Gimlet Media + other news

3 minutes estimated reading time

Gimlet Media

WPP locks in minority stake in Gimlet Media podcast network | Mumbrella – podcasting as an advertising / sponsorship format seems to have got over its measurability barrier. Gimlet Media was founded in 2014 and has a range of factual and entertainment content franchises including investigative journalism, comedy and commentary on internet culture. A number of Gimlet Media shows moved over from being produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to continuing on their podcasting network.

Business

UK car sales and registrations down – Business Insider – British people have a close to zero household savings rate, and way too much debt, making further car purchases difficult. Consumers are afraid a recession might be coming and have reduced their spending on expensive items. The PCP car loan trend may have peaked, flooding the market with nearly new used cars. – two things about this, the UK is way over leveraged at a government and consumer level. Brexit is just going to make this a lot worse. Secondly, the auto finance model is broken and the UK could be the contagion that causes a sub-prime two crisis to ripple around the world. It also make the UK market less attractive for European exporters, which means a harder time trying to get a deal for BREXIT

Uber’s “clean air” fund | FT Alphaville – its actually a passenger tax, yet another reason to go with Addison Lee who already have hybrids in their fleet

Finance

China to Shut Bitcoin Exchanges – WSJ – interesting that the article doesn’t cite sources. Caixin broke this story at the end of last week. Is this down to these currencies providing black economy payments and capital flight?

Ireland

With direct flights to Dublin, Cathay takes big bet on Ireland | HKEJ Insight – huge for Ireland, expect more long haul flights in there

Legal

Qualcomm demonstrates their Sleaziness by Posting a Press Release Downplaying any possible iPhone X Advancements – Patently Apple – guessing Qualcomm thinks that it won’t be settling its law suits with Apple then

Luxury

Dapper Dan, the original tailor to hip-hop royalty, now has a deal with Gucci | Quartz – it was only a matter of time, really happy for Dan – if 30 years too late

Strange Bedfellows? Collaborations Help Young Brands Make Ends Meet — The Fashion Law

Online

Why RSS Still Beats Facebook and Twitter for Tracking News | Fieldguide – couldn’t agree more

Spotify Web Player No Longer Compatible With Apple’s Safari Browser – Mac Rumors – interesting that Spotify uses a Google plug-in with security issues

Ecouter FIP | Radio Musicale Eclectique – very nice early morning listening

Technology

Fab equipment spending breaking industry records | Electroiq – foundries are anticipating continuing electronics demand rather than a flattening or a slow down

Autonomous Cars: The Level 5 Fallacy – Monday Note – A two-to-three year engineering timeline isn’t unusual; five years is considered longterm. Beyond the five-year horizon? No thanks, I’ll switch to a more spiritually and financially rewarding pursuit. We’ll leave the worthy but nebulous commitments to Carnegie Mellon and Stanford. In other words: No Level 5 in the foreseeable, bankable future. Instead of the soothing vision of a saloon on wheels on the road tomorrow… That’s Uber’s autonomous aspirations fucked then and probably explains why Apple has scaled back its car ambitions for the time being. It also shows the corporate aversion to hard innovation now, compared to 50 years ago

For Superpowers, Artificial Intelligence Fuels New Global Arms Race | WIRED – faster optimal approaches

Web of no web

The Inspection Chamber – BBC R&D – really nice project with voice activated services

LTE Apple Watch uses same phone number as iPhone, some carriers to offer free/cheaper trial plans | 9to5Mac – is it just me or does sounds like a waste of space? I am more interested in the longer term if experiments like this provide Apple with a way to improve power management and consumption on their smartphones