Tech Brew Ride Home - Mon. 06/14 – An “Extreme” Apple Watch?

Episode Date: June 14, 2021

Could we get an extreme sports Apple Watch soon? Google makes Workspace and Chat available to all. Bitcoin’s first major overhaul in four years is a go. TikTok has quickly become an advertising Monster. And I try to explain to you why everyone is suddenly so hype on Miami as a tech hub. Sponsors: KiwiCo.com/ride for your first month free Cybereason.com Links: Apple Plans Faster Watch, Future Temperature and Glucose Sensors (Bloomberg) Google Workspace and Google Chat are officially available to everybody (The Verge) Amazon’s game streaming service Luna is opening access to all Prime members June 21 and 22 (The Verge) Bitcoin just got its first makeover in four years (CNBC) TikTok Charges Up to $2 Million a Day for Top Advertising Spots (Bloomberg) Austin Is Biggest Winner From Tech Migration, LinkedIn Data Show (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the TechMean right home for Monday, June 14th, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough today. Could we get an extreme sports Apple Watch soon? Google makes workspace and chat available to all Bitcoin's first major overhaul in four years is ago. TikTok has quickly become an advertising monster. And I try to explain to you why everyone is suddenly so hype on Miami as a Tech Hub. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. It's a Mark German and Debbie Wu Apple Scoop Monday. Their sources say Apple is planning to launch a faster watch with improved connectivity and screen later this year, which okay. That's probably to be expected.

They're always improving things like connectivity and screens, but also what if we got new model types, say an entry level and extreme sports model beginning next year. Quoting Bloomberg. The Cupertino-California-based tech giant is planning to refresh the line this year with a model likely dubbed the Apple Watch Series 7 by, adding a faster processor, improved wireless connectivity, and an updated screen, according to people with knowledge of the plans. Next year, the company plans to update the main Apple Watch alongside a successor for the lower-end Apple Watch SE and a new version targeting extreme sports athletes. Apple had previously aimed to put a body temperature sensor in this year's model, but that is now more likely to be included in the 2022 update. The blood sugar sensor,

which would help diabetics monitor their glucose levels, is unlikely to be ready for commercial launch for several more years. For this year's model, Apple has tested thinner display borders and a new lamination technique that brings the display closer to the front cover. The new watch is likely to be slightly thicker overall, but not in a way that's noticeable to the user. The model will include updated ultra-wideband functionality, the same underlying technology in the Apple Air Tag Item Finder. At its developer conference in early June, Apple previewed the upcoming watchOS 8 software update that will let the device unlock door and hotel rooms. The extreme sports model, described by some inside Apple as either an explorer or adventure edition,

was in development for release as early as this year, but is now more likely to launch in 2022. That new model would help Apple compete with rugged offerings from players like Garmin and Cassio Computer, end quote. Google has made workspace and chat available to all users and has added client-side encryption for data generated on workspaces, quoting The Verge. Google says that there are over 3 billion users of its workspace apps, though it's probably a safe bet that Gmail accounts for a healthy chunk of that user base. A lot of people will soon have the option to switch over to Google's more modern system for Gmail docs and chat. All of them can be integrated in a single tab more easily.

for example, with chats sliding over to the left to reveal a shared spreadsheet. It's also related to the company's new Smart Canvas push, which is also designed to interlink its various apps via smart chips. To get started, Google is now officially offering the setting to turn on Google Chat to all users. It's a new setting within Gmail. With the switch, Google Chat messaging should be an option for all now, which can include direct messages and chat rooms. But Google is also introducing a new terminology.

to go along with the announcement. It is announcing the, quote, evolution of rooms in Google chat to spaces, end quote. A space is essentially the same thing as a chat room, but Google wants to separate them out into their own top level form of communication next to Gmail chat and meet. Google is layering on a few new features like improved message threading, more emoji reactions, user roles, moderation tools, and discoverable spaces. In that sense, it seems that spaces wants to serve both as a Slack competitor and as a competitor for public discord groups and, well, maybe as an optional replacement for email groups. It's a little confusing, but that's par for the course for Google's messaging strategy. And those aren't the only announcements getting bundled into today's workspace

news. The company is launching a new tier called Google Workspace Individual at $9.99 per month, which gives users more workspace tools without requiring them to set up their own domain or custom email address. Finally, Google is adding enterprise options that are going to be necessary if it really wants to have a shot at going after larger companies. Corporations will be able to use their own client-side encryption for data, add more trust roles for various drive files to simplify access and permissions, and label files based on their sensitivity, end quote. Also opening up to more folks, Amazon's game streaming service, Luna, will be made available to all prime members starting on Prime Day, which is actually two days this year, June 21 and 22. U.S. Prime members can start a

seven-day trial of Luna today. Quoting the Verge again, Luna is available on Windows PC, Mac, Fire TV, and via the web on iPhone, iPad, and select Android phones. Regular pricing is $5.99 a month for access to games, including Control, Grid, and Metro Exodus. Or once you've got a Luna account, you can pay $14.99 a month for the Ubisoft Plus Beta Channel. This gets you access to a big range of Ubisoft games, including the latest titles from the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs franchises. According to 9 to 5, Google Amazon is also discounting its dedicated Luna controller by 30% from June 14th to June 22nd and knocking $40 off a bundle package, including the Luna

controller and Fire TV stick for K. If you're a prime member and have been curious to see how, how Luna stacks up against Microsoft's XCloud or Google Stadia. This is a good opportunity to check it out. Modify your expectations, though, in our early review of Luna in October last year, we found that the service was very hit and miss. Games load fast, but the library of available titles is small, and internet speeds of at least 25 mbps are necessary for smooth play, end quote.

For all the talk lately of Ethereum, updating for various efficiency gains, and the controversy around Bitcoin's energy footprint, it's worth remembering that Bitcoin is still a live project. In other words, it can still evolve. For example, this weekend, Taproot, a significant Bitcoin upgrade promising better transaction privacy and smart contracts got approved by miners globally, meaning Taproot is due to take effect in November. This is Bitcoin's first sort of makeover in four years, quoting CNBC. The upgrade is called called Taproot, and it's due to take effect in November. When it does, it will mean greater transaction privacy and efficiency, and crucially, it will unlock the potential for smart contracts,

a key feature of its blockchain technology, which eliminates middlemen from even the most complex transactions. Taproot matters because it opens a breadth of opportunity for entrepreneurs interested in expanding Bitcoin's utility, said Elise Killen, co-founder and managing partner of Bitcoin-focused venture firm Stillmark. Unlike Bitcoin's 2017 upgrade referred to as the last civil war, because of the contentious ideological divide separating adherence, Taproot has near universal support, in part because these changes are fairly incremental improvements to the code. Bitcoin's makeover has to do with digital signatures, which you can think of as the fingerprint and individual leaves on every transaction they make. Right now,

the cryptocurrency uses something called the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm, which is created from the private key which controls a Bitcoin wallet and ensures that Bitcoin can only be spent by the rightful owner. Taproot will switch over to something known as Schnor signatures, which essentially makes multi-signature transactions unreadable, according to Alejandro de la Torre, Vice President at Hong Kong headquartered major mining pool, Poulin. Currently, smart contracts can be created both on Bitcoin's core protocol layer and on the Lightning Network, a payments platform built on Bitcoin, which enables instant transactions. Smart contracts executed on the Lightning Network typically lead to faster and less costly

transactions. Quote, Lightning transactions can be fractions of a penny while a Bitcoin transaction at the core protocol layer can be much more expensive than that, explained Killeen. Developers have already begun to build on Lightning in anticipation of the upgrade, which will allow for highly specific contracts. The most important thing for Taproot is smart contracts, said Fred Thiel, CEO of cryptocurrency mining specialist Marathon Digital Holdings. It's already the primary driver of innovation on the Ethereum network. Smart contracts essentially give you the opportunity to really build applications and businesses on the blockchain, end quote. I thought this was worth taking note of BiteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is now the fourth

biggest advertising company on the planet. Google comes in at number one with $132 billion in annual revenue, followed by Facebook at $87 billion, Alibaba at $29 billion, then Bight Dance slots in now at $28 billion, followed by Amazon at $20 billion. TikTok is so popular right now that it's been able to command as much as $2 million a day for certain all-day ad slots, quoting Bloomberg. The short form video app is asking for more than $1.4 million for a takeover of its homepage in the U.S. during the third quarter, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News. That figure will jump to more than $1.8 million in the fourth quarter and more than $2 million on a holiday. These prices are a significant increase over what TikTok was charging just a year ago, according to people familiar with the terms who declined to be identified because the document isn't public. The total price has gone up in large part because of the app's growing customer base. The app had more than 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. as of last August, up from 11 million early in 2018. TikTok estimated that anyone who purchased this advertising unit could generate 109 million impressions. TikTok isn't yet making a lot of money from that user base and is still building its advertising team.

Advertisers haven't dedicated large chunks of their video budgets to TikTok in the way they do for YouTube yet, but it's only a matter of time, said Brian Weiser, Global President of Bill Business Intelligence at the Advertising Giant Group M. Facebook, Instagram, Snap, Pinterest, and YouTube have all gone through the same cycle of user growth followed by advertising sales. The rate card offered a glimpse at where TikTok thinks advertisers stand to benefit the most. The most valuable ad space is what's called Top View, which is the first thing users see when they open the app. That will cost as much as $1.5 million on a national holiday in the third quarter and more than $2 million in the fourth quarter. The cost of the first advertisement spot, in a user's feed costs less than half as much because the number of people who see it

falls below 50 million, end quote. Even that $28 billion revenue number for this year is rapidly getting outdated as bite dances global ad sales are estimated to probably reach nearly $40 billion this year. Finally today, LinkedIn data shows that Austin, Texas is the top beneficiary of tech-related migration in the past 12 months, followed by Nashville, Tennessee. Miami, Florida was number 11 by net migration rate. More on that in a second, quoting Bloomberg. The Texas Capitol captured a net inflow of 217 Software and Information Technology company workers per 10,000 existing workers, according to data from May 2020 to April 2021, provided by LinkedIn. That's the best net migration rate

among 35 metropolitan areas with gross tech migration of at least 2,000 LinkedIn users in the past 12 months. Jobs are also flowing to such places as Jacksonville, Florida, and Denver, Colorado. Lately, another Florida market, the Miami area, which is neither cheap nor second tier, tends to grab most of the attention. It has been at the center of a buzzy social media campaign to lure tech workers there. Even though Mayor Francis Suarez's move to Miami campaign on social media didn't begin in earnest until early December, The city was number 11 by net migration rate, end quote. So Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay area in Florida, have, according to this data, been more of tech boom towns so far this year than Miami, which is actually only barely ahead of Orlando, Florida.

This would be surprising to anyone who's been on social media recently, seen all the Twitter and social media nonstop posts from venture capitalists and investors about how Miami is now this. Nirvana par excellence for tech startups. So what gives? Why has Miami gotten all the love when it's actually Austin or even Nashville that is in reality where a lot of the tech energy is flowing right now? Well, keep in mind a key concept called deal flow. Say a bunch of venture capitalists have given up on Silicon Valley for various reasons and have decided collectively that Miami is where they want to decamp to because of, you know, no income tax or maybe, you know, maybe you know, somewhat cheaper cost of living because of the weather even. Pick your reasons. And by the way, it does seem to be that that is what has happened. Some of the very loudest investor voices in the

industry have been making the case for Miami vociferously over the last few months as we've seen. But even if the investors all agree on Miami as the new Silicon Valley, they have a problem. They need the entrepreneurs and startups to join them in Miami as well. If they all just go to Miami and there's no startups there, then what's the point? us, all the tweets about the weather and the restaurants and the amazing deals being cut down there. If the investors all go to Miami but the entrepreneurs don't follow, then well, it's not actually going to be the new Silicon Valley at all. That's why you're seeing all these tweets. It's similar to why VCs are so vocal just in general these days. It's why they all have

podcasts now and YouTube channels and post endless tweet threads giving entrepreneurs advice on how to succeed. It's all about deal flow. Let's say you launch a venture fund tomorrow. Good for you. But if a tree falls in the woods, does anyone know what happens? And even if startups do know your new venture fund exists, they have to want you on their cap table. That's the thing that people forget. They think VCs are this priesthood of geniuses that if you're ever so lucky, they'll deign to invest in your company. But that's not how it feels from the VC side of the equation. VC is a hugely competitive cutthroat business of hits, right? Hits with a ton of failure. If you can't get in on the best hottest deals, you can invest all you want in all of those remaining 90% of startups that will fail,

and your fund won't get anywhere. People forget that the VCs actually need the entrepreneurs more than the other way around. Thus, all the tweeting and the long essays and the pontificating. VCs need entrepreneurs to think they're cool. VCs need entrepreneurs to want them to invest in their startups. It didn't actually used to be this way. VC. was a small, clubby industry of a few firms that didn't really do a lot to promote themselves, kind of because they didn't have to. But now, for all the ways there seemed to be a million startups everywhere you look, there's actually way more money than ever chasing too few good deals. Remember, the good deals are the key. And it all started with investors like Paul Graham and Fred Wilson, who ate their own dog food,

of blogging back in the early 2000s. They had such success that now everybody does it. Fast forward to today and A16Z has their own media division and YouTube stars and NBA players are the hottest angel investors. Why? Again, deal flow, people know who you are. Getting entrepreneurs to think you're cool. Getting entrepreneurs to think having you on their cap table is a virtuous signal that maybe suggests a golden ticket toward eventual success. I'm bringing this all up just to say this. I certainly hope Miami and Tampa and Charlotte and Denver all become new tech hubs, new Silicon Valley's. You know that I'm a Florida native, so I'm not anti-Maiami. I'm not even anti-the-Miamy cheerleader crowd. Some of them are my friends. But I'm bringing this up

to say to entrepreneurs, the odds of your startup succeeding are based on a million factors, from who you hire to simple luck and timing and also geographic location. So yeah, maybe being in on the ground floor of a new startup scene in a city like Miami will end up giving you a leg up that you will look back on as being hugely beneficial. But before you throw your eggs into one geographic basket, you should be aware of at least some of the motivations behind those folks that are so loudly telling you to start your company there. They need you in Miami more than you need to.

to be in Miami. Keep that in mind. Just telling you to make a decision like that with your eyes open. Man, nothing like the beginning of a football tournament. I love the summer for this reason. The group stages when you have three games a day for like two weeks. I'm having memories of 96, 98, 2002, 2012, some of my favorite tournaments as I keep the TV on in the background as I work today. I love the Euros, maybe even more than the World Cup. Sorry Scotland supporters, you battled valiantly, but just needed a bit more end product, as they say. And man, that Patrick Schick goal.

Speaking of Scotland, by the way, I did end up sampling Iron Brew this weekend. Thanks to all those Scottish listeners who reached out to fill me in on Iron Brew. My report on the taste is I'd say it's like if cream soda and, I don't know, orange drink, sunkissed or orangina or something, had a baby.

It was all right. I can imagine it's a hell of a mixer with vodka or gin for sure. Anyway, I would drink again, I guess, sipped some watching Scotland play this morning. Talk to you tomorrow.