Techmeme
October 18, 2020, 12:25 AM

Top News

Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
A filing with a regulator in Brazil says the iPhone 12 has a 2,815 mAh battery, and the iPhone 12 mini has a 2,227mAh battery  —  While the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are now available for pre-order in the US, Apple is getting ready to bring its new smartphones to other countries as well.
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Thoughts on Apple's “Hi, Speed” event: the iPhone 12 lineup, camera differences, missing chargers and earbuds, focus on 5G and Verizon CEO's cameo, more  —  Last month's “Time Flies” event for the Apple Watch Series 6 and new iPad Air was about an hour long; this week's “Hi, Speed” event ran just a bit longer at 70 minutes.
More: The Verge
Wall Street Journal:
Sources describe how Mark Zuckerberg, who was once uninterested in politics, transformed himself into an active political operator during the Trump era  —  Facebook's chief, once uninterested, has transformed himself into an active political operator in the Trump era
Vijaya Gadde / @vijaya:
[Thread] Twitter updates Hacked Materials Policy, says it won't remove content unless shared by hackers themselves and will label tweets instead of block links  —  Over the last 24 hours, we've received significant feedback (from critical to supportive) about how we enforced our Hacked Materials Policy yesterday. After reflecting on this feedback, we have decided to make changes to the policy and how we enforce it.
New York Times:
Twitter says it is now letting the NY Post link be shared because the info had spread so widely that it can no longer be considered private  —  The latest change underlined how rapidly social media platforms are shifting their positions in the days leading up to the election.
Stephen Totilo / Kotaku:
Interview: Microsoft's Phil Spencer on Xbox Series S vs. Series X, Bethesda deal, cross-gen gaming, ballooning game file sizes, and the storage size trade-off  —  There's nothing normal about interviewing Xbox chief Phil Spencer these days.  —  First, there's the location.
Marietje Schaake / Foreign Affairs:
Sean Lyngaas / CyberScoop:
Google says Chinese state-linked hacker group, known as APT31, has been using malware on GitHub to upload and download files on networks in targeted attacks  —  Former vice president Joe Biden.  Chinese hackers have unsuccessfully targeted the campaign, according to Google.  (Flickr / Gage Skidmore)
Wired:
18% of games announced by major studios this summer had female protagonists, with Sony accounting for over a third; E3 2019 games had 5% female representation  —  The data on female representation in games looked optimistic—but time will tell if these changes endure beyond a wildcard year.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
The best time to become a Zoho Partner  —  The business world is not only changing but it is being rebuilt.  Customers want connected ecosystems that will help them automate, unify their data, and do more with less.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box 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 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
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:
Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
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:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
So what happens after AGI?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:25 AM ET, October 18, 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

Morgan Clendaniel / Fast Company:

Earlier Picks

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
BBC: