Tech Brew Ride Home

Twitter announces Topics, Xerox might take a run at HP, Uber’s getting into the ads business, Ford’s electric Mustang makes Tech Crunch angry, and the best blockchain startup idea I’ve heard of in a long time. Sponsors: Metalab.co Leap.FidelityCareers.com Links: Twitter is rolling out Topics, a way to follow subjects automatically in the timeline (The Verge) Xerox Considers Takeover Offer for HP (WSJ) California Says Facebook Failed to Comply With Subpoenas (NYTimes) California asks for court order forcing Facebook to hand over Cambridge Analytica documents (The Verge) Self-Driving Uber in Crash Wasn’t Designed to See Jaywalkers (Bloomberg) Uber is entering the ads business (TechCrunch) Neural Magic raises $15 million to boost AI inferencing speed on off-the-shelf processors (VentureBeat) How Arweave's Permaweb cheaply hosts sites & apps forever (TechCrunch) Ford built an electric Mustand with a manual transmission. And we're mad. (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How are things in Masa Son’s world post-WeWork? How long until Uber will be profitable? How is the new Surface Pro X to use? Why is iOS aggressively quitting background apps? And why data scoring companies are maybe worse than credit score companies. Sponsors: SVB.com/next Metalab.co Links: SoftBank imposes new standards to rein in start-up founders (Financial Times) WeWork Isn’t the Only Stumble for SoftBank’s Vision Fund (WSJ) Uber Books Another Quarterly Loss as Revenue Climbs (WSJ) MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO X REVIEW: HEARTBREAKER (The Verge) Xiaomi unveils its 108-megapixel smartphone (Engadget) Actively exploited bug in fully updated Firefox is sending users into a tizzy (ArsTechnica) IOS 13.2 IS OVERZEALOUSLY KILLING APPS IN THE BACKGROUND (Daring Fireball) I Got Access to My Secret Consumer Score. Now You Can Get Yours, Too. (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your smart speakers aren’t secure in a wild new way, crazy product announcement day from Microsoft and Adobe, crazy new logo design day from everyone but especially Facebook, and Wikipedia makes a big change to citations. Sponsors: Metalab.co go.conga.com/techmeme SoFi.com/ride Links: Hackers Can Use Lasers to ‘Speak’ to Your Amazon Echo or Google Home (Wired) Microsoft’s new Office app for iOS and Android combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (The Verge) Microsoft's Chromium Edge browser arrives January 15th (Engadget) Microsoft Teams is getting Outlook integration, tasks support, and more (The Verge) Microsoft Ignite 2019: Meet Project Cortex, Office 365 knowledge-management service (ZDNet) Microsoft is bringing Cortana to Outlook for iOS and Android with a new ‘masculine’ voice (The Verge) Introducing Our New Company Brand (Facebook Newsroom) Photoshop for iPad is now available in the App Store (WCCFTech) The Internet Archive Is Making Wikipedia More Reliable (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Case is obviously an internet and technology legend, as the founder of America Online. But as I said when I did a segment about it this week, I’ve always been fascinated with his Rise of the Rest Tour and Fund because, look, the whole basic principle of the project is to try new things, try to find new ideas and new people in new places. So after doing the segment on the new Rise of the Rest Fund II, I reached out to Steve to learn more about what he’s been learning as he’s been barnstorming the country to try to find exciting new companies outside of the major tech hubs. Sponsor: WeWorkRemotely Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google acquires Fitbit, Apple TV+ officially launches, might the US Government be about to bring the hammer down on TikTok, and of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tiny Capital Leap.FidelityCareers.com Links: Google to acquire Fitbit, valuing the smartwatch maker at about $2.1 billion (CNBC) Maps Incognito is launching for Google Maps Android Users (Google Maps Help) Apple TV+ is now live in the TV app: Start watching Apple’s original TV shows and movies (9to5Mac) Exclusive: U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok - sources (Reuters) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: 50 years ago today, the internet was born in Room 3420 (Fast Company) Talking with former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos (CJR) Everything is Amazing, But Nothing is Ours (AlexDanco.com) The Gross Margin Problem: Lessons for Tech-Enabled Startups (Craft) The Ransomware Superhero of Normal, Illinois (ProPublica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter says it will ban ALL political advertising, Cognizant says it is getting out of the content moderation business, Facebook earnings are good, Apple earnings are good… and evolving, and can the Chinese monitor SMS messages at the provider level, at scale? Sponsors: Tiny Capital Leap.FidelityCareers.com Links: Jack Dorsey's Twitter Thread Zuckerberg defends politician ads that will be 0.5% of 2020 revenue (TechCrunch) Aaron Sorkin: An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg (NYTimes) Facebook shares rise on strong Q3, users up 2% to 2.45B (TechCrunch) A Facebook content moderation vendor is quitting the business after two Verge investigations (The Verge) Apple is laying the groundwork for an iPhone subscription (CNBC) Researchers unearth malware that siphoned SMS texts out of telco’s network (ArsTechnica) Unraveling the Secret Origins of an AmazonBasics Battery (OneZero) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WhatsApp sues the NSO Group about that crazy exploit, Uber is threating to sue Los Angeles about a crazy tracking program that I’m not sure about, we’ve got the full details surrounding HBO Max, an activist is taking Facebook’s political advertising policy to its logical conclusion, and how come none of you told me about Mario Kart Tour? Sponsors: Tiny Capital Pessimists Archive Podcast Links: Why WhatsApp is pushing back on NSO Group hacking (Washington Post) WhatsApp Says Israeli Firm Used Its App in Spy Program (NYTimes) The New HBO Max is competing with Netflix by giving you Friends and Game of Thrones for $15 a month (Recode) Report: Apple to Use Qualcomm's X55 5G Modem in All Three 2020 iPhones (MacRumors) Uber in talks with Los Angeles as scooter location data lawsuit looms (CNET) Privacy groups actually side with Uber in scooter data fight (Mashable) This man is running for governor of California so he can run false Facebook ads (CNN Business) Mario Kart Tour Has a Rocket Start With 123.9 Million Downloads in Its First Month (SensorTower) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earnings from Alphabet and Shopify, hacking the Olympics, the Rise of the Rest rides again, Amazon is making grocery delivery free and letting you pay your electric bill via Alexa, and don’t update your HomePod, or you might brick it. Sponsors: Tiny Capital leap.fidelitycareers.com Links: Alphabet Earnings Dented by Spending on Cloud Business (Bloomberg) Shopify Shares Tumble After Surprise Loss on Spending Boost (Bloomberg) Microsoft: Russian hackers are targeting sporting organizations ahead of Tokyo Olympics (ZDNet) AOL Founder Steve Case Launches Second $150 Million ‘Rise Of The Rest’ Fund To Back Entrepreneurs Across U.S. (Forbes) China to Funnel $29 Billion Towards its Chip Ambitions (Bloomberg) Amazon axes $14.99 Amazon Fresh fee, making grocery delivery free for Prime members to boost use (TechCrunch) Amazon will let you pay bills with Alexa (VentureBeat) New 13.2 Update Bricking Some HomePods [Update Pulled by Apple] (MacRumors) PlayStation Vue is Shutting Down Live TV Streaming Service in January (The Streamable) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AirPods Pro are here, new Nvidia streaming gadgets are here, Alphabet might be about to acquire Fitbit, the fallout from the Pentagon JEDI contract and what happens when your entire city orders from Amazon every single day. Sponsors: Tinycapital.com LinkedIn.com/ride Links: Apple reveals new AirPods Pro, available October 30 (Apple NewsRoom) Apple unveils new in-ear AirPods Pro coming October 30 for $249 (9to5Mac) Google parent Alphabet makes offer to buy Fitbit, sending stock soaring (CNBC) Nvidia’s new Shield TV wins the Android TV market with amazing 4K upscaling (TechCrunch) Microsoft snags hotly contested $10 billion defense contract, beating out Amazon (CNBC) Spotify grows users 30% in Q3 2019, premium subscribers reach 113 million (VentureBeat) Microsoft’s Xbox bundles are back and ready for the new Project Scarlett Xbox (The Verge) 1.5 Million Packages a Day: The Internet Brings Chaos to N.Y. Streets (NYTimes) Subscribe to the premium ad-free feed here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news that Yahoo was shutting down Yahoo Groups, as I said, was another gut punch when you realize how much of the web’s history is so ephemeral. It also got me thinking that Yahoo as a company might be about to go down the memory hole, and that got me thinking about Yahoo’s legacy as perhaps the first great Internet company, and that got me talking to one of the deans of tech journalism, Harry McCracken. What IS Yahoo’s legacy? Why has it ended up the way it has? And also, why do we feel nostalgic for the sort of web Yahoo Groups represents? What has changed on the Internet from the Yahoo Groups glory days until now? Sponsors: PixelUnion.net LegalForce RAPC (650-390-6461 or [email protected]) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Facebook News. Did the major US Carriers do an end-run around Google out of spite? Amazon is back to making as little profit as it possibly can, HBO Max makes its aggressive pricing move, and, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Mealime LegalForce RAPC (650-390-6461 or [email protected]) Links: Rupert Murdoch wanted Mark Zuckerberg to pay him for news stories — and now Facebook is going to do just that (Recode) [Update: Google responds] Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile join forces to bring RCS to Android in 2020 (9to5Google) AMAZON.COM ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER SALES UP 24% TO $70.0 BILLION (Amazon) Behind AT&T's plan to take on Netflix, Apple and Disney with HBO Max (Reuters) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The 2010s Broke Our Sense Of Time (Buzzfeed) Inside R/Relationships, the Unbearably Human Corner of Reddit (The Atlantic) He revolutionized how millions of people spend money in India. His next target: America (CNN Business) Now the Machines Are Learning How to Smell (Wired) Pentagon, With an Eye on China, Pushes for Help From American Tech (NYTimes) Google CEO Sundar Pichai on achieving quantum supremacy (MIT Technology Review) How Do You Like We Now (Bloomberg Opinion) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is TikTok a national security risk? Inquiring Senators want to know. Earnings running the gamut from bad to surprisingly good from Twitter, Amazon and Tesla. And to paraphrase an old saw: if a voicemail system goes down how would anyone even notice? Sponsors: Mealime LegalForce RAPC (650-390-6461 or [email protected]) Links: TikTok raises national security concerns in Congress as Schumer, Cotton ask for federal review (The Washington Post) Music Video Upstart ‘Triller’ Says It’s Taking On TikTok Amid $28 Million Series B (TubeFilter) Twitter Q3 misses bi on revenues of $824M and EPS of $0.05 on the back of adtech glitches (TechCrunch) Twitter’s Growth Sags, But That Wasn’t the Worst Part (Bloomberg) Microsoft Sales, Profit Top Estimates on Cloud; Azure Slows (Bloomberg) Tesla Shares Soar as Elon Musk Packs Profit Report With Positives (Bloomberg) AT&T claims a weeks-long voicemail outage will be fixed with a single device update (The Verge) Apple TV app launches on Amazon Fire TV devices (9to5Mac) 40 Major Music Festivals Have Pledged Not to Use Facial Recognition Technology (Vice) BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror (BBC News) Behold the massive social media explosion from Fortnite’s Season 10 finale (The Washington Post) Last week's Fortnite update helped Akamai set a new CDN traffic record (ZDNet) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mr. Zuckerberg went back to Washington, Google claims “Quantum Supremacy,” Apple overtakes Starbucks, HireVue is a controversial AI hiring tool and is the influencer bubble on the wane? Sponsors: leap.Fidelitycareers.com Mealime.com Links: Zuckerberg, in Washington to Talk Cryptocurrency, Gets Grilled on Everything (NYTimes) Snapchat beats in Q3, adding 7M users & revenue up 50% (TechCrunch) Apple Pay Overtakes Starbucks as Top Mobile Payment App in the US (eMarketer) Google Claims a Quantum Breakthrough That Could Change Computing (NYTimes) On “Quantum Supremacy” (IBM Research Blog) A face-scanning algorithm increasingly decides whether you deserve the job (The Washington Post) Online Influencers Tell You What to Buy, Advertisers Wonder Who’s Listening (WSJ) Classified: Upside.fm/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SoftBank is taking over WeWork in order to save it, Verizon will give you Disney+ for free, Surprise! Comcast’s “free” streaming box really isn’t, and how much does Dark Mode save in battery life? Quite a bit, it turns out… Sponsors: LegalForce RAPC (650-390-6461 or [email protected]) Mealime.com Links: Neumann to Get Up to $1.7 Billion to Exit WeWork as SoftBank Takes Control (WSJ) Verizon Will Give One Year of Disney Plus for Free to All Unlimited Wireless Customers (Variety) Roku is buying ad tech company Dataxu in $150 million deal (CNBC) Comcast’s ‘free’ streaming box actually requires an additional $13 / month fee (The Verge) Forty-six attorneys general have joined a New York-led antitrust investigation of Facebook (The Washington Post) The Pixel 4 supports fast wireless charging on any Qi charger [Updated] (AndroidCentral) Dark Mode in iOS 13 significantly helps iPhone battery life, robotic test shows [Video] (9to5Mac) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s review-a-palooza day with Surface reviews and Pixel 4 reviews. Also, Facebook announces new disinformation initiatives, and Microsoft announces a Secured-core PC initiative and Twitch wants in on the Watch Party action. Sponsors: Mealime Capterra.com/ride Links: Facebook disables Russian, Iranian networks, illustrating continued 2020 election threat (Washington Post) Helping to Protect the 2020 US Elections (Facebook Newsroom) Microsoft announces Secured-core PCs to counter firmware attacks (VentureBeat) Twitch’s new Watch Parties test taps Prime Video for movie night (SlashGear) MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 7 REVIEW: I WISH THIS LOOKED LIKE A SURFACE PRO X (The Verge) MICROSOFT SURFACE LAPTOP 3 15-INCH REVIEW: IT’S A BIGGER SURFACE LAPTOP (The Verge) Google Pixel 4 XL review: A night vision camera that's dead by sunset (Android Central) GOOGLE PIXEL 4 AND 4 XL REVIEW: MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS SENSORS (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zuckerberg defends Facebook as a champion of free speech, will iPhone users have unlimited photo uploads to Google Photos while Pixel 4 owners will not, dial back your expectations for the Photoshop iPad app, the Vatican has a wearable prayer gadget, and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com Vistaprint.com promo code Ride Links: Samsung says fingerprint security fix is coming as early as next week (The Verge) Defiant Zuckerberg Says Facebook Won’t Police Political Speech (NYTimes) On Facebook’s live stream, Zuckerberg’s free-speech lecture got a big thumbs up (Washington Post) Google Photos format loophole seems to give iPhone free unlimited storage for orig. quality photos, Pixel 4 left behind (9to5Mac) Photoshop for iPad Nearing Launch With Some Key Features Missing (Bloomberg) Vatican launches $110 'click to pray' wearable rosary (CNN) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Apple, iPhone 11, 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max Review (AnAndTech) The Creators Of Pokémon Go Mapped The World. Now They're Mapping You (Kotaku) The Young Firms Rethinking Social Media (The Information) Inside Apple's Long, Bumpy Road to Hollywood (The Hollywood Reporter) How Pinterest Built One of Silicon Valley’s Most Successful Algorithms (OneZero) Inside TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free (ProPublica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fingerprint sensors on the Galaxy S10 can be tricked by a phone case, the Pixel 4 face recognition system unlocks your phone even when you’re asleep, Netflix kicks off tech earnings season, Airbnb’s losses double, and Travis Kalanick is getting the Billion’s treatment. Paging Bobby Axelrod... Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com GetQuip.com/ride Links: Samsung to patch the Galaxy S10’s fingerprint sensor over screen protector concerns (The Verge) Netflix soars 8% after beating on earnings, despite miss on subscribers (CNBC) Netflix finally admitted two things we already knew about the streaming wars (CNBC) Airbnb’s quarterly loss reportedly doubled in Q1, a bad sign as investors grow wary of money-losers (CNBC) Airbnb’s Q1 Loss More Than Doubled, New Data Shows (The Information) The FCC has voted to approve the T-Mobile-Sprint merger (The Verge) Privacy-focused Brave browser boasts 8M monthly active users (The Block) Google Pixel 4 Face Unlock works if eyes are shut (BBC News) Yahoo Groups Is Winding Down and All Content Will Be Permanently Removed (Vice) Microsoft introduces new open-source specs for developing cloud and edge applications (ZDNet) ‘Billions’ Creators to Develop ‘Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber’ Series at Showtime (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter explains how world leaders can break its rules but they’ll kinda, sorta crack down on them. LinkedIn launches Events, Giphy launches Giphy arcade, DoNotPay fascinates me, and a debrief on yesterday’s Google event. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com Leap.FidelityCareers.com Links: Twitter says it will restrict users from retweeting world leaders who break its rules (TechCrunch) Huawei Reports Stronger Sales Growth (NYTimes) LinkedIn gets physical, debuts Events hub for people to plan in-person networking events (TechCrunch) Giphy Arcade lets you play, create, and share mini-games on the web as if they were GIFs (The Verge) This brilliant app waits on hold for you (The Verge) Go inside Pixel 4's new camera features with Google's photo technology experts (CNET) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the headlines from the Google hardware event, Apple butts in with new Beats, Libra loses another one, your movie theater wants to rent you movies, and Fortnite is back from the “black hole.” Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely Zapier.com/ride Links: PIXELBOOK GO: GOOGLE FINALLY MADE A REASONABLY PRICED CHROMEBOOK (The Verge) Google announces Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL (The Verge) BEATS ANNOUNCES SOLO PRO ON-EAR HEADPHONES WITH NOISE CANCELLATION (The Verge) Facebook's Libra announces board as support shrinks further (Reuters) AMC Theater Chain Gets Into Streaming With On-Demand Movies (NYTimes) Fortnite’s black hole has closed, and Chapter 2 is finally here (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More China related controversy for Apple, for gaming, for all of tech really… but why Apple suddenly finds itself in a unique bind. More iPhone SE 2 rumors, the latest installment of “Will We Actually Ever See Libra?” and why nobody can play Fortnite right now. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com MintMobile.com/ride Links: How safe is Apple’s Safe Browsing? (Matthew Green) Chinese app on Xi’s ideology allows data access to users’ phones, report says (The Washington Post) Kuo: iPhone SE 2 Launching in Q1 2020 with A13 at $399 Price (MacRumors) Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency coalition is falling apart as eBay, Visa, Mastercard and Stripe jump ship (CNBC) SoftBank is reportedly seeking to take control of WeWork through a financing package (CNBC) ‘Fortnite’ Goes Dark: A Masterful Marketing Stroke by Epic Games (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More on Apple’s China controversy, hands-on with Google’s Pixelbook Go laptop, Twitter returns to the Mac, Africa’s first homegrown smartphone, SpaceX and NASA kiss and make up, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Castro CognitoHQ.com Today In Digital Marketing Podcast Links: TIM COOK’S COMPANY-WIDE MEMO ON HKMAP.LIVE DOESN’T ADD UP (Daring Fireball) Exclusive: This is the Google Pixelbook Go [Gallery] (9to5Google) Twitter releases new Catalyst app for macOS Catalina (The Verge) Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa (Fast Company) NASA aims for first manned SpaceX mission in first-quarter 2020 (Reuters) Apple Launches In-House Studio With 'Band of Brothers'/'The Pacific' Follow-Up (The Hollywood Reporter) Weekend Longreads: Is Amazon Unstoppable? (The New Yorker) Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan (The Atlantic) When GoFundMe Gets Ugly (The Atlantic) Can a Machine Learn To Write For The New Yorker? (The New Yorker) The Style-Quantifying Astrophysicists of Silicon Valley (Wired) The State of Machine Learning Frameworks in 2019 (The Gradient) Who Needs Moonshots? How Former Hollywood Mogul Barry Diller Built A $4.2 Billion Tech Fortune Out Of Underdog Assets (Forbes) Subscribe to the ad-free feed RIGHT IN YOUR PODCAST APP! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple takes down the Hong Kong app that it reinstated after taking it down in the first place, Waymo will soon let real people into driverless cars, Grammarly is the newest unicorn, and why, if you live in the Bay Area, your house might be without power… but your work probably won’t be. Sponsors: Castro Legacybox.com/ride Links: Apple Removes App That Helps Hong Kong Protesters Track the Police (NYTimes) APPLE REMOVES HKMAP.LIVE FROM APP STORE (Daring Fireball) Apple, Google Pull Hong Kong Protest Apps After China Uproar (WSJ) Tweetstorm (@Grummz) Grammarly raises $90M at over $1B+ valuation for its AI-based grammar and writing tools (TechCrunch) Splinter Shutting Down (Daily Beast) Why the PG&E Blackouts Spared California's Big Tech HQs (Wired) What Happens When Your Tweet Becomes a Subway Ad (One Zero) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter used your 2-Factor credentials to sell ads against you, the China/Hong Kong/tech controversies roll on, Mark Zuckerberg is going back to Washington, and the Nobel Prize for chemistry gives long overdue recognition to the most important technology innovation of our time. Sponsors: Today In Digital Marketing Podcast Castro Leap.FidelityCareers.com Links: Twitter says it unintentionally misused user data for advertising (Axios) Twitter says phone numbers users provided for security were ‘inadvertently’ used for ad purposes (The Washington Post) 'Protecting rioters': China warns Apple over app that tracks Hong Kong police (The Guardian) 'Call of Duty: Mobile' smashes records with 100 million downloads in first week (Reuters) Kuo: New iPad Pro and iPhone SE 2 in early 2020, followed by Apple AR headset collaboration with ‘third-party brands’ (9to5Mac) Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress on Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency (CNBC) Postmates’ new IPO delay says something bigger: Wall Street is turning against Silicon Valley (Recode) Smart fitness device Mirror launches one-on-one personal training (CNET) Nobel prize in chemistry awarded for work on lithium-ion batteries (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The PlayStation 5 is coming in about a year and Wired has the details, Hulu finally lets you download video, a gamer is banned for voicing support for Hong Kong protesters, how the Galaxy Fold was “fixed,” and Robinhood takes another crack at Cash Management. Sponsors: Castro Vistaprint.com promo code Ride Sponsors: Exclusive: A Deeper Look at the PlayStation 5 (Wired) Hulu finally launches support for downloads, initially to ad-free viewers (TechCrunch) Group Nine to Acquire PopSugar, Continuing Wave of Digital Media Tie-Ups (The WSJ) Blizzard Bans Gamer, Rescinds Money, on Hong Kong Protest Support (Bloomberg) Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments (Hacker News) Samsung Galaxy Fold Teardown (iFixit) Robinhood revives checking with new debit card & 2% interest (TechCrunch) Researchers “Translate” Bat Talk. Turns Out, They Argue—A Lot (Smithsonian.com) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Kindle Kids Edition is here, Sonos speakers via subscription is here, macOS Catalina is here, but the following tab is gone from Instagram, PayPal is ghosting Libra, and why investors think the time to jump into Quantum Computing is now. Sponsors: Castro Podcast App Today In Digital Marketing Podcast Links: Amazon debuts its first ever Kindle Kids Edition (CNET) New Sonos service lets you rent its speakers (The Verge) Instagram’s Following Activity Tab Is Going Away (BuzzFeed News) Music labels wary as Apple tries to bundle subscriptions (Financial Times) Apple’s macOS Catalina update is coming today (The Verge) macOS Catalina Review (iMore) PayPal Bails on Facebook-Led Libra Cryptocurrency Dream (Bloomberg) PayPal withdraws from Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency (CNBC) Quantum gold rush: the private funding pouring into quantum start-ups (Nature) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Satish Jeyachandran is the Head of Hardware at Waymo. Before that he lead the self-driving team at Tesla, so he was in charge of the Autopilot team, and his job change lead to headlines at the time. Today Satish gives us a history lesson on Waymo, tells us what the future holds for self-driving tech generally, and most importantly for me, answers a question I’ve always wondered. Why go for full autonomy? If you can give me the ability to let the car drive itself on highways, why not give me that now? Why try to solve the full 99.99% of the problem? It turns out, that Waymo learned you can’t do half measures. You have to do full autonomy or you do nothing. Very interesting conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Really bad Android zero-day discovered, is the scooter space back? Apple makes an interesting acquisition, an exoskeleton allows a paralyzed man to walk again and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Election Ride Home podcast Links: Attackers exploit 0-day vulnerability that gives full control of Android phones (ArsTechnica) Bird raises $275 million Series D round at a $2.5 billion valuation (TechCrunch) Apple May Have Acquired Motion Capture Company IKinema [Update: Confirmed] (MacRumors) Apple’s AR plans may come to life after acquiring iKinema motion tech (VentureBeat) A brain-controlled exoskeleton has let a paralyzed man walk in the lab (MIT Technology Review) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Off-the-Radar Baseball League That’s Trying to Reboot the Game (GEN) Inside Disney’s New York Stream Factory (Variety) My Time at Snap (@marko_tupper) Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300 million to unleash growth. Then things got messy (CNN Business) Where Toxic Masculinity Goes to Die (The Atlantic) The Fallen Worlds of Philip Pullman (The New Yorker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instagram launches Threads, the iPhone SE might ride again, the biggest content recommendation players have merged, Vice Media and Refinery 29 have merged, and why has Apple banned an app for users in Hong Kong? Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Manscaped.com, code: "ride" Links: Instagram launches Threads, a Close Friends chat app with auto-status (TechCrunch) Facebook Can Be Forced to Delete Content Worldwide, E.U.’s Top Court Rules (NYTimes) Kuo: Apple to release ‘iPhone SE 2’ in Q1 2020 with iPhone 8 design, A13 processor (9to5Mac) What the Taboola-Outbrain combination means for publishers (Digiday) Vice Media to Acquire Refinery29, as Both Digital-Media Players Seek Scale (Variety) Google using dubious tactics to target people with ‘darker skin’ in facial recognition project: sources (NY Daily News) Here's that hippie, pro-privacy, pro-freedom Apple y'all so love: Hong Kong protest safety app banned from iOS store (The Register) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the news from Microsoft’s Surface event… they’re making smartphones again! Anti-trust scrutiny gets results again as Apple says Siri will soon play nice with others, the Galaxy Fold reviews are in and might the other members of the Libra consortium be having second thoughts? Sponsors: PixelUnion.net AirMedcareNetwork.com/tech code: tech Links: Microsoft Launches Surface Pro X With New Ultra-Thin Design, Slim Pen, Type Cover (Thurott.com) MICROSOFT SURFACE NEO FIRST LOOK: THE FUTURE OF WINDOWS 10X IS DUAL-SCREEN (The Verge) Microsoft surprises with new foldable Surface Duo phone running Android (The Verge) Galaxy Fold: This flip phone’s a flop, but the folding trend won’t stop (The Washington Post) Apple to Loosen Reins on Outside Messaging, Phone Apps Via Siri (Bloomberg) UPS Now Runs the First Official Drone Airline (Wired) Visa, Mastercard, Others Reconsider Involvement in Facebook's Libra Network (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen in on Mark Zuckerberg rallying the troops, GoPro hopes newer cameras revive its fortunes, prepping for the Microsoft event tomorrow, the SEC slaps a crypto company on the wrist, and Tesla’s new Smart Summon feature has made for some viral videos. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Capterra.com/ride Links: All Hands on Deck (The Verge) READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MARK ZUCKERBERG’S LEAKED INTERNAL FACEBOOK MEETINGS (The Verge) GoPro launches two new cameras as it tries to become profitable this year (CNBC) GOPRO HERO 8 BLACK REVIEW: SMOOTH OPERATOR (The Verge) Appeals court upholds FCC’s cancelling of net neutrality rules (The Washington Post) Microsoft makes Windows Virtual Desktop generally available globally (ZDNet) EOS Maker Block.One Settles With SEC Over Unregistered Securities Sale (Coindesk) People Using Tesla's New Smart Summon Feature Are Already Running Into Trouble And It's Hard To Be Shocked (Jalopnik) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IS the new iOS release finally bug free? Add podcasts to your Spotify playlists, WeWork officially “delays” its IPO, which gives us a reason to examine why the Unicorn IPO Parade has mattered, and This Week In Elon Musk is all about achieving orbit. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net LinkedIn.com/ride Links: Apple Releases iOS 13.1.2 and iPadOS 13.1.2 with Fixes for Camera, iCloud Backup, HomePod Shortcut, and Flashlight Bugs (MacRumors) Spotify users can add podcasts to playlists (Engadget) HP’s Spectre x360 13 seems like an improvement in almost every way (The Verge) New Checkm8 jailbreak released for all iOS devices running A5 to A11 chips (ZDNet) Developer of Checkm8 explains why iDevice jailbreak exploit is a game changer (ArsTechnica) The 'Checkm8' exploit isn't a big deal to iPhone or iPad users, and here's why (Apple Insider) WeWork pulls IPO filing (CNBC) The Great Public Market Reckoning (AVC) Elon Musk aims to put SpaceX’s Starship in orbit in six months (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A DoorDash data breach that has a bad new angle, we might see the foldable Razr phone by the end of the year, how long can this alternative app store last before Apple shuts it down, the biggest Tesla software update yet, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Metalab.co CognitoHQ.com Links: DoorDarsh confirms data breach affected 4.9 million customers, workers and merchants (TechCrunch) Spotify is finally getting Siri support with iOS 13 (The Verge) That Motorola Razr foldable will squeak out a debut before year's end (CNET) AltStore is an alternative iOS App Store with a built-in Nintendo emulator (The Verge) Tesla starts rolling out biggest software update ever with Spotify, Netflix, YouTube, and more (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Slack Is a Hell of Our Own Making (NY Magazine/Intelligencer) Every Company is Becoming a Software Company (Confluent Blog) Artificial Intelligence Confronts a 'Reproducibility' Crisis (Wired) INSIDE UBER’S PLAN TO TAKE OVER CITY LIFE WITH CEO DARA KHOSROWSHAHI (The Verge) The Octopus: An Alien Among Us (Literary Hub) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uber wants to become “the OS for everyday life,” Peloton’s IPO is a good news/bad news situation, the FTC sues Match.com for allegedly catfishing people, stuff I missed from yesterday’s Amazon event, and an “interesting raise” startup that wants to turn renters into home owners. Sponsors: Metalab.co CognitoHQ.com Links: Uber overhauls its app in ambitious bid to become ‘the operating system for your everyday life’ (The Verge) Peloton slides after opening below IPO price in market debut (CNBC) At Least 70 Countries Have Had Disinformation Campaigns, Study Finds (NYTimes) Attorney General Barr Seeks DOJ Facebook Antitrust Probe (Bloomberg) Match.com connected daters to fake accounts to boost subscriptions, US regulators say (The Verge) Amazon’s new Echo Flex lets you put Alexa everywhere in your home (The Verge) Alexa's 'Certified for Humans' wants to eliminate smart-home headaches (CNET) Divvy Homes Raises $43M Series B To Help Renters Become Homeowners (Crunchbase News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon’s hardware event gives us more Alexa in just about anything you can think of, Oculus has some news on the VR front, the 2020 iPhones might echo the iPhone 4 design, and those dog like robots from Boston Dynamics are finally leaving the lab, but to adopt one, you need to think through a use case. Sponsors: Metalab.co AirMedcareNetwork.com/tech code: tech Links: Amazon announces high-end $199 Echo Studio speaker (The Verge) Alexa gains multilingual mode, celebrity voices, and frustration detection (Venture Beat) Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 combines the best of its big and small smart displays (The Verge) Amazon announces new $99 Eero mesh router with Alexa voice controls (The Verge) Amazon Sidewalk is a new long-range wireless network for your stuff (TechCrunch) Kuo: 2020 iPhones to Have Redesigned Metal Frame Similar to iPhone 4 (MacRumors) You can now sign up for Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming preview (The Verge) Boston Dynamics’ Spot is leaving the laboratory (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Neumann out as WeWork CEO, Facebook acquires CTRL-Labs to deliver computing controlled by your brain, Kik officially shuts down its app, and is Microsoft preparing to let users control and monetize their own data? Sponsors: Metalab.co AirMedcareNetwork.com/tech code: tech Links: WeWork CEO Adam Neumann to step down amid controversy and retain chairman role (CNBC) Facebook to Buy Startup for Controlling Computers With Your Mind (Bloomberg) KIK CHAT APP SHUTS DOWN AS COMPANY GOES “ALL IN” ON KIN (Betakit.com) SEC sues Kik for running an unregistered Initial Coin Offering (Engadget) Google wins landmark right to be forgotten case (BBC News) AMAZON CREATES A HUGE ALLIANCE TO DEMAND VOICE ASSISTANT COMPATIBILITY (The Verge) Amazon plans Alexa wireless earbuds with fitness-tracking built in, bigger Echo with better sound, source says (CNBC) Microsoft's new 'Data Dignity' team could help users control their personal data (ZDNet) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google Play Pass might usher in a new era of mobile gaming, the WeWork saga is becoming a soap opera, Facebook’s foes and (erstwhile) friends are talking to the FTC, and has Google ushered in the era of quantum supremacy? Sponsors: Metalab.co Zapier.com/ride Links: Google Play Pass bundles 350 Android games and apps for $4.99 per month (The Verge) Some WeWork Board Members Seek to Remove Adam Neumann as CEO (WSJ) SoftBank’s Masa Son is in favor of ousting WeWork CEO Adam Neumann (CNBC) How Adam Neumann’s Over-the-Top Style Built WeWork. ‘This Is Not the Way Everybody Behaves.’ (WSJ) Snap Detailed Facebook’s Aggressive Tactics in ‘Project Voldemort’ Dossier (WSJ) Samsung Galaxy Fold will be available September 27th in the US (9to5Google) World Robotics Report: Global Sales of Robots Hit $16.5B in 2018 (Robotics Business Review) Google may have just ushered in an era of ‘quantum supremacy’ (The Verge) Classified AD: RobBettis.com For many businesses, digital marketing is essential to success. However, despite its importance, most companies can’t justify the cost of another full-time employee and they can’t stomach being burned by another flaky freelancer. What you really need is a partner. Rob Bettis is an independent digital marketer who helps e-commerce retailers and app developers build bigger, better businesses online through PPC media. Unlike agencies who are all about scale, Rob works with a limited number of businesses, managing advertising on Google, Bing, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon & Apple Search - ensuring every client gets the expertise and attention they deserve. Rob has spent the past 15 years managing PPC accounts. And since going solo, Rob has generated a return on ad spend of over 700% for his clients. If you want to build a bigger, better business online, contact Rob at RobBettis.com or click the link in the show notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Airbnb says it will have an IPO in 2020, Twitter exposes more bad state actors, a French court says Steam digital games may be resold in the EU, hold the phone on upgrading your iPhone to iOS 13, Amazon plays free with Allbirds, Tinder brings a new meaning to the word Bandersnatch, and this week’s long-reads suggestions, including a deep dive into the problems with pilot training and Boeing’s 737-MAX. Sponsors Mealime.com OpenVPN Links: Airbnb Says It Plans to Go Public in 2020 (New York Times) Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Company During 2020 (Airbnb) Twitter suspends account of former top Saudi aide implicated in Khashoggi killing (Washington Post) Disclosing new data to our archive of information operations (Twitter) French court rules that Steam’s ban on reselling used games is contrary to European law (Polygon) New features available with iOS 13 (Apple) Facebook may copy your app, but Amazon will copy your shoe (The Verge) Inside Tinder’s Secret Streaming Series (Variety) What Really Brought Down the Boeing 737 Max? (New York Times) How Wi-Fi Almost Didn’t Happen (Wired) The U1 chip in the iPhone 11 is the beginning of an Ultra Wideband revolution (Six Colors) Artificial Intelligence Confronts a ‘Reproducibility’ Crisis (Wired) iOS and iPadOS 13: The MacStories Review (MacStories) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Huawei tries to launch a flagship smartphone without a Google net, could Apple and Disney have merged? Some really interesting raises, for Automattic and Stripe, but also an autonomous construction equipment startup, and why there now might be SSD’s that are basically failproof. Sponsors: Mealime.com OpenVPN.net/ride Links: Huawei Mate 30 Pro goes official w/ no Google apps, ‘horizon’ display (9to5Google) GitHub acquires code analysis tool Semmle (TechCrunch) “WE COULD SAY ANYTHING TO EACH OTHER”: BOB IGER REMEMBERS STEVE JOBS, THE PIXAR DRAMA, AND THE APPLE MERGER THAT WASN’T (Vanity Fair) Datadog Rises 53% in Trading Debut After Rebuffing Cisco (Bloomberg) Amazon signs Climate Pledge to advance Paris Climate Accords goals by 10 years (VentureBeat) Built Robotics raises $33M for its self-driving construction equipment (TechCrunch) Automattic raises $300 million at $3 billion valuation from Salesforce Ventures (TechCrunch) Fintech Company Stripe Joins Silicon Valley Elite With $35 Billion Valuation (WSJ) Samsung unveils new PCIe 4.0 SSDs that "never die" (TechSpot) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facebook debuts Portal TV, and wants to make AR smart glasses to replace your smartphone, Google Fi has an “unlimited” plan that is every bit as unlimited as any other, the Apple Watch Series 5 reviews and autonomous vehicles come to the farm. Sponsors: Vistaprint.com promo code Ride2. Mealime.com OpenVPN.net/ride Links: Facebook launches Portal TV, a $149 video chat set-top box (TechCrunch) Facebook’s second-generation Portal devices are cheaper, smaller, and support WhatsApp (The Verge) Facebook working on smart glasses with Ray-Ban, code-named ‘Orion’ (CNBC) Smart TVs sending private data to Netflix and Facebook (Financial Times) Google Fi launches a more traditional unlimited plan (The Verge) HP Elite Dragonfly hands-on: A really light business notebook (Engadget) APPLE WATCH SERIES 5 REVIEW: THE BEST SMARTWATCH (The Verge) Apple Watch Series 5 (Daring Fireball) FarmWise and its weed-pulling agribot harvest $14.5M in funding (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WeWork’s IPO is off for now, Amazon Music HD is going after Tidal, the Streaming Wars mean big price tags for Seinfeld and Big Bang Theory, and a wrap up of all the iPhone 11, Pro and Pro Max reviews. Sponsors: OpenVPN.net/ride Mealime.com Links: Computer Scientist Richard Stallman Resigns From MIT Over Epstein Comments (Motherboard) WeWork delays IPO after frosty investor response (Reuters) SoftBank Backers Rethink Role in Next Vision Fund on WeWork (Bloomberg) Amazon Music rolls out a lossless streaming tier that Spotify and Apple can’t match (The Verge) Snapchat is adding a 3D Camera Mode, the latest salvo in its feature race with Instagram (TechCrunch) Netflix Lands 'Seinfeld' Rights in $500M-Plus Deal After Losing 'Friends' and 'The Office' (The Hollywood Reporter) ‘The Big Bang Theory’ to Show on New Streaming Service HBO Max (WSJ) NBCUniversal’s Streaming Service Is Called Peacock and It’s Launching Next April (Vulture) APPLE IPHONE 11 REVIEW: THE PHONE MOST PEOPLE SHOULD BUY (The Verge) Apple iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max review: Better, but not groundbreaking (Engadget) Review: The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 do Disneyland After Dark (TechCrunch) Review: Apple iPhone 11 Pro (Wired) IPhone 11 and 11 Pro Review: Thinking Differently in the Golden Age of Smartphones (NYTimes) Apple Arcade's best selling point: Games you'll actually want to play (Engadget) SUBSCRIBE TO THE AD-FREE FEED! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Amazon wants to tip-toe past the regulators, headlines like those from today can’t help, October is going to be filthy with major tech launch events, is TikTok showing us the future of the Chinese web in worrying ways, and let’s pour one out for MoviePass! Links: OpenVPN.net/ride Mealime.com Links: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products (WSJ) Facebook and JP Morgan meet with global central banks to discuss cryptocurrencies (CNBC) Google announces October 15th hardware event for Pixel 4 (The Verge) Iger Departs Board of Apple, Disney’s New Streaming Competitor (NY Times) Wi-Fi 6 officially launches today, ahead of iPhone 11 availability on Friday (9to5Mac) Wi-Fi 6 certification is here to make next-gen speeds a widespread reality (CNET) Multiple camera simultaneous recording coming to iPhone XS and iPhone XR, not just iPhone 11 (9to5Mac) TikTok’s Beijing roots fuel censorship suspicion as it builds a huge U.S. audience (The Washington Post) MoviePass will shut down for good on Sept. 14 (CNBC) AD FREE FEED SIGNUP! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As I mentioned in the Weekend Longreads segment, Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis had an op ed in the times that has changed the way I think about the state of AI. But they’re also the authors of a great new book, Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust. There’s a reason people remain fearful about AI… it hasn’t earned our trust yet. In all sorts of ways that we get into on this episode. And also, the interesting ways AI development needs to change to take the state of the art to the next level. Sponsor: MintMobile.com/ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We had the big iPhone announcement this week, so to break it down, our good friend at MacStories, John Voorhees is here to dive into… why so much backlash to this event? Was it boring? What did we actually get from Santa Tim? And why we might look back at this as the pivot point where Apple events changed into something new... Sponsors: Tinycapital.com WeWorkRemotely.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cloudflare has a successful IPO, but will WeWork’s planned IPO be considered a success even if it actually has one? Is another investment bubble popping in the AR/VR space? Will the streaming wars kill the back-end deal in Hollywood? And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: TinyCapital.com GetQuip.com/ride Links: Cloudflare stock pops 20% in first day of trading (CNBC) WeWork’s valuation could fall to below $15 billion in IPO, down from $47 billion private valuation (CNBC) House lawmakers ask Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google to turn over trove of records in antitrust probe (The Washington Post) Another high-flying, heavily funded AR headset startup is shutting down (TechCrunch) J.J. Abrams Officially Closes Sizable WarnerMedia Film, TV Partnership (The Hollywood Reporter) The end of the backend? Disney wants to limit profit participation on its new TV shows (Los Angeles Times) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How to Build Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust (NYTimes) As sex toys continue to get hacked, the defin­i­tion of sexual assault is under question (Screen Shot) What Happened to Urban Dictionary? (Wired) TONY HAWK ON HOW HIS GAMES CHANGED SKATEBOARDING (The Verge) From Communism To Coding: How Daniel Dines Of $7 Billion UiPath Became The First Bot Billionaire (Forbes) Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second (Science) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uber says the California contractor law doesn’t apply to it because it is… checks notes… not technically in the ride hailing business, will France block Libra in the EU, dark mode comes to Slack, crowd-sourced answers come to Alexa, and, some news on the Fermi Paradox front. Sponsors: Tinycapital.com Datatribe.com/challenge Links: Uber argues its drivers aren’t core to its business, won’t reclassify them as employees (The Verge) FACEBOOK’S LIBRA CRYPTOCURRENCY WILL BE BLOCKED IN EUROPE, FRANCE SAYS (The Independent) Slack's desktop apps get dark mode options (Engadget) The FBI is investigating a venture capital fund started by Peter Thiel for financial misconduct (ReCode) Exclusive: Amazon will let anyone answer your Alexa questions now (Fast Company) Healthy.io raises $60 million to help patients complete urine tests on their phone (Venture Beat) An Exoplanet Like No Other Yet Found (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will a California law change the entire landscape of the gig economy? Can Dutchie build a Shopify-like ecommerce platform for cannabis? Will Switzerland be less welcoming to Libra that Facebook hoped? And a rundown of the fallout from yesterday’s iPhone event. Sponsors: Tinycapital.com Jobs At WillowTreeApps.com: bit.ly/swiftjob Links: California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees (NYTimes) Uber lays off 435 people across engineering and product teams (TechCrunch) Amazon’s Quantum Ledger Database is now generally available (Silicon Angle) These brothers just raised $15 million for their startup, Dutchie, a kind of Shopify for cannabis dispensaries (TechCrunch) Switzerland warns Facebook's Libra it will face extra scrutiny (Reuters) IPHONE 11 PRO AND 11 PRO MAX: HANDS-ON WITH APPLE’S NEW FLAGSHIP PHONES (The Verge) iPhone 11's ultra-wideband chip helps you AirDrop with the right person (Engadget) Editorial: Apple just told you that they aren't going to make an 'iPhone SE 2' any time soon (Apple Insider) Apple’s Biggest Surprise: More Aggressive Device and Services Pricing (Bloomberg) Subscribe to the Ad-Free Feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the news from the iPhone launch. Also, the Attorneys General officially go after Google… but why is California sitting this one out? And… is Masa Son pressuring WeWork to cancel its IPO or is it full speed ahead? Sponsors: Tinycapital.com Jobs At WillowTreeApps.com: bit.ly/swiftjob Links: Apple reveals the powerful new iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max (Engadget) Apple reveals iPhone 11 with a dual-camera system, Night mode, and new colors (The Verge) Apple Watch Series 5 has an always-on display and comes in titanium or ceramic finishes (The Verge) Apple unveils entry-level 2019 iPad with a 10.2-inch screen (Venture Beat) Apple TV+ costs $4.99 per month and launches on November 1 (Venture Beat) Apple Arcade is launching on September 19th for $4.99 a month (The Verge) Google faces a new antitrust probe by 50 attorneys general (CNBC) 48 states are probing Google on antitrust grounds. Why isn’t California? (LATimes) SoftBank urges WeWork to shelve IPO (Financial Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The MIT Media Lab director steps down, Apple sort of hides its own apps in App Store searches, why big tech should worry about the states as much as Uncle Sam, reviews of the Google Nest Hub Max and why hands-free games actually make you a better driver. Sponsors: Legacybox.com/ride Capterra.com/ride Links: Director of M.I.T.’s Media Lab Resigns After Taking Money From Jeffrey Epstein (NYTimes) How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein (New Yorker) How Apple’s Apps Topped Rivals in the App Store It Controls (NYTimes) Facebook, Google face off against a formidable new foe: State attorneys general (Washington Post) GOOGLE NEST HUB MAX REVIEW: BIGGER SCREEN, BETTER SOUND, AND A CAMERA (The Verge) Drivetime raises $11 million for interactive audio games like Jeopardy in the car (Venture Beat) Daimler brings driverless truck tests to public roads in Virginia (Venture Beat) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple might have just given us the final reason to delete iTunes, Sonos has its first portable speaker, the Attorney’s General are targeting Facebook as well, it’s duplicating Google services all the way down, and, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com CognitoHQ.com Links: Apple Music launches a public beta on the web (TechCrunch) Sonos’ first portable speaker is the $399 Move (The Verge) Streaming makes up 80 percent of the music industry’s revenue (The Verge) New York attorney general is investigating Facebook for possible antitrust violations (CNBC) Google Assistant’s Ambient Mode turns Android devices into smart displays (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Uber Undone (The Baffler) Coming Soon to a Battlefield: Robots That Can Kill (The Atlantic) Amazon’s Next-Day Delivery Has Brought Chaos And Carnage To America’s Streets — But The World’s Biggest Retailer Has A System To Escape The Blame (BuzzFeed News) Coming Soon to a Small Screen Near You: Short Cuts (WSJ) ‘Hey, Google! Let me talk to my departed father.’ (Washington Post) ‘NCAA Football’ Is Still Alive, Because One Online Community Won’t Let the Game Die (The Ringer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China tracked Uyghur travelers by hacking Asian telcos, the company formerly known as WeWork drops its IPO target, Samsung has found a fold fix, Apple may bring back both Touch ID and a cheaper iPhone, MIT Media Lab’s founder says the group was right to have accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein, Facebook launches its Dating service in the U.S., SIM swapping is obscure but growing security problem, and the Jeremy Renner app has been shot down. Er, shut down. Sponsors WeWork Remotely Cognito by BlockScore Supercast Links: China hacked Asian telcos to spy on Uighur travelers (Reuters) WeWork Targets $20 Billion to $30 Billion IPO Value (Bloomberg) How Samsung fixed the Galaxy Fold (The Verge) Apple Plans Return of Touch ID and New Cheap iPhone (Bloomberg) MIT Media Lab founder: Taking Jeffrey Epstein’s money was justified (MIT Technology Review) Facebook Dating launches in the US, adds Instagram integration (TechCrunch) Why ‘SIM Swapping’ Is a Growing Security Nightmare (New York Times) I Broke The Official Jeremy Renner App By Posting The Word “Porno” On It (Deadspin) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices