Techmeme
March 28, 2017, 2:50 PM

Top News

Facebook:
Facebook's main app gets Snapchat-like Stories atop the News Feed, Direct for sharing ephemeral images and video with friends, and in-app camera effects  —  We want to make it fast, fun and easy for people to share creative photos and videos with whomever they choose, for however long they choose …
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Facebook copied Snapchat a fourth time, and now all its apps look the same  —  Facebook doesn't seem concerned with giving each of its core services a unique identity.  —  Facebook is copying Snapchat again: Today it launched Stories, the 24-hour photo and video montages that ultimately disappear, inside of its core Facebook app.
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Uber's first diversity report shows workforce as 36.1% female worldwide with 15.4% female engineers, 49.8% white, 30.9% Asian, 8.8% black, 5.6% Hispanic overall  —  Uber just released its highly-anticipated, first-ever diversity report detailing the demographics of its employees as of this month.
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Tinder unveils Tinder Online, a web-optimized version currently being tested in emerging markets with plans to launch everywhere “soon”  —  Tinder is today introducing a new way for users to access the platform with the launch of Tinder Online, a web-optimized version of the dating app …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Amazon debuts AmazonFresh Pickup, a drive-in service delivering groceries straight to the trunks of customers' cars, in beta at two Seattle locations  —  Amazon's grocery efforts just got a new level of convenience for shoppers: AmazonFresh Pickup, a drive-in grocery delivery right to your car's trunk, launching in beta on Tuesday.
Chris O'Brien / VentureBeat:
Google Home and Google Wifi will be available in the UK on April 6 for £129, the first market outside the US for both  —  Google announced today that its Home and Wifi devices will be available soon in the U.K., the first international markets for the gadgets.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
AWS launches Amazon Connect, a tool for call centers that uses its Lex speech recognition and AI; Salesforce says it's integrating Einstein service with Connect  —  Amazon Web Services just unveiled a new service for running call centers, dubbed Amazon Connect, leveraging the same technology used …
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Twitter will start selling pre-roll ads ahead of Periscope videos  —  Twitter is looking for some more video ad dollars.  —  Twitter is going to start making some money from Periscope, its livestreaming video service.  —  The company announced on Tuesday that it will begin selling pre-roll video ads …
Wall Street Journal:
Tencent buys 5% passive stake in Tesla for $1.8B, making it the fifth-largest shareholder in the automaker  —  China's most valuable company, buys 5% stake in Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker ahead of ambitious launch of $35,000 sedan  —  Tencent Holdings Ltd. bought a 5% stake in Tesla Inc. …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Payments company Square launches in the UK, its first European market and fifth globally  —  Mobile payments company Square is finally landing in Europe with the news today that it's now open for U.K.-based business owners.  —  This launch represents the fifth market for Square, after the U.S. …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
IKEA's Trådfri system for smart home lighting goes live on Swedish website, available in Swedish stores on March 31 starting at about $85  —  Smart lights on a budget  —  Ikea is finally getting into the home automation game with its own system for smart lighting.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases watchOS 3.2 with Theater Mode, an easily accessible option to disable “Raise to Wake”, and SiriKit, which will allow users to give Siri commands  —  Apple today released a new software update for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 3.1.3 to watchOS 3.2. watchOS 3.2 …
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Maureen Dowd / Vanity Fair:
Interviews with Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Ray Kurzweil, others on AI in coming decades, its regulation, and possible implementations  —  Elon Musk is famous for his futuristic gambles, but Silicon Valley's latest rush to embrace artificial intelligence scares him.  And he thinks you should be frightened too.
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:

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