Techmeme
April 13, 2021, 2:05 PM

Top News

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple announces an online event on April 20 at 10am PT, entitled “Spring Loaded”, where new iPads Pros and more are expected  —  Following an overnight leak by Siri, Apple today officially announced that it will be holding a special “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils Surface Laptop 4 with 13.5" and 15" displays, starting at $999 for AMD model and $1,299 for Intel, shipping April 15 in US, Canada, and Japan  —  The AMD version starts at $300 less than Intel's equivalent  —  Microsoft is refreshing its Surface lineup with the Surface Laptop 4 today …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft debuts a $70 webcam and $100 USB-C speaker, available in June, new USB and wireless headsets, and Surface Headphones 2 Plus  —  Both devices are designed to improve video and audio calls  —  Microsoft's long-awaited new webcam is finally here, alongside a number of accessories designed for the work from home era.
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Spotify announces Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car, launching today for free for select US users  —  It's free, but users have to pay for shipping  —  Spotify's first gadget has landed.  Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car …
Jeff Dunn / Ars Technica:
Roku announces a trio of new devices: $40 Express 4K Plus streaming device, a $30 rechargeable Voice Remote Pro, and $180 Streambar Pro  —  Plus new Roku OS updates and a revised two-in-one streaming soundbar.  —  Roku on Tuesday announced its latest 4K media streamer, the Roku Express 4K+.
Oversight Board:
Facebook Oversight Board will now accept appeals to remove content from Facebook and Instagram; previously, users were only able to appeal to restore content  —  From today, users will be able to appeal content to the Oversight Board which they want removed from Facebook and Instagram.
Ifeoma Ozoma / New York Times:
Ex-Pinterest employee Ifeoma Ozoma describes why she helped draft the Silenced No More Act, a CA bill aiming to let discriminated-against employees bypass NDAs  —  I chose not to be.  We need to end gag orders for victims of workplace abuse.  —  Ms. Ozoma is a tech policy expert …
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Researchers find new vulnerabilities called NAME:WRECK in the TCP/IP stack that impact hundreds of millions of servers, smart devices, and industrial equipment  —  Security researchers have found a new set of vulnerabilities that impact hundreds of millions of servers, smart devices, and industrial equipment.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Epic Games raises $1B at a $28.7B equity valuation, including an additional $200M from Sony  —  Epic Games, the company behind global smash hit “Fortnite,” announced that it completed a $1 billion round of funding — giving it a whopping equity valuation of $28.7 billion.
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg:
Grab is going public on NASDAQ via SPAC, raising $4B+ at a ~$39.6B valuation; deal would make it the first Southeast Asian tech unicorn to go public via SPAC  —  - SoftBank-backed Grab strikes pact with Gerstner's Altimeter  — Southeast Asia ride-hailing giant set to trade on Nasdaq
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Facebook is testing a free video speed dating app called Sparked, which requires a Facebook profile to create an account  —  Users will be set up on four-minute video dates  —  Facebook is testing a video speed dating app called Sparked.  The app, which requires a Facebook profile to create an account …
The Guardian:
Facebook VP of Integrity Guy Rosen called the return of the Honduran president's disinformation campaign a “bummer” in 2019, but it continued for 11 months  —  Juan Orlando Hernández falsely inflated his posts' popularity for nearly a year after the company was informed about it
Bloomberg:
Bitcoin rises to an all-time high of $63,179, exceeding the previous peak in March, ahead of Coinbase listing on NASDAQ on April 14  —  - Token surpasses the previous high set in March this year  — Coinbase is scheduled to go public on the Nasdaq on April 14  —  Follow us @crypto for our full coverage.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
OnePlus Watch review: long battery life, nice finish, and low price, but no voice assistant, no always-on display, few notification options, only one big size  —  The OnePlus Watch pairs with and is controlled by the OnePlus Health app for Android — there's no iPhone compatibility at all.
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
ConsenSys raises $65M from JP Morgan, Mastercard, UBS AG, and others to build the infrastructure for DeFi apps  —  ConsenSys, a key player in crypto and a major proponent of the Ethereum blockchain, has raised a $65 million funding round from J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, and UBS AG …
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Researcher told Valve about a bug in its graphics engine in 2019 that could let hackers take over players' PCs via Steam invite; bug remains in some Valve games  —  A security researcher found a “critical” bug in Valve's graphics engine that powers the popular online game.  And the company has been slow to fix it.
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Disney, Viacom, and 10 ad tech companies agree to remove or disable software from children's apps that could target children with ads, resolving three lawsuits  —  In legal settlements that could reshape the children's app market, Disney, Viacom and 10 advertising technology firms have agreed …
Josh Ye / South China Morning Post:
Filings by Chinese customs authorities show the country imported 155.6B semiconductor units in Q1, worth $93.6B, up 33.6% YoY  —  China imported a record 58.9 billion semiconductor units in March, worth US$35.9 billion That boosted the country's total first-quarter chip imports to 155.6 billion units …
More: TechSpot
JP Mangalindan / TechCrunch:
Tempo, which sells smart fitness workout devices starting at $2,495, raises $220M Series C led by SoftBank, says users have worked out 5M times on Tempo devices  —  When the pandemic forced everyone to stay at home last year, many gym-goers looked to at-home fitness makers to fill the void …
More: Bloomberg and Crunchbase News.  Thanks:@jpmanga
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
China orders 34 internet companies to rectify their anti-competitive practices in the next month, signaling that its internet crackdown didn't end with Alibaba  —  - Companies summoned to meeting after record fine on Alibaba  — Statement underscores Beijing's internet crackdown persists

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