Microsoft in Talks re Buying Discord; Niantic Partners With Nintendo; Waymo Driverless Taxis-Multi Stop Now; Class Action Certified Over crApple Butterfly Keyboards

In a hot deal that may or may not happen, Microsoft is in talks to buy Discord for over $10 billion. Bloomberg.com reports that discord has been talking to a number of potential buyers, but that a deal is not imminent. In a rumor that may please Discord users, one party close to the situation has leaked that Discord is more likely to go public at this point than to sell itself. Gamers have loved Discord as the go-to way to chat by video, voice, and text. Through the pandemic, the platform has also added study groups, dance classes, book clubs, and other virtual gatherings. Previously, Microsoft had tried to by TikTok, and in the past had looked at picking Pinterest. The company’s purchase of Skype seemed to chase off most users, and even business users have mostly abandoned that for Microsoft Teams, which has had robust use through the pandemic. 

Niantic has announced it is partnering with Nintendo to co-develop a new game based on the Pikmin franchise. According to TechCrunch.com, it will launch later this year. The new augmented reality app ‘…will include gameplay activities to encourage walking and make walking more delightful.” Although Pokemon Go has disappeared from most peoples’ radar, it brought in over a billion dollars to the San Francisco based company in 2020! 

Waymo has added a new feature to his autonomous taxis in the phoenix area. Mashable.com says you can now ‘add a stop’. Now, you can stop for groceries, or pick up a friend without having to reorder a car for each leg. If it is a long stop, the vehicle will wait nearby, and pick up up when you are ready for the next leg of your trip. Waymo stresses that “the meter is not running while on your long stop,” unlike with a traditional taxi. Another plus…you can now connect your phone via Google Cast and play music from other music systems besides Google Play Music. 

A judge has certified a class action against Apple for its crappy butterfly keyboard design. According to theverge.com, The suit covers anyone who purchased an Apple MacBook with a butterfly keyboard in seven states: California, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan. That includes people who bought a MacBook model dating between 2015 and 2017, a MacBook Pro model between 2016 and 2019, or a MacBook Air between 2018 and 2019. It is my fervent hope that this doesn’t result in everyone involved getting something like a $25 Apple gift card! I am typing and re-typing this on one on a MacBook Pro. The worst offender is the letter ’s,’ which either won’t type, or becomes multiples of the letter, but there are a number of other keys that intermittently screw up…including the space bar that won’t always ‘space.’ (I retyped that 3 times, trying to get only one letter ’s,’ btw. Even with a warranty, who wants to have to make an appointment, go to an Apple Store, drop of the laptop, and hope you get a decent refurbished one that isn’t worse? After that, you can reinstall from backup every single thing to the wiped drive. Grrr.