Techmeme: How Amazon is limiting the ability of popular brands to sell independently via its Marketplace, if they also want to sell their goods directly via Amazon itself (Jason Del Rey/Recode)

Top News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:

Ming-Chi Kuo: updated AirPods with wireless charging support and upgrades to the Bluetooth spec to launch in Q1 2019, an all-new design model coming in Q1 2020 — The AirPods truly-wireless earbuds are on track to be Apple's best growth product for the foreseeable future, according to Ming-Chi Kuo.

More: AppleInsider, MacRumors, Fortune, Engadget, SlashGear, Ubergizmo, Cult of Mac, Digital Trends, The Apple Post, Forbes, Neowin, TechRadar.com, The Verge, CNET, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog, and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Tweets: @neilcybart, @1jrice, and @leeratliff

Jason Del Rey / Recode:

How Amazon is limiting the ability of popular brands to sell independently via its Marketplace, if they also want to sell their goods directly via Amazon itself — Some companies are choosing to end their relationship with Amazon rather than cave to the online retailer's demands.

More: Digiday and The Precursor Blog

Tweets: @delrey, @sub8u, @retailgeek, and @herrmanndigital

The Information:

Sources: Uber has recently held talks about possible acquisitions with scooter startups Bird and Lime — Uber has held talks recently with electric scooter rental startup Bird to acquire the company in what could be a multibillion-dollar deal, said several people briefed on the discussions.

More: Financial Times, The Verge, PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, Engadget, Telegraph, Gizmodo, Mashable, Los Angeles Times, and NBC Bay Area

Tweets: @coryweinberg, @coryweinberg, @coryweinberg, @michalnaka, @business, and @semil

Boris Hristov:

As Bitcoin bulls cite past recoveries, the amount of money lost in the last bubble raises the question of where funds for another BTC surge may come from — The crypto market correction turned winter will soon mark its first year. Over the last months, many folks have posted tables …

More: Bitcoin Magazine and Virtual Mining Bitcoin News

Tweets: @twobitidiot, @bitfinexed, @alexsunnarborg, @mit1991_2, @twobitidiot, @mrupsys, @carnage4life, @richiekp101, and @hristovbz

CNN:

Canadian activist sues NSO Group, claims its spyware empowered Saudi officials to access WhatsApp messages with Jamal Khashoggi, possibly leading to his killing — London (CNN)In his public writings, Jamal Khashoggi's criticism of Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was measured.

Tweets: @sam_vinograd, @cnnbrk, @matthewwells, @hichamyezza, and @cfountain07

See also Mediagazer

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

After Qualcomm and Apple fail to reach a settlement over patent royalties, judge schedules the start of the trial for April 15 in San Diego federal court — Earlier this week, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf made headlines when he said his company was “on the doorstep of a resolution” with Apple, implying a settlement was possible.

More: sandiegouniontribune.com, TechSpot, iPhone Hacks, and The Verge. Tweets: @patentlyapple

insider.co.uk:

Alex Chesterman raises £30M for his next startup, Cazoo, a platform to buy or rent used cars; Chesterman sold Lovefilm for £200M and Zoopla for £2.2B before — Alex Chesterman made a windfall selling Lovefilm, the video rental company he co-founded, to retail giant Amazon

More: Tech.eu, City A.M., and The Times & The Sunday Times

Tweets: @entreecap and @philipn_auto

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

UrbanClap, a startup that matches customers with service people, like cleaners, repair staff, and beauticians, across 10 cities in India, raises $50M Series D — UrbanClap, a four-year-old startup that offers home services across in India, has closed a $50 million Series D round for expansion.

More: The Economic Times, Telegraph India, VCCircle, Deccan Herald, Livemint, BloombergQuint, VatorNews, and MediaNama. Tweets: @jonrussell

Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:

Bangkok-based enterprise messaging startup Eko Communications raises $20M Series B as it eyes European and US expansion, says it has 500K+ recurring paid users — After focusing on Asian markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, Bangkok-based Eko Communications is getting ready to take on Slack …

More: PYMNTS.com

Matthew Hughes / The Next Web:

E Ink unveils JustWrite, a new digital paper technology that doesn't require a backlight and promises almost no lag — The hypothetical pinnacle of digital paper is when it becomes indistinguishable from the real article, both in terms of reading and writing.

More: The Digital Reader, Business Wire, Engadget, TechCrunch, BostonGlobe.com, PCMag, The Verge, SlashGear, Good e-Reader, and Liliputing

Anna Escher / TechCrunch:

Brazil-based QuintoAndar, an online marketplace for long term rentals, raises $64M Series C led by General Atlantic, bringing the total funding raised to $95M — Anna Escher @https://www.twitter.com/annaescher / 8 hours — There's quite a bit wrong with real estate in Brazil, according to QuintoAndar founder and CEO Gabriel Braga.

More: AIM Group and Pulse 2.0

New York Times:

US officials: China's cyberespionage against the US, which was pared back in 2015 after US-China pact, picked up again in 2017 and has accelerated since then — WASHINGTON — Three years ago, President Barack Obama struck a deal with China that few thought was possible …

Tweets: @nytimes, @daknycip, @graymanactual, @jmohanmalik, @halberesford, @keithbradsher, and @cooterdwayne

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.

Zoho:

Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up — Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

BG2 Pod:

AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean

Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.

Subscribe to BG2 Pod.

Great Chat:

The stories we told ourselves in 2025

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Grit:

How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Lenny's Podcast:

The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:15 AM ET, December 3, 2018.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.