Techmeme
February 28, 2019, 1:40 PM

Top News

New York Times:
Sources: Facebook told crypto exchanges that it hopes to launch its own coin for WhatsApp, pegged to a basket of fiat currencies, in the first half of the year  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Some of the world's biggest internet messaging companies are hoping to succeed where cryptocurrency start-ups …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Amazon announces Project Zero, an invite-only program to let brands autonomously flag and remove counterfeit listings of their products from Amazon  —  Amazon wants to cut down on fake listings  —  Amazon announced a new initiative today called Project Zero, a new effort that the online retailer …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon launches Amazon Day, a new option that lets Prime members pick a day of the week for delivery  —  Amazon this morning launched a new delivery option for Prime members that will allow them to control when their orders arrive, Amazon Day.  The option lets shoppers pick a day of the week to take delivery of their recent orders.
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Strategy Analytics: Apple shipped 22.5M Apple Watch units in 2018, accounting for about half of global smartwatch shipments  —  Fresh statistics from research firm Strategy Analytics show Apple retained its position as the clear leader in the smartwatch sector, with Apple Watch capturing 51 percent …
Tom Krazit / GeekWire:
Microsoft unveils Azure Sentinel, a new cloud service that allows customers to view and respond to security alerts and threats across corporate networks  —  Ahead of next week's big RSA security conference, Microsoft plans to introduce a new cloud service Thursday that will help customers manage …
Thomas Brewster / Forbes:
Equipment from Cellebrite, popular with law enforcement for hacking into iOS/Android devices, is selling for $100-$1,000 on eBay; new units usually cost $6,000  —  When eBay merchant Mr. Balaj was looking through a pile of hi-fi junk at an auction in the U.K., he came across an odd-looking device.
Alex Feerst / OneZero:
Interviews with 15 content moderators from YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms on their day-to-day, how the job has affected them personally, and more  —  Tech platform trust and safety employees are charged with policing the impossible.  They open up to Medium's head of trust and safety.
Chris Velazco / Engadget:
Motorola confirms it is working on a foldable smartphone; it will likely be a revival of the Razr brand that will launch this summer  —  By now, it's not much of a secret that Motorola is working on a folding phone of its own: A patent for such a device surfaced late last year …
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Filing: Square sold over $166M in bitcoin during 2018, with $52.5M in Q4, generating a net profit of $1.7M for the year  —  Square, the payments unicorn led by bitcoin believer Jack Dorsey, reported earnings for the fourth quarter Wednesday evening that beat analyst estimates but fell short on guidance.
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
The Seattle Times:
Though Seattle repealed its “head tax”, Amazon says it won't use the 722K sq. ft. in Rainier Square tower it had leased, which would have housed up to 5K staff  —  The lease was one of the biggest in Seattle history — enough space to hold at least 3,500 employees and perhaps up to 5,000.
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Zūm, which enables parents to schedule rides for their kids from fully vetted drivers, raises $40M Series C led by BMW i Ventures  —  Ride-sharing isn't just for transporting teenagers and adults anymore.  Zūm, a ridesharing startup for kids, just raised a $40 million Series C round led …
More: PR Newswire and FinSMEs
Angela Moon / Reuters:
Obsidian Security raises $20M Series B led by Greylock Partners for its AI-powered identity protection platform  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cybersecurity company Obsidian Security raised $20 million in a funding round participated by Greylock Partners, the company told Reuters on Tuesday, a day ahead of a planned announcement.
More: VatorNews
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud survey of enterprises and SMBs: Azure adoption grew from 45% to 52%, reaching 85% of AWS adoption, up from 70% last year  —  The RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud Report from Flexera highlights how enterprises are spending more on cloud computing …
Roland Li / San Francisco Chronicle:
In a letter to a CA agency, Apple confirms that 190 employees, including 124 engineers, will be laid off from its self-driving car division on April 16  —  Apple will lay off 190 employees in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale in its self-driving car division, the company said.
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Presto, which provides restaurants with food ordering hardware and an AI platform to help them make decisions about ordering stock and staffing, raises $30M  —  The “restaurant of the future” may elicit thoughts of a chrome diner with robot servers and an otherwise hefty amount of Tokyo futurist kitsch …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
ClassDojo, a messaging app for teachers and parents to communicate, raises $35M Series C co-led by GSV and SignalFire, source says at a ~$400M valuation  —  Messaging apps have become the de facto way that many people today keep in regular contact with each other, and that trend has also found its way into the classroom.
More: PR NewswireThanks:@ingridlunden

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