Good morning. Alarming news out of the Middle East yesterday, where hundreds of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing several and wounding thousands.
If you’re like me, your second thought after “Gosh, what a crazy headline” is…wait, pagers?
Believe it or not, millions of pagers remain in use around the globe in places like hospitals, casinos, and parking structures. They’re cheap, they never drop out of coverage, and their batteries last forever.
So hit me on my beeper, I guess? —Andrew Nusca
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The spirit of Kidstagram lives on
Remember back in 2021, when Facebook, as the company was then known, was developing a separate version of Instagram for children that included more controls for parents, and would probably grow its user base but also combat serious mental health and privacy issues affecting younger users?
Remember when U.S. Lawmakers and parent groups called on the company to abandon so-called Instagram Kids completely, leading it to “pause” the project and carry on working on parent tools for teens?
Well, it did just that. The company we now call Meta just released a host of strict privacy and parental controls that are automatically turned on for teenage users.
The new Teen Accounts are private by default, come with the strictest messaging settings (only people they’re connected to), and come with content filters (e.g. No violence) for areas like Explore and Reels. They also come with an overnight mute on notifications and time limit reminders that kick in after 60 minutes a day.
So far experts, parents, and lawyers have responded well to the tools…with the caveat that they should have come sooner. Like 2021. Ah, well. —Kali Hays
Apple may have found its next banking partner
Like a new season of The Bachelor, Apple has been on the hunt for a new consumer finance partner after Goldman Sachs reportedly exited the relationship last year.
The final rose may end up going to JPMorgan Chase, according to severalreports.
Despite criticism that an Apple deal would have too much risk and not enough profit, Goldman took the leap in 2019 as it tried to grow its consumer banking business more broadly.
It has since refocused on businesses it knows better, like trading. (We wouldn’t say it was here for the wrong reasons, but.)
JPM, of course, isn’t any lender. It’s the largest bank in the United States in terms of assets—more than double that of Goldman—and would hold firmer on concessions it needed from Apple to make it work. Which it is reportedly doing.
Can a new Apple Card partnership learn from the mistakes of the last one? Stay tuned for the most dramatic season yet. —AN
A small win for Uber drivers
You may no longer be verified on X, but you’re about to be on Uber.
The company on Tuesday introduced new features into its ride-hailing app including a “verified” rider badge that it hopes will help get rid of some of the riff raff. (With apologies to a certain Transylvanian.)
The badges allow drivers to see who is verified—and crucially, who isn’t—before they climb in the back of the car.
Other new features allow drivers to request a PIN from a passenger before starting the journey—again, to verify identity—and to block passengers who rate them 2 or 3 stars. (Uber already unmatches 1-star situations.)
The new features are intended to make things safer for the drivers on their platform, who have become much more vocal and willing to protest in their demands for better pay, safer working conditions, and ways to address false complaints. —Jessica Mathews
We can’t deny the fact that they like the new Apple Watch
Apple’s latest smartwatch has received mostly flattering reviews from outlets that were able to test it ahead of time.
Like nearly every new device from the company, Apple’s Series 10 is pitched as faster and slimmer than its predecessors. But it also comes with snazzy, FDA-approved health features like detecting whether the wearer has sleep apnea.
Reviewers liked several aspects of the $399 watch. The new model can be charged faster than before (up to 80% battery life in 30 minutes). Its display is bigger and brighter. It can play music through a modest built-in speaker, if you’re into that kind of thing.
In other words, the new Apple Watch should have a place in the heart—provided you don’t already have Apple’s Series 8 or newer, that is. —Jenn Brice
10 million Bluesky users can’t be wrong
Bluesky took a year to gather two million users. Eight months later, it has crossed the 10 million mark.
That's a big deal for anyone seeking a viable alternative to X, now a stew of gladiatorial screaming and skeezy scammery.
Mastodon had a shot at being the next Twitter but never managed to improve its usability. So the two big Elon-free options are Meta’s Threads and Bluesky, which began life as a Twitter spinout.
If you like algorithmically organized engagement bait, Threads may be for you. If you prefer a chronological feed made of stuff from people you chose to follow, Bluesky’s your platform. (I know where my engagement lies.)
The company’s growth spurt comes largely thanks to a recent influx of Brazilians who can no longer access X. But there’s no doubt that the platform again has momentum—even if it lacks revenues and is still living off last year's $8 million seed round.
Not too shabby for a public-benefit corporation running on a decentralized protocol. —David Meyer
More data
—Teresa Ribera is Europe’s new antitrust chief. If confirmed, the Spanish socialist will decide whether Google should be broken up, among other concerns.
—The Pentagon awards $269 million to military chip projects. Who knew semiconductors would be so hot right now?
—BlackRock and Microsoft will launch a $30 billion fund. All this AI stuff is really gonna tax our computing infrastructure, it turns out!
—The fake Kamala Harris hit-and-run video tracks back to a Russian troll farm. If you had visions of flame-haired toys when I said “troll farm,” you should probably schedule that colonoscopy.
—More Meta Ray-Bans are coming, thanks to a new deal with EssilorLuxottica. And probably Oakleys and Persols, too. —AN
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