Facebook Doesn't Want to be Liked
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| Facebook Doesn't Want to be Liked | |
| Number | 3708 |
| Broadcast Date | JANUARY 30, 2020 |
| Episode Length | 28:58 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang |
Facebook’s Zuckerberg wants his company to be understood not liked, Microsoft wants to spend $40 million for AI on health research, and what does Canalys smartphone metrics for 2019 mean for the industry.
Quick Hits
- Apple's redesigned Maps app has rolled out to all users in the US, with better views of roads, buildings, and parks. Apple announced the redesign back in June 2018. Apple also says the new maps will arrive for users across Europe “in the coming months.”
- A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that Apple and Broadcom infringed on Wi-Fi patents from the California Institute of Technology, ordering a total of $1.1 billion in damages. The suit was filed in 2016 with CalTech naming iPhones, iPads, iPods, Apple Watches, and Mac computers as devices including infringing Broadcom components. The damages breakdown to $837.8 million from Apple and $270.2 from Broadcom.
- Avast announced its subsidiary Jumpshot will no longer have access to user information from Avast security products. Avast will wind down all Jumpshot operations. Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek apologized and explained that Jumpshot acted independently with its own management and board of directors.
- Samsung Q4 operating profit fell 34% year over year due to low chip prices and the US-China trade dispute. Mobile profit rose 2/3. Samsung's total operating profit for the year was its lowest since 2015. Samsung expects to bounce back later in the year as data center needs and 5G rollouts increase chip demand. Samsung did not comment on the impact of the coronavirus other than to confirm it has extended holiday closures of some Chinese factories in line with government guidance.
Top Stories
- Huawei overtakes Apple in annual race to Samsung’s smartphone crown
- Apple tied or beat Samsung for Q4 smartphone sales, depending on who you ask
- The 2019 smartphone numbers are in. Canalys shows Samsung increased its worldwide marketshare slightly from 21.1% in 2018 to 21.8% last year. Huawei moved into the number two slot growing from 14.8% to 17.6% despite US trade restrictions. Counterpoint estimates 60% of its shipments were inside China. Apple's worldwide marketshare fell from 15.3% to 14.5%. Xiaomi and Oppo both increased marketshare and stayed at numbers 4 and 5. Apple had some good news in Q4 though, with Counterpoint, Canalys and Strategy Analytics all estimating Apple took over number 1, just outselling Samsung (IHS Market estimated Samsung still at number 1, so it was close). All three analyst companies estimate fewer smartphones in general were sold in 2019 than 2018.
- Huawei's Austrian country manager Fred Wangfei told Austrian newspaper Der Standard that it does not intend to return to using Google Play services even after restrictions are lifted. He said Huawei wants to develop its own ecosystem on Android, something it already has to do domestically since Google Play services are not offered in China. Huawei says it replicates 24 of the 60 Google Play APIs through its Huawei Mobile services. It's also considering starting a European proxy company to let US companies like Facebook submit apps to the Huawei App Gallery. However, responding to The Verge, a Huawei spokesperson wrote, “Our first choice is the open Android ecosystem, including GMS (Google Mobile Services)." The spokesperson added, “I believe both Google and Huawei hope a license will be granted, but you would need to confirm that with Google. As a result of the entity listing, we are now developing HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) — inviting app developers to come on board, etc. This offer has received a lot of positive interest in Europe." Did the German newspaper get it wrong? Editor at Der Standard, Andreas Proschofsky wrote on Twitter, "There was no wiggle room in what Huawei told me, I asked them several times (as I was rather surprised myself) and they insisted on not going back to Google - even if the US ban falls."
- Microsoft announced it plans to spend $40 million on a program called AI for Health. Over five years, Microsoft will spend the money giving partners access to Microsoft Data Scientist, AI and cloud tools along with cash grants. Partners will include nonprofits, researchers, industry pros and governments. Among its projects will be understanding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and maternal mortality, fighting leprosy and tuberculosis, improving tools to prevent blindness and expanding access to cancer information. Microsoft says only three percent of AI professionals work in health organizations and the program hopes to allow doctors to treat more patients and improve the quality of care.
- Facebook reported 25% revenue growth for the latest quarter but also a rise in quarterly expenses of 34% related to privacy protections and content moderation. Both of those numbers were bigger than expected. Future guidance from Facebook warns that growth will slow as the business matures. Facebook CFO David Wehner said the majority of the impact from privacy regulations and ad targeting concerns "lies in front of us." He specifically noted changes in the way Google and Apple's browsers handle cookies. Amongst all of this monthly active users across all products rose 8% to 2.89 billion worldwide. Facebook MAUs rose 2% to 2.5 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “My goal for this next decade isn’t to be liked, but to be understood, because in order to be trusted, people need to know what you stand for.”
- Scientists at Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil presented a paper at the ACM FAT 2020 conference in Barcelona that found YouTube users who engaged in some moderately extreme content drifted to more radically extreme content over time. The team analyzed 330,925 videos posted on 349 channels encompassing 72 million comments. The videos were classified into four types from mainstream to extreme right. The researchers did not claim YouTube was responsible for the radicalization allowing for the possibility that the radicalization could come from outside the platform as well.
- Snapchat will premiere Bitmoji TV on Saturday which inserts you and your friends Bitmoji avatars into PG-13 animated adventures. Basically full motion Bitmoji Stories. Bitmoji TV will have its own Snapchat Show page where you can subscribe to get notifications and see new episodes on the Discover page. Your Bitmoji stars alongside the Bitmoji of the last person you interacted with as well as occasional guest bitmojis from celebrities like Randy Jackson, Andy Richter and Jon Lovitz. The first two episodes are about "America's Best Bitmoji" game show and a Mime Cops hostage negotiation, with occasional flips to short single-gag clips that put your avatar in sit-coms, soap operas, infomercials and more. The first season will have 10 episodes and no ads.
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| Preceded by: "Eggs In Apple Baskets" |
Facebook Doesn't Want to be Liked |
Followed by: "One Charger to charge them all" |