Techmeme
November 2, 2019, 8:35 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, Android Central, Windows Central, Washington Post, Social Media Today, The Next Web, Bloomberg, The Next Web, Mashable, AnandTech, Tech.co, Techaeris, The Register, TechCrunch, Phandroid, TalkAndroid.com, Michael Tsai, The Daily Dot, The Daily Caller, TechSpot, CNET, WebProNews, Ars Technica, Daring Fireball, Bloomberg, MacRumors, Vox, BetaNews, ExtremeTech, AppleInsider, SiliconANGLE, FinSMEs, New York Times, Newser, OnMSFT.com, Digital Trends, Coinspeaker, GeekWire, Variety, 9to5Google, KnowTechie, WinBuzzer, Crunchbase News, Neowin, Gizchina, Pocketnow, Silicon Republic, Voicebot.ai, ZDNet, Cult of Mac, Search Engine Land, Droid Life, Tom's Guide, iDownloadBlog.com, Thurrott, AndroidGuys, XDA Developers, Business Insider, Macworld, Firstpost Tech, iPhone Hacks, Android Authority, Fast Company, Technology Personalized, Android Police, VentureBeat, PYMNTS.com, Memeburn, Axios, Seeking Alpha, Computer Business Review, iPhone in Canada Blog, and The Information
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.
Darla Mercado / CNBC:
Brian Chesky says Airbnb will ban “party houses” after five people died in a shooting at a Halloween party in a California home rented through the service  —  - Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, tweeted on Saturday that the company would bar “party houses” and step up its efforts against unauthorized parties.
New York Times:
Trump has integrated Twitter into the very fabric of his administration, and, via more than 11,000 tweets, has reshaped the presidency  —  With a single tweet last fall, Mr. Trump sent his administration into a tailspin.  “I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught …
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 …
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.
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 …

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