Techmeme
March 25, 2020, 3:40 PM

Top News

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Google brings its Podcasts app to iOS and unveils a redesign of Android app, with users' listening habits syncable across platforms via Google Podcasts for Web  —  Just in time for our collective house arrests, Google has unveiled a redesigned version of Podcasts.
Aral Balkan:
As part of Safari's privacy push, it will delete a site's local storage, like Indexed DB, after seven days, hamstringing the future of Safari's offline web apps  —  Blocking third-party cookies, good.  Killing offline web apps, bad.  —  On the face of it, WebKit's announcement yesterday …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Analyst estimates Facebook and Google could lose $44B+ in 2020 global ad revenue due to COVID-19; Facebook says its ad business has weakened in affected places  —  Ad spending is falling off a cliff amid the COVID-19 pandemic — and Facebook and Google, the two heavyweights in digital advertising …
New York Times:
While traffic surges on Facebook, with messaging up 50% from last month in many countries, their now-remote workforce struggles to handle its own IT snafus  —  The social network is straining to deal with skyrocketing usage as its 45,000 employees work from home for the first time.
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
WHO partners with Facebook, Microsoft, and other tech companies on #BuildforCOVID19 hackathon to develop software tackling COVID-19 challenges, starting Mar. 26  —  - The World Health Organization has partnered with Facebook, Microsoft and several other tech companies for a hackathon to promote …
Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News:
Reports: amid the pandemic, TripActions, Zeus Living, and Sonder have laid off one third or more of their staff; TripActions and Sonder are each valued at $1B+  —  Corporate travel startup TripActions Inc. is reportedly laying off hundreds of employees in the face of a slowdown in business related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
App Store rules, like a ban on services that stream from the cloud, limit iOS users from accessing rival gaming services from Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia  —  Video-game fans suddenly have their pick of a huge menu of titles thanks to a raft of new mobile subscription services from Apple Inc. …
Debby Wu / Bloomberg:
iPhone makers Foxconn and Wistron have suspended all production at their Indian plants to comply with a nationwide lockdown  —  - Foxconn and Wistron are both complying with surprise lockdown  — PM Modi has ordered population to stay at home for three weeks
Craig Mod / Wired:
The iPad's cursor, a translucent circle that has momentum and can change its form based on the context, is more convincing and simply more fun than direct touch  —  Apple's new iPadOS 13.4 adds enhanced support for trackpads.  And with that, a shiny new cursor.
David Uberti / Wall Street Journal:
Experts say the cybersecurity fallout from COVID-19 will not become clear for weeks or months, as sophisticated organizations and nation-states glean more data  —  Sophisticated hackers could lie dormant as they search for valuable data  —  As millions of U.S. workers frantically pivoted …
FireEye:
FireEye says that between January 20 and March 11 Chinese actor APT41 attempted to exploit bugs in Citrix and Zoho products at organizations in 20+ countries  —  Beginning this year, FireEye observed Chinese actor APT41 carry out one of the broadest campaigns by a Chinese cyber espionage actor we have observed in recent years.
Instagram:
Instagram to remove some coronavirus-related content and accounts from recommendations and Explore, with exceptions for credible health organizations  —  People who search for information related to the coronavirus or COVID-19 on Instagram will start to see an educational message connecting …
NBC News:
John Herrman / New York Times:
As social interactions become more distant, Nextdoor has seen a spike in engagement as it helps neighbors connect and organize without risking physical contact  —  Homebound city dwellers are turning to a neighborhood app to connect, organize and help each other without risking physical contact.
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Humio, which offers an unlimited logging service, raises $20M Series B led by Dell Technologies Capital  —  Humio, a startup that has built a modern unlimited logging solution, announced a $20 million Series B investment today.  —  Dell Technologies Capital led the round with participation from previous investor Accel.
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
How 3D printer makers like Stratasys, Protolabs, and other companies like Ford, are helping fight COVID-19 by 3D printing face shields and medical equipment  —  With critical medical gear in short supply, additive manufacturing is an “essential part” of the pandemic response, the industry says.
Katie Notopoulos / BuzzFeed News:
Facebook's Portal makes a lot of sense during a quarantine: it is great for video chatting and staying in touch, especially with kids and the elderly  —  The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus.
Hariz Baharudin / The Straits Times:
Singapore will open source its contact-tracing app TraceTogether, which uses Bluetooth to identify people in extended close contact with COVID-19 patients  —  SINGAPORE - In a move to help the international community combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Government will be making the software …

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