Techmeme: Sources: Samsung investigation finds Galaxy Note7 fires were caused by irregularly sized batteries that didn't properly fit the phone and manufacturing issues (Wall Street Journal)

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January 20, 2017, 6:00 AM

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Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

NHTSA closes probe into June 2016 Tesla crash, clearing Autopilot of fault and praising its safety features, including a ~40% drop in crashes since introduction — The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its full findings following the investigation …

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Creators Update test build with support for ebooks and more, delays “My People” quick-access links until later this year — Microsoft's latest Windows 10 Creators Update test build: Ebook support is in. My People sharing is out until later this year.

More: Windows Blog, The Verge, Engadget, Thurrott.com, VentureBeat, SlashGear, Softpedia News, PCWorld, The Tech Portal, Digital Trends, On MSFT, MSPoweruser, and Neowin. Tweets: @roddrury

Nick Statt / The Verge:

Samsung and independent experts to release findings of investigation into Galaxy Note7 explosions at 10AM KST on January 23 in Seoul (8PM ET January 22) — The press conference takes place in Seoul — Samsung announced today that it would reveal its investigative findings on the recalled Galaxy Note 7 this Sunday evening.

More: Samsung Global Newsroom, AppleInsider, TmoNews, PhoneDog.com, Android Police, TechCrunch, Droid Life, and Android Central

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Samsung investigation finds Galaxy Note7 fires were caused by irregularly sized batteries that didn't properly fit the phone and manufacturing issues — An investigation into the cause of faulty batteries that led Samsung Electronics to pull all of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones …

More: The Verge

Jack Nicas / Wall Street Journal:

Analysis finds Google placed ads for its own products atop 91% of 25K searches for related items; after Google was told, only 19% had Google product ads atop — A Wall Street Journal analysis found that Google often pushes its growing list of hardware products, from Pixel phones to Nest smart thermostats …

More: eMarketer and Newsroom Posts, SiliconBeat, Recode, USA Today, CNBC, and 9to5Google

Tweets: @benfritz, @scottmaustin, @jacknicas, @nitashatiku, @david_marcelis, @jhtscherck, and @larakiara

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:

Uber agrees to pay $20M fine to settle FTC suit alleging the company overstated potential driver earnings in 20 cities — Uber Technologies agreed Thursday to pay $20 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that it misled drivers about potential earnings and vehicle financing.

More: Federal Trade Commission, Digital Trends, The Next Web, The Tech Portal, Gizmodo, CNET, The Register, Engadget, Business Insider, Recode, The Verge, Independent Drivers Guild, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, and Reuters

Tweets: @skupor, @nkulw, @benpopper, @nkulw, and @scottmaustin

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

Brian Krebs accuses founder of DDoS mitigation provider ProTraf Solutions as co-author of Mirai IoT worm; founder denies involvement — On September 22, 2016, this site was forced offline for nearly four days after it was hit with “Mirai,” a malware strain that enslaves poorly secured Internet of Things …

More: Silicon Republic, BGR, The Register, Schneier on Security, Inquirer, New York Magazine, Naked Security, TechCrunch, and Engadget

Tweets: @briankrebs, @briankrebs, and @briankrebs

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Atlassian reports a quarterly net loss of $1.7M and $148.9M in revenue, up 36% year-over-year, and expects $4M revenue from Trello in fiscal 2017 — For fiscal 2017, Atlassian projected revenue between $611 million to $615 million as it integrates Trello. — Atlassian's active customer count …

More: GlobeNewswire News Room, SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat, Tech Trader Daily, and Investor's Business Daily. Tweets: @thufirhawat

Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed:

How WhatsApp's intimacy and immediacy have greatly increased the spread of misinformation in India, its largest market — At 8 PM on November 8, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi unexpectedly banned 86% of the country's legal tender from circulation. The goal was to wipe out “black money” …

Tweets: @anniegowen, @stephaniemlee, @nitashatiku, and @mat. See also Mediagazer

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

Snap to enable ad targeting using 3rd-party data from offline purchases, after signing deal with Oracle Data Cloud, following lead of Google, Facebook, Twitter — Mobile app company follows lead of Google, Facebook and Twitter by working with Oracle Data Cloud

More: TechCrunch, Adweek, International Business Times, Social Media Today, The Tech Portal, Digital Trends, Marketing Land, and Business Insider

Tweets: @rosssheingold, @digitalshields, @joshconstine, @jackmarshall, @joshconstine, and @joshconstine

Kurt Wagner / Recode:

Twitter says it beat “many” internal workplace diversity targets in 2016, including promoting minorities and women to leadership positions — Twitter's workforce is a little more diverse, but still predominantly white and male. — Most Silicon Valley tech companies have workforces …

More: The Twitter Blog, TechCrunch, SlashGear, Fortune, SocialTimes, jencotton, Engadget, Mic, USA Today, and Bloomberg

Tweets: @cfair1, @justinpulitzer, @twitterwomen, @jguynn, @jack, and @melaniehannah

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

LinkedIn unveils new desktop site with simpler, app-like look, pop-up messaging window with chatbots, and updated universal search — After a short preview in September last year, and the small matter of getting acquired for $26.2 billion by Microsoft, today LinkedIn …

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