Tech Brew Ride Home

Office 2019 is here, SiriusXM acquires Pandora, the Chrome browser login controversy, more missed revenue numbers in digital media and Eric Schmidt says there could someday be the regular internet and a separate, Chinese internet.

Links:

SiriusXM to buy Pandora in all-stock deal valued at $3.5 billion (CNBC)

Why I’m done with Chrome (Matthew Green)

Uber drivers and other gig economy workers are earning half what they did five years ago (Recode)

Vox Media On Pace to Miss Revenue Target as Digital Advertising Disappoints (WSJ)

Amazon: Retailers Gonna Retail (Steven Sinofsky)

Former Google CEO predicts the internet will split in two — and one part will be led by China (CNBC)

More fallout from that monster Alexa event yesterday, Facebook is gonna take another swing at Portal, Instagram wants to cut down on #hashtagoverload, Gmail was too willing to say “I love you,” and the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Sponsors:Ude.my/techTiny.websiteLinks:AMAZON WANTS ALEXA TO HEAR YOUR WHISPERS AND FRUSTRATION (Wired)Amazon just pulled an Apple on the smart home (Stacey on IOT newsletter)Facebook's 'Portal' Video Chat Device to Be Announced Next Week (Cheddar)Instagram may divide hashtags from captions to end overhashing (TechCrunch)Instagram is testing a native resharing feature for the feed (The Verge)Is This Article Worth Reading? Gmail’s Suggested Reply: ‘Haha, Thanks!’ (WSJ)The Betterment Weekend Longreads:Inside Facebook’s Election ‘War Room’ (NYTimes)Bitcoin Miners Flock to New York’s Remote Corners, but Get Chilly Reception (NYTimes)Living The Stream (ESPN The Magazine)A brief history of the numeric keypad (UX Collective)Inside the Dramatic, Painful--and Hugely Successful--Return of Reddit's Founders (Inc)Buy The History of Reddit Book Here

Amazon announced Alexa for friggin everything, AmazonGos might soon be friggin everywhere, a life insurer will only sell you a policy if you own a smartwatch, and they’ve finally found Spock’s home planet of Vulcan. 

Links:

Amazon Will Consider Opening Up to 3,000 Cashierless Stores by 2021 (Bloomberg)

Strap on the Fitbit: John Hancock to sell only interactive life insurance (Reuters)

Life Insurance Offering More Incentive to Live Longer (NYTimes)

ESPN's new streaming service passes 1 million paid subscribers in five months (CNBC)

Google, Facebook Lead Digital’s March to Half of U.S. Ad Market (Bloomberg)

Spock’s planet ‘Vulcan’ found years after Star Trek prediction (SlashGear)

Amazon’s ad business is already huge, there’s a new retro Playstation console, Evernote is in our prayers, HQ is moving beyond trivia with a new game and a roundup of the Apple Watch Series 4 reviews.

Links:

The ACLU Is Charging Facebook With Gender Discrimination In Its Targeted Ads (Buzzfeed News)

Facebook Is Letting Job Advertisers Target Only Men (ProPublica)

Amazon becoming 3rd-biggest digital ad platform (Axios)

Google Home Mini was the best-selling smart speaker in Q2 (TechCrunch)

Sony is launching a PlayStation Classic console this December loaded with 20 games (The Verge)

Evernote just slashed 54 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce

HQ expands beyond trivia with new ‘Wheel of Fortune’-type game (Digiday)

Google Maps for CarPlay in iOS 12 is now available (9to5Mac)

iOS 12.1 references ‘iPad2018Fall’, all but confirming new iPad Pro debut next month (9to5Mac)

A reported criminal investigation around Elon Musk’s tweets, Twitter brings back the chronological feed, Alexa for microwaves, and a wrap up of the iPhone XS and XS Max reviews. Links:Tesla Is Facing U.S. Criminal Probe Over Elon Musk Statements (Bloomberg)The Tweet that got Twitter to bring back the chrono-feed (@EmmaKinema)Amazon plans to release at least 8 new Alexa-powered devices, including a microwave, an amplifier, and an in-car gadget (CNBC)Trump Hits China With Tariffs on $200 Billion in Goods, Escalating Trade War (NYTimes)APPLE IPHONE XS AND XS MAX REVIEW: SMOOTHED OUT (The Verge)

Another Billionaire bails out a major media brand, social network Path is no more, Amazon employees are allegedly taking bribes, Linus Torvalds apologizes for being a jerk, and Steve Jobs had a weird notion about what actually constitutes pizza. Stories from: @cgartenberg Tweets: @laura_nelson, @BuzzFeedBen Links:Are there any other billionaires out there to buy Fortune or Sports Illustrated? (Recode)Mobile social network Path, once a challenger to Facebook, is closing down (TechCrunch)Here are over 150 new features and changes in iOS 12 for iPhone and iPad (Apple Insider)Amazon Investigates Employees Leaking Data for Bribes (WSJ)Amazon Storefronts is a new retail hub exclusively for US small businesses (The Verge)Linus Torvalds apologizes for years of being a jerk, takes time off to learn empathy (Ars Technica)AN ORAL HISTORY OF APPLE'S INFINITE LOOP (Wired)

Literally, what the f*** is up with Tesla? With the Rob Maurer of the Tesla Daily podcast.

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More signs of drama inside Google, how Apple cleared the new Apple Watches through the FDA, how the Weather Channel made that insane flooding video, and the weekend longreads suggestions. Links:Google Employees Are Quitting Over The Company’s Secretive China Search Project (Buzzfeed News)Google’s internal political battles keep spilling out into the public (The Verge)The new heart-monitoring capabilities on the Apple Watch aren’t all that impressive (Quartz)iPhone XS Max and Apple Watch Series 4 shipping dates now slipping into October (9to5Mac)Apple Is Deleting Bought Films From iTunes Accounts - And Don't Expect A Refund (Forbes)Yes, You Can Name A Website “F***nazis.us”HOW THE WEATHER CHANNEL MADE THAT INSANE STORM SURGE ANIMATION (Wired) The Betterment Weekend Longreads:Android 9 Pie, thoroughly reviewed (Ars Technica)Why a Leading Venture Capitalist Is Betting on a Decentralized Internet (Breaker)Olaf Carlson-Wee Rode the Bitcoin Boom to Silicon Valley Riches. Can He Survive the Crash? (WSJ)Memo to the Silicon Valley boys’ club: Arlan Hamilton has no time for your BS (Fast Company)Driverless Hype Collides With Merciless Reality (WSJ)

The fallout from the Apple event, Google kills another beloved product, the Nintendo Switch online service comes online, and where in the World is Larry Page? Links:The iPhone Franchise (Stratechery)Making sense of the most confusing new iPhone lineup ever (Fast Company)Inbox, Google’s playground for email innovation, is going bye-bye (Fact Company)The Nintendo Switch online service is launching on September 18th (The Verge)How Procore Built The Cloud’s Hottest Unicorn By Bringing Software To Low-Tech Construction Sites (Forbes)Where in the World Is Larry Page? (Bloomberg Businessweek)

What else? The iPhone event. Also, the EU strikes again, the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is on “pause” and "Gawker" is coming back.  Links:EU approves controversial Copyright Directive, including internet ‘link tax’ and ‘upload filter’ (The Verge)European Parliament Passes Copyright Directive Giving Artists Greater Share of Revenue (Variety)FCC says it needs more time to review Sprint-T-Mobile deal (CNBC)Verizon to begin 5G home broadband service sign-ups on Thursday (Axios)Gawker Set to Relaunch Under New Owner Bryan Goldberg (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)