Techmeme: West Virginia governor to sign a bill that would allow voters with physical disabilities to vote via smartphone in 2020, becoming the first US state to do so (Kevin Collier/NBC News)

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February 3, 2020, 7:45 AM

Top News

Benedict Evans:

Now that tech has connected most of the world, a look at the opportunities and issues this creates for the 2020s — We connected (almost) everyone There are 5.5bn adults on earth, 5bn have a phone and 4bn have a smartphone

More: Kinjal Shah. Tweets: @johnrentoul, @benedictevans, @benedictevans, @sub8u, @carnage4life, @carnage4life, @benedictevans, @jamescrabtree, @dr_roedel, @ricmac, @ggarvin, @meedabyte, @competitionprof, @caro_milanesi, @ruskin147, @samruchlewicz, @mohamed, and @sebprovencher

Sam Byford / The Verge:

Alleged leaked video shows off Samsung's folding Galaxy Z Flip — Samsung's next foldable should be coming this month — Samsung's next folding phone is likely to be announced this month, and what appears to be the first hands-on video with the device has just appeared online.

Justin Villamil / Bloomberg:

Uber suspends 240 accounts of users in Mexico who came into contact with two drivers who possibly had the coronavirus, to help contain its potential spread — Uber Technologies Inc. has suspended 240 user accounts in Mexico to contain the potential spread of coronavirus.

More: Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, Memeburn, and Gizmodo

Tweets: @uber_mex, @jonrussell, and @sergioaved

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

As Apple closes its offices, stores, and contact centers in China, Ming-Chi Kuo lowers Q1 iPhone shipment forecasts by 10% due to Wuhan coronavirus outbreak — Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has lowered his iPhone shipment forecast by 10 percent to 36-40 million units in the first quarter of 2020 …

More: CNBC, AppleInsider, iMore, Tom's Guide, International Business Times, SiliconANGLE, iPhone Hacks, Firstpost Tech, Nikkei Asian Review, iClarified, Business Insider, and iAfrikan

Brian Barrett / Wired:

Profile of the popular password management app Dashlane, which has raised $110M last spring and is airing its first ever Super Bowl ad — A company you've never heard of is spending millions of dollars to let you know it can make your online life easier. — This year's crop …

More: IGN. Tweets: @martinsfp

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Financial services giant Worldline to acquire Ingenico, the point-of-sale terminal provider that controls 37% of the market globally, for $8.6B — Some consolidation is afoot among the payments behemoths of Europe, as they continue to go head-to-head with smaller, newer fintech companies eating …

More: INGENICO GROUP, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, and CNBC. Tweets: @ingridlunden

Emma Goldberg / New York Times:

How doctors and nurses are using TikTok to demystify the medical profession by sharing info on topics like sex education, vaping, coronavirus, and nutrition — They have M.D.s, but are they up for this challenge? — For decades, sex education in the classroom could be pretty cringey.

Tweets: @nytscience, @nytscience, and @nythealth

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google Photos trials an $8/month subscription program that sends 10 prints of automatically-selected pics from the previous month; users get to choose a theme — In September, Google Photos added large canvas prints, as well as individual prints. Google Photos is now trialing a “monthly photo prints” subscription program.

More: Engadget, MSPoweruser, XDA Developers, Memeburn, PCMag, TechRadar.com, and Android Police

Tweets: @kyunbit and @rajupp. Thanks:@technacity

Julian Bajkowski / iTnews:

Profile of Klarna, a Sweden-based payments company offering post-purchase financing to consumers, as it launches in Australia after adding $200M in new funding — Orchestrating a humane exit from dependency on legacy credit card tech. — When it comes to launching new tech at the Commonwealth Bank …

More: Finextra, Inside Retail, ZDNet, iTnews, Nasdaq, PR Newswire, Which-50, Motley Fool Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, Klarna US, Business Insider Australia, and The Age

FinSMEs:

Justworks, which offers HR tools like health benefits access, payroll, and compliance support to SMBs, raises $50M Series E, bringing its total raised to $143M — Justworks, a NYC-based HR technology company, closed a $50m Series E funding. — The round, which brought total funding to $143m …

More: Justworks and Cheddar. Tweets: @justworkshr

Newley Purnell / Wall Street Journal:

Gaana, the most popular music-streaming service in India, has 152M monthly users, over half of Spotify's global user base, double Apple Music's global count — Gaana, which means ‘song’ in Hindi, has used its large library of local music and low prices to beat the competition

More: PYMNTS.com. Tweets: @newley, @anshikashukla_, @satyan, and @miten

Rebecca Heilweil / Vox:

UK startup Exscientia and a Japanese pharmaceutical firm claim to have created the first human trial-ready drug using AI, which took under a year to develop — An OCD drug created via AI will be tested on humans. — The British startup Exscientia claims it has developed …

More: Yahoo Finance, TechSpot, and Exscientia

Tweets: @pareekhjain, @exscientialtd, @hadip, @zina_chatzidim, @rossdawson, and @mdudas

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From Mediagazer

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube launches genre-specific YouTube TV Plans as lower-cost alternatives to the $82.99 monthly subscription; the Sports Plan is priced at $64.99 per month

Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:

E. W. Scripps agrees to sell its multicast network Court TV to Law&Crime owner Jellysmack, as it seeks to reduce debt tied to its Ion and Katz acquisitions

Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter:

The Academy will no longer show Oscar-nominated films to members on big screens after the screenings drew “an average of five members” over the last years

More News

Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:

Israel-based serverless computing startup Nuweba raises $10.2M in an expanded seed round, bringing its total raised to $15M

More: PR Newswire. Tweets: @blumbergcapital

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Whip Media Group, the parent company of TV and movie tracking app TV Time, raises $50M Series D, bringing its total raised to $115M

Tweets: @tinch

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Doubtnut, an India-based startup which wants to teach math and science concepts through short videos, raises $15M Series A led by Tencent, says it has 13M MAU

More: Tech in Asia, Livemint, MENAFN.COM, Entrackr, YourStory.com, The Economic Times, DealStreetAsia, VCCircle, and Inc42 Media

Peter Eavis / New York Times:

WeWork names commercial real estate veteran Sandeep Mathrani as its new CEO; SoftBank's Marcelo Claure will continue as WeWork's executive chairman

More: Wall Street Journal, Silicon Republic, Reuters, Inc42 Media, PYMNTS.com, WeWork, Business Insider, Financial Times, CNBC, and CNN

Tweets: @drorpoleg, @vincentorleck, @brandonhoffmanc, @uwsgeezer, @briansozzi, @ellenhuet, @miriamgottfried, @eliotwb, @kerrymflynn, and @stevekopack

Kevin Collier / NBC News:

West Virginia governor to sign a bill that would allow voters with physical disabilities to vote via smartphone in 2020, becoming the first US state to do so

More: Washington Post, Yahoo Finance, New York Post, and Gizmodo

Tweets: @campuscodi and @schestowitz

Sanam Yar / New York Times:

A look at MSCHF, a group behind viral stunts like an astrology app to pick stocks or “holy water” sneakers, which has raised ~$11.5M in funding since fall

Tweets: @dgisserious, @nytstyles, @mikkipedia, and @jenn_rtr

Earlier Picks

Ilya Khrennikov / Bloomberg:

Yandex launches a new online service in Moscow called Lavka, which delivers orders in 15 minutes using bike couriers and small warehouses spread across the city

Tweets: @cristinagberta, @csertoglu, @leonidragozin, @evangershkovich, and @matt_townsend

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

India-based InterviewBit, which offers an online computer science program and lets its students pay part of the fee after getting a job, raises $20M Series A

More: Anmol Newsletter, Tech in Asia, Entrackr, Livemint, Business Standard, BW Disrupt, Deccan Herald, YourStory.com, ThePrint, The Hindu BusinessLine, Inc42 Media, and VCCircle

Tom Simonite / Wired:

A look at a secretive team of quantum researchers at Alphabet's X, who are focused on creating new algorithms and applications to run on quantum computers

Tweets: @yale_qi, @glenngabe, @scottthurm, @gregoryjbarber, @tsimonite, and @nxthompson

Andrea Noble / Route Fifty:

FCC approves $20.4B Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to deploy rural broadband but Democratic FCC commissioners warn it won't help many areas that need internet

More: CNET, Federal Communications …, and Engadget

Tweets: @routefifty and @fcc

VICE:

Ajit Pai says FCC has concluded “that one or more wireless carriers apparently violated federal law” by selling user location data and will consider fines

More: AppleInsider, The Overspill, PYMNTS.com, The Verge, Ars Technica, Mashable, Federal Communications …, iMore, Reuters, Engadget, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, The Daily Dot, and Input

Tweets: @mdudas, @mcmillen, @josephfcox, @dangillmor, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @vice, @dellcam, @dellcam, @dellcam, @karlbode, and @karlbode