The Federal Communications Commission wants to hear from Americans by collecting their broadband stories in an attempt to improve mapping and access in the long term. As SpaceX gains momentum around the world, the European Space Agency is rushing to improve their satellite launching capabilities with investment and innovation. Many workers are returning to their work spaces over the next few months and finding the rhythm to working away from home again is going to be an adjustment.

We are behind the mics bringing you details on the open source industry, smart-speaker moves, industry feuds, and accessibility improvements. The United Kingdom is proving to be the center of the European Union when it comes to open source with an estimated economic impact of £43 billion and increased use in business. Production of the HomePod has been discontinued after a very short shelf life as Apple moves its attention to their HomePod Mini unit. Microsoft had a rough week with hacks associated with Exchange servers, bad patches for Teams, and a growing public feud with Google. Starbucks is moving forward with efforts to provide better accessibility to those with low vision or blindness through the use of Aria, a live person connected app to share information to store visitors.

Fry’s, a once popular electronics store, is closing the remainder of their stores after a dismal last few years. After a 90-year old customer complained about their service delivery, AT&T is quickly responding with infrastructure and fiber installation. AOL’s Instant Messenger was a massive success in the early days of the Internet and we are now learning that it almost never came to be. Microsoft’s Edge browser is taking shape with the use of Google’s Chromium as a backdrop and Legacy Edge is dying off. Malwarebytes issued their state of malware report and we learned that 2020 wreaked havoc on IT professionals with a swift transition in response to COVID-19.

Spotify announced this week the future launch of a HiFi (high fidelity) subscription service that will deliver an enhanced audio experience to their customers. Silver Sparrow, a mysterious malware, has reportedly infected nearly 30,000 Macs worldwide with a self-destruct feature that has yet to be utilized. NASA successfully landed Perseverance and Ingenuity on the surface of Mars signalling the start of another mission to understand the puzzling planet.

There is a major international shortage of conductors in the global market that is putting a new strain on the production of electronics, vehicles, devices, and systems. Microsoft is increasing their presence in Atlanta, Georgia as plans are shared on their vision of the upcoming 90-acre modern campus. All the buzz in space right now is on Mars as the United States, China, and the United Arab Emirates all explore the planet’s viability for human expedition. During the last year, everything has shifted to online – working, learning, socializing – which demands us to consider how best to create a healthy and sustainable tech/life balance.

Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon CEO in 5 months and Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, is taking the reins in a move that perhaps indicates the future of the e-commerce king. A 90-year old AT&T customer since 1960 took out a quarter-page ad in the Wall Street Journal to voice his displeasure with the company’s internet service. Tech companies’ commercials were front and center during the Super Bowl, highlighting some battles forth coming in 2021. Chowbotics, a robotic salad making vending machine company, has been acquired by DoorDash, signalling a unique partnership in food delivery.

Edge is rolling out a new security feature that will notify users if the accounts or passwords were potentially compromised on third-party sites. Spotify introduced classic literature as audiobooks to their users this week, signalling some attempt to compete in the market. SpaceX made history again as they launched 143 satellites into low Earth orbit during a single Falcon 9 launch. Kroger is introducing smart tech grocery carts, featuring a touchscreen, scale, and camera, to enhance the traditional shopping experience.

As tech companies begin to get anxious about calling employees back into their offices after vaccinations, about a third of polled employees are saying they would rather quit than return to the office. In Germany, the local GDPR agency issued a multi-million dollar fine to a local laptop retail for retaining and utilizing forms of intensive video surveillance on workers and customers. And in aeronautical news, Virgin successfully completed their final test of LauncherOne which sent a rocket into low Earth orbit making it one of the few corporations to do so and paving the way for work with NASA.

We kick off the new year talking about Twitch, tech resolutions, drone deliveries, and CES 2021. Twitch had its best year ever, clocking 17 billion hours watched in 2020 which is leading to the question of how they did it and how and if it can be sustained. Tech resolutions are always fun to consider, and we each share two resolutions this coming year. The FAA has passed their final rules to allow drone delivery, and we dissect these rules and share our thoughts on where the industry is moving and what must change. Lastly, CES 2021 kicked off this week, so we take a quick look at some items that have caught our attention during the first first days.