Techmeme
May 13, 2020, 7:35 PM

Top News

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Google announces a new tab-grouping tool for Chrome, rolling out “slowly”, letting users cluster tabs together and organize them by name and color  —  Google is introducing a new feature to Chrome that will have you asking how you lived without it before.
Joe Maring / Android Central:
Report: Google's Pixel division has lost Marc Levoy, the engineer leading the camera division, and GM Mario Queiroz over the past year, as sales disappoint  —  The general manager for the Pixel division is also gone.  —  What you need to know  — According to The Information, Marc Levoy and Mario Queiroz have both left Google.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Dell announces a new XPS 17 and a redesigned XPS 15 with 16:10 edge-to-edge displays, only USB-C ports, and Intel 10th-gen CPUs, starting at $1,300 and $1,500  —  Dell goes all USB-C and 16:10 for its XPS lineup  —  Dell is making some big changes to its XPS lineup today, with a redesigned XPS 15 and a new XPS 17.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Dell's upgraded flagship Alienware Area-51m R2 shows the promise of upgradeable Area-51m has failed, as the original won't get any of the new CPU or GPU updates  —  Original owners won't get any of the new CPU or GPU upgrades  —  Alienware has announced the second generation of its flagship Area-51m gaming laptop, the Area-51m R2.
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Uber says all riders and drivers will need to wear masks starting next week and introduces new tools to verify drivers are doing so before each trip  —  - Uber is launching a new tool that checks if drivers are wearing face masks before starting trips.  — The ride-hailing firm …
Martin Matishak / Politico:
A bipartisan amendment to FISA to prohibit warrantless surveillance of Americans' online browsing and search histories failed in the Senate by one vote, 59-37  —  Congressional privacy hawks scored a critical victory on Wednesday that deepens the uncertainty about the fate of expired federal surveillance powers.
April Glaser / NBC News:
Sources say Google has rolled back diversity programs, but Google disputes the claims and says it's adding outside help to scale racial equity training globally  —  One well-liked diversity training program at Google called Sojourn was cut entirely, according to seven former and current employees.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Epic Games unveils the Unreal Engine 5, coming in 2021, with a PlayStation 5 demo and says the Epic Online Services set of tools are available today  —  Epic says its new engine is a ‘quantum leap,’ and it'll arrive in 2021  —  Epic Games today announced the next iteration of its game engine …
Sean Lyngaas / CyberScoop:
DHS and FBI jointly accuse hackers affiliated with Chinese government of attempting to steal US research into a COVID-19 vaccine, adding to a slew of charges  —  The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI on Wednesday blamed hackers linked with the Chinese government for attempting …
Tyler Sonnemaker / Business Insider:
Filing: Kickstarter laid off 25 employees, or ~18% of its workforce; the company says 30 staff members took voluntary buyouts, taking total reductions to 39%  —  - Kickstarter is reducing its workforce by around 39%, the company confirmed on Wednesday.  — “Through a combination …
More: The Verge
Margaret Harding McGill / Axios:
Apple says its VP for Public Policy and Government Affairs Cynthia Hogan has resigned, following her appointment to Joe Biden's VP selection committee  —  Cynthia Hogan, Apple's vice president for public policy and government affairs, has resigned from the company, Apple said.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Amazon updates the Fire HD 8 tablet with a faster processor, more RAM, more storage, and USB-C, with the base model getting a slight price increase to $89.99  —  Along with a slight price increase to $89.99  —  Amazon has announced a new update for its Fire HD 8 tablet, adding a faster processor, more RAM, and USB-C charging.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Cisco beats Q3 expectations with revenue of $12B, down 8% YoY, and Infrastructure Platforms revenue of $6.43B, down 15% YoY  —  - Cisco's results and quarterly guidance beat expectations.  — The company said in the quarter it would allow customers to defer their payments with coronavirus spreading.
Lauren Debter / Forbes:
Profile of Louis Borders, founder of Webvan and Borders bookstores, as he pivots to an online grocery delivery service using a network of automated warehouses  —  Louis Borders is sure he can do it this time.  He just needs time, money and customers.  And more robots.
More: Bloomberg
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Alphabet's Loon signs deal with carrier Vodacom to bring its commercial internet service to Mozambique  —  Loon, the Alphabet -owned company that's using stratospheric balloons to provide high-speed bandwidth to hard-to-serve areas without strong ground infrastructure, has signed a new deal …
Max Willens / Digiday:
Sources: Apple is asking the publishers participating in Apple News+ for permission to produce audio versions of stories, with Apple handling production costs  —  Apple News+ is pivoting to audio.  —  Over the past several months, Apple has been asking the publishers participating …
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Cryptocurrency trading service FalconX raises $17M from Avon Ventures, Accel, and others  —  Over the last few weeks all eyes in the crypto world have been glued to the halvening, a nigh-religious moment in the blockchain realm.  Every once in a while, the amount of new bitcoin mined …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Lawyers involved in the settlement between Facebook and its content moderation contractors say around half of all moderators may develop mental health issues  —  That's according to lawyers involved in a settlement announced this week  —  In November 2018 I received a message that changed my life.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Some European Netflix users say video quality throttling is still in place, angering those who pay more for higher-quality plans  —  Facebook to Pay $52 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over Moderators' Exposure to Graphic, Disturbing Content  —  Almost two months ago, Netflix …
Doug Black / HPCwire:
MemVerge, which develops memory machine software, raises $19M led by Intel Capital  —  Memory situated at the center of the computing universe, replacing processing, has long been envisioned as instrumental to radically improved datacenter systems performance.
More: FinSMEs

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Agentic AI: The need for a data foundation  —  This is the first post of the 4-part series on Agentic Data Infrastructure.Every business app now ships with an AI agent.  Each one is good at its own job.
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.

Featured Podcasts

BG2 Pod:
The SpaceX IPO, Fable 5, AI Capex Update & Market Check w/ Gavin Baker, Andrew Fox & Clark Tang
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
All about Interest Rates
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Training Data:
Google DeepMind's Logan Kilpatrick: Why the Model Eats the Harness
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Big Technology Podcast:
What Should An AI Device Look Like? — With Alex Himel
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.
Great Chat:
Founders dish on VC bad behavior (and bring receipts)
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 7:35 PM ET, May 13, 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

Lily Hay Newman / Wired:

Earlier Picks

Robert Stevens / Decrypt: