End-of-Year Streaming War

On Nov. 17, Disney+ entered the Mexican market introducing new content and becoming the newest contender in the streaming war. Since it launched, the streaming service has reached 86 million subscribers. The platform has new exclusive content planned for next year. The first steps have already been taken with two popular releases “Soul” and “The Mandalorian,” according to CNN.

New releases and price increases will set an interesting stage for next year, not only in terms of what other streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime will do but also in terms of customer preferences regarding upcoming films that will only be released on specific platforms.

Now let’s jump into the Week in Tech!

Internet for Everyone.

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) announced its plan to develop the “Internet for Everyone” program that will supposedly be completed by 2025. The objective is to enable 200,000 internet access points. The investment allocated to this has now reached MX$11 billion (US$550 million), according to a Forbes article.

A statement made by the company mentioned that this plan intends to “close the digital divide affecting the most vulnerable population. Its goal is to take advantage of the advantages offered by information and communication technologies (ICT) to contribute to the reduction of inequality”

Also, home office and remote recruitment will continue to be a trend in 2021, so habilitating the internet for as many people as possible is part of the objective.

Alibaba Takes a Hit in the Stock Market.

During the last two months, Jack Ma, Founder and CEO of Alibaba Group, has noticed that the Chinese authorities want to go after e-commerce giant Alibaba and fintech Ant Group. The stocks for said companies fell 15 percent after the antitrust investigation in China began. Chinese authorities have urged the two companies to rectify certain financial practices in fields such as personal loans, banking and asset management and revert to its roots as a payment service provider, reported Expansión.

Amazon’s New Podcast Network

Amazon recently announced its acquisition of Wondery, a podcast network. The plan behind the acquisition is to incorporate it to Amazon music. This move is also a way to stay on top of the game. According to TechCrunch, podcasts are starting to win much popularity. Amazon is arriving late to the podcast industry, given Spotify has made many acquisitions already, but this is its first step toward new material.

“With Amazon Music, Wondery will be able to provide even more high-quality, innovative content and continue their mission of bringing a world of entertainment and knowledge to their audiences, wherever they listen,” Amazon’s statement reads.

SpaceX Is Trying to Recover Super Heavy Rocket

SpaceX is developing new Super Heavy rockets that will use engines to control their velocity. The goal is to have more precision when maneuvering them. Another positive outcome would be the possibility of launching the same Super Heavy rocket after its return. In the release, it was mentioned that this will be a significantly different approach to how landing has been done until now, according to TechCrunch.