Techmeme
July 17, 2019, 10:40 AM

Top News

European Commission:
The European Commission launches a formal antitrust investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by Amazon in its dual role as marketplace and retailer  —  The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Amazon's use of sensitive data …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to fund original, exclusive podcasts and has reached out to media companies, in a bid to compete with Spotify  —  - Tech giant looks to use exclusives to compete with Spotify  — Company has recently added new Podcasts Mac app, web interface
John Markoff / New York Times:
Neuralink, which has received $158M in funding including $100M from Elon Musk, hopes to begin testing its brain-computer interface on humans by Q2 of 2020  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk aspires to make inserting a computer connection into your brain as safe and painless as Lasik eye surgery.
Michael McWhertor / Polygon:
Nintendo announces an updated Switch console which, it says, will last up to nine hours on a single charge; FCC filing suggests it has a new SoC and storage  —  It's the same old Switch, just longer lasting  —  Nintendo is updating the original version of the Switch to offer better battery life …
Reuters:
Review of 33 high-profile blockchain projects within the financial sector and interviews with execs shows the limitations of blockchain and its weak adoption  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two years ago Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) and Citigroup Inc (C.N) announced a new blockchain system they said would make payments …
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Reflecting on VidCon, it's clear that influencers' command of social media foreshadows future power in politics and elsewhere  —  As social media expands its cultural dominance, the people who can steer the online conversation will have an upper hand.  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. …
Nitasha Tiku / Wired:
Four of the seven Google employees who organized a 20,000-person walkout in November have resigned from the company  —  FOUR OF THE seven Google employees who organized a 20,000-person walkout in November have resigned from the company, including two women who claimed Google retaliated against them for their internal activism.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Highlights from the Senate hearing with Facebook's David Marcus on the proposed Libra cryptocurrency, and what was left unanswered  —  Facebook will only build its own Calibra cryptocurrency wallet into Messenger and Whatsapp, and will refuse to embed competing wallets …
Elizabeth Schulze / CNBC:
Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:
Researchers shed light on how WeChat censors images in private chats automatically in real time by using a massive and growing index of MD5 cryptographic hashes  —  The super app instantly blocks even the images for over 1 billion users and growing.  —  WeChat is a window into the future of the internet in many different ways.
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
Google has banned Chinese app developer CooTek from its ad platforms and Play Store, removing 60+ CooTek Android apps for bombarding users with disruptive ads  —  Google is banning CooTek, a publicly traded Chinese app developer, from its Play store and ad platforms after BuzzFeed News …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Apple says it is sending out another silent update for macOS to fix a webcam vulnerability affecting apps using Zoom's tech including RingCentral and Zhumu  —  RingCentral and Zhumu are now patched  —  Apple informed us that it has sent out a silent security update to Macs to remove software …
Jessica Conditt / Engadget:
Indies making single-play games focused on story worry about the rise of subscription models, which better suit longer, replayable games  —  Subscription services change everything.  —  The Netflix model doesn't work for video games.  Neither does the Spotify plan, the HBO Go ecosystem or the Amazon Prime Video marketplace.
More: ThurrottTweets: @jessconditt
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Sprint says hackers had access to customers' names, billing, device details, and more via Samsung's website, fails to disclose the number affected  —  Hackers had access to customer info such as names, billing, device details, and more.  —  US mobile network operator Sprint said hackers broke …
CNBC:
Microsoft and AT&T announce a partnership wherein AT&T will use Azure and Microsoft's 365 suite for its 250,000 staff; source says multi-year deal is worth $2B+  —  KEY POINTS  — All AT&T Communications employees will use Microsoft 365, which includes Windows 10 and Office 365.
Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:
London-based ContractPodAi, which develops AI-powered contract lifecycle management software, raises $55M Series B led by Insight Partners  —  ContractPodAi, a London-based startup that has developed what it describes as AI-powered contract lifecycle management software, is disclosing $55 million in Series B funding.
BBC:
Pearson, the world's largest education publisher, says all future releases of its 1,500 active US titles will be “digital first” and updated on an ongoing basis  —  The world's largest education publisher has taken the first step towards phasing out print books by making all its learning resources “digital first”.

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