Techmeme
October 16, 2019, 2:45 AM

Top News

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Google debuts 5.7" Pixel 4 for $799 and 6.3" Pixel 4 XL for $899 with gesture recognition, two rear cameras including one with a telephoto lens, coming Oct. 24  —  The most-leaked phones ever are now official  —  You've seen them, you've read plenty about them, and now Google's latest smartphones …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google says the Pixel 4 won't support its Daydream mobile VR platform, which is being phased out as it also stops selling the Daydream viewer  —  Google's Daydream, Android's built-in virtual reality platform, is as good as dead.  Following the company's annual hardware event today …
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Pixel 4's dual camera system adds better zoom capability, live-view HDR+ to fine-tune shots, revamped portrait mode, and extends Night Sight to astrophotography  —  Over the last three years, Google's Pixel phones have earned a well-deserved reputation for photographic strength.
Sandeep Waraich / The Keyword:
Google debuts truly wireless and tiny Pixel Buds, with Adaptive Sound to boost volume as users move into noisy environments, coming next year in the US for $179  —  Many of us turn to our phones constantly.  On average, people check their smartphones almost 100 times a day …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Twitter to restrict user interactions with world leaders' tweets that violate its rules, will let users quote-tweet, but not retweet, like, reply, or share  —  Twitter said it will restrict how users can interact with tweets from world leaders who break its rules.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google unveils Pixelbook Go, a Chromebook with 16:9 13.3" display, a 4K option, Intel CPUs, and up to 256GB SSD; pre-orders open today in US and Canada for $649  —  It's small, it's cute, it's $650  —  For the first time, Google is making a Chromebook that actually approaches a reasonable price …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Google unveils Nest Wifi Router, which is mesh-capable but lacks Wi-Fi 6, coming in Nov. for $269 for a two pack, and Google Assistant-enabled Nest Wifi Point  —  If you're in the market for a new router, good news: Google just announced a replacement for its long-in-the-tooth Google Wifi.
Scott Scrivens / Android Police:
Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:
Kids keep finding ways around Apple's Screen Time parental lock, often sharing tips and tricks online; frustrated parents say the company is slow to respond  —  Apple's Screen Time is meant to give customers a way to control their kids' devices, but intrepid youngsters have exploited bugs and workarounds.
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Fortnite's “black hole” hiatus ends after nearly two days, as Chapter 2 arrives with new maps and gameplay features, like fishing, swimming, and new vehicles  —  It took a while, but the black hole did its job  —  For two years now, Fortnite's ever-changing battle royale island …
BuzzFeed News:
As Facebook says politicians can lie in ads, so far in October it has banned 160+ ads from Trump, Biden, Warren, Sanders, Steyer for profanity and fake buttons  —  Last week, Facebook announced that it would allow political candidates to lie in ads posted to its platform …
Shirin Ghaffary / Vox:
Sources: Google staff are having a fiery debate on a mailing list about banning a Hong Kong protest game from Play; the issue also came up at an all hands  —  Many in Hong Kong want autonomy from the Chinese government.  Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Earlier Picks

Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Reuters: