Tech

In this articleTDISCADISNFLXThe blockbuster WarnerMedia-Discovery deal is especially good news for HBO Max, billionaire media mogul John Malone told CNBC’s David Faber.In an interview that aired Monday, Malone said his previous reservations about HBO Max’s ability to be a dominant player in the crowded digital-streaming landscape will be addressed once the AT&T-owned service is under the same roof as Discovery.”I thought they were going to struggle with getting the kind of subscriber growth in the U.S. that they were hoping for. And I think, in fact, that’s true,” said Malone, a Discovery board member whose voting stake in the company is more than 25%.Malone thinks the new firm could join Netflix and Disney+ as a true global powerhouse.”I think we are not only going to be the third such platform, but I think we’ll be very competitive with the other two in terms of being able to satisfy the entertainment and curiosity and information needs of the world, basically, a worldwide platform,” Malone said.John MaloneMatthew Staver | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesDisney+ ended the fiscal second quarter with 103.6 million subscribers, according to the company. Netflix said last month it had almost 208 million subscribers worldwide.AT&T said in April that HBO and

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., speaks during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Monday, March 25, 2019.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesVerizon said it is giving away six- and 12-month subscriptions to Apple Arcade and Google Play Plus as it adds more bundled content offerings to its wireless subscriptions.New and existing Verizon wireless subscribers will get six months free of either Apple Arcade or Google Play Plus with a line activation on select unlimited plans. Subscribers to Verizon’s “Play More” and “Get More” unlimited plans will get 12-month offers, the company said.Verizon has been adding content to its wireless subscription plans to differentiate from rivals AT&T and T-Mobile while attempting to become the primary point of contact for customers who enjoy bundling services. Verizon currently offers free Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu, Apple Music, and one year of Discovery+ for certain unlimited plans.Verizon is trying to diversify bundles by offering gaming subscriptions in addition to TV content. Verizon previously ran a promotion for 12 months of PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now last year. Free gaming also boosts Verizon usage and can showcase the speed of the company’s 5G network.For Apple

GUANGZHOU, China — Qin Jiahao has been working at Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s logistics operations for around six years. Now a huge amount of his work has become automated.”In the past, almost all the work is manual. After automation, nearly half of our workers’ job is done by machine. It reduces our work intensity,” Qin told CNBC.”In the past, I was responsible for collecting goods and putting them on shelves … Now, after the goods get here, the automation equipment will put goods at a designated place, and then put them on shelves. This whole process is done by automation.”Walking around JD.com’s 500,000 square meter logistics park in Dongguan, south China, you will see huge machines helping to automate tasks like packing and shelving.Qin’s situation highlights a broader trend in China — the push toward automating jobs. The labor market in the world’s second-largest economy faces some big challenges, including an aging population and rising wages.  “It’s still rapidly evolving that aging population is a reality … China’s now facing the challenge of potentially getting old before it gets rich,” Jonathan Woetzel, senior partner at McKinsey, told CNBC.An automated machine stacks packages at Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s huge logistics center in Dongguan, China.Arjun Kharpal | CNBCChina’s working age population shrunk by more than 5 million people in the

In this articleWBATheranos founder Elizabeth Holmes leaves the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building with her defense team in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images | MediaNews Group | Getty ImagesJurors in the trial of Elizabeth Holmes will hear evidence about her extravagant lifestyle as Theranos CEO but with some limitations.That’s the ruling issued by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila late Saturday as part of a 100 page response to motions in Holmes’ upcoming criminal trial.The judge granted in part Holmes’ motion to exclude evidence referencing her extravagant lifestyle outside of her position as chief executive of the blood-testing start-up.”The Government may introduce evidence that Holmes enjoyed a lifestyle as Theranos CEO that is comparable to those of other tech company CEOs. This includes salary, travel, celebrity, and other perks and benefits commensurate with the position,” Davila wrote in the filing.However, “references to specific purchases or details reflecting branding of clothing, hotels, or other personal items is not relevant, and the prejudicial effect of that evidence outweighs any probative value,” the judge added.The ruling is a partial victory for Holmes as prosecutors cannot introduce details about Holmes’ specific purchases and personal

In this articleMTCHBMBLDating apps are creating badges displaying vaccination status and offering vaccinated Americans free premium benefits.TinderThe largest dating apps in the U.S. are banding together in support of Covid-19 vaccines, in the hopes that it’ll be a hot vax summer. For the uninitiated, hot vax summer plays on the idea that once single Americans get their coronavirus vaccines, there will be a surge in dating, hookups and overall social opportunities due to all the pent-up demand. (You may also know it as shot girl summer.)Match Group’s Hinge, Tinder, OKCupid, BLK, Chispa, Match and Plenty of Fish users will be able to share their vaccine status and get some premium benefits. Bumble and Badoo will also be able to note whether they’re vaccinated, and receive some complementary credits. Bumble’s and Match Group’s latest earnings reports already indicated what all of the social media anecdotes are saying — people want to hook up again. Though, Match executives put it another way in its letter to shareholders, calling this the “summer of love.”In its earnings release, Match said it anticipates total revenue of $680 million to $690 million in the second quarter. That would represent 22% to 24% year-over-year growth. Additionally, the

In this articleDRHSignage for the AT&T Inc. WarnerMedia HBO Max streaming service is displayed on a smartphone in an arranged photograph taken in the Brooklyn Borough of New York, U.S., on Thursday, May 28, 2020.Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesDuring its annual upfront presentation to advertisers this week, Fox ran a spoof pharmaceutical ad for what it called “Adbyva”: a product to alleviate ad buyers’ woes that so many viewers are watching on ad-free platforms. “Does the thought of another ad-free streamer behind a paywall give you the willies? Do you find yourself laughing hysterically because your [gross rating point] goals seem completely unreachable?” the ad began. “If so, you’re probably suffering from Max Plus syndrome, a condition plaguing many ad buyers today.” With so many eyeballs moving into streaming, networks want advertisers to flock to their ad-supported streaming offerings. That sentiment was especially obvious during this year’s television upfront presentations, which kick off a season where advertisers typically commit much of their yearly TV spending in deals. Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Fox, Discovery, Disney, AT&T’s WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS gave digital presentations to advertisers this week and put plenty of focus on ad-supported offerings like Peacock, Hulu and HBO Max with Ads. (And outside

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., center, arrives at U.S. district court in Oakland, California, on Friday, May 21, 2021.Nina Riggio | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesApple CEO Tim Cook faced sharp questioning on Friday from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers about Apple’s App Store business model at the end of his testimony in the Epic Games v. Apple trial.The questioning gave a preview into Judge Rogers’ thinking before she decides whether Epic Games’ argument is strong enough to force Apple to allow it to install alternative app stores on the iPhone and avoid the App Store’s 30% fee on in-app purchases.Rogers asked Cook what his problem was with allowing iPhone users the choice of a lower fee, specifically for games. Cook said that users have a choice between iPhones or Android devices.She followed up by asking about whether Apple has a problem with giving users information to get the same in-app purchases through a web browser, bypassing Apple’s 30% fee, suggesting a compromise where Apple would allow a company like Epic Games to link users to a web browser to make transactions, instead of forcing them to use Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism.”The gaming industry seems to be generating a

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., speaks during the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Bellevue, Washington, on Nov. 29, 2017.David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella said Friday that executives should not abuse the power they are given. It was some of the first commentary coming from the top of the company after media reports said Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co-founder and original CEO, had pursued an employee in 2000.The company hasn’t had much controversy since Nadella took over as CEO in 2014. He’s generally been seen as a thoughtful leader who has helped to reinvigorate the company in the highly competitive technology industry. Only rarely has he had to deal with complexity. Now, he’s having to confront a challenge brought on by his predecessor with actions from two decades ago, when he was one of many vice presidents.”Overall, the power dynamic in the workplace is not something that can be abused in any form, and the most important thing is for us to make sure that everybody is comfortable in being able to raise any issues they see, and for us to be able to fully investigate it,” Nadella told Jon Fortt on CNBC’s “TechCheck.”In

In this articleVZTMUSTSOPA ImagesAs consumers deal with a deluge of streaming video services, an obvious solution is rebundling. We still don’t know which company will be the first to offer a batch of subscription products for a discounted price — similar to traditional pay TV.The answer is an important one. The aggregator of content is the user’s direct point of commerce — which comes with the perk of consumption data. That’s the ideal position in the digital age, when advertisers follow spending habits.Unlike cable TV, a digital bundle of services doesn’t need to be restricted to just television. This gives an aggregator the ability to personalize offerings like never before, mixing and matching television, news, e-commerce, gaming, health, and any other service that charges a monthly or annual subscription rate.The obvious “aggregator 2.0” candidates are the streaming hardware technology companies (Apple, Amazon, Roku) or the cable companies (Comcast, Charter, Altice USA) that have traditionally bundled content. It’s also possible media companies, such as Disney, could embrace bundling by incorporating other programming into their streaming ecosystems.But now, a couple of U.S. wireless companies are springing out to an early lead: Verizon and T-Mobile.In the past year, Verizon and T-Mobile have methodically

In this articleSNAPEvan Spiegel, CEO of Snap, announces new Spectacles AR glasses that let you overlay digital objects on the real world.Source: SNAP Inc.Snap is acquiring WaveOptics, a company that creates lenses and other parts that are used in augmented reality glasses. The acquisition will give Snap many of the components to create glasses that people can wear and then see computer-generated imagery overlaid on top of the real world.Snap confirmed to CNBC on Friday the deal is worth about $500 million in cash and stock, with about half paid upfront in stock. Snap will pay the remainder in cash or stock in two years. The Verge first reported on the acquisition.Shares of Snap were flat.Snap unveiled its first augmented reality Spectacles glasses on Thursday, but they aren’t for sale. Instead, Snapchat is giving them to creators first, as it presumably continues to fine-tune the glasses until it’s ready to sell a version to consumers. The new Spectacles use lenses developed by WaveOptics.They’re a first step in the race to AR glasses among tech companies, however, with other firms like Apple and Facebook working on similar products. Developers will need to make compelling apps for the glasses, which currently only