Techmeme
August 22, 2019, 4:05 PM

Top News

Sameer Samat / The Keyword:
Google stops using dessert-themed names for Android for better worldwide accessibility, names Android Q Android 10, and refreshes Android brand logo and color  —  Over the last decade, Android's open platform has created a thriving community of manufacturers and developers that reach a global audience with their devices and apps.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is planning to launch Pro iPhones with three-sensor camera systems for better low-light, new iPads, and a 16-inch MacBook Pro next month  —  Apple Inc. is readying a clutch of new hardware for the coming weeks and months, including “Pro” iPhones, upgrades to iPads and its largest laptop in years.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google proposes new privacy and anti-fingerprinting controls aimed at making it harder for online marketers and advertisers to track users across the web  —  Google today announced a new long-term initiative that, if fully realized, will make it harder for online marketers and advertisers to track you across the web.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: News Corp is developing a news-aggregation service called Knewz, to address publisher concerns about Google and Facebook  —  Knewz.com will surface articles from hundreds of news sources, using software and human curation  —  News Corp is developing a news-aggregation service meant …
Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times:
Amazon says it will no longer use tips or supplemental earnings to cover promised wages of Flex drivers, who deliver for Prime Now, Fresh, and Whole Foods  —  Amazon delivery drivers were surprised to learn earlier this year that the e-commerce giant would at times dip into their tips to cover their promised wages.
ProPublica:
Interviews with 36+ DOD and tech officials shed light on tech giants' fight for $10B Pentagon JEDI cloud contract using backdoor lobbying and an advisory board  —  Tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt have gotten unprecedented access to the Pentagon.  And one whistleblower who raised flags has paid the price.
CNBC:
Overstock CEO Partick Byrne has resigned from the e-commerce company after his comments about being involved in a “Deep State” investigation of 2016 election  —  - Overstock CEO Partick Byrne has resigned from the e-commerce company after making controversial comments about his role in the “Deep State.”
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy Note10+ review: the screen is beautiful and handwriting recognition with S Pen is neat but software backslides into confusion and DeX is a mess  —  The most phone  —  How much would you pay to have a stylus in your phone?  —  That's the essential question for the Note 10 Plus.
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
AT&T, Comcast, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, and seven other US carriers announce an agreement with 51 attorneys general to implement new tech to block robocalls  —  Twelve of the country's largest telephone companies on Thursday pledged to implement new technology to spot and block robocalls …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Assessing the impact of telecoms' poor privacy practices through the story of a woman stalked by a man who obtained her real-time location data from T-Mobile  —  Telecom giants are giving up customers' real-time location data to stalkers and bounty hunters.  Now, Motherboard speaks to a victim.
Brian Merchant / Gizmodo:
Investigation reveals popular on-demand massage app Zeel repeatedly ignored therapists' complaints about sexual harassment and inappropriate client behavior  —  When Ilene Antelman arrived at a client's Manhattan duplex in December of 2016, she was in a good mood.
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Users whose accounts have been disabled by Facebook say the opaque review process, the endless wait, and the inability to contact an employee can be maddening  —  For a decade, Christopher Reeves, an Uber driver in Seattle, used Facebook for everything: talking with friends, communicating with fellow drivers, meeting singles.
Washington Post:
Palantir's revenue from US government contracts under Trump surpassed its total under Obama's second term, as sources describe staff debates about work with ICE  —  After Google dropped a defense contract over employee pressure, Palantir's leaders doubled down on controversial work with the U.S. government
Georgina Torbet / Engadget:
Google is rolling out its face-grouping feature in Google Photos, first introduced in 2015, across Europe  —  Google Photos recently hit one billion users after being spun out from Google+ just four years ago.  One reason the product grew so quickly is its frequent updates …
More: 9to5Google
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Eminem's publisher Eight Mile Style sues Spotify claiming copyright infringement, challenges the constitutionality of the Music Modernization Act passed in 2018  —  Eight Mile Style alleges “Lose Yourself” and many of the rapper's hits aren't licensed by the streamer.  Now comes a suit eyeing Spotify's billions.
Facebook Technology:
A look at Oculus Insight, Facebook's technology that makes inside-out VR tracking on Oculus Quest and Rift S headsets possible  —  VR hardware was tethered to a PC — until one Facebook engineering team found a way to cut the cord  —  When Anna Kozminski joined Facebook as a software program manager …

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Mehreen Khan / Financial Times:
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Abner Li / 9to5Google: