Techmeme
February 13, 2019, 5:10 PM

Top News

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Apple plans an April or May launch date for its video streaming service, but Netflix won't participate and HBO hasn't committed  —  - Apple is targeting April to debut a new streaming product that will include original content free for Apple device owners and a platform to subscribe to other digital media services.
Sara Salinas / CNBC:
SEC charges Gene Levoff, Apple's ex-VP of Corporate Law, with insider trading, alleging he traded on earnings info in 2015 and 2016; Levoff was fired in Sept.  —  - Gene Levoff, senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary until September, “traded on material nonpublic information …
Kate Fazzini / CNBC:
Google says it will spend $13B this year on expanding data centers and offices across the US, adding a new office in Virginia as it doubles its workforce there  —  - Google doubled capital spending in 2018, but CFO Ruth Porat said that should “moderate” this year.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
In filing to CA's DMV, Apple says its test drivers disengaged its self driving vehicles' autonomous mode about once per mile, compared to Waymo's ~11,017 miles  —  - California disengagement report suggests company is lagging  — Tech giant has worked on the technology for about three years
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Amazon now lets users create and submit custom Alexa skills for certification and publication in the US Skills Store  —  Anyone can create a trivia game and share it on the Alexa store  —  Amazon is now letting anyone create and publish Alexa skills into the Alexa skills store.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
US DOJ charges former Air Force counter-intel officer Monica Witt with aiding Iranian cyber operations against the US and sanctions two Iranian companies  —  Prosecutors have brought charges against a former Air Force officer for allegedly spying for Iran, the Justice Department confirmed Wednesday.
James Vincent / The Verge:
EU negotiations on Copyright Directive overhaul come to a close, with Article 11 and 13 largely intact; legislation now heads to EU Parliament for approval  —  The hated Articles 11 and 13 remain intact after final efforts to remove them failed  —  Last-minute negotiations over the wording …
Kate Fazzini / CNBC:
After the Equifax breach, experts are puzzled about why data from 143M Americans didn't end up for sale online; one theory suggests a nation-state is using it  —  - Equifax's data breach on Sept. 7, 2017, stunned markets and American consumers, but where the data of those 143 million people disappeared to has remained a mystery.
Clive Thompson / New York Times:
A detailed history of the important but under-recognized roles women have played in computer coding, from Ada Lovelace through to today  —  Computer programming once had much better gender balance than it does today.  What went wrong?  —  As a teenager in Maryland in the 1950s …
Matt Day / Bloomberg:
Amazon and Google are asking smart gadget makers to continuously send status updates to Echo and Home devices, even if customers aren't interacting with devices  —  As Amazon.com Inc. and Google work to place their smart speakers at the center of the internet-connected home …
The Guardian:
Facebook criticized by health experts for allowing the rise of closed groups rife with anti-vaccination misinformation, some with 150,000+ members  —  Experts are calling on company to counter closed groups where members can post misinformation without challenge
Cecilia Kang / New York Times:
Democratic lawmakers step up scrutiny of T-Mobile-Sprint merger, which they say reduces competition, as two days of Congressional hearings begin  —  WASHINGTON — When T-Mobile announced its intention to buy Sprint last April, the prospects for the $26 billion deal winning regulatory approval appeared strong.
Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:
British mobile banking startup Starling Bank raises £75M for European expansion, says it now has 460K consumer and 30K SME accounts  —  Starling Bank, founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, has raised £75 million (~$97m) in further funding.  The new capital breaks down as £60 million …
John Paczkowski / BuzzFeed:
Sources: Apple plans to hold a special subscription services-focused event on March 25 at its Apple Park campus to announce a subscription news service  —  The company is expected to show off a long-rumored news subscription service.  —  Reporting From San Francisco, CA
Wall Street Journal:
Michael Futter / Variety:
Activision Blizzard announces record $1.8B net income in 2018, but says it is laying off 8%, or ~800 of its staff, amid internal changes and unmet expectations  —  UPDATED: Activision Blizzard is laying off approximately 775 people — 8% of its 9,600-person staff — as it refocuses its efforts …

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More News

Mark Suster / Both Sides of the Table:
More: AVCTweets: @semil, @msuster, @msuster, and @jeremyshure

Earlier Picks

Sean Captain / Fast Company:
Kurt Wagner / Recode: