Tech Brew Ride Home

More juicy details about the Galaxy S20 lineup, Google Smart Lock lets you do 2FA on your iPhone, proof that no-code development is the new hotness, why do the Feds even need Apple to unlock those iPhones, and Jack Dorsey says we are never, ever, ever going to get… a Edit Tweet button. Probably. Sponsors: Metalab BelovedRobot.com/ridehome Links: Exclusive: Leaked Samsung Galaxy S20+ Hands-on confirms 120Hz display, ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner, and no headphone jack (XDAdevelopers) You can now use iPhones as Google security keys for 2FA (9to5Google) Google acquires no-code app development platform AppSheet (VentureBeat) Four years after being acquired, Hipmunk is shutting down (TechCrunch) Apple Takes a (Cautious) Stand Against Opening a Killer’s iPhones (NYTimes) European Venture Report: VC Dollars Rise In 2019 (Crunchbase News) Disney+ was the most downloaded app in the US in Q4 2019 (TechCrunch) Twitter’s Jack Dorsey on edit button: ‘We’ll probably never do it’ (The Verge) Subscribe to the ad-free feed here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple once again refuses to unlock an iPhone for the Feds, Visa buys Plaid, a macOS beta hints at future ‘Pro Mode’, super crucial Windows update you should download right away and why today is also the end of the Windows 7 Era. Sponsors: Metalab.co LegalZoom.com (promo code RIDE at checkout) Links: Apple Said It Is Helping In The Pensacola Shooting Investigation, But It Won't Unlock The Shooter's iPhones (Buzzfeed News) Visa to acquire Plaid, the fintech powering Venmo and other banking apps, in $5.3 billion deal (CNBC) Epic says its PC game store now has more than 100 million users (The Verge) macOS beta hints at future ‘Pro Mode’ to boost performance on portable Macs (9to5Mac) PC shipments grew in 2019 ahead of bet on 5G and dual-screen devices (VentureBeat) Cryptic Rumblings Ahead of First 2020 Patch Tuesday (KrebsOnSecurity) MICROSOFT BIDS FAREWELL TO WINDOWS 7 AND THE MILLIONS OF PCS THAT STILL RUN IT (The Verge) Free Windows 10 upgrade still works for many Windows 7 users. Here's how to get it (CNET) (Potentially??) Free Windows 10 Upgrade Link Subscribe to the Ad-Free Feed Right Here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you ready to get hyped for the Galaxy S20 cause yes, that’s the name. We’re skipping some numbers. TikTok might be cloning Snapchat’s Discover feed. Is GDPR actually doing anything and/or is it enforceable? And could Casper be a make or break test for the Unicorn ecosystem? Sponsors: LinkedIn.com/ride Metalab.co Links: Exclusive: This is the Samsung Galaxy S20+ (XDAdevelopers) TikTok explores curated content feed to lure advertisers (FT) Cookie consent tools are being used to undermine EU privacy rules, study suggests (TechCrunch) A billion medical images are exposed online, as doctors ignore warnings (TechCrunch) Casper's IPO could be a bellwether for unprofitable startups in the post-We-Work era (TechCrunch) Casper files to go public, shows you can lose money selling mattresses (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Checkin on the health-tech space with the only reporter I follow religiously around this space: Christina Farr. Why are hospitals suddenly in the middle of a health data gold rush? Why are you more likely to have your health records hacked then every be able to get them in your own hands? Sponsors: Tiny Capital DoubleUp.agency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, But Not Fantastic, Year (Crunchbase News) U.S. Music Streams Topped a Trillion in 2019 (WSJ) Streaming Services Reckon With Password-Sharing "Havoc" (The Hollywood Reporter) I’m a Millennial, and I Don’t Understand What Quibi Is Trying to Do (Fortune) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: QUIBI VERSUS THE WORLD (The Verge) The hidden world and overlooked problems of acting in video games (Washington Post) Why your favorite celebs are ditching Twitter for an app you’ve never heard of (Fast Company) AN ORAL HISTORY OF RICKROLLING (Mel) Admit It: You Have a Box of Cords You’ll Never, Ever Use Again (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter will allow you to limit who can reply to your tweets, iPhone sales in China seem to have rebounded, the Chinese version of TikTok is why TikTok can distance itself from China, AI is going to pick which movies get made, and why sex tech finally has a home at CES. Sponsors: Tiny Capital Links: Twitter will put options to limit replies directly on the compose screen (The Verge) Firefox gets patch for critical 0-day that’s being actively exploited (Ars Technica) iPhone Hits Double-Digit Growth in China, Official Data Show (Bloomberg) Douyin, TikTok app in China, hits 400 million daily active users (TechCrunch) Warner Bros. Signs Deal for AI-Driven Film Management System (Exclusive) (The Hollywood Reporter) At CES 2020, the AirPods Pro competitors arrived in droves (The Verge) Sex-Tech Companies Are Having More Fun Than the Rest of Us at CES (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another interesting Facebook memo from Boz, Intel previews its next generation of mobile GPUs, more troubles in Softbank startup land, Quibi had a bit of a launch event today, and I saw Charmin’s toilet paper delivery robot. Sponsors: Tiny Capital BelovedRobot.com/ridehome Links: Don’t Tilt Scales Against Trump, Facebook Executive Warns (NYTimes) CES 2020: Intel previews Tiger Lake mobile processors and discrete GPU (CNET) Getaround to Lay Off About One-Fourth of Staff (The Information) ClassPass, finally a unicorn, raises $285M in new funding (TechCrunch) Quibi unveils "Turnstyle," its flagship mobile video format (Axios) Quibi's secret weapon: Videos that work in portrait and landscape mode (Engadget) Mind-blowing Delta board shows 100 passengers personalized flight details at the same time (Mashable) I tried Nreal’s mixed reality glasses at CES and now I want a pair (Android Authority) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sonos goes nuclear on Google, though it really has Amazon in mind also; Facebook bans deep fakes… in a way; a whole bunch of really interesting laptop stuff, Sony makes a car, and you make a fashion statement and protect yourself from air pollution at the same time… all the stuff from Day 2 at CES. Sponsors: Tiny Captial Capterra.com/ride Links: Sonos, Squeezed by the Tech Giants, Sues Google (NYTimes) Enforcing Against Manipulated Media (Facebook Newsroom) Facebook bans deepfakes, but new policy may not cover controversial Pelosi video (Washington Post) Sony surprises with an electric concept car called the Vision-S (The Verge) Mercedes-Benz unveils an Avatar-themed concept car with scales (The Verge) Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus Laptop Has a Second Screen on the Lid (TomsHardware) Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold is a $2,499 PC with a folding OLED screen (The Verge) Lenovo's Yoga 5G laptop packs nine antennas and Snapdragon power (Engadget) Ring adds privacy dashboard to app in response to security concerns (The Verge) Atmos Faceware makes clean air an expensive accessory (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samsung tries to scoop CES, Amazon’s Fire TV Edition wants to leapfrog Roku TV, Samsung wants the Galaxy Chromebook to change the way you think about Chromebooks, is Softbank ghosting startups even after delivering term sheets, and a roundup of day one of CES. Sponsors: Wealthfront.com/techmeme Ashford.edu/ride Links: Fire TV Edition expands to more soundbars, plus cars, cables boxes and more (TechCrunch) Roku TV adds 15 more brand partners plus a new 'Roku TV Ready' program (TechCrunch) THE SAMSUNG GALAXY CHROMEBOOK IS BEAUTIFUL, FAST, AND EXPENSIVE (The Verge) Scoop: SoftBank shafts startups (Axios) News coverage gets geo-fragmented (NiemanLab) Samsung details its stunning bezel-less 8K TV (The Verge) The 10 Neatest Things We've Seen at CES So Far (Wired) Intel just confirmed it’s building this tiny modular desktop gaming PC (The Verge) Processor With Dieter Bohn Newsletter Signup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google’s AI has a medical breakthrough, Apple raids HBO for maybe it’s biggest name, Instagram seems to be plateauing by one metric—going gangbusters in another, what to expect from CES and, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely Links: A.I. Is Learning to Read Mammograms (NYTimes) Apple Deal Returns Former HBO Boss Richard Plepler to Spotlight (NYTimes) HERE’S WHAT’S NEXT FOR GADGETS IN 2020 (The Verge) Snapchat quietly acquired AI Factory, the company behind its new Cameos feature, for $166M (TechCrunch) Instagram User Growth in the US Will Drop to Single Digits For the First Time (eMarketer) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How to lose a monopoly: Microsoft, IBM and anti-trust (Benedict Evans) Windows: Facing the New Decade (2010–2020) (Steven Sinofsky) Ghosts in the Clouds: Inside China’s Major Corporate Hack (WSJ) 'Shattered': Inside the secret battle to save America's undercover spies in the digital age (Yahoo News) This time, for sure! Ars Technica’s 2020 Deathwatch (Ars Technica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dell kicks off CES season with two new laptops, Imagination Technologies is back in Apple’s good graces, the IRS is finally sticking it to tax prep software firms, and a grand unified theory of the Google Civil War. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely MintMobile.com/ride Links: Dell’s latest XPS 13 has a new design with a bigger display and Ice Lake chips (The Verge) Dell debuts 5G-ready Latitude 9510 laptop, adds iOS mirroring to PCs (VentureBeat) Apple restores Imagination GPU chip agreement after public dispute and employee poaching (9to5Mac) IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete With TurboTax (ProPublica) I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left. (Ross LaJeunesse/Medium) Google veterans: The company has become ‘unrecognizable’ (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A major internet of things data leak, China is about to turn on its GPS competitor, would you like to star in a bitmoji TV show, a look back at the year in unicorns and is the VC gravy train over for us consumers, at least? Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely GiveWell.org/ridehome Links: IoT vendor Wyze confirms server leak (ZDNet) China decouples from US in space with 2020 'GPS' completion (Nikkei Asian Review) SPOTIFY TO SUSPEND POLITICAL ADS IN 2020 (AdAge) Snapchat will launch Bitmoji TV, a personalized cartoon show (TechCrunch) The New Unicorns Of 2019 (Crunchbase News) Israel doubles number of unicorns in 2019 (Globes) Tech Startups Face New Investor Mandate: Profits Over Discounts (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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) Inside Documents Show How Amazon Chose Speed Over Safety in Building Its Delivery Network (Pro Publica) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Where Are the Tech Zillionaires? San Francisco Faces the I.P.O. Fizzle (NYTimes) Netflix was the best-performing stock of the decade, delivering a more than 4,000% return (CNBC) 11 Lessons from the Success of Disney+ (MatthewBall.vc) Tuvalu is a tiny island nation of 11,000 people. It’s cashing in thanks to Twitch. (WSJ) How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars (Fast Company) THE 84 BIGGEST FLOPS, FAILS, AND DEAD DREAMS OF THE DECADE IN TECH (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travis Kalanick has cut all ties with Uber, Sling does indeed have streaming pricing power, livestreams are the new telethons, YouTube considered doing the right thing but passed, and is Catalyst fundamentally flawed? Sponsors: Mealime GiveWell.org/ridehome Links: Travis Kalanick severs all ties with Uber, departing board and selling all his shares (CNBC) Sling TV gets more expensive, raises cheapest subscription price to $30 (The Verge) Pyka and its autonomous, electric crop-spraying drone land $11M seed round (TechCrunch) Pentagon tells military personnel not to use at-home DNA kits (NBC News) Livestreams are the new telethons, and they’re raising millions for charities (Washington Post) Inside YouTube’s Year of Responsibility (Bloomberg) Catalyst and Cohesion (WormsandViruses.com) Catalyst, Two Months In (Daring Fireball) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Government says ToTok is a full on spying app, TikTok wants to distance itself from allegations that it might be a spying app, out of nowhere, could Rivian be Tesla’s biggest competitor, and what does it mean if Travis Kalanick sells all of his Uber stock? Sponsors: GiveWell.org/ridehome Mealime Links: It Seemed Like a Popular Chat App. It’s Secretly a Spy Tool. (NYTimes) U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices (Reuters) DraftKings going public via reverse merger (Axios) Rivian adds $1.3 billion in funding for its electric utility and adventure vehicles (TechCrunch) Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Cuts Stake in Company by More Than 90% (WSJ) Boeing Starliner Lands in New Mexico After Clock Error Prompts Early Return (NYTimes) Starliner makes a safe landing—now NASA faces some big decisions (Ars Technica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does Apple have a secret team to do an end run around telecom carriers, Google buys a game studio, IAC buys Care.com, Ripple is an interesting raise, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tiny Capital GetQuip.com/ride Booknotesapp.com (or on iPhone and Android) Links: Apple Has Secret Team Working on Satellites to Beam Data to Devices (Bloomberg) Google buys triple-A game dev Typhoon Studio to beef up Stadia (VentureBeat) Care.com shares surge after Barry Diller’s IAC agrees to buy online caregiver marketplace (CNBC) Ripple Raises $200 Million as Part of Bid for XRP Adoption (Fortune) Robocall fines rise to $10,000 per call under newly passed law (The Verge) Labels & Publishers Win $1 Billion Piracy Lawsuit Against Cox Communications (Billboard) The Booknotesapp.com Weekend Longreads Suggestions: SoftBank Vision Fund Employees Depict a Culture of Recklessness (Bloomberg Businessweek) Shopify: A StarCraft Inspired Business Strategy (Non-GAAP Thoughts) IKEA 2.0 (The Verge) State of the Stream 2019: Platform Wars, the New King of Streaming, Most Watched Game and More! (Stream Elements) Meet the Mad Scientist Who Wrote the Book on How to Hunt Hackers (Wired) I created my own deepfake—it took two weeks and cost $552 (Ars Technica) The 100 Memes That Defined The 2010s (Buzzfeed News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Held Preliminary Talks With Pac-12 Conference, MGM (WSJ) Spotify prototypes Tastebuds to revive social music discovery (TechCrunch) A milestone: Earthquake early warning system sends first public alert to smartphones in California (Los Angeles Times) TiVo to Merge With Entertainment-Tech Firm Xperi in $3 Billion Deal (Variety) Puma’s first ‘active gaming footwear’ is a sock (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone comes together to create a smart-home standard, did Google consider walking away from its cloud business, the last holdout comes to streaming, Gary Larson stops holding out on the web and the math behind that gift-wrapping video. Sponsors: Tiny Capital Aircall.io/ride Links: Apple, Google and Amazon are cooperating to make your home gadgets talk to each other (CNBC) We Tested Ring’s Security. It’s Awful (Motherboard) Google Brass Set 2023 as Deadline to Beat Amazon, Microsoft in Cloud (The Information) Cord cutters, you can finally stream your PBS stations online – on YouTube TV (USA Today) Virtual product placement is coming for TV and movies and Ryff has raised cash to put it there (TechCrunch) Far Side creator Gary Larson launches website with promise of new work (The Guardian) A Letter From Gary Larson (TheFarSide.com) The Internet Is Losing Its Mind Over This Gift-Wrapping Trick. Here's the Secret. (Popular Mechanics) The Gift Wrapping Video Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More reported casualties in the Google Civil War, more strife between Amazon and FedEx, can Amazon turn Alexa into a healthy ecosystem, developers: get busy on Edge extensions, and the top apps of the decade have one big thing in common. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com GiveWell.org/ridehome Links: Google accused of firing another worker in union-busting drive (Engadget) Amazon Blocks Sellers From Using FedEx Ground for Prime Shipments (WSJ) Amazon Learns a New Skill: Making Money From Alexa (The Information) Amazon Brings in $1.4 Million in 2019 of Alexa Skill Revenue So Far — Well Short of the $5.5 Million Target According to The Information (Voicebot.ai) Microsoft Opens Edge Addons Store for Submissions (Winbuzzer) A Look Back At the Top Apps & Games of the Decade (App Annie) Controversial sale of .org domain manager faces review at ICANN (Ars Technica) Chess champion Magnus Carlsen moves to top of world fantasy football rankings (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chrome 79 is wiping data from some apps, Amazon is about to deliver more than FedEx or UPS all by its lonesome, Argo plans to charge by the mile, smart TV’s make margin by watching you, does music lack pricing power and help me find a name for $100 million-dollar annual recurring revenue startups. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com DollarShaveClub.com/ride Links: Google pauses Chrome 79 rollout on Android after bug wipes data in some apps (Android Police) Watch out, UPS. Morgan Stanley estimates Amazon is already delivering half of its packages (CNBC) Self-Driving Mercedes Will Be Programmed To Sacrifice Pedestrians To Save The Driver (Fast Company) Argo takes different road to skirt self-driving challenges (Reuters) The falling price of a TV set is the story of the American economy (The Outline) The newest members of the $100M ARR club (TechCrunch) Zero-to-100 Million in 3 Years (Lemonade Blog) Why Do We Still Pay Only $10 a Month for Music? (Rolling Stone) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the final weekend bonus episode of the year, I wanted to check in with Crypto. What a year for the space! Seemingly dead at the beginning of the year. But then the Crypto Spring™ happened. And then Libra happened. And so… where are we? No one better than CoinDesk’s Brady Dale to catch us up… Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Mealime Sofi.com/ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Details about the next-gen Xbox, Apple makes an interesting acquisition around photography, Lyft will rent you a car, why I find Roku so interesting, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Today In Digital Marketing Podcast PixelUnion.net aircall.io/ride Links: Microsoft’s next Xbox is Xbox Series X, coming holiday 2020 (The Verge) Apple Buys U.K. Startup to Improve iPhone Picture Taking (Bloomberg) Lyft launches a car rental service with no mileage limit (The Verge) Google Maps has now photographed 10 million miles in Street View (CNET) Roku Built the Dominant Streaming Box. Now It’s Under Siege (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: THE AGE OF INSTAGRAM FACE (New Yorker) The Influencer and the Hit Man (OneZero) Silicon Valley’s psychedelic wonder drug is almost here (Fast Company) How Zoom Became the Best Web-Conferencing Product in the World in Less Than 10 Years (FYI) “Link In Bio” is a slow knife (Anil Dash) THE VERGE’S GADGETS OF THE DECADE (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google releases all the things at once, everyone is mulling over Jack’s decentralized Twitter idea, one last tech IPO of the year, should seed investors just say yes to every deal, why you should know the Canva story, and why Cousin Greg playing Adam Neumann is my Christmas dream come true. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net GiveWell.org/ridehome Links: FTC Weighs Seeking Injunction Against Facebook Over How Its Apps Interact (WSJ) Google is bringing spam detection and verified business messaging to Messages (The Verge) Interpreter, Google's real-time translator, comes to mobile (TechCrunch) Bill.com’s Stock Takes Off On IPO Day (Forbes) AI R&D is booming, but general intelligence is still out of reach (The Verge) Startup Growth and Venture Returns: What We Found When We Analyzed Thousands of VC Deals (AngelList Blog) Bluesky early thoughts (Sriramk.com) Hey @Jack Dorsey, decentralizing Twitter won’t solve hate speech problems (Digital Trends) Inside the Podcast that Hacks Ring Camera Owners Live on Air (Motherboard) Canva Uncovered: How A Young Australian Kitesurfer Built A $3.2 Billion (Profitable!) Startup Phenom (Forbes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A bold new proposal to decentralize social media from Jack Dorsey, YouTube bans “malicious insults,” you can only clean your Pro Display XDR with a special cloth, Silicon Valley is no longer everyone’s favorite place to work and the big tech companies whistled past their troubles this year. Sponsors: aircall.io/ride Today In Digital Marketing Podcast Links: The Bluesky Thread (@jack) YouTube Will Ban Videos That “Maliciously Insult” People Based On Race, Gender, Or Sexual Orientation (Buzzfeed News) Apple's Pro Display XDR With Nano-Texture Can Only Be Cleaned With Special Apple-Provided Cloth (MacRumors) Intel's Manufacturing Roadmap from 2019 to 2029 (AnandTech) Chrome 79 released with tab freezing, back-forward caching, and loads of security features (ZDNet) Facebook, Google Drop Out of Top 10 ‘Best Places to Work’ List (Bloomberg) Big Tech Is Under Attack, and Investors Couldn’t Care Less (NYTimes) Link to the ad-free feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple is suing its former chip architect, the Apple Card finally makes sense to me, wheels on the Mac Pro will run you $400, Softbank abandons Wag, Microsoft brings Office to Linux and I want the new tech bubble to be about exoskeletons. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Today In Digital Marketing Podcast Links: Apple sues iPhone CPU design ace after he quits to run data-center chip upstart Nuvia (The Register) Apple’s Ad-Targeting Crackdown Shakes Up Ad Market (The Information) Apple Cards' interest-free iPhone installment plan goes live, now with 6% back on Apple holiday purchases (TechCrunch) SoftBank Is Selling Wag Stake Back to Company (WSJ) Microsoft Teams is the first Office app for Linux (VentureBeat) Mac Pro Build to Order Options (MacRumors) VSCO acquires video editing startup Rylo (TechCrunch) Robotic exoskeletons: Coming to a factory, warehouse or army near you, soon (ZDNet) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China orders its own crackdown on foreign tech, Google is bringing “feature drops” to Pixel Phones, the Mac Pro is here but Wunderlist is exiting stage left, Magic Leap seems to be having issues, and an interesting raise from, well… us. Sponsors: Ashford.edu/ride Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: Beijing orders state offices to replace foreign PCs and software (Asian Financial Review) Making Pixel more helpful with the first Pixel feature drop (The Keyword) New Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR orders start on December 10, Apple announces (9to5Mac) Amazon blames Trump for losing $10 billion JEDI cloud contract to Microsoft (CNBC) Microsoft to finally shut down to do list app Wunderlist on May 6, 2020 (TechCrunch) Dented Reality: Magic Leap Sees Slow Sales, Steep Losses (The Information) Amazon leases Hudson Yards office space less than year after HQ2 debacle (Curbed NY) This podcaster wants to catch you up on the news on your ride home, no matter what you’re into (Fast Company) Ride Home Media Raises $1M To Build “Summary-As-A-Service” Podcast Network (CrunchBase News) The Daily Podcast Revolution (Medium) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’ve been trying to read books about AI lately to get a firmer grasp on this important topic, and the best book I’ve read for both a basic grounding of the history and the state of play of AI, but also looking at potential frameworks for the technology, both ethically and socially is A Human Algorithm: How Artificial Intelligence is Redefining Who We Are by Flynn Coleman. Sponsors: PixelUnion Mealime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I had already reached out to Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen this week to talk about the Google Civil War, but then, of course, there was other big Google news this week. So, come for the assessment of Google’s culture at the moment but stay for an assessment of regime change and a lot more. Sponsors: Metalab Mealime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Uber safety report, more Galaxy S11 rumors, could Apple be about to kill the charging port on iPhones entirely and what would that mean, Samsung’s new chips to make AR mainstream and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Metalab PaintYourLife. Text TECH to 64-000 Links: Uber Says 3,045 Sexual Assaults Were Reported in U.S. Rides Last Year (NYTimes) Samsung to Take on iPhone’s Popularity With Big Camera Overhaul (Bloomberg) Kuo: Apple to Launch 'Completely Wireless' iPhone Without Lightning Connector and 'iPhone SE 2 Plus' With Touch ID Power Button in 2021 (MacRumors) 5G and face tracking: The weird future of VR headsets like Oculus Quest and HoloLens (CNET) Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8c and 7c processors will power cheaper ARM laptops (The Verge) Spotify Year In Review Thread (@baekdal) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How Ring Went From ‘Shark Tank’ Reject to America’s Scariest Surveillance Company (Motherboard) Inside VSCO, a Gen Z-approved photo-sharing app, with CEO Joel Flory (TechCrunch) Commentary: Andy Jassy aims to reinvent Amazon Web Services for the cloud’s next generation (Silicon Angle) Why Silicon Valley Investors Are Bonkers For European Startups (Forbes) A decade of hacking: The most notable cyber-security events of the 2010s (ZDNet) HOW SONY BOUGHT, AND SQUANDERED, THE FUTURE OF GAMING (The Verge) The difference between Windows Notepad and WordPad, and when to use each (Windows Central) Why ‘The Mandalorian’ cites Fortnite dev Epic Games in its credits (VentureBeat) Unintended Perk of the Online Mattress Boom: Never-Ending Free (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FTC might be broadening its look into Amazon, the new flagship Snapdragon Chips, a disc-free Xbox, checkins with Slack, Imgur and Robinhood, and craigslist enters the 21st century. Sponsors: Metalab.co Vistaprint.com Promo Code: Ride50 (for up to 50% off) Links: Amazon Faces Widening U.S. Antitrust Scrutiny in Cloud Business (Bloomberg) Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 865 and 765(G): 5G For All in 2020, All The Details (AnandTech) Sources: Microsoft Is Still Planning A Cheaper, Disc-Less Next-Gen Xbox (Kotaku) Slack Raises Outlook After Winning New Corporate Customers (WSJ) 300M-user Imgur launches Melee, a gaming meme app (TechCrunch) Red Flags for Robinhood (Fortune) Craigslist Finally Gets an Official App (Gizmodo) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry and Sergey ride their Segway’s off into the sunset, a new entrant in the streaming wars, more news from the re:Invent conference, YouTube says it’s algorithm change is working and the year that was, in the world of Reddit. Sponsors: Metalab Capterra.com/ride GiveWell.org/ridehome Links: A letter from Larry and Sergey (The Keyword) GOOGLE’S THIRD ERA (The Verge) Plex launches a free, ad-supported streaming service in over 200 countries (TechCrunch) With Outposts, Local Zones, and Verizon, AWS looks beyond the cloud (Mostly Cloudy) YouTube says viewers are spending less time watching conspiracy videos. But many still do. (The Washington Post) Instagram to collect ages in leap for youth safety, alcohol ads (Reuters) Reddit's monthly active user base grew 30% to reach 430M in 2019 (TechCrunch) Subreddit That Hates on ‘Game of Thrones’ Is the Most Popular TV Subreddit of 2019 (The Wrap) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Headlines from re:Invent, how tech is caught up in a tariff war with France, Facebook created a chatbot to help employees explain themselves during the holidays, and let me tell you about the new foldable phone from Pablo Escobar’s brother. Sponsors: Metalab Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: AWS Graviton2: What it means for Arm in the data center, cloud, enterprise, AWS (ZDNet) AWS launches its custom Inferentia inferencing chips (TechCrunch) Trump Administration Proposes Tariffs Against $2.4 Billion of French Goods (WSJ) Former Google employees who say they were fired for organizing are filing labor charges against the company (Vox) Google fired us for organizing. We’re fighting back. (Google Walkout For Real Change) TikTok curbed reach for people with disabilities (NetzPolitik.org) TikTok prevented disabled users’ videos from showing up in feeds (The Verge) DHS wants to expand airport face recognition scans to include US citizens (TechCrunch) Facebook Gives Workers a Chatbot to Appease That Prying Uncle (NYTimes) Pablo Escobar's Brother Has Apple In His Crosshairs With... an 'Unbreakable' Foldable Phone? (Gizmodo) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Interesting Galaxy S11 leaks, T-Mobile flips the switch on its 5G network, might different models of next year’s iPhone have different versions of 5G, the rundown of Black Friday/Cyber Monday and why an e-sports team is IPO-ing. Sponsors: Legacybox.com/ride Sofi.com/ride Links: Samsung Suddenly Exposes Radical New Galaxy Smartphone [Updated] (Forbes) T-Mobile launches 600MHz 5G across the US, but no one can use it until December 6th (The Verge) 4 new iPhones could have 5G in 2020, but not the same kind of 5G (Mashable) Google and Facebook run into more trouble over data in Europe (CNN Business) Driving Innovation in Data Portability with a New Photo Transfer Tool (Facebook Newsroom) Black Friday sees record $7.4B in online sales, $2.9B spent using smartphones (TechCrunch) Now even the FBI is warning about your smart TV's security (TechCrunch) Amazon debuts automatic speech recognition service, Amazon Transcribe Medical (TechCrunch) Amazon’s kooky new keyboard lets humans and AI write music together (Fast Company) Counter-Strike World Champions Aim for First Esport Team IPO (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since it’s a holiday week in the US, I’m going to do what I’ve done once before on Holiday weeks and give you an episode from the Internet History Podcast archives. This is a story about tech history that, if you’ve never heard it, will blow your mind. What if I told you there was a crazy entrepreneur who was the true founder of what would become America Online? He was the guy who hired Steve Case back before AOL was AOL. What if I told you that same entrepreneur invented true, networked, online gaming—not in the era of the Xbox 360, or Stadia, but back in the days of the Atari 2600? What if I then told you that same entrepreneur invented a Napster/Pandora/Spotify/Sirius-like music service, all the way back in 1981, before the compact disc was even widely available? That Man Is William von Meister And he is the subject of this episode. This is a crazy story, about a hard drinking, heavy-smoking, women-chasing entrepreneur, seemingly from the Mad Men cloth, who was “a pathological entrepreneur” with a “reality-distortion-field” that would give Steve Jobs a run for his money. It’s a story of about a dozen harebrained businesses, none of which were really successful (excepting of course that some or all of them lent their DNA to the company that would become AOL) but all of which were way ahead of their time, and in many ways, presaged technologies we take for granted today. Sponsors: CloudBees.io Mealime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google fires four workers associated with labor organizing, Amazon's ruthless quotas lead to high rates of warehouse injuries, grass-roots opponents to Amazon's power form a coalition, a report cites the public cost of Amazon warehouses on Southern California, the California DMV is selling driver information, the Rev transcription service exposes contractors to horrific recordings, Facebook pays people to take surveys, Zuckerberg mostly listens to old white men, a TikTok teen spreads the news about Chinese mistreatment of Muslim Uyghurs, and Texas Instruments keeps toting up new profits from an old calculator style. Sponsors Silicon Valley Bank Mealime Links: Google fires four workers, including one tied to protests (Bloomberg) Ruthless Quotas at Amazon Are Maiming Employees (the Atlantic) Amazon's Own Numbers Reveal Staggering Injury Rates at Staten Island Warehouse (Gizmodo) Grass-roots activists on Amazon's power coalesce (New York Times) Amazon costs Southern California big time in public assistance for its workers, environmental and transportation impact (Economic Roundtable) California DMV makes $50 million a year selling personal information (Vice) Rev Transcribers Hate the Low Pay, But the Disturbing Recordings Are Even Worse (The Verge) Facebook pays people to take surveys (Engadget) Zuck talks to old white men (Bloomberg) TikTok suspended a teen who posted a viral takedown of China disguised as a makeup tutorial (Business Insider) The Texas Instruments Chained-Calculation Massacre (Medium's GEN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uber loses its license in London, the web’s founder launches a “contract” to save it, eBay sells StubHub, the Threadrippers seem to be the real deal, Deadpool is buying a mobile carrier and Elon Musk knows why those windows cracked. Sponsors: Mealime DollarShaveClub.com/ride Links: Uber loses London licence after TfL finds drivers faked identity (The Guardian) Tim Berners-Lee unveils global plan to save the web (The Guardian) EBay to sell StubHub to Viagogo for about $4 billion in cash (CNBC) India's financial services firm Paytm raises $1B (TechCrunch) The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X and 3970X Review: 24 and 32 Cores on 7nm (AnandTech) AMD confirms 64-core Threadripper 3990X for 2020 (The Verge) Ryan Reynolds now owns a stake in budget carrier Mint Mobile (Engadget) Elon Musk explains why Tesla’s Cybertruck windows smashed during presentation (The Verge) Tesla's polarizing Cybertruck was preordered 200,000 times within 3 days (USA Today) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We gotta talk about Cybertruck, Twitter continues its shipping products hot streak, AirPods are hotter than even Apple anticipated, some trouble in Russia for gadget makers and, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: SVB.com/next Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: Behold, the Tesla Cybertruck is here (TechCrunch) Tesla accidentally busted two windows on the Cybertruck while demonstrating how tough they are (TechCrunch) Wall Street analysts say Tesla’s pickup is ‘really weird’ and Ford can ‘breathe a sigh of relief’ (CNBC) Tesla all-electric ATV makes a surprise debut at Cybertruck event (TechCrunch) Russia bans sale of gadgets without Russian-made software (BBC News) Twitter will finally let users disable SMS as default 2FA method (ZDNet) Twitter rolls out its 'Hide Replies' feature to all users worldwide (TechCrunch) Apple AirPods Shipments Expected to Double to 60 Million in 2019 (Bloomberg) Microsoft pushes Surface Earbuds release back to spring 2020 (Windows Central) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How our home delivery habit reshaped the world (The Guardian) The Architect of Modern Algorithms (Quanta Magazine) Spotify’s Daniel Ek Has a Plan to Harness Hollywood for Podcasts and Create "the World’s No. 1 Audio Platform" (The Hollywood Reporter) Inside the Most Watched YouTube Channel in the World (Bloomberg Businessweek) Global Protests Reveal Bitcoin’s Limitations (CoinDesk) Robert De Niro and Al Pacino: A Big, Beautiful 50-Year Friendship (GQ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google is changing its rules around political ads, PayPal is acquiring Honey for a ton of money, why have a Dash Button when you can have a Dash Shelf? Route puts all your orders in one place and I’m afraid Google’s original culture is definitively dead. Sponsors: Castro.fm SVB.com/next Links: An update on our political ads policy (The Keyword/Google) Google to Limit Targeting of Political Ads (NYTimes) Facebook Weighs Steps to Curb Narrowly Targeted Political Ads (WSJ) PayPal to acquire shopping and rewards platform Honey for $4B (TechCrunch) Amazon unveils new Dash Smart Shelf that automatically reorders items when supplies run low (GeekWire) Route's app auto-tracks all your packages, raises $12M (TechCrunch) Inside Apple’s iPhone Software Shakeup After Buggy iOS 13 Debut (Bloomberg) Google Hires Firm Known for Anti-Union Efforts (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hackers could take over your Android cameras, the police can do whatever they want with your Ring videos, if your Disney+ account is hacked, is it probably your fault? An amazing breakthrough in solar technology and why fishing by drone has become a thing. Sponsors: Castro Rhone.com/ridehome Links: Android Camera App Bug Lets Apps Record Video Without Permission (BleepingComputer) Police can keep Ring camera video forever and share with whomever they’d like, Amazon tells senator (Washington Post) Amazon says it’s considered face scanning in Ring doorbells (Associated Press) Hacked Disney+ accounts are reportedly being sold for as little as $3 (CNBC) Apple expands in Austin (Apple Newsroom) Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough (CNN) A new solar heat technology could help solve one of the trickiest climate problems (Vox) Tackle Box for the Modern Fisherman: Rod, Reel, Drone (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple’s planning an awards ceremony? Amazon has a new fire TV accessory, Spotify launches Your Daily Podcast, Google announces Your News Update, Ransomware comes for the vets, and the hidden cost hurdle for electric cars. Sponsors: Castro SVB.com/next Links: Apple announces press event on Dec. 2 (CNBC) Amazon’s latest Fire TV accessory is an IR blaster that lets your Echo control your TV (The Verge) AMAZON EXPANDS FREE MUSIC STREAMING SERVICE TO APPLE, ANDROID DEVICES (MusicBusinessWorldwide) Google is putting an algorithmic audio news feed on its Assistant (The Verge) Ransomware Bites 400 Veterinary Hospitals (Krebs on Security) Why the electric-car revolution may take a lot longer than expected (MIT Technology Review) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Mustang Mach-E wants to out Tesla Tesla, John Legere is stepping down from T-Mobile, .org domain names might be getting a lot more expensive, and the reviews on Google Stadia are decidedly mixed, but at least it works. Sponsors: Castro Mealime Links: FORD’S MUSTANG MACH-E IS AN ELECTRIC SUV WITH UP TO 300 MILES OF RANGE (The Verge) UP CLOSE WITH FORD’S ELECTRIC MUSTANG SUV, THE MACH-E (The Verge) Wayve raises $20 million to give autonomous cars better AI brains (VentureBeat) John Legere to step down as T-Mobile CEO next year (CNBC) The org that doles out .org websites just sold itself to a for-profit company (The Verge) ByteDance to take on rivals with music streaming launch (Financial Times) HP board unanimously rejects Xerox’s bid to acquire the company (CNBC) GOOGLE STADIA REVIEW: THE BEST OF CLOUD GAMING IS STILL JUST A BETA (The Verge) Stadia the Technology? Awesome. Stadia the Service? Not So Much (Vice) Stadia tech review: the best game streaming yet, but far from ready (EuroGamer) Subscribe to the ad-free feed right here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So, that Razr event, out in LA... obviously I didn’t get to cover it live… and if there was ever a recent hardware event crying out for “hands-on” reporting, this was one. So, I reached out to someone who was there: QZ.com’s Mike Murphy, and actually, his take was pretty different than some of the others I read to you on Thursday. Come for that, and stay for the reality check about what will really make the 5G revolution happen. Sponsors: Mealime GetQuip.com/ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple takes down vaping apps from the App Store, why is Google going ahead with the Stadia launch this month? Amazon protests the JEDI decision, the TikTok juggernaut rolls on—especially in India—and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Vistaprint.com promo code Ride50 Links: Exclusive: Apple to remove vaping apps from store (Axios) November 2019 Xbox One Update Brings Xbox Action for the Google Assistant, Gamertag Updates, Text Filters and More (XBox Wire) Microsoft to launch xCloud in 2020, with PS4 controllers and PC streaming on the way (The Verge) Google demos Stadia UI and lists several missing launch features (Engadget) Amazon cites ‘unmistakable bias’ in Microsoft’s military cloud contract win (CNBC) TikTok surpasses 1.5 billion downloads — with almost 500M in India (TNW) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: WeFail: How the doomed Masa Son-Adam Neumann relationship set WeWork on the road to disaster (Fast Company) How VCs Make Money (VCStarterKit) Superhero or Supervillain? Technology’s Role Changes Comic Books (NYTimes) AN ORAL HISTORY OF LIMEWIRE: THE LITTLE APP THAT CHANGED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY FOREVER (MelMagazine) As L.A. ports automate, some workers are cheering on the robots (LATimes) Managing Your Friendships, With Software (The Atlantic) From Instagram to Candy Crush: These are the most important apps of the decade (CNET) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a new Razr phone with a foldable screen that might actually work? That Apple Prime bundle might be coming sooner rather than later. That Apple Research app is here right now. Why did 1Password raise a bunch of money for the first time ever? And can Netflix use Nickelodeon to fend off Disney? Sponsors: PixelUnion.net leap.FidelityCareers.com Links: Motorola's foldable Razr: Inside the remaking of a flip phone icon (CNET) MOTOROLA RESURRECTS THE RAZR AS A FOLDABLE ANDROID SMARTPHONE (The Verge) Apple Plans Mega Bundle of Music, News, TV as Early as 2020 (Bloomberg) Apple launches Research app, US users can enroll in three health studies (9to5Mac) In Its First Funding In 14 Years, Toronto’s 1Password Raises $200M Series A Led By Accel (Crunchbase) Netflix and Nickelodeon partner on original programming, following Disney+ launch (TechCrunch) First ‘Tuned by THX’ home theater speakers need no A/V receivers — or wires (Digital Trends) Support the pod directly! Subscribe to the ad-free feed directly in your podcast app! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new 16-inch MacBook pro might actually have a keyboard that works! Google wants you to bank with them. The Brave browser comes out of beta. And there’s an AI that can predict if you’ll die in the next year… but doctors don’t know how it does it. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Capterra.com/ride Links: APPLE’S 16-INCH MACBOOK PRO IS HERE AND IT HAS A GOOD KEYBOARD (The Verge) 16-Inch MacBook Pro First Impressions: Great Keyboard, Outstanding Speakers (Daring Fireball) Next in Google’s Quest for Consumer Dominance: Banking (WSJ) Brave 1.0 launches, bringing the privacy-first browser out of beta (The Verge) DoorDash Picks Up Another $100 Million at Nearly $13 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Border officials can’t have ‘boundless’ access to search devices, court rules (The Verge) AI can predict if you'll die soon - but we've no idea how it works (New Scientist) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google has hoovered up the health records of millions of folks without telling anyone, Instagram debuts a TikTok competitor, Facebook debuts Facebook Pay, WordPress.com debuts recurring payments and Disney+ literally just debuts. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Netgear.com/bestwifi Links: Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Gathers Personal Health Data on Millions of Americans (The Wall Street Journal) Instagram Stories launches TikTok clone Reels in Brazil (TechCrunch) Facebook Pay is a new payment system for WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook (The Verge) Facebook finally lets you banish nav bar tabs & red dots (TechCrunch) Whoop, the sports tech and analytics company that makes discreet wearables, raises $55M (TechCrunch) WordPress.com sites can now accept subscriptions with new 'Recurring Payments' feature (TechCrunch) Disney+ experiencing ‘unable to connect’ errors on launch day (The Verge) Here’s what time every episode of The Mandalorian and other Disney+ shows go live (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York State is investigating the Apple Card for alleged gender bias, sources say Apple thinks AR glasses could someday replace the smartphone, Dara Khosrowshahi said some things he regrets, and Amazon is gonna launch a grocery store not called Whole Foods. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net PaintYourLife.com: Text RIDE to 64-000. Links: Viral Tweet About Apple Card Leads to Goldman Sachs Probe (Bloomberg) @dhh Thread About the Apple Card (dhh.dk) Uber CEO backtracks after calling Saudi murder of Khashoggi "a mistake" (Axios) Apple Eyes 2022 Release for AR Headset, 2023 for Glasses (The Information) Amazon will launch new grocery store as alternative to Whole Foods (CNET) DoorDash Won Food Delivery by Seizing the Suburbs and $2 Billion (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello! @jyarow and @fmanjoo are back! Sponsors: Castro.fm Molekule.com and enter "ride10" at checkout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disney Plus will be on Amazon’s Fire TV when it launches next week, Andreessen Horowitz launches a completely free crypto school, Twitter seems to have woken up all of the sudden, T-Mobile really wants that merger with Sprint to happen, and, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Metalab.co Netgear.com/bestwifi SVB.com/next Links: Disney stock rises after beating on top and bottom lines (CNBC) Andreessen Horowitz launches free crypto startup school (TechCrunch) Twitter Is Trying To Fix The Dunk And Ratio (BuzzFeed) T-Mobile dangles $15 plan, 5G gains, big freebies to get Sprint deal done (CNET) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Pessimists Archive Podcast The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising (The Correspondent) THE BIG BITCOIN HEIST (Vanity Fair) We are living in Hideo Kojima’s dystopian nightmare. Can he save us? (Washington Post) A critical analysis of scroll bars throughout history (The Verge) The Making of the World’s Greatest Investor (WSJ) How Cheap Robots Are Transforming Ocean Exploration (Outside) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter employees charged with spying for Saudi Arabia, those weird text messages a whole bunch of people received overnight, the most powerful desktop CPUs in the world, Ghost Locomotion wants to turn existing cars into autonomous vehicles, Wrench will repair your car on demand, and what smart speaker seems to be unhackable? Sponsors: Metalab.co SVB.com/next Links: Former Twitter employees charged with spying for Saudi Arabia by digging into the accounts of kingdom critics (Washington Post) Alphabet’s board of directors is investigating executives over inappropriate relationships (CNBC) A ton of people received text messages overnight that were originally sent on Valentine’s Day (The Verge) AMD unveils world's most powerful desktop CPUs (ZDNet) Uber faces costly choices after expert finds it uses Waymo self-driving tech (Reuters) Ghost raises $63.7 million to develop an aftermarket kit that gives cars self-driving capabilities (VentureBeat) Wrench's on-demand vehicle repair and maintenance service picks up $20 million (TechCrunch) Facebook Portal survives Pwn2Own hacking contest, Amazon Echo got hacked (ZDNet) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices