Tech News Roundup for April 19, 2022
The spring lull is real, but over the past week there have been a few stories that have caught my attention.
Telus Will Bundle Streaming Services Since Those Are The New Cable
Telus is launching Stream+, which is not a new product. Instead, all Telus is doing is allowing customers to bundle several streaming services into one line item on a Telus bill, instead of managing them separately. The collection of services in this bundle is random, and likely an indication of which services are willing to work with Telus to make this work. Included in Stream+ are Netflix in the form of the most expensive premium tier, Apple TV+, and Discovery+, which I promise is a real streaming service. Buying all three of those services separately would cost $32/month, but through Stream+ on Telus the bundle will cost $25/month.
Interesting play here, as Telus is aiming to get people paying for streaming services on their Telus bill. I’m not sure how big the uptake will be on Stream+, but it does represent a toe in the water.
Netflix Loses Subscribers For the First Time in a Decade
Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers in the last quarter, the first time the company has reported a decline in subscriber count in 10 years. Netflix is facing a difficult position of a perception of continuously increasing prices, as well as significant increased competition from the likes of Disney, HBO, Apple, and more.
Netflix has enjoyed a pretty smooth ride since the rise of streaming video, and for the first time, is finding itself in a difficult position. I will be following to see what Netflix does to address this.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/19/23032399/netflix-lost-subscribers-q1-2022-earnings
Twitter Takes Steps To Block Elon Musk From Attempting Takeover
The Elon Musk Twitter drama continues, with Musk last week announcing an offer to buy Twitter and take the company private. Twitter’s board looks to be fighting this take over, filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission something commonly called a “poison pill” plan. It allows Twitter shareholders to purchase additional shares of the company at a reduced price should any one shareholder acquire more than 15% of Twitter.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/15/23024978/elon-musk-twitter-buyout-offer-ownership-deal-finance
Playdate Handheld Launches to Glowing Reviews
The Playdate handheld gaming device is a fascinating little portable game console that was announced in 2019, and is finally beginning to ship. It features a very high contrast black and white sreen, a d-pad, a and b buttons, and a honest to goodness crank. The playdate is also releasing games in “seasons” with a new game automatically delivered to the Playdate every 2 weeks, with the first season of 24 games included in the price of the console.
But that price remains my issue, along with availability. The Playdate is priced at $180 USD, which is about $230 in Canada. And ordering one today won’t get one into someone’s hands until sometime in 2023. To make it worse, the company behind the Playdate will collect the full amount of the order at the time of the order, not when they ship the device. That means paying the full $230 today and not seeing the device for potentially 18 months. Playdate says the purchase is fully refundable, but I don’t like a company holding onto that money for a year and a half. If they took the money at the time the product shipped, I would buy one. For now, I’ll sit on the sidelines.
https://www.theverge.com/23025390/playdate-handheld-portable-gaming-console-review
Tesla Will Now Deliver Vehicles With No Way To Charge Them
So…. This is unfortunate. Tesla will stop including its mobile connector charger with every EV purchase. The mobile connector allows customers to charge their cars via a standard 110 volt outlet, with additional adapters for other plugs available for purchase. A standard wall plug would take about 4 days to charge a Tesla from zero to full, but for some users, it is enough, and is always available as a fall back option.
Now Tesla will stop including the mobile connector for free with it’s cars, all of which cost more than $50,000. That means that without purchasing a mobile connector separately, or getting a dedicated Tesla Level 2 charger installed, customers will have no way to actually charge their cars on delivery.
Tesla is compensating for this by reducing the price of the mobile connector on its website…. However that mobile connector is listed as out of stock at the time of this writing.
For a car company that charges such a premium for its vehicles, this is a very difficult to accept bit of nickel and diming of is customers. As the Electrek article states, companies should be doing everything they can to ease customers minds on buying an EV, not adding barriers. Tesla just added a big one.
Why Aren’t We Recycling More Lithium Batteries?
Not much to add here, just a very good read about the industry around recycling Lithium ion batteries, and how it will only become more important in the future.
NASA Rolls SLS Rocket Back to Vehicle Assembly Building After Failed Test
NASA had been attempting to complete a “wet dress rehearsal” of its new Space Launch System for a couple weeks without success, with various different components failing to work properly during the tests. Unable to resole the issues on the launch pad, NASA is going to send the SLS rocket back to the vehicle assembly building to diagnose and fix the issues. This will almost certainly mean the SLS will not launch until the fall, yet another strike against the program that the US has dumped tens of billions of dollars into at his point.