Beta Bytes: Week of October 10th
Snippets of financial news calibrated to science, technology, and engineering companies as well as our client’s interests.
House Lawmakers Condemn Big Tech’s ‘Monopoly Power’ and Urge Their Breakups
House lawmakers have spent the last 16 months investigating the practices of the world’s largest technology companies.
On Tuesday, they reported that Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google had exercised and abused their monopoly.
To amend the inequities, the lawmakers recommended restoring competition by effectively breaking up the companies, emboldening the agencies that police market concentration and throwing up hurdles for the companies to acquire start-ups.
NASA Science, Cargo Heads to Space Station on Northrop Grumman Resupply Mission
A Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station with nearly 8,000 pounds of scientific investigations, technology demonstrations, commercial products, and other cargo.
The spacecraft launched on an Antares rocket from the Virginia Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad.
In addition to science and research, this launch will also support commercial space endeavors. Estée Lauder’s New Advanced Night Repair serum will be photographed in the space station’s iconic cupola window as part of NASA's efforts to enable commercial activities at the space station and develop a robust low-Earth orbit economy.
UCSD and SDSU awarded $10M to bring COVID-19 testing to underserved communities
UC San Diego and San Diego State University received $5 million apiece and are among 32 institutions awarded $234 million by the National Institutes of Health.
The federal funding is a response to stark evidence that the pandemic has hit communities of color hardest.
Blacks, Latinos and other minorities are more likely to get COVID-19 than White Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and are more likely to end up in the hospital or die from the disease.
Apple Stops Selling Rival Earphones, Speakers Ahead of Launches
Apple Inc. has stopped selling headphones and wireless speakers from rivals including Sonos Inc., Bose Corp. and Logitech International SA as the company gears up to launch its own new audio products.
The moves come as Apple develops multiple new products to expand on its audio strategy.
As of Monday, the only headphones offered by Apple are its own AirPods and AirPods Pro, in addition to products from its Beats subsidiary.