Techmeme
January 16, 2019, 1:20 PM

Top News

Washington Post:
Documents and eyewitnesses say T-Mobile execs have been frequently staying at Trump's D.C. hotel as VIPs as T-Mobile seeks approval for its $26B Sprint merger  —  Last April, telecom giant T-Mobile announced a megadeal: a $26 billion merger with rival Sprint, which would more than double T-Mobile's value …
Heather Kelly / CNN:
Evan Spiegel says Snap CFO Tim Stone, who joined the company from Amazon eight months ago, has resigned but will remain until February 5 to help with transition  —  San Francisco (CNN Business)Snap is losing another high-profile executive.  Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone told Snap …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Pew survey of US Facebook users: 74% didn't know the company compiles lists of their interests and traits to target ads; 51% were uncomfortable with this  —  A study by the Pew Research Center suggests most Facebook users are still in the dark about how the company tracks and profiles them for ad-targeting purposes.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Lenovo is partnering with Verizon to reintroduce the Motorola Razr phone with a foldable screen, at a price starting at ~$1,500  —  Motorola seeks to revive flip phone that was dethroned by the iPhone a decade ago  —  The Motorola Razr phone is making a comeback.
Rachel Yang / Variety:
Roku says it is removing two Infowars channels on its platform after criticism from users and a rebuke from some Sandy Hook families  —  Roku has taken the Infowars channel off its platform after the streaming device faced criticism for carrying the controversial program hosted by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
CoinDesk:
Ethereum's long-anticipated Constantinople fork has been delayed after an audit firm discovered a critical flaw in one of the planned changes  —  Ethereum's long-anticipated Constantinople upgrade has just been delayed after a critical vulnerability was discovered in one of the planned changes.
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
YouTube updates its policies, says it prohibits harmful and dangerous challenges and pranks following stunts like the Bird Box and Tide Pod challenges  —  YouTube to creators: don't  —  YouTube has a new message for creators looking to participate in dangerous or potentially harmful stunts …
Nick Summers / Engadget:
Unity updates ToS so that any third-party software, like Improbable's SpatialOS, can be used with its game engine, following last week's fracas  —  Everything is back to normal.  Sort of.  —  Unity has had a change of heart.  The company is updating its Terms of Service so that any third-party software …
Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
Following AT&T and T-Mobile, Sprint says it will stop selling customers' real-time location data to third-parties but didn't provide a timeframe  —  After AT&T and T-Mobile said they would stop selling their customers' phone location data to third parties, Sprint followed suit.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Data from Portland's 4-month scooter program, which capped the number of scooters to ~2K and recorded 700K+ rides, shows scooters often replaced short car trips  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The e-scooter boom began in Santa Monica, Calif., about 16 months ago.  Electric scooters …
Dami Lee / The Verge:
Twitter launches the reverse-chronological feed as an option on Android  —  Twitter brought its traditional reverse-chronological timeline back to iOS last month, and now the optional feature is available to Android users in a new update.  It's a welcome choice that brings back some stability to the Twitter feed.
Shara Tibken / CNET:
Summary of the first six days of the FTC vs Qualcomm trial, which saw witnesses from Apple, other companies, and IP experts from consultancies and universities  —  The US Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday presented its last witnesses and evidence in its case against Qualcomm.
Akanksha Rana / Reuters:
Enterprise-focused technology provider Infor raises $1.5B from Koch Equity and Golden Gate Capital, following a $2B raise in early 2017  —  (Reuters) - Cloud technology company Infor Inc said on Wednesday it received an investment of $1.5 billion from shareholders Koch Equity Development LLC and private equity firm Golden Gate Capital.

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:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Evan Spiegel Is Building the Future of Computing
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
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.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:20 PM ET, January 16, 2019.

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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Todd Bishop / GeekWire: