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December 13, 2017, 5:35 PM
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Top News

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
T-Mobile is acquiring Denver-based TV tech company Layer3 TV and says it will launch its own wireless TV service to compete with Comcast, others, in 2018  —  T-Mobile says it will launch its own TV service in 2018, expanding its competitive focus beyond the U.S. wireless giants to target major cable …
Josh Lipton / CNBC:
Apple awards $390M from its $1B Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Finisar, which makes laser chips used in iPhone X and AirPods for depth and proximity sensing  —  - Apple is investing $390 million into Finisar, which makes chips used by Apple products for depth and proximity sensing.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Patreon CEO Jack Conte says the company will “press pause” on planned change to service fee for each pledge, set to start Dec. 18, after uproar from creators  —  Patreon has called off plans to add a service fee to patrons' pledges, a proposed update that angered many users.
Nate Raymond / Reuters:
Unsealed court documents show three men have plead guilty to creating the 2016 Mirai botnet that disrupted access to major internet platforms  —  (Reuters) - A former Rutgers University student and two other men have agreed to plead guilty to computer crimes related to the creation and use …
Jason Del Rey / Recode:
Target says it plans to acquire grocery delivery platform Shipt for $550M in cash and will run it as independent unit; Shipt has 170 staff and has raised $65M  —  Target will offer same-day delivery from half of its stores by summer.  —  Another domino just fell in the wake of the Amazon-Whole Foods acquisition.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google says it's bringing Assistant to tablets running Android 6.0+ and phones running Android 5.0+ in US, UK, India, Australia, and elsewhere  —  The Google Assistant, Google's take on Siri, Cortana and Alexa without the approachable name, has long been available on most modern phones and tablets.
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Google says it's opening an artificial intelligence research center in Beijing, its first in China  —  Google has officially announced that it is opening an AI center in Beijing, China.  —  The confirmation comes after months of speculation fueled by a major push to hire AI talent inside the country.
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Sources: Facebook plans to end program that paid ~300 publishers and other content creators to produce videos for News Feed  —  Multiple publisher sources said Facebook no longer plans to pay publishers and other video makers to produce videos for the news feed.
Kim Willsher / The Guardian:
French government moves to ban smartphone use in primary, junior, and middle schools, affecting children age 6-15, starting in September 2018  —  Pupils, teachers and parents seem less than convinced by measure prohibiting use in primary, junior and middle schools
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Facebook says Russia's Internet Research Agency spent just $0.97 on three ads seen ~200 times by UK users over four days in May 2016, shortly before Brexit vote
Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:
Uber says its head of driver product, Aaron Schildkrout, is leaving the company after three years, as the firm concludes its 180-day driver improvement campaign  —  Aaron Schildkrout joined Uber in 2015.  —  Uber's head of driver product, Aaron Schildkrout, is leaving the company after three years.
Tweets: @ericnewcomer
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Location-based VR firm Dreamscape Immersive raises $10M more to bring Series B total to $30M; Nickelodeon invests, will let its IP be used in new VR experience  —  Dreamscape Immersive, the location-based virtual reality (VR) startup headed by Disney and DreamWorks veterans …
More: The Wrap
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Techstars partners with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and its chat app Viber on three-month Asia-based accelerator focused on mobile chat and related areas  —  Techstars is bringing its global accelerator program to Asia for the first time in partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and its chat app Viber.
More: Techstars
Jeff Benjamin / 9to5Mac:
Apple iMac Pro in 8-core and 10-core variants will be available to order on December 14, starting at $4,999; 14-core and 18-core models are coming later  —  Apple's pro-oriented all-in-one desktop, the iMac Pro, is set to launch this Thursday on December 14, 2017.
Kif Leswing / Business Insider:
Early reviews from videographers and other creative professionals find iMac Pro has much improved performance, is decent value, and looks good in Space Grey

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:35 PM ET, December 13, 2017.

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.

From Mediagazer

Dominic-Madori Davis / TechCrunch:
A look at Hamlet, a startup that uses AI to process local government meeting videos and which plans to provide the tool to local journalists for free

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi agree to part ways and let her contract expire at the end of the year, following new allegations about her affair with RFK Jr.

John Koblin / New York Times:
The Netflix-WBD deal should quiet concerns, for now, from CNN employees worried about the prospect of Paramount combining CBS News and CNN in a WBD acquisition

More News

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Google and Tamasek report: Southeast Asia's internet economy growth has exceeded expectations by 35%, now estimated to reach $50B in 2017 and $200B by 2025

Earlier Picks

Takashi Mochizuki / Wall Street Journal:
Western Digital drops arbitration claims aimed at halting $18B sale of Toshiba's flash memory unit; Toshiba ends legal claims against Western Digital
Reuters:
South Korea says it may tax capital gains from cryptocurrency trading and ban minors from opening accounts on exchanges
Oliver Cragg / Android Authority:
US biometrics company Synaptics says it has perfected an in-display fingerprint sensor that is now in mass production in partnership with “a top five OEM”
Ben Popper / The Verge:
Instagram now lets you follow hashtags, surfacing highlights from that collection in your main feed, rolling out today
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