Techmeme
April 4, 2019, 11:40 AM

Top News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple cuts the price of HomePod worldwide, dropping it from $349 to $299 in the US Apple Store  —  Apple has officially lowered the price of the HomePod worldwide.  In the price has fallen from $349 to $299, breaking the $300 level.  HomePod has seen promotional discounts at many third party retailers …
Michelle Toh / CNN:
MIT suspends ties with Huawei and ZTE over US investigations and says any projects working with China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia will merit additional review  —  Hong Kong (CNN Business)The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is hitting pause on its relationships with Chinese tech firms Huawei and ZTE.
UpGuard:
Third-party Facebook app by Cultura Colectiva left 540M+ records of users' info exposed on AWS; Amazon was notified in Jan., but data was online until recently  —  The UpGuard Cyber Risk team can now report that two more third-party developed Facebook app datasets have been found exposed to the public internet.
Paul Karp / The Guardian:
Australia passes law penalizing social media platforms for failing to expeditiously remove abhorrent violent content, despite strong opposition from tech firms  —  Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies' concerns
James Vincent / The Verge:
Critics say big tech companies are formulating AI ethics boards and principles as a strategy for avoiding the possibility of government regulation  —  Researchers from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and top universities objected to the board's inclusion of Kay Coles James, the president of right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation.
Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
Amazon confirms Project Kuiper, its new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to provide broadband around the world  —  Amazon is joining the race to provide broadband internet access around the globe via thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, newly uncovered filings show.
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Researchers find that Facebook appears to deliver certain ads, despite neutral targeting parameters, in a way that aligns with race and gender stereotypes  —  How exactly Facebook decides who sees what is one of the great pieces of forbidden knowledge in the information age …
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Source: Intel has missed deadlines for the development of a 5G modem for the 2020 iPhones; Apple has 1,000-1,200 engineers working on modems for future iPhones  —  [Updated with Intel comment Wednesday 11:30 p.m. Pacific Time]  —  As of now Apple plans to release a 5G iPhone in 2020.
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
As more seniors go online, they are largely being left out of digital literacy efforts, making them targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric  —  Older people play an outsized role in civic life.  They also are more likely to be online targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Tesla starts rolling out an update to Navigate on Autopilot in the US that will give drivers an option to use the system without having to confirm lane changes  —  Tesla has long asked you to flick the turn stalk to confirm Autopilot's lane changes, but you won't have to do that for much longer.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Alienware Area-51m review: desktop-class performance with upgradable CPU and GPU, but requires two large power adapters, isn't portable, and is very expensive  —  The Area-51m has plenty of brawn, but IT comes with a high price  —  If you've been looking at the field of gaming laptops …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google debuts Android Q Beta 2 with multitasking overlay elements called Bubbles, foldables emulator, and precise audio recordings with zoomable microphone API  —  Google today launched the second Android Q beta with multitasking Bubbles, a foldables emulator, zoomable microphones, and more.
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
Tonal, maker of a $2,995 in-home workout system that uses machine learning to personalize workouts, raises $45M Series C, bringing the total raised to $90M  —  Fitness startup Tonal today announced it has raised $45 million as it prepares to scale its smart in-home workout system and fend off …
More: TechCrunch
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Indian mobile operator Reliance Jio acquires an 87% stake in Haptik, a startup that develops “conversational” platforms and virtual assistants, for $100M  —  Reliance Jio, the telecom operator that has revolutionized India with its generous data plans, has its eye on the next generation …
Tom Roston / OneZero:
Current and former TiVo insiders on how the first DVR came to be, going up against cable companies, how IP licensing has kept the company relevant, and more  —  ‘They Thought It Was Black Magic’: An Oral History of TiVo  —  How the original DVR paved the way for Netflix and the cord-cutter movement
Jeremy Horwitz / VentureBeat:
Verizon launches its mobile 5G network in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis, with a 5G-enabled Moto Z3  —  Though South Korea's government expected its three cellular carriers to be the world's first to offer commercial 5G services with smartphones based on the 3GPP's official 5G standard …

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Is AI just hype?  —  Find out how top enterprises use Tribe to get real business results.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Zoho:
All new Zoho Workerly 2024  —  Staffing businesses around the world face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their temporary workforce.  With a constantly shifting job market and changing staffing needs …
Comprehensive.io:
Browse salary data from 3,000 startups for free  —  Click for FREE, immediate access to real-time compensation benchmarking data.  Paid version helps HR automate comp reviews and communicate total compensation to employees.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Henry Shukman, Lessons from an Authentic Zen Master
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 03/28 - Claude 3 Opus Surpasses GPT-4 For The First Time
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:40 AM ET, April 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

Xinmei Shen / Abacus:
Kim Zetter / Washington Post:

Earlier Picks

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Brady Dale / CoinDesk:
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google: