Tech Brew Ride Home

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:

Links:

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:

Links:

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:

Links:

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:

Links:

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.

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

Links:

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:

Links:

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:

Links:

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:

Links:

SUBSCRIBE TO THE AD-FREE FEED!

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:

Links:

AD FREE FEED SIGNUP!

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