Techmeme
August 13, 2020, 1:15 AM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft is launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10 for $1,399, with preorders starting today in the US  —  Microsoft is launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10th, priced from $1,399.  After months of Microsoft executives teasing …
Scott Stein / CNET:
James Vincent / The Verge:
Twitter launches API v2, the first complete rebuild of its API since 2012, in a bid to improve relations with third-party developers  —  Wooing developers with a new API  —  Twitter is making it easier for businesses, academics, and third-party developers to build on its platform with the launch of its API v2 today.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Sources: ByteDance has been in talks with India's Reliance for investment in TikTok's India operations since late last month, after India banned the app in June  —  Chinese giant ByteDance is engaging with India's Reliance Industries Limited, the parent firm of telecom giant Jio Platforms …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says it will likely need to shut down for several months in California if it is forced to re-classify drivers as employees  —  - Uber would likely shut down temporarily for several months if a court does not overturn a recent ruling requiring it to classify its drivers …
New York Times:
Hands-on with Instagram's Reels: confusing, frustrating, impossible to navigate, and lacking TikTok's editing features  —  TikTok might not be winning over President Trump, but it sure beats its Instagram copycat for making and sharing short videos.  —  Millions of people have used …
Nancy Scola / Politico:
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and others partner to scenario-plan for the last three months before US Election Day, including slow election results  —  Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major social media companies are working together to scenario-plan for the last three months …
Nathan DiCamillo / CoinDesk:
Coinbase says it will offer fiat loans to US retail customers, backed by as much as 30% of a customer's bitcoin holdings, in 17 states this fall  —  Coinbase will allow U.S. retail customers to borrow fiat loans against as much as 30% of their bitcoin holdings in the fall, the San Francisco-based exchange announced Wednesday.
Abrar Al-Heeti / CNET:
Canalys: 31.9M smartphones shipped to the US in Q2, down 5% YoY; Apple shipped 15M iPhones to the US, up 10% YoY, and Samsung shipped 7.4M units, down 1% YoY  —  Vendors shipped nearly 32 million smartphones in the US in the second quarter, according to a Canalys report.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Square says it is testing a short-term loan feature, giving between $20 and $200, repayable over a month, with around 1,000 users  —  Cash App, the peer-to-peer payments service from Square, is giving select users a way to get short-term loans.  —  The company said it's only testing the feature with around 1,000 users for now.
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Cisco reports Q4 revenue of $12.2B, down 9% YoY, net revenue of $2.6B, up 19% YoY, says more than half its revenue is from software and services; stock down 6%+  —  Cisco posted better-than-expected Q4 results, with product sales declining and services revenue flat year-over-year.
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
QAnon followers are hijacking #SaveTheChildren, an anti-human-trafficking movement, and joining parenting Facebook Groups in order to gain new followers  —  Fans of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory are clogging anti-trafficking hotlines, infiltrating Facebook groups and raising false fears about child exploitation.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google launches new tools to make developing Android apps on Chrome OS easier, including a new ChromeOS.dev resource website and a native Android Emulator  —  Google today launched ChromeOS.dev, a new site that aims to help developers get started with building Android apps for the company's Linux-based operating system.
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
Lyft reports Q2 revenue of $339M, above expectations but down 61% YoY, as active riders drop 60% YoY to 8.7M; revenue per active rider was $39.06, down 2% YoY  —  - Ride-hailing company Lyft reported results for the period ending June 30, 2020, its first full quarter during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Debby Wu / Bloomberg:
Foxconn says it plans to split supply chain between the Chinese and US markets as trade ties fracture and declares that China's time as world's factory is over  —  - Hon Hai planning separate supply lines for the two big markets  — Company's earnings outperformed expectations but warns on Q3

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Terry Nguyen / Vox:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Becky Ferreira / New York Times: