Techmeme: Several tech execs were initially worried about supporting Apple in FBI case because of its potential to backfire, concerns over public perception (New York Times)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

March 3, 2016, 5:45 PM

Top News

Pavel Alpeyev / Bloomberg Business:

Samsung says customer privacy is “extremely important” and backdoors would undermine trust, but stops short of openly supporting Apple, won't file amicus brief — Samsung Echoes Apple's Arguments on Importance of User Privacy — The world's largest smartphone vendor also opposes backdoors

New York Times:

Several tech execs were initially worried about supporting Apple in FBI case because of its potential to backfire, concerns over public perception — Apple Gets Tech Industry Backing in iPhone Dispute, Despite Misgivings — It is a remarkable moment for the technology industry …

More: Gizmodo, Box, Re/code, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg Business, New York Magazine, Fortune, iPhone in Canada Blog, Nextgov and Tech Times

Tweets: @jennamc_laugh, @nytimesbusiness and @nytimesbusiness

Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:

A list of the companies, organizations, and individuals that have filed court documents supporting Apple against the FBI — These Are Apple's Allies Against the FBI (Updated) — Some 40 companies and organizations are expected to file briefs today in support of Apple in its fight …

More: Re/code, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Tech Insider, ZDNet, The Next Web, Electronic Frontier Foundation, VentureBeat, Investor's Business Daily, New York Times, iPhone in Canada Blog, Fortune, BGR and Cult of Mac

Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:

Amazon unveils Tap, a $130 Alexa-enabled portable bluetooth speaker, and the $90 Echo Dot, which adds Alexa support to other speakers — Amazon adds the $130 Tap and the $90 Dot to the Echo family — Amazon's voice-operated command center Echo produces something close to modern …

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Amazon's Alexa will be able to control Nest and Honeywell thermostats this month — Last month Amazon started allowing its Alexa voice assistant to control smart home thermostats. Now, Amazon's virtual assistant will be compatible with two major brands: Honeywell and Alphabet-owned Nest.

More: Nest, GeekWire, Forbes, 9to5Google, Mashable, Quartz, TechHive, iMore, Computerworld and The Next Web

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / Motherboard:

Amazon quietly removed support for device encryption in the latest version of Fire OS, which powers its tablets and phones — Amazon Quietly Removes Encryption Support from its Gadgets — While Apple is fighting the FBI in court over encryption, Amazon quietly disabled the option …

More: The Daily Dot, Engadget, The Next Web, Wired, Techdirt, Ars Technica, ZDNet, The Digital Reader, Pocketnow and Talking New Media

Tweets: @davidscovetta, @ppinternational, @justicar, @mattblaze, @acedtect, @securityhumor and @dangillmor

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Facebook rolls out ability to share Spotify songs and playlists from within a chat thread on iOS and Android — Spotify becomes first music platform to integrate with Facebook Messenger — Music has arrived on Messenger. — Facebook announced today that its mobile messaging platform now integrates with Spotify.

More: TechCrunch, Messenger, VatorNews, The Verge, Gizmodo, The Next Web, VentureBeat, iMore, Mashable, Variety, RAIN News and Ubergizmo

Lucas Mearian / Computerworld:

Samsung ships the world's highest capacity SSD, with 15TB of storage — Samsung Electronics announced Wednesday that it is now shipping the industry's highest-capacity solid-state drive (SSD), the 15.36TB PM1633a. — Samsung revealed it was working on the drive last August …

More: Samsung Newsroom, Engadget, Ars Technica, ValueWalk, The Register, Digital Trends, FierceCIO News, TechSpot, The Tech Report, Mashable, PCWorld, Tech Times, Gizmodo UK, Neowin, Ubergizmo, ZDNet and BetaNews

Tweets: @laurensvanduijn and @samsungsemius

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Instagram blocks deeplinks on profile pages that let users point to their Snapchat or Telegram accounts — Instagram starts blocking ‘add me’ deeplinking for Snapchat, Telegram — Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram is flexing its platform muscle by shutting down 'add …

More: The Verge, Tech Times, Ubergizmo, The Next Web and SocialTimes. Tweets: @chanian

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

HTC Vive Pre: unfinished, but makes best case for VR both as entertainment device and computing interface — The HTC Vive Pre: an unfinished, incredibly fun virtual reality system — Of all the virtual reality headsets out there, the HTC Vive feels most like what science fiction visionaries promised us in the '80s and '90s.

More: PCWorld and VentureBeat. Tweets: @jake_k and @joshmarinacci

Pavithra Mohan / Fast Company:

YouTube partners with UN to produce content that promotes gender equality, invests in videos by and about women at YouTube Spaces — YouTube Boosts Female Content Creators With Two New Initiatives — Both programs will focus on producing videos by women, for women, that discuss gender equality and other women's issues.

More: YouTube Blog, AndroidHeadlines.com, Gadgette, TechCrunch, Jezebel, Teen Vogue, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Fortune, SiliconBeat, AndroidHeadlines.com, 9to5Google, BetaNews, The Stack, The Verge, Mashable, AndroidHeadlines.com and Tubefilter. See also Mediagazer

Dan Primack / Fortune:

Former Snapchat and Instagram exec Emily White creating personal concierge startup Mave — Ex-Snapchat COO Emily White Has A New Startup — Former Snapchat and Instagram executive Emily White has created a high-end personal concierge startup, Fortune has learned.

More: socalTECH.com and Business Insider

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.

Zoho:

Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up — Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

BG2 Pod:

AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean

Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.

Subscribe to BG2 Pod.

Great Chat:

The stories we told ourselves in 2025

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Grit:

How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Lenny's Podcast:

The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:45 PM ET, March 3, 2016.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.