Techmeme
November 2, 2019, 1:05 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google can make a success of Fitbit if it can be managed as well as the integration of HTC's smartphone team, but it can also end up as a fiasco like Nest  —  The HTC acquisition went well, Nest did not — will this?  —  Google is buying Fitbit and the reasons why are both simple and complicated.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Google to acquire Fitbit at $7.35 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $2.1B  —  - The acquisition pits Alphabet against fellow tech giant Apple in the wearable fitness tracking space.  —  Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks on stage during the annual Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2018.
More: The Seattle Times, Fitbit, Inc., The Keyword, New York Times, The Keyword, The Verge, VentureBeat, Windows Central, Android Central, Social Media Today, Washington Post, The Next Web, The Next Web, Bloomberg, Mashable, AnandTech, Techaeris, Tech.co, The Register, Phandroid, TalkAndroid.com, Michael Tsai, TechCrunch, The Daily Dot, Daring Fireball, The Daily Caller, WebProNews, TechSpot, CNET, Bloomberg, Ars Technica, Vox, BetaNews, MacRumors, ExtremeTech, AppleInsider, SiliconANGLE, Newser, FinSMEs, New York Times, OnMSFT.com, Digital Trends, Coinspeaker, GeekWire, 9to5Google, KnowTechie, Variety, WinBuzzer, Crunchbase News, Pocketnow, Neowin, Gizchina, Silicon Republic, Voicebot.ai, ZDNet, Cult of Mac, Search Engine Land, Droid Life, Gizmodo, Tom's Guide, iDownloadBlog.com, AndroidGuys, Thurrott, XDA Developers, Business Insider, Macworld, Firstpost Tech, iPhone Hacks, Android Authority, Fast Company, Technology Personalized, Android Police, VentureBeat, PYMNTS.com, Memeburn, Seeking Alpha, Axios, Computer Business Review, and iPhone in Canada Blog
David Ruddock / Android Police:
Google's Fitbit acquisition feels like a top-down decision of executives who found enough yes men to agree to the delusion that Fitbit can revive Wear OS  —  Google announced today that it would purchase Fitbit, the ailing manufacturer of fitness-focused wearables and smartwatches, for $2.1 billion.
Elizabeth Schulze / CNBC:
Russia's “sovereign internet” law, which aims to enable disconnecting the country's internet from the rest of the world, went into effect on Friday  —  - The law tightens Moscow's control over the country's internet infrastructure and aims to provide a way for Russia to disconnect its networks from the rest of the world.
Swati Khandelwal / The Hacker News:
Google releases patch for a Chrome zero-day vulnerability being used in the wild that allows hackers to escape sandbox protections via malicious websites  —  Attention readers, if you are using Chrome on your Windows, Mac, and Linux computers, you need to update your web browsing software immediately …
CNN:
Facebook says it will not fact-check ads by UK political parties and candidates running in December election, but will fact-check political groups like Leave.EU  —  Facebook's political ad policy under pressure  —  London and New York (CNN Business)A controversial policy allowing politicians …
Will Oremus / OneZero:
Twitter's ban on political and issue ads will let companies advertise things like fossil fuel-based products but ban ads from activists advocating against them  —  The company's feel-good decision is already a mess.  —  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced on Wednesday that the company …
Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:
The debate over Facebook's political ads policy has been too US-centric and the company hasn't explained how that policy will work in other countries  —  When Facebook wrote to Joe Biden's campaign to say it would not back down from its decision to exempt politicians from its ban …
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
The best time to become a Zoho Partner  —  The business world is not only changing but it is being rebuilt.  Customers want connected ecosystems that will help them automate, unify their data, and do more with less.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
So what happens after AGI?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:05 PM ET, November 2, 2019.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Ryan Christoffel / MacStories:

Earlier Picks

Reuters:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
BBC:
Washington Post: