Techmeme
February 16, 2021, 8:05 AM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sources: Microsoft is testing a browser-based version of its xCloud game streaming service, currently for Chromium browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge  —  This is what Xbox looks like in a browser  —  Microsoft has started testing its xCloud game streaming through a web browser.
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Clubhouse, which centralizes creation and consumption into a feedback loop, will do for audio what Twitter, Stories, and TikTok did for text, images, and video  —  To what extent are new companies, particularly those in new spaces, pushed versus pulled into existence?  Last week I wrote about how Tesla is a Meme Company:
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
UK filing: OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei's new venture Nothing has acquired Essential, Andy Rubin's now-defunct smartphone brand  —  After a series of launch teasers and little information on upcoming product lines, Carl Pei's flegling technology brand Nothing is now the sole owner of the one-time smartphone brand Essential.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Parler says it is now accessible for existing users and will accept new signups starting next week, announces Tea Party activist Mark Meckler as interim CEO  —  An Amazon suspension shut it down in January  —  The alternative social network Parler has reopened after a month offline.
David Meyer / Fortune:
TikTok has been hit with a volley of complaints from Europe's consumer protection watchdogs over “misleading” privacy practices and “ambiguous” terms  —  Our mission to make business better is fueled by readers like you.  To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
France says Russia-linked Sandworm hacking group breached several French entities running the Centreon IT monitoring software in a three year operation  —  New ANSSI report exposes new Sandworm APT attacks targeting IT companies using Centreon servers.  —  France's cyber-security agency …
@pwnallthethings:
[Thread] A breakdown of significant issues with Bloomberg's recent Supermicro story, which may have relied on misunderstandings of an FBI briefing by a source  —  tl;dr is a source misunderstood an FBI defensive briefing on China's supply chain activities, leaked it to the press, and bloomberg has *again* failed to do the work necessary to verify the sensational claims, because they mistake impressive credentials with domain expertise.
Financial Times:
France is pushing for changes to EU's upcoming tech regulations so that member states will have expanded powers to punish bad behavior and police more content  —  Paris wants member states to have more power to act against illegal content  —  France is pushing for the EU's upcoming regulations …
Meir Orbach / CTech:
Source: Palo Alto Networks acquires Israeli startup BridgeCrew, which develops and delivers security as code, for $200M  —  This is the seventh Israeli company purchased by the Silicon Valley cyber powerhouse  —  Israeli-founded cyber company Bridgecrew Technologies has been acquired by Palo Alto Networks …
More: TechCrunch
Matthew Hutson / New Yorker:
Nicole Perlroth / Wired:
Early 0-day exploit brokers, some active in the late 90s, share stories about a nascent industry that became key to espionage, organized crime, and war planning  —  The lucrative business of dealing in code vulnerabilities is central to espionage and war planning, which is why brokers never spoke about it—until now.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Top shortcuts to work your way through Zoho Cliq  —  The debate between mouse and keyboard users has been around for years.  Whether it's about efficiency, speed, or productivity, there's always this question …
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:
AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers
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.
The Social Radars:
Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
Grit:
The Pull to Build: Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit and Starting Roadrunner
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google's secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw
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 8:05 AM ET, February 16, 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

Earlier Picks

Chainalysis Blog:
Will Oremus / OneZero :
Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
Wall Street Journal: