Techmeme
September 30, 2020, 8:40 PM

Top News

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
Google unveils Pixel 5 with a 6-inch 90Hz OLED display, ultrawide rear-facing camera instead of zoom lens, 5G, 8GB RAM, and fingerprint sensor on back for $699  —  It's October, so despite the weird year we're having, Google is hosting a (virtual) event to show off its latest smartphone, the Pixel 5.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google introduces a new Android feature called Hold for Me, which uses Assistant to monitor held phone calls and notify the user when taken off hold  —  Google has been pushing forward the capabilities of what a smartphone can do when it comes to one of the device's most basic — if these days often overlooked — features: phone calls.
Nikkei Asian Review:
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Palantir closed at $9.50 following its direct listing on the NYSE, after opening at $10, giving it a market cap of roughly $20.9B  —  - Palantir's public market debut on Wednesday comes 17 years after the company was created.  — In pursuing a direct listing, Palantir is following the path …
Sharon Weinberger / New York Magazine:
Former US military and intel officials express concerns about Palantir, arguing its success is largely down to its software having a friendlier UI than rivals  —  Back in 2003, John Poindexter got a call from Richard Perle, an old friend from their days serving together in the Reagan administration.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook unveils cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram, which works even for users without accounts on the other service, rolling out now  —  Facebook announced today it will begin rolling out new functionality that will allow Instagram and Messenger users to communicate across apps …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Google Chromecast (2020) review: excellent value for a 4K device and Google TV is great, but performance sometimes dips and home screen isn't customizable  —  The new Google TV software makes it easy to find something to watch  —  The new Chromecast is a much different product …
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Brian Armstrong's apolitical goal for Coinbase is wishful thinking, limiting its politics to what he deems acceptable during a time of strife in America  —  At a highly polarized time, Brian Armstrong's controversial blog post is an act of wishful thinking  —  This story is part of a group of stories called
Reuters:
Sources: China is considering an antitrust probe into Google, after allegations by Huawei that Google leveraged the dominance of Android to stifle competition  —  BEIJING/SINGAPORE/SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - China is preparing to launch an antitrust probe into Alphabet Inc's Google …
NBC News:
Interviews with 40 Amazon employees and government documents: Amazon's COVID-19 response lacks oversight and transparency with inadequate worker safety policies  —  On the evening of Sunday, Aug. 9, workers at the MKE1 Amazon fulfilment center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, received an alert …
Natalia Drozdiak / Bloomberg:
Internal docs: EU may ban big tech companies from preferencing their own services or exclusively pre-installing their own apps as part of Digital Services Act  —  - Gatekeeper platforms could also have to share data with rivals  — EU to unveil regulatory proposal for platforms in December
Jeff Benson / Decrypt:
US judge rules that Kik violated securities law in its $100M ICO from 2017, grants the SEC's motion for summary judgment against Kik  —  US District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein today granted the US Securities and Exchange Commission its motion for summary judgement against Kik Interactive …
More: CoinDesk and The Block
Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:
Google announces Nest Audio, a revamp to its discontinued Google Home speaker, available today for $99  —  During Launch Night In, Google unveiled Nest Audio, a major revamp of the original Google Home speaker, and it's available on October 5 for $99.  —  At last year's Made by Google event …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Facebook says it will ban Facebook and Instagram ads that seek to delegitimize the outcome of an election, including calling specific voting methods fraudulent  —  - Facebook on Wednesday announced that it will not allow any ads on its service that seek to delegitimize the outcome of an election …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitch launches Soundtrack by Twitch, which lets creators add licensed music to streams from an initial lineup of partners including SoundCloud  —  Twitch today is introducing a new tool, Soundtrack by Twitch, that will allows it creators to add licensed music within their streams.
Max Weinbach / Android Police:
Xiaomi announces a range of new flagship devices: €499 Mi 10T, €599 Mi 10T Pro, and €279 Mi 10T Lite, all with 6.67-inch displays, and €99 Mi Watch  —  Xiaomi is known for its cheap phones, whether they come under its own brand name or its Redmi and Poco sub-brands.

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Bringing local models and sandboxed tools to Windows and GitHub Copilot  —  GitHub Copilot will soon determine when a task is best handled by on-device AI and when it needs cloud-scale models.
Will Reed:
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IDrive:
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Featured Podcasts

Sources:
Qualcomm's CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
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Great Chat:
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Google's AI Infrastructure Chief, Amin Vahdat, on the Physics & Economics of Frontier AI
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Earlier Picks

Christopher Harland-Dunaway / The Verge: