Techmeme
March 2, 2021, 5:00 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils Microsoft Mesh, a mixed-reality platform on Azure, and demos a meeting service to let users join virtual rooms using devices like HoloLens 2  —  Mesh is Microsoft's vision for the future of mixed reality  —  Last week, Microsoft's Alex Kipman, the inventor of Kinect and HoloLens …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft to add end-to-end encryption for one-to-one calls, channel sharing, and webinar and presentation features to Teams  —  Microsoft has a bunch of new Teams features coming and is introducing a new category of Teams Intelligent Speaker devices at Ignite this week.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Microsoft launches Azure Percept, a hardware and software platform to implement its Azure AI services for use cases, including object detection, at the edge  —  Microsoft today announced Azure Percept, its new hardware and software platform for bringing more of its Azure AI services to the edge.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sony says the PlayStation Store will stop offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals on Aug. 31, citing users' preference for video streaming services  —  As of Aug. 31, 2021, the PlayStation Store will stop offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals.
CNBC:
Instacart raises $265M in a round valuing the company at $39B, after raising $200M at a $17.7B valuation in October  —  - Instacart is valued at $39 billion in a new funding round.  — It's the second time the company's valuation has doubled since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:
Researchers point out that Apple's walled garden approach on iOS makes it virtually impossible to detect the presence of malware on iPhones, which still exists  —  The iPhone's locked-down approach to security is spreading, but advanced hackers have found that higher barriers are great for avoiding capture.
Mila Jasper / Nextgov:
A report from the National Security Commission on AI, which is chaired by Eric Schmidt, finds that the US is not fully prepared for AI competition with China  —  Retaining any edge will take White House leadership and a substantial investment, according to the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.
Bloomberg:
Interviews with 16 Amazon workers offer an inside look at the unionization vote in Bessemer, Al, where $15/hour is double the minimum wage for entry-level jobs  —  On a rainy Saturday afternoon in early February, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union held a rally in a grassy lot …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
TikTok launches a Safety Advisory Council for Europe to help it with content moderation, bringing external experts in fields like child safety and extremism  —  TikTok is bringing in external experts in Europe in fields such as child safety, young people's mental health and extremism to form …
Vjeran Pavic / The Verge:
DJI launches a $1,299 first person view drone bundle, which includes FPV Goggles V2 with crisp 810p resolution, controller, and a drone with ~20-min flight time  —  Cinematic first-person view or FPV drones have been a growing trend in the drone industry for a few years.
Ian Allison / CoinDesk:
Sources: PayPal is in talks to buy New York-based Curv, which facilitates secure storage of cryptocurrency  —  One source tells CoinDesk that Curv could be sold for as much as $500 million.  —  PayPal is said to be in the process of buying Curv, a technology firm that powers the secure storage …
Ashley Gold / Axios:
Twitter to label tweets with misleading information about COVID vaccines and debut a strike system that can lead to permanent account suspension after 5 strikes  —  Twitter announced Monday that it will label tweets with potentially misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines …
Hannah Beech / New York Times:
Myanmar's repressive military uses Israeli drones, despite a ban on sales of such tech to Myanmar, as well as Swedish iPhone cracking software, Western spyware  —  The generals who staged a coup last month use surveillance drones, iPhone cracking devices and hacking software …
Wall Street Journal:
A look at the remote work issues companies are facing, including who should shoulder tax costs and whether to cut salaries of staff leaving high-cost cities  —  Facebook considered tracking its employees.  Lyft is making some workers move before April.  Here's how big companies are wrestling with thorny work-from-home issues.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: iPhone 13 to have smaller notch, larger battery, no USB-C; 120Hz display on the Pro; iPhone mini to return; he has “no visibility” of power button Touch ID  —  Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new investor note today focused on what to expect …
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:

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Earlier Picks

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: