Techmeme
September 8, 2020, 8:30 AM

Top News

Jez Corden / Windows Central:
Sources: Xbox Series X will be priced at $499 and will launch on November 10, 2020 alongside the Xbox Series S  —  The Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X together.  —  Microsoft is set to hold a press event soon to showcase the next-gen console pricing, and it's pretty familiar.  —  What you need to know
Christine Fisher / Engadget:
Microsoft confirms a budget version of its next-gen console, the $299 Xbox Series S, says it is the “smallest Xbox ever”  —  After a flurry of leaks, Microsoft has been forced to prematurely confirm the existence of a second-generation console: the Xbox Series S. The company …
Chun Han Wong / Wall Street Journal:
China launches global data security initiative to to counter US' “Clean Network” program, urges countries to oppose “mass surveillance against other states”  —  Move, unveiled Tuesday is meant to counter U.S. Clean Network effort  —  HONG KONG—China is launching …
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Reed Hastings calls working from home “a pure negative” for employees and that the Netflix workforce will return to its offices once a vaccine is approved  —  Co-CEO of streaming giant discusses company's culture of candor and how working from home is harder
Dawn Chmielewski / Forbes:
Profile of Reed Hastings as Netflix thrives during the pandemic, adding ~1M subscribers/month in the US and Canada and another 2M/month globally since March  —  The man responsible for keeping the world entertained does so, at least this day, alone in front of a computer screen, in his son's largely unadorned childhood bedroom.
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Report: Apple has hired Tim Connolly, a former executive at Hulu and Quibi, to work on Apple TV+, as the company explores bundling content  —  In addition to expanding the amount of content on the service, Apple has shown an interest in bundling Apple TV+ with other properties.
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
TikTok is trying to remove a graphic suicide video from its app and is banning accounts that re-upload the clip, says video was originally streamed on Facebook  —  Clips started circulating on Sunday night  —  TikTok is trying to remove graphic videos circulating the app that show …
Patrick McGee / Financial Times:
How iOS app developers draw on behavioral psychology to design user ratings pop-ups that appear at opportune times, like after a high score or on payday  —  Rating an iPhone app takes just a second, maybe two.  “Enjoying Skype?” a prompt will ask, and you click on a star rating from 1 to 5.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
France-based Sarbacane, which develops email and text marketing software, raises $27M led by French investment company IDI  —  Marketing technology — and specifically tools that help companies leverage the internet to connect with customers in a way that is compliant with a new wave …
More: FinSMEs and PR Newswire
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Lidar sensor manufacturer Ouster raises $42M Series B from investors including Cox Automotive, Tao Capital, and Fontinalis, bringing its total raised to $140M  —  Ouster, a San Francisco-based lidar startup that launched out of stealth in December 2017, today secured $42 million in funding, bringing its total raised to $140 million.

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered 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!
Zoho:
ERP software from the builders of world-class products  —  Every business starts with a vision.  Sustaining it is a more rigorous and complex pursuit.It lives in reconciled books, accurate inventory, and predictable cash flow.
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

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's $50 Billion Fundraise, AI Advertising Game Theory, Apple's AI Wearable Pin
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.
Hard Fork:
Will ChatGPT Ads Change OpenAI? + Amanda Askell Explains Claude's New Constitution
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.
Access:
Home robots are coming faster than you think, with Sunday's Tony Zhao
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
An Intro to Data Centers
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.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Vinod Khosla and Keith Rabois from Khosla Ventures
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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 8:30 AM ET, September 8, 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

Earlier Picks

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg: