Apple reveals that it will be resetting its approach with the Mac Pro, the Waymo v. Uber lawsuit moves forward and Tesla surpasses GM to become the most valuable U.S. automaker. Here are the top stories of the week, and you can also receive this post as the Weekly Roundup newsletter.
1. At a small event addressing a group of reporters, Apple revealed that it is pushing the reset button on the desktop Mac Pro system entirely. Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller shared some numbers he says are meaningful to Apple. The Mac user base is nearing 100 million users. As a business, it’s also nearing a $25 billion run rate. Apple now ships computers at a ratio of 80 percent notebooks to 20 percent desktop computers, a stat they haven’t updated the public on in some time. Here’s a transcript of the entire conversation.
2. Google and its self-driving technology unit Waymo, is suing Uber and Otto. Waymo says that Uber “misappropriated” its trade secrets, and infringed upon its held patents. Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the crux of the issue, pled the fifth in the case, and Uber has admitted in court filings that it still uses commercially available LiDAR systems in its self-driving vehicles because its in-house tech isn’t ready for the road. Here’s a timeline of the events in the Waymo v. Uber lawsuit.
3. Less than 24 hours after news broke that Twitter was suing the federal government to protect the privacy of the person or persons behind a popular “rogue” anti-Trump account, the government backed off. In a filing, Twitter dropped its charges against the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection after the government withdrew its request to the company.
4. Verizon’s long-awaited Yahoo acquisition has a name, and it’s Oath. The rebranding effort combines AOL and Yahoo’s media brands and, well, it could be worse. (Disclosure: AOL, which owns TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon.)
5. YouTube’s new live TV streaming service went live. YouTube TV takes a bunch of the more popular U.S. cable channels — ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC, CW, Disney, SyFy, ESPN and 40+ more — and crams them into one app. It’ll cost $35 a month, which gives you access to Live on up to six accounts with up to three devices streaming simultaneously.
6. Tesla was trading up again this week, and for the first time became the most valuable U.S. automaker as measured by the stock market’s standards — surpassing Ford and GM.
7. Amazon has overtaken Twitter with a better NFL streaming deal. Amazon has reportedly reached a one-year deal with the NFL to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games this year. The deal is valued at around $50 million. Users will have to be Amazon Prime members in order to watch live.
8. Apple launched Clips, a super simple social video editing app. The standout feature is probably Live Titles. Using voice to tech technology, the app is able to add captions to video in real time in eight different text styles. It utilizes iOS Dictation and requires an internet connection to work.
9. Amazon launched Amazon Cash, a new offering that lets you make purchases on its site without a bank card. The service allows consumers to add cash to their Amazon.com balance by showing a barcode at a participating retailer, then having the cash applied immediately to their online Amazon account.
10. Grab, Uber’s biggest rival in Southeast Asia, has completed its first major acquisition after it bought up an Indonesian startup called Kudo. The reasoning behind the acquisition, said to be valued between $80-100 million, is to boost Grab’s mobile payments platform.
11. A new report has found that Android now accounts for a larger share of internet usage than Windows for the first time.