Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Re/wind: RadiumOne Fires Chahal, Facebook Ads Go Mobile, FCC in Crisis

The week in review, Re/code style.

Mindscanner/Shutterstock

In case you missed anything, here’s a quick roundup of some of the news that powered Re/code this week.

1. RadiumOne’s board fired CEO Gurbaksh Chahal over his domestic violence conviction after he did not resign voluntarily. New RadiumOne CEO Bill Lonergan sent out a memo to employees in the wake of the firing, stating: “We cannot know for certain what Gurbaksh will do.”

2. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has had a rough week, catching flak from techies and activists for how his agency has been handling the issue of net neutrality. Wheeler has responded to his opponents by arguing that his proposed Open Internet rules are “tough” and “enforceable.” As for next year’s FCC auction of TV airwaves, both Verizon and AT&T have also expressed dissatisfaction with new auction rules that make it easier for smaller carriers to get TV airwave licenses.

3. Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at the f8 conference this week to debut its mobile ad network and woo mobile developers back to the platform, but his intended audience wondered if they really needed Facebook. At the conference, the company also announced that you will soon be able to log in to Facebook apps anonymously.

4. Twitter reported its first quarter earnings and the company is still growing, just not fast enough for Wall Street. But its revenue story is still a good one, even if it isn’t delivering more television viewers.

5. First it was the blog that died, and now we’re offering condolences for Twitter’s recent passing. So if everything is dead, then what’s the next big “thing” for digital media? Well, how about email newsletters?

6. To celebrate CNBC’s 25th anniversary, Walt Mossberg reflected on how personal technology has evolved over the past quarter century.

7. After hearing more than 50 hours of testimony, the jury found that Samsung products infringed on two patents that Apple had sued over in its latest patent case and awarded more than $119.6 million in damages. However, one of the big winners in the verdict was Google. Meanwhile, Samsung earnings fell for a second straight quarter.

8. Microsoft will release the Xbox One in China this September, ending a 14-year ban on consoles in the country.

9. “Trying to get a date while wearing Google Glass must be impossible!” you thought correctly, skeptically watching the Glass trailer on YouTube a year ago. Nellie Bowles actually tried it out, and found that Glass may really be only for the lonely.

10. Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce firm that’s keeping Yahoo’s stock from falling through the floor, invested just over $1 billion in video site Youku Tudou earlier this week. They also unveiled their plans with Chinese mobile browser UCWeb to build a new search engine that will be named “Shenma.”

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh