Techmeme: Flatfair, a London-based startup that lets landlords offer deposit-free rent to tenants, has raised $11M Series A led by Index Ventures (Steve O'Hear/TechCrunch)

Top News

Google Assistant now lets users create reminders that can be assigned to friends or family, including scheduled time-based or location-based reminders — If you're a fellow parent, you probably spend a lot of time coordinating with your partner through on-the-fly conversations, text messages or phone calls.

More: MacRumors, The Verge, TechCrunch, Android Police, PCWorld, XDA Developers, Engadget, Thurrott, Droid Life, MSPoweruser, KnowTechie, Neowin, Fast Company, CNET, VentureBeat, and Geek.com

Eugene Kim / CNBC:

Amazon launches a new donations program, called FBA Donations, for third-party sellers to dispose of unsold products stored in its warehouses in the US and UK — KEY POINTS — Amazon is launching a new donations program, called FBA Donations, for third-party sellers that store …

More: Day One, TechCrunch, TechSpot, Geek.com, PYMNTS.com, SlashGear, Business Insider, Engadget, The Verge, and bit-tech.net

Sean O'Kane / The Verge:

UPS takes a minority stake in self-driving truck startup TuSimple for an undisclosed sum, says it's been carrying UPS cargo between Phoenix and Tucson since May — The delivery giant has announced a minority stake in autonomous trucking startup TuSimple — UPS has had autonomous trucking …

More: Engadget and TechCrunch

Chip Cutter / Wall Street Journal:

Flashy Gen Z résumés, containing photos and bitmoji, are colliding with employer efforts to reduce hiring bias with systems that remove such embellishments — Employers see surge in Gen Z CVs containing photos and illustrations; 'there's a freaking bitmoji'

Tweets: @taylorlorenz, @db, @antoniabmassa, @glassdoor, and @mattnavarra

April Glaser / Slate:

Tech companies can do a lot more to protect the identities of people speaking in recordings used to train AI, like shifting the voice or gender of the speaker — It turns out that Siri, Alexa, and whatever it is you call Facebook Messenger have been a little loose-lipped with your conversations.

More: Forbes, The Atlantic, and Naked Security

Tweets: @aprilaser and @slate

Joseph Cox / VICE:

Leaked documents show that Microsoft pays $12 to $14 per hour to the contractors who transcribe up to 200 audio clips per hour to train Cortana

More: TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, The Register, KnowTechie, iPhone in Canada Blog, Inc42 Media, The Verge, Windows Central, WinBuzzer, MSPoweruser, Engadget, BuzzFeed News, TechSpot, KTLA, Bloomberg, CNET, and Slashdot

Tweets: @josephfcox, @jason_koebler, @josephfcox, @j2sheck, @derektmead, @josephfcox, @k_trendacosta, @josephfcox, and @sarahfrier

CNBC:

VMware says it is in talks to acquire Pivotal Software for $15 per share in cash, an 80% premium on Pivotal's $8.30 closing price on Wednesday — This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. — TRENDING NOW — Subscribe to CNBC PRO Licensing & Reprints Join …

More: Reuters, ZDNet, TechCrunch, The Register, investors.pivotal.io, VMware, Inc., NewsBTC, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, PE Hub Blog, SiliconANGLE, CryptoGlobe, and Silicon Valley Business …

Tweets: @cnbcnow, @mreferre, and @dblevins

Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:

Flatfair, a London-based startup that lets landlords offer deposit-free rent to tenants, has raised $11M Series A led by Index Ventures — Flatfair, a London-based fintech that lets landlords offer “deposit-free” renting to tenants, has raised $11 million in funding.

More: Flatfair, Tech.eu, and Silicon Republic

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

Incorta, which aims to optimize data warehousing projects for enterprises, raises $30M Series C led by Sorenson Capital, bringing its total raised to $75M — Incorta, a startup founded by former Oracle executives who want to change the way we process large amounts data, announced a $30 million Series C today led by Sorenson Capital.

More: FinSMEs, Silicon Republic, and PE Hub Blog

Andrew Webster / The Verge:

Sega's Genesis Mini, launching September 19 for $79.99, is 55% smaller than the original Genesis, comes with two USB controllers, and has 42 built-in games — It's been three years since the breakout success of Nintendo's tiny NES Classic, but the miniature console wars are finally heating up.

More: Android Authority, Windows Central, Kotaku, Polygon, IGN, Forbes, TechSpot, 9to5Toys, CNET, ExtremeTech, and VentureBeat

Tweets: @atomkirk and @db

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

How Bluetana, an app that detects hidden Bluetooth-based card skimmers at gas pumps, is helping police; study: a skimmer can steal an estimated $4K to $60K/day — “Bluetana,” a new mobile app that looks for Bluetooth-based payment card skimmers hidden inside gas pumps …

More: TechCrunch, PaymentsSource, PYMNTS.com, Fast Company, and SlashGear. Tweets: @briankrebs

The Information:

Taso Du Val, the CEO of Toptal, a freelancing platform with ~$200M in revenues, has retained all of Toptal's stock, as it hasn't raised since a 2012 seed round — Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley success story.

Tweets: @amir, @amir, @amir, @amir, @amir, @amir, @amir, and @amir

New York Times:

As the 10+ day internet shutdown in Kashmir continues, pharmacists run out of drugs, people can't get cash, and online related businesses close — Pharmacists can't restock medicines; workers aren't being paid. But the government still loves to block the internet for “peace and tranquillity.”

Tweets: @nihamasih, @nytimestech, @vindugoel, @puiwingtam, @dr_rita39, @vindugoel, @shashj, and @kashhill

Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:

OnePlus CEO talks about a second 5G phone coming in Q4, international expansion, and plans to launch a TV set — OnePlus, China's upstart smartphone maker, is preparing a global rollout of its new 5G device this year, as it looks to expand in the US and win more customers from Huawei, Apple and Samsung.

More: XDA Developers, Android Police, Firstpost Tech, Gizchina, Gizmochina, BGR, Droid Life, Android Headlines, 9to5Google, Pocket-lint, and Android Authority

Reuters:

Alibaba beats with June quarter revenue of $16.3B, up 42% YoY, cloud computing revenue of $1.1B, up 66% YoY, and core commerce revenue of $14.14B, up 44% YoY — SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on Thursday …

More: KrASIA, Bloomberg, ZDNet, Seeking Alpha, New York Post, Bloomberg, and CNBC

Colin Lecher / The Verge:

About 200 Google employees sign a petition, saying they “refuse to be complicit” in potential cloud computing work for the US Customs & Border Protection agency — Workers are circulating a petition — Google employees are demanding that the company not bid …

More: Medium, The Hill, Washington Post, Telecoms.com, IT PRO, Beyond Search, Business Insider, CNET, Engadget, Bloomberg, Vox, and FedScoop

Tweets: @dabeard and @alex

Casey Newton / The Interface:

Twitter's followable topics may open big new audiences for the company, as well as polarize them; Twitter still thinks its “trending” section can be fixed — On Wednesday, Twitter invited reporters to its headquarters in San Francisco for an update on improvements to the product.

More: BuzzFeed News, TechCrunch, Wired, and Silicon Republic. Tweets: @caseynewton

Molly Price / CNET:

How St. Louis University is trying to help new students acclimate to campus life by putting an Echo Dot in every dorm room with a campus-specific Alexa skill — Students at St. Louis University are headed back to school with Alexa in their dorm rooms to help with everything from weather to campus bus schedules.

More: Socialnomics. Tweets: @jdolcourt and @cnet

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

Some Credit Karma users say they were served other users' account information when they logged in; Credit Karma says it is a technical malfunction, not a breach — Users of credit monitoring site Credit Karmas have complained that they were served other people's account information when they logged in.

More: Slashdot, CNET, reddit, and PYMNTS.com

Tweets: @j0hnnyxm4s and @zackwhittaker

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