Techmeme
February 8, 2021, 4:35 PM

Top News

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Twitter is building subscription products to ease its dependence on ads, including “tipping” for exclusive content and charging for TweetDeck  —  - Internal groups are researching options users might pay for  — Social network says ‘revenue durability’ is now top priority
Steve Kovach / CNBC:
Filing: Tesla has bought $1.5B worth of bitcoin and says it will start accepting bitcoin as a payment method for its products in the future  —  - Tesla announced in an SEC filing Monday that it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin.  — The company also said it would start accepting bitcoin as a payment method for its products.
Wall Street Journal:
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Sources: Mark Cuban is co-founding Fireside, a podcast app where hosts can talk to fans live and monetize their conversations, with plans to launch this year  —  Fireside is launching this year  —  Mark Cuban is getting in on the audio and podcasting hype.
TechCrunch:
Clubhouse is now blocked in China after an uncensored period during which it grew rapidly  —  Thousands of Chinese users suddenly found themselves unable to access Clubhouse on early Monday evening as the country prepared to start the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
A dev whose own app was targeted by a scam ripoff finds that scam apps are flourishing on Apple's App Store, fueled by lax enforcement of rules and fake reviews  —  Over the last several weeks, developer Kosta Eleftheriou has been highlighting many apparent scam applications on the App Store.
Taha Broach / The 8-Bit:
In the iOS 14.5 beta, Apple has finally added the ability to set a default music streaming service, including Spotify, when using Siri to play songs  —  Apple launched the initial beta versions of iOS 14.5 to developers and public beta testers last week.  Among the list of new features …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple's Dan Riccio is focusing on future VR and AR devices, and the group working on in-house screens and cameras is now under chip chief Johny Srouji  —  - Apple moves team working on own screens, cameras to Srouji  — Riccio left top hardware job recently to work on ‘new project’
Bloomberg:
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia say they are not in talks with Apple to develop an autonomous vehicle; Hyundai shares fell ~8.4% in Seoul, while Kia dropped 14%  —  - Apple's plans for own-branded EV are being intensely watched  — Hyundai's new EV platform can charge cars to 80% in 18 minutes
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Facebook expands policies to take down more posts with vaccine-related misinformation, including assertions that vaccines cause autism  —  Facebook said on Monday that it plans to remove posts with erroneous claims about vaccines from across its platform, including taking down assertions …
Jason Koebler / VICE:
Police say a computer in a water treatment plant in FL, set up for remote access, was breached; the intruder tried raising sodium hydroxide levels in the water  —  The hacker tried to drastically increase sodium hydroxide levels in the water, Pinellas County, Florida, officials said on Monday.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Xiaomi unveils global version of its Mi 11 flagship with Snapdragon 888, 6.8-inch 1440p OLED 120Hz display, and up to 265GB storage, starting at €749  —  The latest Xiaomi flagship to leave China  —  Xiaomi is announcing the international version of its Mi 11 flagship phone today after an earlier release in China.
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Sources: TikTok has briefed advertisers on new e-commerce tools launching in 2021, including letting popular users add links and earn commission  —  Viral video app set to unveil a suite of new online shopping tools  —  TikTok is planning an aggressive expansion into ecommerce in the US …

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

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.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI Is Upending Law. Is That A Sign For The Rest Of Us? — With Melia Russell
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.
[trading places]:
Ben Black Akkadian Ventures🏆 | Secondaries Secrets 💎 | RAISE Conf 🎯 | Vercel $9B 🚀
a very bad podcast about broken unicorns & busted carry hosted by dave mcclure and aman verjee
Subscribe to [trading places].
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 4:35 PM ET, February 8, 2021.

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

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Charles Fitzgerald / Platformonomics:
Thomas Brewster / Forbes: