Techmeme: 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 (Zack Whittaker/TechCrunch)

Top News

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, Xconomy, CNET, KnowTechie, Investor's Business Daily, 9to5Google, Digital Trends, TechSpot, and Engadget

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

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: CNET, CNBC, and Business Insider

Tweets: @ktbenner, @inyoungk, and @puiwingtam

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

Tweets: @inafried and @inafried

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, MacRumors, Patently Apple, InvestorPlace, iPhone Hacks, and iPhone in Canada Blog

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

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: 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

More: iMore. Tweets: @rodrigoaraujo, @itsericp, @luke_anders3, @parmy, @bryfitz, @pierce, @mims, @cmaciasjimenez, @snitstwits, @bill_mcalonan, @rodrigoaraujo, @cbirdsong, @rodrigoaraujo, @rosewoodat5th, @epaga, and @stroughtonsmith

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

The processor used in the 2018 MacBook Air is an Intel Core i5-8210Y 7W Amber Lake Y processor

More: 9to5Mac, The Verge, iMore, Thurrott.com, BGR, Neowin, Vox, Macworld, and ABC News

Tweets: @vladsavov and @asymco

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

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

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google introduces “Emoji Minis” in Gboard for Android and iOS, which uses machine learning to create customizable emoji-sized stickers based on users' selfies — Last summer, Google introduced its own take on Bitmoji with the launch of “Mini” stickers in its keyboard app, Gboard …

More: The Keyword, XDA Developers, KnowTechie, Digital Trends, Neowin, AndroidGuys, Android Authority, and Android and Me

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

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

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

Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:

Amazon says Alexa can now give information about federal and gubernatorial elections and that it is working with AP and Ballotpedia for poll times and results — Amazon today announced a series of updates to Alexa's knowledge base so the intelligent assistant can deliver helpful information ahead of …

More: US Day One Blog, CNET, and The Verge

Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:

Facebook says it will move Workplace by Facebook, its Slack rival, to its own domain in 2019, Workplace.com, to appease businesses' fears about data security — - Workplace by Facebook, the company's enterprise business, is moving onto a website domain separate from Facebook.com in an effort …

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @medvidekpu

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Handshake, a LinkedIn for university students and diversity, raises $40M Series C on a $275M valuation after hitting 14M users in the US across 700 universities — LinkedIn has created and — with 562 million users — leads the market in social platforms for people who want to network …

More: VatorNews, PR Newswire, and Fortune. Tweets: @msquinn. Thanks:@ingridlunden

Virginia Hughes / BuzzFeed News:

Researchers examining 135 popular kids apps on Android and iOS find 88% of paid and 100% of free apps often have manipulative and distracting ads — Popular apps for young kids, especially those available in Google's app store, are teeming with advertisements that distract them from play …

More: Vox, New York Times, Lifehacker, iPhone in Canada Blog, Silicon Republic, Washington Post, BBC, Boing Boing, Bloomberg, and CNET

Tweets: @jennyradesky, @buzzfeednews, @postsecret, @thehsf, @jennyradesky, @ericnakagawa, and @itsnicolenguyen

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

Melanie Ehrenkranz / Gizmodo:

EU to launch a six-month trial of iBorderCtrl, an AI lie detector that looks for “biomarkers of deceit”, at its external borders in Hungary, Latvia, and Greece — A number of border control checkpoints in the European Union are about to get increasingly—and unsettlingly—futuristic.

More: SiliconANGLE, The Verge, Engadget, TechSpot, and New Scientist

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:

Sources: after canceling Rift 2, a “complete redesign”, Oculus now pursuing a more modest Rift update, possibly called Rift S, to release as early as next year — Facebook's virtual reality arm may soon find itself in the unfamiliar position of playing catch-up with hardware competitors.

More: UploadVR and yivian.com

Tweets: @lucasmtny, @tojiro, @lucasmtny, @lucasmtny, and @lucasmtny

Ryan Browne / CNBC:

Ford and Baidu announce a two year partnership to develop self-driving cars with on-road testing slated to start by the end of the year in China — - Ford and Baidu will collaborate on the development and testing of driverless vehicles for two years. — Ford's autonomous vehicles …

More: Ford Media Center, SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat, Engadget, Forbes, and PYMNTS.com

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