Techmeme
August 5, 2020, 8:55 PM

Top News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches Instagram Reels, its TikTok competitor that lets users create and publish 15-second videos, in 50+ countries, including the US, UK, and Japan  —  Instagram Reels, the company's significant effort in challenging TikTok on short-form creative content, is launching globally, starting today.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Samsung and Microsoft extend their partnership to add deeper integration with Office on Galaxy Note20 devices and let users stream Android apps to Windows 10  —  The new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 devices will support Office app synchronization, new Your Phone features and Microsoft's cloud gaming functionality.
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Samsung announces 6.7" Galaxy Note20 and 6.9" Note20 Ultra with Android 10, Snapdragon 865+, and more, starting at $999 and $1,299  —  Samsung's Galaxy Note lineup has evolved over the years, but always remained a series for power users.  Today, Samsung is launching the Galaxy Note 20 series …
Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:
Facebook says it removed a video from Trump's page with Trump falsely claiming “children are almost immune” to COVID-19; the same clip remains on Twitter  —  (CNN Business)Facebook on Wednesday said it had removed a post from President Donald Trump's page for containing false claims about Covid-19.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Twitter fixes a bug in its Android app that could let hackers access private data like DMs; 96% of the apps' users currently use a patched version of Android  —  Twitter today announced that it fixed a security vulnerability in the Twitter for Android app that could have allowed attackers …
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Instagram says a “bug” caused its hashtag recommendations to favor Trump-related content when searching for hashtags related to Joe Biden and Trump  —  “A technical error caused a number of hashtags to not show related hashtags.  We've disabled this feature while we investigate."
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung announces the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with an upgraded camera system, larger 7.6-inch main display, and hole-punch cameras; release date and price TBA  —  The Fold is back  —  Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 at its Unpacked event, the successor to last year's Galaxy Fold …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Virginia becomes the first US state to use Apple and Google's COVID-19 Exposure Notification API  —  The Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google is officially being put to use in the United States.  Virginia has become the first U.S. state to offer a COVID-19 contact tracing application using …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft ends its xCloud game streaming test on iOS devices, says it had to limit the app to one game and 10,000 testers “to comply with App Store policies”  —  Apple's App Store policies appear to be holding xCloud back  —  Microsoft has ended its xCloud game streaming test for iOS devices today.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
California's labor commissioner has filed separate lawsuits against Uber and Lyft for alleged wage theft by misclassifying workers as independent contractors  —  The Golden State is becoming increasingly hostile to app-based ride-hailing  —  Uber and Lyft are committing wage theft …
Amanda Macias / CNBC:
Trump admin proposes a “Clean Network” effort to curb potential national security risks from China by banning “untrusted” Chinese apps from US app stores, more  —  - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a five-pronged “Clean Network” effort aimed at curbing potential national security risks from China.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku beats analyst estimates with Q2 revenue of $356.1M, up 42% YoY, and says it has 43M active streaming accounts with streaming hours rising 65% YoY  —  Roku, helped again by stay-at-home streaming during the coronavirus pandemic, topped Wall Street earnings estimates for the second quarter …
Crystal Tse / Bloomberg:
Shares of e-commerce startup BigCommerce rose as much as 292% above its $24 IPO Wednesday; stock closed up 201% and raised $216M  —  BigCommerce Holdings Inc., which makes software for online business operations, rose as much as 292% in its trading debut after pricing its $216 million initial public offering above a targeted range.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
TikTok tightens policies against manipulated content, expands fact-checking partnerships, and is working with DHS's Countering Foreign Influence Task Force  —  TikTok announced new rules for its users on Wednesday to curb misinformation and manipulation ahead of the 2020 election.
Tom Krazit / Protocol:
Microsoft releases Open Service Mesh, an open source tool to help companies build complex modular apps more easily  —  More than a year after declaring itself a neutral party in the emerging service-mesh arena, Microsoft will release its own open-source take on the technology Wednesday …
Daniel Bader / Android Central:
Samsung launches Galaxy Watch 3 in 41mm and 45mm variants with a thinner, lighter design on Samsung's Tizen platform, arriving on August 6 for $400+  —  Our favorite smartwatch-meets-fidget-spinner is back.  —  It's no surprise that Samsung's Galaxy Watch is still incredibly popular despite being almost two years old.
Eugene Wei / Remains of the Day:
TikTok's video recommendation algorithm shows that machine learning can overcome cultural ignorance, a boon for companies operating in foreign markets  —  I often describe myself as a cultural determinist, more as a way to differentiate myself from people with other dominant worldviews, though I am not a strict adherent.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
A hacker has posted a list of usernames, passwords, IP addresses and SSH keys of 900+ Pulse Secure VPN enterprise servers on a Russian-speaking hacker forum  —  EXCLUSIVE: The list has been shared on a Russian-speaking hacker forum frequented by multiple ransomware gangs.

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Brian Heater / TechCrunch: