Techmeme: As online exam proctoring services like Examity gain widespread adoption amid the pandemic, students are finding them invasive with privacy and security issues (Monica Chin/The Verge)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

May 1, 2020, 5:40 AM

Top News

Apple:

Apple reports Q2 revenue of $58.3B, up 1% YoY, of which $44.9B came from products, $13.35B from services, and net income of $11.25B — Total Revenue Grows, Services Revenue Reaches New All-Time High of $13.3 Billion — Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2020 second quarter ended March 28, 2020.

Emily Bary / MarketWatch:

Apple Q2: iPhone sales of $28.9B, down from $31B in Q2 2019, Greater China sales of $9.5B, down from $10.2B YoY, authorizes additional $50B in share buybacks

More: MacDailyNews, iPhone Hacks, Appleosophy, TechCrunch, and Forbes

Tweets: @jonerlichman, @benbajarin, @thedomino, @adamnash, @reneritchie, @wlwatts, @stevekovach, @asymco, and @asymco

William Gallagher / AppleInsider:

Apple Q2: services hit an all-time record of $13.35B, up from $11.45B in Q2 2019, as Wearables, Home and Accessories grew to $6.3B, compared to $5.13B last year

More: iPhone Hacks, Billboard, and AppleInsider

Tweets: @2shar, @billboardbiz, @aloomba, @asymco, @paulcanetti, @2shar, and @munster_gene

ICANN:

ICANN board has voted to reject the sale of the .org registry to private equity firm Ethos Capital — Today, the ICANN Board made the decision to reject the proposed change of control and entity conversion request that Public Interest Registry (PIR) submitted to ICANN.

More: ICANN, Reuters, Ars Technica, KeyPointsAbout.org, Mashable, The Register, CircleID, Financial Times, Engadget, The Next Web, CNET, The Verge, and Domain Name Wire

Tweets: @eff, @icann, @randfish, @carolinegreer, @katrinfritsch, @evacide, @enthusiamy, @hpana, @dellcam, @georgekirikos, @timbray, @jacklerner, @grady_booch, @evan_greer, @katiehafner, @robinwauters, and @stshank

Amazon:

Amazon Q1: $75.5B revenue, up 26% YoY, net income of $2.5B, down from $3.6B in Q1 2019, AWS revenue of $10.2B, up from $7.7B YoY; stock down 5%+ after hours

More: Business Wire, CNBC, TechCrunch, GeekWire, SiliconANGLE, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @cnbcnow, @jonerlichman, @patrickmoorhead, @stevekovach, @teroterotero, @ataussig, @carnage4life, @levynews, @melissa_repko, @djtosin, @cloud_opinion, @joshelman, @teroterotero, @ericjackson, @ldignan, @cmroberson06, @exis10tial, and @jyarow

The Verge:

Amazon says it expects to spend $4B or more, the predicted operating profit for the company's upcoming third quarter, just on COVID-19-related expenses

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Amazon reports Q1 “other” category revenue, which mostly covers its ad business, of $3.9B, up 44% YoY, and subscriptions services revenue of $5.56B, up 28% YoY

More: The Guardian, South China Morning Post, Vox, Protocol, AdExchanger, and Engadget. Tweets: @glenngabe

Aimee Chanthadavong / ZDNet:

IDC: Global smartphone shipments dropped 11.7% YoY to 276M during Q1 2020, the largest YoY decline ever — Shipment volumes suffered its largest year over year decline in the first quarter. — The latest data from International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed that as the world grapples …

More: Counterpoint Research, IDC, iMore, Android Authority, Canalys, CNBC, MSPoweruser, AppleInsider, Engadget, The Verge, and SiliconANGLE

TrendForce:

Global smartphone production in Q1 fell by 10% YoY to ~280M units, the lowest in five years, and is estimated to drop by 16.5% YoY to ~287M units in Q2

More: TechCrunch, Reuters, CNET, PYMNTS.com, and Android Central

Monica Chin / The Verge:

Reddit has disabled its chat room feature, Start Chatting, a day after launch due to “several errors” in rollout and moderators' concerns over lack of control — The company says the rollout had several errors — Remember how Reddit announced just yesterday that it was introducing built-in subreddit chat rooms?

More: reddit, Mashable, SlashGear, Engadget, and IT Management

New York Times:

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have declined to remove Trump's comments on UV and disinfectants curing COVID-19, despite commitments to removing misinformation — Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have declined to remove the president's statements about unproven coronavirus treatments.

More: SiliconANGLE and The Verge

Tweets: @rasmus_kleis, @moonalice, @paulwrblanchard, @jilliancyork, @nytimes, @eorden, @daveyalba, @dpfunke, @nytimestech, @jesselehrich, @evan_greer, @ceciliakang, @sheeraf, and @theplumlinegs

See also Mediagazer

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff asks the CEOs of Google, YouTube, and Twitter to follow Facebook's lead on coronavirus misinformation policies

More: schiff.house.gov, Engadget, and CNET

Tweets: @lauren_feiner, @avaaz, @repadamschiff, and @jaredhecht

Monica Chin / The Verge:

As online exam proctoring services like Examity gain widespread adoption amid the pandemic, students are finding them invasive with privacy and security issues — As schools go remote, so do tests and so does surveillance — The stranger on the Zoom call appeared to be sitting in a tent.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Walmart is piloting a 2-hour “Express” grocery delivery service for an extra $10 fee, plans to expand to 1K stores in May, using its 74K+ “personal shoppers” — Record usage of grocery delivery services amid the COVID-19 pandemic has led to delayed orders …

More: Walmart Inc. and The Verge. Tweets: @vgknightinarmor

Bobbie Johnson / MIT Technology Review:

Pandemic conspiracy theories are being spread using Wayback Machine links of content already discredited by fact-checkers and even deleted — Pandemic conspiracy theorists are using the Wayback Machine to promote “zombie content” that evades moderators and fact-checkers.

Tweets: @aaronwall, @thedailybeast, @wrklsshrd, @utischool, @mantzarlis, and @xor

Prafulla Dhariwal / OpenAI:

OpenAI announces Jukebox, a neural net that generates music, including rudimentary singing, as raw audio in a variety of genres and artist styles — We're introducing Jukebox, a neural net that generates music, including rudimentary singing, as raw audio in a variety of genres and artist styles.

More: OneZero , The Next Web, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Waxy.org, Input, FlowingData, and The Verge

Tweets: @openai, @metaleptic, @amydentata, @mikerugnetta, @waxpancake, @nottombrown, @byjacobward, @kcimc, @kentbye, @jemenger, @oriolvinyalsml, @brendandawes, @panzer, @mark_riedl, @jgulden, @gdb, and @songadaymann

Joseph Cox / VICE:

The UN's social distancing app, 1point5, is largely ineffective at monitoring distance between people, indiscriminately picking up any Bluetooth signals — This week a division of the United Nations announced its new social distancing app designed to help alert people when they get too close …

More: BBC. Tweets: @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @rebelcinder, @josephfcox, @evacide, and @josephfcox

Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed News:

India says 75M+ people downloaded its contact tracing app, but privacy advocates worry about its potential as a tool for state surveillance beyond the pandemic

Tweets: @tomgara, @pranavdixit, @sivavaid, @pranavdixit, @pranavdixit, @stephaniemlee, @benadida, @pranavdixit, @azeen, and @sarahnemerson

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft's bet on Xbox Game Pass seems to be paying off, as it hits 10M subscribers, far ahead of the 5M and 1M subscribers EA and Sony announced last year — Microsoft takes an early lead in the battle for the Netflix of video games — Microsoft now has 10 million subscribers …

More: Xbox Wire, KnowTechie, Windows Central, VentureBeat, GameSpot, USA Today, and The Next Web

Les Pounder / Tom's Hardware:

Raspberry Pi announces a new $50 camera board with a 12MP Sony sensor and support for interchangeable lenses — Great flexibility and resolution make the Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera a winner. — OUR VERDICT — With interchangeable lenses and a 12-MP sensor, the Raspberry Pi High …

More: The Verge, Raspberry Pi Blog, VICE, TechEBlog, Daring Fireball, SlashGear, Liliputing, TechSpot, Gizmodo, BetaNews, Engadget, and Digital Photography Review

Tweets: @planetubuntu, @dcuthbert, @raspberry_pi, @ruskin147, @aallan, @brianroemmele, @raspberry_pi, @maxvoltar, @stroughtonsmith, and @stshank

Benjamin Romano / The Seattle Times:

Amazon tells its Seattle and Bellevue employees already working from home since early March that they “are welcome to do so until at least October 2” — Amazon told its corporate employees working from home since early March that they “are welcome to do so until at least October 2 …

Tweets: @pauledroberts, @rosskimbarovsky, and @rgrunbaum

Alex Konrad / Forbes:

Design software startup Figma raises $50M Series D led by Andreessen Horowitz at a $2B valuation — Covering venture capital, software and startups — Figma CEO Dylan Field has enjoyed watching his design software take off in bizarre ways in recent weeks.

More: Figma Blog, Andreessen Horowitz, The Startup Student, Silicon Republic, SiliconANGLE, and FinSMEs

Tweets: @zoink, @johnolilly, @davidgeorge83, @william_blake, @sachinrekhi, @a16z, @julesyoo, @calbucci, @danielgross, @johnnie, @meliarobin, @gokulr, @stewart, @mg, @ow, @rstephens, @alexrkonrad, @alexisohanian, and @alexrkonrad. Thanks:@alexrkonrad

Dara Kerr / CNET:

Uber partners with telemedicine service Ro to give US workers free COVID assessments, as Lyft partners with One Medical for one month trial memberships — The ride-hailing company partners with the telemedicine service to help drivers figure out if they may have been infected with the coronavirus.

Tweets: @imeluny, @trafficbutter, and @darakerr. Thanks:@richardjnieva

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:

Deep analysis for deep questions — Introducing Superagent. A new research product from Airtable: Subagents deeply interrogate your topic and turn it into boardroom-ready reports, slides, docs, or websites.

Clay:

Turn any GTM idea into reality — Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.

Zoho:

Why navigation breaks down in unified software—and how QuickNav fixes it — In unified software environments, navigation stops being a convenience issue and becomes a structural one.When work spans CRM records …

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:

Is A.I. Eating the Labor Market? + The Latest on the Pentagon, OpenClaw and Alpha School

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

The Upstarts Podcast:

Valar Atomics' Isaiah Taylor: Solving AI's Energy Crisis With Nuclear 'Gigasites'

Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.

Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.

Access:

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman on surviving the AI slop-pocalypse

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

Lenny's Podcast:

AI is critical for humanity's survival: Cisco president on the AI revolution | Jeetu Patel

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Cheeky Pint:

Reiner Pope of MatX on accelerating AI with transformer-optimized chips

Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.

Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World

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.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:40 AM ET, May 1, 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.

From Mediagazer

Ben Johansen / Politico:

USAGM offers employees a chance to leave via a deferred resignation program, as a judge weighs the legality of earlier efforts to lay off most of the staff

John Koblin / New York Times:

Nielsen: ~32.6M viewers watched Trump's State of the Union address, not including people who watched via streaming; Fox News led with 9M+ viewers

Jennifer Maas / Variety:

Starz reports Q4 revenue fell to $322.8M vs. $344.5M a year ago, net loss narrowed to $20.7M vs. $31.8M a year ago, and US streaming subs hit 12.7M, up 370K QoQ

More News

Bloomberg:

Sources: construction software company Procore called off its IPO and instead raised $150M at a $5B valuation, but may still go public in 2020

Tweets: @lewis_lin and @katie_roof

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Amazon to cut the price of its Kindle ebooks in UK from Friday, after the government brought forward plans to stop charging 20% VAT on online publications

Tweets: @jimwaterson

Earlier Picks

BBC:

Facebook says it is now reopening some moderation centers, with plans for social distancing and PPE, but return to work will be voluntary for content reviewers

More: Social Media Today

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:

Motorola Edge Plus review: top-tier specs, good camera, solid battery life, but it's not waterproof, edge display has issues, and it's Verizon exclusive

More: Wired, Android Central, and Mashable

Tweets: @julianchokkattu, @cgartenberg, @reckless, @suka_hiroaki, and @dcseifert

Anna Baydakova / CoinDesk:

Telegram postpones the launch of its TON blockchain for a second time, pushing the go-live date to April 2021, and offers to return $1.2B to investors

More: PYMNTS.com. Tweets: @prestonjbyrne and @baidakova

Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:

Intel launches flagship 10th-gen Comet Lake desktop CPUs with 10 cores based on its Skylake architecture; the $488 Core i9-10900K CPU can reach 5.3GHz

More: SiliconANGLE, Engadget, IGN, Appleosophy, AnandTech, and Tom's Hardware

Tweets: @aras_p, @tapbot_paul, and @anandtech. Thanks:@iancutress

Nicole Wetsman / The Verge:

Supply chain algorithms used by companies like Walmart and Amazon, which rely on past data to forecast demand, have been completely upended by the pandemic

More: PYMNTS.com. Tweets: @hypervisible and @carnage4life

Sam Nussey / Reuters:

SoftBank says it sees a loss of ~$6.6B in the year ending March on its WeWork investment held outside the Vision Fund, extending its expected net loss to $8.4B

More: Crunchbase News. Tweets: @malsamisa, @counternotions, and @mvzelenks

Taylor Lyles / The Verge:

Facebook rolls out a tool that lets users in the US and Canada transfer their photos and videos to Google Photos as part of the Data Transfer Project

More: Washington Post, Reuters, Engadget, Android Police, BGR, Social Media Today, Ubergizmo, 9to5Google, iPhone in Canada Blog, XDA Developers, and Neowin

Tweets: @seyiakiwowo and @paigeleskin

Dan Primack / Axios:

Andreessen Horowitz raises $515M for its second fund dedicated to cryptocurrency and blockchain investments and holdings

More: TechCrunch, CoinDesk, coinspeaker.com, The Block, Messari Crypto, Cointelegraph, Andreessen Horowitz, CNBC, and Modern Consensus

Tweets: @a16z, @iam__vance, @gaberivera, @christophera, @martinvars, @davidmarcus, @coindesk, @stanikulechov, @minhokim, @k_schellinger, @scheplick, @melt_dem, @jpurd17, and @sherm8n