Re/wind: Hype for Apple's Special Event, Changes at Google and More

This week in tech, the news was dominated by the lead-up to this Wednesday’s Apple special event in San Francisco. Also, Google got a makeover, we got more details on Uber’s commerce efforts and more. Here are the headlines that powered Re/code this week:

1. At its special event on Wednesday, Apple will unveil new iPhones, a new Apple TV (with games!), Apple Watch stuff, a software update and more. You can expect to see its refreshed News app as part of the new software update, and business customers can look forward to Cupertino’s new partnership with Cisco. One thing Apple is losing, however, is former Beats executive Ian Rogers (one of the architects of Apple’s music streaming strategy).
2. Google has a new logo. Good for them! The company also lost an executive to erstwhile Google and current SoftBank president Nikesh Arora, accidentally promoted anti-semitism through its search algorithm and is waging a mobile Web war against apps. On a lighter note, here’s Stephen Colbert giving directions to drivers through the Google-owned Waze app.
3. This fall, Uber is launching a partnership with digital commerce companies like Shopify and Bigcommerce to connect smaller brick-and-mortar stores with its burgeoning delivery business. In court this week, Uber lost its fight to prevent California drivers from suing the company as part of a class-action case.
4. This week on the “Re/code Decode” podcast with Executive Editor Kara Swisher, Andreessen Horowitz co-founder and Silicon Valley impresario Marc Andreessen talks in an extended interview about Amazon, presidential politics, the tech bubble and more.
5. Public transit “love at first subway platform glance” stories are out. What’s in are couples meeting through services like UberPool and Lyft Line. Re/code’s Carmel DeAmicis investigated, spending a night going on speed dates through the ride-hailing service.
6. Hulu added a premium subscription feature that tacks on $4 extra per month if you want to go almost entirely ad-free, much like Amazon Prime, Netflix and other video streaming services.
7. While Twitter’s CEO search appears to be coming to a head, the company is still shaking up its executive ranks. This week, the company cycled through and promoted various members of its product team, giving developer products lead Jeff Seibert the day-to-day management of the whole unit.
8. One candidate running for president has locked up more Silicon Valley dollars than anyone else, and by a hefty margin: Florida Republican Marco Rubio. It helps to be pals with Larry Ellison! Still, as Hillary Clinton’s campaign kicks into gear (and Rubio bobs up and down in the polls), that could change relatively soon.
9. In the third episode of our video series on women in tech, we talked with Melonee Wise of Fetch Robotics, who discussed the challenges of working in one of the most male-dominated sectors of the tech industry.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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