Techmeme
April 12, 2021, 6:25 AM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Sources: Microsoft in advanced talks to buy speech technology company Nuance Communications for ~$16B, or $56 a share, a 23% premium to Nuance's Friday close  —  - Price under discussion would value Nuance at $56 a share  — An agreement could be announced as soon as this week
Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed News:
Reporting on tech from India “feels like having a front-row seat to the country's rapid slide into authoritarianism”, as Big Tech companies remain silent  —  I love writing about tech.  But covering how a Hindu nationalist government is using it to destroy a secular democracy isn't what I signed up for.
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Substack strikes deals with trans writers, amid claims it supports allegedly anti-trans writers and is a kind of lucrative off ramp for “cancel culture” victims  —  A company that makes it easy to charge for newsletters has captivated an anxious industry because it embodies larger forces and contradictions.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple faces supply constraints due to issues with MiniLED display production, but still plans to debut two iPad Pros later this month  —  - New iPads planned for introduction in latter half of April  — MiniLED display is key part of Apple's upgrade proposition
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google confirms it is ending support for Google Shopping apps on Android and iOS, as it expands shopping functionality in Search and apps like YouTube  —  A new Google Shopping experience that featured a personalized homepage launched in 2019.  On Android, Google rebranded the existing Express app …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Responding to Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, Apple says it will make Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer available at an upcoming hearing on app stores  —  - Company earlier declined to attend, now makes Andeer available  — Subcommittee investigating developer concerns, competition
CyberNews:
Database containing 1.3M Clubhouse profiles was posted to a hacker forum; Clubhouse says it hasn't been breached, and the data is public info from its app  —  So far, it seems like it's been the worst week of the year for social media platforms in terms of data leaks, with Clubhouse seemingly joining the fray.
David Heinemeier Hansson:
Apple should stop saying the App Store adds meaningful security, which seeds cynicism among devs, and focus more on macOS-style system-level protections for iOS  —  When Kosta Eleftheriou first started revealing scam upon scam in the App Store, I have to admit I didn't quite get it.
Wall Street Journal:
Erroneously unredacted court docs in Texas antitrust case expand on Facebook and Google's Jedi Blue deal, detail Google's secret “Project Bernanke” program  —  Program used past bid data to boost tech giant's win rate in advertising auctions, according to court filing
Raymond Zhong / New York Times:
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Sources: Biden admin to announce the nominations of ex-NSA deputy director Chris Inglis as first national cyber director and Jen Easterly as CISA head on Monday  —  The Biden administration plans on Monday to name a former senior National Security Agency official as the first national cyber director …
Balaji S. Srinivasan:
Adding crypto to IndiaStack, a set of national APIs for payments and identity, could allow India to build an OSS stack for domestic and foreign transactions  —  Use the digital rupee to facilitate domestic commerce and crypto protocols to attract international investment.

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Earlier Picks

Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg:
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: