House Report-Break Up Big Tech Monopolies; Apple’s iPhone Event; DoorDash For Work; Sony PS5 Teardown

House Democrats dropped a nearly 450 page report concluding that Congress should look at breaking up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google in to smaller companies that will be banned from entering into adjacent lines of business. According to engadget.com, the main thrust in the case of Amazon, Apple, and Google is that the companies shouldn’t be able to compete with merchants who use their platforms, as that gives them hugely unfair, monopolistic advantages. Presumably, both Google and Apple could still make plenty of money from their 30% cut of apps sold on their app stores…but wouldn’t be able to put out competing apps that crush developers who build apps for their platforms. In the case of Facebook, the call has been out for some time to force the social net to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. The report also recommends giving added muscle to antitrust laws, and modernizing them to better apply to the tech industry. 

In the event you missed it, Apple sent out announcements of its digital iPhone event yesterday. The splashy graphic had ‘Hi, Speed’ in large letters, teasing the expected 5G capability of the new series of iPhone 12 models. Macrumors.com reports that the event will be Tuesday, October 13th at 10AM Pacific….emanating from the Apple Park facility in Cupertino. In addition to the expected iPhone 12 Mini, 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max (as we believe they will be called), most Apple watchers also expect the high end over-ear headphones called AirPods Studio to be shown. Also expected….a smaller, cheaper HomePod, and AirTags, the Tile-like Bluetooth trackers for wallets, keys, and all the other crap we carry around and misplace constantly (or at least some do…notably my former father-in-law, the literal Absent-Minded Professor, LOL! Apple will also probably tease the ARM based Macs. There may be an ARM powered MacBook Air out before the end of the year. 

DoorDash has released a suite of products called DoorDash for Work. Techcrunch.com says there are 4 main products. First, DashPass for Work, where employers can fund employee memberships to DashPass…a program that eliminates delivery fees on orders from thousands of restaurants. The suite also includes the ability for employers to provide credit for meal orders (with options for day/time restrictions…so employers can see that they are paying for food while employees are actually working). Gift cards are another tool in the suite. Employers can give gift cards for birthdays or the like. 

Sony has posted a 7 minute video of a tear down of the PS5. According to theverge.com, the video shows removable ids, dust catchers, and storage expansion. The Sony Chief of Mechanical Design says the entire rear of the enclosure is designed to exhaust air out of the console. The main cooling an can draw air from either side. The dust catchers can be vacuumed out from a couple of holes. PS5 owners will be able to purchase their own PCIe 4.0 computable drives to upgrade their storage. The design is one that lends itself to be repaired and serviced easily…what a concept!