Techmeme
November 19, 2018, 2:55 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple reduced production orders for all new iPhone models in recent weeks; iPhone XR production was slashed by up to one third of the initial 70M  —  In recent weeks, Apple slashed production orders for all three iPhone models that it unveiled in September
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it will use machine learning to find and remove inauthentic likes, follows, and comments from accounts using third-party apps to boost popularity  —  Instagram is fighting back against automated apps people use to leave spammy comments or follow then unfollow others in hopes of growing their audience.
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: this June, Zuckerberg told ~50 execs that Facebook was at war and he'd act more decisively, leading to reorgs, key departures, tension with Sandberg  —  New approach causes turmoil, driving several key executives from the company and creating tensions with longtime Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Eight parliaments are now demanding Zuckerberg answer questions about fake news and more, as Brazil, Latvia, and Singapore join a UK-led grand committee  —  Facebook's founder is facing pressure to accept an invite from eight international parliaments, with lawmakers wanting to question …
Tom Dotan / The Information:
Sources: Evan Spiegel spends most board meetings looking at his phone and messaging on Snapchat, seemingly dismissive of some members' “short term” concerns  —  Until a few months ago, Snap's board meetings could be tense affairs.  Benchmark partner Mitch Lasky …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it is bringing Skype calling to Alexa-enabled devices this week, including SkypeOut which lets users call mobile and landline phones  —  Microsoft and Amazon's partnership continues  —  Microsoft is bringing its Skype calling service to Amazon's Alexa-enabled devices this week.
Ina Fried / Axios:
Tim Cook says some government regulation of Silicon Valley is inevitable, defends deal to make Google Apple's default search engine despite privacy concerns  —  If Apple is so big on users' privacy, why does the company take billions of dollars from Google in exchange for letting the search giant …
Erica Pandey / Axios:
JD.com CEO Richard Liu, who faces a rape accusation in Minnesota, says he will step down from management of the Chinese e-commerce giant; stock drops 5%+  —  Richard Liu, the billionaire CEO of JD.com who is facing a rape accusation in Minnesota, said today that he will step aside from management of the Chinese e-commerce giant.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Lightricks, creator of Facetune and Enlight apps, raises $60M, and says Enlight Pixaloop, which launched in September, now has 6M users and 200,000 subscribers  —  The mobile app market is on the upswing, according to research firms like App Annie.  Global downloads grew an estimated 15 percent …

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