Techmeme
January 23, 2018, 12:50 PM

Top News

Apple:
Apple says its delayed HomePod smart speaker will be available to order on Friday for $349 in US, £319 in UK, A$499 in Australia, will arrive in stores Feb. 9  —  Breakthrough Wireless Speaker Brings Advanced Audio Technologies Into Any Home for an Incredible Music Listening Experience
Mitchel Broussard / MacRumors:
HomePod's multi-room audio and stereo features will not be available at launch, will be enabled later this year via a free software update  —  Within the HomePod's pre-order date and launch announcement today, Apple confirmed that the smart speaker's multi-room audio and stereo features won't be making it into the device at launch.
Bloomberg:
Twitter COO Anthony Noto has resigned to become SoFi CEO, starting March 1  —  Noto joined Twitter in 2014 after a career on Wall Street  —  SoFi has been searching for a new leader since September  —  Twitter Inc. Chief Operating Officer Anthony Noto has resigned to accept the role …
CNBC:
Snap opens up ability to share select public Stories outside the app, via text or email, or to Twitter and Facebook  —  - Users will be able to share Stories to their linked social media accounts, or through text or email with a link to a webpage where people who don't have the app can view the message.
Newley Purnell / Wall Street Journal:
Google's Files Go Android app, which can delete all “good morning” images, a popular morning greeting in India, at once, has 10M+ downloads  —  The country, newly online, has become obsessed with sending cheery greetings from smartphones, causing head scratching in Silicon Valley
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
DuckDuckGo launches revamped mobile apps and browser extensions with built-in tracker blocking available globally for Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari  —  Some major product news from veteran anti-tracking search engine DuckDuckGo: Today it's launched revamped mobile apps …
Ankit Chawla / NDTV Gadgets 360:
Instagram now supports GIFs in Stories through partnership with GIPHY  —  Facebook-owned image sharing platform Instagram has collaborated with Giphy to announce the rollout of a new millennial-focused feature on its Android and iOS app.  Starting Tuesday, GIF stickers will be available globally …
Samidh Chakrabarti / Facebook:
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Android 8.1 Speed Labels now show WiFi network speeds before connecting, helping decide between networks to join; admins can opt out of having speed displayed  —  Oreo was a bit of a lackluster update on first launch, but the mobile operating system is getting some nice new tricks with 8.1's updates.
Dami Lee / The Verge:
Google quietly updates design of Gboard for iOS to make the GIF creation feature more accessible  —  Hey, Dieter  —  Gboard, Google's iOS and Android keyboard app, has quietly updated its design by moving its GIF-making button up next to the word suggestion bar.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Google Play now sells audiobooks in 45 markets and nine languages, with voice support for Google Assistant  —  Ever since Google ditched Android Market in 2012 and brought all its digital media content into a single marketplace, Google Play has emerged as the go-to place for apps, movies, TV shows, magazines, music, games, and books.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix beats in Q4 with 8.3M new worldwide subs, vs 5M est., and almost 2M in US, vs 1.28M est.; revenue of $3.29B meets expectations; stock up 10%+  —  Netflix reeled in 8.3 million new streaming subscribers — including almost 2 million in the U.S. — handily beating Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Tokyo-based bitFlyer, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, launches in Europe after receiving EU-wide payment institution license  —  BitFlyer, the Tokyo-based operator of one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, is expanding into Europe after receiving regulatory approval …
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Acer announces $349 Chromebook Spin 11 with 360-degree hinge, 11.6-inch touchscreen, and USB-C, Chromebook 11 C732 with built-in LTE option, and Chromebox CXI3  —  And a tiny Chromebox  —  Acer has announced a new Chromebook called the Spin 11, a convertible design with a 360-hinge and 11.6-inch touchscreen.
Reuters:
Chinese tech giants including Baidu, NetEase, Toutiao, and UCWeb, are jumping on the mobile-based live quiz craze with cash prizes luring millions of players  —  BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - It seems like a game everyone wins: some of China's biggest tech companies, looking to hook in new consumers …

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Earlier Picks

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