Thursday 31 March 2022

10 Things in Tech: Apple TV+ growing pains

10 THINGS IN TECH

Hi, friends. Today, we're taking you inside Apple TV+'s growing pains, and explaining why the alpine green iPhone is so irresistible.

Ready? Let's go.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app – click here for iOS and here for Android.

1. Some Hollywood partners are frustrated with Apple TV+'s operations and leadership. Apple TV+ this weekend became the first streamer to win an Academy Award for best picture, outstripping tech rivals Amazon and Netflix — but industry insiders say the company's push into entertainment has come with some growing pains.

Insider spoke with 14 Hollywood and Apple insiders, many of whom said the streamer's content team is under-resourced and has stumbled in frustrating ways.
One former Apple staffer pointed to burnout at the streaming service: "There's going to be a breaking point. People are stretched thin and working too hard."
And while Apple TV+ has ambitious plans to expand into sports, with a Major League Baseball deal and a bid on the table for NFL's "Sunday Ticket," there have also been questions about how its leadership structure might evolve.

Here's what else insiders told us.

In other news:

2. Meta reportedly paid a political firm to plant negative stories about TikTok. The Washington Post reported that Facebook's parent company paid to "get the message out that while Meta is the current punching bag, TikTok is the real threat." What we know so far.

3. Facebook and Google know you better than you know yourself. Europe says that should be illegal. New laws introduced in Europe would severely curtail Big Tech firms' power over users' privacy. One change, for example, would keep Meta from using your activity on Facebook to target ads on Instagram. We explain the changes the legislation would make.

4. Content creators share how they turned their social-media side hustles into full-time jobs. We spoke with 19 creators — including gamers, finance fanatics, and tech influencers — who have monetized their audiences and, in many cases, made more money on social media than in their previous careers. They explain how they made it happen.

5. Mark Zuckerberg shared an ex-Yahoo exec's advice to him as he grew Facebook. In an interview with podcaster Tim Ferriss, Zuck said the exec told him "you get to choose the ways in which your organization sucks." He also said he tries to surf daily to take his mind off getting "punched" by the news.

6. Federal regulators sued TurboTax owner Intuit. In a complaint filed this week, the FTC is alleging that the company's advertising for "free" tax-filing services misled consumers into believing they can file their taxes for free. Here's what you should know.

7. Tinkoff Bank is one of the only major Russian banks to avoid Western sanctions. The neobank has suddenly become the go-to method for many of the country's tech workers to get paid by the Western companies they work for. How Tinkoff became a "coffee straw" allowing Western dollars into Russia.

8. A woman accused of stalking Tim Cook has agreed to stay away from him for three years. The 45-year-old, who had falsely claimed to be married to the Apple CEO, cannot come within 200 yards of him, his workplace, vehicle, or any of his immediate family members until 2025. More on that here.

Odds and ends:

9. Apple's new green iPhone has people swooning. The alpine green iPhone is an attempt by Apple to stand out in a world where attention spans have shriveled to mere seconds — and it's working. Experts explain why colorful tech is so seductive.

10. Sony's PlayStation Plus will add a Netflix-style library of games and new features. Sony recently announced new tiered plans for its game-streaming subscription: Essential, Extra, and Premium. We break down what each plan includes.

What we're watching today:

After a delay, Blue Origin is launching another rocket.
The union vote count begins at Amazon's Staten Island fulfillment center.
The hybrid MIT Energy Conference begins today.
The House Communications and Technology Subcommittee is holding a hearing on "Connecting America: Oversight of the FCC" today at 10:30 ET.

Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.

Wednesday 30 March 2022

10 Things in Tech: Amazon drone plans

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10 THINGS IN TECH

You're halfway through the week, readers. Leaked documents show that Amazon plans to expand its drone delivery service soon, and a new list shows employees' picks for the companies with the best culture.

Let's get started.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app – click here for iOS and here for Android.

1. Your Amazon Prime packages could soon be delivered via drone. Leaked internal documents show that Amazon plans to ask 1,300 customers in two towns to test its Prime Air drone delivery this year. A look at what we know:

Testers will be recruited from the towns of Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, with deliveries starting in September, according to the documents.
They'll be able to choose from about 3,000 items — largely an array of pharmaceutical, beauty, and pet supplies — all of which weigh under five pounds. Amazon aims to deliver one item at a time, within an hour.
The expansion of its drone-testing program would mark a major step forward for Prime Air, nearly a decade after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled his vision for an automated drone delivery service.

Here's what else you need to know.

In other news:

2. There's a new spam trend: texts appearing to come from your own number. Verizon customers have been reporting suspicious texts ostensibly coming from themselves — a problem the company said it's trying to fix. Robotexts have been on the rise in recent months; so we created a guide to the frustrating messages and how to stop them.

3. Yandex, Russia's biggest tech company, has been sent into free fall by Putin's Ukraine war. Known as "the Google of Russia," Yandex is facing an uncertain future as its board fractures and it's forced to grapple with the war's fallout. Inside the boardroom shattering at Yandex.

4. Elon Musk is channeling his inner Slim Shady. The Tesla CEO quoted Eminem in a court filing that takes aim at an agreement with the SEC, which requires his lawyers to vet many of his tweets. See his invocation of the rapper here.

5. Leaked Slack messages show Shopify plans to address pay and attrition woes. As Shopify's stock falls from its pandemic highs, some employees (who are granted restricted stock units when they join the company) are growing uneasy about the total value of their compensation. This is what execs said in the leaked messages.

6. A crypto hacker just pulled off one of the largest heists in history. The attacker made away with $625 million in tokens from Axie Infinity's Ronin Network. What we know so far.

7. An SEO consultant who makes up to $40,000 a month shares how he grew his business on LinkedIn. Ryan Darani left an agency two years ago to begin freelancing. Now, he makes more than he did while at the firm — all while working fewer hours. Take a look at how he did it.

8. Okta is no longer cutting pay for workers who move out of the Bay Area. Okta's head of dynamic work said as a way to bolster employee well-being, the software company won't slash pay — even as other tech giants do. Here's what she told us.

Odds and ends:

9. These corporations have the best company culture. Using employee rankings, workplace culture site Comparably listed the companies with the best culture — and Microsoft tops the list. See the other top-rated firms.

10. PlayStation is finally getting a subscription gaming service. The $15-per-month service, which will launch in June, is Sony's response to Microsoft's wildly popular Xbox Game Pass service — but it lacks one critical component that made its competitor such a success. Here's what to know about the new subscription service.

What we're watching today:

The Soyuz MS-19 crew ship is set to return to Earth from the ISS.
Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation is launching an NFT museum documenting Russia's invasion. Take a look here.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is virtually discussing the role of digital platforms in an "age of crises."

Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.

Tuesday 29 March 2022

10 Things in Tech: Apple cuts production

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10 THINGS IN TECH

It's good to see you here. Apple is cutting production of a few products, and we're explaining how much money Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos could owe under Biden's new tax proposal (it's a lot).

Let's dive in.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app – click here for iOS and here for Android.

1. Apple is going to cut production of iPhones and AirPods. According to Nikkei, the tech giant will make fewer AirPods and iPhone SEs next quarter, in anticipation of lower demand brought on by inflation and the crisis in Ukraine.

Apple told suppliers it intends to reduce production orders for its iPhone SE model by about 20% from what it had previously planned — a cut of about 2 to 3 million units — in the next quarter.
It has also reduced orders for its AirPods by more than 10 million units in 2022, Nikkei reported.

Everything we know so far.

In other news:

2. Elon Musk said he's giving "serious thought" to creating his own social media platform. Musk's comments followed a series of tweets in which he criticized Twitter over its practices concerning free speech. Here's what you might have missed.

3. An engineer who quit Facebook for TikTok shares the biggest differences between American and Chinese business cultures. Lucas Ou-Yang, a tech lead manager at TikTok, said Chinese tech companies have larger teams, broadcast-style meetings, and more late nights than their American counterparts. Read his guide to navigating the differences.

4. We broke down how much Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos could pay under Biden's new tax plan. The president's proposal would require the nation's wealthiest people to pay at least 20% in income tax — and one researcher estimates the top billionaires could owe at least $215 billion. See the full estimate here.

5. How much does Cisco pay its employees? Cisco is on a mission to poach and retain top talent — and it's shelling out sky-high salaries to do so. Financial disclosures and federal pay data reveal some of its highest-paying roles, which range from the mid-six figures to the millions. Here's how much Cisco power players can earn in a year.

6. Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory will shut down for four days. A surge in COVID-19 cases has triggered a new wave of restrictions across the city, causing the facility, which was responsible for half of Tesla's global production last year, to pause production. More on that here.

7. A job posting suggests Amazon is going all in on opening fashion stores. The listing shows that the e-commerce giant is planning a rollout of Amazon Style, its apparel store chain, "across the country." What we know about Amazon's brick-and-mortar ambitions.

8. Russian developers are launching an Instagram clone called Rossgram. The platform is meant to replace photo-sharing app Instagram, which has been banned from the country — but Russian creators are skeptical of the knockoff. Get the rundown on Rossgram.

Odds and ends:

9. A married couple is heading to space on a Blue Origin rocket today. Sharon and Mark Hagle, who are both 73, are the first married couple to fly to space on a commercial rocket and told us they've got plans to fly with SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, too. Read more about their journey to space.

10. Bored? We listed 15 of the funniest things you can ask Siri on an iPhone. Luckily for the easily entertained, Apple has loaded Siri with countless witty responses to certain questions (like, "Do I look fat?"). See our top picks here.

What we're watching today:

Y Combinator's Winter 2022 Demo Day is today.
EmTech Digital, MIT Technology Review's Signature AI Conference, starts today.
Micron Technology, Lululemon, and Chewy are reporting earnings today. Keep up with earnings here.
The Washington Post is hosting "The Evolution of Money: Cryptocurrency" today.
CNN is debuting its streaming service, CNN+. Here's how to sign up and save 50%.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.

Monday 28 March 2022

10 Things in Tech: Musk talks war & love

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10 THINGS IN TECH

Happy Monday, readers. Today we're sharing insights from an interview with Elon Musk, and showing you "the charging station of the future."

Ready? Let's get started.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app – click here for iOS and here for Android.

1. Elon Musk talks war, space travel, and loneliness in a new interview. In a conversation with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, Musk discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, space travel, the ideal dinner guest, and what makes human beings special. Here are a few highlights:

The conversation meandered through topics, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Musk's revelation that "for one to be fully happy," you must be happy at work and happy in love. (Musk himself is "medium happy," he said.)
The Tesla CEO commented on the American government, saying it has "very, very ancient leadership," and that in the US and elsewhere, there's "a serious issue with gerontocracy."
When asked his biggest fear, Musk responded with three existential threats: Religious extremism, a declining birthrate, and "artificial intelligence going wrong." Death, however, did not make the list.

Read Musk's full interview here.

In other news:

2. Apple became the first streamer to land the best picture Oscar with its coming-of-age drama "Coda." The tech giant pipped Netflix's western "The Power of the Dog" to the top spot during an eventful night for the Academy Awards. Check out our full list of award winners here.

3. A Google engineer describes the weeks after finding out they may be laid off. The engineer — one of dozens who were told they'd be let go if they don't find another job at the company — says they experienced a lack of communication that filled the past few weeks with uncertainty. Read the employee's story here.

4. Microsoft fired employees after allegations of bribery in the Middle East and Africa. In an essay, a former employee accused the tech giant of turning a blind eye to employees, subcontractors, and government operators engaging in bribery. Here's what the ex-employee is alleging.

5. Documents show Amazon's prototype delivery drones have crashed at least eight times in the last year. Confirmation of the crashes comes as Amazon looks to secure new registration that would allow it to test drones closer to population centers and with fewer restrictions. What we know about the crashes.

6. SpaceX's Starlink internet poses danger for users in Ukraine, experts say. Starlink terminals are "visually distinctive" and difficult to camouflage, and Russian troops could consider their users as targets, according to experts. Why Starlink could be endangering its users in Ukraine.

7. Meet a "soul reader" who charges up to $100,000 to help Silicon Valley execs improve their lives. 51-year-old Sacha Knop uses her "super empath" abilities to help CEOs, financiers, and the ultrawealthy overcome personal and professional hurdles. Take a look inside a typical soul-reading session.

8. The CMO of Pinterest shares her daily routine. Andréa Mallard, 45, starts her day when she feels most creative: 5 a.m. But before she starts work, she exercises, listens to a five-minute meditation, and drinks a breakfast smoothie. Here's how she organizes her mornings to get everything done.

Odds and ends:

9. VW's electric charging firm just unveiled "the charging station of the future." Electrify America has released designs for EV charging stations with solar panels, coffee bars, and lounges. See inside the charging stations.

10. Google's CEO swears by a relaxation technique called non-sleep deep rest. We tried it out. NSDR puts you into a "liminal space between being awake and falling asleep," and has been hailed by Sundar Pichai as a trusty relaxation method. An Insider reporter gave it a shot, and found it was pretty hit or miss. Here's what it was like.

What we're watching today:

The NLRB is set to begin counting votes in the Amazon Alabama warehouse union ballot.
Today is the annual State of NASA address.
Binance Blockchain Week 2022 starts today in Dubai.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.