Spotify Reaches 113 Million Paid Subscribers

Spotify has hit 113 million paid subscribers, according to its latest financial update, Music Business Worldwide reported.  Apple Music hit 50 million paid subscribers in the final quarter of 2018.

The subscriber numbers were confirmed in a Q3 financial update today (October 28), in which SPOT confirmed that its premium subs count was up 31% year on year (on the same three months, to end of September, in 2018). The 113m is comfortably within the firm’s guidance range of 110-114m for Q3. The average paying Spotify subscriber across the world (ARPU) in Q3 2019 paid €4.67, down 1% YoY, but actually down 3% excluding the impact from foreign exchange rates. SPOT’s global Q3 Monthly Active User count (248m) was up 30% year-on-year, and up by 16m people quarter-on-quarter.

President Trump Allegedly Ordered Defence Secretary Mattis to 'Screw Amazon'

On Friday, the Pentagon awarded a huge contract to Microsoft. It had been expected to go to Amazon. A former aide to  Jim Mattis alleged that President Donald Trump told the Defense Secretary to “screw Amazon,” MotherJones reported.

Guy Snodgrass, one-time aide to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, alleged in a book that was published only recently that Trump had indeed attempted to intervene. Here’s Task & Purpose, via Jake Tapper: Trump called Mattis in the summer of 2018 and directed him to “screw Amazon” out of a chance to bid on a $10 billion cloud networking contract. Snodgrass writes: “Relaying the story to us during Small Group, Mattis said, ‘We’re not going to do that. This will be done by the book, both legally and ethically.” The Department of Defense defended its decision in a statement yesterday, saying that that everything was mad legit: “The acquisition process was conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.” and totally cool and stuff: All parties, the statement said, “were treated fairly and evaluated consistently with the solicitation’s stated evaluation criteria.”

Arguing That Platforms Can't Moderate Content is a Cop Out

Mike Masnick writes about Elizabeth Warren’s Facebook feud over its advertising policy that leaves room for fake information. He also says it’s “impossible” to moderate content at scale. I disagree. Facebook and the rest of Big Tech have billions of dollars. They absolutely can moderate content. They either choose not to, or put in place petty measures that don’t do anything. Perhaps the new motto for corporations should be, “If you can’t do it ethically, don’t do it at all.” Online platforms should follow the same/similar rules that broadcasters do.

And this is the point that lots of us have been trying to make regarding Facebook and content moderation. If you’re screaming about all the wrong choices you think it makes to leave stuff up, recognize that you’re also going to pretty pissed off when the company also decides to take stuff down that you think should be left up.

iCloud Keychain vs. Catalina Cage Match – Mac Geek Gab 786

Today, your two favorite geeks dig into your questions about recovering photo data, removing malware, resolving iCloud Keychain in macOS Catalina, and more. But that’s not all! You’ve got some great tips for automating those un-automatable Personal Reminders, fixing DNS, Mono Podcast Listening, and creating disk images. All of this and more from Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun, as soon as you press play. Do it now and don’t get caught!

5 New Apple Arcade Games Include Fallen Knight, Yaga, Lifelike, Hogwash, and Tales of Memo

Today Apple has added five new games to its Arcade gaming service, which you can find in the App Store.

Apple Arcade has added five more games to its new $4.99 monthly subscription service on Friday. Players can now check out Fallen Knight, Yaga, Lifelike, Hogwash and Tales of Memo as part of Apple Arcade’s growing catalog of games. The games are available on iPad, iPhone and Apple TV to start, with content slowly coming to Mac as well.

Behind AT&T's Streaming Competitor HBO Max

AT&T wants to take on the likes of Netflix, Disney, and Apple with its streaming service HBO Max.

By 2025, AT&T aims to reach about 80 million global subscribers, with about 50 million in the United States, a source briefed on the plans told Reuters. They are ambitious targets that would be consistent with Netflix Inc’s (NFLX.O) early progress, and in the mid-range of Disney+, Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) Netflix rival, set to launch on Nov. 12.

WarnerMedia hopes this service will get a boost in 2021 when it launches an advertising-supported option at a lower cost, insiders said.

Line Up Your Shots with This Wearable, Compact Bluetooth Golf Rangefinder: $54.99

We have a different sort of deal for you today, the GoGolf GPS Bluetooth rangefinder. With this device, you can push a single button and immediately know the distance to the pin. It will also tell you how far you hit a drive down the fairway, giving you a more precise feel for the game. It will speak ranges on it is, but but it also reports to both iOS and Android devices through a companion app. The GoGolf GPS is $89.99 through our deal, but coupon code GOLFSAVE brings the price down to $54.99 at checkout.

New Messaging Standard RCS Won't Have Encryption

Everyone is talking about a new messaging standard the Big Four carriers have agreed upon. It’s called RCS and it’s meant to replace SMS. But your RCS conversations won’t be end-to-end encrypted.

The CCMI neatly fixes both the first and the second problem. Garland says the carriers believe there are some implementation issues with the Universal Profile that the CCMI can address more elegantly, but it will follow the standard to ensure interoperability.

As for encryption, Garland wouldn’t commit. He emphasizes that the CCMI intends to make sure that the chats are “private” and that the app it’s making is “an experience [customers] can trust.”

Having Apple join the project would certainly legitimize RCS, but if it doesn’t have encryption I don’t think Apple will partake.

Apple Watch Series 5 Comes to South Korea, Thailand and Brazil

The Apple Watch Series Five has arrived in some new countries. It is now available in South Korea, Thailand, and Brazil, AppleInsider reported.

With different local sales taxes applied, Apple is selling the Apple Watch Series 5 at roughly the same pricing as in the US in Korea and Thailand where it’s 539,000 ($458) and 13,400 ($444) respectively. It’s a considerably more expensive purchase in Brazil, however, where prices start at R$3,999 ($996). The key selling point of the Series 5 is that it brings an always-on screen that intelligently dims until you raise your wrist or tap on the screen. An ultra-low power display driver together with newly-optimized watch faces contribute to having this feature yet in theory retaining an all-day 18-hour battery life. In practice, users are finding the Series 5 battery does run down a little faster than on the previous Apple Watch Series 4, however.

 

Elizabeth Warren's Plan For Big Tech

Senator Elizabeth Warren has made taking on big tech a key part of her campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Bloomberg Businessweek analyzed what her plans might mean.

The plan consists of two big ideas. The first is to unwind old acquisitions, such as Facebook Inc.’s purchases of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. There’s a legal framework already in place for this. The Federal Trade Commission has the power to review old mergers and said when it formed an antitrust task force in February that it would consider doing so. Any such moves would certainly end up in court. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has already told employees he thinks the company would prevail if a Warren administration tried to break it apart. Warren’s second idea is that the tech giants—those with more than $25 billion in revenue—that operate an online marketplace or exchange shouldn’t be allowed to offer services that compete with the participants on those platforms.