Techmeme: Amazon launches the Music Skill API for Alexa, allowing developers to stream songs from online services to Alexa devices and Amazon Echo speakers in the US (Kyle Wiggers/VentureBeat)

Top News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Twitter says it's testing a home screen toggle to switch between latest and top tweets timelines with a small number of iOS users; toggle previously in settings — Twitter is digging one of its most important new features out of its settings and putting it within easy reach.

More: Digital Trends, Gizmodo, Social Media Today, Engadget, and CNET

Tweets: @twitter, @jack, @kayvz, and @caseynewton

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Twitter's spam reporting tool now lets users specify more details, like if the account is fake, using unrelated hashtags, or sharing malicious links — Twitter is adding more nuance to its spam reporting tools, the company announced today. Instead of simply flagging a tweet as posting spam …

More: The Verge, 9to5Mac, Neowin, Adweek, Gizmodo, Engadget, Android Police, and Fortune

Tweets: @twittersafety, @urbanstrata, @josh_emerson, @jkmartindale, and @paperghost

New York Times:

A look at the internal backlash at Google over its handling of sexual harassment claims, with 1,500+ employees planning to walk out in protest on Thursday — SAN FRANCISCO — Google is struggling to contain a growing internal backlash over its handling of sexual harassment and its workplace culture.

More: The Verge, CNN, Gizmodo, CNET, and CNBC

Tweets: @googlewalkout, @karaswisher, @googlewalkout, @googlewalkout, @dodaistewart, @puiwingtam, @inyoungk, and @ktbenner

Ina Fried / Axios:

Source: Rich DeVaul, a director at X, Alphabet's moonshot unit, left the company today following reports of sexual harassment, did not receive an exit package

More: ABC News, Axios, Telegraph, Forbes, Ars Technica, Newser, Bloomberg, BBC, NBC Bay Area, The Verge, Politico, Silicon Valley Business …, The Hill, New York Times, Business Insider, Fortune, Slate, CNBC, Financial Times, Engadget, 9to5Google, CNN, and CNET

Tweets: @inafried and @inafried

James Vincent / The Verge:

iRobot partners with Google and will share spatial data from Roombas to help improve Google's smart home experience by mapping rooms — The two companies are working together to leverage spatial data generated by iRobot's robovacs — Google and iRobot have announced they're working together …

More: iRobot MediaKit, VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, CNET, Xconomy, TechSpot, KnowTechie, Digital Trends, 9to5Google, Engadget, and Investor's Business Daily

Tweets: @irobot, @om, @econompic, @basche42, @mathewi, @rachelmetz, and @angebassa

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

Apple says its T2 security chip, found in the 2018 Mac laptops, disconnects the device's microphone from the rest of the hardware whenever the lid is closed — Apple's newest MacBooks include a new feature that makes it virtually impossible for hackers or spies to eavesdrop on your microphone.

More: 9to5Mac, KnowTechie, The Next Web, and iPhone in Canada Blog. Tweets: @stevekopack

Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:

Apple's newly unveiled products start at higher price points, with the 2018 Macbook Air 128GB model starting 20% higher, continuing Apple's push into higher ASP — When Apple launched the iPhone X, it did more than just change the design language of the iPhone: it also offered a whole new pricing level.

More: BGR and iMore

Tweets: @vladsavov, @howardlindzon, @rodrigoaraujo, @itsericp, @benlovejoy, @luke_anders3, @parmy, @bryfitz, @pierce, @mims, @cmaciasjimenez, @snitstwits, @bill_mcalonan, @rodrigoaraujo, @cbirdsong, @rodrigoaraujo, @rosewoodat5th, @epaga, and @stroughtonsmith

Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:

Xiaomi sends cease and desist letter to Lyft, saying it will pursue legal action if Lyft continues to modify scooters originally manufactured by Xiaomi — Xiaomi, the electric scooter manufacturer that a handful of the shared electric scooter services in the U.S. (like ones from Lyft …

More: Mashable and TechNode

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google announces account security updates, including requiring JavaScript be enabled when using a Google sign-in page in order to run a risk assessment — October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Google is announcing a slew of new features related to the sign-in process and account usage.

More: Google Online Security Blog and ZDNet

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

Fitbit posts a net loss of $2.1M in Q3, down from $113.4M a year ago, on revenue of $393.6M, as smartwatches accounted for 49% of company's total revenue — Fitbit is slowly righting its financial ship, courtesy of a successful push into smartwatch category.

More: Fitbit, Inc., ZDNet, Reuters, and Engadget. Tweets: @fqure

NDTV Gadgets 360:

WhatsApp's VP Chris Daniels confirms WhatsApp will put ads in its ‘Status’ section, but declined to provide a timeline — Clearing the air on Facebook's monetisation efforts towards WhatsApp, the mobile messaging service's Vice President Chris Daniels on Wednesday said the company …

More: The Economic Times, Android Police, Outlook India, Moneycontrol, The Next Web, Android Authority, NewsX, Entrackr, The Financial Express, and PhoneArena. Tweets: @mattnavarra

Business Insider:

Sources: Apple held multiple acquisition talks with Leap Motion, beginning in 2013 and most recently in spring 2018, when Apple made an offer between $30M-$50M — - Apple has offered to buy augmented reality startup Leap Motion multiple times, most recently in the spring of 2018.

More: VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, 9to5Mac, Patently Apple, InvestorPlace, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, and MacRumors

Tweets: @drnovac, @kifleswing, @iansherr, @jasonlk, @netmobz, and @lexnfx. Thanks:@stevetweedie

Washington Post:

Profile of Gab co-founder Andrew Torba days after Gab went offline and its CTO and co-founder Ekrem Buyukkaya quit following “attacks from the American media” — Like many young entrepreneurs drawn to California's technological gold rush, Andrew Torba brought a familiar mix of smarts …

More: HuffPost and Gothamist

Tweets: @drewharwell, @lizzadwoskin, and @emmersbrown

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Amazon launches the Music Skill API for Alexa, allowing developers to stream songs from online services to Alexa devices and Amazon Echo speakers in the US — Spicing up voice apps on Amazon's Alexa assistant with jammin' tunes just got a whole lot easier.

More: Amazon Developer Services and SlashGear

Kara Swisher / New York Times:

Social platforms operate with sloppy disregard of the consequences of awful speech, unwilling to affect their bottom lines, and the negligence includes funders — This is what the internet has come to: thugs like Mohammed bin Salman funding tech companies to host the vitriol of thugs like Cesar Sayoc and Robert Bowers.

More: CNN

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