Technology

Re/wind: Attacks in Paris, Dell-EMC Woes and More

Also: The iPad Pro debuts, things get worse for daily fantasy and Yahoo.

Nov 15, 2015, 6:36 PM UTC

Shutterstock / Gianni Triggiani

The biggest tech deal of all time faces big road blocks, Apple’s new iPad Pro probably won’t replace your computer and Marissa Mayer’s Yahoo is, no surprise, really struggling. Here are the headlines that powered Re/code this past week:

On Friday, gunfire and explosions rocked Paris, killing more than 120 people. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks. If you’re looking for media sources to keep up with what’s happened, here’s a list we put together. Airbnb is covering the cost of travelers who may be stranded in the city, and Facebook activated its widely used safety “check in” feature. What might happen next? One place to start is with France’s powerful surveillance law that was enacted a few months back.
Dell’s $67 billion merger with EMC is no sure thing. People at Dell are worried that the deal could end up with a $9 billion tax bill, which will at least stymie if not unravel the whole thing. Wall Street’s feeling skeptical, too; EMC’s stock fell a few percentage points over the week.
Marissa Mayer spent $70,000 dressing up Yahoo’s executive ranks for a “Wizard of Oz”-themed photo shoot. Such an antic is characteristic of Mayer’s time as Yahoo’s CEO, where the business focus is now turning to an in-the-works mobile search project as higher-ups exit the struggling company. LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman says you can’t really blame those departures on Mayer, however.
Twitter is planning to give its board a major makeover, with an eye toward gender and racial diversity. Expect the three Peters to go: Benchmark’s Peter Fenton, and investors Peter Chernin and Peter Currie.
On Tuesday, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that daily fantasy sports outlets like DraftKings and FanDuel were illegally operating as gambling services in the state, and issued cease-and-desist letters. The two companies responded by suing Schneiderman and organizing a protest for its employees and supporters. Also at risk: More than $200 million in TV ad spending if the companies go under.
The big-ass iPad Pro went on sale this week, and though Apple says it could end up replacing your laptop or desktop, Walt Mossberg says that it just ain’t so.
On this week’s episode of the “Re/code Decode” podcast, Kara Swisher talks with Box CEO Aaron Levie about unicorns, going public, the proper way to raise money, Box’s competition and much more. Later on, Lauren Goode discusses switching between iOS and Android.
Fidelity revised down the value of its stake in Snapchat, cutting the company’s valuation from $16 billion down to $12 billion. Many view the haircut as a sign that the air is beginning to be let out of the tech bubble.
Infuriating advocates of net neutrality, T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced an unlimited video streaming data package, provided you’re streaming video on services that have partnerships with T-Mobile, including Netflix, HBO and Hulu, but not YouTube.
Venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya is raising lots of capital to buy wireless spectrum at next year’s FCC auction to start a wireless company that would compete with AT&T and Verizon.