EA returns to Steam
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| EA returns to Steam | |
| Number | 981 |
| Broadcast Date | OCTOBER 29, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 3:55 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
Apple and Razer announce new wireless earbuds, companies start registering .new domains from Google and EA starts publishing games on Steam again.
Headlines
- Apple announced the launch of AirPods Pro, with three sizes of flexible tips for a better ear fit. A transparency mode lets you choose to hear your surroundings or you can choose to use the built-in noise-canceling microphones. The AirPods Pro cost $249, shipping October 30.
- Razer launched its low latency wireless earbuds, the Hammerhead True Wireless. Razer modified Bluetooth 5.0 to claim a 60ms latency. The buds last three hours on a charge and the case can give an additional 15 hours. Razer's Hammerhead True Wireless earbuds are available now for $100.
- Alphabet announced it fell short of analyst estimates for Q3 attributing the miss to increased spending by Google on marketing and hardware deployment. Alphabet reported a net income of $7.07 billion, or $10.12 per share down from $9.19 billion, and $13.06 per share, last year. Analysts had expected $12.44 a share. Revenue was up 20% year over year. Google's "other revenue" which includes the Play Store, Cloud and hardware was up from $4.64 billion last year to $6.43 billion. Alphabet's non Google businesses which it calls other bets, including Waymo, Verily and Fiber saw revenue of $155 million with operating losses rising from $727 million last year to $941 million.
- Electronic Arts announced it is publishing games on Steam for the first time since 2012, starting with a pre-order page for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. EA says other major titles like The Sims 4 and Unraveled Two will arrive in the coming months and multiplayer titles like Apex Legends, FIFA 20, Battlefield V, will arrive next year with cross-play to EA Origin.
- Spotify reported subscribers rose to 113 million by the end of September. It says it is adding roughly twice as many subscribers per month as Apple. Spotify also reported earnings of 36 cents a share against an expectation of a loss of 29 cents a share. Revenue rose 28% just beating expectations.
- Google uses .new domains to let users create new things like Google Docs or calendar entries. Google has now opened the domain for others to register. Trademark owners can register a domain until January 14 and others can apply for a .new domain starting December 2. Microsoft has registered word.new to start a new Word document and Spotify registered playlist.new and podcast.new. eBay registered sell.new and Stripe registered invoice.new. Drake's label Ovo Sound registered music.new.
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Google for "false or misleading representations to consumers about the personal location data Google collects, keeps and uses." The issue is that when setting up an Android phone users can disable "Location History" but that does not disable collection of all location data. To do that, you have to go to the "Web and Activity" setting as well.
- Amazon announced its grocery delivery service will now be free to members of Amazon Prime in the US. The service will offer one and two hour delivery windows from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods.
- Sources tell Reuters Alphabet has made an offer to acquire Fitbit. Google makes WearOS, but does not produce its own wearable hardware. The sources said there is no certainty the negotiations will lead to a deal.
Links
| Preceded by: "Apple Reportedly Revamps Smart Home Division" |
EA returns to Steam |
Followed by: "HBO Max Launches at Same Price as HBO" |