Techmeme
November 18, 2020, 1:30 PM

Top News

Nick Statt / The Verge:
Apple will reduce App Store cut to 15% for any developer that earns less than $1M in revenue per year from their apps, starting January 1  —  Any developer that earns less than $1 million in revenue per year is eligible  —  On Wednesday, Apple announced a reduction to its longstanding App …
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Sensor Tower: Apple's move will affect ~98% of developers that pay the company a commission, but they accounted for less than 5% of App Store revenue last year  —  App makers bridled at the 30 percent commission, which has drawn scrutiny from regulators looking into antitrust claims.
Amanda Macias / CNBC:
Trump says he has fired CISA Director Christopher Krebs, baselessly calling Krebs' previous statement on the security of the 2020 election “highly inaccurate”  —  - President Donald Trump announced Tuesday on Twitter that he has “terminated” top U.S. cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Google rolls out update to Chrome, with pages now loading up to 7% faster, CPU usage reduced by up to 5x by throttling background tabs, and reduced usage of RAM  —  The last Chrome update for 2020 is all about efficiency  —  Google is wrapping up 2020 with what it claims …
Om Malik / On my Om:
M1 completes Steve Jobs' vision of Apple making “the whole widget” for all the devices in the company's product line  —  Even as Apple's final event of 2020 gradually becomes a speck in the rearview mirror, I can't help continually thinking about the new M1 chip that debuted there.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google announces a major redesign for Google Pay for iOS and Android and is partnering with 11 banks to launch Plex, mobile-first bank accounts, in 2021  —  Google is launching a major redesign of its Google Pay app on both Android and iOS today.  Like similar phone-based contactless payment services …
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Marissa Mayer's Lumi Labs, now called Sunshine, unveils Sunshine Contacts, an AI-powered contact organizer app for iOS  —  Marissa Mayer shoves her iPhone toward her MacBook's webcam until it overwhelms the screen on the Google Meet video call we are sharing.  —  “I admire Apple,” she declares.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter rolls out Fleets, its ephemeral Stories feature, globally, and says it plans to test an audio-based social networking feature similar to Clubhouse  —  Twitter this morning is launching its own version of Stories — aka “Fleets” — to its global user base.
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
Over 200 Facebook contract moderators sign an open letter criticizing Facebook, Accenture, and CPL for ending WFH policies and call for better protections  —  Here's what you need to know:  —  Facebook moderators forced back to the office raise alarms about Covid-19 protections.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Zuckerberg says Facebook won't moderate Trump differently once he leaves office but spokesman says he'll be fact-checked; Twitter will end special treatment  —  Many world leaders generally have wider latitude on Twitter and Facebook because their comments and posts are regarded as political speech …
Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Abacus.AI, which helps companies manage AI models, raises $22M Series B, following $13M Series A in July  —  AI startup RealityEngines.AI changed its name to Abacus.AI in July.  At the same time, it announced a $13 million Series A round.  Today, only a few months later …
Nick Summers / Engadget:
Fortnite now offers Houseparty video calls on PC, PS4, and PS5; users need the Houseparty app installed on an iOS or Android device, which functions as a webcam  —  Houseparty wants to change the way that people communicate while playing video games.  The company, which offers …

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
Security update: Retiring weak TLS cipher suites  —  At Zoho Corp, we are dedicated to maintaining the highest security and compliance standards.  As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance security …
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:
Jensen On The Ropes, Sam Altman's Conflicts, Allbirds' GPU Pivot
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:
A.I. Backlash Turns Violent + Kara Swisher on Healthmaxxing + The Zuck Bot Is Coming
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.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Max Mullen from Instacart
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Access:
Canva's CEO on what happens when AI does the design
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Cohere's Aidan Gomez: The Canadian Founder Taking AI Models To The World, Not Just Big Tech
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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 1:30 PM ET, November 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

Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat: