Report: Disney in talks with AT&T to buy WarnerMedia’s 10% Hulu stake

Disney is in discussions to buy AT&T’s 10 percent stake in Hulu, which it comes into by way of its WarnerMedia acquisition, according to a report from Variety this morning. The news is not surprising – AT&T had already said it was exploring a sale. And Disney has been looking to increase its stake in Hulu following its deal for 20th Century Fox which, when closed, will see Disney picking up Fox’s 30 percent share in Hulu.

Currently, Disney owns a 30 percent stake in Hulu’s streaming service. That means the Fox deal will give it a 60 percent stake in Hulu. Snagging AT&T’s Hulu share would bring Disney’s ownership to 70 percent.

Comcast/NBCU is Hulu’s other major owner, but isn’t currently prepared to sell, Variety said.

AT&T had detailed its streaming plans to investors in November, noting at the time it was thinking of selling its Hulu stake as part of its larger goal to “monetize assets” that were not essential to its current strategies and to help pay down its debt. Its Hulu share is valued at $930 million.

AT&T has little interest in Hulu because it’s building out its own internet-based streaming services, including live TV service DirecTV Now; the more lightweight WatchTV; and a new service that leverages its WarnerMedia properties. WarnerMedia also today operates streaming services for its brands, like HBO NOW, Boomerang, DC Universe, and others.

Disney, meanwhile, is preparing to launch its family-friendly Netflix competitor, Disney+, but sees Hulu as a place to house its more adult-oriented programming and general entertainment properties.

Hulu today has 25 million subscribers, but is still a smaller player compared with Netflix because it’s not yet available worldwide. It also hasn’t invested into original programming at Netflix’s scale. Disney’s increased ownership will change these things and could help Hulu compete on the market against larger rivals like Netflix, AT&T/WarnerMedia, and soon Apple, as well.

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Thailand passes controversial cybersecurity law that could enable government surveillance

Thailand’s government passed a controversial cybersecurity bill today that has been criticized for vagueness and the potential to enable sweeping access internet user data.

The bill (available in Thai) was amended late last year following criticism over potential data access, but it passed the country’s parliament with 133 positives votes and no rejections although there were 16 absentees.

There are concerns around a number of clauses, chiefly the potential for the government — which came to power via a military coup in 2014 — to search and seize data and equipment in cases that are deemed issues of national emergency. That could enable internet traffic monitoring and access to private data, including communications, without a court order.

The balance of power beyond enforcement has also been questioned. Critics have highlighted the role of the National Cybersecurity Committee, which is headed by the Prime Minister and holds considerable weight in carrying out the law. The Committee has been called upon to include representation from the industry and civic groups to give it greater oversight and balance.

Added together, there’s a fear that the law could be weaponized by the government to silence critics. Thailand already has powerful lese majeste laws, which make it illegal to criticize the monarchy and have been used to jail citizens for comments left on social media and websites. The country has also censored websites in the past, including the Daily Mail and, for a nearly six-month period in 2007, YouTube.

“The Asia Internet Coalition is deeply disappointed that Thailand’s National Assembly has voted in favor of a Cybersecurity Law that overemphasizes a loosely-defined national security agenda, instead of its intended objective of guarding against cyber risks,” read a statement from Jeff Paine, managing director of Asia Internet Coalition — an alliance of international tech firms that include Facebook, Google and Apple.

“Protecting online security is a top priority, however the Law’s ambiguously defined scope, vague language and lack of safeguards raises serious privacy concerns for both individuals and businesses, especially provisions that allow overreaching authority to search and seize data and electronic equipment without proper legal oversight. This would give the regime sweeping powers to monitor online traffic in the name of an emergency or as a preventive measure, potentially compromising private and corporate data,” Paine added.

Reaction to the law has seen a hashtag (#พรบไซเบอร์) trend on Twitter in Thailand, while other groups have spoken out on the potential implications.

Thailand isn’t alone in introducing controversial internet laws. New regulations, passed last summer, came into force in near-neighbor Vietnam on January 1 and sparked similar concerns around free speech online.

That Vietnamese law broadly forbids internet users from organizing with, or training, others for anti-state purposes, spreading false information, and undermining the nation state’s achievements or solidarity. It also requires foreign internet companies to operate a local office and store user information on Vietnamese soil. That’s something neither Google nor Facebook has complied with, despite the Vietnamese government’s recent claim that the former is investigating a local office launch.

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Polestar unveils its all-electric response to the Tesla Model 3

Volvo’s standalone electric performance brand Polestar introduced Wednesday its first all-electric vehicle — a five-door fastback that is gunning for the Tesla Model 3.

In the past few years, every time an electric vehicle — concept, prototype, or production version — has been unveiled, the term “Tesla killer” has been tossed about regardless of whether that car will ever even come to market.

In the case of Polestar 2, it’s unclear if it will be the “Tesla killer.” It’s possible that an entirely new group of customers will be attracted to the vehicle. What is clear: the Polestar 2 was designed to compete with the Tesla Model 3 in the U.S., Europe and China. 

You can watch the reveal on Polestar’s YouTube channel.

The specs

The Polestar 2 meant to be a performance electric vehicle. It’s equipped with two electric motors and a 78 kilowatt-hour battery pack that has an estimated EPA range of about 275 miles.

The Polestar 2’s all-wheel drive electric powertrain produces 300 kW ( an equivalent of 408 horsepower) and 487 lb-ft of torque. This is above the rear-wheel (and currently cheapest) version of the Model 3. It’s just a skoosh under the dual-motor performance version of the Model 3, which has an output of 450 horsepower and 471 lb-ft of torque.

The Polestar 2 accelerates from 0 to 100km (about 62 mph) in less than 5 seconds — again a stat that puts it right above the mid-range Model 3 and below the performance version.

Android inside

In 2017, Volvo announced plans to incorporate a version of its Android operating system into its car infotainment systems. A year later, the company said it would embed voice-controlled Google Assistant, Google Play Store, Google Maps, and other Google services into its next-generation Sensus infotainment system.

Polestar has followed Volvo. The Polestar 2’s infotainment system will be powered by Android OS and as a result, bring embedded Google services such as Google Assistant, Google Maps, and the Google Play Store into the car.

This shouldn’t be confused with Android Auto, which is a secondary interface that lays on top of an operating system. Android OS is modeled after its open-source mobile operating system that runs on Linux. But instead of running smartphones and tablets, Google modified it so it could be used in cars.

The Polestar 2 will also have so-called “Phone-As-Key technology,” which basically means customers will have the ability to unlock their car remotely using their smartphones. This capability opens the door — literally and figuratively — for owners to rent their vehicle out via car sharing or use a delivery service to drop off items in the vehicle.

The feature also allows Polestar 2 to sense the driver upon approach. 

Market plans

The base price of Polestar 2 is 39,900 euros ($45,389), the company says. However, for the first year of production the pricier “launch edition” will only be available at 59,900, or about $68,000. (The prices are listed before any federal or state incentives might be applied).

Production of the Polestar 2 will begin in early 2020 at its Chengdu, China factory. The company is initially targeting sales in China, the U.S., Canada and a handful of European countries that include Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.

Polestar, like its potential rival Tesla, is also ditching the dealership. Polestar will only sell its vehicles online and will offer customers subscriptions to the vehicle. Subscription pricing will be revealed at a later date, Polestar said.

The automaker is also opening “Polestar Spaces,” a showroom where customers can interact with the product and schedule test drives. These spaces will be standalone facilities and not within existing Volvo retailer showrooms.

Polestar was once a high-performance brand under Volvo Cars. In 2017, the company was recast as an electric performance brand aimed at producing exciting and fun-to-drive electric vehicles — a niche that Tesla was the first to fill and has dominated ever since. Polestar is a jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and Zhejiang Geely Holding of China. Volvo was acquired by Geely in 2010.

The company’s first vehicle, the Polestar 1, was unveiled in September.  The Polestar 1 is not a pure electric vehicle; it’s a plug-in hybrid with two electrical motors powered by three 34 kilowatt-hour battery packs and a turbo and supercharged gas inline 4 up front.

Polestar said Wednesday that its next vehicle, the Polestar 3, will be an all-electric “performance SUV.” The company didn’t provide any additional details about the Polestar 3.

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Apple removes VoIP app clones from the App Store

Following my report from yesterday, Apple has removed many of the apps I pointed out. When you try to find them on the App Store, they are no longer available.

App Store Review Guidelines are very clear when it comes to app duplicates. According to rule 4.3, you can’t release the same app multiple times on the App Store has it is considered as spamming.

But that rule has been poorly enforced and some companies have taken advantage of that. In my original report, I focused on one category in particular — VoIP apps that let you get a second phone number and send and receive calls and texts from that new number.

Developers release multiple versions of the same app so that they can use different names, different keywords and different categories. This way, they can cover a wide range of keywords when you’re searching for an app in the App Store.

So let’s look at the developers I called out yesterday. It’s still unclear if some of these apps will reappear after some changes.

TextMe, Inc.

• TextMe Up Second Phone Number — REMOVED
• Free Tone – Calling & Texting — REMOVED
• Text Me – Phone Calls + Text — REMOVED

BinaryPattern and Flexible Numbers LLC

• Texting/Calling Phone Burner — STILL AVAILABLE
• Smiley Private Texting SMS — STILL AVAILABLE
• Texting Shield – Phone Number — REMOVED
• Burner Phone Numbers SMS/Calls — REMOVED
• Business Line Phone Number — REMOVED

Appverse Inc.

• Phoner 2nd Phone Number Text — REMOVED
• Text Burner – Texting Anonymous — REMOVED
• Second Line – 2nd Phone Number — REMOVED

Dingtone Inc.

• Dingtone – WiFi Calling & Text — REMOVED
• Telos Second Phone Number — REMOVED

This case illustrates once again that Apple holds the keys to the App Store kingdom. The company acts as a judge and can make or break some companies.

Some of those companies have released clones of their apps and benefited from that strategy for many years. The main issue here is that App Store rules aren’t enforced consistently.

Plenty of clones in other categories

The clone plague is far from over. Many categories also use this App Store optimization strategy.

JPEG Labs has released four different apps that let you print photos in Walgreens or CVS stores around you. They all do the same thing but have different names and keywords. (They also tell you to leave a review right after opening the app.)

Photo Prints: 1 Hour Photos

Print Photos: 1 Hour Prints

Printmatic 1 Hour Photo Print

Same Day Canvas Photo Prints

When you can’t beat them, acquire them

Another good example is MailPix, Inc. You can find multiple copies of the same app. The company is also slowly expanding its App Store footprint by acquiring competitors and changing those apps into duplicated versions of the main app.

MailPix acquired Photobucket’s printing app to turn it into a clone.

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Virtual phone number apps are gaming the App Store with duplicates

If you’ve searched the App Store for an app to get a second phone number, chances are you found dozens of apps with very little differences. A handful of companies are spamming the App Store with duplicated apps. This strategy is against Apple’s rules.

The App Store Review Guidelines are detailed rules that define what you can and cannot do on the App Store. As soon as you sign up for a developer account and submit an app to the App Store review team, you agree to comply with those rules. It’s a long document, but the rule 4.3 titled “Spam” is straightforward:

Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc., consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app purchase. Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, and Kama Sutra apps already. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Developer Program.

A tipster looked at a specific category in the App Store — VoIP apps that let you get a second phone number, send and receive calls and texts from that new number. I looked at that category myself and here are the results of my investigation.

Companies don’t even try to hide the fact that have submitted multiple versions of the same app with different names and icons. But core features remain the same. Apple hasn’t enforced its own guideline properly and developers took advantage of that grey area.

Example 1: TextMe

As you can see on the company’s website, TextMe currently operates three apps and is open about it — TextMe Up, TextMe and FreeTone. These three apps all have an average of 4.7 stars in the App Store with hundreds of thousands of reviews in total.

The wording is slightly different for each app. TextMe Up lets you “call & text anyone in the world from your mobile, tablet, and computer”, while TextMe lets you “get a new phone number and start texting and making calls for free” and FreeTone is all about “[enjoying] free calls & texts to the phone numbers in the US and Canada”.

But if you look at the App Store screenshots, the company doesn’t even bother changing the screenshots or marketing copy.

“Our apps have a different marketing target,” TextMe, Inc. co-founder and co-CEO Patrice Giami told me in a phone interview. “They share the same code base, but we can activate or deactivate some features in order to differentiate the apps. We manage that depending on the competitive environment and if we need to optimize distribution.”

Giami also believes that his company complies with the App Store guidelines. “Apple is doing a very systematic review — we’re constantly scrutinized because we release a lot of app updates. We’ve never been flagged or contacted by Apple — they’ve never said that we’re releasing complete clones of the same app,” he said.

TextMe uses the same developer account for its three apps, Text Me, Inc. Apple could easily compare those apps if it wanted to.

Example 2: BinaryPattern and Flexible Numbers LLC

This case is a bit more sophisticated. The company behind those apps has two different developer accounts and tried to differentiate its App Store listings a bit. Similarly, buttons and colors slightly vary from app to another, but it’s the same feature set.

Here are a few screenshots I took:

Texting/Calling Phone Burner

Smiley Private Texting SMS

Texting Shield – Phone Number

Burner Phone Numbers SMS/Calls

Business Line Phone Number

I’ve reached out to BinaryPattern/Flexible Numbers and haven’t heard back.

Example 3: Appsverse Inc.

This time, Phoner, Second Line and Text Burner all share the same developer account. Even though these apps let you do the same thing, Appsverse has released its app in three different App Store categories — utilities, productivity and social networking.

By doing that, the company’s apps appear in multiple categories. Text Burner is #88 in social networking, Second Line is #74 in productivity and Phoner is #106 in utilities.

It seems a bit counterintuitive as Appsverse splits their downloads between multiple apps. But I believe the main reason the company is releasing multiple apps is for keyword optimization and App Store search results. It then picks a different category for each app, but it’s a side effect.

Appsverse has sent me the following statement:

“The guideline promotes a healthy App Store ecosystem that is good for both developers and users. It prevents proliferation of similar apps that does not have a differentiation in business model, features, use cases and demographic appeal.”

Example 4: Telos Mobile and Dingtone Inc.

On paper, Dingtone and Telos look like two different apps from two different companies. I downloaded the Dingtone app and signed up with my email address. I then downloaded the Telos app and signed up with the same email address. Here’s the message I got:

I’ve reached out to Telos/Dingtone and haven’t heard back.

A level playing field

Those companies haven’t done anything illegal. They took advantage of Apple’s lack of oversight on an App Store rule. Releasing multiple versions of the same app is a great App Store optimization strategy. This way, you can pick a different name, different keywords and different categories. Chances are potential customers are going to see your app in their App Store search results.

While Apple is usually quite strict when it comes to App Store guidelines, it hasn’t enforced some of them. And this is unfair for app developers who play by the rules. They can’t compete as effectively with companies that know that they can ignore some rules.

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Cloudflare expands its government warrant canaries

When the government comes for your data, tech companies can’t always tell you. But thanks to a legal loophole, companies can say if they haven’t had a visit yet

That’s opened up an interesting clause that allows companies to silently warn customers when the government turns up to secretly raid its stash of customer data without violating a gag order it. Under U.S. freedom of speech laws, companies can publicly say that “the government has not been here” when there has been no demand for data, but they are allowed to remove statements when a warrant comes in as a warning shot to anyone who pays attention.

These so-called “warrant canaries” — named for the poor canary down the mine, who dies when there’s gas that the human can’t see — are a key transparency tool that predominantly privacy-focused companies use to keep their customers aware of the goings-on behind the scenes.

Where companies have abandoned their canaries or caved to legal pressure, Cloudflare is bucking the trend.

The networking and content delivery network giant said in a blog post this week that it’s expanding the transparency reports to include more canaries.

To date, the company:

• has never turned over our SSL keys or our customers SSL keys to anyone;
• has never installed any law enforcement software or equipment anywhere on our network;
• has never terminated a customer or taken down content due to political pressure;
• has never provided any law enforcement organization a feed of our customers’ content transiting our network.

Those key points are critical to the company’s business. A government demand for SSL keys and installing intercept equipment on its network would allow investigators unprecedented access to a customer’s communications and data, and undermine the company’s security. A similar demand led to Ladar Levison shutting down his email service Lavabit when they sought the keys to obtain information on whistleblower Edward Snowden, who used the service.

Now Cloudflare’s warrant canaries will include:

• Cloudflare has never modified customer content at the request of law enforcement or another third party.
• Cloudflare has never modified the intended destination of DNS responses at the request of law enforcement or another third party.
• Cloudflare has never weakened, compromised, or subverted any of its encryption at the request of law enforcement or another third party.

It’s also expanded and replaced its first canary to confirm that the company “has never turned over our encryption or authentication keys or our customers’ encryption or authentication keys to anyone.”

Cloudflare said that if it were ever asked to do any of the above, the company would “exhaust all legal remedies” to protect customer data, and remove the statements from its site.

The networking and content delivery network is one of a handful of major companies that have used warrant canaries over the years. Following reports that the National Security Agency was vacuuming up the call records from the major telecom giants in bulk, Apple included a statement in its most recent transparency reports noting that the company has to date “not received any orders for bulk data.” Reddit removed its warrant canary in 2015, indicating that it had received a national security order it wasn’t permitted to disclose.

Cloudflare’s expanded canaries were included in the company’s latest transparency report, out this week.

According to its latest figures covering the second-half of 2018, Cloudflare responded to just seven subpoenas of the 19 requests, affecting 12 accounts and 309 domains. The company also responded to 44 court orders of the 55 requests, affecting 134 accounts and 19,265 domains.

The company received between 0-249 national security requests for the duration, and that it didn’t process any wiretap or foreign government requests for the duration.

Amazon’s barely-transparent transparency report somehow gets more opaque

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Ford partners with geocoding startup what3words

Ford is partnering with what3words to give drivers access to the startup’s novel addressing system.

Under the partnership, drivers will be able to connect to the free what3words app — on an iOS or Android device — to their vehicle via their SYNC 3 infotainment platform. Drivers can find the three-word address on website contact pages, guidebooks and business cards. Drivers can enter the addresses via voice or text input and receive directions through the vehicle’s navigation system.

The startup, founded in 2013, has divided the entire world into 57 trillion 3-by-3 meter squares and assigned three words to each one. Users of the what3words app, which is available in 26 languages, has been adopted by logistics, travel, automotive and humanitarian organizations because it provides exact locations anywhere in the world.

The system is used by Lonely Planet, which has rolled out three-word addresses for each of its listings, as well as Mercedes-Benz, ride-hailing app Cabify, the UN, Red Cross and TomTom.

The startup has also attracted an interesting mix of investors, most recently Sony’s venture capital arm. And last year, Daimler took a 10 percent stake in what3words, following an announcement in 2017 to integrate the addressing system into Mercedes’ new infotainment and navigation system — called the Mercedes-Benz User Experience, or MBUX. MBUX is now in the latest Mercedes A-Class and B-Class cars and Sprinter commercial vehicles.

“We are more mobile than ever before, but with that comes its challenges. The growing traction that what3words is gaining within the automobility industry is a testament to how we are improving journeys and customer experiences,” CEO and co-founder Chris Sheldrick said.

What3words will initially be available to Ford owners in the U.K. and Ireland, Germany, Spain, the U.S. and Mexico. More markets and languages will follow later in the year. The addressing system can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android.

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