Techmeme
April 22, 2021, 2:45 AM

Top News

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Signal's CEO says he analyzed a Cellebrite device, used to extract data from phones, that fell off a truck, and it is full of easily exploitable security flaws  —  One of the biggest encrypted chat apps in the world just showed how a device used to decrypt messages can be hacked and tampered with.
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee:
Recording of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing to examine competition in app stores, with testimony from Apple, Google, Spotify, Tile, and others  —  Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights.  Mr. Kyle Andeer Chief Compliance Officer Apple Cupertino …
Bloomberg:
During Senate hearing, Spotify and Match said Apple abuses its power over app developers, leveraging its user base; Spotify said the goal is to hurt rivals  —  - Spotify, Match, Tile blast Apple over fees, barriers to rivals  — Match lawyer says Apple told company: ‘You owe us every dime’
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Files from REvil, which is extorting Apple supplier Quanta, appear to confirm new MacBook Pros with MagSafe, USB-C, HDMI, SD card slot, and no Touch Bar  —  Schematics stolen from Apple supplier Quanta Computer outline Apple's plans for the next-generation MacBook Pro models that are expected in 2021 …
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google's Ethical AI group was in turmoil long before the ouster of Gebru and Mitchell, after friction over handling of harassment and bias allegations  —  The ouster of lead researchers Gebru, Mitchell followed years of friction over how Google handled allegations of harassment and bias
Wall Street Journal:
EU proposes strict AI rules, regulating “high-risk” uses such as loan applications, with noncompliant companies to be fined up to 6% of annual global revenues  —  EU is proposing one of the first laws globally to regulate the use of artificial intelligence for applications like hiring and policing
Ryan Tracy / Wall Street Journal:
FTC nominee Lina Khan appeared on track to be confirmed after she signaled support for an aggressive approach to Big Tech during her hearing  —  Sen. Cruz ‘looks forward’ to working with Lina Khan, but other Republicans question her views and experience  —  WASHINGTON— Lina Khan …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google announces updates to Meet, rolling out next month on desktop, including a new UI, improved presentation features, and background replacement  —  Background video, automatic light adjustment, and much more  —  Google is refreshing its Meet user interface next month for desktop and laptop users.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Bipartisan lawmakers introduce Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act to address police surveillance, including banning warrantless location data purchases  —  The sweeping bill has support from both Democrats and Republicans, and will address multiple forms of surveillance.  —  Joseph Cox
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Twitter rolls out the option to upload and view 4K images on Android and iOS to all users, after testing the feature earlier this year  —  Twitter finally fixes its low-res picture problem  —  Get ready for Twitter to start looking a whole lot crisper — starting today …
Jason Snell / Macworld:
The new iPads have great hardware, led by M1 and mini-LED, but iPadOS lacks proper second display support and pro apps like Final Cut Pro, Xcode, and Logic Pro  —  The hardware is top notch.  The software leaves a lot to be desired.  —  MORE COLOR  —  Nobody needed to convince me that Apple's …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Instagram is rolling out tools to filter out abusive DMs based on keywords and emojis, and to block users along with any new accounts they may create  —  Facebook and its family of apps have long grappled with the issue of how to better manage — and eradicate — bullying and other harassment …
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
Dish partners with AWS to build the first public cloud-based 5G network, which Dish plans to launch initially in Las Vegas in the third quarter  —  World's first public cloud-based 5G network will run on AWS in major test for global telecoms  —  Dish Network has become the first telecoms company …
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Apple Support article says lost AirTags will be readable by any NFC-enabled device, including Android devices, when in Lost Mode  —  After numerous rumors, Apple finally introduced AirTag during today's special event.  Apple's item tracker works based on the ultra-wideband U1 chip and relies …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Tribal Credit, which offers credit lines to startups and SMBs in emerging markets via an AI-driven approval process, raises $34.3M in a Series A and debt round  —  The B2B payments space has seen an explosion in demand, and investor interest, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses try …
More: PYMNTS.com
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
Amazon brings its palm reader payment system to a Whole Foods location in Seattle and will roll it out to seven more stores in the coming months  —  Whole Foods will launch a palm reader payment system at its Madison Broadway location in Seattle today and has plans to roll out the biometric program …
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Collaborative design service Figma launches whiteboarding tool FigJam and adds voice chat to all of its products  —  Figma spent years in stealth before launching its web-based collaborative design tool.  Since coming into the light, the company has been iterating quickly.
Ari Levy / CNBC:
UiPath closes at $69 on its debut, valuing the company at $35.8B, after pricing shares at $56 and raising $1.34B  —  - UiPath and its investors sold about 23.9 million shares at $56 apiece, bringing in $1.34 billion in the IPO.  — The company, whose software automates repetitive office tasks …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Unlike Apple's App Store IAPs and subscriptions, Podcast Subscriptions competes with other podcast players and ways to consume premium feeds in the Podcasts app  —  There was a bit of a brouhaha a couple of weeks ago when Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee sent a letter to Apple accusing …

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
What will the next generation of developers do when AI writes the code?  —  Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon are betting that the junior devs we train today will be the senior engineers of tomorrow.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
UK tax compliance with Zoho Books  —  The evolving tax landscape in the UK has added an additional responsibility to business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers to ensure their choice of accounting software supports compliance …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Inside the black box of AI: How AI models actually think | Emmanuel Ameisen (Anthropic)
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
Anthropic IPO Panic, A Spy At OpenAI?, The Great Food Slop Debate
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.
Great Chat:
What happened to tech's backbone?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The $7B Startup Mapping Your Health In Just One Hour | Neko's Hjalmar Nilsonne
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Cheeky Pint:
The company building underwater drones for $50,000
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
BG2 Pod:
Jensen Huang | Does AI Revenue Justify Capex, '27 AI Bottlenecks, Singularity, Open vs Closed & more
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:45 AM ET, April 22, 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

Evelyn Douek / The Atlantic:
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sean Hollister / The Verge: