Samsung Unpacked-Note 20 Series, Galaxy Fold 2; Instagram Launches Reels; Musk- Smaller Cybertruck ‘Likely’; Zynga Posts Record Revenue, Still Has Net Loss

As anticipated, Samsung rolled out new Galaxy Note 20 phones today, as well as a freshened Galaxy Fold Z at their Unpacked event. Theverge.com reports that The Note 20 Ultra is pretty similar to the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The cam is unchanged with the 108MP sensor, and it retains the 6.9 inch screen. The Note 20 has a 6.7 inch screen, and a 12MP primary camera. the Note 20 starts at $999, and the Ultra at $1299. Both are available from Samsung.com and retailers. Both have Mystic Bronze, but the Ultra also comes in Black or White. the Note 20 offers Gray and Green.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 now has a full-size 6.2 inch outside screen that covers the entire front of the phone…a vast improvement over the last model’s small outside screen. the Main display inside has grown to 7.6 inches. There is no longer the odd, notched corner…just a hole punch cam in the screen. The biggest question is durability…will the new model hold up better long the actual fold. The original was delayed months after review units sent to media members failed almost immediately. Not cool on a phone that runs $1980. The Z Fold 2 will be out in Mystic Black and Mystic Bronze, but Samsung didn’t give us a release date or a price as yet. They are promising both in September.

In a direct shot at trying to steal users from the insanely popular TikTok, Facebook’s Instagram has launched Reels. According to engadget.com, the launch is going live now in 50 countries, including the US, UK, France, Australia, and Japan. Facebook has been down this path before, but it may be with Reels, they will have a real shot. Instagram already skews younger for Facebook, and that’s the users that TikTok has and Facebook wants. The app feature lets you record a series of clips from Instagram’s in-app camera, including music and AR effects. Facebook claims much more sophisticated editing tools than it has in Stories on the main app. Once you upload, the Reels pile is automatically shared to the new Reels section of Explore. They hope this will ape TikTok’s ForYou page, and get viral use going.

If you are one who likes the unusual…to say the least…Tesla Cybertruck, but it’s just too big for your use, you’re in luck. Elon Musk has said (in Tweets) that a smaller version is ‘Highly likely down the road.’ Mashable.com notes that, when asked about one with less width…which would be better suited to cities and European roads, Musk replied it was true that a narrow track would be better for those uses, intimating that a smaller truck would also be less wide. The full-sized Cybertruck is supposed to go on sale in 2021. As for ‘down the road’ for a smaller one, that could be several years away.

Zynga has posted the highest revenue figure ever…$452 million, a 47% increase over last year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this came largely due to better results for the match-3 puzzle and RPG crossover game Empires & Puzzles. Even with the revenue boost, Zynga had a net income loss of $150 million…partly offset by an increase in contingent consideration expenses on the heels of acquiring Small Giant Games and Small Gram Games.

Apple Updates iMacs; T-Mobile 5G Net-Better Indoor & Rural Coverage; Google Brings Nearby Share to Android; Microsoft-Much Bigger Bug Bounties

Apple freshened its iMacs today. Theverge.com reports that both the 21.5 inch and 27 inch models get Intel’s 10th ten Comet Lake processors, and the webcams will also be 1080p HD instead of the low-res 720p ones found on other Macs. SSDs are now standard across the line. There are a raft of configurations, but the base 27 inch iMac starts at $1799, and the entry level 21.5 inch iMac is priced at $1099. They ship next week. Note that the powerhouse iMac Pro is not getting updated at this time.

An Apple feature I use daily is AirDrop..which lets me send a file from my phone to my laptop, or vice versa. Now, Google is bringing this handy feature (albeit with a different name) to Android devices. According to businessinsider.com, Google calls it ‘Nearby Share.’ It will allow sharing between Android devices, and also will be coming to Chromebook in the next few months. It will work on Android 6.0 and higher. Google Pixels and some Samsung phones will be first to get the update with the new feature.

By now, most everyone has heard about the blindingly faster speed coming with 5G networks and phones. Cnet.com says that’s not all. T-Mobile’s 5G network upgrade is also bringing better indoor and rural coverage. T-Mobile claims its Standalone 5G doesn’t have to be anchored to any existing 4G LTE service, which allows them to offer better coverage and performance. For one thing, you won’t get the latency that happens on nets that are tied to older LTE services. This will make the net seem much faster. T-Mobile claims latency improvements of up to 40%. You should have pretty glitch free streaming over this new network, even if indoors or out further into the countryside.

Microsoft has stepped up its bounty game for bug finds, paying out $13.7 million to security researchers since last July. Zdnet.com reports that now Microsoft’s bounties have far exceeded Google’s, which were about $6.5 million in 2019. So far this year, 11 zero-day vulnerabilities have been squashed, and Microsoft patched a grand total of 115 vulnerabilities in just March alone.

Google Bows Pixel 5, 5G, & 4A Phones; Microsoft Still Dealing for TikTok; Apple Grabs Payment Terminal Startup; GM- 2700 Fast EV Chargers; Starbucks Reports Interesting Home Working Effect

Google made it official, with 3 updated Pixel phones today. According to theverge.com, the budget Pixel 4A is available for preorder now, and ships August 20th. They also bowed the Pixel 5 and 5G, but those models won’t be available until fall. If you are on a budget, and want 5G, some good news….the Pixel 4A 5G (say that 3 times fast!) is starting at $499, but won’t drop until fall like like the 5 and 5G. As with Apple, Google blamed the pandemic for the delayed release. The regular 4A is $349.

After talks paused over the weekend due to rumblings that Donald Trump would try to block TikTok in the U, it looks like things are back on for Microsoft to acquire TikTok in the US and several other territories. Macrumors.com reports it took a call from the White House to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to get things back on track. Trump appears to have changed hiss position on a deal between ByteDance and Redmond. Microsoft says that it is “committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.” Discussions will reportedly be complete between ByteDance and Microsoft by September 15th.

Apple has snapped up startup Mobeewave. Mobeewave has developed tech that turns iPhones into mobile payments terminals. 9to5mac.com says the deal was worth $100 million. The process works via NFC. Basically, the seller inputs the transaction amount into the app, then taps the client’s card onto the back of their iPhone. The payment gets processed right away. This could not only open up more options for the Apple Card, but could be a direct competitor for Square. Apple and partner Goldman Sachs would have to really step up for that, though, as Square is pretty well thought of for great customer service to their merchants.

One of Tesla’s big selling points has been its coast to coast Supercharger networks for quick charging cars. Now, mashable.com reports that General Motors is teaming up with EVgo’s charging network to add 2700 fast chargers in cities across the country. Right now, they are slated to install the hook ups in 35 cities over the next 5 years. EVgo has 800 fast charging stations already, and this partnership will add 650 more by 2025. They claim to be able to juice up electric vehicle batteries in 15 to 30 minutes. Tesla is still far ahead, with 2035 public stations and 18,100 individual chargers, though. One difference….GM and EVgo note that their chargers are open to all EV drivers, not just those with GM vehicles.

With people working from home more, Starbucks has noticed a marked change in coffee buying habits. According to zdnet.com, the early morning rush is gone. People are apparently making their own at home before jumping on the laptop. Now, Starbucks says their morning rush is happening around 9:30, as people sneak out for a coffee break. The coffee giant has also reported another new peak time…around 2 in the afternoon…as folks go out and grab a cup of java for that boost to get them through the afternoon and often…with home working…into the early evening.

Zillow- 90% Work From Home TFN; Impossible Burgers Now at Walmart; PayPal Sees Big Profit Jump; Apple Leads China Smartphone Growth

Zillow has announced that around 90% of its employees will have the option of working from home indefinitely. According to geekwire.com, the company put work from home in place in April due to the pandemic, and now says while they historically discouraged employees from working from home, “Our old preferences have been debunked during the pandemic.” That coming in a blog post from Dan Spaulding, Zillow’s chief people officer. Zillow has onboarded around 500 new employees since March, all digitally, via a new virtual program.

If you have been meaning to try an Impossible Burger, but haven’t been somewhere that has them…or haven’t picked some up in a grocery like Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons, or Vons, now giant retailer Walmart has added the plant-based burgers to some 2,000 stores. Engadget.com reports that the discounter will be selling 12 ounce packages of Impossible Burger in stores in all 50 states. Adding in Walmart’s 2,000 centers, the meatless burger should be available in over 8,000 grocery stores by the end of the year. I have tried them a couple times. They really do taste like a real burger…but were saltier than I normally would eat actual meat.

A big surge in e-commerce, coupled with new accounts boosted quarterly profits at PayPal by a whopping 86%! Reuters says the stock was up over 6% in after hours trading yesterday after the announcement. PayPal stock had already seen a 44% rise since May. They are now projecting 22% revenue growth for the year. This is quite a boost after PayPal withdrew full year guidance due to uncertainty over the pandemic. As it turns out, it has been a boon for them, as well as other online titans like Amazon.

Following a decline in the market in the 1st quarter, Apple has bounced back in China..growing 32% on the year thanks to continued strength of its iPhone 11 lineup (not to mention substantial discounting during an annual shopping festival Cupertino has avoided in the past.) Apple had the fastest growing smartphone brand in China in the 2nd quarter, according to macrumors.com and stats from Counterpoint Research. The new iPhone SE was one of the top 3 selling phones in the quarter…duplicating the smaller, cheaper phone’s performance in the US.

Tech Chiefs Grilled by Congress; TikTok Opening Algorithm; Starbucks Mobile Up, But Overall Down; Tesla may License Autopilot

The four big tech CEOs have been getting grilled by Congress today. As has been the case for some time now, Democrats and Republicans in the House differ widely in their questioning and in the direction the hearing is taking. CEO’s of Facebook, Google (Alphabet), Apple, and Amazon have been testifying after making opening statements…mainly defending their positions and urging continued hands off of their businesses by the government. Axios.com reports that Democrats have been probing about competitive abuses, while the GOP members seem more concerned (as is Trump) with alleged anti-conservative bias.

Rep. David Cicilline, the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee chair overseeing the hearing, accused Google CEO Sundar Pichai of stealing content from smaller companies to build out its search results. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced a grilling from Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, who sought to pin him down on the company’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram. Nadler said previously unseen emails reveal that Zuckerberg “saw Instagram as a threat that could potentially siphon business away from Facebook.”

In a ‘Well, duh’ moment, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged that, despite past denials and company policy against it, he can’t rule out the possibility that employees have tapped third-party sales data to develop in-house products. A 2015 internal Apple email, meanwhile, appeared to show the company putting Chinese tech giant Baidu on a fast track for app review, contra claims the company treats all app developers equally. CEO Tim Cook insisted as much under questioning Wednesday.

Republicans brought a different focus. Ranking antitrust panel member Jim Sensenbrenner praised tech companies for their size and power, narrowing his criticism to the bias allegations. Rep. Jim Jordan, top Republican on the full Judiciary panel, greatly amplified that line of attack, stating flatly, “Big tech is out to get conservatives.”

TikTok has been getting slammed for connection to the Chinese government, so now the CEO, Kevin Mayer, say they will give outsiders access to the algorithms they use to sort and share user video…letting the outsiders “observe our moderation policies in real-time,” as he put it. TikTok hopes to counter the spate of bans of their product from company and government phones that has been growing lately. The Trump administration has even suggested an outright ban in the US might be coming. TikTok argues that without access to its platform, US ‘advertisers would again be left with few choices.’ I will pause here while folks in the ad and media business stop laughing and compose themselves. …..TikTok goes on to argue they are willing to take all necessary steps to ensure long-term availability and success of the platform.

The pandemic is hurting a lot of businesses, but also altering how they work. Starbucks has announced that in their 3rd quarter, mobile orders hit 22% of transactions, and delivery orders tripled from the prior quarter. Geekwire.com says Starbucks reported same-store sales plunged 40%, however. The coffee giant lot $3.1 billion in the quarter, due to reduced foot traffic, temporary store closures, and cutbacks in hours. The are moving more quickly to roll out their new store concept called Pickup. Coffeeholics would order ahead with the app, then just swing by and pick up their order. More of the conventional stores have begun doing curbside pickup also.

In a move to appear magnanimous, Elon Musk has Tweeted that Tesla is open licensing its Autopilot, and supplying powertrains and batteries to competitors. Techcrunch.com notes that German car makers are closing the gap between themselves and Tesla in the EV marketplace. It is worth noting that early investors in Tesla included Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, in part to access the EV maker’s battery tech, so Musk may have a bit of a hard sell on that part. Musk claims the interest in licensing flows form its major goal “to accelerate sustainable energy, not crush competitors.” Considering that several competitors are about to bow 15-30 EV models in the next couple years, I don’t think they are going to be crushed much by Tesla. VW is already licensing its tech, and cut a deal with Ford that could net it up to $20 billion.

CES- Online Only in 2021; Study: Masks Thwart Most Facial Recognition; Numbers Show Power of Big Four Tech Firms; Alexa Jamming Gadget

The giant Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s biggest consumer tech show held in Vegas in January each year, will be ‘online only’ in 2021. Engadget.com reports that the Consumer Technology Association, which puts on the show, decided it just isn’t possible to bring tens of thousands of people into Las Vegas by January…knowing that there likely won’t be many people vaccinated against COVID-19 by then..IF we even have a vaccine by that time. The CES brings in some 182,000 folks from al over the world, and that would be the mother of all super spreader events in all likelihood. The CTA hasn’t yet released dates and details, but as they do, we’ll pass those on.

If you have been trying to use Apple’s Face ID during the pandemic, you have been irritated by it not opening when you wear a mask. In an iOS update, Apple did speed up the smartphone’s inability to recognize a user, and the keypad for your key code shows up a bit faster. So…how masks affect facial recognition tech out in the world? According to venturebeat.com, the National Institutes of Science and Technology (NIST) has done a study now, and can tell us that 89% of facial recognition algorithms from Panasonic, Canon, Tencent, and others had error rates between 5% and 50% in matching digitally applied masks with photos of the same person without a mask. For reference, when using the software on pictures, most only failed to authenticate a person about .3% of the time. Interestingly, the more of the nose that was covered by a mask, the worse the software did. Many companies are now working on software that focuses on the eyes and above…but Apple’s Face ID already does that, and it is still pretty helpless with a face in a mask.

How big is big tech, really? Here are some numbers that bring their size and power into focus. Axios notes that the rough combined market capitalization of Facebook, Apple, Google (Alphabet), and Amazon is $5 TRILLION dollars! How about their combined annual revenue for last year? $773 billion. Facebook’s $70.7 billion is about equal to Venezuela’s gross domestic product. Alphabet’s $161 billion is more than Ukraine’s GDP. Apple’s $260 billion haul nearly matches Vietnam’s GDP, and Amazon’s monster $280 billion about matches Pakistan’s GDP. All 4 together match the GDP of Saudi Arabia! How about cash on hand? Combined $420 billion…that’s more than the US government has on hand much of the time!

If you worry about Alexa listening in when you’d prefer it didn’t, and you love TV’s ‘Clapper,’ here ya go. It is probably too much to ask to get up and unplug your Echo or other device…we’re terminally lazy in that respect. Check out Alexagate…an ultrasonic speaker that sits on most Alexa smart speakers. Mashable.com reports you plop it on top of the smart speaker, turn it on, and it uses “pulsed ultrasound to jam the Echo’s microphone.” You clap 3 times to turn it on, and 3 more to turn it off. It’s $99…cheaper to get off your butt and just Turn Alexa off when you want more privacy.

Google- Work From Home ‘Till Summer ’21; Apple’s 1st India-Made Flagship Phone; Garmin Coming Back After Ransomware Hack; Tesla Sues Rivian

Google has announced it is extending its employee work from home policy until June, 2021. Businessinsider.com reports that Google had already kicked the can down the road from July 6th to September. Several other tech companies had already extended work from home policies, but Google’s extends furthest into the future (except Twitter-which declared that its staff can work from home for as long as they like…forever, if they wish). CEO Sundar Pichai said they hoped this would help employees with kids to plan for working through the school year without having to deal with switching back to commuting into their work centers.

Apple has begun making its first flagship smartphone in India. Cupertino has made lower line iPhones there since 2017. According to theverge.com, Apple is ramping up production in India, and intends to make a significant percentage of their smartphones there. India is the second largest smartphone market after China…with the US third. Building the phones there not only helps Apple avoid issues should trade disputes continue with China, it also avoids a 20% import duty that India imposes on foreign made electronics.

Garmin is slowly getting services on line after a big outage last week caused by ransom demanding hackers. Engadget.com says no update from the company has been forthcoming since a Twitter post and FAQ Saturday. As of yesterday, the activity tracking app Strava was again able to send workout data to Garmin’s Connect service. You can apparently also now register a new device. Garmin still is yet to confirm or deny the ransomware attack.

Tesla has sued Rivian over theft of trade secrets. According to arstechnica.com, Tesla claims that about 70 former employees have left them for Rivian….including 22 in just the last 4 months. The e-car maker claims that several employees took confidential documents with them. Rivian is working on a pickup truck, an SUV, and a delivery truck that all run on batteries and electric motors. Amazon is a major investor in Rivian, and they have ordered 100,000 of the e-delivery trucks.

iPhone Release Now Late October; Autonomous Cars-MIT Says 10 More Years; Plex Bows 80 Free Channels in Live TV Service; Microsoft Revenue up 13% Thanks to Cloud

In a totally unsurprising rumor, Apple probably won’t launch its new iPhone line until late October. Macrumors.com reports that Mac Otakara is making that prediction based on sources in the supply chain. Most still think Apple will have an event around the third week of September announcing the phones. They have delayed models this late before (albeit not all or most of them.) The iPhone XR wasn’t available until late October. Unfortunately, the October date will just be for the LTE phones…the 5G models won’t drop until November.

Bad news if you were counting on your car to effortlessly chauffeur you around soon…an MIT task force now predicts we are at least 10 years away from fully autonomous vehicles. I will pause for you to have a ‘sad.’ ________ According to venturebeat.com, MIT launched a Task Force on the Work of the Future, which was an ‘institute wide’ effort to study the evolution of jobs during what the university terms ‘an age of innovation.’

In addition to technical challenges, the group points to cost as a barrier to adaption. The complicated sensor array autonomous vehicles require and powerful computers (which won’t be built at the type of mass volume as for example, advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS) which prices the vehicles up substantially. The delay due to expenses doesn’t just apply to personal vehicles: One case study found that robo-taxis would struggle to remain cost-competitive with personal vehicle ownership in San Francisco due to expenditures on remote operators, licensing, insurance, maintenance, and other systems.

They DO see autonomous over the road trucks making inroads sooner…partly to the shortage of drivers, and partly because the driverless trucks could go from hub to hub, and then could be taken over by actual human drivers for the last few miles.

Plex has unveiled 80 free channels in its live TV service…the majority of which are available worldwide. Techcrunch.com says the channel lineup include Reuters TV, Yahoo Finance, Toon Goggles, Kidoodle TV, KidsFlix, fubo Sports Network, Cooking Panda, DrinkTV, IGN TV, AFV Family, Tastemade, Revry, FailArmy, Dove Channel, Docurama, The Pet Collective, WeatherSpy, Made in Hollywood, and others. Oooh, you can also get the Bob Ross Channel, so you can binge on ‘happy little trees’ to your hearts content! You can only tune in and watch the live TV shows…you can’t record the shows or movies.

The pandemic has caused havoc in many lives and business sectors, but some people are making bank…Amazon, mask makers, and now Microsoft has announced revenue up 13% to $38 billion due to cloud usage and gaming…all attributable to the coronavirus. Geekwire.com reports that Xbox content and services revenue was up 68% for the quarter.

Office software licensing and LinkedIn took hits due to the slowdown in the economy, however. Microsoft profits were off 15% at $11.2 billion, but that included a $450 million hit from closing retail stores and they had an unusual $2.6 billion tax benefit in the prior year’s quarter.

Facebook Messenger Can Now Use Face ID; Apple Looks to Periscope Telephoto in 2022; Galaxy Z Flip 5G Bows; Slack Sues Microsoft in EU Over Teams Tie to Office

Facebook has added an extra letter of security for their Messenger product on iPhones and iPads. According to theverge.com, the app itself can now be locked upon or shortly after closing, requiring you to use Face ID or Touch ID or a similar authentication method, giving a robust extra level of protection for your Messenger chats. This may be a real relationship saver for some, but you have to think that people that need to hide chats from a partner or lover ought to rethink their being in a relationship in the first place! Facebook calls the new feature App Lock. the feature is expected to bow on Android in ‘the next few months.’ Facebook is also working on giving users more control concerning who can message them, and will start blurring photos from people who message you without your approval…so you don’t have to, for example, see an unwanted dick pic. Instagram and WhatsApp already have a similar feature. No word on when Messenger will get this particular improvement.

Pop up, or ‘periscope’ lenses have been tried on smartphones before, but never by the likes of an Apple or Samsung. Now, macrumors.com reports that noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple is lining up suppliers for a periscope type telephoto lens on the 2022 iPhones. He sees Semco out of Korea and Sunny Optical from China as the likely suppliers. The advantage of a periscope type telephoto lens is that you can get a much higher optical zoom. Many phones have 2X or more optical zoom, then up to 10X in digital zoom, which is noticeably poorer in quality. Right now Huawei has a periscope zoom with 5X optical zoom, and they have a 10X version in the pipeline. Apple has patents on what they call a ‘folded telephoto camera lens system’ dating back to 2016.

The latest, greatest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has been officially announced, complete with 5G, new colors, and again with an eye-watering price of $1449 (which is actually only a $70 bump over last year). 9to5google.com says the folder gets an upgraded Snapdragon 865+ processor. New colors are ‘Mystic Bronze’ and ‘Mystic Gray.’ It will be available at AT&T, T-Mobile, Best Buy, and Amazon. Samsung says it will be available August 7th.

Slack has brought an antitrust action against Microsoft in Europe, alleging that Redmond is unlawfully leveraging its dominant Office suite to give Microsoft Teams an unfair advantage over collaboration products like Slack’s. According to geekwire.com, Slack is claiming that Microsoft has “created a weak, copycat product and tied it to their dominant Office product, force installing it and blocking its removal, a carbon copy of their illegal behavior during the ‘browser wars.’” Microsoft has yet to respond to the suit, and in the meantime Slack says it is also talking to US authorities about antitrust issues with Microsoft.

Spotify Launches Video Podcasts Worldwide; Apple-100% Carbon Neutral Supply Chain by 2030; Samsung Will Drop 5 Devices at August 5th Unpacked; Microsoft Cuts LinkedIn Jobs

Spotify has launched video podcasts worldwide. Techcrunch.com reports that this new feature will allow both free users and paid subscribers to view video content from a select group of creator podcasts. In a move to differentiate from YouTube, all users…not just paid subscribers…will be able to listen to the video content in the background while doing other things on their device. Spotify says its users will all be able to moves seamlessly between the video version and audio. Podcasts available now include Book of Basketball 2.0, Fantasy Footballers, The Misfits Podcast, H3 Podcast, The Morning Toast, Higher Learning with Van Lathan & Rachel Lindsay, and The Rooster Teeth Podcast. If you don’t see them available now, you should soon..it is a rolling start.

Apple has been 100% carbon neutral for a couple years now, but is looking to go beyond that. According to 9to5mac.com, Apple is committing to a 100% carbon neutral supply chain by 2030. Cupertino started in on greening its supply chain in 2015. Apple has said that carbon removal programs will be a part of this, which they admit isn’t the same as not generating it in the first place…but it’s still a giant move towards a greener future they they hope other manufacturers will emulate.

Prognosticators now think Samsung will unveil 5 devices at Unpacked on August 5th. Engadget.com says it looks like 3 new phones…Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 Plus, and Note 20 Ultra. In addition, they are expected to show a pair of true wireless headphones named Galaxy Buds Live, and a new smartwatch.

Microsoft is cutting about 960 LinkedIn jobs, amounting to 6% of the workforce there. According to zdnet.com, a lot of the cuts are due to the coronavirus pandemic, and its impact on demand for hiring. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016, but has mainly taken a hands-off approach to the division. LinkedIn will continue to migrate all its workloads to Microsoft’s Azure over the next few years.