Techmeme: Y Combinator Winter 2017 Demo Day 2: 51 startups with a focus on backend engineering tools and social apps (TechCrunch)

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March 22, 2017, 6:05 AM

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Andrew Ng / Medium:

Google Brain founder and Baidu's chief scientist Andrew Ng resigns from Baidu — I will be resigning from Baidu, where I have been leading the company's AI Group. Baidu's AI is incredibly strong, and the team is stacked up and down with talent; I am confident AI at Baidu will continue to flourish.

More: Bloomberg, Axios, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Seeking Alpha, Tech in Asia, New York Times, Forbes, Silicon Republic, Reuters, The Tech Portal, e27, and TechNode

Tweets: @andrewyng, @andrewyng, and @ngkabra

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Google releases Android O to developers, touting better battery life through improved background app management and more organized notifications with “channels” — Developers can start work on it today — For the second year in a row, Google is making a developer preview …

Eric Newcomer / Bloomberg:

Tumult at Uber, including the departure of president Jeff Jones, has complicated the COO search; source says Tim Armstrong and ex-Walt Disney COO in contention — Jeff Jones, who resigned as president, clashed with the CEO and unsuccessfully advocated for in-app tipping and other changes. — by

More: CNBC, New York Times, TheStreet, Fortune, VentureBeat, Mashable, Vanity Fair, Vox, Vox, Fortune, and FactorDaily

Tweets: @ericnewcomer, @johnath, @valleyhack, @reggievaitz, @sarahcuda, @robsiegel, @ericnewcomer, @shiraovide, @ellenhuet, @melaniehannah, @ericnewcomer, and @ericnewcomer

Blaise Zerega / VentureBeat:

Uber board member Arianna Huffington, head of N. America operations Rachel Holt, and HR officer Liane Hornsey take questions on sexual harassment investigation — Uber today provided an update on its investigation into alleged sexual harassment and discriminatory practices at the company.

More: Uber Global, The Register, Business Insider, New York Times, Quartz, BuzzFeed, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @mikeisaac, @ericnewcomer, @byjulialove, @ericnewcomer, @mikeisaac, @ericnewcomer, @bxchen, @bizcarson, @bizcarson, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @nkulw, @inafried, @kerrymflynn, @amir, @mikeisaac, and @sal19

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Outlook, Skype, Xbox issues resolved, but OneDrive still experiencing problems after Microsoft services hit by account authentication issue earlier today — Two weeks ago, a widespread authentication issue prevented a number of Microsoft users from accessing their cloud services.

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

How iCloud account data helped police identify the attacker who allegedly tweeted seizure-inducing strobe, despite his use of a prepaid SIM bought with cash — An anonymous SIM card in a non-anonymous iPhone — In theory, it was the perfect setup: an anonymous Twitter account on a prepaid SIM card, bought with cash.

More: NBC News, 9to5Mac, Engadget, BGR, Insanely Great Mac, Cult of Mac, and CNN

Tweets: @troyhunt and @kurteichenwald

See also Mediagazer

Deanna Ting / Skift:

Airbnb rebrands as Aibiying in China, plans to triple workforce and double investment in the country in 2017, integrates with Alipay and WeChat — But the bigger question remains: Can it successfully compete with the reigning “Airbnb of China,” Tujia? — Continuing on his global tour of six cities …

More: TechCrunch, PCWorld, Airbnb Newsroom, The Next Web, TECHSEEN, SiliconANGLE, Mashable, Forbes, USA Today, Reuters, CNET, Bloomberg, CNBC, Mercury News, Business Insider, Fortune, and Marketing Week

Tweets: @bchesky and @jonrussell

Wall Street Journal:

Microsoft says it has finished customizing Windows 10 for Chinese government use, after last year's passage of cybersecurity law that shook industry — Tech companies are customizing products to meet heightened security demands from Beijing — BEIJING— Microsoft Corp. has finished development …

More: CHINAdaily, SiliconANGLE, Network World, The Verge, Ars Technica, On MSFT, and Petri

BBC:

Following US ban, UK announces cabin baggage ban on electronics, which includes laptops, tablets, and phones over a certain size, for flights from six countries — The UK is due to announce a ban on laptops and other electronic devices on certain passenger flights, following a similar move by the US.

More: GOV.UK, NBC News, ZDNet, Vox, BBC, The Atlantic, The Verge, Fone Arena, Financial Times, iPhone in Canada Blog, One Mile at a Time, KFOR-TV, TechConnect, The Next Web, Wall Street Journal, Sky News, Fortune, Al Jazeera, Axios, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @bbcbreaking, @eileentso, @tomgara, @transportgovuk, @abu3aseed, @ishaantharoor, @bbcbreaking, @conormichael28, @stephaniecarvin, @amaramarasingam, @shashj, @drjohnhorgan, and @skynewsbreak. Thanks:@ravichandrans25

TechCrunch:

Y Combinator Winter 2017 Demo Day 2: 51 startups with a focus on backend engineering tools and social apps — Connie Loizos, Josh Constine, Ryan Lawler and Sarah Buhr — Over 15,000 founders from 7,200 startups applied to this batch of Y Combinator. It chose just over 100 with founders …

More: Government Technology News. Tweets: @erickschonfeld, @pinboard, @pinboard, @pinboard, @pinboard, and @pinboard

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Amazon adds “Send to Kindle” feature to its Kindle iOS app, letting users send articles for reading later — Amazon has quietly rolled out the “Send to Kindle” feature to its Kindle for iOS application that allows you to save to the app articles and documents found on the web.

More: 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, The Digital Reader, Good E-Reader, and The Verge

Tweets: @marcoarment, @joshconstine, and @mariosundar

Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:

Apple releases iTunes 12.6 with feature allowing rentals to be watched across multiple devices using iOS 10.3 and tvOS 10.2, which are in public/dev beta — In addition to new iPhone and iPad updates today, Apple has released iTunes 12.6 with a new feature for movie rental playback.

More: AppleInsider, The Verge, Tech Times, Ubergizmo, SlashGear, Engadget, and MacRumors

Tweets: @sambeal and @dcseifert

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

Apple discontinues iPad mini 2 and raises iPad mini 4's base storage from 32GB to 128GB, available for $399 — Apple today announced that the iPad mini 4 now offers more capacity for the same price. The 128GB model with Wi-Fi now starts at $399, which was previously the price for the 32GB model …

More: Ubergizmo, Communications …, CIO.com, MacRumors, International Business Times, Macworld, TouchArcade, and AppleInsider

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

Apple announces new 9.7-inch iPad with A9 chip to replace iPad Air 2, starting at $329 for 32GB and $429 for 128GB, available to order on March 24

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