Sometimes life just happens.  Here are a few stories I found interesting over the past week, and I hope to be back to a more regular schedule this week.

The United States Government has Sued Google

The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming its search and ad business is an anti-competitive monopoly.

I’m not smart enough to offer more than an opinion here, but people much smarter than me have said that the case the US has brought against Google looks weaker than the case that the EU brought against Google that ended up not affecting the company all that much.  Those same people who are smarter than me all say there was probably a much stronger case that the US could have brought, but instead this case is not.

There are beliefs and opinions that the case was brought at this time, and apparently incomplete, in an attempt to make headlines before the US Presidential election.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/20/21454192/google-monopoly-antitrust-case-lawsuit-filed-us-doj-department-of-justice

SpaceX Moves Closer to Offering Starlink Internet to Canada

The CRTC has approved SpaceX’s application for its Starlink internet network as a Basic International Telecommunications Service (BITS).  This does not mean that SpaceX can start selling Starlink service to customers.  Any company that has an internet service that wants to provide service in Canada must have this license.  SpaceX still has several regulatory steps before it can offer Starlink service to Canadians, most importantly launching many more of the tiny satelites into orbit so service can be more consistent.

But it does seem that one day SpaceX will offer the service in this country.  This may not be a huge deal in urban areas, but for smaller towns and rural Canadians, the potential of closing the digital divide and offering competitive broadband internet to underserved areas is very exciting.

https://mobilesyrup.com/2020/10/18/crtc-approves-spacexs-bits-licence-starlink/

Intel has sold its Sold State Drive business to SK Hynix for $9 Billion USD

Intel is continuing its realignment to focus on its core business of processors.  It previously divested its 4G and 5G modem business, and it has now sold its SSD business.  Intel will sell the business, intellectual property, and manufacturing capacity for SSDs.  The full deal is not expected to close until 2025, which seems like a very long time, but is likely due to the complexity of selling both intellectual property and a large manufacturing facility in China.

SSD’s are becoming a commodity business, with prices coming down and margins getting tighter, and it is likely this is no longer a business that Intel is interested in competing in.  Intel makes some very good SSD’s, I use one myself.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3586553/intel-sells-its-faltering-ssd-business-to-sk-hynix.html

Quibi is shutting down

Quibi, the mobile only streaming service, is shutting down after just 6 months in operation.  The service launched in march as a premium short form video service that worked only on mobile devices.  The idea was a paid service with shows designed to be viewed on a smartphone screen that were 5-15 minutes long, with Quibi paying large corporations and content creators large sums of money to create content for the platform.

In a world where YouTube exists for free this was already a tough sell, but then the pandemic hit and this service, designed for people on the go, launched right when most of the world was told to stay home as much as possible. 

Quibi never really had a chance.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/21/21527197/quibi-streaming-service-mobile-shutting-down-end-katzenberg