Facebook returns to growth, iPhones might be getting USB-C and 3D cameras, Hulu’s launching pause-ads, and on Reddit, it’s paintings of paintings of paintings of birds, all the way down. Sponsors: Tiny.website DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Links: Mark Zuckerberg wants to get back...

Facebook decides to mix it up a bit: what if we had a scandal that pissed off our business partners? Apple’s earnings are mixed but you can see where they’re going with this. Why Americans no longer answer the phone and are you ready for 1TB smartphones? Sponsors: DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Tiny.website Links: Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them (TechCrunch) Apple blocks Facebook from running its internal iOS apps (The Verge) Apple Reports First Quarter Results (Apple Newsroom) Report: Americans got 26.3 billion robocalls last year, up 46 percent from 2017 (Washington Post) 1TB phones are coming and I’m so f***ing ready (TNW) Flipboards: https://flipboard.com/@thomasgalla1pp6/techmeme-ride-home-daily-podcast-tc2a63l7y https://flipboard.com/@thomasgalla1pp6/techmeme-ride-home-weekend-long-reads-m64k8fj9y

Pretty major FaceTime bug from Apple, the DOJ makes it’s case against Huawei, the first successful ICO of the year and what Bluetooth ‘direction finding’ might do for you. Sponsors: Tiny.website DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Links: Major iPhone FaceTime bug lets you hear the audio of the person you are calling … before they pick up (9to5Mac) U.S. Charges Huawei With Stealing Trade Secrets, Bank Fraud (Bloomberg) BitTorrent Tokens Sold Out in Under 15 Minutes, Netting Over $7 Mln (CoinTelegraph) Bluetooth gains ‘direction finding’ for location accuracy to the centimeter (VentureBeat) After backlash, BuzzFeed says it will pay out earned paid time off to laid off employees (CNN Business) Aiming to change the way people take medicine, Lyndra Therapeutics raises $55 million (TechCrunch)

An Apple subscription gaming service? Is Facebook Watch still alive? The GDPR floodgates are truly open. And losing to AI’s might have some benefits. Sponsors: DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Tiny.website Links: Apple Plans Gaming Subscription Service: Sources (Cheddar) A Tiny Screw Shows Why iPhones Won’t Be ‘Assembled in U.S.A.’ (NYTimes) China created a unicorn every 3.8 days in 2018 (South China Morning Post) China's smartphone shipments dropped 14 percent in 2018 (TechCrunch) Facebook Watch Isn’t Living Up to Its Name (Bloomberg) Google and IAB ad category lists show 'massive leakage of highly intimate data,' GDPR complain claims (TechCrunch) AI Helps Amputees Walk With a Robotic Knee (IEEE Spectrum)

One of my favorite people to read is the Wall Street Journal tech columnist Chris Mims. We talked about his piece this week positing that email was back, baby! And I read a piece he did a while back about the new way of constructing super energy efficient homes, but when I did the email piece and remembered he did a piece recently about how I’m more likely to get a burrito delivered to me for lunch than to have my self-driving wager come in by commuting to work in a robot car, I knew it was time to hit up Chris to come on the pod. He’s a listener! This episode has a full transcript. The posts we discuss: The Hot New Channel for Reaching Real People: Email Why Your Ice Cream Will Ride in a Self-Driving Car Before You Do  Sponsors: Squarespace.com/listen Risk! Podcast

Given all the news of layoffs in the digital media space this week, I knew I couldn't sit on this interview with Rafat Ali any longer. Currently the founder and CEO of digital media company Skift—but also, if you weren’t aware, a true digital media pioneer going back to his founding of Paid Content—I knew he could talk about this stuff, and he has a pretty unique perspective on the state of digital media in 2019. TLDR, it’s not good. Dire might even be the word.  This episode has a full transcript. Sponsor: Capterra.com/ride

Now the AIs can defeat us at StarCraft II (too?), Zuckerberg wants to unify his collection of messaging apps, my grand unifying theory for the streaming video wars and of course the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Juniper.net/try Metalab.co Links: Zuckerberg Plans...

Bing’s Schrodinger-style China Ban, headphones from Sonos, flying cars from Boeing, layoffs for project Titan, and the serious ongoing layoffs in the digital media world. Sponsors: Lightstream.com/ride Metalab.co DatadogHQ.com/ridehome Stories from: @pkafka, @markgurman  Tweets: @stroughtonsmith Links: China Appears to Block Microsoft’s Bing as Censorship Intensifies (NYTimes) Sonos Plans Headphones in Move Outside the Home (Bloomberg) Boeing’s ‘flying car’ lifts off in race to revolutionize urban transport (VentureBeat) The U.S. Government Shutdown Has Delivered A Surprise Blow To Bitcoin (Forbes) Apple just dismissed more than 200 employees from Project Titan, its autonomous vehicle group (CNBC) Verizon Media Group is laying off 7% of its staff (CNBC) BuzzFeed is laying off more than 200 people, its second round of cuts in 14 months (Recode)

YouTube TV goes nationwide, Jony Ive’s dream phone design, Patreon milestones and is Spotify killing music’s middle class? Sponsors: Joybird.com/RIDE ... Promocode RIDE Metalab.co Links: YouTube TV finally goes nationwide almost two years after launch (The Verge) Hulu drop...

Munchery bites the big one, Foxconn considers moving production to India, Netflix wants a seat at the adults table, and, yes, even guitar tech is now tech. Sponsors: Metalab.co DatadogHQ.com/ridehome Links: Munchery closes on-demand meal-delivery business (San Francisco Chronicle) Foxconn Looks Beyond China to India for iPhone Assembly (WSJ) Apple Supplier in Japan Looks to Taiwan for Bailout After iPhone XR Letdown (WSJ) Apple Pay coming to Target, Taco Bell and more top US retail locations (Apple Newsroom) Netflix in advanced talks to join major Hollywood lobbying group (Politico) Rosetta Stone for iPhone adds AI to identify objects for live translations (VentureBeat) FENDER'S NEW ACOUSTIC GUITAR HAS A MILLION DIFFERENT VOICES (Wired)

The GDPR fines begin, but the EU “link tax” might be in trouble, Uber wants self driving scooters, and why email is back, baby! (Hint: it never left.) Sponsors: Flatironschool.com/podcast Metalab.co Links: French data protection watchdog fines Google $57 million under the GDPR (TechCrunch) Copyright negotiations hit a brick wall in Council (Julia Reda) Uber is exploring autonomous bikes and scooters (TechCrunch) A POKER-PLAYING ROBOT GOES TO WORK FOR THE PENTAGON (Wired) Amazon helped 50,000 SMBs generate $500,000 in sales (Neowin) The Hot New Channel for Reaching Real People: Email (WSJ)

Ali's Medium Post: Land of the Super Founders On this bonus episode, we’re going to revisit a past weekend longread suggestion and talk to the author of that longread to go further in-depth. Do you remember I recommended Land of the Super Founders a medium piece by Ali Tamaseb who spent 300 hours gathering data on unicorn startups to answer the simple question what did billion-dollar startups look like when they were getting started? What common traits did they share?  This episode has a full transcript. Sponsor: Squarespace.com/listen

This week had a lot of health tech news in it… a lot of it broken by CNBC’s health tech reporter Christina Farr. So, I reached out to Christina to chat, and we discussed Amazon getting into healthcare—possibly even getting into health insurance—what Apple’s health strategy is, where health tech might go beyond wearables and how the healthcare industry is responding to Silicon Valley invading their turf. This episode has a full transcript. Sponsor: Squarespace.com/listen

Netflix starts to open up, Cortana stops competing, gadget reviews now include shoes as a category and the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Tiny.website Links: Netflix beats on subscriber growth, but misses slightly on revenue — stock falls a...

Tim Cook calls for a data-broker clearinghouse, a possible criminal case against Huawei, the largest leak of user credentials ever found in the wild, and why we probably need a Unix for machine learning. Sponsors: Tiny.website DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Links: Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior from Russia (Facebook Newsroom) You Deserve Privacy Online. Here’s How You Could Actually Get It (Time) I Mentored Mark Zuckerberg. I Loved Facebook. But I Can't Stay Silent About What's Happening. (Time) Huawei Targeted in U.S. Criminal Probe for Alleged Theft of Trade Secrets (WSJ) HACK BRIEF: AN ASTONISHING 773 MILLION RECORDS EXPOSED IN MONSTER BREACH (Wired) AWS For Everyone: New clues emerge about Amazon’s secretive low-code/no-code project (GeekWire) Former Facebook engineer picks up $15M for AI platform Spell (TechCrunch)

More high profile execs quit Snap, Apple’s in talks to get more Apple Watches in the hands of seniors, the state of the App Economy, and the Razr is coming back to herald in the era of the bendable phone. Sponsors: DataDogHQ.com/ridehome (DataDog's Blog Post on Container Trends) Tiny.website Links: WeWork’s CEO Makes Millions as Landlord to WeWork (WSJ) Apple is in talks with private Medicare plans about bringing its watch to at-risk seniors (CNBC) App economy expected to be $120 billion in 2019 as small screen leads digital transformation efforts (ZDNet) FACEBOOK'S '10 YEAR CHALLENGE' IS JUST A HARMLESS MEME—RIGHT? (Wired) Madagascar has become a business outsourcing hotspot thanks to its super-fast internet (QZ Africa) Return of the Razr—With a Foldable Screen and $1,500 Price (WSJ)

Netflix raises prices, maybe the Apple battery replacement WAS a big deal after all, cops can’t force you to unlock your phone with your face, and Amazon is driving its retail competitors into the arms of Microsoft. Sponsors: Metalab.co DatadogHQ.com/ridehome Links: Netfli...

Event sharing comes to stories, what this year’s CES says about where consumer tech is at the moment, and then a bunch of stories about what that means for the future in different ways, including wireless chips that suck power from the air, and the dilemma that voice assistants pose for the modern office. Sponsors: DataDogHQ.com/ridehome Tiny.website Links: Facebook’s new Stories feature for event sharing actually sounds useful (The Verge) CES 2019: A Show Report (Learn By Shipping/@stevesi) SoundGuys: USB-C audio is dead (Android Authority) Wiliot nabs $30M from Amazon, Avery Dennison, Samsung for a chip that runs on power from ambient radio frequencies (TechCrunch) The rise of Alexa creates a dilemma for your open plan office (Wired) A Picture Of An Egg Beat Kylie Jenner For The Most Liked Instagram Of All Time (BuzzFeed News)

The great Howard Lindzon and I discuss how Wall Street is thinking of Tech right now, what Apple's deal is and what the prospects are for those big tech IPOs coming down the pike. This episode has a full transcript.

Motherboard shames the telecom companies into not selling us out, shareholders are suing Alphabet’s board, the government shutdown claims more tech victims, Apple says, “We can add more cameras also!” and the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Go.Bitrise.io/ride Metala...

We have a good idea when that foldable Samsung phone is coming, Google is actually close to a big legal win in Europe (for a change), the government shutdown might actually be affecting CES and why the “gig economy” might actually be a big nothingburger. Sponsors: Flatironschool.com/podcast Metalab.co Go.BitRide.io/ride Links: Samsung to Show Off Its New Foldable Phone in February (WSJ) Amazon Web Services calls MongoDB’s licensing bluff with DocumentDB, a new managed database (GeekWire) Google Nears Win in Europe Over ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ (WSJ) Google Only Has to Respect Your 'Right to Be Forgotten' in the EU, Court Says (Gizmodo) 2019 is already full of weird and wonderful monitors (The Verge) Government shutdown halts FCC device approvals (Axios) How Estimates of the Gig Economy Went Wrong (WSJ)

Now we know why Google has gone so big at CES: they want to put Assistant in everything, the first foldable phone arrives at CES, Twitter wants to show you only half of an NBA game, and Marc Zuckerberg wants to host his own version of a podcast, I guess.  Sponsors: go.b...

Are we in a smartphone recession, mooooaaaar tv new from CES, AT&T wants to make 5G confusing, and why WeWork is now, simply, We (company). Sponsors: Metalab.co go.bitrise.io/ride Links: Sorry, Samsung. Seems nobody is immune to peak smartphone (The Register) Apple’s Errors (Stratechery) Sony doubles down on 8K TVs and the entertainment to play on them (VentureBeat) AT&T decides 4G is now “5G,” starts issuing icon-changing software updates (ArsTechnica) Uber’s Confidential Documents Show Path to $90 Billion IPO (The Information) Exclusive: WeWork rebrands to The We Company; CEO Neumann talks about revised SoftBank round (Fast Company) Amazon's new ad strategy: Free samples based on what it knows about you (Axios)

Is Apple willing to sacrifice Apple TV for the greater subscription good, is Google Assistant is coming to feature phones, what is the use-case for a tv you can roll up into a box, and plenty more like that because it’s time to let the CES headlines rain over you. Sponsors: go.bitrise.io/ride metalab.co Stories from: @henrytcasey, @AshleyRReports Tweets:  @geoffreyfowler Links: Apple is putting iTunes on Samsung TVs (The Verge) Google Assistant will soon be on a billion devices, and feature phones are next (The Verge) Everything you may have missed from Nvidia's CES keynote (Techspot) HP Launches First-Ever AMD Chromebook (LaptopMag) Withings undercuts Apple Watch, debuts $129 ECG monitoring smartwatch (ArsTechnica) LG’s groundbreaking roll-up TV is going on sale this year (The Verge) Keeping up with Netflix originals is basically a part-time job now (QZ)

The Verge and AT&T have a trademark dispute, the city of Los Angeles and The Weather Channel app have a location data dispute, more on how shows like Bandersnatch really might be the future of storytelling and the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsor: Mealime.com (iOS ...

Apple lowers its guidance and the tech world freaks out, the company that you can outsource your censorship friendly China content to, a more durable e-scooter is coming and what to expect from CES. Sponsor: Mealime.com (iOS App) (Android App) Links: Letter from Tim Cook to Apple investors  Censoring China’s Internet, for Stability and Profit (NYTimes) Segway unveils a more durable electric scooter and autonomous delivery bot (TechCrunch) What to expect from CES 2019 (TechCrunch)

Today, Roku is quietly a major combatant in the Streaming Wars, Tesla slashes prices, how many cameras can we fit on a smartphone, how much would it cost to convince you to quit Facebook, and why Bandersnatch might just be the beginning of the choose your own adventure trend. Sponsor: Mealime.com (iOS App) (Android App) Links: Activision Plans to Fire CFO Neumann, Puts Him on Paid Leave (Bloomberg) ROKU BREAKS FREE FROM BOXES AND TVS (Wired) Tesla slashes EV prices by $2,000 to offset reduced tax credits (Engadget) [Exclusive] Nokia 9 PureView Penta-camera Phone Revealed in Full Glory in First-ever Promo Video (Mysmartprice) Economists calculate the true value of Facebook to its users in new study (ArsTechnica) Popsugar's Twinning app was leaking everyone's uploaded photos (TechCrunch) HOW THE SURPRISE NEW INTERACTIVE BLACK MIRROR CAME TOGETHER (Wired)

Happy 2019! And... here's what we've got on tap for the pod in the new year!

Instagram briefly goes horizontal, more on how epic Fortnite has been for Epic Games this year, Larry Ellison joins Tesla’s board, the global GPS wars are joined and the last weekend longreads of the year. Links: Instagram briefly switched to a horizontal feed and people fre...

Amazon has a record-breaking holiday season, surprising absolutely no one, another Instagram crackdown, a look at Austin as a tech hub, and why mobile alerts are a Frankenstein monster increasingly out of control. Amazon Says Alexa Voice Shopping Tripled During 2018 Holiday Season (Fortune) Instagram’s Christmas Crackdown (The Atlantic) Tesla's Supercharger network will cover all of Europe in 2019 (Engadget) With Tech Expansion, Austin Is Still Weird. It’s Just More Wired Now, Too. (NYTimes) Pushed Even Further: US Newsrooms View Mobile Alerts as a Standalone Platform (CJR) Movie Theaters Bounce Back: What’s Behind the 2018 Rebound (Variety) Watch the trailer for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, releasing Friday 28th on Netflix (The Verge)