Techmeme
April 17, 2019, 10:20 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Several journalists have reported their Samsung Galaxy Fold review unit's screen breaking after a day or two of use  —  Yikes  —  Look closely at the picture above, and you can see a small bulge right on the crease of my Galaxy Fold review unit.  It's just enough to slightly distort the screen, and I can feel it under my finger.
Rob Price / Business Insider:
Facebook says it unintentionally collected email contacts of 1.5M users who used email password verification, will notify affected users and delete contacts  —  - Facebook said that it has “unintentionally uploaded” the email contacts of 1.5 million new Facebook users since May 2016.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Microsoft unveils the Surface Hub 2S, an update to the original Hub that's 60% slimmer and 40% lighter with a 50" 3840x2560 display, shipping in June for $9,000  —  We've known Microsoft had something new and Surfacey up its sleeve for this week.  Turns out the company's finally ready to unveil the long-promised Surface 2S.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Sources: a team at Facebook Reality Labs has been working on a voice assistant since 2018 and has contacted vendors in the smart speaker supply chain  —  - Facebook is working on a voice assistant to rival the likes of Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and the Google Assistant, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Daisuke Wakabayashi / New York Times:
Interviews with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and employees shed light on her stewardship and what has been a difficult year so far, with a myriad of scandals  —  Even by the nightmarish standards of the empire she oversees, Susan Wojcicki, the chief executive officer of YouTube, has had a dreadful start to 2019.
Guilherme Rambo / 9to5Mac:
Sources: Apple is working on a combined Find My Friends and Find My iPhone app, for iOS and macOS, and a Tile-like tracking device  —  Apple is working on a new app that's going to replace the Find My Friends and Find My iPhone apps.  With codename “GreenTorch”, the app is currently being tested by engineers at the company.
David Shepardson / Reuters:
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says he opposes China Mobile's plan to enter the US market and will hold a vote on whether to deny its application in May  —  (Reuters) - Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said on Wednesday he opposes China Mobile Ltd's bid to provide U.S. telecommunications services …
CNBC:
Zoom prices its IPO at $36 per share, above the expected range, valuing the business at $9.2B  —  Videoconferencing company Zoom priced its IPO at $36 a share, above of its already increased range and valuing the business at $9.2 billion.  —  Zoom, which is slated to start trading on Thursday …
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed News:
AirPods' rapid ubiquity and wireless design, letting users keep them in constantly, has become a source of annoyance for service industry workers and others  —  AirPods have taken off as the latest must-have technology gadget.  They've shown up in celebrities' ears, become a status symbol, and inspired meetups.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Microsoft says it denied a California law enforcement request to use its facial recognition tech over bias concerns, but it has sold the tech to a US prison  —  The company has sold the technology to at least one US prison though  —  Microsoft has said it turned down a request from law enforcement …
Charlie Demerjian / SemiAccurate:
Apple's conduct amid Qualcomm litigation appears to have been shady and vindictive, its bet on Intel was a bust, and 5G tech ultimately beat it into submission  —  5G iPhones had only one option  —  Qualcomm just pummeled Apple over patents and technology because, well, it appears the scales tipped in Qualcomm's favor.
Nikkei:
Chris Horton / New York Times:
Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, has announced he will run for Taiwan's presidency  —  TAIPEI, Taiwan — The billionaire Terry Gou, whose company is best known for manufacturing iPhones, announced Wednesday he would run for Taiwan's presidency, saying his bid had received a divine blessing — from a Chinese sea goddess.
More: Forbes
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Sources: Apple is developing its own lidar sensor and has also held talks with four possible lidar suppliers to evaluate their tech for use in self-driving cars  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc has held talks with at least four companies as possible suppliers for next-generation lidar sensors …
Leo Kelion / BBC:
UK government announces that porn websites will have to introduce age-checks by July 15; sites failing to comply will face being blocked by ISPs  —  An age-check scheme designed to stop under-18s viewing pornographic websites will come into force on 15 July.
BuzzFeed News:
Investigation finds six Android apps from DU Group, a major Chinese developer, that have been committing large-scale ad fraud and abusing user permissions  —  A host of popular Android apps from a major Chinese developer, including a selfie app with more than 50 million downloads …
Deanna Ting / Skift:
Airbnb leads $160M Series B in debt and equity financing for Lyric, a hospitality platform offering short-term serviced apartments for business travelers  —  Can you be both a marketplace and a supplier at the same time?  Airbnb certainly seems interested in testing that theory out.

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Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Colin Lecher / The Verge: