Techmeme
April 27, 2020, 10:30 PM

Top News

Leo Kelion / BBC:
UK's NHS says it's making a contact tracing app that uses a centralized approach, giving it more insight into COVID-19's spread than Apple and Google's approach  —  The UK's coronavirus contact-tracing app is set to use a different model to the one proposed by Apple and Google, despite concerns raised about privacy and performance.
Bloomberg:
Douglas Busvine / Reuters:
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
As COVID-19 decimates the global economy, tech giants have a unique opportunity to expand their power, crush rivals, and improve their political fortunes  —  The global pandemic gives Silicon Valley titans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand their power, crush rivals and change their political fortunes.
New York Times:
Many tech startups are successfully applying for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, often to extend their runways despite already raising large sums  —  Some young companies have turned to the government loans not for day-to-day survival but simply to buy useful time.
Ben Sandofsky / Halide:
An in-depth analysis of how iPhone SE leverages machine learning software to generate a portrait effect using a single 2D image  —  After four years, we have a new budget-conscious iPhone.  Like previous SE, it reaches that price point by sticking to components from previous generations. iFixIt found …
Yoko Kubota / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple pushes back production of flagship iPhones coming later this year by about a month, as the pandemic weakens demand and disrupts manufacturing  —  The phones, some with 5G connectivity, will vary in price and come in three sizes  —  Apple Inc. is pushing back the production ramp …
CNN:
Baseless YouTube conspiracy videos, embraced by CCP media and uploaded to WeChat, Weibo, claim a US Army reservist started the pandemic and are ruining her life  —  Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Review of Google's second-generation $179 wireless Pixel Buds: sound quality has improved, but their silicone “stabilizer arc” can cause discomfort over time  —  Google's new earbuds finally go truly wireless and have improved sound quality  —  Google's original Pixel Buds came …
Eduard Kovacs / SecurityWeek:
Microsoft has patched a vulnerability in Teams that could have been exploited by hackers to hijack accounts by sending malicious links or GIFs  —  Microsoft has addressed a vulnerability that could have been exploited by hackers to hijack Microsoft Teams accounts by sending specially crafted links …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Josh Constine says he's leaving TechCrunch after 8.5 years to join VC fund SignalFire as their head of content and a principal investor  —  How do you leave the place that made you?  You figure out what it made you for.  TechCrunch made me a part of the startup ecosystem I love.
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
Interviews and documents show Europe's GDPR rules have been stymied by a lack of enforcement, poor funding, limited staff resources, and tech companies stalling  —  Nearly two years in, there has been little enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation, once seen as ushering in a new era.
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Twitter turned off the ability to receive tweet alerts via SMS messages in most countries last week  —  The ability to receive tweet notifications has been disabled  —  For the most part, you can no longer use Twitter as it was originally built to be used: over text message.
Neha Alawadhi / Business Standard:
WhatsApp says there has been a 70% reduction in the number of highly forwarded messages sent after its new forwarding limit was enforced  —  Earlier this month, WhatsApp limited the number of times a frequently forwarded message can be sent further to only one chat at a time
Tom Krisher / Associated Press:
Tesla rolls out a new update for select vehicles to be able to automatically stop at traffic lights and stop signs  —  DETROIT (AP) — After testing on public roads, Tesla is rolling out a new feature of its partially automated driving system designed to spot stop signs and traffic signals.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
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.
Zoho:
Enhancements to Zoho Writer's automation flow designer: New PDF operations, password protection, and more  —  Once we rolled out the automation flow designer in Zoho Writer's merge templates …
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.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
BG2 Pod:
AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:30 PM ET, April 27, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Financial Times: