Tech Brew Ride Home

Uber’s big IPO had some issues, smartphone shipments are at a 5 year low, do you need an app for unsubscribing to things and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Uber Jackpot: Inside One of the Greatest Startup Investments of All Time (WSJ)

Americans Have So Many Subscriptions They Need Apps to Track and Cancel Them (Bloomberg)

Blue Origin: Bezos company aims to take people to moon by 2024 (The Guardian)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

How Much Is an Idea Worth? In Uber’s Case, $3.7 Billion (Bloomberg)

The VC Who Engineered the 2017 Uber CEO Coup Just Got Very Rich (Bloomberg)

The dangers of in-game data collection (Polygon)

How Unions Are Pushing Back Against the Rise of Workplace Technology (Fortune)

Three years in, Google’s hardware honcho is just getting started (FastCompany)

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes says it’s time to break up Facebook, more developer details from I/O, Uber has an arbitration problem, shoe tech is real, and get ready for 64 megapixel smartphone cameras.

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It’s Time to Break Up Facebook (Chris Hughes/NYTimes)

Google is testing Mini-apps in Search and Google Assistant (VentureBeat)

Google to allow users to pay for Android apps using cash (TechCrunch)

Uber’s Arbitration Addiction Could Be Death by 60,000 Cuts (Bloomberg)

Sick of Getting Returned Sneakers, Nike Tries a New Sizing App (Bloomberg)

The story of the Brannock Device

World’s fastest supercomputer will be built by AMD and Cray for US government (The Verge)

64-megapixel phone cameras are coming (The Verge)

Fortnite is free, but kids are getting bullied into spending money (Polygon)

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Google is talking big on privacy, but going after cookies helps their bottom line as well, why the Pixel 3a might usher in a new era of flagship “lite” phones, the huge Binance bitcoin hack and why does Bird want to sell you a scooter, not just rent you one?

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Google strengthens Chrome's privacy controls (TechCrunch)

Facebook talked privacy, Google actually built it (TechCrunch)

US digital advertising exceeded $100 billion in 2019 (TechCrunch)

Google shows Apple and Samsung how ‘lite’ flagships are done (Engadget)

Apple should bring back the iPhone SE and model it after Google’s Pixel 3a (MacWorld)

Bird has a new electric scooter: it’s durable, comes in three different colors, and you can buy it (The Verge)

DIY Artists Will Earn More than $1 Billion This Year. No Wonder the Major Labels Want Their Business (Rolling Stone)

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All the news that I could possibly grab from Google’s I/O keynote, again, Alexa IS spying on you, Cruise Automation raises a big round... and will we ever actually see the Galaxy Fold?

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THE PIXEL 3A PUTS GOOGLE’S PHENOMENAL CAMERA IN A $400 PHONE (The Verge)

Alexa has been eavesdropping on you this whole time (The Washington Post)

Check your Alexa recording archive here

Study: Voice Assistants Far From Hot Marketplace For Buying (MediaPost)

GM’s self-driving division Cruise raises another $1.15 billion (The Verge)

How Chinese Spies Got the N.S.A.’s Hacking Tools, and Used Them for Attacks (NYTimes)

Samsung Electronics says no anticipated shipping date yet for Galaxy Fold (Reuters)

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All the announcements from Microsoft’s Build 2019, Mozilla fixes the Firefox snafu, we think, a grab-bag of Apple rumors and why Netflix’s competitive resiliency might be here to stay.

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Microsoft's IntelliCode for AI-assisted coding comes out of preview (TechCrunch)

Microsoft aims to modernize and secure voting with ElectionGuard (TechCrunch)

Add-ons disabled or failing to install in Firefox (Mozilla Add-ons Blog)

Amazon can already ship to 72% of US population within a day, this map shows (CNBC)

Brussels poised to probe Apple over Spotify’s fees complaint (Financial Times)

Netflix's Competitive Resiliency Is Here to Stay (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 7) (Redef)

This Facebook cryptocurrency is real, people, Microsoft has a blockchain product as well, Verizon is looking to unload Tumblr, Softbank is considering an IPO for the vision fund and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Facebook Building Cryptocurrency-Based Payments System (WSJ)

Project Libra: Facebook to launch stablecoin-based payments network (The Block)

Report: Facebook looking to disrupt credit cards with cryptocurrency (ArsTechnica)

Microsoft adds more AI, mixed-reality, IoT services to its Azure line-up (ZDNet)

Microsoft launches a fully managed blockchain service (TechCrunch)

Verizon Looks to Unload Tumblr Blogging Site (WSJ)

SoftBank Considers IPO for $100 Billion Vision Fund (WSJ)

Sonic’s live-action design upset the entire internet, so the studio is changing it (The Verge)

The Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

The making of Amazon Prime, the internet’s most successful and devastating membership program (ReCode)

The search for the kryptonite that can stop CRISPR (MIT Technology Review)

The Most Valuable Company (for Now) Is Having a Nadellaissance (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Software, the Tough Tomato Principle, and the Great Weirdening of the World (Florent Crivello)

The productivity pit: how Slack is ruining work (ReCode)

Exclusive: The Saga Of 'Star Citizen,' A Video Game That Raised $300 Million—But May Never Be Ready To Play (Forbes)

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Facebook might get a federally appointed privacy official, Google lets you set a time-limit on what it tracks about you, what Apple had to pay Qualcomm, Russia might effectively leave the open web, a Wikipedia competitor, and is the low-hanging fruit gone for the big tech oligarchs?

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Exclusive: New privacy oversight on the table for Facebook, Zuckerberg (Politico)

Google can now automatically delete your location, app, and search activity data (VentureBeat)

Qualcomm to record $4B revenue from Apple settlement (Axios)

Putin signs law to isolate Russian internet (Financial Times)

Spotify launches voice-enabled ads on mobile devices in a limited US test (TechCrunch)

Tesla is raising up to $1.5 billion through convertible note and share sale (TechCrunch)

Golden unveils a Wikipedia alternative focused on emerging tech and startups (TechCrunch)

Airbnb Spawned an Ecosystem of Startups That Sweat the Details so Owners Don’t Have to (Bloomberg)

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Apple’s earnings were bad, but investors rejoiced, Andreessen Horowitz is continuing its transformation, Eric Schmidt is leaving Google’s board, don’t sleep on Hulu in the streaming wars and some thoughts on F8.

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Apple Trade-Ins and Discounts Spark iPhone Revival (Bloomberg)

A16z ushers in new fund strategy with $2.75B (TechCrunch)

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will leave Alphabet’s board after 18 years (The Verge)

Scoop: e-Bike startup led by mobile veterans raises $20 million (Axios)

SoftBank makes a huge bet on Latin America (TechCrunch)

Hulu Grows to 28 Million Subscribers (The Hollywood Reporter)

At F8, Facebook focuses on privacy — and little else (The Interface)

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All the news from the Facebook F8 conference, Cheddar gets acquired, Alphabet shows weakness, and why does Ring, the smart doorbell, need a news editor?

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Facebook details Messenger updates: New desktop app, social video, and Project LightSpeed (VentureBeat)

Instagram will test hiding public like counts in Canada (The Verge)

Altice USA Buys Streaming-Video Network Cheddar for $200 Million (WSJ)

Google Shows First Cracks in Years (WSJ)

Alphabet drops after reporting a slowdown in ad revenue (CNBC)

WeWork Files for Initial Public Offering (WSJ)

Amazon wants to deliver crime news and fear to Ring doorbell owners (TheNextWeb)

A doorbell company owned by Amazon wants to start producing “crime news” and it’ll definitely end well (Nieman Lab)

How Chinese apps like TikTok are quietly racking up American users (CNBC)

There’s no reason the hotel chains can’t do what Airbnb does, why superzoom lenses might be the real innovation in smartphones right now, we’re almost done with Tech Earnings Season and why was GOT so dark last night?

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Spotify is first to 100 million paid subscribers (The Verge)

Beats’ Powerbeats Pro earbuds will ship on May 10th for $250 (The Verge)

Marriott Is Officially Getting Into the Homesharing Business (Skift)

"Superzoom" lenses will be the biggest thing to happen to smartphone cameras in years (Android Police)

How China’s ‘Unicorns’ Shook a Bicycle Town (NYTimes)

California governor signs internet sales tax law (AP)

AT&T says 5G will be priced like home Internet—pay more for faster speeds (ArsTechnica)

Samsung thinks millennials want vertical TVs (The Verge)

A Theory About Why Last Night's Game of Thrones Was Too Dark to Watch (Gizmodo)