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April 7, 2020, 11:55 AM
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Top News

Alex Hern / The Guardian:
WhatsApp now limits forwarding of viral messages, forwarded five or more times, to one group at a time, to fight the spread of misinformation  —  Restrictions on frequently forwarded messages intended to disrupt false Covid-19 claims  —  WhatsApp is to impose a strict new limit …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft expands xCloud beta registration to 11 European countries, rolling out the preview gradually to avoid overloading the internet  —  Microsoft is rolling out the preview gradually due to coronavirus internet impact concerns  —  Microsoft is starting to open up its xCloud game streaming beta to countries across Europe.
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Interview with Masayoshi Son on WeWork and the role of the Vision Fund within SoftBank; he expects 15 companies in the Vision Fund portfolio to go bankrupt  —  Covering venture capital, software and startups  —  Between the WeWork debacle and the coronavirus, the markets …
The Guardian:
Facebook says it will start actively removing false claims that link Covid-19 to 5G, which have started entering the mainstream  —  Perfect storm of conditions helped nonsense theories about 5G and coronavirus to take hold  —  A year ago, hoax theories about the dangers of 5G had barely pierced …
CNBC:
Airbnb raises $1B in debt and equity from Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners; source: the funding doesn't depend on its performance or a target date for IPO  —  - Airbnb raised $1 billion in a new round of funding led by Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners.
Feargus O'Sullivan / CityLab:
A look at Airbnb's challenges amid the pandemic crisis, as global bookings fall and prospects for the travel accommodation industry turn murky
Saheli Roy Choudhury / CNBC:
Samsung forecasts Q1 2020 operating profit of $5.2B, up 2.7% YoY, beating analyst estimates, and consolidated sales of ~$44B; stock is up 3%+  —  - Samsung said it expects 6.4 trillion Korean won ($5.23 billion) in first-quarter operating profit for 2020, up 2.7% from the 6.23 trillion won it posted for the same period a year earlier.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Italian email service Email.it confirms breach; hackers claim they have data of 600K+ users, including plaintext passwords, and are selling it on the dark web  —  Italian email provider Email.it confirms security breach.  —  The data of more than 600,000 Email.it users is currently being sold …
New York Times:
Some teachers in the US say under 50% of their pupils participate in online learning; absence rate seems higher in low-income households, marking digital divide  —  Teachers at some schools across the country report that less than half of their students are participating in online learning.
Taylor Lyles / The Verge:
Google updates Pixel 4 to require open eyes to use the phone's face unlock feature by default, with the option to disable it  —  Apple's had a similar feature since 2017  —  Google released an update for the Pixel 4 today requiring users to have their eyes open when using face unlock to open the phone.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Quibi app review: works reliably, auto-flips between landscape and portrait, but no tablet-optimized mode, no family member profiles, and lacks a TV experience
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
CircleCI, which creates tools for automated app testing and deployment, raises $100M Series E co-led by IVP and Sapphire Ventures  —  Continuous integration and delivery platform CircleCI today announced that it secured a $100 million tranche, which will be used to bolster the development …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Microsoft hires former Apple exec Ruben Caballero to work on mixed reality hardware and AI; Caballero was in charge of wireless technologies at Apple  —  Microsoft Corp. hired Apple Inc.'s former executive in charge of wireless technologies to work on mixed reality hardware and artificial intelligence technology.
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Facebook says it's releasing new Data for Good tools including Disease Prevention Maps to help public health researchers track social distancing efforts  —  - Facebook's Data for Good team is working on tools for public health researchers to help them figure out if preventative measures …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Source: the 2020 iPad Pros do not have a U1 Ultra Wideband chip  —  Joe Rossignol, MacRumors, “2020 iPad Pro May Not Have a U1 Ultra Wideband Chip After All”: … So the tech specs don't mention it, Apple never mentioned it, and the U1-enabled features in iPhone 11 models aren't there.

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From Mediagazer

Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:
Memo: Skydance names WBD's Sarah Bergman and Paramount's Mickey Carter to lead its distribution business, as eight executives are set to leave the company

Blake Brittain / Reuters:
The NYT, the New York Daily News, and others sue browser maker Brave for allegedly scraping their articles for AI training and letting users bypass paywalls

Jan Lopatka / Reuters:
Czech public television and radio workers held a one-day strike on Tuesday against a government plan to cut financing and move funding to the state budget

More News

Christina Farr / CNBC:
How US health officials have been tracking pandemics since early 2000s via syndromic surveillance using AWS-hosted federal databases of aggregated hospital data
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Facebook's automated systems may have blocked organizers of DIY face mask hand sewing efforts; Facebook says it was in error and is working to resolve the issue

Earlier Picks

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Google launches its Local Home SDK out of preview, to enhance smart home integration with Google Assistant by routing commands through local networks
New York Times:
Interviews with over 30 sources highlight Amazon's struggle to combat COVID-19, under pressure as orders rise, as the virus spreads to more than 50 warehouses
New York Times:
A look at law firm Keller Lenkner and startup FairShake, which file arbitration lawsuits against companies en masse, including 2K+ against DoorDash in one day
Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:
Foursquare says it's merging with location data company Factual in an all-stock deal; the two companies say they brought in $150M+ in combined 2019 revenue
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Tim Cook says Apple has now sourced 20M+ masks for healthcare workers from its supply chain and has designed and will ship face shields at a rate of 1M/week
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