ride Links: Intel Launches 11th Generation Core Tiger Lake-H: Eight Core 10nm Mobile Processors (AnandTech) NVIDIA's RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti bring ray tracing to affordable laptops (Engadget) Dell’s new XPS 15 and XPS 17 get upgraded with Intel’s long-awaited 11th Gen H-series chips (The Verge) Next-Gen PlayStation VR Is 4K With Foveated Rendering And Vibration Feature (Upload) Foxconn’s iPhone output in India down amid COVID surge-sources (Reuters) Apple robbed the mob’s bank (Mobile Dev Demo) Graphic Novel by Matthew Bogart: IncredibleDoom.com

Sony warns that it might be literal years before I can finally win one of those PlayStation 5 sales windows on Walmart.com. The big ransomware attack that threatened fuel supply on the US East Coast, and the hackers allegedly behind it. Clubhouse hits Android. A researcher claims to have already hacked AirTags. And Elon Musk’s SNL appearance, and Dogecoin, and everything. Sponsors: Netgear.com/bestwifi Promocode: Tech10 Cybereason.com Links: Sony warns tight Playstation 5 supply to extend into next year (Bloomberg) Colonial hackers stole data Thursday ahead of pipeline shutdown (Bloomberg) Here’s the hacking group responsible for the Colonial Pipeline shutdown (CNBC) Clubhouse comes to Android after more than a year of iOS exclusivity (The Verge) AirTag hacked for the first time by security researcher [Video] (9to5 Mac) Apple's 2023 iPhone could ditch Qualcomm and launch with its own 5G chip (Laptop Mag) Apple Awards iPhone Glass Supplier Corning Additional $45M From Advanced Manufacturing F

We talk about the Tip Jar and all the other big changes Twitter has been making. We get into the Basecamp brouhaha and also why I didn’t end up covering it this week. We talk about Dogecoin with someone who was there at the beginning of the project. And we even have an actual newsmaker on the show. At the very end, we talk to Tony Haile, founder of Scroll, which, if you’ll remember, just got acquired by Twitter this past week. Sponsor: Cybereason.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter introduces a tip jar, literally called Tip Jar. Why crypto trading juicing Square’s earnings is worth thinking about. What is the mysterious social space Netflix is surveying users about building? Yes, Substack is letting writers build magazines and newsrooms, so stop pointing out the obvious. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Skiff.org/ride Cybereason.com Links: Twitter is testing a new Tip Jar feature for sending money to your favorite accounts (The Verge) Square gets a bitcoin boost with revenue up 266% (CNBC) Playlists and podcasts? Netflix is exploring developing ‘N-Plus’ (Protocol) You can now build a “mini media empire” on Substack (Financial Times) Everyone yells at the Oversight Board (Platformer) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Actually Consume? (Harvard Business Review) Crypto pros are getting tired of the 79 billion dollar dogecoin joke (Bloomberg) I'm seeing a lot of people FOMO quit their jobs to join "crypto" (

IBM says it has created the world’s first 2nm chip. Google really wants everyone to use two factor authentication. Twitter is enacting more speed bumps to get you to stop trolling people in your tweets. Apple’s delicate dance with Netflix over in app payments. And SpaceX finally gets its Mars rocket to… not blow up on landing. Sponsors: AirMedCareNetwork.com/tech offer code TECH Cybereason.com Links: IBM Creates First 2nm Chip (AnandTech) Google is going to start automatically enrolling users in two-step verification (ZDNet) Google relaxes work from home rules to let more staff be remote (Bloomberg) Twitter rolls out improved ‘reply prompts’ to cut down on harmful tweets (Tech Crunch) Emails reveal Apple’s attempts to stop Netflix from dropping App Store In-App Purchase support (9to5 Mac) EXCLUSIVE China's Tencent in talks with U.S. to keep gaming investments -sources (Reuters) SpaceX successfully lands its massive Starship for the first time (New Atlas) Learn more about your ad ch

Facebook’s Oversight Board upholds the Trump account suspension. Signal trolls Facebook using its own ad system. An appeals court has ruled that Section 230 does not apply to app design. Kind of. It’s complicated. And the not complicated reason why some exchanges can’t tell you the price of Berkshire Hathaway stock right now. Think: partying like it’s 1999. Sponsors: Kraken.com/techmeme PingIdentity.com Links: Facebook’s Trump ban can stay in place, says Oversight Board (The Verge) Signal Tries to Run the Most Honest Facebook Ad Campaign Ever, Immediately Gets Banned (Gizmodo) Facebook Workplace reaches 7 million paid subscribers (CNBC) Facebook takes on Nextdoor with Neighborhoods tool (Cnet) Dell patches 12-year-old driver vulnerability impacting millions of PCs (The Record) Snapchat Can Be Sued Over Role In Fatal Car Crash, Court Rules (NPR) Epic CEO says he would have taken a special App Store deal if Apple had offered (9to5 Mac) Epic CEO argues Fortnite trial is an existential fight f

Twitter opens up Space more broadly, and buys the startup Scroll. So, what is the larger endgame here with their subscription play? Apple benefits from the turmoil in Google’s AI team. A breakdown of day one of the Apple/Epic Games trial. And how many people still pay a monthly subscription to AOL? Sponsors: Masterworks.io, promocode: ride Cybereason.com Links: Twitter expands Spaces to anyone with 600+ followers, details plans for tickets, reminders and more (Tech Crunch) Twitter is buying Scroll, the subscription service that removes ads from news sites (The Verge) Twitter makes all of its money from ads. It’s trying to change that. (Recode) Apple hires ex-Google AI scientist who resigned after colleagues' firings (Reuters) Ford backed Argo sees new sensor as key for self driving cars (Bloomberg) Apple and Epic go head-to-head in fiery opening remarks of highly-anticipated trial (9to5 Mac) About 1.5 million people still pay for AOL — but now they get tech support and identity theft service

Kuo says we’re gonna see a foldable iPhone soon. After the iOS privacy changes, Facebook is giving users popups begging them to turn tracking on. The interesting new “green” cryptocurrency that is launching today. And a backgrounder and breakdown of the Apple/Epic games trial that is kicking off today. Sponsors: PorkBun.com/tld/design use coupon code RIDE Cybereason.com Links: Kuo: Apple to Launch 8-Inch Foldable iPhone in 2023 (Mac Rumors) Verizon sells media businesses including Yahoo and AOL to Apollo for $5 billion (CNBC) Facebook and Instagram notices in iOS apps tell users tracking helps keep them ‘free of charge’ (The Verge) A new green cryptocurrency called Chia uses a less energy-intensive method of minting new coins. Here are 6 things to know about the digital asset before it starts trading on Monday. (Markets Insider) Microsoft explored reducing its Xbox store cut to shake up console gaming (The Verge) Apple’s App Store Had 78% Margin in 2019, Epic Expert Says (Bloomberg) Epic v.

Last week, the great Ed Zitron (@edzitron) , head of the media relations firm EZPR, put out a post that got a lot of chatter where he laid out a bear case for Clubhouse. So I tweeted out, did anyone want to do a bull case for clubhouse so we could do a bull/bear debate episode? And the great Joseph Flaherty (@josephflaherty) of Founders Collective raised his hand and said he’d be game to do it, so this is what we have today. An episode of two halves. First, Joe makes the bull case, then after the break, Ed gives the bear take. And that’s it? Great conversation. Great points made by both guys. Enjoy. Here is Ed's piece that we refer to throughout: Clubhouse and Audio's Feature Not A Product Problem (And How It Might Possibly Be Meerkat 2) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The EU does indeed charge Apple with antitrust violations. Roku has indeed followed through on its threats to YouTube TV. Will the Magic Keyboard actually work with the new iPad Pros or not? And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Red-ID.com/brian AirMedCareNetwork.com/tech offer code TECH Links: EU Charges Apple With App Store Antitrust Violations in Spotify Case (Wall Street Jounal) YouTube TV removed from Roku channel store amid Google contract dispute (Axios) Apple says the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro will work with the old Magic Keyboard, but ‘may not precisely fit when closed’ (9to5 Mac) 'A Perfect Positive Storm’: Bonkers Dollars for Big Tech (New York Times) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The new wave of crypto users: migrant workers (Rest of World) Europe Is Trying to Reclaim Its Lost Chipmaking Glory (Bloomberg) As Nintendo’s entertainment kingdom expands, it’s still about the games (Fast Company) Spotify’s Surprise (Stratechery) Artificial Intelligence Is Misr

Another earnings round up leads me to ask, what if the Covid era really is a historical inflection point for tech? AT&T has decided what to charge for HBO with ads, while Verizon is try to get someone to take AOL and Yahoo of their hands. What if we did streaming gaming, but just for browsing the web? Say hello to Mighty. And odds are, you’ve probably never gotten millimeter wave 5G on you fancy new phone. Sponsors: Red-ID.com/brian calderalab.com use code TECHMEME (all caps one word) at checkout Links: Facebook Revenue Grows 48% as Ad Prices Increase (The Information) Apple warns of supply shortages likely to impact iPad and Mac in Q3 (9to5 Mac) WarnerMedia plans to charge $9.99 per month for ad-supported HBO Max (CNBC) Verizon Explores Sale of Media Assets, Including Parts of Yahoo and AOL (Wall Street Journal) Amazon to spend $1B to boost pay for 500k operations workers by as much as $3 an hour (Geek Wire) Mighty wants to ‘make Chrome faster’ by streaming a browser from the cloud, starting