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February 21, 2020, 7:10 PM
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| Joseph Cox / VICE: |
WhatsApp lets some private group chat invite links get indexed by search engines like Google, allowing anyone to join — Google is indexing invite links to WhatsApp group chats whose administrators may want to be private. This means with a simple search, random people can discover and join a wide range of WhatsApp group chats.
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The Verge, The Next Web, Android Authority, XDA Developers, Input, Neowin, iPhone Hacks, MSPoweruser, Wccftech, Android Central, Pocketnow, Engadget, and CyberSecurity Insights
Tweets: @jordanwildon, @wongmjane, @dannysullivan, @josephfcox, @johan_lieber, @starsprout, @josephfcox, @zerconil, @wongmjane, and @glenngabe
| Josh Constine / TechCrunch: |
Shopify says it will join the Libra Association, contributing financially and operating a node that processes transactions of Facebook's stablecoin — After eBay, Visa, Stripe, and other high-profile departures, the Libra Association scored a win today with the addition of Shopify.
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Shopify, CNBC, ZDNet, TechSpot, BetaKit, Forbes, The Daily Hodl, Yahoo Finance, The Market Refresh, Finextra, CoinDesk, Modern Consensus, The Block, Cointelegraph, BitcoinExchangeGuide, Crypto Briefing, CryptoGlobe, Decrypt, CNET, PYMNTS.com, Reuters, PaymentsSource, and Seeking Alpha
Facebook: Libra. Tweets: @gmbutts, @davidmarcus, @libra_, @forbescrypto, @yassineark, @anildelphi, @zachary, @caseynewton, @mdudas, and @globalnewsto. Thanks:@joshconstine
| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Comcast's NBCUniversal is in advanced talks to acquire streaming-video service Vudu from Walmart — The acquisition talks come a few months before NBCUniversal launches a news streaming service, Peacock — Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal is in advanced talks to acquire streaming-video service Vudu …
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CNET, The Verge, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Streamable, and Seeking Alpha
Tweets: @davecbenoit and @asharma
| Jon Porter / The Verge: |
Google says that from August 3 all new Google Play apps that access background location will need to pass review, expanding to all existing apps on November 3 — Apps will face a new review process to enable the feature — Google is placing new restrictions on which Android apps can track …
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Android Developers Blog, Financial Times, Ars Technica, Wccftech, ExtremeTech, CNET, Android Central, Gizmodo, and iPhone in Canada Blog
Tweets: @webster, @stuartathompson, and @jonporty
| John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Google is resisting efforts to surrender emails, texts, and other documents sought by state investigators probing anticompetitive digital ad practices — Company is reluctant to surrender some documents in investigation of possible anticompetitive practices
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The Hill, Input, New York Post, and Seeking Alpha
Tweets: @hawleymo, @moorehn, @gregbensinger, @yost4ohio, @jbflint, @jason_kint, @asharma, and @rstephens
| CNBC: |
Sources: Google has reached a settlement with state AGs over outside consultants hired to work on the states' antitrust investigation — Google has reached a settlement with state attorneys general over outside consultants hired to work on the states' antitrust investigation, CNBC has learned.
| Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times: |
MIT researchers say they used AI to discover new potent antibiotics that treat drug-resistant diseases — Machine learning uncovers potent new drug able to kill 35 powerful bacteria — Artificial intelligence has been used to discover new antibiotics effective against untreatable diseases …
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MIT News, The Guardian, TechSpot, The Next Web, and Newser
Tweets: @berci, @sophiebushwick, @josephflaherty, @omkar_raii, @xsteenbrugge, @kdnuggets, @grady_booch, @popeguilty, and @stephenmcgann
| Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios: |
Lyft has acquired Halo Cars, a small startup that lets ride-hailing drivers earn money via ad displays mounted atop their cars — Lyft has acquired Halo Cars, a small startup that lets ride-hailing drivers earn money via ad displays mounted atop their cars. Lyft confirmed the deal but declined to share any details.| Dieter Bohn / The Verge: |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip review: the best hinge on a folding phone so far but the screen's plastic covering scratches easily and the cameras are disappointing — Even with a glass screen, it's just a curiosity — Samsung's brand-new Galaxy Z Flip is the third folding screen phone that I've reviewed.
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Gizmodo, Engadget, BGR, and iPhone in Canada Blog
Tweets: @mgsiegler, @reckless, @reagangomez, @jentrification, and @backlon
| Tim Hardwick / MacRumors: |
A history of EU's efforts to create a standard for device chargers, and how Apple used a loophole to keep using Lightning, but may have to move to USB-C soon — Despite pushback from Apple, the European Parliament in January voted overwhelmingly for new rules to establish a common charging standard … | Julia Boorstin / CNBC: |
Source: Facebook considers transparency measures around posts from political campaign staffers, due to concerns around Bloomberg campaign's use of its platform — - Facebook is considering ways to show when a paid campaign staffer shares a political post on the site.| FinSMEs: |
Feather, an NY-based furniture subscription service, raises $30M Series B led by Cobalt Capital with Kleiner Perkins, YC, SV Angel, and others participating — Feather, a New York, NY - based next-generation furniture rental service, closed a $30M Series B funding.| Cynthia Littleton / Variety: |
CBS All Access and Showtime have 11M subscribers; Pluto TV had 22.4M MAUs in Q4 2019, up 75% YoY; revenue from all three hit $1.6 billion in 2019 — CBS All Access and Showtime are on track to garner a combined 16 million subscribers by year's end, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish told investors Thursday.| Anthony Ha / TechCrunch: |
Shogun, which helps e-commerce brands build faster websites, has raised $10M Series A, led by Initialized Capital with participation from VMG Partners and YC — Amazon may have a market cap of more than $1 trillion, but Finbarr Taylor, CEO of Y Combinator-backed startup Shogun, said the e-commerce giant is “kind of dropping the ball.”
Tweets: @rishmishra and @garrytan
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
With iOS 14, Apple may start opening its walled garden, beginning with third-party apps as defaults, which improves user experience and eases antitrust pressure — Default app changes are small but significant — I have a love-hate relationship with my iPhone.
Tweets: @tomwarren
| The Intercept: |
An EU report, circulated among EU and national officials in November 2019, calls for the creation of a network of national police facial recognition databases — A police investigator in Spain is trying to solve a crime, but she only has an image of a suspect's face, caught by a nearby security camera.
Tweets: @onekade, @fightfortheftr, @lam_barrett, @theintercept, @privacyint, and @jovialjoy
| Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch: |
Tier Mobility, an e-scooter rental service operating in 55 cities across 11 countries, extends its Series B to $100M+, up from $60M disclosed in October — Tier, the European e-scooter rentals startup that operates in 55 cities across 11 countries, has topped up its funding for the second time in four months.Sponsor Posts
Google:
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Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Why eIDAS 2.0 might be the EU's boldest digital move yet — eIDAS: The first building block of digital trust More than a decade ago, the EU introduced the eIDAS regulation (Regulation [EU] No 910/2014) …
Why eIDAS 2.0 might be the EU's boldest digital move yet — eIDAS: The first building block of digital trust More than a decade ago, the EU introduced the eIDAS regulation (Regulation [EU] No 910/2014) …
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.
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
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
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