Techmeme
February 4, 2019, 1:55 PM

Top News

Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Crypto exchange Kraken acquires British trading startup Crypto Facilities in a deal worth at least $100M, says it is raising $100M from its largest customers  —  The cryptocurrency exchange Kraken says it has paid “nine figures” to acquire Crypto Facilities, a British trading firm that specializes in derivatives.
Nat Levy / GeekWire:
New filing: Amazon spent $1.65B on acquisitions in 2018, headlined by Ring and PillPack deals  —  Amazon spent $1.65 billion on acquisitions in 2018, according to a new regulatory filing from the company.  That makes it the second most acquisitive year in the company's history by dollar volume …
More: TechCrunchTweets: @jasonlkThanks:@toddbishop
Kris Holt / Engadget:
Periscope says users can now add up to three guests as voice call-ins to a stream, “like a talkshow”, and is working on letting the guests share video  —  Periscope is paving the way for broadcasters to host talk shows and invite viewers to go beyond comments and hearts by joining the conversation with their voices.
New York Times:
The Instagram egg account, with 10M+ followers, was started by an advertising professional; a Hulu ad based on the egg debuted Sunday promoting mental health  —  He works in advertising.  —  When Chris Godfrey learned in early January that the record for “likes” on an Instagram post was held …
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Chicago-based Robotics Process Automation startup Catalytic raises $30M Series B, bringing its total raised to almost $42M  —  Robotics Process Automation (RPA) is as hot as any enterprise technology at the moment, as companies look for ways to marry their legacy systems with a more modern flavor of automation.
More: VentureBeat and FinSMEs
Aaron van Wirdum / Bitcoin Magazine:
Chainalysis: two hacker groups are responsible for almost 60% of publicly reported cryptocurrency hacks and stole around $1B to date  —  Two “prominent professional hacking groups” are responsible for the majority of publicly reported hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges and other cryptocurrency organizations …
More: ZDNet
Jez Corden / Windows Central:
Microsoft will announce Xbox Live SDK, which will enable cross-platform play on iOS, Android, Switch, Xbox, and Windows PCs, at GDC 2019  —  At GDC 2019, Microsoft is set to debut a new cross-platform development platform with the goal of bringing Xbox Live support to games on Android, iOS …
Jonathan M. Gitlin / Ars Technica:
From Alexa and Nuance to personal assistants that learn your moods, an overview of the AI-driven features that major auto companies plan to roll out soon  —  From Alexa and Nuance to personal AI helpers that learn your moods, it's happening.  —  LAS VEGAS—Like it or not …
Aaron Pressman / Fortune:
Profile of Intel's new CEO Bob Swan, who joined the company in 2016 as CFO, after stints as finance chief at GE divisions, COO and CEO of Webvan, and eBay's CFO  —  Intel spent seven months searching for a new chief executive only to end the process right where it had started.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / Motherboard:
A college student who stole $5M+ in cryptocurrency via SIM hijacking gets 10 years in prison and is the first person in the US to be sentenced for such a crime  —  A 20-year-old college student who was accused of stealing more than $5 million in cryptocurrency in a slew of SIM hijacking attacks …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Zoho CRM Plus in 2025: A year of thoughtful CX improvements  —  2025 marked 11 years of building a customer experience platform designed to support organizations as customer expectations, channels …
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

Lenny's Podcast:
10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling)
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:
Alex And Ranjan's 2026 Outlook: ChatGPT 1 Billion, AI Shopping, Apple's Big Year, AI Love Boom
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.
Hard Fork:
Where Is All the A.I.-Driven Scientific Progress?
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
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 1:55 PM ET, February 4, 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