Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 08/13 – Apple Subscription Bundles By October?

Episode Date: August 13, 2020

Apple subscription bundles coming as soon as October according to Gurman. Epic is straight out thumbing its nose at the App Stores. What could render iPhones as “electronic trash” in China. And why are people sniffing around Dubsmash for a possible acquisition? Sponsors: Liftoff.to BuyRaycon.com/tech Links: Apple Readies Subscription Bundles to Boost Digital Services (Bloomberg) Epic offers new direct payment in Fortnite on iOS and Android to get around app store fees (The Verge) Twitter launches new API as it tries to make amends with third-party developers (The Verge) Intel offers a first look at its next-gen Tiger Lake processors and Xe graphics (The Verge) Corporate America Worries WeChat Ban Could Be Bad for Business (WSJ) Facebook, Snap Held Talks to Buy TikTok Rival Dubsmash (The Information) 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 Tech Meme Ride Home for Thursday, August 13th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, Apple subscription bundles coming as soon as October, according to Mark German.

Epic is straight out summing its nose at app stores. What could render iPhones as electronic trash in China? And why are people sniffing around Dobsmash for a possible acquisition? Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Mark German Apple Scoop Thursday. The Scoopmaster General says Apple is readying tiered subscription bundles to be introduced as soon as this October. Not only that, but look out, Peloton. Apple Fitness subscriptions are definitely coming, quoting German.

There will be different tiers, according to the people who ask not to be identified discussing private plans. A basic package will include Apple Music and Apple TV Plus, while a more expensive variation will have those two services and the Apple Arcade Gaming Service. The next tier will add Apple News Plus, followed by a pricier bundle with extra iCloud storage for files and photos. The company is also developing a new subscription for virtual fitness classes that can be used via an app for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, the people said. That service will be offered in a higher-end bundle with the rest of Apple's services. Code named Seymour, the workout package would rival virtual classes offered by companies including Peloton, Interactive, and Nike, according to the people. Peloton shares slipped 4.7% in early trading Thursday after the announcement. The new bundles will be geared toward families, meaning they will work with Apple's family sharing system that provides access to as many as six people for each service.

The offerings are designed to save consumers about $2 to upwards of $5 a month depending on the package chosen. For example, if a family subscribes today to all of Apple's major services plus the highest ICloud storage tier, that would cost about $45 a month. A new bundle could knock that down more than $5. The initiative is being spearheaded by Peter Stern, a top lieutenant to Eddie Q, Apple's longtime services chief. Bloomberg News reported last year that Apple was targeting a bundles launch in 2020, end quote. So the only problem that I see here is kind of the weakness of Apple's upsells. Like, maybe I'd take a bundle with Apple TV because why not if I'm subscribing to Apple Music?

but I have no need for Apple News Plus, and some people feel the same about Apple Arcade, so that's not exactly something that would entice me up a tier. What I'd really like is better storage, but of course they're leaving that on the high end, meaning I would have to get everything else to get any sort of deal. I still don't understand why Apple has never offered some unlimited photo storage option. What could possibly be a better ecosystem lock-in than, hey, we're an Apple family because they have our entire family photo album. Peter Kafka agrees with me, having tweeted, quote,

the long-awaited slash-predicted Apple Bundles coming this fall. The problem, bundles work when they include the thing people love slash want-slash-need. Sports for cable TV, free delivery for Amazon. These bundles, per Bloomberg, are made up of Apple's side gigs, end quote. As one of the tech meme editors said in our Slack channel this morning, This should be interesting. Break out your popcorn because Epic is offering a new direct payment option inside the Fortnite app on iOS and Android that ostensibly does an end run around app store fees. Epic is even being so bold as to state that it will be passing along any savings to players.

So think about that. There will be no additional monetary benefit for Epic, which will make it hard for any stores to crack down without looking bad to millions of users. So there's that, but there's also the fact that Epic seems to be openly flouting App Store rules and daring, especially Apple, to do something about it. Quoting from The Verge, Today, Epic announced the Fortnite Mega Drop, a permanent discount on V-bucks and other cash purchases in the game of up to 20%. The developer is quick to point out that it's not a sale.

these are new prices for the in-app currency in both the PC and console versions of the game. On mobile, however, things are a bit more complicated. On both iOS and Android, Epic has introduced a new direct payment option. If you purchase V-bucks or anything else in the game through either the App Store or Google Play Store, it will cost the same as always. But the new direct option comes with the discount. When you select it, the game sends you to a payment screen where you can choose either a credit card or PayPal. Quote, currently, there are no savings if players use Apple and Google payment options where Apple and Google collect an exorbitant 30% fee on all payments, Epic says. If Apple and Google lower their fees on payments, Epic will pass along the savings to players, end quote.

It's not exactly clear how Epic is able to get around these fees, but here's some more detail from the company's FAQ. Why has Epic decided to implement its payment system for purchases inside Fortnite on iOS and Android? By offering an alternative payment system, we're not only offering players more choice, but we're able to pass along the savings to players. Does a new payment method on mobile mean purchases are less safe? No. Thousands of apps on the App Store approved by Apple accept direct payments, including commonly used apps like Amazon, Grubhub, Nike, Best Buy, DoorDash, Fandango, McDonald's, Uber, Lyft, and Stubhub. We think all developers should be free to support direct payments in all apps. in operating Fortnite on open platforms and operating the Epic Games Store, Epic has processed over $1.6 billion worth of direct payments successfully and uses industry-trusted encryption and security

measures to protect customer transactions. Clearly, Apple and Google acknowledge that third-party payment services are safe and acceptable for goods and services. Epic Direct Payment simply offers players the same kinds of payment options as these other apps, end quote. So the timing of this dare by Epic is interesting to say the least. Apple is already staring down the barrel of lots of people in China dumping their ecosystem if they can't use Wii chat on their eyed devices. More on that later in the show. Let's just say a lot of gamers would take a hard look at switching to an Android phone if they suddenly couldn't do Fortnite on their iPhone. And there's also that rejection of XCloud and Facebook gaming on iOS. Do you get the feeling that Apple's rivals are collectively deciding that gaming could be the

wedge that they can use to pierce iOS. Also, worth noting that companies like McDonald's and Starbucks are allowed to do something similar to this right now. So, as snarked at in that epic FAQ, something, something treating all developers equally, right? Late yesterday, Twitter launched version two of its API, a complete rebuild of its API, by the way, the first time it's been rebuilt since 2012. That is designed to improve relations with third-party developers, quoting the verge. The API version two offers third-party developers access to features long absent from their clients, including conversation threading, poll results in tweets, pin tweets on profiles, spam filtering, and a more powerful stream filtering and search query language. There's also

access to a real-time tweet stream rather than forcing third parties to wait before serving new tweets. This should mean that, following the API version 2 launch, third-party Twitter clients like tweetbot and TwitterRific can begin integrating these features, though there are some caveats. The big one is that Twitter is reorganizing its API access along three levels. Only the basic free level is launching today, and that has limits on how many API calls developers can make, aka how frequently their software can ping Twitter for data. The next level of access, which Twitter is calling elevated, won't have the same restrictions,

but it will cost users, and Twitter isn't announcing pricing just yet. The company does say, though, that it expects 80% of developers on its platform will have their needs met by the basic tier. Before the details are shared, it's difficult to say what changes will happen to third-party clients, Ged Mayhew, co-founder of TwitterIFix parent company, Icon Factory, tells the verge. He says the new API is, quote, potentially very good for third-party Twitter clients, but that Icon Factory is taking a wait-and-see approach until they know details, particularly pricing.

But Mayhew says he and his colleagues have also been impressed by Twitter's conciliatory approach to developers. Quote, over the last few years, Twitter hasn't been great and they know it. But they fully recognize and admit it, he says. After so long being a third or fourth class citizen with Twitter, it's refreshing, end quote. Intel has offered a first look at its next generation Tiger Lake processors, as well as its G graphics, both of which promised to offer higher performance and lower power consumption, quoting the verge. The company's upcoming Tiger Lake chips, expected to be Intel's 11th-gen core processors

under the company's current branded scheme, are Intel's attempt to fight back against its increased competition. It's powered by the company's new Willow Cove architecture, which is built on a new superfin transistor that the company promises will offer a generational type of increase that a full node shift would have offered. That's a big promise to make, but if Tiger Lake can meet that, it could be critical for Intel, given its recent 7-nanometer process delay. The result of the new 10-nanometer superfin design, though, is that Intel promises Tiger Lake chips will offer dramatically better frequency speeds while also drawing considerably less power. That means Intel will be able to offer chips that provide

big performance boosts at the same voltage levels as today's Ice Lake chips or offer comparable frequency rates while reducing power consumption. Tiger Lake will also support a variety of new input output standards out of the box, including Thunderbolt 4, USB 4 DDR5 RAM at up to 5,400 megahertz, and PCIE Gen 4.0. Tiger Lake will also be the public debut of Intel's G Graphics, specifically the first generation of Intel's GLP integrated graphics, which will offer up to 96 EU's, a 50% increase, and promises to provide similarly substantial increases over the current Gen 11 graphics, offered alongside its 10th-gen ice lake chips in both improved performance and lower power consumption. GLP graphics will obviously offer big improvements to gaming across Intel's lineup,

especially on devices that aren't typically focused on gaming. Intel showcase modern AAA games like PUBG, Grid, Doom Eternal, and Battlefield 5, running smoothly at 1080P on integrated GLP graphics, and noted that games that only ran on a 25-watt system with Gen 11, were now achievable on a 15-watt system with GLP. GLP also promises better performance for creators and display performance with support for up to 8K UHD with HDR10 and Dolby Vision panels, up to 360 hertz refresh rates,

and up to two times the performance for encoding and decoding video, end quote. Sources are telling the Wall Street Journal that a who's who of major American companies, including Apple and Disney, participated in a call with the White House recently over that potential WeChat ban, saying that any such ban could undermine U.S. companies' competitiveness in China. Quote, more than a dozen major U.S. international companies raised concerns in a call with White House officials Tuesday about the potentially broad scope and impact of Mr. Trump's executive order targeting Wii chat set to take effect late next month.

Apple, Ford Motor Company, Walmart, and Walt Disney were among those participating in the call, according to people familiar with the situation. Quote, for those who don't live in China, they don't understand how vast the implications are if American companies aren't allowed to use it, said Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council. They're going to be held at a severe disadvantage

to every competitor, he added. Other participants in the call Tuesday included Procter & Gamble, Intel, MetLife, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, United Parcel Service, Merck, and Cargill, according to the people. U.S. companies are concerned the administration's action could effectively cut them off from access to the lucrative China market,

for example, by ending their ability to accept payments or to advertise on WeChat. Some U.S. entertainment and sports concerns, meanwhile, are worried that they could be cut off from Tencent's other digital services. The National Basketball Association, for example, has a deal with Tencent to stream its games in China. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said the league is, quote, awaiting further clarity on the executive order, end quote. By the way, there was also a survey conducted recently in China that garnered 1.2 million responses. Chinese people were asked if they had to choose between WeChat and their iPhone. 95% said they would rather give up their iPhones.

Any WeChat ban threatens to turn an iPhone into expensive electronic trash, according to one respondent. Finally, on a day heavy with rumors and tea leaf reading, I found this one particularly interesting. Ever heard of Dobsmash? I think we've discussed them before. a lip-sinking video app. Well, apparently both Facebook and Snap have approached Dubsmash about a possible acquisition in the nine-figure range, quoting the information. The interest in Dubsmash highlights how larger tech companies are rushing to capitalize on growing consumer interest in short-form video, a category defined by TikTok's explosive growth. With the U.S. government now

threatening to ban TikTok due to its Chinese ownership, uncertainty about the app's future has heightened the appeal of rival apps like Triller and Byte as well as. dub smash. The deal talks with Facebook and Snap are no longer active but could resume or widened to other would-be acquirers. A person close to Facebook said the company wasn't currently in talks to buy Dub Smash. Snap spokeswoman Julie Henderson said, quote, we admire the team but aren't in active talks to acquire, end quote. Dub smash president and co-founder Suchet Dash declined to comment on any deal talks. For Facebook, interest in dub smash comes at a time when the social media giant faces antitrust scrutiny for past acquisitions of former competitors such as Instagram.

Its recent purchase of the animated GIF search engine Giffy has been held up in regulatory review for months, and it would likely be unable to buy TikTok due to concerns about its market power. Snap, which has avoided such regulatory pressure, recently launched new music features and has experimented with a TikTok-like swipable feed on videos in its Snapchat app. But buying an app like DupSmash, which lets users easily interact publicly, would be a departure from the more private messaging between friends that Snapchat prioritizes. Both social media firms are angling for more of the mobile video market while the U.S. government is forcing a potential sale of TikTok's operations to Microsoft.

If TikTok fails to reach a deal with Microsoft or another buyer and the app is banned, TikTok's users could flock to its competitors. After the Indian government banned TikTok in June, use of homegrown competitors spiked, end quote. Okay, yes, I screwed up Kamala Harris' name. I'm sorry. I've said forever that I'm terrible at names, and I guess I hadn't heard Kamala Harris's name enough times for it to sink in, but a bunch of you sent me this old Kamala Harris for Senate campaign video that gives you a sort of tutorial. It's not Kamala. It's not Kamala. It's Kamala. All right, got it.

Kamala, the more you know, talk to you tomorrow.