Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 03/23 – Microsoft To Buy Discord?

Starting point is 00:00:00 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 Right Home for Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough today. Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy Discord, but Discord might just take itself public instead. A ton of video game news, including an Xbox rebranding, a new Neantic partnership with Nintendo,

Starting point is 00:00:51 and new rumors of that upgraded Nintendo Switch. A new consortium wants to take the pain out of browser compatibility, and Apple faces a class action lawsuit over those butterfly keyboards. Here's what you miss today. the world of tech. First, sources began to report late yesterday that Discord was exploring a sale of itself, seeking a valuation of $10 billion or so. Then Bloomberg reported that it was Microsoft that was in advanced stages of negotiations to maybe buy Discord for about that exact $10 billion target range. But also that Discord is maybe more likely to just go public and test the waters

Starting point is 00:01:33 itself. Quoting Bloomberg. Actually, you'll note they're tempering their initial reporting here a bit. Discord has been talking to potential buyers and software giant Microsoft is in the running, but no deal is imminent, said the people who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Discord is more likely to go public than sell itself, one person said. Representatives for Microsoft and Discord declined to comment. Venture Beat reported earlier on Monday that Discord was engaged in sales talks. Microsoft, which last year sought to buy social media app TikTok and held talks to acquire Pinterest, has been shopping for assets that would provide access to thriving communities of users,

Starting point is 00:02:12 according to people familiar with the company's thinking. Microsoft's Xbox business has also been expanding the suite of subscription perks it provides as part of its GamePass offering. Microsoft shares were up about 1.2% in the first minutes of trading Tuesday. Quote, Microsoft possibly acquiring Discord, makes a lot of sense as it continues to reshape its gaming business more towards. software and services, said Bloomberg intelligence analyst Matthew Cantorman. There's a big opportunity to bundle Discord's premium offering Nitro into the GamePass service

Starting point is 00:02:43 to drive more subscriptions from the last reported number of 18 million, end quote. After Microsoft's recent $7.5 billion purchase of Zenni Max Media, owner of the Elder Scrolls and Doom publisher Bethesda Software, an acquisition of Discord would signal the Redmond Washington-based software giant's willingness to keep investing. in its video game unit, end quote. Yeah, integrating Discord deeply into Xbox stuff does make a ton of sense, although I don't think they could make it exclusive, like wall off Discord as something that you can only get if you do Xbox. But also, the larger narrative here is that Microsoft keeps trying to acquire social networks, TikTok, Pinterest. And I keep hearing that one of the motivations for that

Starting point is 00:03:31 is to get them all on Azure. Is it that they've invested so heavily to build out this cloud infrastructure that they need big projects to justify their existence? That was always what I heard about Google getting into cloud gaming. But can this be true? Can someone smarter than me explain the economics behind that theory? But also, Discord apparently runs on top of Google Cloud. So I guess there is value in kicking one leg of the stool out from under your rival, right? Maybe Google Cloud is so far behind and weak that its rivals maybe think they can strangle it in the crib. Anyway, I'll also point out that Satchanadella is not a man afraid of doing MNA. Zeni Max Media was a $7.5 billion acquisition just last year.

Starting point is 00:04:17 GitHub in 2018, $7.5 billion. LinkedIn, $26.2 billion. And also, given this current environment with sky high tech IPO pops and audio spaces being sort of the hot thing at the moment. Doesn't $10 billion seem like a low ball price for Discord? I feel like the public markets would value Discord at $20 billion easy, maybe even more. Maybe we'll find out. Speaking of Xbox, Microsoft announced it is rebranding Xbox Live as Xbox Network, saying the change is an attempt to distinguish the online service from the Xbox Live Gold membership, quoting the verge. Instances of the new branding started appearing in the

Starting point is 00:05:05 Xbox dashboard recently for beta testers with clips being uploaded to Xbox Network instead of Xbox Live. Microsoft has now confirmed the name change. Microsoft has used Xbox Live to refer to its underlying Xbox service since its original launch 18 years ago. Larry Herb, better known as Major Nelson, has been known as Xbox Live's Major Nelson for years, but Herb now refers to himself as Xbox's Major Nelson. Hence at a name change originally appeared back in August, after Microsoft updated its services agreement. At the time, Microsoft said it wasn't rebranding the service and had no plans to discontinue Xbox Live Gold.

Starting point is 00:05:43 Instead, Microsoft went on to announce a price hike for Xbox Live Gold that the company was forced to quickly reverse. Microsoft is now planning to drop the subscription requirement for free-to-play games on its Xbox network in the coming months. Games like Fortnite will no longer require Xbox Live Gold as a result, but Microsoft hasn't yet confirmed exactly when the paywall will be removed, end quote. It's video game news Tuesday, I guess. Niantic has announced a new partnership with Nintendo to develop mobile games built on Niantic's

Starting point is 00:06:17 AR technology, starting with a game based on Nintendo's Pickman franchise, quoting the verge. Details are thin right now, but Niantic says that the app will include gameplay activities to encourage walking and make walking more delightful. If you want to receive more information about the new game as it's available, you can sign up to get updates. The new Pickman AR game will be the first developed by Niantics Tokyo Studio. Niantics AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto said in a statement,

Starting point is 00:06:52 based on the theme of making walking fun, our mission is to provide people a new experience that's different from traditional games. We hope that the Pikmin and this app will become a partner in your life, end quote. The Pikmin franchise is all about exploring a very Earth-like planet, with packs of adorable Pikmin creatures. So a Niantic made Pikmin game about walking and exploring the world around you makes a lot of sense. The latest game in the Pikmin series is the Nintendo Switch's Picman 3 Deluxe, an upgraded version of the 2013 game first release for the Wii U. Niantic didn't say what other games it will be making with Nintendo, but it sounds like the two companies have secured some kind of long-term partnership.

Starting point is 00:07:31 quote, we're honored that Nintendo has chosen Niantic to be its publisher of real-world AR applications. Neantik said, more details about upcoming apps will be revealed in coming months, end quote. In case you're not into games, enough to know this, Neantyc is best known for developing Pokemon Go. I've even got some gaming hardware news for you today. Sources are telling Bloomberg that Nintendo will use new Nvidia graphics chips in its rumored 2021 switch upgrade. helping that console deliver 4K graphics on TVs. The new switch iteration will support NVIDIA's deep learning super sampling, or DLSS, a novel rendering technology that uses artificial intelligence to deliver higher fidelity graphics more efficiently.

Starting point is 00:08:23 That will allow the console, which is also set for an OLED display upgrade, to reproduce game visuals at 4K quality when plugged into a TV, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is not public. The U.S. company's new chip set will also bring a better CPU and increase memory. DLSS support will require new code to be added to games, so it'll primarily be used to improve graphics on upcoming titles, said the people including multiple game developers. Bloomberg News previously reported that the new switch is likely to include a 7-inch OLED screen from Samsung display and couple the consoles release with a bounty of new games.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Analysts expect the new switch will be offered at a higher price than the current model's $199, a level unchanged since the Switch's initial release in 2017. Bloomberg Intelligence's Matthew Canterman foresees an increase of as much as $100, end quote. Analysts also, by the way, say this upgraded switch will likely be announced before the end of the year in order to hit the holiday shopping season, though one hopes that Nintendo can anticipate supply and demand better than Sony and Microsoft, or else we wouldn't be able to get our hands on this until next summer. But also, if they don't launch this with Breath of the Wild, too, I say we riot. Microsoft, Google, and others have announced they are partnering to improve browser compatibility

Starting point is 00:09:50 focusing on five key areas, quoting NeoWin. Google and Microsoft have announced that they're joining forces with other companies such as Egalia, as well as the, quote, broader web community to improve compatibility across different web browsers, the movement called compatriot. 2021, we'll see the effort focus on five major areas that draw complaints from the developer community. The effort comes after a period of research, including surveys conducted by the Mozilla Developer Network. Other sources of information, such as the state of CSS and state of JS surveys, the most search features on can I use, and test results from web platform tests,

Starting point is 00:10:29 all played a role in determining the areas of focus for this effort. For 2021, the focus will be on these five areas. CSS Flexbox, CSS Grid, CSS sticky positioning, the CSS aspect ratio property, and CSS transforms. CSS Flexbox is a very widely used feature, but it can cause images to be stretched incorrectly in different browsers. It was chosen because it's a top issue in the MDN browser compatibility report for 2020, in addition to being the most widely used and known feature in the state of CSS report. Currently, 85% of browsers pass the test for the feature, and appears in 75% of page loads on Chrome.

Starting point is 00:11:09 Another widely used feature on the list is CSS Transforms, which appears on 80% of page loads on Chrome. This one only has a 55% rate of test pass on web platform tests, though, so it may require some more work to get every browser on the same level, end quote. Good news, I guess, right? Although, as Ian Cher tweeted, quote, I feel like I read this type of story every few years and nothing comes of it. end quote. One more thing, devs and designers, Facebook has announced F8 refresh, a single day,

Starting point is 00:11:47 virtual only conference for developers coming June 2nd. Note that this conference will apparently be so low-key that it won't even have a Mark Zuckerberg keynote, quoting TechCrunch. It's a mark of the times to be right-sizing everything to the place we are in right now. So although F8 has grown in size and scope over the years. It typically attracts around 5,000 people and many more to its in-person event. It looks like the social network is taking 2021 to be a little more modest in its approach. Instead of words from its founder and CEO, Facebook will have Constantinos Tapamiltiatis, VP of Platform Partnerships, delivering the opening presentation at the event, which will, as usual, provide some updates on new launches for the platform. In the past, Facebook has given

Starting point is 00:12:33 much more lead time to people for F8 to let developers, partners, and other attendees clear their calendars and organized travel from further afield. It's 2020 two-day event, which had originally been scheduled for May 2020, was announced in November 2019, for example, but of course in the months following, as COVID-19 took its grip, F8 2020 became one of a wave of events to be canceled, with Facebook first looking to replace it with a series of local events, but then canceling everything altogether, end quote. A judge has certified a class action lawsuit against Apple that claims Apple knew for years that MacBooks with those butterfly keyboards were flawed and that small fixes were insufficient, quoting the verge. The suit covers anyone who purchased an Apple MacBook with a butterfly

Starting point is 00:13:25 keyboard in seven states, California, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan. That includes people who bought a MacBook model dating between 2015 and 2017, a MacBook Pro model between 2016 and 2019, or a MacBook Air between 2018 and 2019. This suit claims Apple knew for years that its butterfly switches were defective and that its incremental changes weren't fixing the core problem. It cites internal communications inside Apple, including an executive who wrote that, quote, no matter how much lipstick you try to put on this pig, referring to the butterfly keyboard, it's still ugly. end quote. The plaintiffs accuse Apple of violating several laws across the seven states mentioned above, including California's unfair competition law, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. They aren't asking for a nationwide certification at this time, but the law firm behind the suit has invited any U.S. buyer of an affected MacBook to complete a survey. Apple argued against class action certification, saying one consolidated suit shouldn't cover multiple tweaks to the butterfly keyboard. but the plaintiffs successfully argued that all butterfly keyboards may have the same fundamental problems due to their shallow design and narrow gaps between keys, end quote.

Starting point is 00:14:45 And finally today, remember how Jack Dorsey put the first ever tweet up for sale as an NFT? Well, it finally sold for $2,915,835.47, quoting the verge. The winning bidder was Sina Estavi, who had held the highest bid since offering $2.5 million on March 6th. He upped his bid to this number at the last moment. Bids were handled on a platform called valuables by cent that lets people make offers on tweets that are, quote, autographed by their original creators, end quote. The bids on Dorsey's succinct first tweet, just setting up my Twitter, from March 21st, 2006, quickly escalated, and Dorsey later said he would end the bidding on the tweet's 15th anniversary. According to the

Starting point is 00:15:33 timestamp on cent, Astavi made his final winning bid on Monday afternoon and according to Reuters paid using the ether cryptocurrency in the amount of 1630.5825601-Eath. Estavi, CEO of blockchain company Bridge Oracle, told Reuters he was thankful. Dorsey said previously he would convert the winning bid into Bitcoin and donate it to give directly for its Africa response and he tweeted his receipt Monday afternoon. Give directly is a charitable organization which gives money directly to people living in poverty, end quote. By the way, if you math nerds out there know anything about this, that final dollar figure or ETH figure, if it has some sort of Easter egg significance that I'm unaware of, feel free to let me know. Thanks to those of you who joined Chris and I in Clubhouse

Starting point is 00:16:32 last night. I was finally able to record the full session successfully for the first time, so now we should be able to share those conversations more regularly. Maybe not every time we do one, of course, but we'll actually, we'll see what we end up doing with all this, because Chris and I need to have a conversation about what this can be, this after show discussion concept. Maybe it's just bonus content here that we share every so often. Maybe we split out a whole separate feed to make a whole separate podcast out of it so that, you know, every week you can get your news run down here every day, and then you have a best of both world situations where you can also get a sort of roundtable discussion of the news that happens multiple times a week maybe, and thus

Starting point is 00:17:19 you'll have multiple hours to sort of treat it as a lean back in the background sort of thing, sort of like the difference between a news bulletin on the radio and sort of talk radio that goes on for hours. We'll see. We're figuring it out. And by the way, your feedback is very welcome. Talk to you tomorrow. Thank you.

Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 03/23 – Microsoft To Buy Discord?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.