Techmeme River
Techmeme River
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
6:35 PM
Court docs: FBI served Google a warrant with gag order for info on all users at two locations, a space of 45 hectares, amid robberies; Google didn't provide it
Forbes
5:55 PM
Cisco reports Q4 profit of $3.8B, up 57% YoY, and revenue of $12.8B as it transitions to subscription-based services; stock up 6%+ after hours
SiliconANGLE
5:45 PM
Best Buy acquires GreatCall, which offers health response services and connected devices for the elderly, for $800M; GreatCall has 900K customers
ZDNet
5:20 PM
Sources: Japan trade commission is investigating allegations that pressure from Apple forced Yahoo Japan to pull back from its web-based game platform Game Plus
Nikkei
5:05 PM
Twitter has put the Infowars Twitter account in read-only mode for seven days shortly after doing the same for Alex Jones' Twitter account
BuzzFeed News
5:00 PM
Jack Dorsey says Twitter is considering promoting alternative viewpoints in timeline, labeling bots, and redesigning the like button and follower count display
Washington Post
4:20 PM
Google says developers seeking to qualify their app for Wear OS must follow design guidelines by October 1, as it tries to improve the quality of apps
Android Police
4:05 PM
Ahead of Twitter API changes coming on August 16, Tapbots removes several features from Tweetbot for iOS, following similar moves by Twitterrific and others
MacRumors
3:40 PM
Facebook says over $300M has been raised for causes through birthday fundraisers since the feature launched a year ago and announces new tools for nonprofits
Facebook
3:08 PM
Uber's Q2 2018 financials: revenue rose 51% YoY to $2.7B as adjusted EBITDA losses widened to $404M, up from $304M in Q1; gross bookings rose 41% YoY to $12B
TechCrunch
2:45 PM
Google says there are now 200+ Android Go devices available and details Go for Android 9 Pie, aimed at emerging markets, which takes less space and boots faster
9to5Google
2:40 PM
Square says it cut chip card processing time to two seconds, down from 3.6 a year ago, and no longer requires signatures on card transactions in US and Canada
VentureBeat
2:27 PM
Google launches the online searchable library of federal election-related ads it promised US lawmakers last year, but it does not include political “issue ads”
Axios
2:17 PM
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defends decision to just give Infowars' Alex Jones a timeout after Jones urged viewers to ready “battle rifles” against media and others
NBC News
2:12 PM
Coinbase acquires the five-person team behind Distributed Systems to help Coinbase find ways to integrate decentralized identity across its services
Wired
2:00 PM
Email and documents show the FBI has investigated cyberattacks on California Democratic candidate Hans Keirstead, who was running in Dana Rohrabacher's district
Rolling Stone
1:50 PM
Samsung unveils the Exynos Modem 5100, featuring support for 5G as well as 4G, 3G, and 2G, with speeds up to 6Gbps when connected to millimeter wave towers
VentureBeat
1:36 PM
Sources: Facebook has hired an outside group to conduct an audit in Myanmar to investigate its role in ongoing ethnic violence
VICE News
1:20 PM
Investigation finds 1,000+ Facebook posts, comments, images, and videos attacking Rohingya in Myanmar, highlighting Facebook's woeful attempts to fix the issue
Reuters
1:15 PM
Freight load-matching startup Cargomatic, which uses an app to connect cargo and drivers, raises $35M Series B led by Warburg Pincus
Wall Street Journal
1:00 PM
US cryptocurrency investor sues AT&T in LA District Court seeking $224M in damages after $23.8M in currency was allegedly stolen via SIM swap fraud
Reuters
12:45 PM
Source and leaked pictures suggest Fitbit's Charge 3 will lack GPS, have a full touchscreen, water resistance of 50 meters; Special Edition to likely have NFC
Android Authority
12:10 PM
Gallup-Knight survey of 1,203 US adults: 85% don't think tech platforms do enough to combat fake news; 88% want more transparency about how content is surfaced
Poynter
11:55 AM
New Mexico-based geospatial analytics startup Descartes Labs, which uses data from NASA and others to build predictive models, exits beta
TechCrunch
11:35 AM
Bumble announces Bumble Fund, a $1M+ fund aimed at startups founded and led by females with investments of $5,000-$250,000
Forbes
11:20 AM
Report: Uber has been urged by investors to sell off its self-driving car unit, which has lost $125M-$200M per quarter over the last 18 months
Reuters
11:05 AM
Sources: Amazon's Twitch has been pursuing exclusive livestreaming deals with popular companies and personalities, offering millions per year in some cases
Bloomberg
10:50 AM
Twistlock, which helps secure cloud-based environments like containers, raises $33M Series C led by Iconiq Capital, bringing total raised to $63M
TechCrunch
10:15 AM
Sources: WhatsApp cofounder Jan Koum has continued to show up at least monthly at the Facebook office to secure his stock rewards of ~$450M
Wall Street Journal
9:45 AM
Microsoft begins rolling out OneDrive's new folder protection feature that automatically backs up your PC's documents, pictures, and desktop folders
The Verge
9:30 AM
Amazon and Microsoft begin rolling out Alexa and Cortana integrations, with the ability to ask each assistant to “open” the other
CNET
9:10 AM
Analysis of 150 US tech companies that have gone public since 2010 and are still operating independently finds about 37% are spending beyond their means
Bloomberg
8:35 AM
Israeli startup Carbyne, which has developed a new platform for 911 call-handlers to improve response times, raises $15M Series B led by Elsted Capital Partners
TechCrunch
8:10 AM
How digital technologies and social media went from being hailed as tools of freedom during the Arab Spring to being blamed for upheavals in Western democracies
MIT Technology Review
7:35 AM
Sources: China freezes game approvals amid a restructuring within regulatory administrations, affecting all online, mobile, and console games
Bloomberg
7:15 AM
Tencent reports surprise 2% fall in Q2 net profit, its first decline in nearly 13 years, due to slower growth in mobile games and a drop in PC gaming
Reuters
5:50 AM
An overview of the iPhone repair industry, and how aftermarket factories in China and independent shops compare with Apple and authorized service providers
MacRumors
2:45 AM
Data shows VC investment into ad tech has fallen sharply in recent years, speeding consolidation, as Google and Facebook solidified their grip on digital ads
New York Times
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
10:55 PM
Y Combinator names former Baidu COO Qi Lu as CEO of Y Combinator China, a new Chinese arm it says may start as soon as next summer
Bloomberg
10:40 PM
Strategy Analytics on global smart speaker market: in Q2, Amazon shipped 4.8M units, Google shipped 3.2M, Alibaba shipped 800K, and Apple shipped 700K
MacRumors
10:15 PM
Twitter puts account of Alex Jones in read-only mode for seven days after a tweet violated policy; he can browse but can't tweet, retweet, or like other posts
CNET
8:10 PM
Hundreds of Instagram users report that their accounts have been hacked, with emails and phone numbers tied to accounts changed, preventing account recovery
Mashable
7:20 PM
Kroger to launch online storefront in China on Alibaba's Tmall Global site on Wednesday that will initially sell dietary supplements and private-label products
Wall Street Journal
7:00 PM
In lawsuit against IAC, Tinder's co-founders and execs allege sexual misconduct by former Tinder CEO and a coverup by the company; IAC says suit is “meritless”
Business Insider
5:50 PM
Researchers detail Foreshadow, a speculative execution flaw in secure enclaves on Intel processors, mitigated by May/June microcode fixes, patches coming today
Wired
4:40 PM
How a few activists, concerned by the lack of regulation of US internet firms' data collection practices, led an effort that resulted in CA's new privacy bill
New York Times
4:20 PM
Instagram Stories are as good, if not better, than Snapchat's, but that may present a short-term problem for Facebook as users spend less time on News Feeds
Stratechery
4:00 PM
A look at how China is compiling a global registry of Uighurs to better surveil those who live outside the country, including in the US
The Daily Beast
3:40 PM
Quiz game HQ Trivia debuts an Apple TV app as it hopes to return to growth; its mobile apps' store rankings and concurrent viewers have slid in recent months
TechCrunch
3:30 PM
As it refreshes its brand, a look at the past, present, and future of Evernote, which started in 2002 and has 225M registered users worldwide
Fast Company
3:13 PM
A look at the proliferation of startup fundraising “mega-rounds” of $100M+, of which there were a record 273 last year and even more projected for this year
New York Times
1:05 PM
Cybersecurity startup Exabeam, which uses machine learning and big data to mitigate threats, raises $50M Series D led by Lightspeed Venture Partners
VentureBeat
12:50 PM
Enterprise-focused blockchain startup Axoni raises $32M Series B led by Goldman Sachs and Nyca Partners with a16z, Citi, JP Morgan, and YC among investors
CoinDesk
12:20 PM
Alibaba last week acquired a majority stake in Turkish fashion-focused e-commerce company Trendyol; sources say the deal was for at least $750M
Axios
12:05 PM
Dashcam maker Owl raises $10M Series A1, led by Canvas Ventures, bringing total funding from Series A round to $28M
TechCrunch
12:00 PM
Uber appoints Matt Olsen, former general counsel for the NSA, as its CSO, replacing Joe Sullivan, who left last year amid controversial handling of data breach
New York Times
11:50 AM
Tinder co-founders, 8 former and current execs sue parent firm IAC, alleging Tinder's valuation had been depressed and seeking $2B+ in damages for money owed
CNNMoney
11:40 AM
Q&A with Oscar CEO Mario Schlosser on how health care data can transform the industry as Alphabet invests $375M in the provider, following Capital G and Verily
Wired
11:20 AM
Sources: Sequoia Capital China is partnering with a state-owned VC fund and JD.com to raise up to ~$6B for a new investment firm focusing on late-stage tech
Reuters
11:13 AM
Square announces it now lets customers buy and sell Bitcoin via its Cash App in all 50 US states
CoinDesk
9:55 AM
Ubiquity6, which is building tools to make AR more user-friendly, raises $27M Series B led by Benchmark and Index Ventures
TechCrunch
9:45 AM
Riot's relationship with Tencent has reportedly been strained over declining profits and mobile games
Dot Esports
8:35 AM
To fight fraud, banks and retailers use behavioral biometrics to build millions of user profiles by tracking how they type, swipe, tap when using sites and apps
New York Times
7:20 AM
All current regulations about online privacy are flawed because they view privacy as a thing that needs protecting, rather than a trade-off for benefits
Techdirt
5:25 AM
Despite complaints from a Sandy Hook parent, Automattic has not taken down content from conspiracy theorists, citing Wordpress.com's content policy
New York Times
3:30 AM
How Quanergy Systems, which makes lidar for autonomous cars, has failed to deliver after raising $160M and hitting a peak valuation of over $1.6B
Bloomberg
1:35 AM
Comcast's Xfinity X1 partnership with Netflix and Amazon presages a future of streaming bundles, which would be similar to the cable TV subscription model
The Verge
Monday, August 13, 2018
11:15 PM
US appeals court has blocked the FCC's attempt to pull a broadband subsidy for low income households in tribal areas, staying the FCC decision pending appeal
Ars Technica
9:10 PM
NVIDIA unveils Turing GPU architecture, says it includes AI-based capabilities and real-time ray tracing, and announces Quadro RTX GPUs that will ship Q4 2018
AnandTech
9:00 PM
Sources: Apple invited 30+ app devs to an April 2017 meeting to recommend they move from selling apps at a low upfront cost to a subscription-based SaaS model
INSIDER
7:35 PM
Trump signs defense bill that includes banning the use of some components from Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese companies by the US government and its contractors
The Verge
6:55 PM
DEXON Foundation, a startup developing a high-speed blockchain protocol, announces it has closed a $20M private funding round led by IDG Capital
SiliconANGLE
6:05 PM
Researcher and ex-NSA staffer Patrick Wardle shows how malware could use AppleScript and a macOS feature called “mouse keys” to bypass security prompts on macOS
Wired
5:20 PM
Facebook acquires the seven-person team and tech from startup Vidpresso to make its video more interactive
TechCrunch
5:05 PM
Sources: a16z launches a new fund of ~$15M for black celebrity investors to try to boost diversity in tech, with Kevin Durant and Will Smith among its LPs
Wall Street Journal
4:45 PM
Report finds 18 Android tracking apps have flaws allowing account access; Korean app Couple Vow left 1.7M users' plain text passwords and data exposed on server
Forbes
3:40 PM
Both Chrome and Firefox support TLS 1.3, which IETF released the final version of last week, improving both security and speed
TechCrunch
3:20 PM
Samsung launches SmartThings WiFi mesh router with Adaptive WiFi tech from Plume, a $70 SmartThings Hub, smart button, and upgrades smart outlet and sensors
PCWorld
3:10 PM
Twitter Lite adds push notifications and rolls out to 21 more countries including India, Ukraine, Argentina, and Zimbabwe, bringing the total to 45
TechCrunch
3:02 PM
Sources: YouTube is signing stars to new contracts that pay them to use new features like paid chats and prohibit them from posting first on competitors' sites
Bloomberg
2:20 PM
Tencent-backed Weimob, which offers integrated marketing services to 2.5M+ merchants through WeChat, files for Hong Kong IPO
South China Morning Post
1:30 PM
AMD Threadripper 2990WX 32-core and 2950X 16-core review: cheaper offering toasts competition on a narrow set of workloads, while 2990WX is “out of this world”
AnandTech
1:14 PM
According to release notes for iOS 12's latest developer beta, Group FaceTime has been removed from initial release of iOS 12 and will ship later in the fall
9to5Mac
12:55 PM
Saudi Arabian regulators issue statement clarifying that cryptocurrency trading is illegal in the country
CoinDesk
12:45 PM
Tencent's e-publishing spin-off China Literature buys Chinese production company New Media Classics for $2.2B-$2.3B
TechCrunch
12:30 PM
Results of Alphabet's research with UK's Moorfields Eye Hospital shows Deepmind AI examines OCT scans and makes diagnoses with the accuracy of human clinicians
Engadget
12:10 PM
India-based startup Observe.AI raises $8M Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners to use AI to improve call centers
TechCrunch
11:20 AM
Report: Facebook's Campbell Brown told The Australian that Zuckerberg doesn't care about publishers, Facebook not interested in discussing traffic and referrals
Nieman Lab
10:45 AM
Investigation finds some Google apps on Android and iPhones automatically store time-stamped location data even when the location history setting is paused
Associated Press
10:10 AM
Lenovo unveils ultra-thin ThinkPad P1 with a 15.6-inch 4K display, Intel 8th Gen/Xeon CPUs, up to 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD in a carbon fiber chassis starting at $1,949
AnandTech
9:40 AM
Netflix says its CFO David Wells, who led the service's international expansion to 190 countries, is leaving the company after 14 years
CNBC
9:15 AM
Vimeo has joined YouTube and others in removing InfoWars from its platform; sources say removal came after employee dissatisfaction that it hadn't been banned
Business Insider
8:50 AM
Researcher details vulnerabilities in police body cams, like possibility for outsiders to track individual cams, alter video footage, plant malware, and more
Wired
5:50 AM
Snapchat's loosened standards for video and changes to advertising, like its use of consumer data and computerized auctions, make it less of an internet rebel
Bloomberg
2:45 AM
Rigetti Computing, one of the companies trying to build a practical quantum computer, discloses that it has raised a $50M round in late 2017
Bloomberg
12:30 AM
Deloitte: since 2015, China has outspent the US by $24B in 5G infrastructure and has built 350K new cell sites, compared to less than 30K in US
CNBC
Sunday, August 12, 2018
10:45 PM
State Dept. cable says a five-day-long attack on 9+ major Swedish news sites in 2016 was part of a Russian disinformation campaign to destabilize NATO alliances
BuzzFeed News
9:20 PM
Social media pressure is here to stay as a tactic against advertisers and platforms that support shows like Infowars, because it works, as Sleeping Giants shows
Washington Post
7:50 PM
Check Point shows how hackers could infiltrate networks via all-in-one printers using just a fax number, points to attack on HP model that HP has since patched
Check Point Research
6:25 PM
As attendees of Defcon's Voting Village, including an 11-year-old, successfully hack voting machines, vendors and officials try to downplay the problems
BuzzFeed News
3:25 PM
Dealing with the likes of Infowars on internet platforms is not a binary choice to keep or ban them; many other options exist, and they should all be explored
Techdirt
12:25 PM
Researchers demo machine learning techniques that de-anonymize the authors of code samples, often with more than 90% accuracy, even from binary code
Wired
9:30 AM
RiskRecon, a SaaS platform providing cybersecurity assessments of third-party vendors, raises $25M Series B led by Accel Partners
TechCrunch
7:00 AM
Overstock.com says its subsidiary tZero raised $134M in an ICO, announces up to $270M investment in tZero by Chinese private equity firm GSR at $1.5B valuation
CoinDesk
1:55 AM
A look at the loose alliance between Russia's criminal hackers and intelligence services that has been attacking Russia's perceived enemies since around 2005
Meduza.io
12:00 AM
Spotify is running a test in Australia that lets users skip audio and video ads any time they want, says it may help company train its ad targeting algorithms
Ad Age
Saturday, August 11, 2018
10:25 PM
Researcher details how vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in wireless gateways could put emergency first responders and critical infrastructure at risk
Ars Technica
8:50 PM
Report: UK's advertising regulator to rule that Amazon Prime's “unlimited one-day delivery” claims are misleading in the case of some items
The Guardian
7:15 PM
Fintech startup funding trends: most growth is in real estate and crypto; wealth and investment startup activity is steady; payments, lending are least active
Fortune
5:10 PM
A look at the fake YouTube views ecosystem where sites like Devumi.com and 500Views.com sell millions of bot-generated views and how YouTube is fighting it
New York Times
2:10 PM
Marketers are finding ways to reach children as young as 6 through YouTube influencers, apps, and Snapchat filters, raising concerns of undue influence
Washington Post
11:10 AM
Inside Kim Nilsson's and other WizSec cofounders' quest to find Mt. Gox's hackers, which traced stolen bitcoins to BTC-E and its alleged admin Alexander Vinnik
Wall Street Journal
8:10 AM
Bitcoin developer describes how he found a critical blockchain splitting vulnerability, now fixed, in competing Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrency
Cory Fields
2:05 AM
A look at Spruce Pine, NC, the obscure Appalachian source of the world's purest natural quartz used in manufacturing silicon for computer chips
Wired
12:25 AM
Internet platforms are places of public conversations where society negotiates norms of acceptable behavior; Infowars bans show the process is starting to work
The Atlantic
12:05 AM
Inside Twitter's Friday meeting where Jack Dorsey and executives discussed Infowars, what “dehumanizing speech” means, and a possible drafting of new policies
New York Times
Friday, August 10, 2018
10:40 PM
Twitter says it found 7 tweets by Infowars or Alex Jones that broke rules but accounts won't be suspended; 2 of the now-deleted tweets were made after Dec. 2017
CNNMoney
9:30 PM
Researchers find bugs in some mobile card readers from Square, SumUp, iZettle, and PayPal that allow manipulation or remote control via Bluetooth or mobile apps
Wired
8:35 PM
Sources speculate on Twitter's reasons for tolerance of Alex Jones including political naiveté, not wanting to appear partisan, and waiting to ban on own terms
Slate
7:30 PM
Twitter suspends several accounts associated with the right-wing group Proud Boys and founder Gavin McInnes for violating policy on violent extremist groups
BuzzFeed News
7:00 PM
Kryptowire research: apps and firmware tweaks that Asus, LG, Essential, and ZTE add to Android phones sold in US come with serious vulnerabilities
Wired