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Hungover from celebrating a __[personal milestone](https://hackernoon.com/some-tech-giants-hurt-in-wake-of-pelosis-visit-to-taiwan)__ at publishing Tech Company Brief Issue #10, the HackerNoon team was back to work as the launch of __[#Noonies 2022](https://hackernoon.com/hackernoon-launches-noonies-2022-to-celebrate-the-brightest-minds-on-the-internet)__ neared. 

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Unfortunately, there isn't a category for most Tech Briefs written, else I (__[the author of this brief](https://hackernoon.com/u/sheharyarkhan)__) would have won it hands down; but we do have cash rewards and NFT prizes to give away across multiple categories including __[Emerging Tech](https://www.noonies.tech/2022/emerging-tech)__ and __[Gaming](https://www.noonies.tech/2022/gaming)__ and you can head on down to __[Noonies.Tech](https://www.noonies.tech/)__ to participate! :trophy:

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This week's tech rankings are a bit unusual in that we have new entrants making it to the top 5 (including the coveted #1), finally disrupting the monopoly (or technically the oligopoly) of tech giants playing musical chairs amongst themselves. But of the tech giants HackerNoon's team closely follows, __[Apple](https://hackernoon.com/company/apple)__ :apple: landed on the #2 spot.

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Not happy with the __[better-than-expected](https://hackernoon.com/heres-how-your-favorite-tech-giants-did-financially?ref=hackernoon.com)__ profits in its most recent quarter, the Silicon Valley firm is planning to __[expand](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-14/apple-aapl-set-to-expand-advertising-bringing-ads-to-maps-tv-and-books-apps-l6tdqqmg?sref=Jr3EYbh2&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-tech&utm_content=tech&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic)__ the number of ads you see on your iPhone and iPad in an attempt to make big bucks™. Apple __[already advertises](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/15/apple-reportedly-plans-to-put-ads-in-more-apps-on-your-iphone.html)__ on its first-party apps, but the expansion could mean finding ads in apps such as Apple Maps. This, friends, is the future and I hate it.

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Meanwhile, __[Microsoft](https://hackernoon.com/company/microsoft)__ :desktop_computer: — which ranked at #5 this week — has been taking shots at Sony (and by extension, the PlayStation), for failing to play catch up with its mega-popular and __[highly successful](https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/18/22406059/xbox-game-pass-subscribers-25-million-microsoft-activision)__ video game subscription service Gamepass :joystick:. For its part, Sony __[relaunched](https://kotaku.com/ps-plus-essential-extra-premium-ps1-ps2-ps3-ps4-ps5-gam-1848931479)__ the PS Plus as a true games-on-demand service to compete with the Gamepass, but the latest offering has __[failed](https://kotaku.com/ps-plus-essential-extra-premium-ps4-ps5-ps3-games-1849060132)__ to catch on as well as the Gamepass did. So Microsoft thought it would be great to school the Japanese tech giant on why that might be: in documents filed with Brazilian competition authorities, the Redmond firm suggested that Sony could __[do better](https://kotaku.com/microsoft-game-pass-sony-playstation-plus-activision-1849401061)__ if it launched its first-party games on the PS Plus day one, instead of, ya know, timing them so they join the service once everyone and their grandmas has already played it. What a burn.

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Last week, we __[highlighted](https://hackernoon.com/some-tech-giants-hurt-in-wake-of-pelosis-visit-to-taiwan)__ a deal by __[Amazon](https://hackernoon.com/company/amazon)__ :package: to get even more of your data. Looks like the company, which was in the #11 spot isn't stopping anytime soon, and is now expanding its so-called palm-scanning payment tech to __[more Whole Foods locations](https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/10/amazon-expands-palm-scanning-payment-tech-to-65-more-whole-foods-locations/)__. Palm-scanning works exactly as you'd expect it to: you scan your palm to make payments. Understandably, __[not everyone](https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/10/the-road-to-disastrous-biometric-data-collection-is-paved-with-good-intentions/)__ is __[thrilled](https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/13/amazon-biometric-data-senate-letter/)__ about the technology.

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Elsewhere, Elon Musk __[sold more of his shares](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/elon-musk-sells-792-million-tesla-shares-worth-69-billion-sec-filing-2022-08-10/)__ in __[Tesla](https://hackernoon.com/company/tesla)__ :car: — which was listed one rank below Amazon at #12 — to finance a potential Twitter deal. ICYMI: Musk is desperately trying to walk away from the acquisition, but Twitter's having none of it. The latest sale share gives Musk access to a cool $6.9 billion in the event that Twitter forces the deal to close. Feel free to let us know if you think the deal will come through. :space_invader:

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In the meantime, thanks for reading Tech Company Brief Issue #11! If you'd like to see which tech companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness, feel free to head down __[here](https://hackernoon.com/companies?ref=hackernoon.com)__. See y'all next week.

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PEACE! :peace_symbol:

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