Techmeme
March 13, 2021, 6:40 AM

Top News

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Apple says it is discontinuing the original HomePod to focus on HomePod mini, will provide HomePod owners software updates and support via Apple Care  —  After 4 years on the market, Apple has discontinued its original HomePod.  It says that it will continue to produce and focus on the HomePod mini, introduced last year.
James Tarmy / Bloomberg:
MetaKovan, an anonymous digital asset investor and founder of NFT focused crypto-based investment fund Metapurse, is the buyer of the $69M Beeple NFT  —  A digital asset investor who goes by the handle Metakovan and refuses to give his full name, announced that he is the buyer …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Microsoft will adjust its release cycle for Edge to match the four-week release cadence of Chrome, starting with Edge 94, which is set for release in September  —  The change will go into effect in September  —  Microsoft is going to adjust its release cycles for Microsoft Edge to match …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: tools used in the Feb. 28 Exchange hack are similar to proof-of-concept attack code that Microsoft distributed to security partners a week earlier  —  Investigators seeking to unravel how attack spread in week before software fix  —  Microsoft Corp. is investigating whether …
BuzzFeed News:
An internal doc at Facebook, co-written by Chris Cox, aims to equip employees with rebuttals to the perception that the company's products fuel polarization  —  In a Thursday presentation, Facebook executives told employees the company isn't to blame for social division in the country.
Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says Microsoft's support of a bill for greater bargaining power for news pubs is “self-serving” and intended to distract from the SolarWinds hack  —  Google has always been committed to providing high-quality and relevant information, and to supporting the news publishers who help create it.
Brad Smith / Microsoft On the Issues:
In House hearing, Brad Smith says monetizing referral traffic has become increasingly difficult for news pubs because Google squeezes out most of the profit  —  Editor's Note: On Mar. 12, Microsoft President Brad Smith testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Facebook announces a project to train its AI to understand what is happening in videos, using data from videos publicly available on Facebook  —  AI that can understand video could be put to a variety of uses  —  Teaching AI systems to understand what's happening in videos as completely …
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
NTSB sent a letter to the NHTSA asking for stricter standards on automated vehicle tech, citing Tesla's Level 2 Autopilot system tests as needing more oversight  —  - The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on its sister agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration …
Marco Rubio / USA Today:
Marco Rubio says he is endorsing Amazon workers' unionization efforts in Alabama because Amazon leadership is waging “culture war against working-class values”  —  Amazon is waging a culture war against working-class values and is not helping workers or our economy.
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

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Earlier Picks

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review: