Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 04/27 – EU To Charge Apple This Week?

Episode Date: April 27, 2021

Is the EU about to bring the hammer down on Apple? Are Apple M2 chips right around the corner? Spotify launches its Podcast Subscription offering, and it is an interesting contrast to Apple’s. A whole slew of new Fire Tablets from Amazon. Lyft exits the self-driving game. And we’re in a dark new world when it comes to ransomware attacks. Sponsors: Skiff.org/ride Cyberreason.com Links: EU to charge Apple with anti-competitive behaviour this week (Financial Times) Spotify launches podcast subscriptions, but you can’t subscribe in-app (The Verge) Apple's follow-up to M1 chip goes into mass production for Mac (Nikkei Asia) Amazon’s new Fire HD 10 tablet has slimmer bezels and better specs (The Verge) Lyft sells self-driving unit to Toyota’s Woven Planet for $550M (Tech Crunch) Ransomware gang threatens to expose police informants if ransom is not paid (The Record) 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 right home for Tuesday, April 27th, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough. Today is the EU about to bring the hammer down on Apple. Our Apple M2 chips right around the corner, Spotify launches its podcast subscription offering, and it's an interesting contrast to Apple's. A whole slew of new fire tablets from Amazon. Lyft exits the self-driving game, and we're in a dark new world when it comes to ransomware attacks. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Normally I might wait for the news to actually happen before telling you about it, but this is big enough that it's probably good to be aware if this is indeed coming down the pike. Sources have told the Financial Times that the European Union might charge Apple with anti-competitive behavior later this week over concerns that the rules Apple sets for developers in the App Store break EU law, quoting the Financial Times.

The charges relate to a complaint brought two years ago by Spotify, the music streaming app, that Apple takes 30% commission to distribute apps through its iPhone app store and forbids apps from directing users to pay for subscriptions elsewhere. Brussels is also investigating Apple for allegedly breaking EU laws when it comes to promoting its own e-books over rivals on the app store and over concerns that it undermines competition in mobile payments by limiting access to the near-field communications chips in iPhones for rivals to Apple pay. If Apple is ultimately found guilty of breaking EU rules after a long period of potential appeals, the company faces a fine of up to 10% of global revenues. Separately,

Brussels is pushing through a new digital markets act that seeks to define when big tech companies are behaving in an anti-competitive way so that remedies can be applied faster, end quote. And this feels like funny timing given that, but Spotify has launched its expected podcast subscriptions service for creators in the U.S. And as opposed to what Apple recently announced it is offering, Spotify says it will cost creators nothing to launch a podcast subscription for the first two years on their platform. After that, Spotify says it will only take a 5% cut. There are some devils in the details, though, quoting Ashley Carmen in The Verge.

paid content on Spotify will be demarcated by a lock icon where a play button typically shows up. To unlock the show, potential subscribers will have to navigate to the program's dedicated anchor landing web page. Podcasters can choose to point them to that link wherever they want, such as their show notes, episode descriptions, or bio. Basically, they want to put the link anywhere and everywhere to ensure people can find it. Notably, though, Spotify won't have a big subscribe button at the top of every podcast page and you won't be able to subscribe directly within the app. Those limitations could make it harder for podcasts to sign up new subscribers. This also means Spotify won't have to pay Apple for any subscriptions sold under its App Store terms. Apple's subscription podcasts, on the other hand,

will let you subscribe from right within its podcast app. Subscribers can listen to paid podcasts inside of Spotify or in a third-party app through a private RSS feed. Podcasters will not receive the names, email addresses, or any other personal information about their subscribers. Mike McNano, head of podcaster mission at Spotify, tells the verge that Spotify is open to feedback and considering different ways to make that subscriber slash podcaster relationship stronger. It's crucial to our model that we explore ways for creators to connect deeper with their subscribers so you can't anticipate us to be sharing more in the space soon, he says. Content also does not need to be exclusive to Spotify. All of this means that yes,

