This is a year where we acknowledge Canada Day more than we celebrate it. On this day, I remain proud of my country, but we are far from perfect, and we must acknowledge that, especially now.
Here are a few of the tech stories I’ve found interesting over the last couple days. This is being written earlier in the day than normal, so anything from the afternoon will not be here.
Oh, and happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
Teksavvy Taking CRTC to Court Over Wholesale Rate Decision
Canadian internet service provider Teksavvy has filed a notice with the Federal Court of Appeal to challenge a recent decision by the CRTC in regards to internet wholesale rates. A few weeks ago, the CRTC ruled that it would not be lowering the wholesale rates that it mandates the larger providers like Bell, Telus, Rogers and Shaw are able to charge smaller providers for use of their infrastructure. Obviously, the large companies want to charge as much as possible, and companies like Teksavvy want the rates lower. There have been numerous challenges on both sides, and the CRTC has recently ruled to keep rates at what was originally an “interim” level set in 2019.
Teksavvy’s challenge is accusing the head of the CRTC of bias, which could be hard to prove. But the court fights continue.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2021/06/30/teksavvy-court-challenge-crtc-wholesale-rate-decision/
Shopify is the Latest Company to cut fees
Shopify powers a lot of small business commerce on the internet, and an increasingly large share of the larger companies as well. And now the company is taking steps that fall in line with other companies that charge transaction fees to use their platform. Beginning August 1st, Shopify will not take any revenue from the first $1 Million USD that a company using the Shopify platform makes. After the first $1 Million, Shopify’s cut will be 15% of every transaction, down from the 20% it is now.
This is obviously something that is good for new and small businesses, and something that should help make Shopify even more ubiquitous.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2021/07/01/shopify-revenue-model-faster-transactions/
Instagram is no Longer a Photo Sharing App, According to Instagram
This has become obvious as Facebook has crammed more and more features into Instagram, but the CEO of Instagram is now on the record saying that the company doesn’t consider the product to be a simple photo sharing app anymore. With Stories, IGTV, Reels, and entire shopping platform, and a full messaging product built in, that much is obvious, but it is interesting to see the company finally come out and say it.
Personally, I think that admitting this is a way for Instagram to signal even more changes coming to the platform, to move even further away from its core functionality. And that makes me sad. Instagram was at its best when it was a simple product, and it risks becoming the next Facebook, something too big to fail, but something people don’t enjoy using.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/30/22557942/instagram-no-longer-photo-app-video-entertainment-focus
Microsoft and Google End Non-Aggression Pact. Seriously. It was a thing
So, after a series of public spats and lawsuits in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, Google and Microsoft apparently signed a contract to smooth relations between the two companies. They agreed not to sue each other, and not to lodge public complaints to regulators, or PR campaigns against each other. That agreement apparently expired in April and was not renewed, and as a result we have seen some rhetoric between these companies already. Get ready for the next round of public disputes and lawsuits. They be coming.
Google Commits to 5 Years of Updates on Nest Products
As we start to add more smart home devices in our every day lives, the support and longevity of those devices becomes more important, especially in the wake of the Western Digital MyBook Live hack from the last week.
Google announced this week that it plans to support its Nest branded products for a minimum of 5 years from release, giving users a clear indication of how long they can expect these products to be supported. Now, the 5 year number is a minimum. Some of Google’s Nest products are still receiving updates after 6 years, so in some cases we will see more. It is worth pointing out that this support timeline is from time of release, not time of purchase. Google often sells Nest products for a long time. The Nest Hub Max, for example, is almost two years old, so users buying it new today are only guaranteed 3 years of software support.
Regardless, it is good to have some certainty in product support, and Google is providing that with its smart home platform.
Linkedin Suffers Another Data Breach
I don’t have much to say here, since everyone at this point has had some of their data compromised in some way, but Linkedin’s most recent data breach suffered by the company was the result of a bad actor exploiting a vulnerability in Linkden’s public data access API to scrape data from around 700 million users. At this point, everyone should just assume that some of their personal information has been compromised. It isn’t ideal, but it is the way it is.