Techmeme: Source: DOJ is still discussing merger approval with T-Mobile and Sprint, but is demanding concessions to allow a fourth national wireless carrier to emerge (Bloomberg)

Top News

Nick Summers / Engadget:

Microsoft is bringing its Xbox Game Pass subscription service to Windows 10 PCs with a “curated library” of more than 100 titles; details to be revealed at E3 — PC players, rejoice: Microsoft is bringing its previously-Xbox exclusive subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, to Windows 10.

More: Xbox Wire, The Verge, Windows Central, The Verge, Windows Central, GeekWire, Thurrott, PCWorld, IGN, Windows Central, OnMSFT.com, Polygon, Destructoid, VentureBeat, CNET, Ars Technica, GameSpot, WinBuzzer, Siliconera, Bloomberg, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, IGN, Geek.com, MSPoweruser, Neowin, VG247, BGR, SlashGear, KnowTechie, TechSpot, Blue's News, 9to5Toys, and Gamasutra

Tweets: @hdkirin, @benjisales, and @kdinjenzen

Sam Meredith / CNBC:

An open letter signed by 47 companies including Apple, Google, and WhatsApp condemns UK GCHQ proposal to eavesdrop on encrypted messages — KEY POINTS — In an open letter to GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), 47 signatories including Apple, Google and WhatsApp have jointly urged …

More: CyberScoop, ZDNet, Lawfare, The Guardian, TechCrunch, Android Authority, Fortune, AppleInsider, BBC, Mashable, 9to5Mac, Washington Post, CNET, Neowin, Telecoms.com, The Register, VentureBeat, Firstpost Tech, CNN, Engadget, Business Insider, Forbes, MacRumors, The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, Cult of Mac, and MacDailyNews

Tweets: @thebitfi, @rossamcmahon, @libertyhq, @alexhern, @themclg, and @bricksilk

Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:

Google to proceed with its plan to limit current ad blocking capabilities for Chrome extensions, leaving the current capabilities available only to enterprises — Back in January, Google announced a proposed change to Chrome's extensions system, called Manifest V3, that would stop current ad blockers from working efficiently.

More: ZDNet, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Keyword, Coding Horror, CNET, Engadget, The Register, gHacks Technology News, Beyond Search, Geek News Central, Android Police, MSPoweruser, and BleepingComputer

Tweets: @fugueish, @beirutspring, @marypcbuk, @jason_kint, @denniscode, @gwillem, @nitot, @pjf, @seldo, @evacide, @alicetiara, @___discovery, @privacymatters, @codinghorror, @ohmdee, and @counternotions. Thanks:@cremnob

Lindsey O'Donnell / Threatpost:

Restaurant chain Checkers says hackers breached its systems to install malware on PoS systems across 102 of its locations between December 2015 and April 2019 — The popular Checkers and Rally's drive-through restaurant chain was attacked by Point of Sale (POS) malware impacting 15 percent of its stores across the U.S.

More: Checkers Drive-In, BleepingComputer, Tampa Bay Times, SecurityWeek, and ZDNet. Tweets: @mgsiegler

Jay Greene / Washington Post:

Salesforce changes its acceptable-use policy to bar gun-selling retailers from using its software if they sell military-style rifles — Business-software giant Salesforce instituted a new policy barring retail customers from using its technology to sell semiautomatic weapons and some other firearms.

More: Gizmodo, The Verge, CNBC, Seeking Alpha, and CryptoNinjas

Tweets: @laurastevens and @yoda

Bloomberg:

Source: DOJ is still discussing merger approval with T-Mobile and Sprint, but is demanding concessions to allow a fourth national wireless carrier to emerge — - Antitrust officials seek additional carrier with own network — T-Mobile mulling possible fixes to satisfy Justice Department

More: PR Newswire, MacRumors, USA Today, Android Authority, Gizmodo, Android Central, CNET, The Verge, Engadget, FierceWireless, Politico, Neowin, Cult of Mac, Telecoms.com, VOIP IP Telephony, Android Police, SlashGear, AppleInsider, TmoNews, GeekWire, 9to5Mac, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @modestproposal1, @msnabilaahmed, @saschasegan, @whatthebit, and @business

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

The YouTube channel of Indian music production company T-Series becomes the first to cross 100M subscribers — Beating PewDiePie in the process — T-Series is the first YouTube channel to reach more than 100 million subscribers after months of racing to the top.

More: Business Insider, ValueWalk, and The Daily Dot

Tweets: @tseries and @youtube

Parmy Olson / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: VR startup Leap Motion, which helped pioneer gesture tracking, to sell itself to UltraHaptics for ~$30M, about a 10th of its valuation a few years ago — San Francisco startup, which develops and licenses gesture-tracking technology, had in the past been eyed by Apple

More: 9to5Mac, The Verge, and VentureBeat. Tweets: @wsjtech

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Firefly, which runs targeted, geofenced ads via smart screens on ride-sharing cars in SF and LA, raises $30M Series A as its starts working with taxis in NYC — Firefly, a startup that allows ridehail drivers to make money from advertising, has raised $30 million in Series A funding.

More: AdExchanger, VentureBeat, and Forbes. Tweets: @benbajarin

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Nreal unveils a $499 consumer version of its Light AR glasses that are compatible with any phone using the Snapdragon 855 chip, available later this year — Chinese augmented reality upstart Nreal announced a $499 consumer version of its Light AR glasses at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara, Calif. Thursday.

More: CNET, Engadget, and iMore. Thanks:@francisybea

Ryan McMorrow / Agence France-Presse:

Investigation finds Huawei has received ~$1.6B in Chinese government grants over past ten years, heavily subsidized land, and favorable export financing terms — Huawei has been a major beneficiary of Chinese state subsidies and grants — A replica of the Palace of Versailles …

Tweets: @rwmcmorrow, @akannampilly, @dravirmani, and @paulmozur

Paul Gillin / SiliconANGLE:

Big data analytics vendor MapR cuts 122 jobs, may shut down Santa Clara HQ after potential investor pulls out after “extremely poor results” in the last quarter — MapR Technologies Inc., one of the troika of unicorn startups that emerged from the early days of the big-data movement …

More: Silicon Valley Business …, Datanami, and Business Insider. Thanks:@robhof

Steven Melendez / Fast Company:

The popular password management startup Dashlane raises $110M Series D led by Sequoia Capital — Dashlane, the popular password management service, has closed a $110-million Series D funding round and hired a new chief marketing officer: Joy Howard, who is currently CMO at Lyft and will join Dashlane in August.

More: TechCrunch

IDC:

Global wearables shipments reached 49.6M units in Q1 2019, up 55.2% YoY as ear-worn devices grew 135.1%; Huawei grew 282.2%, Samsung 151.6%, and Apple 49.5% — Global shipments of wearable devices reached 49.6 million units during the first quarter of 2019 (1Q19), up 55.2% …

More: 9to5Google, MacRumors, and VentureBeat

Davey Alba / BuzzFeed News:

Facial recognition tech will be tested in a US public school district for the first time starting June 3 in NY, will track people barred from school buildings — Testing of the Aegis system begins in the Lockport City School District next week. It will track sex offenders …

More: CNET, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Engadget, CityLab, WKBW-TV, and The Hill

Tweets: @rmac18, @kaimandante, @daveyalba, @daveyalba, @buzzfeednews, @adrjeffries, and @mat

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Hulu says 70% of its 82M viewers are on the $5.99-per-month ad-supported plan, which generated $1.5B in ad revenue in 2018 — Hulu sells an ad-free version of its streaming service, just like Netflix. But the majority of Hulu subscribers are on the $5.99-per-month ad-supported plan …

More: Latest Streaming & … and Tubefilter

Tweets: @charlesarthur, @xpangler, and @pkafka

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.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

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.

BG2 Pod:

AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean

Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.

Subscribe to BG2 Pod.

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.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:00 PM ET, May 30, 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.