Techmeme
October 2, 2020, 3:20 PM

Top News

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
After criticism of racial bias, Twitter says its automated image cropping showed “salient” areas of the image, but will change it to give users more control  —  Twitter will change its automated image cropping feature after users complained that it was biased.
Mirko Ranieri / The Keyword:
Google Maps' Live View AR feature now includes notable landmarks in ~25 cities around the world, and gets location sharing, improved accuracy, and more  —  Live View in Google Maps helps you keep your bearings so you can find your way around.  With new ways to use Live View …
Arnold Kim / MacRumors:
YouTube restores Picture in Picture functionality to everyone on its mobile website on iOS 14, after limiting its availability to Premium users a few weeks ago  —  Tonight, the YouTube website has started allowing iOS 14 devices to use the built-in Picture in Picture functionality for its videos even without a Premium account.
Dan Whateley / Business Insider:
Six former Triller employees say the 13M MAUs it announced in Oct. 2019 was over 5X what they were seeing on internal metrics, as a screenshot shows ~2M MAUs  —  - Short-form-video app Triller, a TikTok rival, touted massive user growth last year that some former employees believe was inflated.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon says that of its 1.37M frontline workers, 19K+ contracted COVID-19 between March 1 and Sept. 19, with an infection rate lower than general US population  —  - Amazon on Thursday released comprehensive data into the spread of the coronavirus across its workforce.
Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:
As QAnon presence on LinkedIn grows, the network is taking steps to limit the spread but does not sanction members for displaying support on their profiles  —  As more users show support for the conspiracy theories, the website reacts to those who break its guidelines
Stephanie Chan / Sensor Tower Blog:
Global app revenue grew 32% YoY in Q3 2020 to $29.3B, with spending in the App Store growing 31% to $19B and in the Play Store growing 33.8% YoY to $10.3B  —  Worldwide consumer spending in mobile apps reached $29.3 billion and their installs climbed to 36.5 billion across Apple's App Store …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Netflix support document says 4K streaming will work only on Macs that have a T2 security chip and run macOS 11.0 Big Sur with the latest Safari browser  —  Macs without a T2 chip can't watch 4K Netflix  —  macOS Big Sur, Apple's upcoming release of its Mac operating system …
The Verge:
Facebook moderators at Accenture say they were told to return to the office despite the pandemic; Facebook says their work can't be done remotely  —  Employees are concerned about COVID-19 now that they're being told to return starting October 12th  —  Facebook moderators employed …
The Verge:
HP debuts 14-inch Spectre x360 laptop with a 3:2 aspect ratio, 11th-gen Intel processors, Thunderbolt 4, and AI-based noise removal features, starting at $1,199  —  Plus updates for Spectre x360 13 and HP's Envy lineup  —  HP has just announced several new laptops, including …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google says it will turn off face retouching by default and avoid references to “beauty” in its Camera app, starting with the Pixel 4a, 4a 5G, and 5  —  When Digital Wellbeing launched, it was initially used to manage how often people use their phones.
CNBC:
Sources: Airbnb is aiming to raise around $3B in its upcoming IPO, planned for some time in December  —  - Home rental company Airbnb is aiming to raise around $3 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Amazon third-party sellers are using Facebook and WeChat groups to find users who write fake reviews; Facebook removed three US groups linked to such schemes  —  Third-party sellers are evading detection by hopping between tech platforms  —  The halloween cat collar (three pack …
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Portland-based Eclypsium, which helps detect, analyze, and prevent security threats at the firmware level, raises $13M, bringing its total raised to $25M  —  Portland, Ore.-based startup Eclypsium raised $13 million to help expand its enterprise hardware security technology.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Google will pay publishers $1B+ through 2023 to create and curate high-quality journalism for the new Google News Showcase, starting in Germany and Brazil  —  Google will pay publishers more than $1 billion over the next three years to create and curate high-quality journalism for a new set …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
The Senate Commerce Committee votes to subpoena CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter to testify before the panel about concerns over Section 230  —  The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday voted on a bipartisan basis to subpoena the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify before the panel …

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