Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 02/02 – Ok, But Is Stadia Long For This World?

Episode Date: February 2, 2021

Google is getting out of the game development business, but is it getting out of the Stadia business or just pivoting to infrastructure? Apple acknowledges that Covid has basically hobbled Face ID. Uber gets into the liquor delivery business. And Amazon’s plans for its HQ2 architecture shows at least somebody in Silicon Valley is not buying the remote work hype. Sponsors: Fundrise.com/techmeme AirMedcareNetwork.com/tech offer code: TECH Links: Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Studios, Changing Business Focus (Kotaku) Google now gives you more information about the sites in your search results (TechCrunch) iOS 14.5 will let Apple Watch owners unlock iPhones while wearing a mask (Engadget) Uber buying booze delivery company Drizly for $1.1 billion (Axios) Kuo: 'Apple Car' to use Hyundai's E-GMP platform, GM and PSA partnerships possible (Apple Insider) Robinhood Raises Another $2.4 Billion From Shareholders (WSJ) Amazon Unveils Outdoorsy New HQ2, Renewing Its Commitment to Offices (WSJ) tech.supercast.tech 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 TechMeme right home for Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, Google is getting out of the game development business, but is it getting out of

the stadia business, or is this just a pivot to infrastructure? Apple acknowledges that COVID has basically hobbled face ID. Uber gets into the liquor delivery business, and Amazon's plans for its HQ2 architecture shows at least somebody in Silicon Valley is not buying the remote work hype. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. This is not me piling on, but as you can see, this will play almost directly off of what we talked about yesterday. Google has announced that it will close two stadia game studios, one in L.A. and one in Montreal. And that stadia head, Jade Raymond, is leaving.

This means about 150 game developers will be laid off, I believe. But what everyone is wondering about is what this means. means for the Stadia Project Overall, quoting Kataku. Kataku began to hear rumblings from sources close to Stadia last week that Google's service was heading for a major change. One games industry source told Katakou that Google was canceling multiple projects. Basically any games slated for release beyond a specific 2021 window, though they believed games close to release would still come out.

Today brings some clarification. Google will continue to operate the Stadia game. service and its $10 monthly Stadia Pro service, but it's unclear how many if any exclusive games will still come to the service, though the company has indicated that it can still sign new games and will bring more third-party releases to the platform. It nevertheless will look to many like a drawdown of the plan to have Stadia run as a bona fide competitor to console platforms. The company plans to begin offering its Stadia tech to publishers, opening up the possibility for Stadia to become the streaming tech for other video game companies. Google's head of Stadia operations long-time

console executive Phil Harrison will focus on pursuing these new partnerships, end quote. So let me attempt to parse that, or at least translate it into non-gamer layman talk. Google and Stadia appear to be getting out of the game making business of having in-house game studios. The plan apparently is to now focus on offering Stadia directly to publishers, aka other gaming platforms, alongside offering Stadia Pro to the public. So that kind of makes sense because, as I've said before, Google internally, at least I've heard, largely thinks of Stadia as the raison d'etra for Google's entire Google Cloud initiatives, or at least maybe vice versa. Point is Stadia is largely a justification for Google's continued huge investments in cloud stuff, even though Google's cloud

projects are significantly behind Amazon and Microsoft, at least as being leaders in this field. And remember, Google is in cost-cutting mode, it seems like. So on the one hand, this actually makes a ton of sense, as David Reddick tweeted, quote, with Stadia potentially becoming a back-end service, I think this may illuminate where cloud gaming is headed. Existing storefronts and publishers continue to dominate, but can now offer stream-only games at a reduced cost to widen their audience. I can definitely see a future where you'll be able to buy Far Cry 16 on Steam, but there's now a $40-only version that lets you have the whole game, but streamed at 1080p, with the option to unlock local play at an additional cost, end quote.

In other words, Google makes a play for its cloud business to be the back-end piping for the future of the entire gaming industry. but at the same time, can you trust Google? If you'll recall, when Stadia launched not that long ago, what was it, 13 months or something, game studios were vocal about being wary of developing for Stadia for this very reason. For Stadia may be becoming yet another project that Google would abandon in a few short years. This news would only exacerbate that thinking, wouldn't it? The snark on social media's is red hot from the gaming community right now.

Here's Patrick Kelpeck, quote, The thing that everyone figured would happen that Google would make a big splash and eventually get bored when they realized it was hard is happening. Still, okay. But maybe Stadia as a consumer product is not where this whole project was destined to go. Maybe it was always destined to be the back-end piping, the infrastructure for gaming overall, right? Yeah, but that would still mean that you would need gaming platforms to trust Google to stick with even that plan. And if they look over at their studio gaming brethren, would you take the gamble of investing a ton of money and risking your entire business on Google's constancy or lack thereof? I know I wouldn't.

Sticking with Google for a second, they test things all the time with their search results, but it's not every day that they roll out one of these tests. into a full-fledged new feature for everyone to use on search. Google has launched about this result, a menu item on search that will give users more information about the sites they are about to visit in the search results. Could we read this as an attempt to cut down on misinformation in search, a stab at assuaging antitrust by not just hosting snippets themselves, or maybe a little of both, quoting TechCrunch? Today, Google is adding a new menu item to virtually all. search results in English in the U.S. on mobile desktop and its Android Google app. This new link will provide searchers with more information about the site they are about to visit

and before they click on the actual link. Clicking the new hamburger-style menu icon will pop up a new info panel with additional information about the site. These include a short description of what the site is about, taken from Wikipedia when available, and some data about whether the connection to the site is secure. For sites without a Wikipedia entry, Google will show when it first index the site and other data if it's available. There's also a full link and a short line about whether it's a native search result or an ad, which seems like a tacit admission that it's gotten too hard to distinguish ads from regular search results on Google. At the bottom of the pane, there's also

links to your privacy settings and to an explainer about how search works, end quote. Quick summary of where we are with that whole GameStop slash Wall Street Betts slash Robin Hood story. I believe that as of this morning, GameStop has officially erased all of the gains the stock made in the past few days, as it is down again today. Robin Hood appears to be back to a one-star rating on the Google Play Store, and Google says that current reviews are compliant with its policies and thus won't be removed. and Robin Hood raised a further $2.4 billion in capital, apparently all from their existing shareholders. This comes just days after they raised that $1 billion that I told you about in order to keep the lights on. So $3.5 billion raised by Robin Hood in a couple days, meaning that in the last two days alone, Robin Hood has raised more money than it had in its previous eight years of existence.

not sure if that should reassure people about their business going forward or not, quoting the Wall Street Journal. With billions of dollars in fresh funding, Robin Hood should be better positioned to cover higher collateral requirements in the future unless Investors Mania exceeds all expectations. New and existing Robin Hood shareholders participated in the deal, which is structured as a note that conveys the option to buy additional shares at a discount later, a person familiar with the matter said. Robin Hood's collateral requirements have fallen since Thursday, the person said, indicating that the company's restrictions on buying some stocks dampened the overall riskiness of its customers' trading activity. DTCC also returned a portion of the additional money Robin Hood had to post on Thursday, the person said. Robin Hood has since loosened many of the buying limits put in place last week.

At one point, the list of restricted stocks had swelled to more than 50. On Monday afternoon, Robin Hood had buying limits on eight popular stocks, including GameStop, end quote. Finally, Politico is reporting that Robin Hood CEO Vlad Tenev is expected to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in a panel hearing on February 18th. So put that on your calendar. Isn't AOC on that committee? I do believe she is. Apple has released the first iOS 14.5 beta, which has a new feature in it that will let users unlock their iPhones using face ID while wearing a mask, so long as said user is also wearing an Apple Watch, quoting and gadget. So long as the watch itself is already unlocked, you'll just need to look at your iPhone as usual.

After that, you'll get a haptic buzz on your wrist, letting you know the unlock was successful. As we understand it, the feature, which must be manually enabled before use, allows Face ID to proceed with an unlock despite much lower facial recognition accuracy because the nearby watch has already been authenticated. You'll also be able to lock your phone from your Apple Watch, though it's worth noting that all other actions that might rely on a face unlock, like say approving an App Store purchase, can't be handled this way. Given the need for frequent mask use, Apple has attempted to address this issue last May with an update that prompts Face ID to more quickly kick users into their passcode input screen when their faces are obscured. While a good idea in theory, the change wasn't particularly elegant in practice. users have frequently been left waiting while iOS seemingly decides what to do. With all of this in mind,

it's little surprise that Apple is reportedly testing optical in display fingerprint sensors that could debut in iPhones as soon as this year, end quote. So that is kind of depressing that Apple is acknowledging that wearing face masks is probably something that's going to be with us for a while yet. Although also, even after COVID is vanquished, hopefully, don't you feel like we'll be wearing masks a lot more anyway. Like, why would I ever take the subway again during flu season without putting a mask on? Why would you ever just, you know, hey, my coworker is sitting across me with an obvious cold and that's cool. We'll just wait until I catch her cold. No, we're all going to be wearing masks a lot more than we ever did, at least in the West, I would think. But also, I can already

supposedly turn on and log into my Mac with my Apple Watch, except for the fact that basically that never ever works. So we'll see about this. And also a note that iOS 14.5 is also bringing Xbox Series S slash X and PlayStation 5 controllers to iPhones and iPads. Uber says it is buying alcohol delivery startup Drizzly for $1.1 billion in cash and stock. Drizley co-founder and CEO Corey Rellis is expected to remain with Uber. quoting Dan Primak at Axios. This could represent a strategic departure for Uber in that Drizzly doesn't hire delivery drivers itself. Instead, it provides the back-end infrastructure for local liquor stores to provide their own delivery services. The company experienced significant growth in 2020

due to the pandemic, naturally. Drizley has raised $85 million in venture capital since being founded in 2012. Investors include Polaris Ventures, Tiger Global, and Avenir Growth Capital, end quote. Now, the larger interesting thing here, at least to me, is does this represent a continued move by Uber toward becoming a delivery service first? Someone on Twitter recently, sorry, I didn't favor it so I don't remember who, pointed out that both Uber and Lyft, while their ride share businesses remain down something like 70% have nonetheless seen their stocks go up like 3x over the last six months or so. So I mean, if they just shrugged off their legacy ride-hailing businesses, what would that do to their stocks? I'm being slightly glib and snarky by saying that,

but at the same time, remember, the goal was to eventually get rid of drivers entirely by moving to self-driving cars. And that's off the table now for Uber, as we know. So maybe it's not too cute after all. Maybe they've just got to pivot strategically somehow, and delivering food and burritos seems to be the growth industry of the moment. Speaking of cars, our buddy Ming Chi Kuo has yet more whispers on the Apple car and the whole will they or won't they tie up with Hyundai. Quo says Apple wants to use Hyundai's EGMP battery electric vehicle platform. That's the, well, the skateboard that Apple wants to use going forward. And that's why they're interested in tying up with Hyundai. But even if they do, Apple could still build their

cars in association with others, say GM or European manufacturer PSA, quoting Apple Insider. Unveiled in December, EGMP is a dedicated battery electric vehicle or BEV platform that consists of up to two motors, five-link rear suspension, integrated drive axle, battery cells, charging system, and other rolling chassis components. According to the company, the system has a maximum range of about 310 miles on a full charge and can be charged up to 80% within 18 minutes. Acceleration for a high-performance configuration is quoted at 0 to 60 in less than 3.5 seconds with a speed ceiling of 160 miles per hour.

Hyundai intends to use EGMP as a foundation for a variety of models set to debut under both its flagship and Kia brands this year. Like past rumors, Quo believes Apple will farm out parts manufacturing and assembly to established automakers. EVs contain about 40 to 50 times more parts than a smartphone, the analyst points out, suggesting Apple will need to rely on existing automaker resources if it hopes to create a functional car on time. The tech giant will not be able to build out its own automotive supply chain, as it has done for devices like iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch without incurring significant delays. quote, Apple's deep collaboration with current automakers, Hyundai Group, GM, and PSA, who have extensive

development production and qualification experience, will significantly shorten the Apple car development time and create a time-to-market advantage, quo writes. We believe that Apple will leverage current automakers resources and focus on self-driving hardware and software, semiconductors, battery-related technologies, form factor, and internal space designs, innovative user experience, and the integration with Apple's existing ecosystem, end quote. Given a longer development lead time, higher validation requirements, more complex supply chain, and very different sales and after-sales service, quote, does not anticipate a so-called Apple car to hit roads until 2025 at the earliest. That date is still considered aggressive for a tech company making its first foray into a new industry, end quote. So to sum up the recent rumors on this front, Hyundai is a very insular company.

It does not want to become merely a dumb contract manufacturer to Apple. fine. Apple just wants their platform. Might this be a way to thread the needle? And finally today, it's not often we get to talk about architecture on this show, but Amazon has unveiled plans for part of its HQ2 headquarters in Virginia, including three 22-story office buildings, and what is being called the Helix, a 350-foot building with trees and spiraling outdoor walkways that will twist. up the building all the way to the top. Also, there will be an outdoor amphitheater, a dog run, and parking for 950 bicycles, quoting the Wall Street Journal. Amazon, which is unveiling the designs on Tuesday, said the cluster of new office and retail buildings will accommodate around 13,000 employees with room for more. The project is part of Amazon's more than $2.5 billion $25,000 employee office campus, which the Seattle-based company calls its second headquarters.

The plans for the second phase of Amazon's buildings are set to go through a public review process and the company hopes to break ground early next year. A pair of office buildings for around 12,500 employees are already under construction down the street from the planned second phase development. The first buildings of the second phase are set to be completed in 2025. Amazon's new campus is the latest in a growing line of outdoorsy office projects as companies try harder to offer a pleasant work environment and appeal to eco-conscious employees. The helix, quote, will be an opportunity for people to literally go on a hike, in the city, said Dale Alberteda, a principal at architecture firm NBBJ, which is designing

the development across the river from Washington, D.C. Plans for inside the building also call for plenty of greenery, along with meeting space, offices, and studios for artist residency programs. You feel like you're in a lush garden in the middle of winter in D.C., Mr. Albereda said, of the interior design, end quote. I continue to move back and forth on the whole idea of if remote work is the future or not. Every time I get set on one side of the argument, I read something else that makes me reverse course and go entirely back to the other side of the argument. So I do think it's interesting to note that Amazon at least is still committing to making offices that are cool enough for people to actually want to come into work. Amazon wants you to come

into the office, I guess, unless that whole HQ2 thing is just some huge sunk cost for them that they just have to follow through with at this point, no matter what. Who knows? Anyway, click through on the story link for pictures because it's a cool looking building. That's all for today. This is the fourth day in a row that our Spectrum Home Internet Service has had this tendency to crap out every 15 minutes or so. I'm getting sick of trying to work by tethering from a cell phone. And it doesn't help because of the snowstorm, the kids are stuck here with us. So we're tethering two adult work days and two kid-wit-werell.

remote learning days to one single phone. Let's just say, I'm losing my mind. Witness me, as they say in the movie. Talk to you tomorrow.