Week in Review for the Week of 7/29/19
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| Week in Review for the Week of 7/29/19 | |
| Number | 907 |
| Broadcast Date | AUGUST 3, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 5:50 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
Apple will reportedly release three 5G iPhones in 2020, the FCC approves new rules for accurate ISP broadband maps, and the food delivery market consolidates with merges and acquisitions.
Headlines
- Apple will launch 3 new iPhones with 5G compatibility in 2020, according to a reliable Apple-watcher
- According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will release three new iPhones that support 5G in 2020. All three models are expected to support mmWave and Sub-6GHz spectrum used in the American market, although its unknown if Apple will release a Sub-6GHz-only model to save costs in certain markets. These devices will use Qualcomm modems, with plans to use Apple developed modems in 2021.
- The US FCC voted to approve Digital Opportunity Data Collection rules that would require ISPs to provide accurate maps of broadband coverage. Under previous Form 477 rules, ISPs used census-block to show coverage and could count an area served with just a single house connected. Under the new rules, ISPs can count an area served if it can either provide broadband to the home, or provide a connection within 10 business days of a customer request without construction or infrastructure fees outside of a standard service activation. The rules also call for the creation of a crowdsourcing system to collect public input on the accuracy of ISP coverage maps. No deadline has been set for ISPs to provide updated maps, and Form 477 data collection maps will still be submitted by the ISPs.
- The UK-based food delivery service Just Eat agreed to terms to merge with Dutch rival Takeaway.com in a deal worth £9 billion. After the merger, the company would be based in Amsterdam with Takeaway.com's Jitse Groen becoming CEO. In 2018, the two companies combined had 360 million orders worth €7.3 billion, and operate in the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, and Germany.
- DoorDash agreed to purchase the food-delivery service Caviar from Square for $410 million. Caviar focused on higher-end restaurants, and its not clear if the listings will be rolled into DoorDash's listings, or remain under the Caviar service. Square originally bought Caviar for $90 million in 2014.
- A team led by neurosurgeon Edward Chang at UCSF, funded by Facebook Reality Labs published in the journal Nature Communications that it had developed a brain-computer interface that could decode words and phrases, both heard and spoken, in real time. The process decodes two kinds of info from two parts of the brain to add context and increase accuracy. A machine learning algorithm uses the activity to determine if a person is listening or speaking then uses context of what the patient heard to determine what sound is being imagined. The system could decode perceived (heard) and produced (spoken) speech with an accuracy of up to 76 percent and 61 percent using a restricted set of questions and answers. The aim of the research is to restore speech in stroke or spinal cord injury patients. Next steps in the research are to improve the algorithms and widen the vocabulary the system can understand.
- Chrome 76 launched for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. It now blocks Flash by default. Users can turn Flash back on in settings, but Flash support will be removed from Chrome entirely next year. Chrome 76 also implements the FileSystem API differently so websites cannot tell if you're using incognito mode. And an install button for progressive web apps now shows up in the omnibox instead of in the three-dot menu. Chrome 76 also implements 43 security fixes.
- Capital One announced that a hacker had accessed about 100 million credit card applications some of which included Social Security and bank account numbers. Court records show the FBI arrested Paige Thompson, who previously worked at Amazon, and charged her with computer fraud and abuse. Capital One said the hack will cost the company between $100 million and $150 million in the near term, but the company says no credit card numbers or log-in credentials were compromised, and most Social Security numbers weren't affected.
- The New York Times reports Uber laid off about one third of its marketing department across 75 global offices, which amounts to about 400 people, in order to cut costs and streamline operations following its May IPO which saw first quarter losses of $1 billion. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in an email to employees that was shared with TechCrunch that many of Uber's departments are “too big, which creates overlapping work, makes for unclear decision owners, and can lead to mediocre results.”
- Security researcher BetoOnSecurity noticed that the Netflix app on Android requested access to his physical activity data. Netflix told The Next Web that "this was part of a test to see how we can improve video playback quality when a member is on the go." Not all Netflix accounts are in the test and Netflix doesn't have any rollout plans at this time. Google has added an activity recognition permission to Android Q to let developers know if you're in motion when you're using an app. That could be used to help figure out the best way to buffer video so it doesn't skip.
- A new report from Counterpoint Research shows that overall smartphone shipments declined by 1% to 360 million units in Q2 2019, the seventh consecutive quarter of decline. The report found that the combined marketshare of Chinese manufacturers Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Realme reached a new high of 42%, even as smartphone shipments in China fell 9%. Samsung remained the marketshare leader, growing shipments 7.1% on the year. Huawei remained at #2, growing shipments 4.6%, with the impact of US trade sanctions expected to be felt in Q3. Apple saw its third quarter of decline, with shipments falling 11% on the year. Following massive growth in India, the Chinese OEM RealMe grew shipments over 800% on the year to enter into the top 10 smartphone OEMs.
Links
| Preceded by: "Apple and Google Suspend Human Voice Grading for Virtual Assistants" |
Week in Review for the Week of 7/29/19 |
Followed by: "Online Content Providers in Turkey Now Regulated by RTUK" |