Techmeme
December 8, 2020, 1:15 PM

Top News

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple announces AirPods Max, over-ear headphones with noise cancellation, adaptive EQ, spatial audio, and audio sharing, available from December 15 for $549  —  The first over-ear headphones with an Apple logo on them  —  It turns out Apple has one more major hardware announcement …
Washington Post:
An internal Huawei document, found on its website, says Huawei tested facial recognition with an “Uighur alarm” to alert Chinese police when it detected Uighurs  —  An internal report claims the face-scanning system could trigger a “Uighur alarm,” sparking concerns that the software …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Cloudflare and Apple say they have developed a new protocol called Oblivious DNS-over-HTTPS, which decouples DNS queries from internet users for more privacy  —  Engineers at Cloudflare and Apple say they've developed a new internet protocol that will shore up one of the biggest holes …
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Uber's self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to be acquired by rival Aurora Innovation in a deal valuing ATG at $4B; source: Aurora now valued at $10B  —  - Self-driving vehicle start-up Aurora is acquiring Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, which works on self-driving technology.
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
In a private 2018 meeting between UK's digital chief and Zuckerberg, minutes show Zuckerberg said the UK was “anti-tech” and threatened to end UK investment  —  Round of applause for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism — which fought for two years to obtain details …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Google says Stadia users will be able to live stream directly to YouTube starting December 8  —  Finally fulfilling its biggest original promise  —  From the very beginning, Google Stadia and YouTube were supposed to work together — thanks to the magic of cloud computing …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Samsung's SmartThings will support Google Nest devices starting in January 2021  —  Support for Nest products through the SmartThings app arrives next month  —  Google and Samsung are bringing their smart home platforms together for the first time.  Samsung's SmartThings …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Florida police raid home of former state employee and COVID whistleblower, claiming she breached a messaging system despite all its users sharing one password  —  This is insane.  Earlier this year, we wrote about Rebekah Jones, the data scientist working for Florida, who put together …
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Researchers detail vulnerabilities found in four open source TCP/IP stacks used in millions of embedded IoT devices, collectively called Amnesia:33  —  Amnesia:33 is the latest in a long line of vulnerabilities that affect countless embedded devices.  —  YES, AT THIS point it's a cliche that cheap …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Facebook adds carts to WhatsApp, allowing users to add multiple items from a business to the cart then send the order request as a message to the business  —  WhatsApp said on Tuesday it is adding a new shopping feature to its business app as the Facebook -owned instant messaging service looks …
Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
SpaceX's Starlink satellite network wins $885M in federal aid for rural broadband, as part of a $9.2B allocation by FCC to be paid across 180 auction bidders  —  SpaceX's Starlink satellite network — which relies on hundreds of spacecraft built in Redmond, Wash. — has been awarded $885.5 million …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Thumbtack, a marketplace for hiring local professionals, is acquiring Setter, which offers video checkups by experts and raised $12M since its founding in 2015  —  Thumbtack, a marketplace where you can hire local professionals for home improvement and other services, is announcing that it has acquired Setter.
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple says Fitness+, its workout class subscription service, will launch on December 14 in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand  —  Apple has today announced that its fitness subcription service, Apple Fitness+, is set to launch on Monday, December 14.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Paris-based NextMind says its wearable $399 Dev Kit, offering a claimed real-time brain computer interface, will begin shipping  —  NextMind has started shipping its real-time brain-computer interface Dev Kit for $399.  The device translates brain signals into digital commands …
New York Times:
Driven by the shift to e-commerce during the pandemic, Etsy shares are up over 250% this year, following a rocky few years as a public company  —  Shares of Etsy, the online marketplace, are up 250 percent this year, a rise fueled by skyrocketing pandemic mask sales and a push by investors to run its business better.
Jeran Wittenstein / Bloomberg:
Snowflake's shares have risen by over 40% since December 2, giving a market capitalization of ~$120B, above IBM and AMD, following strong earnings  —  A blistering rally in the shares of cloud-computing company Snowflake Inc. continued on Tuesday, sending its market valuation above International …
Tweets: @jordannovet
Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Airbnb launches Airbnb.org, letting hosts provide free and discounted stays to refugees, essential workers, and people affected by natural disasters  —  Hosts on the platform can provide free and discounted stays as in-kind donations  —  Airbnb is launching a nonprofit to allow the hosts …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Sundae, which has built a marketplace for distressed properties, raises $36M Series B led by QED Investors  —  Opendoor has opened the door, so to speak, for startups to apply their technical expertise in search, marketplaces and audience segmentation to rethink the very antiquated and analogue world of property.

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Kristine Owram / Bloomberg:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Connie Chan / Andreessen Horowitz:
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Maureen Farrell / Wall Street Journal: