Techmeme
May 6, 2020, 5:35 AM

Top News

Theodore Schleifer / Vox:
Letter from Brian Chesky to Airbnb employees says the company is laying off 1,900, or ~25% of its workforce, and expects a 2020 revenue decline of 50% YoY  —  Airbnb is laying off a quarter of its staff.  —  Airbnb, seen until recently as one of Silicon Valley's most financially secure unicorns, is laying off a quarter of its staff.
Apple:
Apple will host a virtual WWDC starting on June 22 in the Apple Developer app and website, free for all developers  —  Submissions for the Swift Student Challenge Are Now Open Through May 17  —  Cupertino, California — Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers …
Kieren McCarthy / The Register:
UK's NHS contact tracing app won't work unless it's running in the foreground and the phone is kept awake and unlocked, and will also ask for users' location  —  Herd immunity all over again  —  Comment Britain is sleepwalking into another coronavirus disaster by failing to listen …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Shannon Liao / CNN:
Activision Blizzard CEO says people may turn to free mobile games during the pandemic, after the company beat Q1 expectations with sales of $1.52B, up 21% YoY  —  New York (CNN Business)While much of the economy is hurting during the pandemic, video games are thriving.
Hugh Langley / Business Insider:
Sources: Magic Leap is in talks to raise $100M in funding from a major health company after laying off around half of its workforce  —  - Magic Leap is turning to a “major” health care company to raise money, according to an internal memo obtained by The Information.
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Q&A with Steven Sinofsky on his upcoming memoir that chronicles his time at Microsoft, as he reflects on how the company fought the ILOVEYOU virus 20 years ago  —  On the 20th anniversary of the unleashing of the ILOVEYOU virus—which infected millions of PCs worldwide …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Bloomberg:
Spotify CEO expects Apple to “open up” its platform more to 3rd-party apps, after Spotify's antitrust complaint with the EU, but sees it as a long-term process  —  - Apple plans to let other music services integrate with HomePod  — Ek says ‘steps to go before’ Apple is open and fair platform
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says its goal is to launch the Xbox Series X this year, and it will hold monthly streams to promote games for the next-gen console  —  Microsoft is revealing the Xbox Series X boot screen animation today and is promising to focus on first-party Xbox Game Studios games during a July event.
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Following Facebook, YouTube says it will host an online graduation event on June 6, featuring the Obamas, Sundar Pichai, Malala Yousafzai, Lady Gaga, and others  —  YouTube announces a stacked, eclectic lineup  —  YouTube is hosting an online graduation event to give seniors whose ceremonies have been canceled something to tune into.

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More News

Cecilia Kang / New York Times:
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Peter Eavis / New York Times:
Amanda Meade / The Guardian: