Techmeme
December 6, 2018, 10:30 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it will rebuild Edge to run on Google's open source Chromium project and will make it available on macOS, Windows 7, and Windows 8  —  A Chromium version of Edge will also arrive on Windows 7 and Windows 8  —  Microsoft is announcing some significant changes to its Edge browser today.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
The Keyword:
Google launches a personalized audio news feed on Google Assistant using Google News, rolling out to some users in the US in English  —  For the past century, radio has been a one-size-fits-all medium.  Turn on the radio and you're dropped into a show at a moment in time …
Aparajita Saxena / Reuters:
Lyft says it has filed with the SEC for an IPO, hasn't specified the number of shares it is selling or their price range; sources say IPO is slated for H1 2019  —  (Reuters) - Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc on Thursday filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering …
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Apple Watch Series 4 ECG feature goes live in the US as part of the watchOS 5.1.2 update, letting users detect irregular heart rhythms  —  Apple Watch users can now take a reading of their heart's electrical signal by holding a finger on the crown of the device.
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Amazon says it is beta testing Amazon Answers, an invite-only program for users to help answer questions that Alexa doesn't know, starting today  —  Smartphones settle a lot of dinner table debates nowadays.  We argue about this or that, until somebody finally pops out a phone and Googles it.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 8cx, an “extreme” processor for Windows laptops that it says is the first 7nm chip for a PC platform  —  Could Qualcomm replace Intel in your next Windows PC?  —  The “X” stands for “extreme.”  That's what Qualcomm's marketing department wants you to think about the new Snapdragon 8cx.
The Verge:
Financial Times:
O2 in UK says 4G service is returning to its network after a software problem in Ericsson's equipment left millions of users unable to use mobile data  —  Millions of mobile phone users around the world have been unable to use their smartphones after a software issue in systems provided by Ericsson caused major disruption.
Upvoted:
Reddit says it now gets 1.4B native video views per month and serves 13M+ hours of video monthly, up 38% since the beginning of 2018  —  Community highlights, best-of's and the top trends for the year ahead  —  This time of year, there are recaps and best-ofs a-plenty …
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau head cannot participate in investigations involving 120 companies like Facebook, Equifax, Uber, due to conflict of interest  —  The list of 120 includes Uber, Twitter, and Equifax  —  The Federal Trade Commission's top consumer protection official is prohibited …
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
A look at a proposed US national privacy law, backed by 200 retailers, banks, and tech companies, that would create universal data collection rules and more  —  Ctrl N  —  A broad coalition of more than 200 retailers, banks and technology companies is releasing new recommendations …
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
Facebook says it will bring its political ad transparency tools, including disclaimers and a searchable ad library, to India ahead of the 2019 general election  —  As India inches closer to its general elections, Facebook announced today that it is bringing transparency to political ads on its platform in the country early next year.
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
Video sharing app Byte, developed by the creators of Vine, opens creator registrations and plans a spring 2019 launch  —  Vine may have shut down in 2016, but the popularity of the platform still lives on through many a YouTube Vine compilation.  The new Vine 2. known as Byte is set to launch …
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Months after Facebook was shown to surreptitiously collect Android call and SMS records, emails show Facebook's growth team added the feature amid “PR” fears  —  Internal emails show Facebook weighing the privacy risks of collecting call records — then going ahead anyway
Nate Lanxon / Bloomberg:

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Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Globe and Mail: