If it’s Thursday, it’s time for Tech Talk with Mark Starling on First News 570. COVID-19 is everywhere, so this week I’ve limited COVID-19 and tech to one story. You can listen to Mark and I talk about tech every Thursday morning at 6:43 am Eastern, LIVE. Be safe out there and stay healthy. Heed the words of the CDC and only go out for essentials. But GO FOR A WALK!
NURO USES ROBOTS TO DELIVER COVID-19 SUPPLIES
Shelter-in-place directives and a ban on non-essential travel have grounded the fleets of many autonomous driving companies. NURO, a company founded by two ex-Google employees are now using their autonomous drive technology to transport medical supplies around two California stadiums used as treatment facilities. The robots are being used to ferry food, personal protective equipment, and other supplies. Nuro President, David Ferguson wants to make it clear, that although the robots are helping they are not, “solving the crisis.”
LOSES MOUNT AS ATT LOSES 900K SUBSCRIBERS
In a sign of the times, American Telephone and Telegraph’s TV business continues to lose subscribers as subscription streaming services gain during the pandemic. ATT reports that their premium subscriber count now stands at 18.6 million after losing more than 3 million subscribers last year. ATT plans to cut billions of dollars as it loses customers and tries to come up with a new streaming strategy.
FORTNITE FLOSSES TO GOOGLE PLAY KICKING AND SCREAMING
In a not-not-the-same-but-similar-and-very-much-like-Apple move, El Goog’s Google Play Protect system is forcing Fortnite to floss itself to the Google Play platform. EPIC Games announced that it will be making Fortnite available for download on the platform. EPIC reports that GPP forces the user to jump through too many hoops to get on their planet. I know Sergie Brin and Larry Page are sitting at home right now getting ready to dance the Flapper and count some more money.