### Issue 1253 - Thursday 19th November, 2020

## In Today's Issue

- Apple cuts App Store commission down to 15% for devs turning over less than US$1m
- Google wants to sink its teeth further into your life with new Google Pay update
- UK to ban sale of fossil-fuel cars by 2030, California introduces fresh EV rebates, NSW & SA persist with EV tax
- Wind turbines on top of phone towers sounds like an interesting idea
- Cheap Aldi Mobile SIM, Cygnett Smart Home kit, Nintendo Switch Lite, Xiaomi 34" monitor, Sonos Beam, Sonos One, Melbourne VPSes

## The News

### Apple cuts App Store commission down to 15% for devs turning over less than US$1m

Apple realised developers are cranky so as a peace offering/political signal to avoid regulation, they're taking a haircut on the commission they take from developer revenue. Instead of the long standing 30% Apple keeps whenever money changes hands on the App Store (app sales, IAP, subscriptions, etc), it'll now be 15% - but only for businesses that are doing under US$1m of sales. They're calling it the App Store Small Business Program and it takes effect 1st Jan, 2021. John Luxford has a solid take on why this change of heart from Apple does nothing to solve the real problem of the App Store's monopolistic practices (which by the way, are currently under investigation by the ACCC). It also makes fuck all difference to Apple's biggest critics like Epic and Spotify.

### Google wants to sink its teeth further into your life with new Google Pay update

Google Pay has had a significant overhaul in the USA. The new app is split into three sections: Pay, Explore & Insights. Pay is what we have now, with your cards and shit. Explore will have various offers for Google Pay users that'll eventually be personalised based on God knows what info Google has on you. Connect your bank accounts and credit cards to Google Pay and the Insights section of the app comes to life, showing you in excruciating detail how you've pissed your money away. Next year they'll be partnering with US banks to offer a service called Plex - bank accounts that are accessible directly via Google's app so you don't have to touch the yucky bank apps. If I was an Australian bank CEO I'd be a little worried.

### UK to ban sale of fossil-fuel cars by 2030, California introduces fresh EV rebates, NSW & SA persist with EV tax

The UK has moved forward its plan to ban the sale of pure-internal combustion engine (ICE) cars from 2035 to 2030 - a year not that far away - as part of a 10-point "green industrial revolution" plan and the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Pretty ballsy move, good on em for aiming high. Still amazes me such a policy comes from a conservative government - it's almost as if our politicians are just dickheads and environmental policies have nothing to do with political leaning? Also announced today is the California Clean Fuel Reward - a US$1500 point of sale rebate for any electric car sold new in California, on top of all the other incentives power companies, local counties and the federal government operate. Meanwhile in Australia, NSW and SA are doing the opposite of an incentive, planning to introduce an additional tax on EV owners.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Wind turbines on top of phone towers sounds like an interesting idea

ARENA has given $320,000 for a Newcastle company called Diffuse Energy to test chucking a wind turbine on top of telecommunications towers. The turbines generate ~500W of power and are designed to replace diesel generators should grid supply be cut off. Diffuse claims that "a nationwide rollout of our wind turbine technology to these sites could displace 17GWh and 33,000 tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuelled generation per year" and bring "$43.9 million in savings of diesel fuel, transportation costs, and generator maintenance". Not an as stupid idea as it sounds. Pair it up with some solar and batteries and you got a solid off-grid setup for resilient comms.

## Bargains

- Aldi Mobile 12m SIM with 15GB data - $89 from Aldi
- Cygnett Smart Home Kit (Hub/IR Control, Motion Sensor, Window/Door Sensor, Temp Sensor, Control Button) - $89 at The Good Guys
- Nintendo Switch Lite - $264.30 from The Gamesman's eBay store
- Xiaomi 34" WQHD curved monitor - $534.61 from Allphones eBay store
- Sonos Beam or Sonos One speaker - $539.10/$269.10 at Myer
- Cheap Melbourne-based KVM VPS from Servers Glore

## The End

📻 In This State - Hockey Dad

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

💬 Did you know that The Sizzle has a Slack group? Join in and chat with other subscribers like you.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info? Visit the customer portal.

🌐 Aussie Broadband is the best ISP in Australia. If it's good enough for Simon Hackett, it's good enough for us plebs! Sign up using my referral code (1001031) and we both get $50 credit.

The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.​