Every once in a while, big companies drop even bigger news on a Friday, sometimes to hide it, other times to, I think, just mess with us. As I write this, the dust is settling on news that Netflix will acquire Warner Bros and most of its assets for almost $83 billion. While the deal won’t be completed for months, this is sure to shake up your streaming world in ways that we can't even comprehend yet. We have a
good explainer on the deal and fallout here.
It's the rare big news that does not hinge on AI (or does it?), and in that area, the news is about uncertainty. Gemini is surging, and
OpenAI is scrambling to hold onto ChatGPT's still sizable lead. Personally, I've been finding some real success with Google's AI products (and
some failures from Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude). What about you?
This week's biggest gadget news came in the folding form of the
Samsung Galaxy TriFold, a long-rumored and much-leaked device that is now confirmed for delivery in Korea this month and the US early next year. That phone will run
Android 16, which just got its own major update.
Finally, everyone’s yearly music obsession,
Spotify Wrapped, dropped this week, giving everyone a window into their listening habits. There are no wild breakout features this year, unlike last year's AI podcast about your Wrapped, but there's still a lot to chew over.
With the holidays now in full swing, I'll check out all the new tinsel-themed streaming content on offer (but probably settle on
Jay Kelly) while I ponder what it means for Netflix to own
Superman,
Harry Potter's Wizarding World, and even some major game developers.
It's a lot. Cheers, and we'll see you all next week.
Lance Ulanoff, Editor at Large
