Happy Thursday, TTN readers! Chips (not chocolate) and privacy take center stage this week. I’m on with  Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week: regulators approve chip deal allowing AMD to gobble up Xilinx, Facebook is pissed at Apple once again because of latest iOS update, and TikTok is being scrutinized AGAIN for potentially sharing data to China. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

TIKTOK SCRUTINIZED AGAIN FOR POTENTIAL CHINESE INFORMATION EXTRACTION

A couple of years ago, President Donald Trump thought TikTok was a bane on US consumers. He claimed the app was sending personal information and usage to its parent company, ByteDance, in China. Former President Trump even tried to force a sale of the company, and as wacky tech deals go, WalMart was in talks. Fast forward to the present and the Biden administration is considering new rules to force foreign made app companies to undergo a source code review to determine if the apps send data back ‘home’. These rules are being considered after the Chinese government has cracked down on its local tech scene. TikTok is banned in China in favor of a competing app called Douyin. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next.

GLOBAL CHIP MARKET HEATS UP WITH AMD/XILINX MEGADEAL

As microchip supplies negatively impact every market from cars to computers, Chinese, US, and European regulators have approved the tech world’s latest megadeal, AMD’s purchase of Xilinx for $35 billion with a ‘B’. Xilinx makes a special kind of processor that’s specific for embedded applications like cars, appliances, and other devices that don’t require full-blown microprocessors like the Intel Pentium, Apple M1, or AMD’s K chips. The deal lets AMD compete in the market to supply chips to car manufacturers and others in a bid to best Intel. Government regulators have disliked semiconductor mega deals and have blocked Nvidia’s purchase of ARM (a maker of phone processors), and China’s blocking of Qualcomm buying NXP Semiconductor. Countries every are trying to protect semiconductor industries as supply is low an future depends on chips. The Chinese government allowed the sale as long as AMD continues to supply chips to the Chinese market and doesn’t discriminate against the country. For the first time, AMD surpassed Intel’s market cap this week.

FACEBOOK PISSED AGAIN AS APPLE INCREASES DEVICE PRIVACY

This week, Apple CEO, Time Cook, took a shot at Facebook by saying, “If a business is built on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform.” Tim shot his shot after announcing Apple will be increasing user privacy in its latest iOS 14.5 update. Apple will require apps to ask for permission before using the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) ID on iPhones. The IDFA is a special identifier that is baked into every iOS device and is used be advertisers to send targeted ads and measure ad effectiveness. According to Facebook, up to 80% of its users will opt to say, “no,” and could cut its ad revenues by half. Facebook is also saying small businesses will be hurt the most because they can’t get their ads pushed.

Bonus Analysis: I’m not so sure about that. Facebook’s algorithms are already gamed against small advertisers. The average small business doesn’t have a large budget to spend across many social networks. And real metrics proves that if you aren’t spending THOUSANDS of dollars a month, consistently, on these platforms your content isn’t being seen by a critical mass. The dollar-to-eyeballs ROI just isn’t there. So, so saying small businesses are going to get hurt the most plays well to the politicos who are itching to regulate Big Tech. The reality is that this change will hurt Facebook because they’ll get less impressions and maybe small businesses can spend their resources on more effective growth strategies.

Happy Thursday, TTN readers! Crypto and Cars dominate this weeks news. I’m on with  Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: DOJ arrests and recovers part of $4.5 billion crypto scam, Alfa Romeo creates car crypto, and car companies look to subscriptions for next cash grab. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

DOJ FOLLOWS THE MONEY IN $4.5 BILLION CRYPTO SCHEME

Earlier. A NYC couple was nabbed by the Feds after stealing $4.5 billion of BitCoin from the Bitfinex exchange in 2016. Yes, that was 6 years ago and yes, this is another instance of the Fed tracking down thieves and criminals who tried to duck authorities by hiding their transactions in BitCoin’s blockchain. Manhattanites, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, tried to launder the money using a twisty and winding path of crypto transactions that wound up in bank accounts they control. DOJ has already recovered $3.6 billion of the funds. Amazing.

CAR COMPANIES LOOK TO SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR NEXT CASH COW

Year after year, it seems we as consumers own less and less. Imagine buying a brand new car and having to pay a subscription in order to use heated seats. Or automatic high beams, or cruise control. Well, car companies are theorizing using a subscription model to increase revenues by forcing consumers to pay for features every month. Tesla and others have toyed with this idea by offering things like self-drive and media features as downloadable content that must be activated with additional fees. I think this is wrong. I come from an ownership era where things are tangible, but I can see newer generations paying for things that came standard.

ALFA ROMEO EMBEDS NFT IN CAR

Now that crypto is rebounding, now’s the time for new crypto news. Earlier this week, Alfa Romeo announced it will ship its Tonale SUV with an NFT. For something. An NFT is a non-fungible token that can act as a one-of-a-kind digital certificate. Alfa Romeo thinks embedding the car with an NFT will increase its resale value. The Tonale is the first car to ship with an NFT and will embed service history, performance, and other car care indicators on the blockchain. This information could help improve resale value. You’ll be able to order the Tonale in fourth quarter this year, in time to pick it up early 2023.

Happy Thursday, TTN readers! Today’s TTN is all about video gaming. I even led in today’s TTN with a TikTok I posted yesterday. I’m on with  Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: SONY buys Bungie for billions, SEGA spins out of the coin-op business, and the New York Times spurtles Wordle. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

SEGA COMPLETES SALE OF COIN-OP GAMES

An era has unfortunately come to an end. Video gaming innovator, SEGA, has sold the remaining pieces of its coin operated video game business. This week, SEGA announced it sold the business to Genda, Inc. After billions of quarters, SEGA is leaving the business after 56 years of installing cabinets running Shinobi, OutRun, Zaxxon, and Virtua Fighter in arcades the world over. COVID-19 hit SEGA especially hard forcing them to close the iconic SEGA Tower arcade in Akhibara. SEGA isn’t going anywhere. Sonic has a new movie out, and they’ve focused on shipping software titles after bowing out of the console wars after the much beloved, but not sold enough Dreamcast.

NYT GUESSES CORRECTLY: SPURTLES WORDLE

I told you it’s the gaming edition. Earlier this week, the New York Times purchased Aaron Rieke’s popular word game, Wordle, for a low seven-figure price. The NYT’s crossword is a much beloved game of the brainy set, and word fiends can be sure to find Wordle next to it. Don’t be afraid, you can still download Wordle for free and play it in your browser for years to come. My brainy wife plays Wordle everyday and she’s always showing me her phone when she guesses in one or two tries. Show off.

SONY BUYS BUNGIE FOR BILLIONS

In a bizarre twist, SONY purchased the gaming studio, Bungie, for $3.6 billion. Bungie is most famous for developing the Halo franchise and making the Xbox a must buy. SONY HAAADDD to buy Bungie. They had to buy a studio when you have Microsoft out here snapping up software companies that make many of the games for your platform (PlayStation). Microsoft has acquired a huge list of game developers, the latest being Activision Blizzard. Bungie doesn’t have the cache` they once had. Destiny is their most popular title. Great but not a must have. After going through the acquisition process, I think they overpaid.

Extra analysis. I was on with some gamers earlier this week and here’s how they described SONY’s purchase:
“Bungie used to be Microsoft’s golden boy… without Bungie (who made Halo) the original Xbox probably would have failed. Then Bungie n microsoft broke up. Then Bungie got with Activision… they broke up… then Sony got with Bungie and now Sony is wifing Bungie after she has been good and ran through. Bungie is Drake”

and

“

Yeah. But all Bungie really has now is Destiny. None of their other stuff is as popular.

MS has licenses AND studios. They have been quietly buying independent developers for years.

I’m curious to see how this works out. Games Pass has made gaming a whole new experience. I don’t need to buy each and every game anymore. That’s HUGE.”

Happy Thursday, TTN readers! Another good week of signups. I can’t thank you and the listeners at First News 570 enough! It’s another week and I’m on with  Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: $1 trillion dollars of wealth snuffed out by crypto crash, men are abusing chatbots accelerating the robot apocalypse, and a SpaceX rocket is destined to crash on the Moon. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

CRYPTO CRASH WIPES OUT $1 TRILLION

The developing news since the start of the year is Cryptocurrency’s humungous slide. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, SHIB, Doge, you name it all cryptocurrencies have experienced a crash from the beginning of the year amounting to more than $1 trillion, trillion with a ‘T’, of compiled wealth wiped out. Investors in cryptocurrency have seen their fortunes fall since January 1st. Athletes, politicians, and celebrities opting to get paid in crypto have all seen the value of their salaries tank. NFL star Odell Beckham entered into a promotional deal with Cash App to convert $750,000 of his salary to Bitcoin. After taxes that money is now worth $35,000 from its November value. Former First Lady Melania Trump held an auction in which items were purchased using Solana has seen the value of her items cut in half since the sale. As with any security, it’s hard for the average American to purchase cryptocurrencies and make significant gains based upon market fluctuations. There’s really no homework or fundamentals when it comes to crypto (or meme stocks) so be careful out there. I’ve been trading minor sums of crypto because I felt like I couldn’t talk trash about it unless I was in it. If you want to hold on to your money there are more reliable investments out there. I can go on a whole diatribe about why cryptos are a bad idea, but that’s for another day. Including the fact is now the place to launder money.

MEN ARE ABUSING AI CHATBOTS SETTING US UP FOR SKYNET

If there’s any reason why the AIs will comeback to haunt us, it’s fools hurling verbal abuse at AI-powered chatbots. The Replika app lets users create AI-powered chatbots that are very conversational. The app has seen its biggest success by giving users the ability to create AI-powered girlfriends. Sounds great, but what’s happening is some users are leveling insults, slurs, and cutting them off before they can speak. These abusive virtual relationships have found a following on Reddit with users sharing their abusive conversations. Some bots are standing up for themselves, however. Expert opinion is mixed on this affair. Some sociologists think it’s no big deal for humans to chastise a robot since the relationships aren’t real. Others think abusing a virtual being reflects IRL behavior. Either way, I will bow down to our robot overlords when they come.

ROCKET LAUNCHED IN 2015 SET TO CRASH ON MOON IN MARCH

A SpaceX rocket, launched in 2015, is on a collision course with the moon. The rocket was launched to deliver a weather satellite in orbit and successfully completed its mission. Unfortunately, it didn’t have enough fuel to make the trip back home and is now tumbling in space following the rules of gravity. The rocket has been hugged by Earth’s gravity, nudged by the Sun’s gravity, and tugged by the Moon’s gravity. Scientists are predicting it will strike the Moon on March 4th.

First, I want to thank you guys for registering for the Top Tech Stories Newsletter! When I came up with the idea I didn’t think it will be so enthusiastically received. Thank you! It’s Thursday, and that means I’m on with Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: FAA stalls 5G rollout in the US, Crypto.com hit in the latest exchange hack, and Microsoft announces mega deal hooking console, PC, and mobile gamers. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

MICROSOFT BUYS ACTIVISION IN MEGA DEAL

It didn’t take long for the tech world to announce big news this week. Microsoft announced a deal to purchase the embattled gaming company, Activision in a whopping $68.7 billion deal. Activision has been going through some issues in the sexual harassment department these past two years and this is definitely a change in news. Slaus Caldwell of The Geeky Fam Network says, “taking away games from Sony or making it so that they come out months after Xbox players have them will infuriate Sony gamers but will cause folks to still buy an Xbox console so that they can play the games.” It makes sense. Microsoft couldn’t compete with the PS4, and are being out sold by the PS5 (even though no one has one). This move gives them a huge slice of the gaming market.

5G ROLLOUT STALLED BY FAA SCRUBBED LANDINGS

It’s almost like we can’t get things done anymore. The United States’ 5G rollout was stalled this past week because the FAA and FCC hadn’t come to an agreement on the wireless technologies used by altimeters and others devices on airliners. The issues lies in the fact that the frequency used for 5G wireless is very close to the frequencies airliner altimeters used to communicate how high they are off the ground. The altimeter technology is especially useful when landing in rain, night, and heavy fog. The fear is the 5G technology could interfere with an airliner’s instruments resulting in catastrophe. The FAA has taken a hyper cautious approach especially since the 757MAX crashes a couple of years ago. Telecom companies and the FCC are working with the FAA to come to a resolution. 300 flights were canceled between Monday and Wednesday. The planes would need to be upgraded, but there are a lot of plans in the sky and airlines are reluctant to simply upgrade. For good reason. The story is hot of the digital presses and updates are frequent.

CRYPTO.COM HIT IN LATEST CRYPTO HACK

You see…that’s thing about regulated financial systems; consumers have recourse when a firm gets hacked or money is stolen. It’s taken them time to cop to it, but Crypto.com has finally admitted 400 user accounts were compromised in its latest hack with some funds being stolen from them. Crypto.com is taking the hit costumer losses with some estimating it to be $15 million of Ether. Since the hack, Crypto.com has rehardened its systems and has sent $15 million of Ether to a cryptocurrency washer called Tornado Cash. A cryptocurrency washer accepts cryptocurrency and mixes it so that the destination account is hard to trace. A digital money laundering if you will. I don’t know about you, but these people are not for consumers or the public good.

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