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September 18, 2019, 1:45 PM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Josh Constine / TechCrunch: |
Facebook debuts Portal TV, a TV accessory for video calling, streaming, AR gaming, and co-viewing Facebook Watch shows, shipping November 5 for $149 — Facebook wants to take over your television with a clip-on camera for video calling, AR gaming, and content co-watching.
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Facebook, Daring Fireball, CNET, Android Police, Digital Trends, MacRumors, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Thurrott, Quartz, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechSpot, Telegraph, Seeking Alpha, Mashable, Android Central, WinBuzzer, iDownloadBlog.com, and The Streamable
Tweets: @joshconstine, @heatherkelly, @gpollowitz, @boztank, @rh_brown, @tomwarren, @ow, @amahnke, @jason_kint, and @saysdana. Thanks:@joshconstine
| Nick Statt / The Verge: |
Facebook unveils second-gen 10-inch Portal for $179, and 8-inch Portal Mini for $129, with WhatsApp call support, picture-in-picture viewing, and Prime Video — The $179 Portal and $129 Portal Mini are Facebook's latest hardware products — Facebook today announced three new products …
More:
The Verge, VentureBeat, CNET, Thurrott, TechCrunch, CNBC, Financial Times, and ZDNet. Tweets: @alexjkane
| Bloomberg: |
Facebook confirms it was collecting Portal audio clips, some of which were transcribed by contractors, says 2nd-gen Portal devices will offer an opt-out option — - Company previously criticized for transcribing Messenger calls — New and old Portal devices will now offer an opt-out option
More:
Engadget, Business Insider, TechHive, and Mashable
Tweets: @business, @sarahfrier, @iansherr, @joshconstine, @shiraovide, @canterrain, @vladsavov, @silviakillings, and @the_dools
| Dieter Bohn / The Verge: |
Apple Watch Series 5 review: it's a minor update and battery life hasn't improved, but an always-on, beautiful screen and new apps make it the best smartwatch — There's basically no competition — The highest praise I can give the new Apple Watch Series 5 is simply this: it's an Apple Watch.
More:
TechCrunch, Daring Fireball, CNBC, iMore, 9to5Mac, HODINKEE, Wired, Macworld, BuzzFeed News, CNET, Digital Trends, USA Today, MacDailyNews, Pocket-lint, MobileSyrup, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, MacStories, 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac, iPhone Hacks, and Fast Company
Tweets: @backlon, @backlon, @tomwarren, @reckless, and @itsnicolenguyen
| Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times: |
Researchers: many streaming dongles and TVs, including those made Amazon, Roku, Samsung, and LG, are sending user data to firms such as Netflix and Facebook — The smart TVs in our homes are leaking sensitive user data to companies including Netflix, Google and Facebook even when some devices are idle … | Joseph Cox / VICE: |
Repo men are scanning and uploading locations of cars they drive past into DRN, a surveillance database of 9B license plates accessible by private investigators — Repo men are passively scanning and uploading the locations of every car they drive by into DRN, a surveillance database … | Lauren Smiley / Wired: |
How data from the victim's Fitbit and a neighbor's Ring surveillance camera played a crucial role in the arrest of a 90-year-old suspect in a murder trial in CA — Karen Navarra was a quiet woman in her sixties who lived alone. She was found beaten to death. The neighbors didn't see anything.| Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
Documents found on an unprotected backup drive of a Nokia Networks employee shed light on Russia's secret network surveillance system, known as SORM — A data leak exposes SORM surveillance at Russia's top telco — In cities across Russia, large boxes in locked rooms are directly connected … | Nilay Patel / The Verge: |
iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max review: its camera system outperforms the Pixel 3 and Note10 in bright light and, with Night mode, usually beats Pixel 3 in low light — And the best camera you can get on a phone — The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max did not arrive at the splashiest Apple event ever.
More:
MacRumors, PCMag, 9to5Mac, Daring Fireball, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, iMore, Apple, SonnyDickson, blog.halide.cam, iDownloadBlog.com, MacDailyNews, Refinery29, YouTube, Wired, iPhone in Canada Blog, Redmond Pie, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, The Mac Observer, O'Grady's PowerPage, Engadget, The Overspill, Softpedia News, iPhone Hacks, MacStories, Macworld, MSPoweruser, and Michael Tsai
Tweets: @tomwarren, @rsgnl, @pschiller, @saschasegan, @daringfireball, @joannastern, @llsethj, @viticci, @verge, @sdw, @sdw, @pierce, @reckless, @dsilverman, @michaelbabich, @ow, @happicamp, @nicolasmagand, @alexhern, @bxchen, @reckless, and @reckless
| Chris Velazco / Engadget: |
More:
The Verge, TechCrunch, BuzzFeed News, 9to5Mac, Mashable, Cult of Mac, Mashable, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, AppleInsider, MSPoweruser, TechSpot, MacRumors, CNET, 9to5Mac, TechRadar.com, Tom's Guide, Business Insider, and iMore
Tweets: @stroughtonsmith, @stroughtonsmith, @imagemechanics, @reckless, @rocco_botte, @panzer, and @mikeisaac
| Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic: |
Instagram's Close Friends feature proves controversial as both an influencer revenue stream and superficial gateway to intimacy — Gabi Abrao, better known as @sighswoon on Instagram, is “developing a language with the invisible.” Her page is half memes, half photos of her—eating fresh fruit … | Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: |
IBM unveils a 53-qubit quantum computer, scheduled to arrive next month, making it the largest universal quantum computer available for external use — IBM continues to push its quantum computing efforts forward and today announced that it will soon make a 53-qubit quantum computer available to clients of its IBM Q Network.
More:
SiliconANGLE, CNET, Business Insider, Boing Boing, TechRepublic, ZDNet, Fortune, and IBM
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Amazon says it is bringing Amazon PayCode, which allows customers to checkout using cash at Western Union locations, to the US — Amazon is making it easier for customers to pay with cash for their online purchases. The retailer today announced the U.S. arrival of Amazon PayCode …
More:
Amazon.com, Inc., Engadget, Neowin, and 9to5Toys
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Descript, a toolmaker for podcasting, raises $15M Series A from a16z and Redpoint and acquires Lyrebird, which lets users create audio of their voices from text — The boom in popularity for podcasting has given a new voice to the world of spoken word content that had been largely left for dead with the decline of broadcast radio.| Will Oremus / OneZero: |
Studies that try to place a monetary value on consumer privacy have such varying results that researchers are beginning to conclude that it's the wrong approach — No one knows. And it might be time to stop asking. — For big tech platforms, this was the year when violating users' privacy got expensive.
Tweets: @privacyproject, @willoremus, @profcarroll, @willoremus, and @lemonsand
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Google begins rolling out new features for its Family Link parental control tool, including app-specific screen time and the ability to grant extra time — Google's parental control software, Family Link, is getting a noteworthy update today with the addition of new features that will allow parents …
More:
Engadget and 9to5Google
| Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: |
Researchers discover a weakness in the WS-Discovery protocol, found in over 800,000 IoT devices, that lets hackers amplify DDoS attacks — WSD is supposed to be confined to local networks. It's not, and researchers are concerned. — Hackers have found a new way to amplify the crippling effects …
More:
The Akamai Blog, CSO, and Wired
| Dan Seifert / The Verge: |
Sonos Move review: loud and full sound that is great indoors or out, reliable wireless connectivity, but too big and heavy for travel, significant setup bugs — Sonos' first portable speaker is more comfortable at home than on the go — For the past week or so, I've been listening to music …
More:
TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, Digital Trends, and Engadget
| Tavi Gevinson / The Cut: |
Founder of the Rookie mag reflects on being an early influencer and the effect that Instagram had on her life and career as Instagram's aesthetic keeps evolving — My senior year of high school, I had three Instagram accounts: a public one, a private one for friends and internet friends, and a private one that was just for me.
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Slate. Tweets: @hamishmckenzie, @hexpositive, @boygirlparty, @thisaintanika, @mosseri, @brodielancaster, @kelseyjbarnes, @dada_drummer, and @designsponge
| Makena Kelly / The Verge: |
Facebook shares more on its upcoming Oversight Board for content decisions and how members are picked, says decisions will be binding even if Facebook disagrees — 'The board's decision will be binding, even if I or anyone at Facebook disagrees with it,' says Zuckerberg
More:
Facebook, The Register, BBC, Gizmodo, The Atlantic, Rude Baguette, Digital Trends, Silicon Republic, Business Insider, and TechCrunch
Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg. Tweets: @daveleebbc, @niemanlab, @zephyrteachout, @facebook, @facebook, and @kellymakena
| Ryan Tracy / Wall Street Journal: |
Report: ~75 countries are using AI for surveillance and Huawei is providing surveillance tech in 50 countries, far more than its nearest competitor Hikvision — China leads world in facial-recognition and other new surveillance technologies, report says — WASHINGTON—China leads the world …
More:
Carnegie Endowment …, Quartz, and WRAL TechWire
Tweets: @hypervisible, @iwillleavenow, @nlw, @evanselinger, and @hoofnagle
| Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal: |
Facing mounting antitrust pressure, Google and Facebook have been cozying up to publishers, offering oft-requested fees and news-ranking changes — Facing mounting antitrust probes, tech platforms offer fees, news-ranking changes media outlets have pursued for years
Tweets: @buzzfeedben
| Sean Silcoff / Globe and Mail: |
Toronto-based TouchBistro, which offers a payments platform and more for restaurants globally, raises $158M Series E led by OMERS Growth Equity — Pension giant Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has made its largest investment in a Canadian early-stage technology company … | Katrina Brooker / Fast Company: |
As Google develops more powerful AI and proliferates it across the tech world, its real-world ethical ramifications become more consequential and murky — Google has more computing power, data, and talent to pursue artificial intelligence than any other company on Earth—and it's not slowing down.| Cherlynn Low / Engadget: |
HP debuts 13" Elitebook Dragonfly ultra-light business convertible with Intel Core vPro processor, 2TB storage, 16GB RAM, available Oct. 25, starting at $1,549 — HP is chasing superlatives again. Last year, the company launched the Spectre Folio — the first laptop made out of leather.
More:
The Verge, Gizmodo, ZDNet, Thurrott, Inquirer, VentureBeat, PCWorld, Ars Technica, and Windows Central
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