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Twilio came ahead of expectations and the stock is going nuts

Twilio today reported a positive quarter that brought it to profitability — on an adjusted basis — ahead of schedule for Wall Street, sending the stock soaring 16 percent in extended hours after the release came out.

While according to traditional accounting principles Twilio still lost money (this usually includes stock-based compensation, a key component of compensation packages), the company is still showing that it has the capability of being profitable. Born as a go-to tool for startups and larger companies to handle their text- and telephone-related operations, Twilio was among a wave of IPOs in 2016 that has more or less continued into this year. The company’s stock has more than doubled in the past year, and is up nearly 170 percent this year alone. Twilio also brought in revenue ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Still, as a services business, Twilio has to show that it can continue to scale its business while absorbing the cost of the infrastructure required and acquire [...]  read more

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Microsoft says classic Skype will live on… for now

While Skype 8.0 offered a number of new features, including free HD video and screen-sharing calls, drag-and-drop file sharing and tweaks to messaging, not all users were on board with the new version. After upgrading to Skype 8.0, a number of people took to the community board to complain about it, with some saying they hated it and others calling it “appalling.” Some users said they reverted back to Skype 7.0 since 8.0 lacked a number of features that the classic version included. In a reply to one user who asked for extended support for the classic version, Microsoft shared its announcement of extended support and added, “Thanks for all your comments — we are listening. We are working to bring all the features you’ve asked for into Skype 8.”

Microsoft didn’t say how long the classic version of Skype would be supported.

social experiment by Livio Acerbo [...]  read more

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Facebook and YouTube Ban InfoWars but Invite New Headaches

Early Monday morning, Apple pulled several podcasts associated with notorious conspiracy theorist and protein powder peddler Alex Jones from the iTunes store. The decision opened the floodgates to a wave of suspensions that continued throughout the day. First came Facebook, which said it unpublished four pages affiliated with Jones after receiving new reports over the weekend that videos on those pages violated Facebook’s policies on hate speech. Hours later, YouTube followed suit, suspending The Alex Jones Channel, which had more than 2.4 million subscribers as of Monday morning. According to YouTube, Jones had tried to circumvent the company’s prohibition on his livestreams, which was enacted after he received a punitive strike from the platform in July.

The sudden crackdown followed weeks of mounting questions being lobbed at both Facebook and YouTube about why, if they were really committed to eradicating hate speech and disinformation, they would allow someone [...]  read more

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Lyft beefs up car rental program for drivers

As of late, Lyft has been doubling down on its messaging that it wants to reduce the amount of car ownership in the U.S. The company’s most recent example of its anti-car ownership efforts is coming in the form of a partnership with car rental company Avis.

As part of a multi-year deal, Avis will add thousands of cars to Lyft’s Express Drive program, which offers drivers a way to rent cars on a weekly basis from Hertz, Flexdrive and now, Avis.

“Our partnership with Avis Budget Group allows us to provide new and existing drivers who are seeking a reliable source of income with more quality options when choosing a vehicle,” Lyft COO Jon McNeill said in a press release. “And as more drivers decide to give up their own cars, they can continue to earn with Lyft as we expand the Express Drive program.”

This comes on the heels of Lyft bringing on Tesla’s now-former VP of [...]  read more