Techmeme Ride Home

This piece: John Luttig's When Tailwinds Vanish caused me to go on a random jag this afternoon. Since I had nothing better to do than post it to Medium, I read it into the microphone too... PS: the medium piece I wrote up is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As you’re about to hear, I’ve wanted to do a deep dive episode discussion on Shopify and how they’re suddenly the big up and coming, potential tech behemoth… arguably the most successful tech IPO of the last five years; seemingly the only company that can challenge Amazon in ecommerce… so when James McLeod from the Financial Post got in touch wanting to talk about Shopify, it was like someone was reading my mind. You’ll see why I’ve found the Shopify story so interesting because… well, we get right into it… Sponsors: ReadyCloud.com/pod TinyCapital.com James’ recent reporting on Shopify and other tech stories: https://business.financialpost.com/author/jmcleodpostmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AT&T’s CEO rides off into the sunset is both a surprise and not a surprise at all. Whole bunch of interesting Google news all at once. More on that iOS zero-day, more data on tech industry hiring and layoffs, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com CognitoHQ.com Links: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson to step down, COO Stankey to take over (CNBC) Google to cut marketing budgets by as much as half, directors warned of hiring freezes (CNBC) Google ditched tipping feature for donating money to sites (TechCrunch) Google will make all advertisers prove their identities, so people can see who they are and which country they’re in (CNBC) Apple Finds No Evidence Hackers Exploited iPhone, iPad Mail Flaw (Bloomberg) Tech companies pull back on hiring, flashing another grim warning sign for the U.S. economy (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Silicon Valley balanced grueling schedules with workplace perks. Coronavirus is forcing change (CNET) Preppers Are Q

 Custom Mac chips by 2021? Robot nurses already in hospitals? Bill Gurley into the sunset? Why some people are accusing France of digital privacy hypocrisy, and an interesting raise in the remote work space. Specifically: remote whiteboarding. Sponsors: F5.com/ride TinyCapital.com Links: Apple Aims to Sell Macs With Its Own Chips Starting in 2021 (Bloomberg) Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot is helping hospitals remotely treat coronavirus patients (The Verge) Magic Leap Cuts Half of Jobs In Major Restructuring (Bloomberg) Worldwide Digital Video Game Spending Hits All-Time High of $10B in March (The Hollywood Reporter) Venture Capitalist Bill Gurley Isn’t Joining Benchmark’s Next Fund (WSJ) France urges Apple and Google to ease privacy rules on contact tracing (The Guardian) French Hypocrisy: Fines Google For Being Soft On Privacy; Now Angry That Google Won't Let It Spy On Users (TechDirt) Mire lands $50M Series B for digital whiteboard as demand surges (TechCrunch) Subscribe to the

Huge Facebook investment in India. Tech earnings season is back, and this promises to be a super interesting one for all the reasons you can imagine. Two iPhone zero days found out in the wild. Patreon does do layoffs but says creator numbers are holding up. And a roundup of the iPhone SE reviews. Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com Tinycapital.com Links: Facebook invests $5.7B in India's Reliance Jio Partners (TechCrunch) Facebook Invests $5.7 Billion in Indian Internet Giant Jio (NYTimes) Netflix blows away new subscriber expectations (CNBC) Snap has the pieces in place to fight off the coronavirus downturn in advertising better than rivals, and the stock is soaring (CNBC) Researchers Say They Caught an iPhone Zero-Day Hack in the Wild (Vice) Patreon lays off 13% of workforce (TechCrunch) APPLE IPHONE SE REVIEW: EVERYTHING YOU NEED (The Verge) iPhone SE Review: An iPhone for People Who Don’t Like New iPhones (WSJ) Review: Apple iPhone SE (2020) (Wired) Learn more about your ad cho

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.com Rhone.com/ridehome promocode ridehome for 20% off Links: Sonos launches its own streaming radio service (The Verge) 267 million Facebook profiles sold for $600 on the dark web (BleepingComputer) Apple launches App Store, Music, Arcade, Podcasts, and iCloud in new countries (9to5Mac) In major shift, Google Shopping opens up to free product listings (Search Engine Land) Facebook removes some events calling for protests of stay-at-home orders (NBC News) Google's Head of Quantum Computing Hardware Resigns (Wired) WarnerMedia Sets Late May HBO Max Launch (The Hollywood Reporter) AT&T’s HBO Max Will Dive Into Crowded Streaming Market on May 27 (Bloomberg) Kickstarter plans layoffs after

Paging Farmville: Facebook takes another stab at owning mobile gaming. Rupert Murdoch's longstanding wish is granted. Dropbox had longstanding doubts about its erstwhile partner Zoom. More data on the health of tech investing, and the first reviews of the iPad as laptop are… mixed. Sponsors: Plume.com/techmeme Mintmobile.com/ride Links: Facebook to Introduce an App for Gaming (NYTimes) Facebook and Google to face mandatory code of conduct to 'level playing field' with traditional news media (ABC News Australia) Zoom’s Security Woes Were No Secret to Business Partners Like Dropbox (NYTimes) With Shut-In Kids Flocking to Streaming, Disney Channel Retools (Bloomberg) The Q1 2020 Global VC Report: Funding Slowly Impacted By Coronavirus (Crunchbase News) Private Equity Sees $20 Billion of Tech Deals Shelved by Virus (Bloomberg) MAGIC KEYBOARD FOR THE IPAD PRO REVIEW: THE BEST WAY TO TURN AN IPAD INTO A LAPTOP (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi

I wasn’t supposed to do a weekend episode this weekend. I’ve got one scheduled for next week that I still need to record. But a few days ago, I saw Alex Wilhelm at TechCrunch tweet that he was doing a piece about why everyone in Silicon Valley and the VC world and the startup world still seem to be preparing for a nuclear winter, while the stock market has been roaring back to life, and I was like YES! I need to talk about that with somebody right now! I’m asking myself that question every day. It’s not that I’m rooting for a crash, it’s not that I want the economy to suffer, but everyone I know in the Tech world thinks we're in for a bad recession and yet… well, we get into all this. I needed to have this discussion with somebody right away, so forgive me if this is a little self indulgent, but join Alex and I as we ask the question: who’s right about the economy right now? Silicon Valley, or Wall Street? PS: This is Alex's piece I was referring to: As stocks recover, private investors aren't buying the hyp

Microsoft has some AI tech that can catch bugs 99% of the time, Y Combinator is going to be more picky about who it invests in, macOS is getting a smarter battery management system for your laptop, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency CognitoHQ.com Links: AI spots critical Microsoft security bugs 97% of the time (VentureBeat) Changing policy, Y Combinator cuts its pro rate stake and makes investments case-by-case (TechCrunch) Google's fast-growing Meet video tool getting Zoom-like layout, Gmail link (Reuters) Apple changes default MacBook charging behavior to improve battery health (Six Colors) Apple CEO Talks Covid-19 Crisis, Return to Work Plan at Company-Wide Meeting (Bloomberg) 'Needle in a haystack': Reborn tech offices may need distance and mass testing (Protocol) The coronavirus pandemic turned Folding@Home into an exaFLOP supercomputer (Ars Technica) Can Comic Books Survive the Coronavirus Era? (NYTimes) LIDAR: Peek Into The Future

The video conferencing space is so hot, we’re getting steamy M&A action now. Apple wants to get stylish with over the ear headphones. Robinhood bucks a couple of trends with a new round. And is Facebook’s Libra just gonna drop like a stone? Sponsors: Kiwico.com/ride DoubleUp.agency Links: Verizon Buys Zoom Conferencing Rival BlueJeans (The Verge) Apple Developing High-End Headphones With Interchangeable Parts (Bloomberg) Sony Plans Limited PlayStation 5 Output in First Year (Bloomberg) Robinhood Is Raising New Funds at About $8 Billion Value, Sources Say (Bloomberg) Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020, CEO Tells Staff (Bloomberg) Facebook-Backed Libra Cryptocurrency Project Is Scaled Back (NYTimes) Amazon Retools With Unusual Goal: Get Shoppers to Buy Less Amid Coronavirus Pandemic (WSJ) Amazon to close French warehouses until next week after court order (Reuters) TikTok now lets parents set restrictions on their kids’ accounts (The Verge) Lawn love job opening: https://app

Hellooooo new iPhone SE. Airbnb raises another debt round. Amazon kneecaps affiliate marketers. Now it’s Medium’s turn to face fake news (or, at least, fake experts) scrutiny. And why Houseparty is now, officially, another unlikely winner of the Coronavirus moment. Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com BuyRaycon.com/tech Podapalooza tickets at: PLZA.org Links: Apple announces the new $399 iPhone SE for 2020 (The Verge) Airbnb raises another $1bn (Financial Times) Amazon slashes commission rates for program that gives publishers a cut of sales (CNBC) Github is now free for all teams (TechCrunch) Washington AG sues Facebook for violating state political ad law (GeekWire) How Medium became the best and worst place for coronavirus news (The Verge) Houseparty Vies With Zoom to Be Homebound Chatters’ App of Choice (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have an actual smartphone launch event to report on! Google is apparently close to powering it’s devices with its own custom-design silicon. Microsoft Teams is getting closer to Zoom in a good, feature-wise way. An update on the venture funding environment and new gaming ratings to alert people to loot boxes. Sponsors: LinkedIN.com/ride Plume.com/techmeme Links: OnePlus Announces OnePlus 8 & OnePlus 8 Pro: Step-Up 2020 Flagships (AnAndTech) ONEPLUS 8 PRO REVIEW: BIG LEAGUE (The Verge) Q&A: Apple and Google discuss their coronavirus tracing efforts (TechCrunch) iPhone China Shipments Rebound as Manufacturing Resumes (Bloomberg) Scoop: Google readies its own chip for future Pixels, Chromebooks (Axios) Zoom will let paying customers pick which data center their calls are routed from (The Verge) Over 500,000 Zoom accounts sold on hacker forums, the dark web (BleepingComputer) New Microsoft Teams features: Video to show 9 people on screen with more coming soon (ZDNet) Amazon to Ex

Deeper dives into that Google/Apple contact tracing project, solid rumors about the new iPhone design, the telecom industry might lose $25 billion dollars this year and international roaming charges are to blame, and an open source live streaming and video streaming app that can help you Twitch and YouTube better, without being beholden to their tools. Sponsors: Harrys.com/techmeme F5.com/ride Links: @moxie Tweet Thread How Apple and Google are tackling one of the toughest parts about tracking COVID-19 exposures (The Verge) NHS phone app holds key to lifting UK’s coronavirus lockdown (The Times (UK)) Apple Plans iPad-Like Design for Next iPhone, Smaller HomePod (Bloomberg) SoftBank Group forecasts $7-bn full-year net loss (Yahoo Finance) Son’s $2 Billion Guarantee at Risk as Virus Hits SoftBank Star (Bloomberg) Fall of the roaming empire: telecom groups face revenue loss as travel collapses (Financial Times) As YouTube Traffic Soars, YouTubers Say Pay Is Plummeting (OneZero) ‘It’s

I couldn’t tell you the amount of times, over the last two years, I’ve quoted pieces from Alex Kantrowitz on this show. Hundreds of times? Easy? Alex is the senior tech reporter at Buzzfeed News, and, while I don’t have favorite people to quote from on this show (I shouldn’t anyway) the sheer number of times I quote from someone should tell you something about the amount of news they break. The insights they have. Alex has an amazing new book out called Always Day One- How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay On Top Forever. And as I said yesterday, it’s an amazing breakdown of not only the cultural DNA of each of the tech giants, but also a useful playbook to their success… a way to understand how they do what they do and why they win more often than not. Amazing book. Anyone who listens to this show every day will find it useful in informing the competitive analysis we always engage in. Sponsor: Tovala.com/ride Buy the book here! Always Day One - How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay On Top Forever Learn more a

Amazon is creating a system to test its own employees for Coronavirus, Google creates a system to help with unemployment claims, one more attempt to keep track of the Google messaging branding mess, more evidence Zuckerberg really is jealous of Instagram, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tovala.com/ride Caramba.store Code: Brian50 Links: Apple, Google debut major effort to help people track if they’ve come in contact with coronavirus (Washington Post) Amazon developing coronavirus testing lab for workers (Washington Post) The pandemic is playing to almost every one of Amazon's strengths (CNN Business) Google creates online unemployment application with state of New York (CNBC) Google is rebranding Hangouts Chat as just Google Chat (The Verge) Everyone can now access their Instagram DMs on the web (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Can Airbnb Survive Coronavirus? (Citylab) Atlassian’s tools helped build today’s tech. How’s it prepping for the

Disney+ continues to blow the doors off the place. Good old phone calls are back, along with the Desktop web. Don’t expect to see new emoji for a while. Stadia is free for anyone with a Gmail account, COBAL skills are in high demand and why the pandemic might be a long-term good for Internet infrastructure. Sponsors: Caramba.store CognitoHQ.com Plume.com/techmeme Links: Disney+ Surpasses 50 Million Paid Subscribers After Launches in Europe & India (The Streamable) Zoom removes meeting IDs from client title bar to boost security (Bleeping Computer) MICROSOFT THINKS CORONAVIRUS WILL FOREVER CHANGE THE WAY WE WORK AND LEARN (The Verge) The Humble Phone Call Has Made a Comeback (NYTimes) Microsoft: Don't expect any Windows 10X devices this calendar year (ZDNet) No one’s getting new emoji in 2021 because of the pandemic (The Verge) Google Stadia now free to anyone with a Gmail address (Polygon)  Now It’s Falling Apart (OneZero) Why the coronavirus lockdown is making the internet stro

Jack Dorsey literally puts his money to work for Coronavirus relief. More details on that Airbnb lifeline raise. Details on an interesting telemedicine raise. Netflix has increased parental controls, Google is pushing a mandatory new setup for Android development and why the desktop web is back, for the time being anyway. Sponsors: Caramba.store; promocode: BRIAN50 CognitoHQ.com Links: @jack's tweet storm Airbnb Paying More Than 10% Interest on $1 Billion Financing Announced Monday (WSJ) Airbnb In Talks To Raise More Debt (Bloomberg) Update on Zoom’s 90-Day Plan to Bolster Key Privacy and Security Initiatives (Zoom Blog) Netflix will allow parents to remove movies and shows, filter by rating in new update (The Verge) Google is requiring Virtual A/B on new Android 11 devices, paving the way for mandatory Seamless Updates (XDA Developers) Microsoft is freezing hiring except in some unspecified 'strategic areas' (Business Insider) All Microsoft events will be digital-only until July 2

WhatsApp wants to make it harder for things to go viral. Airbnb buys some runway. Foursquare merges with another location data company. Checking in with Masa Son. And the latest startup to say it wants to blow up email and unseat Gmail. Sponsors: Caramba.store code: Brian20 F5.com/ride Links: WhatsApp to impose new limit on forwarding to fight fake news (The Guardian) Airbnb is raising $1 billion amid fallout from coronanvirus (CNBC) Foursquare Merges With Factual, Another Location-Data Provider (WSJ) Masayoshi Son Talks WeWork, Vision Fund and Softbank Under Siege (Forbes) Pixel April updates land, bringing eyes-open face unlock setting to the Pixel 4 (Android Police) Microsoft Buys Corp.com So Bad Guys Can’t (KrebsonSecurity) This tiny startup thinks it can do email better than Google (Protocol) Subscribe to the ad free feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 GALAXY CHROMEBOOK REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL TO A FAULT (The Verge) Samsung Galaxy Chromebook review: Great, until the battery runs out (Engadget) Tim Cook: Apple shipping custom face shields to medical workers as mask donations cross 20M (9to5Mac) Call for social media platforms to act on 5G mast conspiracy theory (The Guardian) Russian telco hijacks internet traffic for Google, AWS, Cloudflare, and others (ZDNet) Microsoft Edge is now 2nd most popular desktop browser, beats Firefox (BleepingComputer)

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 EXPERTS SAY RESPONSIBLE CORONAVIRUS SURVEILLANCE IS POSSIBLE (The Intercept) Exclusive: iPhone 9 launch imminent, 2020 ‘iPhone SE’ in red, white, and black with up to 256GB (9to5Mac) Tesla soars on delivery numbers -- company delivered 88,400 vehicles in Q1 (CNBC) A third prototype of SpaceX’s Starship rocket bursts on the test stand (The Verge) Airbnb lowers internal valuation by 16% to $26bn (FT) HBO Will Stream 500 Hours of Free Programming, Including Full Seasons of ‘Veep,’ ‘The Sopranos,’