NPR, for example, will be using Anchor as a hosting service for its ad-free Spotify subscription to shows like Planet Money Plus. Planet Money is already available on Spotify for free, as it is on other podcasting apps, but Planet Money Plus will be a separate show page where the paid content lives. Anchor hosting is still free to use, and Magnano says the company plans to keep it that way, meaning some podcasters might decide to operate a separate feed off of Anchor to provide paid content within Spotify. For why anyone would want to make this effort, Magnano emphasizes that Spotify takes no cut of

revenue at first and only a small cut starting in 2023, and that having paid content built into Spotify means a better chance of having content discovered. If people search for a type of specific show, a subscription podcast could show up and gain a paid follower. He also suggests Spotify could curate suggestions of shows that people might want to pay to hear. He also says, because this can all go through Anchor, the subscriptions shouldn't require extra work, end quote. So forcing this to work through Anchor is a bit of a weird move to me, but if I'm understanding it, the reason to do this among other things is to get around Apple's 30% app store cut, right? And also unless I'm missing something, there's nothing

that says a podcast can't create a subscription product for Spotify and for Apple at the same time. In fact, if you're a ride home plus subscriber, you might notice that until now we've not offered a Spotify option because until now, we haven't been able to. Sources are telling Nika Asia that Apple's follow-up to its M1 chip has already gone into mass production. We'll be ready to ship in products slated for the second half of this year. So you're telling me there's a chance. Actually, no, it's more than a chance. You're telling me I'm finally going to be able to upgrade my MacBook Pro later this year.

Quote, shipments of the new chip set tentatively known as the M2 after Apple's current M1 processor, could begin as early as July for use in MacBooks that are scheduled. to go on sale in the second half of this year, the people said, the new chipset is produced by key Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing company, or TSM, the world's largest contract chipmaker using the latest semiconductor production technology known as 5 nanometer plus, or N5P. Producing such advanced chipsets takes at least three months, end quote. Yeah, and dig this headline. TSM says its four nanometer chip process is on track for risk. production at the end of this year and mass production next year. Three nanometers is expected in the

second half of 2022 and two nanometers is in development, quoting anantec. In 2022, the world's largest contract maker of chips will roll out its brand new N3 manufacturing process, which will keep using FinFET transistors, but is expected to offer the whole package of PPA improvements, in particular, versus the current N5 process, TSM's N3 promises to increase performance by 10 to 15% at the same power and complexity, or reduce power consumption by as much as 25 to 30% at the same performance and complexity. All the while, the new node will also improve transistor density by 1.1 to 1.7 times, depending on the structures, end quote. So maybe an M3 by the second half of next year?

Amazon has debuted a new Fire HD-10 tablet, which is now thinner, but has a brighter screen that will set you back $150. But for $180, you can also get a more powerful Fire HD-10 plus. There's also a Fire Kids Pro tablet line and a bunch more, actually, quoting the verge. The $149.99-Fire HD-10 now looks much more in line with what you'd expect from a modern tablet, with a thinner design and slimmed down bezels on all four sides. The RAM has been boosted by 50% to 3 gigabytes, and Amazon says the 1080P screen is brighter than before. It runs on what Amazon describes as a powerful octacore processor,

though it's unclear what, if any improvements. This represents over the 2 gigahertz octacore chip that failed to impress us in the last model. Speaking of performance, Amazon is also introducing its most powerful 10-inch tablet ever, it says, the Fire HD-10-plus. This model has 4 gigabytes of RAM, a soft-touch finish, and wireless charging, though, again, Amazon isn't giving details on the processor. Like the Fire HD-8 plus, there's an optional made for Amazon wireless charging dock, this time made by Anchor. The HD-10-plus costs $30 more

than the non-plus model at $179.99. Amazon's tablets aren't normally associated with productivity, but the company is making a go of it with the new Fire HD-10 range. The tablets will be available in productivity bundles, including FinTide Design keyboard cases and a one-year subscription to Microsoft 360. The bundles start at $219.99, and the keyboards will cost $49.99 as standalone purchases. Amazon has also added a new split-screen multitasking feature to FireOS. As for the kids' lineup, Amazon is introducing a whole new range

of tablets called Fire Kids Pro. Clearly only the most professional kids need apply. Available in 7-inch and 10-inch versions, the Fire Kids Pro tablets have slim protective cases with built-in kickstands. Prices range from $99 to $200. Amazon says the Kids Pro home screen looks and feels more like a grown-up tablet, and the browser has an option to provide open but filtered web access with parents able to block or allow specific sites. There's also an app store where kids are able to request app downloads that parents can approve later, and the tablets come with a year of Amazon's Kids Plus service for educational and entertainment content. Amazon is also releasing a Kids Edition of the new Fire HD10, which includes a kid-proof case,

a two-year replacement warranty, and a year of Amazon Kids Plus. This model will sell at $190.99 at launch. Amazon is offering a 30% discount if you buy two of them, though, end quote. All of this begins shipping. May 26. Lyft has now joined Uber in throwing in the towel in terms of its autonomous car ambitions. Lyft is selling its self-driving car unit known as Lyft Level 5, which has around 300 employees to Toyota's woven Planet Holdings subsidiary for $550 million, quoting TechCrunch.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, officially ends Lyft's nearly four-year effort to develop its own self-driving system. The transaction will remove a costly annual expense from Lyft's budget. The ride-hailing company said that by offloading level five, it expects to be able to remove $100 million of annualized non-gap operating expenses on a net basis. Those savings will be critical for Lyft as it pursues profitability, a point co-founder and president John Zimmer made special note of in the announcement. Assuming the transaction closes within the expected time frame and the COVID recovery continues,

we are confident we can achieve adjusted ebita profitability in the third quarter of this year, Zimmer said in a statement. Free from this annual expense, Lyft will dedicate its resources to what the company says it was really aiming at all along to become the go-to-ridehailing network and fleet management platform used by any and all commercial robotaxi services. Lyft already has partnerships with AV developers, notably the $4 billion Hyundai active joint venture known as Motional, as well as Waymo. The intent is to lock up the rest. As part of the acquisition agreement, Woveon Planet signed commercial agreements to use the Lyft platform and fleet data.

Lyft said that the agreement with Woven Planet is not exclusive and it will continue its partnership with Motional and others. Motional and Lyft have been partners for more than three years, a relationship that kicked off with what was supposed to be a week-long pilot program to offer rides in autonomous vehicles on the Lyft Network in Las Vegas during the 2018 CES trade show. The partnership actually predated the joint venture with Hyundai. That temporary experiment, which has always included a human safety driver, was extended and still exist today. As of February 2020, the program had given more than 100,000 paid self-driving rides in Appdives, now Motional's self-driving vehicles, per the Lyft app. Motional announced in December plans to launch fully driverless robotaxi services in major U.S.

cities in 2023 using the Lyft Ride Hailing Network, end quote. vis-a-vis that long-running joke slash wager we had about self-driving by the year 2020, it is worth remembering that Lyft once famously said that the majority of its rides would be made in autonomous vehicles by the year 2021. So yeah, as Dari Obasanjo tweeted, has there been a demos well but doesn't work in practice technology that has distracted more companies than self-driving cars? The idea that Uber and Lyft thought they could replace drivers with a, V's in a few years seems hilariously naive in hindsight, end quote. Finally today, this is a new one and it's ugly.

Police in Washington, D.C. have confirmed that a ransomware gang is threatening to release files that might expose police informants unless the department agrees to pay up with the ransom, quoting the record. We are aware of unauthorized access on our server. Sean Hickman, a public spokesperson for D.C. police told the record in a email today after screenshots of the department's internal files and servers were published on the website of the Babouk Locker Ransomware Gang. The screenshots suggested the ransomware gang had obtained access to investigation reports, officer disciplinary files, documents on local gangs, mugshots, and administrative files. In total, the Babook Locker Gang claims to have downloaded more than 250 gigabytes of data

from DC Police servers. The group is now giving DC police officials three days to respond to their ransom demand. Otherwise, they say they will contact local gangs and expose police informants. D.C. police officials told the record they are still investigating the breach to determine its full impact. The department has already engaged the FBI to help with the investigation. Hickman told the record, the Babuk Locker Gang is one of the most recent ransomware groups today. The group began operating in January and has already hit some major companies such as Spanish phone retail chain phone house and the NBA's Houston Rockets. One of the group's most distinctive features is the ability of its ransomware payload to encrypt files stored on VMware ESXI shared

virtual hard drives. It's one of only three ransomware strains alongside Darkside and Ransom Exx that can do this, end quote. So it's our usual big earnings 48 hours or so. Google and Microsoft will announce their earnings this afternoon, Facebook and Apple tomorrow. So obviously we'll report on earnings from today on tomorrow's episode, although there is also a Galaxy Unpacked event tomorrow. And if the EU drops that Apple anti-competition bomb tomorrow, then yeah, tomorrow could be lit. We'll see. Talk to you then.