Techmeme
November 15, 2018, 12:05 AM

Top News

New York Times:
Top Facebook execs obscured privacy, misinformation and privacy crises, hired PR to deflect attention, lobbied in DC to limit oversight  —  Sheryl Sandberg was seething.  —  Inside Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, top executives gathered in the glass-walled conference room of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Internal Facebook survey shows just 52% of its staff are optimistic about its future, down 32% from last year, amid scandals and a sharp stock decline  —  Employee surveys show weaker optimism about future, confidence in platform's mission  —  Facebook Inc.'s FB .77% difficult year is taking …
Rose Behar / Android Police:
Google Assistant adds Routines integration into clock app, ability to reply to intercom-style Broadcasts, and a command to put devices into Do Not Disturb mode  —  In the voice assistant market, the most meaningful features often don't sound that impressive: more often than not …
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Google releases Night Sight, a software update that dramatically improves low-light photos, to Pixel users  —  The mighty Night Sight mode is being released to Pixel phones today  —  Two years ago, Google's release of the first Pixel smartphone radically raised the bar for the image quality we could expect from mobile cameras.
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Mozilla publishes a privacy and security guide for 70 popular connected devices, including drones, wearables, and more, ahead of the holiday season  —  If you're planning on picking up some cool new smart device for a loved one this holiday season, it might be worth your while to check whether it's one of the good ones or not.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google begins rolling out an updated Google My Business app on iOS and Android, letting companies create content for their profile and view customer info  —  Google is giving its business customers a new way to reach their customers.  The company is today starting the rollout of a revamped Google …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources provide a behind-the-scenes account of Amazon's HQ2 selection process, say the company made the decision to split HQ2 in two in September  —  For months, cities vied for Amazon's second headquarters while some executives were realizing that no single place would fulfill its requirements
Day One: The Amazon Blog:
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft acquires AI and bot developer XOXCO for an undisclosed amount; XOXCO built Howdy.ai, a commercially available bot for Slack for scheduling meetings  —  Microsfot is acquiring XOXCO, a conversational-AI development firm known for its Howdy.ai bot tools for Slack.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Uber launches rider loyalty rewards program with upgrades to nicer cars, access to premium support, and a waiver on cancellations if rebooked within 15 minutes  —  Uber's new loyalty program incentivizes you not to check Lyft or the local competitor.  Riders earn points for all the money …
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Netflix is testing cheaper, mobile-only subscriptions “in a few countries” including Malaysia, where it is half the price of its next cheapest package  —  Netflix is testing a cut-price mobile-only subscription as it explores new packages aimed at widening its appeal in Asia and other emerging markets.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
LinkedIn says it expects $2B in revenue from its media business, driven mostly by ad revenue, by the end of the fiscal year  —  LinkedIn, the business and employment network, says it expects to bring in roughly $2 billion from its media business — mostly via ad revenue — by the end of this fiscal year.
Angus Berwick / Reuters:
Investigation shows how ZTE helped Venezuela's government build a system, used by as many as 18M, similar to China's national identity card program  —  TRICKS OF THE TRADE: Critics say China exports tools that help autocratic governments monitor citizens.  Venezuelan President Nicolás …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches Unsend for Messenger, letting users delete messages within 10 minutes of posting, in Poland, Bolivia, Colombia, Lithuania; global rollout soon  —  Not just for Zuckerberg anymore  —  Facebook secretly retracted messages sent by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, TechCrunch reported seven months ago.
Bloomberg:
Sources detail Palantir's frustration with Morgan Stanley's mutual funds, which have repeatedly lowered the valuation of their ~$3M stake, ahead of expected IPO  —  - Bank's mutual funds have repeatedly cut value of small holding  — So Palantir sought to buy it back at lower price, people say
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
The Google Store has updated the Pixel Slate order page with shipping information estimating early December availability in the US  —  Last week, Best Buy and Amazon began taking pre-orders for the Pixel Slate.  The Google Store this evening has updated the order page with estimated shipping …

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